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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Deuteronomy 17:14 - 17:20
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Of the office of an Eventual King
v. 14. When thou art come unto the land which the Lord, thy God, giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me, a thing which actually came to pass afterward, 1Sa_8:5,
v. 15. thou shalt in any wise, by all means, set him king over thee whom the Lord, thy God, shall choose, 1Sa_9:15; one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee; thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother. The ideal which God had in mind for Israel was a theocracy, a direct government of the people by the Lord; but He was willing to modify that to the extent of letting a man chosen by Him, from among the children of Israel, be king as His representative.
v. 16. But he shall not multiply horses to himself, make their raising his special avocation or even vocation, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses, for the Egyptian lowlands were much better fitted for the rearing of horses than the mountainous Palestine; forasmuch as the Lord hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way, Deu_28:68.
v. 17. Neither shall he (the king) multiply wives to himself, after the manner of the luxury-loving, voluptuous Oriental monarchs, that his heart turn not away, as that of Solomon in after-years, when his wives seduced him to idolatry, 1Ki_11:3-4; neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold, another dangerous practice of the Oriental kings.
v. 18. and it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, having reached the summit of human greatness, where everything would be moving according to his will, that he shall write him a copy of this Law in a book out of that which is before the priests, the Levites, made for him by the priests of the tribe of Levi;
v. 19. and it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life, thus keeping the will of the Most High before him, as his aim and standard, that he may learn to fear the Lord, his God, to keep all the words of this Law and these statutes, to do them, bound by the laws and institutions of the Lord and of the nation which was God's covenant people;
v. 20. that his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, in unwarranted pride and haughtiness, and that he turn not aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, making it his aim at all times to adhere to the Law of God, a copy of which was in his possession, with the utmost strictness; to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children, in the midst of Israel; for the Lord rewards obedience to His Law with earthly blessings. We Christians pray for our government and for all those that are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty, 1Ti_2:2.