Deuteronomy 17:2 NLT,NIV,ESV

L. M. Grant's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 17:1-20

RIGHTEOUS GOVERNMENT (This Continues the subject of) (chap.16:13 to 17:11) This continues the subject of righteous government. The guilt of offering a blemished sacrifice to the Lord must incur severe judgment (vs.1-2) for transgressing God's covenant, as was true in the case of any who worship other gods, whether the sun or moon or the stars which may seem to men on such a high level that worshiping them would be permissible. If a report came of any such abuses, then Israel was to inquire... read more

James Gray

James Gray's Concise Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 17:1-20

FURTHER CONDITIONS OF BLESSING THE JUDGE AND THE KING (Deuteronomy 17:0 ) In the preceding chapter, Deuteronomy 16:18 , provision was made for judges and other officers of the civil law. They were to hold court in the gates of the cities, the place of ingress and egress, for the cities were walled. This idea of judges sitting in the gates still lingers in the Orient and gives significance to the Mohammedan terms Ottoman Porte and Sublime Porte. Review the preceding chapter and observe the... read more

Joseph Parker

The People's Bible by Joseph Parker - Deuteronomy 17:1-20

True Worship Deuteronomy 17:0 This makes our relation to God very definite. There is to be no intermediate worship. Closeness almost visible closeness is to be the rule and standard of our communion with God. Nothing must stand between. We are permitted to come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. There must be no intervening system of priests, or officers of any kind, or angels of any degree: every soul must have right of way to God,... read more

Robert Hawker

Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary - Deuteronomy 17:2-7

Observe, how tenacious the LORD GOD was of his people's faithfulness, and how exemplary the punishment of idolatry. Oh! that many in the present hour, who are tempting the Israel of GOD by apostacy, would lay this to heart. 2 Timothy 3:6 . read more

George Haydock

George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 17:2

Covenant, by incurring the evil of idolatry. (Calmet) (Hebrews x. 29.) read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 17:1-7

1-7 No creature which had any blemish was to be offered in sacrifice to God. We are thus called to remember the perfect, pure, and spotless sacrifice of Christ, and reminded to serve God with the best of our abilities, time, and possession, or our pretended obedience will be hateful to him. So great a punishment as death, so remarkable a death as stoning, must be inflicted on the Jewish idolater. Let all who in our day set up idols in their hearts, remember how God punished this crime in... read more

Paul E. Kretzmann

The Popular Commentary by Paul E. Kretzmann - Deuteronomy 17:1-7

Punishment of Idolatry v. 1. Thou shalt not sacrifice unto the Lord, thy God, any bullock or sheep wherein is blemish, or any evil-favoredness; for that is an abomination unto the Lord, thy God. The offering of an imperfect animal as sacrifice, one infected with any of the evils mentioned Leviticus 22:20-Jeremiah :, is just as much an insult to Jehovah as the erecting of pillars to Asherah and Baal; hence the authorities were to watch carefully over these matters. v. 2. If there be found... read more

Johann Peter Lange

Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures: Critical, Doctrinal and Homiletical - Deuteronomy 17:1-20

The Fifth CommandDeuteronomy 16:18 to Deuteronomy 18:22Deuteronomy 16:18-2218Judges and officers shalt thou make [give] thee in all thy gates, which the Lord thy God giveth thee, throughout thy tribes: and they shall judge the people with just judgment. 19Thou shalt not wrest [bend, turn aside] judgment; thou shalt not respect persons [the face] neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous. 20That which is altogether just, [Justice,... read more

G. Campbell Morgan

G. Campbell Morgan's Exposition on the Whole Bible - Deuteronomy 17:1-20

Continuing the discourse commenced in the previous chapter, we find insistence on the fact that no false sacrifices must be offered and no false worshipers permitted to approach. For dealing with such, a method was minutely laid down. First there must be careful inquiry and for condemnation there must be three, or at the least two, witnesses. Where cases of peculiar difficulty arose they must be remitted to the priests and to the supreme judge, that is, to the religious and civil court. Then... read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 17:2-7

Anyone Found Worshipping Other Gods Was To Be Stoned To Death, But Only After Careful Enquiry (Deuteronomy 17:2-7 ). The reference to the abominations of Asherah, Pillar and blemished offerings leads on the thought of all idolatry. The worshipping of other gods was a capital offence, but it was necessary that the charge was proved to be genuinely true. Charging people with blasphemy on false grounds has been the curse of religion throughout history and is sadly often the result of a deeply... read more