Deuteronomy 17:8-12 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Deuteronomy 17:8-13

Courts of judgment were ordered to be erected in every city (Deut. 16:18), and they were empowered to hear and determine causes according to law, both those which we call pleas of the crown and those between party and party; and we may suppose that ordinarily they ended the matters that were brought before them, and their sentence was definitive; but, 1. It is here taken for granted that sometimes a case might come into their court too difficult for those inferior judges to determine, who... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 17:8

If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment ,.... This is spoken to inferior judges in cities in the country, who sometimes might have cases too wonderful and mysterious, as the word signifies, or secret and hidden, such as were out of their reach and beyond their capacity, and so be very difficult for them to determine what should be done: between blood and blood ; that is, whether a man is guilty of shedding innocent blood or not; when such a case is depending between a... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 17:9

Thou shalt come unto the priests, the Levites ,.... The priests that are of the tribe of Levi, as the Targum of Jonathan, and so Jarchi; for Aben Ezra says there are priests that are not of the genealogy of Levi; such there were indeed in Jeroboam's time, 1 Kings 12:31 . Maimonides F6 Hilchot Sanhedrin, c. 2. sect. 2. observes, that it is ordered that there should be in the great sanhedrim priests and Levites, as it is said: "and thou shalt come unto the priests, and the judge that... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 17:10

And thou shalt do according to the sentence which they of that place which the Lord shall choose shall show thee ,.... The judges of the inferior courts were to return and proceed on the difficult case according to the judgment of the great court at Jerusalem, and follow the directions and instructions they should give them: and thou shalt observe to do according to all that they inform thee ; not only observe and take notice of what they say, but put it in practice, and not in some... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 17:11

According to the sentence of the law which they shall teach thee ,.... For they were not to make any new law, but to teach the law of God, and so far as their sense and opinion of things agreed with that law they were to be regarded: and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do ; what were law and justice, what were fit and right to be done, according to the will of God, which they should declare unto them, that was carefully to be done by them: thou shalt... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 17:12

The judge of the country court that makes his application to that at Jerusalem for information and direction; if, after all, he is conceited in his own opinion, and rejects theirs, and is obstinate, and will not be guided and directed, but will take his own way, and pursue his own sense of things, and act according to that: and will not hearken to the priest that standeth to minister there before the Lord thy God ; the priests of the tribe of Levi, of whom the court generally consisted, ... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 17:8

If there arise a matter too hard for thee - These directions are given to the common magistrates, who might not be able to judge of or apply the law in all cases that might be brought before them. The priests and Levites, who were lawyers by birth and continual practice, were reasonably considered as the best qualified to decide on difficult points. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 17:12

The man that will do presumptuously - The man who refused to abide by this final determination forfeited his life, as being then in a state of rebellion against the highest authority, and consequently the public could have no pledge for his conduct. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 17:8

Verse 8 8If there arise a matter too hard for thee. The principal office of the priests is here described under a single head, viz., that they should declare what was right in doubtful and obscure matters out of the Law of God; for although God seems only to refer to civil controversies, yet there is no doubt but that by synecdoche He appoints them to be interpreters of the doctrine of the Law. That their authority might be more reverenced in general, He commands the people to acquiesce in... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 17:12

Verse 12 He pronounces a similar punishment on those who shall have contumaciously rejected the judgment of the priests. We have already seen that the prophetical office was united with the priesthood; since, according to Malachi 2:4, the covenant of God was with Levi, that his descendants might be the guardians of His knowledge, and the interpreters of His law: yet God often punished the laxity of the priests, by setting other teachers over his people. At any rate, both were ambassadors for... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Deuteronomy 17:8-13

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 17:8

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 17:9

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 17:10

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 17:11

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 17:12

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 17:8

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 17:12

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 17:8

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 17:12

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