12 And any man who, in his pride, will not give ear to the priest whose place is there before the Lord your God, or to the judge, is to be put to death: you are to put away the evil from Israel.
And that prophet or that dreamer of dreams is to be put to death; for his words were said with the purpose of turning you away from the Lord your God, who took you out of the land of Egypt and made you free from the prison-house; and of forcing you out of the way in which the Lord your God has given you orders to go. So you are to put away the evil from among you.
But the person who does wrong in the pride of his heart, if he is one of you or of another nation by birth, is acting without respect for the Lord, and will be cut off from his people.
For if we do evil on purpose after we have had the knowledge of what is true, there is no more offering for sins, But only a great fear of being judged, and of the fire of wrath which will be the destruction of the haters of God. A man who has gone against the law of Moses is put to death without pity on the word of two or three witnesses: But will not the man by whom the Son of God has been crushed under foot, and the blood of the agreement with which he was washed clean has been taken as an unholy thing, and who has had no respect for the Spirit of grace, be judged bad enough for a very much worse punishment?
Say sharp words to sinners when all are present, so that the rest may be in fear.
And whoever will not take you in, or give ear to your words, when you go out from that house or that town, put off its dust from your feet.
Let no man go to law or make protests, for your people are like those who go to law with a priest.
Then he will do the work of a priest in the name of the Lord his God, with all his brothers the Levites who are there before the Lord.
For he, and his sons after him for ever, have been marked out by the Lord your God from all your tribes, to do the work of priests in the name of the Lord.
And all Israel, hearing of it, will be full of fear, and no one will again do such evil as this among you.
Because you have in mind the orders we gave you through the Lord Jesus.
He who puts me on one side and does not take my words to heart, is not without a judge: the word which I have said will be his judge on the last day.
Whoever gives ear to you, gives ear to me; and whoever is against you, is against me; and whoever is against me, is against him who sent me.
From the thirteenth year of Josiah, the son of Amon, king of Judah, even till this day, for twenty-three years, the word of the Lord has been coming to me, and I have given it to you, getting up early and talking to you; but you have not given ear. And the Lord has sent to you all his servants the prophets, getting up early and sending them; but you have not given attention and your ear has not been open to give hearing; Saying, Come back now, everyone from his evil way and from the evil of your doings, and keep your place in the land which the Lord has given to you and to your fathers, from times long past even for ever: Do not go after other gods to be their servants and to give them worship, and do not make me angry with the work of your hands, causing evil to yourselves. But you have not given ear to me, says the Lord; so that you have made me angry with the work of your hands, causing evil to yourselves. So this is what the Lord of armies has said: Because you have not given ear to my words, See, I will send and take all the families of the north, says the Lord, and Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, my servant, and make them come against this land, and against its people, and against all these nations on every side; and I will give them up to complete destruction, and make them a cause of fear and surprise and a waste place for ever. And more than this, I will take from them the sound of laughing voices, the voice of joy, the voice of the newly-married man, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the stones crushing the grain, and the shining of lights. All this land will be a waste and a cause of wonder; and these nations will be the servants of the king of Babylon for seventy years. And it will come about, after seventy years are ended, that I will send punishment on the king of Babylon, and on that nation, says the Lord, for their evil-doing, and on the land of the Chaldaeans; and I will make it a waste for ever. And I will make that land undergo everything I have said against it, even everything recorded in this book, which Jeremiah the prophet has said against all the nations. For a number of nations and great kings will make servants of them, even of them: and I will give them the reward of their acts, even the reward of the work of their hands.
When the man of pride undergoes punishment, the simple man gets wisdom; and by watching the wise he gets knowledge.
Keep your servant back from sins of pride; let them not have rule over me: then will I be upright and free from great sin.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Deuteronomy 17
Commentary on Deuteronomy 17 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 17
The charge of this chapter is,
Deu 17:1-7
Here is,
Deu 17:8-13
Courts of judgment were ordered to be erected in every city (ch. 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,
Deu 17:14-20
After the laws which concerned subjects fitly followed the laws which concern kings; for those that rule others must themselves remember that they are under command. Here are laws given,