14 `When thou comest in unto the land which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee, and hast possessed it, and dwelt in it, and thou hast said, Let me set over me a king like all the nations which `are' round about me, --
And the people refuse to hearken to the voice of Samuel, and say, `Nay, but a king is over us, and we have been, even we, like all the nations; and our king hath judged us, and gone out before us, and fought our battles.'
`When ye come in unto the land of Canaan, which I am giving to you for a possession, and I have put a plague of leprosy in a house `in' the land of your possession;
`When Jehovah thy God doth bring thee in unto the land whither thou art going in to possess it, and He hath cast out many nations from thy presence, the Hittite, and the Girgashite, and the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, seven nations more numerous and mighty than thou,
for ye are passing over the Jordan to go in to possess the land which Jehovah your God is giving to you; and ye have possessed it, and dwelt in it,
for ye have not come in hitherto unto the rest, and unto the inheritance, which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee; and ye have passed over the Jordan, and have dwelt in the land which Jehovah your God is causing you to inherit, and He hath given rest to you from all your enemies round about, and ye have dwelt confidently:
`And it hath been, when thou comest in unto the land which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee -- an inheritance, and thou hast possessed it, and dwelt in it,
and he bringeth us in unto this place, and giveth to us this land -- a land flowing with milk and honey.
and say unto him, `Lo, thou hast become aged, and thy sons have not walked in thy ways; now, appoint to us a king, to judge us, like all the nations.' And the thing is evil in the eyes of Samuel, when they have said, `Give to us a king to judge us;' and Samuel prayeth unto Jehovah. And Jehovah saith unto Samuel, `Hearken to the voice of the people, to all that they say unto thee, for thee they have not rejected, but Me they have rejected, from reigning over them.
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,