Deuteronomy 17:19

19 He is to keep this book near him and read from it all his life, so that he will learn to honor the Lord and to obey faithfully everything that is commanded in it.

Deuteronomy 17:19 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 17:19

And it shall be with him
Always, when at home or abroad, sitting on his throne or lying down, or wherever he went, unless in such places where it was not proper to read it, as the Jews observe {o}: and he shall read therein all the days of his life; every day of his life; meditate on it night and day, as a good man does, that he might be well versed in it, and know how to govern his people according to it:

that he may learn to, fear the Lord his God; to serve and worship him
both internally and externally, he having the fear of God always before his eyes, and on his heart, which the holy law of God directs to and instructs in:

to keep all the words of this law, and these statutes, to do them;
not only such as concerned him as a king, but all others that concerned him as a man, a creature subject to the Lord, and as an Israelite belonging to the church and commonwealth of Israel, and so includes all laws, moral, ceremonial, and judicial.


FOOTNOTES:

F15 Maimon. Hilchot Melachim, c. 3. sect. 1.

Deuteronomy 17:19 In-Context

17 The king is not to have many wives, because this would make him turn away from the Lord; and he is not to make himself rich with silver and gold.
18 When he becomes king, he is to have a copy of the book of God's laws and teachings made from the original copy kept by the levitical priests.
19 He is to keep this book near him and read from it all his life, so that he will learn to honor the Lord and to obey faithfully everything that is commanded in it.
20 This will keep him from thinking that he is better than other Israelites and from disobeying the Lord's commands in any way. Then he will reign for many years, and his descendants will rule Israel for many generations.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.