Deuteronomy 17:19

19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to revere Yahweh your God by {diligently observing} all the word of this law and these rules,

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 And he must not {acquire many} wives for himself, so that his heart [would] turn aside; and {he must not accumulate silver and gold for himself excessively}.
18 "{And then} {when he is sitting} on the throne of his kingdom, then he shall write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll {before} the Levitical priests.
19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to revere Yahweh your God by {diligently observing} all the word of this law and these rules,
20 [so as] not to exalt his heart above his countrymen and not to turn aside from the commandment to the right or to the left, so that {he may reign long over his kingdom}, he and his children in the midst of Israel."

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. Hebrew "in it"
  • [b]. Literally "by keeping ... to do them"
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