Deuteronomy 17:2-12

2 If there shall be found among you, within any of thy gates which the LORD thy God giveth thee, man or woman that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of of the LORD thy God, in transgressing his covenant,

3 And hath gone and served other gods, and worshiped them, either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded;

4 And it shall be told thee, and thou hast heard [of it], and inquired diligently, and behold, [it is] true, [and] the thing certain, [that] such abomination is wrought in Israel:

5 Then shalt thou bring forth to thy gates that man or that woman, who have committed that wicked thing, [even] that man or that woman, and shalt stone them with stones, till they die.

6 At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; [but] at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.

7 The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So thou shalt remove the evil from among you.

8 If there shall arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, [being] matters of controversy within thy gates: then shalt thou arise, and go up to the place which the LORD thy God shall choose;

9 And thou shalt come to the priests the Levites, and to the judge that shall be in those days, and inquire; and they shall show thee the sentence of judgment:

10 And thou shalt do according to the sentence, which they of that place which the LORD shall choose shall show thee; and thou shalt observe to do according to all that they inform thee:

11 According to the sentence of the law which they shall teach thee, and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do: thou shalt not decline from the sentence which they shall show thee, [to] the right hand, nor [to] the left.

12 And the man that will do presumptuously, and will not hearken to the priest that standeth to minister there before the LORD thy God, or to the judge, even that man shall die: and thou shalt remove the evil from Israel.

Deuteronomy 17:2-12 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 17

This chapter begins with a caution not to sacrifice anything to the Lord that is blemished or ill favoured, De 17:1, an order is given to put to death men or women guilty of idolatry, where it is clearly proved upon them, De 17:2-7 and it is directed that when cases are too hard for inferior judges to determine, they should be brought to Jerusalem to the priests, Levites, and judges, which formed the great consistory there, whose sentence was to be adhered unto on pain of death, De 17:8-13, and rules are given about the choice of a king, and he is informed what he must not do, and what he should do, De 17:14-20.