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英文原文
The charge of this chapter is, I. Concerning the purity and perfection of all those animals that were offered in sacrifice, De 17:1. II. Concerning the punishment of those that worshipped idols, De 17:2-7. III. Concerning appeals from the inferior courts to the great sanhedrim, De 17:8-13. IV. Concerning the choice and duty of a king, De 17:14-20, etc.
1-7
The Punishment of Idolatry (1451 BC)
简体中文
拜偶像之刑罚（主前1451年）
¹ 凡有残疾，或什么恶病的牛羊，你不可献给耶和华你的神；因为这是耶和华你神所憎恶的。 ² 在你们中间，在耶和华你神所赐你的任何一座城里，若发现一个男人或女人，行耶和华你神眼中看为恶的事，违背了他的约， ³ 去事奉敬拜别神，或拜日头，或拜月亮，或拜天上的万象——是我所没有吩咐的—— ⁴ 有人告诉你，你也听见了，就要细细地查究；果然是真，确有这可憎恶的事行在以色列中， ⁵ 你就要将那行这恶事的男人或女人拉到城门外，用石头打死。 ⁶ 要凭两三个人的口作见证，才可治死那当死的人；不可凭一个人的口作见证治死他。 ⁷ 见证人要先下手，然后众民也下手，将他治死。这样，你就把那恶从你们中间除掉。
此处有，I. 一条为维护神敬拜之尊荣的律法，规定凡有残疾的牲畜不可献为祭物，申17:1。这一告诫我们已屡次遇见：『凡有残疾的不可献为祭』，那残疾使它不体面，或『有任何恶症或恶物』（原文后面的词这样翻也许更佳），任何疾病或软弱，即便初看不易察觉——这在神眼中都是可憎的。神是至善的存有，所以无论用什么事奉祂，都当是同类中最佳的。旧约的祭物尤其必须如此，因为它们是基督的预表——基督是『无瑕疵无玷污的羔羊』（彼前1:19），完全洁净，毫无罪恶，也毫无罪恶的迹象。在犹太教会后期，他们因被掳于巴比伦而治愈了拜偶像之病，却仍因违背此律而被定罪为亵渎——『将瞎眼的、瘸腿的、有病的献为祭』，玛1:8。
II. 一条刑罚那些敬拜假神之人的律法。引诱别人拜偶像已定为死罪（申13:1-18），此处被引诱拜偶像也同样定为死罪。若是『瞎子领瞎子，两人都要掉在坑里』。神如此使他们对此罪生出恐惧——他们既见有这么多流血的律法来惩治它，就当断定它极为可恶；又借此威吓那些不肯用别的劝法劝止的人。然而那属死的律法终归无效。请看，
1\. 此律法所针对的是什么罪——事奉或敬拜别神，申17:3。其中特别指明最古老、最似是而非的拜偶像之事——敬拜日、月、星辰；若连这都如此可憎，何况敬拜木石，或卑鄙可鄙之动物的形像呢？论到这事经上说：（1）这是神所未曾吩咐的。祂已三令五申加以禁止；但此处如此表达，为要暗示即便没有别的反对理由，这一条已经够了（因为敬拜神的事，神的设立与命定必须是我们的准则和授权）；也暗示神从未命令祂的敬拜者自贬身价，去向受造之物致敬：倘若神吩咐他们这样行，他们尽可以抱怨这是对他们的羞辱和贬损；然而祂禁止这事时，他们却因悖逆之灵，将这羞辱加在自己身上。（2）这是耶和华眼中看为恶的事，申17:2。无论隐藏得多么严密，祂都看见；无论粉饰得多么巧妙，祂都恨恶：这罪本身就极其可恶，是所能向全能之神献上的最大侮辱。（3）这是违背了约。神以他们为特有之民的条件正是：他们惟独事奉并敬拜祂为他们的神；所以他们若将惟独当归于祂的尊荣归于别神，那约便失效，其中一切的益处也尽都丧失。别的罪是违背诫命，这罪却是违背圣约。这是属灵的淫乱，破坏了婚姻的盟约。（4）这在以色列中是可憎恶的，申17:4。拜偶像在任何人身上都够坏了，但在以色列人身上尤其可憎——他们如此蒙福，得着独一又真又活的神之旨意与恩惠的特殊启示。
2\. 此案当如何审理。一旦有人告发，或有什么根据怀疑某人——无论男女——事奉了别神：（1）必须查究，申17:4。即便初次显得不确实，日后详查也许就显出实情来；若是能查明，就不可不罚；即便不能，单单对这事的查究，也足以使全国对此产生畏惧。（2）必须提出证据，申17:6。这罪无论何等可恶、何等危险，仍不可据此刑罚人，除非有良好的证据，至少要有两个见证人。他们不可打着尊荣神之旗号，冤枉一个无辜的人。这条要求人命之案须有两名见证人的律法，我们先前已有，民35:30；在新约也被引用，太18:16。
3\. 当宣判并执行什么刑罚。如此重的刑罚——死刑，如此重的死法——石头打死，必须加在拜偶像者身上，无论男女，因为软弱之性的软弱不能成为借口，申17:5。行刑的地点当在城门口，使罪犯更加蒙羞，也使众人更受公开的警戒。在此案以及其他案件中，见证人的手必须先在他身上——就是必须先向他扔头一块石头，借此表明他们坚持自己的见证，并庄严地求告：倘若他们的见证是假的，他们便担当流血之罪。这规矩或有助于威吓人不可作假见证。见证人实在是那罪犯之死的原因，所以也要求他们实际上亲自动手。但众民的手必须随后跟上，将刑罚执行完毕——他们如此表明对此罪的厌恶，并『把那恶从你们中间除掉』，正如先前的申13:9 所记。
英文原文
The Punishment of Idolatry (1451 BC)
¹ Thou shalt not sacrifice unto the LORD thy God any bullock, or sheep, wherein is blemish, or any evilfavouredness: for that is an abomination unto the LORD thy God.
² If there 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 the LORD thy God, in transgressing his covenant,
³ And hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded;
⁴ And it be told thee, and thou hast heard of it, and enquired diligently, and, behold, it be true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in Israel:
⁵ Then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, which have committed that wicked thing, unto thy gates, 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 put the evil away from among you.
Here is, I. A law for preserving the honour of God's worship, by providing that no creature that had any blemish should be offered in sacrifice to him, De 17:1. This caveat we have often met with: Thou shalt not sacrifice that which has any blemish, which renders it unsightly, or any evil matter or thing (as the following word night better be rendered), any sickness or weakness, though not discernible at first view; it is an abomination to God. God is the best of beings, and therefore whatsoever he is served with ought to be the best in its kind. And the Old-Testament sacrifices in a special manner must be so, because they were types of Christ, who is a Lamb without blemish or spot (1Pe 1:19), perfectly pure from all sin and all appearance of it. In the latter times of the Jewish church, when by the captivity in Babylon they were cured of idolatry, yet they were charged with profaneness in the breach of this law, with offering the blind, and the lame, and the sick for sacrifice, Mal 1:8.
II. A law for the punishing of those that worshipped false gods. It was made a capital crime to seduce others to idolatry (De 13:1-18), here it is made no less to be seduced. If the blind thus mislead the blind, both must fall into the ditch. Thus God would possess them with a dread of that sin, which they must conclude exceedingly sinful when so many sanguinary laws were made against it, and would deter those from it that would not otherwise be persuaded against it; and yet the law, which works death, proved ineffectual. See here,
1. What the crime was against which this law was levelled, serving or worshipping other gods, De 17:3. That which was the most ancient and plausible idolatry is specified, worshipping the sun, moon, and stars; and, if that was so detestable a thing, much more was it so to worship stocks and stones, or the representations of mean and contemptible animals. Of this it is said, (1.) That it is what God had not commanded. He had again and again forbidden it; but it is thus expressed to intimate that, if there had been no more against it, this had been enough (for in the worship of God his institution and appointment must be our rule and warrant), and that God never commanded his worshippers to debase themselves so far as to do homage to their fellow-creatures: had God commanded them to do it, they might justly have complained of it as a reproach and disparagement to them; yet, when he has forbidden it, they will, from a spirit of contradiction, put this indignity upon themselves. (2.) That it is wickedness in the sight of God, De 17:2. Be it ever so industriously concealed, he sees it, and, be it ever so ingeniously palliated, he hates it: it is a sin in itself exceedingly heinous, and the highest affront that can be offered to Almighty God. (3.) That it is a transgression of the covenant. It was on this condition that God took them to be his peculiar people, that they should serve and worship him only as their God, so that if they gave to any other the honour which was due to him alone that covenant was void, and all the benefit of it forfeited. Other sins were transgressions of the command, but this was a transgression of the covenant. It was spiritual adultery, which breaks them marriage bond. (4.) That it is abomination in Israel, De 17:4. Idolatry was bad enough in any, but it was particularly abominable in Israel, a people so blessed with peculiar discoveries of the will and favour of the only true and living God.
2. How it must be tried. Upon information given of it, or any ground of suspicion that any person whatsoever, man or woman, had served other gods, (1.) Enquiry must be made, De 17:4. Though it appears not certain at first, it may afterwards upon search appear so; and, if it can possibly be discovered, it must not be unpunished; if not, yet the very enquiry concerning it would possess the country with a dread of it. (2.) Evidence must be given in, De 17:6. How heinous and dangerous soever the crime is, yet they must not punish any for it, unless there were good proof against them, by two witnesses at least. They must not, under pretence of honouring God, wrong an innocent man. This law, which requires two witnesses in case of life, we had before, Nu 35:30; it is quoted, Mt 18:16.
3. What sentence must be passed and executed. So great a punishment as death, so great a death as stoning, must be inflicted on the idolater, whether man or woman, for the infirmity of the weaker sex would be no excuse, De 17:5. The place of execution must be the gate of the city, that the shame might be the greater to the criminal and the warning the more public to all others. The hands of the witnesses, in this as in other cases, must be first upon him, that is, they must cast the first stone at him, thereby avowing their testimony, and solemnly imprecating the guilt of his blood upon themselves if their evidence were false. This custom might be of use to deter men from false-witness bearing. The witnesses are really, and therefore it was required that they should be actually, the death of the malefactor. But they must be followed, and the execution completed, by the hands of all the people, who were thus to testify their detestation of the crime and to put the evil away from among them, as before, De 13:9.
8-13
The Authority of the Judges (1451 BC)
简体中文
审判官的权柄（公元前1451年）
⁸ 你城中若起了争讼的事，或因流血，或因争竞，或因斗殴，是你难以判断的；你就当起来，上耶和华你的神所选择的地方去， ⁹ 去见祭司利未人，并当时作审判官的，求问他们；他们必将判语指示你。 ¹⁰ 他们在耶和华所选择的地方指示你的判语，你必照着他们所断定的去行；他们所指教你的，你都要谨守遵行。 ¹¹ 要按他们所教导你的律法判语，照他们所告诉你的去行；他们所指示你的判语，你不可偏离左右。 ¹² 若有人擅敢不听从那侍立在耶和华你神面前的祭司，或不听从审判官，那人就必治死；这样，你就把那恶从以色列中除掉。 ¹³ 众百姓听见都必惧怕，不再擅敢行事。
各城当设立审判法庭（申16:18），授权他们按律法听审断案，包括我们所谓王室之诉和彼此之间的诉讼；我们可以推想，通常他们把呈到他们面前的事审结，他们的判决是终局的；但是：
1. 此处假设有时他们的法庭可能遇到下级审判官难以断定的案件——他们不如上级法庭的庭长那样精通律法；所以（用我国法律用语）他们要作特别裁决，宣告判决前要花时间商议（申17:8）：你城中若起了难以判断的争讼之事， 承认其难并不损审判官的体面——譬如在流血与流血之间：被杀之人的血与被控杀人者所当偿的血，证据未明是故意还是误杀之时；或在争竞与争竞之间：原告的诉求（即呈状或控词）与被告的答辩之间；或在斗殴与斗殴之间：殴打伤人之类诉讼中；在这些和类似案件中，即使证据清楚，律法的意义和应用于具体案件时仍可能生疑。
2. 这些难案从前照叶忒罗的献策都呈到摩西那里，他去世之后，当呈到最高权柄所在之处——无论这权柄是在一位士师身上（当有这等特殊人物被兴起、具备如此大才干时，如俄陀聂、底波拉、基甸等），或在一位大祭司身上（当他因恩赐卓绝而被神呼召治理国事时，如以利），或者若没有一个人被天所立得此尊荣，则在祭司和利未人身上（或说在祭司身上——他们本来就是利未人）——他们不仅事奉圣所，也聚集为议会，受理下级法庭的上诉；可以合理推想，他们不仅因学问和经验最为合格，也最能得圣灵的帮助以决疑（申17:9、11、12）。他们并非受命去求问乌陵和土明，因为据推想，这惟在关乎公众之事上——无论是全国百姓或君王的事——才可求问；至于寻常案件，当倚靠那些掌舵之人的智慧与正直。他们的判决没有神谕般的属神权威，但除了作为有学问、谨慎、经验丰富之人的判断所具有的道德确实性之外，还有神应许的优势，隐含于这话之中（申17:9）：他们必将判语指示你； 又有神设立的优势——他们由此被立为国家的最高法庭。
3. 审判官、祭司或大议会所判定的终局判决，当事方必须遵行，违者处死：你必照着他们所断定的去行（申17:10）；你要谨守遵行， 不可偏离左右（申17:11）。注意：维护上级的权柄、遵守当行的治理次序，使所立为治理的人得蒙顺服，使众人在其权柄所辖之事上都顺服他们——这乃是神的荣耀，也是百姓的福祉。虽然当事方自以为受了委屈（因为各人都易偏袒己事），仍必须顺服，必须服从裁决，无论多么不悦；要按之承担或丧失或支付——不仅因刑罚，也是为良心的缘故。但下级审判官若违背上级法庭的判决、不执行其命令，或私人不顺从其判决，这顽梗必判死刑，即使所抗之事十分微小：那人就必治死，众百姓听见都必惧怕（申17:12-13）。
请看： (1.) 不顺从的邪恶。背叛顽梗——出于对抗神的灵，或反对在祂之下的掌权者，出于轻蔑和任性——与行邪术和拜偶像同等。若因软弱和不足而意见不同，尚可原谅，也当容忍；但若在骄傲和恶念中擅敢如此行（古译本如此解释），这就是向治理者武装反叛，是向那设立掌权者的神侮辱。 (2.) 刑罚的目的：使别人听见而惧怕，不再照样行。有人会留心推想，从刑罚之重可知其罪之大，因而厌恶之；也有人会顾及自己的安全，宁可压抑己意而顺服判决，也不愿因违背而自取罪过、丧失性命。使徒正是从这律例推论，践踏神儿子权柄的人，当受何等重的刑罚（来10:28-29）。
英文原文
The Authority of the Judges (1451 BC)
⁸ If there 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 get thee up into the place which the LORD thy God shall choose;
⁹ And thou shalt come unto the priests the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days, and enquire; 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 unto the priest that standeth to minister there before the LORD thy God, or unto the judge, even that man shall die: and thou shalt put away the evil from Israel.
¹³ And all the people shall hear, and fear, and do no more presumptuously.
Courts of judgment were ordered to be erected in every city (De 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, 1. It is here taken for granted that sometimes a case might come into their court too difficult for those inferior judges to determine, who could not be thought to be so learned in the laws as those that presided in the higher courts; so that (to speak in the language of our law) they must find a special verdict, and take time to advise before the giving of judgment (De 17:8): If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment, which it would be no dishonour to the judges to own the difficulty of,—suppose it between blood and blood, the blood of a person which cried and the blood of him that was charged with the murder which was demanded, when it was doubtful upon the evidence whether it was wilful or casual,—or between plea and plea, the plea (that is, the bill or declaration) of the plaintiff and the plea of the defendant,—or between stroke and stroke, in actions of assault and battery; in these and similar cases, thought the evidence were plain, yet doubts might arise about the sense and meaning of the law and the application of it to the particular case. 2. These difficult cases, which hitherto had been brought to Moses, according to Jethro's advice, were, after his death, to be brought to the supreme power, wherever it was lodged, whether in a judge (when there was such an extraordinary person raised up and qualified for that great service, as Othniel, Deborah, Gideon, etc.) or in the high-priest (when he was by the eminency of his gifts called of God to preside in public affairs, as Eli), or, if no single person were marked by heaven for this honour, then in the priests and Levites (or in the priests, who were Levites of course), who not only attended the sanctuary, but met in council to receive appeals from the inferior courts, who might reasonably be supposed, not only to be best qualified by their learning and experience, but to have the best assistance of the divine Spirit for the deciding of doubts, De 17:9,11,12. They are not appointed to consult the urim and thummim, for it is supposed that these were to be consulted only in cases relating to the public, either the body of the people or the prince; but in ordinary cases the wisdom and integrity of those that sat at the stern must be relied on, their judgment had not the divine authority of an oracle, yet besides the moral certainty it had, as the judgment of knowing, prudent, and experienced men, it had the advantage of a divine promise, implied in those words (De 17:9), They shall show thee the sentence of judgment; it had also the support of a divine institution, by which they were made the supreme judicature of the nation. 3. The definitive sentence given by the judge, priest, or great council, must be obeyed by the parties concerned, upon pain of death: Thou shalt do according to their sentence (De 17:10); thou shalt observe to do it, thou shalt not decline from it (De 17:11), to the right hand nor to the left. Note, It is for the honour of God and the welfare of a people that the authority of the higher power be supported and the due order of government observed, that those be obeyed who are appointed to rule, and that every soul be subject to them in all those things that fall within their commission. Though the party thought himself injured by the sentence (as every man is apt to be partial in is own cause), yet he must needs be subject, must stand to the award, how unpleasing soever, and bear, or lose, or pay, according to it, not only for wrath, but also for conscience' sake. But if an inferior judge contradict the sentence of the higher court and will not execute the orders of it, or a private person refuse to conform to their sentence, the contumacy must be punished with death, though the matter were ever so small in which the opposition was made: That man shall die, and all the people shall hear and fear, De 17:12,13. See here, (1.) The evil of disobedience. Rebellion and stubbornness, from a spirit of contradiction and opposition of God, or those in authority under him, from a principle of contempt and self-willedness, are as witchcraft and idolatry. To differ in opinion from weakness and infirmity may be excused and must be borne with; but to do so presumptuously, in pride and wickedness (as the ancient translations explain it), this is to take up arms against the government, and is an affront to him by whom the powers that be are ordained. (2.) The design of punishment: that others may hear and fear, and not do the like. Some would be so considerate as to infer the heinousness of the offence from the grievousness of the penalty, and therefore would detest it; and others would so far consult their own safety as to cross their humours by conforming to the sentence rather than to sin against their own heads, and forfeit their lives by going contrary to it. From this law the apostle infers the greatness of the punishment of which those will be thought worthy that trample on the authority of the Son of God, Heb 10:28,29.
14-20
The Choice of a King (1451 BC)
简体中文
论立王之例（主前1451年）
¹⁴ 你到了耶和华你神所赐你之地，得了那地，住在其中，若说：我要立一个王治理我，像四围的列国一样； ¹⁵ 你总要立耶和华你神所拣选的人为王治理你；你要从你弟兄中立一位为王，不可立你弟兄以外的人为王。 ¹⁶ 只是王不可为自己加添马匹，也不可使百姓回埃及去，为要他加添马匹；因耶和华曾对你们说：不可再回那条路去。 ¹⁷ 他也不可为自己多立妃嫔，恐怕他的心偏邪；也不可为自己多多积聚金银。 ¹⁸ 他登了国位，就要将祭司利未人面前的这律法书，为自己抄录一本， ¹⁹ 存在他那里，要平生诵读，好学习敬畏耶和华他的神，谨守遵行这律法的一切话， ²⁰ 免得他向弟兄心高气傲，偏左偏右，离了诫命：好使他和他的子孙在以色列中，在国位上年长日久。
关于臣民的律法之後，恰当地接着就是关于君王的律法；因为那治理别人的，自己也当记得他们在命令之下。这里所给的律法是：
I. 给选王之人的——他们在选择上当凭何准则（申17:14-15）。1. 这里假设百姓日後会想要一个王，王的皇家威仪和权势会被认为能使他们的国家在邻邦中显得伟大。他们有王一事，既未作为怜悯应许，也未作为本分命令（再没有什么比他们所受的神治对他们更好的了），但若他们渴望，是蒙允许的。只要他们留心使治理的目的达到，并使神的律法得着适当的遵守和执行，他们就不必受任何一种政体形式的约束，而可以随意有王。虽然那愿望的动机被假设为有些不规——他们要像列国一样（而神已在许多方面将他们与列国分别出来）——神却愿意纵容他们，因为他定意借王政使弥赛亚的国成为预表。2. 他们在选择上受指导。他们若一定要立一个王治理他们——神预见他们必如此行（虽然直到将近四百年之後才有此动议）——他们就必：（1）求问神的口，立神所拣选的人为王；他们在这重大事务上有一个可咨询的神谕，并有一位为他们拣选、对每个人现在和将来如何都全知的神，这是他们的福气。君王是神的代理人，所以由他拣选是合宜的：神自己曾特别地作以色列的王，他们若要在以下另立一位，由他提名那人是必要的。所以当百姓求立王时，他们去求问耶和华的先知撒母耳；後来大卫、所罗门、耶罗波安、耶户等人，都是被先知所拣选；百姓因没有遵守这律法而受责备（何8:4）：他们立君王，却不由于我。在一切事上，神的拣选——只要我们能知道——都当指导、决定、推翻我们的拣选。（2）他们不可借口的加强联盟，或那人格外合宜，而选一个外人，免得一个陌生的王引进与神律法所设立的相违背的陌生风俗；他必须是从你弟兄中的一位，使他可以作基督的预表——基督是我们骨中的骨（来2:14）。
II. 这里也给那被选的君王定了为正当治理当守的律法。
1. 他当谨慎避免一切会使他偏离神和信仰的事。财富、尊荣和享乐是敬虔的三大障碍（肉体的情欲、眼目的情欲并今生的骄傲），对居高位者尤其如此：所以君王在此被警告防备这些。（1）他不可借多加马匹以满足虚荣之心（申17:16）。在一个普遍使用驴骡的国家，骑马（一种威严的活物）的人看起来很威风；所以虽然他可以为自己的坐骑和车马有马，但他不可叫仆人骑马（传10:7），也不可为他的官员和卫兵多备马匹（当神作他们的王时，他的士师骑驴，士5:10，12:14），更不可为战争多备马匹，免得他过分倚靠它们（诗20:7，33:17；何14:3）。这里反对他多加马匹的理由是，这必使他们与埃及（那地为迦南供应马匹，王上10:28-29）产生过密来往——这种来往对神的以色列是不合宜的，因为他们是以如此大能的手从那里被领出来的：你们不可再回那条路去，免得受埃及偶像崇拜的感染（利18:3）——他们对此极为倾向。请注意：我们当防备那有引我们陷入罪中之危险的商业或交往。以色列若不可回埃及去，就不可与埃及通商；所罗门从其中并未得益。（2）他不可借多立妃嫔以满足享乐之心（申17:17）——所罗门正是为此自取败坏（王上11:1）——免得他的心既系于她们，就从公务和一切正经事上偏离，尤其从敬虔和虔诚的操练上偏离——再没有什么比纵容肉体更是那操练的大敌了。（3）他不可借多多积聚金银以满足贪财之心。他可以有一个适当的府库，也不禁止他善于理财，但是：[1] 他不可大大加添钱财，以致借征敛欺压百姓（所罗门似乎如此行，王上12:4），也不可借此自欺——倚靠钱财、将心放在其上（诗62:10）。[2] 他不可为自己积聚。大卫积聚了金银，却是为事奉神（代上29:4），不是为自己；是为他的百姓，不是为自己的家。
2. 他当谨慎专心于神的律法，并以之为准则。这对他比一切财富、尊荣、享乐，比许多马匹或许多妃嫔，比千万的金银更宝贵。
（1）他当从看守圣所的祭司所保管的原件为自己抄录一本律法（申17:18）。有人认为他只需抄录申命记这一卷——它是律法的节录，其中的诫命多为道德和司法性质，关乎君王过于利未记和民数记中那主要关乎祭司的礼仪律。另有人认为他当抄录摩西全部五卷——这五卷称为律法，并作为他们信仰的基础一同保存。如今：[1] 虽然可以假定王从他先祖有相当好的抄本，但除了那些之外，他还当有自己的一本：那些或因不断使用而磨损；他当有一本崭新的来开始他的治理。[2] 虽然他周围有秘书可以雇来抄写这抄本，他们或许写得一手比他更好的字，他却必须亲手自己抄写，为律法的尊荣，也为表明他不以任何宗教行为为有失身份，借此使自己习惯于劳苦和学习，尤其借此他被迫特别留意律法的每一部分，并借抄写将其铭刻于心。请注意：我们每个人将自己在圣经、好书和所听讲道中所见最感动人、最造就人的事记录下来，是大有益处的。一支审慎的笔，可以大大弥补记性的不足，并为那好管家"新旧东西"的库藏增添财富。[3] 他登了国位就要如此行——只要他先前没有作过。当他开始办理事务之时，他当首先办理这事。坐在国位上的人不能不事务繁多。他在国内国外的国事都需要他大量的时间和心思，但他仍当为自己抄录一本律法。那些自称事务繁忙的人，不要以为这就可以使他们不把信仰当作自己事务；也不要让大人物以为亲自为自己抄录神所写给他们的律法上的大事（来8:12）有失身份。
（2）既有一本自己所写的圣经，他不可以为放在柜中就够了，他必须平生诵读（申17:19）。仅仅有圣经不够，我们必须使用圣经，每日使用，正如每日的本分和需要所要求的：我们的灵魂必须有那吗哪为日常粮食；若消化得好，就必成为它们真实的滋养和力量。正如身体不仅吃饭时、乃是不断从食物得益，灵魂也如此——只要它昼夜思想神的话语（诗1:2）。我们必须一生持久使用神所写的话语。基督的门徒总学不超过他们的圣经，他们一生都恒常需要圣经，直到他们到了那个知识和爱心都得以完全的世界。
（3）他若不将所写所读的付诸实行，他的抄写和阅读便全归虚空（申17:19-20）。神的话语不是仅仅为供人作有趣的思辨题目而设的，更是要作人行事为人的权威准则。他当知道：[1] 他的信仰必须对他有何等的统治，并有何等的影响。第一，它必须使他对神的威严和权威怀着极其敬畏的心。他必须学习（连最有学问的人也必须不断学习）敬畏耶和华他的神；他无论怎样高，也当记得神在他之上，无论臣民对他当有何等的敬畏，他对神——他的王——所欠的，只有比那更多。第二，它必须使他时常遵守神的律法，并以敬畏之心认真地顺服——这是那敬畏的果子。他必须遵守这律法的一切话（他是custos utriusque tabulae——两块法版的守护者），不仅留心别人遵行，自己也当遵行，作天上神谦卑的仆人，作下属的好榜样。第三，它必须使他谦卑。他无论怎样被升高，都当使自己的灵低微；让对神的敬畏阻止他轻看弟兄；不要使他的心向他们高傲，以致对他们行事傲慢或鄙夷，践踏他们。他不可因自己更大、更显赫，就自以为比他们更好；而当记得他是神的用人，是与他有益的（major singulis，但 minor universis——大于任何一人，但小于整体）。这要防止他偏左或偏右的偏差（因为左右两边都有偏差），使他在一切事上对神对他的本分都保持正道。[2] 他的信仰对他有何益处。那敬畏神、遵守他诫命的人，今世必因之得益。世上最大的君王从信仰所得的益处，比他君国一切的财富权势更多。这必有益处：第一，对他本人：他在国位上年长日久。我们在犹大列王的历史中看到，大体上最好的治绩 reign 也最长久，除了神为刑罚百姓而缩短之时——如约西亚的。第二，对他的家：他的儿女也必亨通。将信仰传给後裔，神必赐福给其後裔。
英文原文
The Choice of a King (1451 BC)
¹⁴ When thou art come unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me;
¹⁵ Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the LORD thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother.
¹⁶ But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the LORD hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way.
¹⁷ Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.
¹⁸ And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites:
¹⁹ And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them:
²⁰ That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel.
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,
I. To the electors of the empire, what rules they must go by in making their choice, De 17:14,15. 1. It is here supposed that the people would, in process of time, be desirous of a king, whose royal pomp and power would be thought to make their nation look great among their neighbours. Their having a king is neither promised as a mercy nor commanded as a duty (nothing could be better for them than the divine regimen they were under), but it is permitted them if they desired it. If they would but take care to have the ends of government answered, and God's laws duly observed and put in execution, they should not be tied to any one form of government, but should be welcome to have a king. Though something irregular is supposed to be the principle of the desire, that they might be like the nations (whereas God in many ways distinguished them from the nations), yet God would indulge them in it, because he intended to serve his own purposes by it, in making the regal government typical of the kingdom of the Messiah. 2. They are directed in their choice. If they will have a king over them, as God foresaw they would (though it does not appear that ever the motion was made till almost 400 years after), then they must, (1.) Ask counsel at God's mouth, and make him king whom God shall choose; and happy it was for them that they had an oracle to consult in so weighty an affair, and a God to choose for them who knows infallibly what every man is and will be. Kings are God's vicegerents, and therefore it is fit that he should have the choosing of them: God had himself been in a particular manner Israel's King, and if they set another over them, under him, it was necessary that he should nominate the person. Accordingly, when the people desired a king, they applied to Samuel a prophet of the Lord; and afterwards David, Solomon, Jeroboam, Jehu, and others, were chosen by the prophets; and the people are reproved for not observing this law, Ho 8:4: They have set up kings but not by me. In all cases God's choice, if we can but know it, should direct, determine, and overrule ours. (2.) They must not choose a foreigner under pretence of strengthening their alliances, or of the extraordinary fitness of the person, lest a strange king should introduce strange customs of usages, contrary to those that were established by the divine law; but he must be one from among thy brethren, that he may be a type of Christ, who is bone of our bone, Heb 2:14.
II. Laws are here given to the prince that should be elected for the due administration of the government.
1. He must carefully avoid every thing that would divert him from God and religion. Riches, honours, and pleasures are the three great hindrances of godliness (the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eye, and the pride of life), especially to those in high stations: against these therefore the king is here warned. (1.) He must not gratify the love of honour by multiplying horses, De 17:16. He that rode upon a horse (a stately creature) in a country where asses and mules were generally used looked very great; and therefore though he might have horses for his own saddle, and chariots, yet he must not set servants on horseback (Ec 10:7) nor have many horses for his officers and guards (when God was their King, his judges rode on asses, Jdg 5:10,12:14), nor must he multiply horses for war, lest he should trust too much to them, Ps 20:7,33:17, Ho 14:3. The reason here given against his multiplying horses is because it would produce a greater correspondence with Egypt (which furnished Canaan with horses, 1Ki 10:28,29) than it was fit the Israel of God should have, who were brought thence with such a high hand: You shall return no more that way, for fear of being infected with the idolatries of Egypt (Le 18:3), to which they were very prone. Note, We should take heed of that commerce or conversation by which we are in danger of being drawn into sin. If Israel must not return to Egypt, they must not trade with Egypt; Solomon got no good by it. (2.) He must not gratify the love of pleasure by multiplying wives (De 17:17), as Solomon did to his undoing (1Ki 11:1), that his heart, being set upon them, turn not away from business, and every thing that is serious, and especially from the exercise of piety and devotion, to which nothing is a greater enemy than the indulgence of the flesh. (3.) He must not gratify the love of riches by greatly multiplying silver and gold. A competent treasure is allowed him, and he is not forbidden to be good husband of it, but, [1.] He must not greatly multiply money, so as to oppress his people by raising it (as Solomon seems to have done, 1Ki 12:4), nor so as to deceive himself, by trusting to it, and setting his heart upon it, Ps 62:10. [2.] He must not multiply it to himself. David multiplied silver and gold, but it was for the service of God (1Ch 29:4), not for himself; for his people, not for his own family.
2. He must carefully apply himself to the law of God, and make that his rule. This must be to him better than all riches, honours, and pleasures, than many horses or many wives, better than thousands of gold and silver.
(1.) He must write himself a copy of the law out of the original, which was in the custody of the priests that attended the sanctuary, De 17:18. Some think that he was to write only this book of Deuteronomy, which is an abstract of the law, and the precepts of which, being mostly moral and judicial, concerned the king more than the laws in Leviticus and Numbers, which, being ceremonial, concerned chiefly the priests. Others think that he was to transcribe all the five books of Moses, which are called the law, and which were preserved together as the foundation of their religion. Now, [1.] Though the king might be presumed to have very fair copies by him from his ancestors, yet, besides those, he must have one of his own: it might be presumed that theirs were worn with constant use; he must have a fresh one to begin the world with. [2.] Though he had secretaries about him whom he might employ to write this copy, and who perhaps could write a better hand than he, yet he must do it himself, with his own hand, for the honour of the law, and that he might think no act of religion below him, to inure himself to labour and study, and especially that he might thereby be obliged to take particular notice of every part of the law and by writing it might imprint it in his mind. Note, It is of great use for each of us to write down what we observe as most affecting and edifying to us, out of the scriptures and good books, and out of the sermons we hear. A prudent pen may go far towards making up the deficiencies of the memory, and the furnishing of the treasures of the good householder with things new and old. [3.] He must do this even when he sits upon the throne of his kingdom, provided that he had not done it before. When he begins to apply himself to business, he must apply himself to this in the first place. He that sits upon the throne of a kingdom cannot but have his hands full. The affairs of his kingdom both at home and abroad call for a large share of his time and thoughts, and yet he must write himself a copy of the law. Let not those who call themselves men of business think that this will excuse them from making religion their business; nor let great men think it any disparagement to them to write for themselves those great things of God's law which he hath written to them, Heb 8:12.
(2.) Having a Bible by him of his own writing, he must not think it enough to keep it in his cabinet, but he must read therein all the days of his life, De 17:19. It is not enough to have Bibles, but we must use them, use them daily, as the duty and necessity of everyday require: our souls must have their constant meals of that manna; and, if well digested, it will be true nourishment and strength to them. As the body is receiving benefit by its food continually, and not only when it is eating, so is the soul, by the word of God, if it meditate therein day and night, Ps 1:2. And we must persevere in the use of the written word of God as long as we live. Christ's scholars never learn above their Bibles, but will have a constant occasion for them till they come to that world where knowledge and love will both be made perfect.
(3.) His writing and reading were all nothing if he did not reduce to practice what he wrote and read, De 17:19,20. The word of God is not designed merely to be and entertaining subject of speculation, but to be a commanding rule of conversation. Let him know, [1.] What dominion his religion must have over him, and what influence it must have upon him. First, It must possess him with a very reverent and awful regard to the divine majesty and authority. He must learn (and thus the most learned must by ever learning) to fear the Lord his God; and, as high as he is, he must remember that God is above him, and, whatever fear his subjects owe to him, that, and much more, he owes to God as his King. Secondly, It must engage him to a constant observance of the law of God, and a conscientious obedience to it, as the effect of that fear. He must keep all the words of this law (he is custos utriusque tabulae—the keeper of both tables), not only take care that others do them, but do them himself as a humble servant to the God of heaven and a good example to his inferiors. Thirdly, It must keep him humble. How much soever he is advanced, let him keep his spirit low, and let the fear of his God prevent the contempt of his brethren; and let not his heart be lifted up above them, so as to carry himself haughtily or disdainfully towards them, and to trample upon them. Let him not conceit himself better than they because he is greater and makes a fairer show; but let him remember that he is the minister of God to them for good (major singulis, but minor universis—greater than any one, but less than the whole). It must prevent his errors, either on he right hand or on the left (for there are errors on both hands), and keep him right, in all instances, to his God and to his duty. [2.] What advantage his religion would be of to him. Those that fear God and keep his commandments will certainly fare the better for it in this world. The greatest monarch in the world may receive more benefit by religion than by all the wealth and power of his monarchy. It will be of advantage, First, To his person: He shall prolong his days in his kingdom. We find in the history of the kings of Judah that, generally, the best reigns were the longest, except when God shortened them for the punishment of the people, as Josiah's. Secondly, To his family: his children shall also prosper. Entail religion upon posterity, and God will entail a blessing upon it.
本章所吩咐的事项包括：I. 关于一切献为祭牲的牲畜当纯洁无瑕疵，申17:1。II. 关于敬拜偶像者当受的刑罚，申17:2-7。III. 关于从下级法庭上诉至大公会之事，申17:8-13。IV. 关于君王的选择与职责，申17:14-20等。