◄ Deuteronomy 17:14 ►
When you enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, "Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,"
Study Bible
When you enter the land
This phrase sets the stage for a future event, indicating a time when the Israelites will take possession of the Promised Land. The Hebrew word for "enter" is "בּוֹא" (bo), which implies not just physical entry but also a transition into a new phase of life. This is a reminder of God's faithfulness in fulfilling His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Historically, this entry into the land marks a significant shift from a nomadic lifestyle to a settled existence, which would bring new challenges and responsibilities.

the LORD your God is giving you
This emphasizes the divine origin of the land grant. The Hebrew name for God here is "יְהוָה" (YHWH), the covenant name of God, underscoring His personal relationship with Israel. The verb "giving" (נָתַן, natan) indicates a gift, not something earned. This reflects the grace of God, who provides for His people out of His love and covenant faithfulness. Archaeologically, this is supported by the understanding that the land was not just a geographical location but a divine inheritance.

and have taken possession of it
The phrase "taken possession" (יָרַשׁ, yarash) implies an active role in receiving what God has provided. It suggests a partnership between divine provision and human responsibility. Historically, this involved military conquest and settlement, as seen in the Book of Joshua. Spiritually, it speaks to the believer's need to actively engage in the promises of God, not passively waiting but stepping out in faith.

and settled in it
The Hebrew word for "settled" is "יָשַׁב" (yashab), meaning to dwell or inhabit. This indicates a transition from wandering to establishing roots. It reflects God's desire for His people to find rest and stability in His provision. In a broader sense, it symbolizes the believer's journey to find rest in Christ, who is our ultimate Promised Land.

and you say, 'Let us set a king over us
This phrase anticipates a future desire of the Israelites to have a monarchy like other nations. The verb "say" (אָמַר, amar) suggests a deliberation or decision-making process. This request for a king is significant because it reflects a shift in governance and a potential departure from the theocratic leadership under God. Scripturally, this foreshadows the tension between divine kingship and human monarchy, as seen in the narratives of Saul and David.

like all the nations around us
The desire to be "like all the nations" indicates a temptation to conform to worldly standards rather than maintain distinctiveness as God's chosen people. The Hebrew word for "nations" is "גּוֹיִם" (goyim), often used to describe Gentile nations. This reflects a historical and spiritual tension between being in the world but not of it. For the believer, it serves as a caution against the allure of cultural assimilation at the expense of spiritual identity and calling.

Persons / Places / Events
1. The Israelites
The chosen people of God, who are being prepared to enter the Promised Land.

2. The Promised Land
The land that God promised to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

3. The LORD (Yahweh)
The covenant God of Israel, who is giving the land to His people.

4. The Nations Around
The surrounding nations that Israel would encounter in the Promised Land, often characterized by their own kings and systems of governance.

5. The Future King
The anticipated leader that the Israelites would request to be like other nations, which foreshadows the establishment of the monarchy in Israel.
Teaching Points
God's Sovereignty and Provision
Recognize that God is the ultimate ruler and provider. The desire for a king reflects a human tendency to seek security in earthly systems rather than in God's sovereignty.

Conformity vs. Distinctiveness
The Israelites' desire to be like other nations challenges us to consider how we might conform to worldly standards rather than embracing our distinct identity in Christ.

Leadership and Responsibility
Leadership in God's kingdom comes with responsibility and accountability. As believers, we should seek leaders who align with God's principles and lead with integrity.

Trust in God's Timing
The Israelites were instructed to wait until they were settled in the land before appointing a king. This teaches us the importance of trusting God's timing and plan for our lives.

The Role of Community in Decision-Making
The decision to appoint a king was a communal one, reminding us of the importance of seeking counsel and unity in making significant decisions.
Bible Study Questions
1. What does the Israelites' desire for a king reveal about their relationship with God at that time?

2. How can we apply the principle of trusting in God's sovereignty in our personal and communal decision-making processes today?

3. In what ways might we be tempted to conform to the standards of the world rather than living out our distinct identity in Christ?

4. How does the account of Israel's first king, Saul, illustrate the potential consequences of prioritizing human leadership over divine guidance?

5. Reflect on a time when you had to wait for God's timing in your life. How did that experience shape your faith and trust in Him?
Connections to Other Scriptures
1 Samuel 8
This passage describes the fulfillment of Deuteronomy 17:14 when the Israelites demand a king, leading to the anointing of Saul as the first king of Israel.

Judges 21:25
Highlights the period of the judges when there was no king in Israel, and everyone did what was right in their own eyes, setting the stage for the desire for a monarchy.

1 Samuel 12
Samuel's farewell address, where he reminds the people of their request for a king and the implications of their choice.

Hosea 13:10-11
Reflects on Israel's request for a king and God's response, emphasizing the consequences of their desire to be like other nations.
Sermons
Christ Our Brother and Our KingJ. M. Campbell.Deuteronomy 17:14-15
Limitations Round About a KingD. Davies Deuteronomy 17:14-20
The King in IsraelJ. Orr Deuteronomy 17:14-20
The Limitations of MonarchyR.M. Edgar Deuteronomy 17:14-20
People
Levites, Moses
Places
Beth-baal-peor, Egypt
Topics
Comest, Desire, Dwell, Dwelt, Enter, Gives, Giveth, Giving, Hast, Heritage, Nations, Possess, Possessed, Possession, Round, Settled, Therein
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Deuteronomy 17:14-20

     5366   king
     5370   kingship, human

Library
Bethphage
There is very frequent mention of this place in the Talmudists: and, certainly, a more careful comparison of the maps with those things which are said by them of the situation of this place is worthy to be made; when they place it in mount Olivet, these make it contiguous to the buildings of Jerusalem. I. In the place cited in the margin, the case "of a stubborn judge" (or elder) is handling. For when, by the prescript of the law, difficult matters, and such things as concerning which the lower councils …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica

The Reign of Saul.
I Sam. 8-31; I Chron. 10 The Demand for a King. The last period saw one tribe after another come to the front and assert itself through some leading man as an emergency arose, but now the tribes are to be united into a monarchy and this, too, at their own request made in the form of a desire for a king. Several things no doubt influenced them to make this request. (1) From the days of Joshua there had been no strong national bond. They were only held together by the law of Moses and the annual assemblages …
Josiah Blake Tidwell—The Bible Period by Period

'Make us a King'
'Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel, onto Ramah, 5. And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. 6. But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the Lord. 7. And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected Me, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Adonijah
BY REV. ALFRED ROWLAND, D.D., LL.B. It is notorious that the sons of devout men sometimes prove a curse to their parents, and bring dishonour on the cause of God. When Eve rejoiced over her first-born, she little suspected that passions were sleeping within him which would impel him to slay his own brother; and the experience of the first mother has been repeated, though in different forms, in all lands and in all ages. Isaac's heart was rent by the deceit of Jacob, and by the self-will of Esau. …
George Milligan—Men of the Bible; Some Lesser-Known

Jehoiada and Joash
'And when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal. 2. But Jehosheba, the daughter of king Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king's sons which were slain; and they hid him, even him and his nurse, in the bedchamber from Athaliah, so that he was not slain. 3. And he was with her hid in the house of the Lord six years. And Athaliah did reign over the land. 4. And the seventh year Jehoiada …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Bible in the Days of Jesus Christ
[Illustration: (drop cap S) Reading from a Roll--old Roman Painting] Slowly but surely, as time went on, God was adding to His Book, until about four hundred years before the birth of Jesus Christ the Old Testament Scriptures, in their present shape, were completed. Many questions have been asked as to how the canon of the Old Testament was formed--that is, how and when did the Jews first begin to understand that the Books of the Old Testament were inspired by God. About the first five Books--the …
Mildred Duff—The Bible in its Making

Josiah, a Pattern for the Ignorant.
"Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before Me; I also have heard thee, saith the Lord. Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place."--2 Kings …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII

The Story of the Adulteress.
(Jerusalem.) ^D John VII. 53-VIII. 11. [This section is wanting in nearly all older manuscripts, but Jerome (a.d. 346-420) says that in his time it was contained in "many Greek and Latin manuscripts," and these must have been as good or better than the best manuscripts we now possess. But whether we regard it as part of John's narrative or not, scholars very generally accept it as a genuine piece of history.] ^d 53 And they went every man unto his own house [confused by the question of Nicodemus, …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Golden Eagle is Cut to Pieces. Herod's Barbarity when He was Ready to Die. He Attempts to Kill Himself. He Commands Antipater to be Slain.
1. Now Herod's distemper became more and more severe to him, and this because these his disorders fell upon him in his old age, and when he was in a melancholy condition; for he was already seventy years of age, and had been brought by the calamities that happened to him about his children, whereby he had no pleasure in life, even when he was in health; the grief also that Antipater was still alive aggravated his disease, whom he resolved to put to death now not at random, but as soon as he should …
Flavius Josephus—The Wars of the Jews or History of the Destruction of Jerusalem

A Sermon on Isaiah xxvi. By John Knox.
[In the Prospectus of our Publication it was stated, that one discourse, at least, would be given in each number. A strict adherence to this arrangement, however, it is found, would exclude from our pages some of the most talented discourses of our early Divines; and it is therefore deemed expedient to depart from it as occasion may require. The following Sermon will occupy two numbers, and we hope, that from its intrinsic value, its historical interest, and the illustrious name of its author, it …
John Knox—The Pulpit Of The Reformation, Nos. 1, 2 and 3.

Subjects of Study. Home Education in Israel; Female Education. Elementary Schools, Schoolmasters, and School Arrangements.
If a faithful picture of society in ancient Greece or Rome were to be presented to view, it is not easy to believe that even they who now most oppose the Bible could wish their aims success. For this, at any rate, may be asserted, without fear of gainsaying, that no other religion than that of the Bible has proved competent to control an advanced, or even an advancing, state of civilisation. Every other bound has been successively passed and submerged by the rising tide; how deep only the student …
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life

Second Stage of Jewish Trial. Jesus Condemned by Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin.
(Palace of Caiaphas. Friday.) ^A Matt. XXVI. 57, 59-68; ^B Mark XIV. 53, 55-65; ^C Luke XXII. 54, 63-65; ^D John XVIII. 24. ^d 24 Annas therefore sent him bound unto Caiaphas the high priest. [Foiled in his attempted examination of Jesus, Annas sends him to trial.] ^b and there come together with him all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes. ^a 57 And they that had taken Jesus led him away to the house of Caiaphas the high priest, ^c and brought him into the high priest's house. ^a where …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Easter Tuesday
Second Sermon. Same Text. Acts 13, 26-39. THE WORD AND THE RESURRECTION.[1] [Footnote 1: This sermon appeared first in the Church Postil, the Explanation of the Epistle and Gospel Texts from Easter to Advent. Printed by Hans Lufft, Wittenberg, 1559.] 1. This sermon was preached by Paul in the synagogue at Antioch of Pisidia, where were gathered with the Jews some Greek converts. Wherever in a city Jews were to be found, there also were their synagogues in which they taught and preached; and many …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II

The Medes and the Second Chaldaean Empire
THE FALL OF NINEVEH AND THE RISE OF THE CHALDAEAN AND MEDIAN EMPIRES--THE XXVIth EGYPTIAN DYNASTY: CYAXARES, ALYATTES, AND NEBUCHADREZZAR. The legendary history of the kings of Media and the first contact of the Medes with the Assyrians: the alleged Iranian migrations of the Avesta--Media-proper, its fauna and flora; Phraortes and the beginning of the Median empire--Persia proper and the Persians; conquest of Persia by the Medes--The last monuments of Assur-bani-pal: the library of Kouyunjik--Phraortes …
G. Maspero—History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, V 8

Deuteronomy
Owing to the comparatively loose nature of the connection between consecutive passages in the legislative section, it is difficult to present an adequate summary of the book of Deuteronomy. In the first section, i.-iv. 40, Moses, after reviewing the recent history of the people, and showing how it reveals Jehovah's love for Israel, earnestly urges upon them the duty of keeping His laws, reminding them of His spirituality and absoluteness. Then follows the appointment, iv. 41-43--here irrelevant (cf. …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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