Deuteronomy 17:15
you are to appoint over yourselves the king whom the LORD your God shall choose. Appoint a king from among your brothers; you are not to set over yourselves a foreigner who is not one of your brothers.
you must appoint over you
The phrase "you must appoint over you" indicates a divine mandate for the Israelites to establish leadership according to God's direction. The Hebrew root for "appoint" is "שׂוּם" (sum), which means to set, place, or put. This implies a deliberate and thoughtful action, emphasizing the importance of leadership that aligns with God's will. The Israelites are reminded that their governance should not be arbitrary but divinely guided, ensuring that their societal structure reflects God's order and purpose.

the king the LORD your God chooses
This phrase underscores the sovereignty of God in the selection of a king. The Hebrew word for "chooses" is "בָּחַר" (bachar), meaning to select or elect. It highlights that the ultimate authority and decision rest with God, not human preference or political maneuvering. Historically, this reflects the theocratic nature of Israel's governance, where God is the ultimate ruler, and earthly kings are His representatives. This divine choice ensures that the king's leadership aligns with God's covenantal promises and moral standards.

Appoint a king from among your brothers
The directive to "appoint a king from among your brothers" emphasizes the importance of shared identity and values. The term "brothers" (אֲחִים, achim) signifies kinship and common heritage, ensuring that the king understands and upholds the cultural and religious traditions of Israel. This requirement fosters unity and continuity within the community, as the king is expected to empathize with and represent the people he leads. It also serves as a safeguard against foreign influence that could lead the nation away from its covenant with God.

you are not to set a foreigner over you
The prohibition against setting "a foreigner over you" reflects a concern for maintaining the purity of Israel's faith and practices. The Hebrew word for "foreigner" is "נָכְרִי" (nokhri), which refers to someone who is not part of the Israelite community. This restriction is rooted in the understanding that a foreign king might introduce idolatry or customs contrary to God's laws. Historically, this was a protective measure to preserve the distinctiveness of Israel as God's chosen people, ensuring that their leadership would not lead them astray from their covenantal obligations.

one who is not of your brothers
Reiterating the importance of kinship, "one who is not of your brothers" serves as a final reminder of the necessity for the king to be an Israelite. This phrase reinforces the idea that leadership should arise from within the community, ensuring that the king shares the same faith, values, and vision as the people. It is a call to maintain a leadership that is intimately connected with the spiritual and cultural life of the nation, safeguarding the integrity and continuity of Israel's covenant relationship with God.

Persons / Places / Events
1. The LORD (Yahweh)
The covenant God of Israel, who is sovereign and chooses the king.

2. Israel
The nation to whom this command is given, emphasizing their unique covenant relationship with God.

3. The King
The leader appointed over Israel, who must be chosen by God and be an Israelite.

4. Foreigners
Non-Israelites, who are not to be appointed as king over Israel.

5. Moses
The author of Deuteronomy, delivering God's laws and instructions to the Israelites.
Teaching Points
Divine Sovereignty in Leadership
God is the ultimate authority in appointing leaders. Trust in His choice, even when it seems contrary to human wisdom.

Importance of Godly Leadership
Leaders should be from among the people, sharing their values and faith. This ensures alignment with God's purposes.

Avoiding Foreign Influence
The command to avoid foreign kings serves as a warning against adopting practices and beliefs contrary to God's law.

Community and Identity
The requirement for a king from among the Israelites emphasizes the importance of maintaining a distinct identity as God's people.

Obedience to God's Commands
Following God's instructions regarding leadership is crucial for the well-being and spiritual health of the community.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the requirement for a king to be chosen by God reflect on the nature of divine authority in our lives today?

2. In what ways can we ensure that our leaders share our values and faith, similar to the command for an Israelite king?

3. What are some modern "foreign influences" that can lead us away from God's purposes, and how can we guard against them?

4. How does the account of Saul and David illustrate the importance of God's choice in leadership?

5. How can Romans 13's teaching on governing authorities inform our understanding of Deuteronomy 17:15?
Connections to Other Scriptures
1 Samuel 8
The Israelites demand a king, leading to Saul's anointing, illustrating the tension between divine choice and human desire.

1 Samuel 16
God's choice of David as king, highlighting the importance of divine selection.

1 Kings 11
Solomon's foreign wives lead him astray, underscoring the dangers of foreign influence.

Romans 13
Discusses the role of governing authorities, connecting to the idea of divinely appointed leadership.
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
Able, Appoint, Brethren, Brother, Brothers, Certainly, Choose, Chooses, Countryman, Countrymen, Fix, Foreigner, Indeed, Israelite, Mayest, Midst, Named, Nation, Stranger, Surely, Wise, Yourselves
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Deuteronomy 17:15

     5661   brothers

Deuteronomy 17:14-20

     5366   king

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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