DEU 17

Deuteronomy 17:5

WEB

then you shall bring out that man or that woman who has done this evil thing to your gates, even that same man or woman; and you shall stone them to death with stones.

BSB

you must bring out to your gates the man or woman who has done this evil thing, and you must stone that person to death.

KJV

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.

Matthew Henry

Verses 1–7

Deuteronomy 17:1–7

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, Deu 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 (Pe1 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 (ch. 13), 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, Deu 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, Deu 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, Deu 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, Deu 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, Deu 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, Num 35:30; it is quoted, Mat 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, Deu 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, Deu 13:9.

Cross-references: Deut 17:1 · 1Pet 1:19 · Mal 1:8 · Deut 17:3 · Deut 17:2 · Deut 17:4 · Deut 17:6 · Num 35:30 · Matt 18:16 · Deut 17:5 · Deut 13:9

Hebrew interlinear

H3318

יָצָאyâtsâʼ/yaw-tsaw'/

v — go, bring, out

Derivation: a primitive root;

to go (causatively, bring) out, in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively, direct and proxim.

KJV: × after, appear, × assuredly, bear out, × begotten, break out, bring forth (out, up), carry out, come (abroad, out, thereat, without), be condemned, depart(-ing, -ure), draw forth, in the end, escape, exact, fail, fall (out), fetch forth (out), get away (forth, hence, out), (able to, cause to, let) go abroad (forth, on, out), going out, grow, have forth (out), issue out, lay (lie) out, lead out, pluck out, proceed, pull out, put away, be risen, × scarce, send with commandment, shoot forth, spread, spring out, stand out, × still, × surely, take forth (out), at any time, × to (and fro), utter.

יָצָא

vb — go out

יָצָא 1068 vb. go or come out

Qal

1. go or come out or forth

a. from (מִן) a place

b. go forth from (the presence of) a person

c. in technical senses

d. of flight, involving escape

e. depart

f. of inanimate things

g. with especial emphasis on idea of origin, source

h. of children as going forth from loins (of father)

2.

a. go forth to a place

b. go forward, proceed to or toward something

c. come or go forth, with esp. ref. to purpose or result

3. of combinations

Hiph.

1. cause to go or come out, bring out, lead out

2. fig. obj. persons, bring out of (מִן) distress, etc.

3. bring out animals

4. inanimate obj.

5. fig. subj. י׳, bring forth from (מִן)

Hoph. be brought forth

H853

אֵתʼêth/ayth/

prt — self, even, namely

Derivation: apparent contracted from 226 in the demonstrative sense of entity;

properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)

KJV: [as such unrepresented in English].

אֵת

mark of the accusative

אֵת the mark of the accusative, prefixed as a rule only to nouns that are definite

H376

אִישׁʼîysh/eesh/

n-m — man

Derivation: contracted for 582 (or perhaps rather from an unused root meaning to be extant);

a man as an individual or a male person; often used as an adjunct to a more definite term (and in such cases frequently not expressed in translation)

KJV: also, another, any (man), a certain, champion, consent, each, every (one), fellow, (foot-, husband-) man, (good-, great, mighty) man, he, high (degree), him (that is), husband, man(-kind), none, one, people, person, steward, what (man) soever, whoso(-ever), worthy. Compare 802.

אִישׁ

n.m — man

אִישׁ 2166 n.m. man (= vir)

H1931

הוּאhûwʼ/hoo/

p — he, she, it, self, same, this, that, as, are

Derivation: of which the feminine (beyond the Pentateuch) is הִיא; he a primitive word, the third person pronoun singular;

he (she or it); only expressed when emphatic or without a verb; also (intensively) self, or (especially with the article) the same; sometimes (as demonstrative) this or that; occasionally (instead of copula) as or are

KJV: he, as for her, him(-self), it, the same, she (herself), such, that (...it), these, they, this, those, which (is), who.

הוּא

m — he

הוּא m. הִיא f., pron. of the 3rd ps. sing. he, she, used also (in both genders) for the neuter it

1. an emph. he (she, it, they), sometimes equivalent to himself (herself, itself, themselves), or (esp. with the art.) that (those)

2. It resumes the subj. with emph.

3. Where, however, the pron. follows the pred., its position gives it the minimum of emphasis, and it expresses (or resumes) the subject as unobtrusively as possible

4. It anticipates (as it seems) the subject

5. As an emph. predicate, of God

6. In a neuter sense, that, it (of an action, occurrence, matte, etc.)

7. With the art.: so regularly when joined to a subst. defined itself by the art.

H176

אוֹʼôw/o/

conj — desire, or, if

Derivation: presumed to be the 'constructive' or genitival form of אַו ; short for 185;

desire (and so probably in Proverbs 31:4); hence (by way of alternative) or, also if

KJV: also, and, either, if, at the least, × nor, or, otherwise, then, whether.

אֵו

n.m — desire

[אֵו] n.m. אוֹ, Kt Pr 31:4 desire, so Thes MV; but < Qr אֵי q.v.

אוֹ

conj — or

אוֹ 320 conj. or

1. sometimes implying a preference, nearly or rather

2. introducing a sentence, esp. a particular case under a general principle, or = or if

3. if perchance

4. once, with the juss. = except

H802

אִשָּׁהʼishshâh/ish-shaw'/

n-f — woman

Derivation: feminine of 376 or 582; irregular plural, נָשִׁים;(used in the same wide sense as 582)

a woman

KJV: (adulter) ess, each, every, female, × many, none, one, together, wife, woman. Often unexpressed in English.

אִשָּׁה

n.f — woman

אִשָּׁה 773 n.f. woman, wife, female

1. woman

2. Wife (woman belonging to a man, usually cstr. or sf.)

3. Female of animals

4. With distrib. & recipr. sense, each woman from her neighbor; each one

H834

אֲשֶׁרʼăsher/ash-er'/

r — who, which, what, that, when, where, how, because, in order that

Derivation: a primitive relative pronoun (of every gender and number);

who, which, what, that; also (as an adverb and a conjunction) when, where, how, because, in order that, etc.

KJV: × after, × alike, as (soon as), because, × every, for, + forasmuch, + from whence, + how(-soever), × if, (so) that ((thing) which, wherein), × though, + until, + whatsoever, when, where (+ -as, -in, -of, -on, -soever, -with), which, whilst, + whither(-soever), who(-m, -soever, -se). As it is indeclinable, it is often accompanied by the personal pronoun expletively, used to show the connection.

אֲשֶׁר

part. of relation — who

אֲשֶׁר part. of relation A sign of relation, bringing the clause introduced by it into relation with an antecedent clause.

בַאֲשֶׁר

adv — in which

בַאֲשֶׁר

a. in (that) which

b. adv. in (the place) where

c. conj. in that, inasmuch as

d. on account of whom?

כַּאֲשֶׁר

conj — according as

כַּאֲשֶׁר conj. according as, as, when

1. according to that which, according as, as

2. with a causal force, in so far as, since

3. with a temporal force, when

מֵאֲשֶׁר

adv — who

מֵאֲשֶׁר

a. from (or than) that which

b. adv. from (the place) where

c. conj. from (the fact) that …, since

H6213

עָשָׂהʻâsâh/aw-saw'/

v — do, make

Derivation: a primitive root;

to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest application

KJV: accomplish, advance, appoint, apt, be at, become, bear, bestow, bring forth, bruise, be busy, × certainly, have the charge of, commit, deal (with), deck, displease, do, (ready) dress(-ed), (put in) execute(-ion), exercise, fashion, feast, (fight-) ing man, finish, fit, fly, follow, fulfill, furnish, gather, get, go about, govern, grant, great, hinder, hold (a feast), × indeed, be industrious, journey, keep, labour, maintain, make, be meet, observe, be occupied, offer, officer, pare, bring (come) to pass, perform, pracise, prepare, procure, provide, put, requite, × sacrifice, serve, set, shew, × sin, spend, × surely, take, × thoroughly, trim, × very, vex, be (warr-) ior, work(-man), yield, use.

עָשָׂה

vb — do

עָשָׂה 2622 vb. do, make

Qal 2524

I.

1. do (1560 t.)

2. deal with

3. oft. in phr. do kindness with

4. abs. act, act with effect

II.

1. make (670 t.)

2. produce, yield

3. prepare, esp. of dressing and cooking food

4. make offering

5. attend to, put in order

6. observe, celebrate, religious festival

7. acquire property of various kinds

8. appoint priests

9. bring about of י׳’s effecting a deliverance

10. use

11. spend, pass, days of life

Niph. 97

1. be done

2.

a. be made, of concr. things

b. be produced from vine

c. be prepared, of food

d. be offered

e. be observed, passover

f. be used

Pu. I was made

עָשָׂה

vb — press

[עָשָׂה] vb. Pi. press, squeeze

H1697

דָּבָרdâbâr/daw-baw'/

n-m — word, matter, spoken, thing, cause

Derivation: from 1696;

a word; by implication, a matter (as spoken of) or thing; adverbially, a cause

KJV: act, advice, affair, answer, × any such (thing), because of, book, business, care, case, cause, certain rate, chronicles, commandment, × commune(-ication), concern(-ing), confer, counsel, dearth, decree, deed, × disease, due, duty, effect, eloquent, errand, (evil favoured-) ness, glory, harm, hurt, iniquity, judgment, language, lying, manner, matter, message, (no) thing, oracle, × ought, × parts, pertaining, please, portion, power, promise, provision, purpose, question, rate, reason, report, request, × (as hast) said, sake, saying, sentence, sign, so, some (uncleanness), somewhat to say, song, speech, × spoken, talk, task, that, × there done, thing (concerning), thought, thus, tidings, what(-soever), wherewith, which, word, work.

דָּבָר

n.m — speech

דָּבָר 1439 n.m. speech, word

I. sg. speech, discourse, saying, word, as the sum of that which is spoken

II. sg. saying, utterance, sentence, as a section of a discourse

III. sg. a word, words

IV. sg. matter, affair, thing about which one speaks

H7451

רַעraʻ/rah/

a n-m n-f — bad, evil

Derivation: from 7489;

bad or (as noun) evil (natural or moral)

KJV: adversity, affliction, bad, calamity, displease(-ure), distress, evil((-favouredness), man, thing), exceedingly, × great, grief(-vous), harm, heavy, hurt(-ful), ill (favoured), mark, mischief(-vous), misery, naught(-ty), noisome, not please, sad(-ly), sore, sorrow, trouble, vex, wicked(-ly, -ness, one), worse(-st), wretchedness, wrong. (Incl. feminine raaah; as adjective or noun.).

רַע

n.m — evil

רַע 126 n.m. evil, distress, misery, injury, calamity

1. evil, distress, adversity

2. evil, injury, wrong

3. ethical evil

רַע

adj — bad

רַע 228 adj. bad, evil

1. bad, disagreeable, malignant

2. bad, unpleasant, giving pain, unhappiness, misery

3. evil, displeasing

4. bad of its kind

5. bad, , i.e. of low value

6. מִן comp., worse than

7. sad, unhappy

8. devise evil (hurtful) device

9. bad, unkind, vicious in disposition or temper

10. ethically bad, evil, wicked

רָעָה

n.f — evil

רָעָה 310 n.f. evil, misery, distress, injury

1. evil, misery, distress

2. evil, injury, wrong

3. ethical evil

H2088

זֶהzeh/zeh/

d — this, that

Derivation: a primitive word;

the masculine demonstrative pronoun, this or that

KJV: he, × hence, × here, it(-self), × now, × of him, the one...the other, × than the other, (× out of) the (self) same, such (a one) that, these, this (hath, man), on this side...on that side, × thus, very, which. Compare 2063, 2090, 2097, 2098.

זֶה

demonstr.pron — this

זֶה demonstr.pron. and adv.; fem. זֹאת, once זֹאתָה; this, here

1. standing alone

2. In appos. to subst.

3. More oft. as pred.

4. It is attached enclitically, almost as an adv., to certain words, esp. interrog. pronouns, to impart, in a manner often not reproducible in Engl. idiom, directness and force, bringing the question or statement made into close relation with the speaker.

5. In poetry, as a relative pron. (rare)

6. With prefixes (in special senses)

H413

אֵלʼêl/ale/

prep — near, with, among, to

Derivation: (but only used in the shortened constructive form אֶל ); a primitive particle; properly, denoting motion towards, but occasionally used of a quiescent position, i.e.

near, with or among; often in general, to

KJV: about, according to, after, against, among, as for, at, because(-fore, -side), both...and, by, concerning, for, from, × hath, in(-to), near, (out) of, over, through, to(-ward), under, unto, upon, whether, with(-in).

אֶל

prep — motion to

אֶל (nearly always followed by Makkeph), prep. denoting motion to or direction towards (whether physical or mental).

1. of motion to or unto a person or place

2. Where the limit is actually entered, into

3. Of direction towards anything

4. Where the motion or direction implied appears from the context to be of a hostile character, אֶל = against

5. Unto sometimes acquires from the context the sense of in addition to

6. Metaph. in regard to, concerning, on account of

7. Of rule or standard according to (rare)

8. Expressing presence at a spot, against, at, by, not merely after verbs implying motion

9. Prefixed to other preps. it combines with them the idea of motion or direction to

H8179

שַׁעַרshaʻar/shah'-ar/

n-m — opening, door, gate

Derivation: from 8176 in its original sense;

an opening, i.e. door or gate

KJV: city, door, gate, port (× -er).

שַׁ֫עַר

n.m — gate

שַׁ֫עַר 373 n.m. gate

H5619

סָקַלçâqal/saw-kal'/

v — be weighty, lapidation, de

Derivation: a primitive root;

properly, to be weighty; but used only in the sense of lapidation or its contrary (as if a delapidation)

KJV: (cast, gather out, throw) stone(-s), × surely.

סָקַל

vb — stone

[סָקַל] vb. stone, be put to death by stoning, also (Pi.) free from stones

Qal pelt with stones, stone to death

Niph. be stoned to death

Pi.

1. stone, pelt with stones

2. free vineyard (acc.) from stones

Pu. be stoned to death

H68

אֶבֶןʼeben/eh'-ben/

n-f — stone

Derivation: from the root of 1129 through the meaning to build;

a stone

KJV: carbuncle, mason, plummet, (chalk-, hail-, head-, sling-) stone(-ny), (divers) weight(-s).

אֶ֫בֶן

n.f — stone

אֶ֫בֶן 274 n.f. stone

1. in natural state

2. stone, as material

3. precious stone, gen. with modifying word

4. stone containing metal, = ore

5. a weight, as orig. stone

6. plummet

7. objects like stone

8. in sim. (mostly poet.) of sinking in water

9. In topogr. terms

H4191

מוּתmûwth/mooth/

v — die, kill

Derivation: a primitive root;

to die (literally or figuratively); causatively, to kill

KJV: × at all, × crying, (be) dead (body, man, one), (put to, worthy of) death, destroy(-er), (cause to, be like to, must) die, kill, necro(-mancer), × must needs, slay, × surely, × very suddenly, × in (no) wise.

מוּת

vb — die

מוּת vb. die

Qal

1. die, of natural or other causes

2. die as a penalty = be put to death

Po‛lel. kill, put to death, despatch (intens.)

Hiph.

1. abs., elsewhere c. acc., subj. man

2. subj. God, by inflicting penalty

3. of animals killing men

4. bring to a premature death

Hoph. be killed, put to death

Bible49 app

Get translation compare, commentary, and interlinear study — offline, on iPhone and Mac.

See Bible49