Era 4 · Covenant and WildernessDeuteronomy
Judges, the King, and Written Law
"He shall write him a copy of this law in a book"
Whoever is proved to have worshiped other gods is to be put to death, but only "at the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses… at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death. The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him."
"If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment… then shalt thou arise, and get thee up into the place which the LORD thy God shall choose; And thou shalt come unto the priests the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days." Their decision is to be followed.
"When thou… shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me; Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the LORD thy God shall choose." He must not "multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt… Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold. 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… and he shall read therein all the days of his life… That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren."
"A copy of this law": the name Deuteronomy
The Hebrew mishneh ha-torah ha-zot means "a copy (or repetition) of this law." The Greek translators rendered it to deuteronomion touto, "this second law," and the Latin Deuteronomium legis huius; from these the book took its Greek and English name. The library's Greek and Latin texts both use the word here. In Hebrew the book is called Devarim, "words," from its first line.
A king like Solomon?
The three warnings read like a description of Solomon, who had horses imported from Egypt, seven hundred wives, and silver "as stones" in Jerusalem (1 Kings 10:26–11:3). Some scholars take the law as written with the monarchy's history in view; others as an early warning the monarchy ignored. Samuel's warning about kings (1 Samuel 8:11–18) is a related tradition.
Kings and law in the ancient world
Hammurabi presents his laws as the king's own just decisions, given at the god's command. Deuteronomy's king is given no role in making law at all. His one duty in the law of kingship is to copy and read it.
The Case for the Biblical Account
Scripture's account
Witness rules, a central court, and limits on the king (Deuteronomy 17).
What evidence would we expect?
Royal ideologies in neighboring states; monarchic history in Israel matching or violating the limits.
The discoveries
Mesopotamian and Egyptian royal ideology presenting kings as lawgivers; the Solomon narratives; the Greek name of the book from 17:18.
Testing the discoveries
Deuteronomy's limited kingship is unusual among ancient royal ideologies.
The strongest reconstruction
Deuteronomy subordinates kingship to written law, a distinctive political idea.
What remains possible
Whether the law of the king presupposes the monarchy's actual history.
What the evidence shows
- The Greek name Deuteronomy comes from the translation of 17:18. The library's Greek and Latin texts both read "Deuteronomy" here.
- The law of the king was written with Solomon in view.
- Deuteronomy requires two or three witnesses in capital cases.
Continue the journey
Echoes Across CivilizationsAncient law collectionsDid other ancient peoples have laws like those in the Book of the Covenant?More from this lesson
Echoes Across Civilizations
Optional: how other ancient peoples told similar stories. Open one to compare, then come back to the lesson.
Ancient law collectionsBabylonian · Sumerian and Babylonian
Did other ancient peoples have laws like those in the Book of the Covenant?
- Babylonian: The Laws of Hammurabi Shared literary world
- Sumerian and Babylonian: The Laws of Ur-Nammu, Lipit-Ishtar and Eshnunna Shared literary world
Why this matters to the rest of Scripture
- Israel asks for a king.
- Solomon's horses, wives and gold.
- A king hears the book of the law.
- "In the mouth of two or three witnesses."
- "The testimony of two men is true."