Deuteronomy — Chapter 17

If thou perceive that there be among you a hard and doubtful matter in judgment. Cases too difficult for local judges must be brought to the supreme court at Jerusalem—priests and the judge together. Lapide shows that this establishes the principle of a supreme ecclesiastical authority whose sentence in matters of faith and discipline is to be followed without appeal, on pain of death (v. 12). The parallel is with the authority of the Roman Pontiff.

He that will be proud, and refuse to obey the commandment of the priest, who ministereth at that time to the Lord thy God, and the decree of the judge, he shall die. Resistance to the supreme religious authority is a capital crime in the theocracy; its New Testament equivalent is schism and heresy. Lapide notes the parallel with papal authority.

Neither shall he have many wives, lest his heart be seduced. The restriction on royal wives was violated by Solomon, whose foreign wives drew him to idols (3 Kgs. 11). Lapide quotes Augustine and Rabanus: kings were permitted plural wives then, but not excessive multiplication. The king's morals form the morals of the whole kingdom.

But after he is come to the throne of his kingdom, he shall copy out to himself the Deuteronomy of this law in a volume. The king must personally transcribe the Law and read it all the days of his life. Lapide: This is the duty of all rulers—to know God's law, to be formed by it, to fear God, and to govern by justice, not by wealth, horses, or pride. He cites King Josias, who restored the kingdom by finding and reading Deuteronomy (4 Kgs. 22–23).