◄ Deuteronomy 17:7 ►
The hands of the witnesses shall be the first in putting him to death, and after that, the hands of all the people. So you must purge the evil from among you.
Study Bible
The hands of the witnesses
In ancient Israelite society, the role of witnesses was crucial in the administration of justice. The Hebrew word for "witnesses" is עֵדִים (edim), which implies those who have firsthand knowledge of the crime. This phrase underscores the responsibility and accountability of the witnesses. They must be certain of their testimony, as they are the first to act in the execution, symbolizing their confidence in the truth of their words. This practice served as a deterrent against false testimony, as the witnesses themselves would bear the moral and physical burden of initiating the punishment.

shall be the first in putting him to death
This directive places a significant moral weight on the witnesses. The Hebrew verb used here, יָד (yad), meaning "hand," is often symbolic of power and action. By requiring the witnesses to be the first to act, the law ensures that they are not merely passive accusers but active participants in the justice process. This requirement also serves to prevent mob justice, as it demands a deliberate and personal commitment to the truth of the accusation.

and then the hands of all the people
The involvement of the community in the execution of justice reflects the collective responsibility of the society to uphold God's laws. The phrase emphasizes communal participation in maintaining holiness and justice. In the context of ancient Israel, this collective action reinforced social cohesion and the shared values of the community. It also served as a public affirmation of the seriousness of the offense and the community's commitment to eradicating sin.

You must purge the evil from among you
The Hebrew word for "purge" is בָּעַר (ba'ar), which means to remove or burn away. This phrase highlights the necessity of removing sin to maintain the purity and holiness of the community. In a broader theological context, it reflects the covenant relationship between God and Israel, where obedience to God's laws is paramount. The phrase serves as a reminder of the spiritual and moral obligations of the Israelites to live according to God's standards, ensuring that evil does not take root and spread within the community.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Witnesses
Individuals who have firsthand knowledge of a crime or wrongdoing. In the context of ancient Israel, their testimony was crucial in legal proceedings.

2. The People
Refers to the community of Israel, who were collectively responsible for maintaining justice and righteousness within their society.

3. The Accused
The person who has been charged with a crime, particularly one deserving of capital punishment according to the Mosaic Law.

4. Moses
The leader and prophet who delivered God's laws to the Israelites, including the instructions found in Deuteronomy.

5. Israel
The nation chosen by God to be His people, living under the covenant and laws given through Moses.
Teaching Points
The Role of Witnesses
Witnesses bear a significant responsibility in the administration of justice. Their integrity and truthfulness are paramount, as they initiate the process of judgment.

Community Responsibility
The entire community is involved in upholding justice. This collective responsibility ensures that justice is not only a legal matter but a communal one.

Purging Evil
The command to purge evil underscores the importance of holiness and purity within the community. It serves as a reminder of the need for vigilance against sin.

Justice and Mercy
While justice is necessary, it must be tempered with mercy and self-reflection, as seen in the broader biblical account.

The Seriousness of Sin
The severe consequences for sin in the Old Testament highlight the seriousness with which God views sin and the need for repentance and atonement.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the role of witnesses in Deuteronomy 17:7 inform our understanding of justice and accountability in the church today?

2. In what ways can the principle of purging evil from the community be applied in modern Christian communities?

3. How does the requirement for witnesses to be the first to act in judgment challenge us to examine our own lives before addressing the sins of others?

4. What parallels can be drawn between the communal responsibility in ancient Israel and the role of the church in maintaining holiness and discipline?

5. How do the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament expand upon or fulfill the principles found in Deuteronomy 17:7?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Deuteronomy 19:15-21
This passage further elaborates on the role of witnesses and the importance of truthful testimony, emphasizing the need for multiple witnesses to establish a matter.

John 8:7
Jesus' interaction with the woman caught in adultery highlights the principle of examining one's own sinfulness before condemning others, echoing the responsibility of witnesses in Deuteronomy.

1 Corinthians 5:13
Paul instructs the Corinthian church to expel the immoral brother, reflecting the principle of purging evil from the community.
Sermons
Idolatry a Capital CrimeR.M. Edgar Deuteronomy 17:1-7
Idolatry a Crime Against SocietyD. Davies Deuteronomy 17:2-7
Criminal ProcedureJ. Orr Deuteronomy 17:4-8
People
Levites, Moses
Places
Beth-baal-peor, Egypt
Topics
Afterward, Afterwards, Death, Evil, Hands, Hast, Midst, Purge, Putting, Remove, Witnesses
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Deuteronomy 17:7

     6112   banishment
     8326   purity, moral and spiritual
     8736   evil, warnings against

Deuteronomy 17:2-7

     5201   accusation

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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