When you enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, “Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,”
Parallel translations
- WEB When you have come to the land which Yahweh your God gives you, and possess it, and dwell in it, and say, “I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me”;
- KJV When thou art come unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me;
- NKJV “When you come to the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and possess it and dwell in it, and say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me,’
- NASB “When you enter the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and you take possession of it and live in it, and you say, ‘I will appoint a king over me like all the nations who are around me,’
- NLT “You are about to enter the land the Lord your God is giving you. When you take it over and settle there, you may think, ‘We should select a king to rule over us like the other nations around us.’
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God foresaw that Israel would one day want a king like the surrounding nations. He anticipated their request and would regulate it.
Overview
Long before Israel had a monarchy, God provided for the day they would desire a king to be like other nations. The desire itself reflected a mixed motive, wanting to resemble the pagan peoples. Yet God would graciously permit and govern kingship, a line that would lead to David and ultimately to Christ, the true King.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- 1 Sam 8:19–20Nevertheless, the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We must have a king over us.
- Josh 1:13“Remember what Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you when he said, ‘The LORD your God will give you rest, and He will give you this land.’
- 1 Sam 12:19They pleaded with Samuel, “Pray to the LORD your God for your servants so that we will not die! For we have added to all our sins the evil of asking for a king.”
- Deut 26:1When you enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, and you take possession of it and settle in it,
- Deut 18:9When you enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not imitate the detestable ways of the nations there.
- Deut 7:1When the LORD your God brings you into the land that you are entering to possess, and He drives out before you many nations—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you—
- 1 Sam 8:5–7“Look,” they said, “you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king to judge us like all the other nations.”
- Deut 26:9And He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.
- Deut 12:9–10For you have not yet come to the resting place and the inheritance that the LORD your God is giving you.
- Deut 11:31For you are about to cross the Jordan to enter and possess the land that the LORD your God is giving you. When you take possession of it and settle in it,
- Lev 14:34“When you enter the land of Canaan, which I am giving you as your possession, and I put a contamination of mildew into a house in that land,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).
How Deuteronomy 17:14 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.