you shall surely set a king over you whom the Lord your God chooses; one from among your brethren you shall set as king over you; you may not set a foreigner over you, who is not your brother.
Parallel translations
- WEB you shall surely set him king over yourselves, whom Yahweh your God chooses. You shall set as king over you one from among your brothers. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother.
- KJV Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the LORD thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother.
- BSB you are to appoint over yourselves the king whom the LORD your God shall choose. Appoint a king from among your brothers; you are not to set over yourselves a foreigner who is not one of your brothers.
- NASB you shall in fact appoint a king over you whom the Lord your God chooses. One from among your countrymen you shall appoint as king over yourselves; you may not put a foreigner over yourselves, anyone who is not your countryman.
- NLT If this happens, be sure to select as king the man the Lord your God chooses. You must appoint a fellow Israelite; he may not be a foreigner.
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
Any king must be one the Lord chooses, a fellow Israelite, never a foreigner. Israel's ruler was to be God's appointee, not merely the people's choice.
Overview
Kingship was permitted only under God's conditions: the king must be divinely chosen and drawn from among the Israelites. This kept the throne accountable to God and the covenant. The requirement that the king be a brother among his people anticipates Christ, who shares our humanity and is the King appointed by God himself.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Jer 30:21Their prince shall be of themselves, and their ruler shall proceed from among them. I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach to me; for who is he who has had boldness to approach to me?” says Yahweh.
- 1 Chr 22:10He shall build a house for my name; and he will be my son, and I will be his father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel for ever.’
- 1 Sam 16:12–13He sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with a handsome face and good appearance. Yahweh said, “Arise! Anoint him, for this is he.”
- 1 Chr 12:23These are the numbers of the heads of those who were armed for war, who came to David to Hebron, to turn the kingdom of Saul to him, according to Yahweh’s word.
- 1 Sam 10:24Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him whom Yahweh has chosen, that there is no one like him among all the people?” All the people shouted, and said, “Long live the king!”
- 1 Sam 9:15–17Now Yahweh had revealed to Samuel a day before Saul came, saying,
- Ps 2:6“Yet I have set my King on my holy hill of Zion.”
- Ps 2:2The kings of the earth take a stand, and the rulers take counsel together, against Yahweh, and against his Anointed, saying,
- 2 Sam 5:2In times past, when Saul was king over us, it was you who led Israel out and in. Yahweh said to you, ‘You will be shepherd of my people Israel, and you will be prince over Israel.’”
- Jer 2:25“Keep your feet from being bare, and your throat from thirst. But you said, ‘It is in vain. No, for I have loved strangers, and I will go after them.’
- 1 Chr 28:5Of all my sons (for Yahweh has given me many sons), he has chosen Solomon my son to sit on the throne of Yahweh’s kingdom over Israel.
- Matt 22:17Tell us therefore, what do you think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 17:15 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.