Deuteronomy 17:20

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

Then he will not exalt himself above his fellow citizens or turn from the commandments to the right or left, and he and his descendants will enjoy many years ruling over his kingdom in Israel.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

לְבִלְתִּ֤י רוּם־לְבָבוֹ֙ מֵֽאֶחָ֔יו וּלְבִלְתִּ֛י ס֥וּר מִן־הַמִּצְוָ֖ה יָמִ֣ין וּשְׂמֹ֑אול לְמַעַן֩ יַאֲרִ֨יךְ יָמִ֧ים עַל־מַמְלַכְתּ֛וֹ ה֥וּא וּבָנָ֖יו בְּקֶ֥רֶב יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃

Transliteration

So that not rûm-ləḇāḇô from ʾeḥāyw and so that not sûr from-the miṣwāh right and left; so that yaʾărîḵ yāmîm upon-mamlaḵətô he and ḇānāyw in qereḇ Yiśrāʾēl.

Grammar Details

• לְבִלְתִּ֤י: preposition + conjunction - so that not
• רוּם־לְבָבוֹ֙: qal infinitive construct + noun masculine singular construct + 3ms suffix - his heart be lifted up
• מֵֽאֶחָ֔יו: preposition + noun masculine plural construct + 3ms suffix - from his brothers
• וּלְבִלְתִּ֛י: conjunction + preposition + conjunction - and so that not
• ס֥וּר: qal infinitive construct - to turn aside
• מִן־הַמִּצְוָ֖ה: preposition + article + noun feminine singular - from the commandment
• יָמִ֣ין: noun feminine singular - right
• וּשְׂמֹ֑אול: conjunction + noun masculine singular - and left
• לְמַעַן֩: preposition - so that
• יַאֲרִ֨יךְ: hiphil imperfect 3ms - he will prolong
• יָמִ֧ים: noun masculine plural - days
• עַל־מַמְלַכְתּ֛וֹ: preposition + noun feminine singular construct + 3ms suffix - upon his kingdom
• ה֥וּא: 3ms pronoun - he
• וּבָנָ֖יו: conjunction + noun masculine plural construct + 3ms suffix - and his sons
• בְּקֶ֥רֶב: preposition + noun masculine singular construct - in midst of
• יִשְׂרָאֵֽל: proper noun - Israel

Word Meanings

• *rûm*-*ləḇāḇô*: his heart be lifted up/become proud
• *ʾeḥāyw*: his brothers/his fellow Israelites
• *sûr*: to turn aside/to deviate
• *miṣwāh*: commandment/command
• *yaʾărîḵ*: he will prolong/he will extend
• *yāmîm*: days/lifetime
• *mamlaḵətô*: his kingdom/his reign
• *ḇānāyw*: his sons/his children
• *qereḇ*: midst/among
• *Yiśrāʾēl*: Israel

Referenced Verses

• 1 Kgs 15:5 : 5 He did this because David had done what he approved and had not disregarded any of his commandments his entire lifetime, except for the incident involving Uriah the Hittite.
• Deut 5:32 : 32 Be careful, therefore, to do exactly what the LORD your God has commanded you; do not turn right or left!
• Deut 8:2 : 2 Remember the whole way by which he has brought you these forty years through the wilderness so that he might, by humbling you, test you to see if you have it within you to keep his commandments or not.
• Deut 8:13-14 : 13 when your cattle and flocks increase, when you have plenty of silver and gold, and when you have abundance of everything, 14 be sure you do not feel self-important and forget the LORD your God who brought you from the land of Egypt, the place of slavery,
• Deut 12:25 : 25 You must not eat it so that it may go well with you and your children after you; you will be doing what is right in the LORD’s sight.
• Deut 12:28 : 28 Pay careful attention to all these things I am commanding you so that it may always go well with you and your children after you when you do what is good and right in the sight of the LORD your God.
• Deut 12:32 : 32 Idolatry and False Prophets(13:1) You must be careful to do everything I am commanding you. Do not add to it or subtract from it!
• Deut 17:11 : 11 You must do what you are instructed, and the verdict they pronounce to you, without fail. Do not deviate right or left from what they tell you.
• 1 Sam 13:13-14 : 13 Then Samuel said to Saul,“You have made a foolish choice! You have not obeyed the commandment that the LORD your God gave you. Had you done that, the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever! 14 But now your kingdom will not continue! The LORD has sought out for himself a man who is loyal to him and the LORD has appointed him to be leader over his people, for you have not obeyed what the LORD commanded you.”
• 1 Sam 15:23 : 23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and presumption is like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the LORD’s orders, he has rejected you from being king.”
• 1 Kgs 11:12-13 : 12 However, for your father David’s sake I will not do this while you are alive. I will tear it away from your son’s hand instead. 13 But I will not tear away the entire kingdom; I will leave your son one tribe for my servant David’s sake and for the sake of my chosen city Jerusalem.”
• 1 Kgs 11:34 : 34 I will not take the whole kingdom from his hand. I will allow him to be ruler for the rest of his life for the sake of my chosen servant David who kept my commandments and rules.
• 1 Kgs 11:36 : 36 I will leave his son one tribe so my servant David’s dynasty may continue to serve me in Jerusalem, the city I have chosen as my home.
• Deut 4:2 : 2 Do not add a thing to what I command you nor subtract from it, so that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I am delivering to you.
• 2 Kgs 10:30 : 30 The LORD said to Jehu,“You have done well. You have accomplished my will and carried out my wishes with regard to Ahab’s dynasty. Therefore four generations of your descendants will rule over Israel.”
• 2 Kgs 14:10 : 10 You thoroughly defeated Edom and it has gone to your head! Gloat over your success, but stay in your palace. Why bring calamity on yourself? Why bring down yourself and Judah along with you?”
• 2 Chr 25:19 : 19 You defeated Edom and it has gone to your head. Gloat over your success, but stay in your palace. Why bring calamity on yourself? Why bring down yourself and Judah along with you?”
• 2 Chr 26:16 : 16 But once he became powerful, his pride destroyed him. He disobeyed the LORD his God. He entered the LORD’s temple to offer incense on the incense altar.
• 2 Chr 32:25-26 : 25 But Hezekiah was ungrateful; he had a proud attitude, provoking God to be angry at him, as well as Judah and Jerusalem. 26 But then Hezekiah and the residents of Jerusalem humbled themselves and abandoned their pride, and the LORD was not angry with them for the rest of Hezekiah’s reign.
• 2 Chr 33:12 : 12 In his pain Manasseh asked the LORD his God for mercy and truly humbled himself before the God of his ancestors.
• 2 Chr 33:19 : 19 The Annals of the Prophets include his prayer, give an account of how the LORD responded to it, record all his sins and unfaithful acts, and identify the sites where he built high places and erected Asherah poles and idols before he humbled himself.
• 2 Chr 33:23 : 23 He did not humble himself before the LORD as his father Manasseh had done. Amon was guilty of great sin.
• 2 Chr 34:27 : 27 ‘You displayed a sensitive spirit and humbled yourself before God when you heard his words concerning this place and its residents. You humbled yourself before me, tore your clothes and wept before me, and I have heard you,’ says the LORD.
• Ps 19:11 : 11 Yes, your servant finds moral guidance there; those who obey them receive a rich reward.
• Ps 131:1-2 : 1 A song of ascents, by David. O LORD, my heart is not proud, nor do I have a haughty look. I do not have great aspirations, or concern myself with things that are beyond me. 2 Indeed, I have calmed and quieted myself like a weaned child with its mother; I am content like a young child.
• Ps 132:12 : 12 If your sons keep my covenant and the rules I teach them, their sons will also sit on your throne forever.”
• Prov 10:27 : 27 Fearing the LORD prolongs life, but the life span of the wicked will be shortened.
• Prov 27:24 : 24 for riches do not last forever, nor does a crown last from generation to generation.
• Eccl 8:13 : 13 But it will not go well with the wicked, nor will they prolong their days like a shadow, because they do not stand in fear before God.
• Isa 2:12 : 12 Indeed, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies has planned a day of judgment, for all the high and mighty, for all who are proud– they will be humiliated;
• Dan 5:20-23 : 20 And when his mind became arrogant and his spirit filled with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne and his honor was removed from him. 21 He was driven from human society, his mind was changed to that of an animal, he lived with the wild donkeys, he was fed grass like oxen, and his body became damp with the dew of the sky, until he came to understand that the most high God rules over human kingdoms, and he appoints over them whomever he wishes. 22 “But you, his son Belshazzar, have not humbled yourself, although you knew all this. 23 Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. You brought before you the vessels from his temple, and you and your nobles, together with your wives and concubines, drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone– gods that cannot see or hear or comprehend! But you have not glorified the God who has in his control your very breath and all your ways!
• Hab 2:4 : 4 Look, the one whose desires are not upright will faint from exhaustion, but the person of integrity will live because of his faithfulness.
• 2 Cor 12:7 : 7 even because of the extraordinary character of the revelations. Therefore, so that I would not become arrogant, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to trouble me– so that I would not become arrogant.
• 1 Pet 5:5 : 5 In the same way, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.