What Does Deuteronomy 17:20 Mean?
That his heart not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he not turn aside from the command, to the right hand or to the left, so that he may lengthen his days in his kingdom, he and his children, in the midst of Israel.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel.THE KEY
The king’s life lengthens where he refuses to make himself higher than his brothers or freer than the command.
THE MEANING
Your place of authority does not lift you out of the circle of your brothers: your heart remains with them, and your path remains within the command. The verse ties that restraint to days extended in your place and to your children remaining among the people.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that authority proves itself by standing above others: here, self-exaltation threatens the king’s place and continuity.
THE ROOT
יַאֲרִיךְ
yaʾarikh
GROWS FROM
ארך
ארך (ʾārakh): to be long, lengthen, or extend.
“lengthen” in this verse is yaʾarikh. The days are lengthened through a life that does not rise above its brothers or turn aside from the command. The same root names duration and a temper that is slow to flare: length belongs both to extended time and to restraint.
ALSO GROWS
ʾorekh: length, longness
אֹרֶךְ
The days in this verse are length itself extended through time.
ʾarokh: long, extended
אָרֹךְ
The king’s life is pictured as extended time, not merely a title or status.
ʾerekh appayim: slow to flare
אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם
The same root makes slowness part of a person’s response as well as duration part of a life.
רוּם
rûm
GROWS FROM
רום
רום (rûm): to rise, be high, or elevate.
“lifted up” in this verse is rûm. The root can name rising or being high, and in תְּרוּמָה (terumah, “a lifted contribution”) it can name what is raised for shared service. Here the heart rises above its brothers, turning elevation into distance from the people among whom the king remains.
ALSO GROWS
rām: high, lofty
רָם
The verse gives the heart a vertical direction, then marks rising above one’s brothers as a rupture in their shared place.
romem: raise high, exalt
רוֹמֵם
This branch makes the heart’s upward movement explicit: the issue is whom it elevates and places above others.
terumah: contribution, offering lifted up
תְּרוּמָה
The same root can describe something raised for shared service, sharpening the distinction between elevation that contributes and a heart elevated over its brothers.
הַמִּצְוָה
hammiṣwāh
GROWS FROM
צוה
צוה (tsavah): to command, charge, or appoint.
“command” in this verse is hammiṣwāh. The commandment is the king’s received direction; turning from it means his path is no longer held by that charge. His authority stays within an order he receives rather than one he invents for himself.
ALSO GROWS
ṣiwwāh: commanded, charged
צִוָּה
This verb makes clear that the commandment carries a charge that directs the king’s path.
ṣav: command, charge
צַו
The root names a specific directive, not an abstract status the king can set aside.
məṣawweh: one who commands
מְצַוֶּה
The branch highlights the relationship between the one who gives direction and the one whose path remains under it.
THE PATTERN
A person’s place is sustained through humility within a shared order, while self-exaltation leads to being brought low.
Swelling goes before breaking, and a breath lifted high goes before a stumbling.For everyone who lifts himself will be brought low; and the one who lowers himself will be lifted up.Likewise, you younger ones, place yourselves under the elders. And all of you, tie on lowliness toward one another, for God sets himself against those who lift themselves above, and gives favor to the low ones.THE THREAD
Give weight to your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that your days may be lengthened, and so that it may be good for you, in the land that the LORD your God gives you.Both verses use ארך (ʾārakh, “to lengthen”) for days extended. Here, that length is joined to a ruler remaining among his brothers and within the command; in Deuteronomy 5:16, the same root connects long days with honoring parents, placing longevity within right relationship.
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