What Does Deuteronomy 17:20 Mean in the King James?
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 analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
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.
“prolong” 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.
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.
Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.THE THREAD
Honour thy father and thy mother, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.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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