申命记 17:16

Chinese NCV (Simplified)

只是君王不可為自己加添馬匹，也不可使人民回埃及去，為要加添馬匹，因為耶和華曾經對你們說過：‘你們不可再回到那條路去。’

Parallel Translations

Chinese Union (Simplified)
只 是 王 不 可 为 自 己 加 添 马 匹 ， 也 不 可 使 百 姓 回 埃 及 去 ， 为 要 加 添 他 的 马 匹 ， 因 耶 和 华 曾 吩 咐 你 们 说 ： 不 可 再 回 那 条 路 去 。

Contextual Overview

¹⁴ When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, taking it as your own and living in it, you will say, "Let's appoint a king over us like the nations all around us." ¹⁵ Be sure to appoint over you the king the Lord your God chooses. He must be one of your own people. Do not appoint as your king a foreigner who is not a fellow Israelite. ¹⁶ The king must not have too many horses for himself, and he must not send people to Egypt to get more horses, because the Lord has told you, "Don't return that way again." ¹⁷ The king must not have many wives, or his heart will be led away from God. He must not have too much silver and gold. ¹⁸ When he becomes king, he should write a copy of the teachings on a scroll for himself, a copy taken from the priests and Levites. ¹⁹ He should keep it with him all the time and read from it every day of his life. Then he will learn to respect the Lord his God, and he will obey all the teachings and commands. ²⁰ He should not think he is better than his fellow Israelites, and he must not stop obeying the law in any way so that he and his descendants may rule the kingdom for a long time.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

multiply horses: Multiplying horses for chariots of war and cavalry, or for luxury, would increase the splendour of a monarch, and form a ground of confidence distinct from a proper confidence in God, and inconsistent with it, and with considering him as the glory of Israel. Egypt abounded in horses; and the desire of multiplying these would induce the prince to encourage a trade with that kingdom; and this might make way for the Israelites being again subjugated by the Egyptians, or at least corrupted by their idolatries and vices. Whereas, it was the command of God that they should no more return thither, but be totally detached from them. Besides, they might be tempted to extend their dominion by means of cavalry, and so get scattered among the surrounding idolatrous nations, and thus cease to be that distinct, separate people, which God intended they should be. 1 Samuel 8:11, 2 Samuel 8:4, 1 Kings 1:5, 1 Kings 4:26, 1 Kings 10:26-28, 2 Chronicles 9:25, Psalms 20:7, Isaiah 36:8, Isaiah 36:9, Hosea 14:3

cause: Isaiah 31:1-3, Jeremiah 42:14, Ezekiel 17:15

Ye shall henceforth: Deuteronomy 28:68, Exodus 13:17, Exodus 14:13, Numbers 14:3, Numbers 14:4, Jeremiah 42:15, Jeremiah 42:16, Hosea 11:5

Reciprocal: 2 Samuel 15:1 - Absalom 1 Kings 10:28 - horses brought 2 Kings 18:24 - thy trust 1 Chronicles 18:4 - David 2 Chronicles 1:14 - Solomon 2 Chronicles 9:28 - brought Isaiah 2:7 - land Isaiah 30:6 - into the land Jeremiah 17:25 - riding Jeremiah 42:19 - Go Matthew 21:5 - sitting John 12:15 - sitting

Cross-References

Genesis 1:28
God blessed them and said, "Have many children and grow in number. Fill the earth and be its master. Rule over the fish in the sea and over the birds in the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth."

Genesis 12:2
I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you. I will make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others.

Genesis 17:6
I will give you many descendants. New nations will be born from you, and kings will come from you.

Genesis 17:10
This is my agreement with you and all your descendants, which you must obey: Every male among you must be circumcised.

Genesis 17:14
Any male who is not circumcised will be cut off from his people, because he has broken my agreement."

Genesis 17:26
Abraham and his son were circumcised on the same day.

Genesis 24:60
They blessed Rebekah and said, "Our sister, may you be the mother of thousands of people, and may your descendants capture the cities of their enemies."

Genesis 35:11
God said to him, "I am God Almighty. Have many children and grow in number as a nation. You will be the ancestor of many nations and kings.

Isaiah 49:23
Kings will teach your children, and daughters of kings will take care of them. They will bow down before you and kiss the dirt at your feet. Then you will know I am the Lord . Anyone who trusts in me will not be disappointed."

Romans 9:9
God's promise to Abraham was this: "At the right time I will return, and Sarah will have a son."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

But he shall not multiply horses to himself,.... That he might not put his trust and confidence in outward things, as some are apt to trust in horses and chariots; and that he might not tyrannise over and distress his subjects by keeping a number of horses and chariots as a standing army, and chiefly for a reason that follows; he was to have no more than for his own chariot, so Jarchi, and so the Misnah g and Maimonides h; the Targum of Jonathan restrains it to two:

nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses; which was a country that abounded with them, and therefore he was not to encourage, and much less oblige his subjects to travel thither or trade with that people for the sake of increasing his stock of horses, Isaiah 31:1

forasmuch as the Lord hath said unto you, ye shall henceforth return no more that way; not that going into Egypt on any account whatsoever was forbidden, as for trade and merchandise in other things, or for shelter and safety, for which some good men fled thither; but for outward help and assistance against enemies, and for horses on that account, and particularly in order to dwell there, from which the Jews in the times of Jeremiah were dissuaded by him, and threatened by the Lord with destruction, in case they should, Jeremiah 42:15. When the Lord said this is not certain; it may be when they proposed to make a captain, and return unto Egypt; or he said this in his providence, this was the language of it ever since they came out of it, or however this he now said; see Deuteronomy 28:68.

g Sanhedrin, c. 2. sect. 4. h Hilchot Melachim, c. 3. sect. 3.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The horse was not anciently used in the East for purposes of agriculture or traveling, but ordinarily for war only. He appears constantly in Scripture as the symbol and embodiment of fleshly strength and the might of the creature (compare Psalms 20:7; Psalms 33:16-17; Psalms 147:10; Job 39:19 ff), and is sometimes significantly spoken of simply as “the strong one” (compare Jeremiah 8:16). The spirit of the prohibition therefore is that the king of Israel must not, like other earthly potentates, put his trust in costly and formidable preparations for war (compare Hosea 1:7).

Egypt was the principal source from where the nations of western Asia drew their supplies of this animal (compare Exodus 14:5 ff; 1 Kings 10:28-29; 2 Kings 7:6); but contact, traffic, or alliance which would “cause the people to return to Egypt” would be to reverse that great and beneficent wonderwork of God which inaugurated the Mosaic covenant, the deliverance from the bondage of Egypt; and to bring about of set purpose that which God threatened Deuteronomy 28:68 as the most severe punishment for Israel’s sin.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Deuteronomy 17:16. He shall not multiply horses — As horses appear to have been generally furnished by Egypt, God prohibits these,

1. Lest there should be such commerce with Egypt as might lead to idolatry.

2. Lest the people might depend on a well-appointed cavalry as a means of security, and so cease from trusting in the strength and protection of God. And,

3. That they might not be tempted to extend their dominion by means of cavalry, and so get scattered among the surrounding idolatrous nations, and thus cease, in process of time, to be that distinct and separate people which God intended they should be, and without which the prophecies relative to the Messiah could not be known to have their due and full accomplishment.