Deuteronomy 17 · a question people ask
Did Israel's kings keep this law?
Kings tells what Solomon gathered, in the three things 17:16-17 names. Horses: "The horses which Solomon had were brought out of Egypt" (1 Kings 10:28). Silver: "The king made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem" (1 Kings 10:27). Wives: "He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines. His wives turned his heart away" (1 Kings 11:3). "The LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned away from the LORD" (1 Kings 11:9). Kings doesn't cite Deuteronomy 17, and its verb for "turned" is a different Hebrew word (natah) from the one in 17:17 (sur). Of King Josiah, who heard "the words of the book of the law" (2 Kings 22:11), Kings says, "There was no king like him before him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses" (2 Kings 23:25).
The verses
“Only he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he may multiply horses; because the LORD has said to you, “You shall not go back that way again.” He shall not multiply wives to himself, that his heart not turn away. He shall not greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.”
“The king made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem, and cedars as common as the sycamore trees that are in the lowland. The horses which Solomon had were brought out of Egypt. The king’s merchants received them in droves, each drove at a price.”
“He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines. His wives turned his heart away.”
“The LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice,”