What does Deuteronomy chapter 17 mean?

AnswerDeuteronomy chapter 17 continues some of the laws attributed to God and told to the Israelites.

The first of these is that only perfect and unblemished animals can be sacrificed to God.

The next law is that if anyone is found to worship any other god, then that person, man or woman, is to be stoned to death. In reading this, we must bear in mind the date and context in which Deuteronomy was written. During the seventh century BCE, King Josiah introduced a number of religious reforms, including monotheism. Towards this end, the one copy of the Book of Deuteronomy was 'found' hidden in Temple, but scholars say that it was of recent authorship and placed there in order to lend an appearance of antiquity to the scripture. This explains that Israel and Judah had never had outbreaks of stonings, although they had not previously been monotheistic. The ruthlessness of this law was intended to make the introduction of monotheism enforceable. Two witnesses were required if the death sentence was to be enforced.

Then we have a rule that institutionalises the role of the priests in judging the people. This is followed by a passage in which God is said to promise the people a king, and sets limits on the rights and privileges of the king. Judah was not yet a theocracy, but the priestly scribes have taken the opportunity to tilt the balance of power from the king towards the priests.