Kommentar zu Dewarim 17:20

ולבלתי סור מן המצוה AND THAT HE DEPART NOT FROM THE COMMANDMENT — not even from a less important command given to him by means of a prophet.

THAT HIS HEART BE NOT LIFTED UP ABOVE HIS BRETHREN. Here in the Torah a prohibition against conceit is alluded to, for Scripture prohibited even the king from indulging in conceit and haughtiness of heart, surely other people who are not of such commendable excellence [or merit, are forbidden to be haughty]. Scripture has thus admonished him for whom it is proper to be haughty and majestic that his heart must be as humble as that of his brethren of lower status, because conceit is a reprehensible character-trait, and it is loathsome to G-d even in a king. To G-d alone is the greatness¹²⁹See ibid., Verse 11. and exaltation,¹³⁰See Nehemiah 9:5. and to Him alone is the praise, and in [the knowledge of] Him may man glory, as the matter is explained by King Solomon, Every man that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Eternal.¹³¹Proverbs 16:5. It is further written, But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth, and knoweth Me.¹³²Jeremiah 9:23.

that he may not be haughty which would occur, if he were above the law.

לבלתי רום לבבו, "so that his heart does not become arrogant, etc." This may be understood as analogous to Avot 6,1 ומלבשתו ענוה ויראה, "and it clothes him in meekness and the fear of G'd." [The subject is a person who studies Torah with a pure purpose. Ed.] The Torah means that studying Torah as the king is bidden to do daily will ensure that he does not become haughty. Concerning the king developing fear of the Lord, the Torah had already written in verse 19: "in order that he will learn to fear the Lord his G'd."

לבלתי רום לבבו, “so that his heart does not become haughty;” here the Torah zeroes in on the negative virtue called pride, arrogance, haughtiness. By warning the King not to fall victim to such feelings, we commoners must surely learn that we are included in that warning, as we have far less to tempt us to display or harbour such feelings of superiority.

למען יאריך ימים על ממלכתו, “in order that he may enjoy a long reign, etc.” The Torah, while emphasizing the positive, also implies the negative consequences if the king will fail to heed the Torah’s instructions. The best example is the first king of Israel, Shaul, who on account of a relatively minor sin, lost his kingdom and dynasty. The prophet Samuel had told him to wait for seven days for his arrival. Shaul failed to do so, (during the last hours of the seventh day) and the prophet not only chided him but told him that on account of this insubordination (described as foolishness) his kingdom would not endure (Samuel I 10,8 and 13,13-14).

Implicit in the positive is the negative, etc. Meaning, that it is from here that Shmuel the prophet learned that one who contravenes the directive of a prophet, the days of his reign will not endure for long. And [therefore] he said to Shaul, “You have been foolish! You have not kept, etc.”

לבלתי רום לבבו, “so that his heart not feel superior;” this is the reason why the Torah does not wish that the king amass undue amounts of gold and silver.

לבלתי רום לבבו מאחיו, “so as not to lift his heart above that of his brethren.” This is the reason why the king must not amass material wealth mentioned in verse 17.

למען יאריך ימים TO THE END THAT HE MAY PROLONG HIS DAYS [IN HIS KINGDOM] — From the positive statement you may derive the negative (that if he does not fulfil the commandments his kingdom will not endure). And so, indeed, do we find in the case of Saul that Samuel said to him, (I Samuel 10:8) “Seven days shalt thou tarry, till I come unto thee” to offer burnt sacrifices, and it is written, (I Samuel 13:8) “and he tarried seven days”, but he did not keep his promise to wait the whole of the seventh day and had scarcely finished offering the burnt offering when Samuel came (I Samuel 10:10) and said to him (I Samuel 10:13-14) “Thou hast done foolishly; thou hast not kept [the commandment of the Lord thy God, which He commanded thee; for now would the Lord have established thy kingdom upon Israel forever;] but now thy kingdom shall not continue”. Thus you learn that for the neglect of an unimportant command given by means of a prophet he was severely punished.

that he may not turn away for if he did not study, he would not know the law. His reward will be that he lengthen the days .

הוא ובניו, “he and his sons, etc.” This verse teaches that the succession is by heredity and that there is no need to anoint the son of the previous king (Horiot 11). However if there should break out a quarrel involving the succession, the choice that the people agree on will require anointing. This is the meaning of the words בקרב ישראל, i.e. if there is no dispute and all agree who should ascend the throne after the death of the previous king — only then is anointing not required. The reason Solomon had to be anointed was precisely because there had been a quarrel about which of David’s sons should rule after him (compare Horiot 11).

ולבלתי סור מן המצוה, “and in order that he do not deviate from G–d’s commandments;” this is the reason why a king is commanded to write a Torah scroll personally; this scroll is to accompany him wherever he goes. I have heard an opinion that what was written in that “Torah scroll,” are only the Ten Commandments. Seeing that the Ten Commandments total 613 letters, it is as if this scroll was equivalent to the entire five Books of Moses which contain a total of 613 commandments.

ולבלתי סור מן המצוה, “and in order not to turn aside from the commandment;” this is the reason why the King must always have a Torah scroll with him from which he is to read daily.

הוא ובניו [THAT HE MAY PROLONG HIS DAYS IN HIS KINGDOM] HE, AND HIS CHILDREN — This tells you that if his son is worthy of becoming king he has to be given preference to any other person (Horayot 11b).

למען יאריך ימים, “so that he may prolong his life;” it is a well known fact that the burden of high office is bound to shorten the life of the people charged with it. In order to counteract this, the Torah provides the King with an antidote, i.e. regular daily Torah study. This is also why when the King is crowned, the crowd welcomes him with the shout: יחי המלך. “long life to the King!” (Kings I 1,25)