Charles Ellicott Commentary Deuteronomy 17:2-7

"If there be found in the midst of thee, within any of thy gates which Jehovah thy God giveth thee, man or woman, that doeth that which is evil in the sight of Jehovah thy God, in transgressing his covenant, and hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, or the sun, or the moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded; and it be told thee, and thou hast heard of it, then shalt thou inquire diligently; and, behold, if it be true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in Israel, then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, who hath done this evil thing, unto thy gates, even the man or the woman; and thou shalt stone them to death with stones. At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is to die be put to death; at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death. The hand of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So thou shalt put away the evil from the midst of thee." — Deuteronomy 17:2-7 (ASV)

Deuteronomy 17:2–7. EVERY IDOLATER TO BE STONED.

If there is found ... man or woman. —This section differs slightly from the third section of Deuteronomy 13. The penalty there is directed against the teachers of idolatry, whether prophets, private individuals, or communities in Israel. Here the penalty of death is enacted for every individual, man or woman, found guilty of worshipping any other god but Jehovah. We find traces of this law in the covenant made in the reign of Asa (2 Chronicles 15:13), that whosoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.

Either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven. —The oldest and simplest, and apparently most innocent form of idolatry. If this was punishable with death, obviously no grosser form of idolatry could be spared. The Book of Job, which knows no other idolatry, admits this to be a denial of the God that is above (Job 31:26–28).

He that is worthy of death. —Literally, he that dies.

The hands of the witnesses ... first. —A great safeguard against false testimony.

Put ... away. —Literally, consume. The primary meaning of the word is “burn.” Taberah, “burning,” is a derivative.

The evil. —The Greek version renders this “the wicked man,” and the sentence is taken up in this form in 1 Corinthians 5:13, and ye shall put away from among you that wicked person. The phrase is of frequent occurrence in Deuteronomy. If we are to understand that in all places where it occurs “the evil” is to be understood of an individual, and to be taken in the masculine gender, the fact seems to deserve notice in considering the phrase “deliver us from evil” in the Lord’s Prayer.

There is really no such thing as wickedness in the world apart from some wicked being or person. We are also reminded of the famous argument of St. Augustine, that evil has no existence except as a corruption of good, or a creature’s perverted will.