John Calvin Commentary Deuteronomy 17:13

"And all the people shall hear, and fear, and do no more presumptuously." — Deuteronomy 17:13 (ASV)

And all the people. He shows from the object of the enactment why the proud despisers (of the priests) were not to be spared; for punishments serve as a common example, while, on the other hand, impunity is a bait to sin and the nurturer of unbridled licentiousness. And, assuredly, when He commands that the whole people should be inspired with terror, it suggests that, unless presumption is corrected, and the bold and wicked are restrained by severe discipline, the door would be opened for them to destroy the Church.