---
title: Deuteronomy 10:17
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/deuteronomy-10-17/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/deuteronomy-10-17.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: Deuteronomy 10:17
testament: OT
section: Law
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# Deuteronomy 10:17

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

> For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God, showing no partiality and accepting no bribe.

## JW Usage

JWs accept Deuteronomy 10:17 — "Jehovah your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords" — as a statement of Jehovah's supreme sovereignty. The title "Lord of lords" is reserved for Jehovah exclusively in its ontological sense, even though it is used in a lesser, delegated sense for human emperors elsewhere (Daniel 2:37; Ezekiel 26:7).

## Protestant Usage

Deuteronomy 10:17 sets the altitude. "God of gods and Lord of lords" is the title the one true God reserves for himself as supreme over all reality — not a delegated compliment for a favoured king. Revelation 19:16 calls Jesus "King of kings and Lord of lords." Revelation 17:14 elevates the title further: "the Lamb… *is* Lord of lords and King of kings." The Greek construction in Revelation 17:14 — *kyrios kyriōn kai basileus basileōn* — is the exact echo of Deuteronomy 10:17's Hebrew *elohe ha-elohim va-adone ha-adonim*. And 1 Timothy 6:15-16 attaches the same title to the one who "alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light" — language that lives at Jehovah's altitude, not Nebuchadnezzar's. If Jesus bears this title at the Deuteronomy 10:17 altitude, he shares Jehovah's identity.

## Arguments Using This Verse

- [King of Kings and Lord of Lords](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/king-of-kings.md) — Revelation 19:16 — A title shared with Jehovah [Deity of Christ]