The Handwritten Copy: What Israel’s Kings Were Told to Do With God’s Word

Writing a passage of Scripture by hand slows your mind to the pace of your heart, and God told Israel’s kings to do exactly that. Most leaders read fast because the day demands it: skim the inbox, skim the report, skim the passage. Thursday morning, with the first meeting still hours away, is a good time to try something slower.

C.H.E.W. with Me

New here? What is CHEW? — a 30-second practice that grows into a day woven with God’s love.

C – Clarity: I Read Scripture at the Speed I Read Everything Else

A trained mind reads for the point and moves on, and that skill serves a leader well. Applied to Scripture, it can mean that a familiar passage is processed in thirty seconds and remembered as a summary. The gap worth naming is between the speed of the eyes and the speed of the heart, which rarely travel at the same pace.

H – Hear: Moses Tells the King to Write His Own Copy

“And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them…” (Deuteronomy 17:18-19)

Moses is speaking to a nation about to enter the land, describing how a future king should live. The king must not pile up horses, wives, or silver (verses 16-17), and the handwritten copy is his counterweight, so that, as verse 20 says, “his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers.” The goal of the writing is the condition of the heart.

“Copy” is mishneh, a duplicate or second copy. The Greek Old Testament renders the phrase “this second law,” and that is how the book of Deuteronomy got its name. “Write for himself” means the king does the writing, not a scribe. This command was given to Israel’s kings, so we take the principle rather than a rule for every leader: God’s words are meant to be taken in slowly, personally, and repeatedly by the people who carry the most influence.

It was never a test of endurance. God had told Israel why He gave His words: “for your good” (Deuteronomy 10:13), and He had set His heart in love on Israel’s fathers before a single command was given (10:15). God told Israel’s kings to copy His words by hand, not skim them, and a slow pen is one way His love travels from the page to the heart.

E – Exchange: Trade “Cover More Ground” for “Take In One Passage”

The belief behind fast reading is that coverage equals growth: more chapters, more days, more progress. Coverage has its place. But God’s love is not a quantity to collect; it is the heart of a Father to take in. Exchange the goal of covering ground for the goal of taking in one passage slowly, with your own hand, and give your heart time to catch up with what your head already knows.

Because God’s love is patient enough to hand His people His own words and wait while they copy them line by line, how does that change my pace in Scripture today?

W – Walk: One thing to do in the next five minutes

You need a pen, paper, and ten minutes. Choose one short passage, such as John 3:16-17 or 1 John 4:9-10, and copy it out by hand, slowly, one line at a time. When you finish, write one sentence beneath it that begins “God’s love is…” using only what the passage says. Keep the page on your desk or in your bag today, and glance at it once before noon.

Closing question: How might handwriting parts of the Bible change the way you see Scripture?