Deuteronomy 21:20

_IF A MAN HAVE A STUBBORN AND REBELLIOUS SON, WHICH WILL NOT OBEY THE VOICE OF HIS FATHER, OR THE VOICE OF HIS MOTHER, AND THAT, WHEN THEY HAVE CHASTENED HIM, WILL NOT HEARKEN UNTO THEM:_ If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son. A severe law was enacted in this case. Hebrew parents were not, as among the Greeks and Romans, invested with the power of life and death of their children; but still they had, in addition to their natural, a legal authority over them. In case of "a stubborn and rebellious son" - i.e., one whose insubordination and dangerous violence was the result of reckless and confirmed profligacy-the law provided a remedy. But in the first place they must have exhausted every means of remonstrance and expostulation. They were themselves to become the prosecutors, and the consent of both parents was required as a prevention of any abuse of it; for it was reasonable to su...

18-21 Observe how the criminal is here described. He is a stubborn and rebellious son. No child was to fare the worse for weakness of capacity, slowness, or dulness, but for wilfulness and obstinacy. Nothing draws men into all manner of wickedness, and hardens them in it more certainly and fatally, than drunkenness. When men take to drinking, they forget the law of honouring parents. His own father and mother must complain of him to the elders of the city. Children who forget their duty, must thank themselves, and not blame their parents, if they are regarded with less and less affection. He must be publicly stoned to death by the men of his city. Disobedience to a parent's authority must be very evil, when such a punishment was ordered; nor is it less provoking to God now, though it escapes punishment in this world. But when young people early become slaves to sensual appetites, the he...

The formal accusation of parents against a child was to be received without inquiry, as being its own proof. Thus the just authority of the parents is recognized and effectually upheld (compare Exodus 20:12; Exodus 21:15, Exodus 21:17; Leviticus 20:9); but the extreme and irresponsible power of life and death, conceded by the law of Rome and other pagan nations, is withheld from the Israelite father. In this, as in the last law, provision is made against the abuses of a necessary authority....

EXPOSITION EXPIATION OF UNCERTAIN MURDER. TREATMENT OF A CAPTIVE TAKEN TO WIFE. RIGHTS OF THE FIRSTBORN. A REBELLIOUS, REFRACTORY SON TO BE JUDGED AND PUNISHED. A MALEFACTOR WHO HAS BEEN HANGED TO BE BURIED ERE NIGHTFALL. One general idea, viz. the sacredness of human life and of personal rights, connects the laws in this chapter together, as well as connects them with the laws in the two preceding chapters....

AND THEY SHALL SAY UNTO THE ELDERS OF HIS CITY,.... In open court, what follows, at the same time, according to the Targum of Jonathan, acknowledging their own sins, for which such a calamity had befallen them, saying, "we have transgressed the decree of the word of the Lord, because is born unto us a son that is stubborn, c.'' see John 9:2 THIS OUR SON IS STUBBORN AND REBELLIOUS, HE WILL NOT OBEY OUR VOICE one of an obstinate disposition, will have his own will and way, is perverse and refractory; honours not, but despises his parents, and is disobedient to their commands, unruly and ungovernable: the Jews gather a many things from hence, for which there is little foundation, as that they must be neither dumb, nor blind, nor deaf; though what they further observe is not much amiss, concerning this rebellious child, that the law respects a son and not a da

17. THE EXPIATION OF AN UNCERTAIN MURDER AND VARIOUS INSTRUCTIONS CHAPTER 21 _ 1. The expiation of an unknown murder (Deuteronomy 21:1)_ 2. Concerning a wife, who had been a prisoner of war (Deuteronomy 21:10) 3. The right of the firstborn (Deuteronomy 21:15) 4. The punishment of a rebellious son (Deuteronomy 21:18) 5. The burial of one who hanged on a tree (Deuteronomy 21:22) The expiation of an unknown murder seems to find an interesting applicati

Peculiar to D. Here respect for _both_ parents is enforced (see Exodus 20:12; Exodus 21:15); _cf._ CH. § 195, The son's hand which has smitten his _father_ shall be cut off (see Deuteronomy 15:12 *). Deuteronomy 21:22_ f_. This law (peculiar to D) rests upon the early belief that the soul of a dead person wanders about, often working mischief. Deuteronomy 21:22. hang: render impale, a common form of punishment in the ancient East. In the present case the criminal would be first stoned, th

GLUTTON, &C. Compare Matthew 11:19....

Of a Disobedient Son If a man have a son, who, in spite of his parents" rebuke, fails to obey them (Deuteronomy 21:18), they shall bring him forth to the gate, and state the case to the elders of the town (Deuteronomy 21:19 f.), and the townsmen shall stone him to death, so shall evil be put out of Israel and all take warning (21). Except for the closing formula this law is not in the form of address to Israel, and the term for _stoning_is other than D's. Therefore probably another of the laws incorporated by D. The power of parents over their children (E, Exodus 21:7; Genesis 31:15), even to putting them to dea

_VER._ 20. _HE IS A GLUTTON AND A DRUNKARD_— Under these words are comprehended all other riotous courses. He was not to suffer for these vices only, but for stubbornly persisting in them, in spite of the repeated admonition and reproof of his parents, as appears from the 18th verse. Gluttony and drunkenness lead insensibly from crime to crime, even to the last excess. Proverbs 28:7. Miserable are the parents who do not repress, with the greater attention, the first inclinations in their children to these unworthy passions! To what miseries do they not expose themselves by their criminal indulgence! See Saurin's Sermons, tom. 12: Sermon 1....