Deuteronomy 21:21

And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die,.... The populace; that is, after his trial is finished, and he is condemned to die; and he was not stoned until the three first

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

Stoning was the punishment appointed for blasphemers and idolaters; which if it seem severe, it is to be considered that parents are in God’ s stead, and intrusted in good measure with his authority over their children; and that families are the matter and foundation of the church and commonwealth, and they who are naughty members and rebellious children in them, do commonly prove the bane and plague of these; and therefore no wonder if they are nipped in the bud.

Deuteronomy 21:21 And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.Ver. 21. Shall hear and fear.]

Deuteronomy 21:18-21. THE SON.(18) If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son.—Here we are again reminded that the Law of Jehovah was also the civil and criminal law of Israel. The systematic breach of the first commandment of the second table of the Law, no less than of the first commandment of the first table, entailed the penalty of death. Manifestly this enactment, if carried out, would be a great protection to the country against lawless and abandoned characters, and would rid it of one very large element in the dangerous classes. (20) Stubborn and rebellious.—The Hebrew words became proverbial as the worst form of reproach, sτrκr ϋ-mτreh. This word mτreh was the one employed by Moses, when, speaking “unadvisedly” (Numbers 20:10), he said to the people, “Hear now, ye rebels, must we fetch you water out of this rock?” It appears in the Revised New Testament, in the margin of St. Matthew 5:22, for “thou fool.” But the Greek word there employed is true Greek, and has its own affinities in the New Testament. And the word mτreh is true Hebrew. They may be idiomatically synonymous. They are not etymologically identical. A glutton and a drunkard.—The same two words are found in Proverbs 23:20-22, “Be not among wine bibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh: For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags. Hearken unto thy father that begat thee; and despise not thy mother when she is old.” The context of this quotation seems to make it a distinct reference to the law in Deuteronomy 21 (21) Shall stone him with stones.—Rashi says that the Law cuts short the man’s career, anticipating what its close will be. When he has spent all his father’s money, he will take to the road, and become a public robber. It is better that he die innocent of such crimes than guilty. We can hardly adopt this view of the case; but it contains one feature that is terribly true.

21. stone] Heb. ragam as in Ar.; only here in D, which elsewhere has saḳ ?al, see on Deuteronomy 13:10 (11), but found in JE (Joshua 7:25), H (Leviticus 20:2; Leviticus 20:27) and P (Numbers 14:10, etc.). put away, etc.] see on Deuteronomy 13:5 (6). all Israel shall hear, etc.] see on Deuteronomy 13:11 (12); cp. Deuteronomy 17:13, Deuteronomy 19:20.

21. All the men of his city shall stone him — Only the whole community could inflict the penalty of death. The law was much more merciful in its provisions than the usages of most of the ancient nations.