Deuteronomy 21

Chap. XXI. Ver. 1—23. The punishment of a stubborn and rebellious son.—Some have censured this law as “inhuman and brutish.” To this the late Bishop Watson very properly replies by remarking, that “‘the paternal power amongst the Romans, the Gauls, the Persians, and other nations, was of the most arbitrary kind; that it extended to the taking away the life of the child. I do not know (says the Bishop) whether the Israelites, in the time of Moses, exercised this paternal power; it was not a custom adopted by all nations, but it was by many; and in the infancy of society, before individual families had coalesced into communities, it was probably very general. Now Moses, by this law, which you, (Mr.

Paine,) esteem brutal and inhuman, hindered such an extravagant power from being either introduced or exercised amongst the Israelites. This law is so far from countenancing the arbitrary power of a father over the life of his child, that it takes from him the power of accusing the child before a magistrate; the father and the mother of the child must agree in bringing the child to judgment; and it was not by their united will that the child was to be condemned to death, the elders of the city were to judge whether the accusation was true; and the accusation was to be not merely, as you insinuate, that the child was stubborn, but that he was ‘stubborn and rebellious, a glutton and a drunkard.’ Considered in this light, you must allow the law to have been a humane restriction of a power not to be lodged with any parent.”

(Apology for the This law was confined to the civil polity of the Hebrews, and we have no instance in Scripture of its being put in force; but its insertion in the Mosaic code might operate powerfully as a preventive, both as to the negligence of parents, and refractoriness of children: we believe that the latter seldom grow up to this excess of obduracy, but where there is a very relaxed state of discipline in early life… And what an awful lesson is here read to disobedient children! Their sin is not the less in the sight of God, because they meet with no judicial punishment in this world.

Notes on the verses

Chap. XXI. Ver. 4. Rough valley.—{As the word nachal, signifies both a torrent, and the valley or glen through which it flows, exactly corresponding to the term wady among the Arabs, nachal aithan, may be rendered, as it is by Maimonides, the Rabbins, Michaelis, and others, a rapid torrent. Many torrents in Judea are dry during a great part of the year; when not only their banks but their beds may be ploughed and yield a crop. Hence there is no impropriety in specifying that such a place should be one that “‘ is neither eared nor sown;” while the circumstance that the elders were to wash their hands over the heifer, whose head had been struck off into the stream, confirms this interpretation. The spot of ground where this sacrifice was made, must be uncultivated, because it was considered as a sacrifice for the atonement of murder, and, consequently, would pollute the land.

This ordinance was calculated to keep murder in abhorrence, and to make the magistrates alert in discharging the duties of their office, that delinquents might be discovered and punished, and thus public expense saved. ]—Bagster. ‘ Ver. 6. Shall wash their hands.—This ceremony was intended to protest their innocence of the murder. Compare ver. 8, 9, with (Matthew 27:24). Ver. 12. Shave her head, and pare her nails —Hebrew, ‘* Make (or dress) her nails,” but our translators have intimated, in the margin, that it is uncertain whether the expression means to pare her nails, or “make them grow:” those who read dress, refer it to colouring them (with al-henna) of asafiron colour. To shave the head and let the nails grow, are generally considered signs of mourning; but as she is commanded to put off “ the raiment of her captivity,”

Dr. Clarke considers this as a mark of proselytism; as any Christian who turns Mahometan has his head shaven, and is so publicly exhibited. When it is said, she shall do this, it may be to intimate that she acts voluntarily in this matter, and is not forced. oie -. Ver. 15. Hated.—It might be properly rendered “ disliked,” or, “ an object of disgust.”” So the same word is used in (Psalms 139:21-22). and in other places where it ought to be translated disgusted with, or by some equivalent. Ver. 20. A glutton.—The Hebrew word denotes “ debauched,” or abandoned to any bad company. At Canton, in China, if children grow incorrigible, and despise the threats or admonitions of their parents, according to law, the parents are to complain of them to the magistrate, and on full conviction the magistrate will severely correct them.

For if a son break the established laws, the parent suffers punishment as well as the criminal son, if he had not before made the magistrate acquainted with his son’s vices.—Orient Lit. Ver. 23. He that is hanged, is accursed.—The Jews never hung any person alive, but always after stoning; his being hung was therefore a sign, that he had suffered “the curse of God,” and the penalty of the law. See (Galatians 3:13).