Did Israel Stone Rebellious Sons?

Posted by Brian Tubbs Jun 21, 2007

One of the most controversial elements of the Mosaic Code was the provision that rebellious sons were to be stoned to death. In Deuteronomy 21:18-21 (NKJV), we see the following:

18 “If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and who, when they have chastened him, will not heed them,

19 then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city, to the gate of his city.

20 And they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.’

21 Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death with stones; so you shall put away the evil from among you, and all Israel shall hear and fear.

According to the full passage, it appears that the criteria for this penalty is: a) male, b) probably an older youth - a teenager, c) absolute refusal to obey his parents, d) consistent defiance and disrespect, e) "glutton and drunkard" - meaning he lives only for himself as evidenced by his eating and drinking.

This teenager would have to be guilty of ALL these things - AND be characterized as "rebellious" (which involves more than passive, stubborn disobedience - but rather an overt, defiant rebellion in the family).

We are NOT talking about simple teenage unruliness here. This is a case of hardcore, angry juvenile delinquency - a situation that the parents can neither control nor contain.

In such a situation, the parents themselves are NOT permitted to take justice into their own hands. They are NOT allowed to decide unilaterally whether their son lives or dies. Were they to take their son's own life, they would be held accountable for murder. Instead, they must bring their son before the elders of the city. A community trial.

In spite of all this, many people STILL find this passage in Deuteronomy 21 too much to take. If you're in that camp, here are two remaining facts...

First, it's often overlooked, but the Mosaic Code made provisions in non-murder cases for ransom (Numbers 35:31). Biblical scholars Walter Kaiser, Peter H. Davids, F.F. Bruce, and Manfred Brauch explain: "Thus, while the penalty marked the seriousness of the crime, the offer of a ransom would mitigate some of the severity of the actual sentencing."

Second, there is no record in the Old Testament of this penalty actually being carried out. If someone IS aware of a passage, please let us know in the discussion boards - and I will stand corrected. However, I don't believe there is such a case. It's therefore possible (if not likely) that this penalty was never carried out.

Bottom line....there's nothing in this passage that should cause any Jew or Christian to lose his or her confidence or faith in God.