Deuteronomy 21:20

20 And say to them, This son of ours is hard-hearted and uncontrolled, he will not give attention to us; he gives himself up to pleasure and strong drink.

Deuteronomy 21:20 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 21:20

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''

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

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FOOTNOTES:

F1 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 daughter, because a daughter generally is more tractable; and less capable of doing mischief than a son; and a son and not a man, for if at man's estate, and for himself, he is not under the power of his parents; and yet not a child or a little one, for that is not comprehended in the commands; he must be according to them thirteen years of age and one day, and he must be a son and not a father ^F2:

[he is] a glutton and a drunkard;
which, according to the Misnah ^F3, is one that eats half a pound of flesh, and drinks half a log of Italian wine; R. Jose says, a pound of flesh and a log of wine; but the decision was not according to him; the first rule stood: now half a pound of flesh, and half a log of wine, which was about three egg shells, or a quarter of a pint, would be at this day reckoned very little by our grandsons of Bacchus, as Schickard observes ^F4; but in an age of severer discipline, as he says, in the tender candidates of temperance, it was reckoned too much, and was a presage of a future glutton: and it must be further observed to denominate him a rebellious son, what he ate and drank was to be what he stole from his parents, and did not eat and drink it at home, but abroad, and in bad company; so Jarchi remarks on the text, he is not guilty until he steals, and eats half a pound of flesh, and drinks half a log of wine; in which he seems to have respect to the Jewish canon ^F5,

``if he steals from his father and eats it in a place in his father's power, or from others and eats it in a place in their power, or from others and eats it in a place in his father's power; he is not reckoned a stubborn and rebellious son, unless he steals from his father, and eats it in a place in the power of others,''

see ( Proverbs 23:20 ) , the Jews seem to refer to this when they charged Christ with being a glutton and a winebibber, ( Matthew 11:19 ) being desirous of having him thought as such an one.

F1 Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 8. sect. 4.
F2 Ut supra, (Misn. Bava Bathra, c. 8.) sect. 1. Maimon. & Bartenora in ib.
F3 Ib. sect. 2.
F4 Jus Regium Heb. c. 5. Theor. 17. p. 364.
F5 Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 8. sect. 3.

Deuteronomy 21:20 In-Context

18 If a man has a son who is hard-hearted and uncontrolled, who gives no attention to the voice of his father and mother, and will not be ruled by them, though they give him punishment:

19 Then let his father and mother take him to the responsible men of the town, to the public place;

20 And say to them, This son of ours is hard-hearted and uncontrolled, he will not give attention to us; he gives himself up to pleasure and strong drink.

21 Then he is to be stoned to death by all the men of the town: so you are to put away the evil from among you; and all Israel, hearing of it, will be full of fear.

22 If a man does a crime for which the punishment is death, and he is put to death by hanging him on a tree;