Charles Ellicott Commentary Deuteronomy 21:18-21

"If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, that will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and, though they chasten him, will not hearken unto them; then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place; and they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard. And all the men of his city shall stone him to death with stones: so shalt thou put away the evil from the midst of thee; and all Israel shall hear, and fear." — Deuteronomy 21:18-21 (ASV)

Deuteronomy 21:18–21. THE INCORRIGIBLE SON.

If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son (Deuteronomy 21:18). — We are again reminded here 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 that 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.

Stubborn and rebellious. — The Hebrew words became proverbial as the worst form of reproach, sôrêr û-môreh. This word môreh was the one used by Moses when, speaking “unadvisedly” (Numbers 20:10), he said to the people, “Hear now, you rebels, must we fetch you water out of this rock?” It appears in the Revised New Testament, in the margin of Matthew 5:22, for “you fool.” But the Greek word used there is true Greek and has its own affinities in the New Testament. And the word môreh 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 your father that begot you; and despise not your mother when she is old.” The context of this quotation seems to make it a distinct reference to the law in Deuteronomy 21.

Shall stone him with stones (Deuteronomy 21:21). — Rashi says that the Law cuts short the man’s career, anticipating what its end 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.