21:18-21
This deals with the situation of a rebellious son. Ideally a son should be obedient and grow up to be a mature man of God, but this will not always happen. If this reached extremes, then the parents were to take the son to “elders at the gate of the town”. Here it refers to the son being a “glutton and drunkard”. This was not to be a first course of action, but related to serious sins, and after attempts to discipline had failed. In present terms the equivalent would be reporting a son to the police if he had committed a crime. The men of the town were then to stone the son to death. “You must purge the evil from among you. All Israel will hear of it and be afraid.” As with many other aspects of the Law this seems terribly harsh, but the principles are very important. A person had responsibilities to their family, and also to the wider community, and sin needs to be dealt with.
21:22,23
The chapter closes with some miscellaneous instructions. If someone is put to death because of a crime, their body was not to be left exposed on a pole overnight. The body was to be buried on the same day. To do otherwise would desecrate the land.
No comments:
Post a Comment