Deuteronomy 21:19

19 his father and mother must take hold of him and bring him to the elders of his city, to the gate^[a] of his hometown.

Deuteronomy 21:19 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 21:19

Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him
With their own hands, or cause him to be apprehended by others, in which they were to agree, and which the Jews gather from hence;

``if (say they ^F25) the father is willing (to bring him to justice), and the mother not willing, if his father is not willing and the mother is willing, he is not reckoned a stubborn or rebellious son, until they both agree:''

and bring him out unto the elders of his city;
according to the Misnah {z}, the sanhedrim, or court of judicature, consisting of twenty three; for they say, that after he has been admonished and scourged by order of the bench of three, if he returns to his corrupt and wicked ways again, he is judged by the court of twenty three:

and unto the gate of his place;
or city, where the court sat; so the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan, to the gate of the sanhedrim of his place.

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FOOTNOTES:

F25 Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 8. sect. 4.
F26 Ibid.

Deuteronomy 21:19 In-Context

17 He must acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the unloved wife, by giving him a double portion of everything that belongs to him, for he is the firstfruits of his virility; he has the rights of the firstborn.

18 "If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father or mother and doesn't listen to them even after they discipline him,

19 his father and mother must take hold of him and bring him to the elders of his city, to the gate of his hometown.

20 They will say to the elders of his city, 'This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he doesn't obey us. He's a glutton and a drunkard.'

21 Then all the men of his city will stone him to death. You must purge the evil from you, and all Israel will hear and be afraid.

Footnotes

• [a]. Dt 17:8; 22:15; 25:7