Exodus 21:17

17 " 'And one who curses his father or his mother will surely be put to death.

Exodus 21:17 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 21:17

And he that curseth his father, or his mother
Though he does not smite them with his hand, or with any instrument in it, yet if he smites them with his tongue, reviles and reproaches them, speaks evil of them, wishes dreadful imprecations upon them, curses them by the name explained, as the Targum of Jonathan calls it, by the name Jehovah, wishing the Lord would curse them, or that his curse might light upon them, see ( Proverbs 20:20 ) ( 30:17 ) ,

shall surely be put to death;
or be killed with casting stones on him, as the Targum of Jonathan, or with stoning; so Jarchi, who observes, that wherever it is said, "his blood be upon him", it is meant of stoning, as it is of the man that curses his father or his mother, ( Leviticus 20:9 ) which was after this manner, the place of stoning was two cubits high, to which the malefactor with his hands bound was brought; from whence one of the witnesses against him cast him down headlong, of which, if he did not die, then they took up stones and cast on him, and if he died not through them, then all Israel came and stoned him; that is, the multitude upon the spot: this verse in the Septuagint version follows ( Exodus 21:15 ) , with which it agrees, both respecting the same persons.

Exodus 21:17 In-Context

15 And {whoever strikes} his father or his mother will surely be put to death.

16 " 'And {whoever kidnaps someone} and sells him, or he is found in his possession, he will surely be put to death.

17 " 'And one who curses his father or his mother will surely be put to death.

18 " 'And if men quarrel and a man strikes his neighbor with a stone or with a fist and he does not die, but {he is confined to bed},

19 if he stands and walks about in the outside on his staff, the striker will be unpunished; he will only pay for his inactivity {toward his full recovery}."