Deuteronomy 21:21

21 Then all the men in his town must throw stones at him until he dies. Get rid of the evil among you, because then all the people of Israel will hear about this and be afraid.

Deuteronomy 21:21 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 21:21

And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that
he die
The populace; that is, after his trial is finished, and he is condemned to die; and he was not stoned until the three first judges were there (by whom he was admonished, and ordered to be beaten), as it it said, "this is our son", this is he that was beaten before you F6; and according to the Targum of Jonathan,

``if he feared (God, and showed any token of repentance) and received instruction, and they (his parents) desired to preserve him alive, they preserved him; but if he refused and was rebellious, then they stoned him;''

but the Jews say this law, and that of retaliation, were never put into execution:

so shalt thou put away evil from among you;
put a stop to, and prevent such an evil for the future, and remove the guilt of it; or, as the Targum of Jonathan, him that doeth that evil:

and all Israel shall hear, and fear;
it being to be publicly notified throughout the land, that such an one suffered death for such a crime, which would be a means of deterring others from the same; so Jarchi remarks,

``here (says he) a proclamation was necessary to be made by the sanhedrim, as that such an one was stoned because he was stubborn and rebellious;''

for the mystical sense of this see ( Ephesians 2:2 ) ( Colossians 3:6 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F6 Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 3. sect. 4.

Deuteronomy 21:21 In-Context

19 his parents must take him to the older leaders at the city gate.
20 They will say to the leaders, "Our son is stubborn and turns against us. He will not obey us. He eats too much, and he is always drunk."
21 Then all the men in his town must throw stones at him until he dies. Get rid of the evil among you, because then all the people of Israel will hear about this and be afraid.
22 If someone is guilty of a sin worthy of death, he must be put to death and his body displayed on a tree.
23 But don't leave his body hanging on the tree overnight; be sure to bury him that same day, because anyone whose body is displayed on a tree is cursed by God. You must not ruin the land the Lord your God is giving you as your own.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.