Exodus 21:15

15 He that striketh his father or mother, shall be put to death.

Exodus 21:15 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 21:15

And he that smiteth his father or his mother
With his fist, or with a stick, or cane, or such thing, though they died not with the blow, yet it occasioned any wound, or caused a bruise, or the part smitten black and blue, or left any print of the blow; for, as Jarchi says, the party was not guilty, less by smiting there was a bruise, or weal, made, or any mark or scar: but if so it was, then he

shall be surely put to death;
the Targum of Jonathan adds, with the suffocation of a napkin; and so Jarchi says with strangling; the manner of which was this, the person was sunk into a dunghill up to his knees, and two persons girt his neck with a napkin or towel until he expired. This crime was made capital, to show the heinousness of it, how detestable it was to God, and in order to deter from it.

Exodus 21:15 In-Context

13 But he that did not lie in wait for him, but God delivered him into his hands: I will appoint thee a place to which he must flee.

14 If a man kill his neighbour on set purpose, and by lying in wait for him: thou shalt take him away from my altar that he may die.

15 He that striketh his father or mother, shall be put to death.

16 He that shall steal a man, and sell him, being convicted of the guilt, shall be put to death.

17 He that curseth his father or mother, shall die the death.