New English Translation
Deuteronomy 21:18
18If a person has a stubborn, rebellious son who pays no attention to his father or mother, and they discipline him to no avail,
Deuteronomy 21:18 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them:
- New International Version (NIV)If someone has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and will not listen to them when they discipline him,
- English Standard Version (ESV)"If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and, though they discipline him, will not listen to them,
- New King James Version (NKJV)“If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and who, when they have chastened him, will not heed them,
Context of Deuteronomy 21:18
16In the day he divides his inheritance he must not appoint as firstborn the son of the favorite wife in place of the other wife’s son who is actually the firstborn. 17Rather, he must acknowledge the son of the less loved wife as firstborn and give him the double portion of all he has, for that son is the beginning of his father’s procreative power – to him should go the right of the firstborn. If a person has a stubborn, rebellious son who pays no attention to his father or mother, and they discipline him to no avail, 19his father and mother must seize him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his city. 20They must declare to the elders of his city, “Our son is stubborn and rebellious and pays no attention to what we say – he is a glutton and drunkard.”
Read all of Deuteronomy 21Deuteronomy 21:18 word by word
כִּֽי־יִהְיֶ֣ה לְאִ֗ישׁ בֵּ֚ן סוֹרֵ֣ר וּמוֹרֶ֔ה אֵינֶ֣נּוּ שֹׁמֵ֔עַ בְּק֥וֹל אָבִ֖יו וּבְק֣וֹל אִמּ֑וֹ וְיסְּר֣וּ אֹת֔וֹ וְלֹ֥א יִשְׁמַ֖ע אֲלֵיהֶֽם׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- If a manאִישׁ'îysh · man: anyoneH376
- have a stubbornסָרַרsârar · to rebelH5637
- and rebelliousמָרָהmârâh · to rebelH4784
- sonבֵּןbên · son: childH1121
- which will not obeyשָׁמַעshâma‛ · to hear: obeyH8085
- the voiceקוֹלqôl qôl · voiceH6963
- of his fatherאָב'âb · fatherH1
- of his motherאֵם'êm · motherH517
- when they have chastenedיָסַרyâsar · to disciplineH3256
- him, will not hearkenשָׁמַעshâma‛ · to hear: hearH8085
Cross-references for Deuteronomy 21:18
- Proverbs 28:24The one who robs his father and mother and says, “There is no transgression,” is a companion to the one who destroys.
- Proverbs 30:11There is a generation who curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers.
- Isaiah 1:2Listen, O heavens, pay attention, O earth! For the Lord speaks: “I raised children, I brought them up, but they have rebelled against me!
- Deuteronomy 27:16‘Cursed is the one who disrespects his father and mother.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’
- Exodus 20:12“Honor your father and your mother, that you may live a long time in the land the Lord your God is giving to you.
- Exodus 21:15“Whoever strikes his father or his mother must surely be put to death.
- Leviticus 19:3Each of you must respect his mother and his father, and you must keep my Sabbaths. I am the Lord your God.
- Leviticus 21:9If a daughter of a priest profanes herself by engaging in prostitution, she is profaning her father. She must be burned to death.
- Proverbs 15:5A fool rejects his father’s discipline, but whoever heeds reproof shows good sense.
- Proverbs 20:20The one who curses his father and his mother, his lamp will be extinguished in the blackest darkness.
- Ezekiel 22:7They have treated father and mother with contempt within you; they have oppressed the foreigner among you; they have wronged the orphan and the widow within you.
- Deuteronomy 8:5Be keenly aware that just as a parent disciplines his child, the Lord your God disciplines you.
- 2 Samuel 7:14I will become his father and he will become my son. When he sins, I will correct him with the rod of men and with wounds inflicted by human beings.
- Proverbs 13:24The one who spares his rod hates his child, but the one who loves his child is diligent in disciplining him.
- Proverbs 19:18Discipline your child, for there is hope, but do not set your heart on causing his death.
- Proverbs 22:15Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far from him.
Commentaries on Deuteronomy 21:18
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 18The stubborn, rebellious, gluttonous, and drunken son is to be stoned to death - This law, severe as it may seem, must have acted as a powerful preventive of crime. If such a law were in force now, and duly executed, how many deaths of disobedient and profligate children would there be in all corners of the land!Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 18-21Verses 18-21 The formal accusation of parents against a child was to be received without inquiry, as being its own proof. Thus the just authority of the parents is recognized and effectually upheld (compare Exodus 20:12; Exodus 21:15, Exodus 21:17; Leviticus 20:9); but the extreme and irresponsible power of life and death, conceded by the law of Rome and other pagan nations, is withheld from the Israelite father. In this, as in the last law, provision is…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 18-21Verses 18-21 Observe how the criminal is here described. He is a stubborn and rebellious son. No child was to fare the worse for weakness of capacity, slowness, or dulness, but for wilfulness and obstinacy. Nothing draws men into all manner of wickedness, and hardens them in it more certainly and fatally, than drunkenness. When men take to drinking, they forget the law of honouring parents. His own father and mother must complain of him to the elders of…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 18-2118-21. If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son--A severe law was enacted in this case. But the consent of both parents was required as a prevention of any abuse of it; for it was reasonable to suppose that they would not both agree to a criminal information against their son except from absolute necessity, arising from his inveterate and hopeless wickedness; and, in that view, the law was wise and salutary, as such a person would be a pest and…Read the comment
Topics related to Deuteronomy 21:18
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Deuteronomy 21
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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