~ “Put to death the rebellious son.” - Moses

~ “Put to death the rebellious son.” - Moses

by Craig Hamilton on Friday, October 15, 2010 at 6:38pm

~ “Put to death the rebellious son.” - Moses

Deuteronomy 21:21, that a rebellious son should be stoned is a much maligned verse. Do not read “Child.” The verse says, “Son.” Maimonides counted the command relative to this as 106 (Leviticus 19:26, Deuteronomy 21:20). It is a negative commandment, meaning that both men and women Jews are obligated to it. Since, it is an obligation for a Jew to follow the laws of one’s country, the following is currently the correct rendering for USA citizens: “Not to eat or drink like a glutton or a drunkard (not to rebel against father or mother).” The following is text of the idea in question. It is quoted from a JPS (Jewish Publication Society) Bible and is free and in the public domain. It is available for free download at www.sacred-texts.com

From Deuteronmy (JPS):

21:18 If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, that will not hearken to the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and though they chasten him, will not hearken unto them;

21:19 then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place;

21:20 and they shall say unto the elders of his city: 'This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he doth not hearken to our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard.'

21:21 And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die; so shalt thou put away the evil from the midst of thee; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.

21:22 And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree;

21:23 his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt surely bury him the same day; for he that is hanged is a reproach unto God; that thou defile not thy land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.

Atheists often sight this to say that the Torah is cruel and immoral. Even the Talmud questions if this verse is indeed authentic. However, psychology does know of sociopaths, people born without a conscious that can never have one, and will do evil at every chance (evil rebellious children that only become evil adults). In Freudian terms, sociopaths just have an id and an ego, but no superego. That is, psychologists believe that the premise of some religions - that everyone knows right from wrong - is not true. This is an accepted psychological diagnosis, “Antisocial personality disorder,” for which there is no cure. It is not even a sociopath’s fault that he or she is a sociopath. A sociopath is completely incapable of doing a good deed. For example, a sociopath would be completely incapable of knowing G-d exists. I use this example because of its importance to Christians and Muslims, who believe faith is the most important or only way to heaven. Jews believe faith is only required for Jewish males, as in the Torah is written as a positive or masculine commandment (Exodus 20:2). The rendering of this command should be, “To know that G-d exists,” and Maimonides counted it as the first of the 613 commandments of the Torah. According to the Torah, faith is not required in order for one to be a righteous gentile. According to the Talmud, righteous gentiles have a place in the hereafter. Belief in the hereafter, the resurrection of the dead (Book of Daniel) is number 13 of Maimonides 13 Principles. And additionally, faith is not required of Jewish women. A sociopath would commit any of the following commands which the Torah (Mosaic books) says should be universal to humanity.

1. Prohibition of Idolatry: You shall not have any idols before God.

2. Prohibition of Murder: You shall not murder. (Genesis 9:6)

3. Prohibition of Theft: You shall not steal.

4. Prohibition of Sexual Promiscuity: You shall not commit any of a series of sexual prohibitions, which include adultery, incest, bestiality and male homosexual intercourse.

5. Prohibition of Blasphemy: You shall not blaspheme God's name.

6. Dietary Law: Do not eat flesh taken from an animal while it is still alive. (Genesis 9:4)

7. Requirement to have just Laws: You shall set up an effective judiciary to enforce the preceding six laws fairly.

I will add that though several of these Noachide laws are in the 10 Commandments, Christians generally do not believe in the 10 Commandments, such as those of times and seasons regarding the Sabbath. Shabbat observance requires the following:

a. Not to travel on Shabbat outside the limits of one's place of residence (Ex. 16:29)

b. To sanctify Shabbat (Ex. 20:8)

c. Not to do work on Shabbat (Ex. 20:10).

d. To rest on Shabbat (Ex. 23:12; 34:21).

e. Not to inflict punishment on Shabbat (Ex. 35:3) (because some punishments were inflicted by fire) (negative).

Most Christians that believe that the Sabbath is Sunday fail to observe the Laws of Sabbath right from the start, merely by getting in their car and traveling from town to town to get to Church that day (Exodus 16:29). Muslims believe the Sabbath is on Friday. According to the Torah, Shabbat observance is only a requirement for Jews. Observance of Shabbat (Sabbath) and Kashrut (Kosher) are the most important definers of Jews, according to the Talmud, and Orthodox rabbis’ expect those righteous gentiles converting to Judaism to observe these laws first and foremost. In Orthodox Judaism, converts are also expected to be more sincere than their fellow Jews, although convert is a lower Talmudic caste than Israelite.

There is no diagnosis most psychologists believe is more despicable, as even psychologists usually don’t have compassion for sociopaths and this is the only diagnosis, which they commonly feel this way about. A psychologist would be more likely to say murder should be forgiven, than say that sociopath is not a waste of flesh. Psychologists generally respond with compassion for every other psychological disease.

The Torah requires three eye witnesses to put someone to death, a trial, and several other measures, such as a warning and an acceptance of a warning (intent), and that the person does it anyway after the warning, to prevent a miscarriage of justice. Assuming, Judaic law (a utopian ideal for me), I believe that if three psychiatrists (read “elders” Deuteronomy 21:20) diagnose a child as a sociopath, then that child, if a boy (defined as under the age of thirteen), should be put to death, as the world is better off without him.

I do not believe in capital punishment by pelting anyone with stones. Rather, I believe sociopaths should be put to death by lethal injection. The Talmud says that, “When one sins it is as if their heart turns to stone.” Thus, I believe death by lethal injection is humane and correct replacement to the old way of pelting criminals with stones, as lethal injection causes a person’s heart to turn to stone.

Earlier I mentioned Maimonides Thirteen Principles. I am not sure if they are in the Talmud, a part of the Jewish canon, but they are commentary on the Mishnah, of which rabbinical commentary often canon. As far as I know, only the complete Talmud Bavli (Babylonian Talmud) is available in English in the public domain, so I am unable to check this. Maimonaides commented on a later Talmud, as he lived in the middle ages. Each country that the Jews have been in has had its own Talmud. Another famous ancient Talmud is the Jerusalem Talmud. The Thirteen Articles of Jewish faith are:1. Belief in the existence of the Creator, be He Blessed, who isperfect in every manner of existence and is the Primary Causeof all that exists.2. The belief in G-d's absolute and unparalleled unity.3. The belief in G-d's noncorporeality, nor that He will beaffected by any physical occurrences, such as movement, orrest, or dwelling.4. The belief in G-d's eternity.5. The imperative to worship Him exclusively and no foreign falsegods.6. The belief that G-d communicates with man through prophecy.7. The belief that the prophecy of Moses our teacher haspriority.8. The belief in the divine origin of the Torah.9. The belief in the immutability of the Torah.10. The belief in divine omniscience and providence.11. The belief in divine reward and retribution.12. The belief in the arrival of the Messiah and the messianicera.13. The belief in the resurrection of the dead.

My comment on principle 13: The world is absurd. It is in fact so absurd that the Prophet Daniel’s resurrection of the dead will not occur (Book of Daniel – Jewish and Christian canon).

The laws of Moses with reference to G-d are:

1. To know that G-d exists (Ex. 20:2; Deut. 5:6) (CCA1). See What Do Jews Believe?.
2. Not to entertain the idea that there is any god but the Eternal (Ex. 20:3) (CCN8). See What Do Jews Believe?.
3. Not to blaspheme (Ex. 22:27; in Christian texts, Ex. 22:28), the penalty for which is death (Lev. 24:16) (negative).
4. To hallow G-d's name (Lev. 22:32) (CCA5). See The Name of G-d.
5. Not to profane G-d's name (Lev. 22:32) (CCN155). See The Name of G-d.
6. To know that G-d is One, a complete Unity (Deut. 6:4) (CCA2). See What Do Jews Believe?.
7. To love G-d (Deut. 6:5) (CCA3). See What Do Jews Believe?.
8. To fear Him reverently (Deut. 6:13; 10:20) (CCA4).
9. Not to put the word of G-d to the test (Deut. 6:16) (negative).
10. To imitate His good and upright ways (Deut. 28:9) (CCA6).

CCA = affirmative commandment

CCN = negative commandment

The number following the commandment is according to Maimonides, where the total number is 613, which is derivable by Kabala.

Comments, questions, rebuttals, etcetera are welcome. How do you feel about Deuteronomy 21:21?