If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who won't obey his parents, both father and mother can bring him to the elders. The passage suggests capital punishment. It's one of the most troubling laws in Scripture.
I'm teaching this to high school students and they're reacting with horror. One student asked: did they actually do this? Historians suggest probably not. The rabbis interpreted the law so strictly that nearly no one would actually meet the criteria. It's a law designed not to be executed.
But I think it's trying to say something about the seriousness of rebellion. Not just disobedience, but fundamental rejection of parental authority, societal order, the structure of life. It's not meant to be comfortable.
I've worked with parents who had to let their rebellious adult children experience serious consequences. Not execution, obviously, but real loss of relationship, financial support, presence. Because enabling continued rebellion wasn't love. It was complicity.
The law is harsh. But maybe it's trying to make a point: some things matter enough to be serious about. Some rebellions have weight. The fact that we're uncomfortable with this law might mean something - that we've lost sight of how serious it is to reject the framework that holds life together.
I don't think we should execute rebellious teenagers. But maybe we should take their rebellion more seriously than we do.
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