Deuteronomy 21:18-21

The context

This is case law within a block of regulations about family and community order, and it follows rules about a firstborn's inheritance. The procedure is public: parents lay hold of the son, bring him to the gate, and state the charge. The elders of the town carry out the sentence.

What it establishes

It establishes that the law treats persistent incorrigibility as a matter for the community rather than for private parental violence, and that the parents must make their accusation openly. The stated aim is the removal of evil and the fear it produces.

What it does not establish

It is not a record of practice. Nothing in the Hebrew Bible describes this sentence being carried out, and the rabbinic tradition later surrounded it with conditions so restrictive that it became effectively inapplicable. Whether it ever functioned as written is unknown.

Short note, first pass, October 2026. Corrections welcome.

Cited in these answers

• Should we really be stoning homosexuals, disobedient children, adulterers and witches, as the Old Testament commands? What an all-loving god you serve, Christians!

Part of Scripture, Opened — the exegetical layer behind every citation on this site. Scripture quotations are from the ESV.