They shall tell the elders of his city, “This our son is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey our voice. He is a glutton and a drunkard.”
Parallel Translations
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They shall tell the elders of his city, “This our son is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey our voice. He is a glutton and a drunkard.”
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And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard.
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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.'
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Commandments (1)
The laws of the Torah, each cited and shown as a primary source.
Cross-references (5)
Passages linked to Deuteronomy 21:20 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Proverbs 20:1 Wine is a mocker and beer is a brawler. Whoever is led astray by them is not wise.
- Proverbs 23:29-35 Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes? Those who stay long at the wine; those who go to seek out mixed wine. Don’t look at the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly. In the end, it bites like a snake, and poisons like a viper. Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind will imagine confusing things. Yes, you will be as he who lies down in the middle of the sea, or as he who lies on top of the rigging: “They hit me, and I was not hurt! They beat me, and I don’t feel it! When will I wake up? I can do it again. I can find another.”
- Proverbs 23:19-21 Listen, my son, and be wise, and keep your heart on the right path! Don’t be among ones drinking too much wine, or those who gorge themselves on meat: for the drunkard and the glutton shall become poor; and drowsiness clothes them in rags.
- Proverbs 29:17 Correct your son, and he will give you peace; yes, he will bring delight to your soul.
- Proverbs 19:26 He who robs his father and drives away his mother, is a son who causes shame and brings reproach.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (10 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Deu 21:20 And they shall say unto the elders…
Deu 21:20 And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son [is] stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; [he is] a glutton, and a drunkard.
Ver. 20. He is a glutton.] The same word is used for a vile person in Jer 15:19. And indeed belly-gods {Php 3:19} are dungy-gods. {Hab 2:18 Eze 4:12-13} A scavenger, whose office is to empty, is to be preferred before him that liveth but to fill, privies.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Stubborn and rebellious, adds incorrigibleness to all his wickedness.
Stubborn and rebellious, adds incorrigibleness to all his wickedness.
A glutton and a drunkard; under which two offences others of a like or worse nature are comprehended by a synecdoche.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And they shall say unto the elders of his…
And they shall say unto the elders of his city,.... In open court, what follows, at the same time, according to the Targum of Jonathan, acknowledging their own sins, for which such a calamity had befallen them, saying,"we have transgressed the decree of the word of the Lord, because is born unto us a son that is stubborn, &c.''see Joh 9:2.
this our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; one of an obstinate disposition, will have his own will and way, is perverse and refractory; honours not, but despises his parents, and is disobedient to their commands, unruly and ungovernable: the Jews gather (a) many things from hence, for which there is little foundation, as that they must be neither dumb, nor blind, nor deaf; though what they further observe is not much amiss, concerning this rebellious child, that the law respects a son and not a daughter, because a daughter generally is more tractable; and less capable of doing mischief than a son; and a son and not a man, for if at man's estate, and for himself, he is not under the power of his parents; and yet not a child or a little one, for that is not comprehended in the commands; he must be according to them thirteen years of age and one day, and he must be a son and not a father (b):
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he is a glutton and a drunkard; which, according to the Misnah (c), is one that eats half a pound of flesh, and drinks half a log of Italian wine; R. Jose says, a pound of flesh and a log of wine; but the decision was not according to him; the first rule stood: now half a pound of flesh, and half a log of wine, which was about three egg shells, or a quarter of a pint, would be at this day reckoned very little by our grandsons of Bacchus, as Schickard observes (d); but in an age of severer discipline, as he says, in the tender candidates of temperance, it was reckoned too much, and was a presage of a future glutton: and it must be further observed to denominate him a rebellious son, what he ate and drank was to be what he stole from his parents, and did not eat and drink it at home, but abroad, and in bad company; so Jarchi remarks on the text, he is not guilty until he steals, and eats half a pound of flesh, and drinks half a log of wine; in which he seems to have respect to the Jewish canon (e),"if he steals from his father and eats it in a place in his father's power, or from others and eats it in a place in their power, or from others and eats it in a place in his father's power; he is not reckoned a stubborn and rebellious son, unless he steals from his father, and eats it in a place in the power of others,''see Pro 23:20, the Jews seem to refer to this when they charged Christ with being a glutton and a winebibber, Mat 11:19 being desirous of having him thought as such an one.
(a) Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 8. sect. 4. (b) Ut supra, (Misn. Bava Bathra, c. 8.) sect. 1. Maimon. & Bartenora in ib. (c) Ib. sect. 2. (d) Jus Regium Heb. c. 5. Theor. 17. p. 364. (e) Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 8. sect. 3.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain A glutton and a drunkard - Under which two…
A glutton and a drunkard - Under which two offenses others of a like or worse nature are comprehended.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Deu 21:20. A glutton and a drunkard — Under…
Deu 21:20. A glutton and a drunkard — Under which two offences others of a like or worse nature are comprehended.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain
CHAPTER XXI.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 20. elders] Sam. LXX, men.
20. elders] Sam. LXX, men.
riotous liver] Better, prodigal, lit. one who lavishes or squanders, Pro_23:20 (with flesh, a glutton) and 21, parallel to drunkard as here; Deu_28:7 : a companion of prodigals shameth his father.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain He will not obey our voice; he is a…
He will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard. Gluttony and drunkenness were regarded by the Hebrews as highly criminal. The word rendered by "glutton," however (llwOz, from llz to shake, to shake out, to squander), includes other kinds of excess besides eating. It designates one who is prodigal, who wastes his means or wastes his person by indulgence in Pro_23:30, the whole phrase (rcB ylelwOz) is given squanderers of flesh, i.e. wasters of their own body, debauchees in Pro_28:7, the word is translated "riotous men" in the Authorized Version. Disobedience to parents was deemed an offense, which struck at the roots of the whole social institute.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
Moses continues speaking to the people of Israel as if they were one man, so all instances of "you" are singular. (See: Forms of You)
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This son of ours
"Our son"
he will not obey our voice
Here "voice" is a metonym for what a person says or a synecdoche for the whole person. AT: "he will not do what we tell him to do" or "he will not obey us" (See: Metonymy and Synecdoche)
a glutton
a person who eats and drinks too much
a drunkard
a person who drinks too much alcohol and gets drunk often
stone him to death with stones
"throw stones at him until he dies"
you will remove the evil from among you
The adjective "evil" can be translated as a noun phrase. AT: "you must remove from among the Israelites the person who does this evil thing" or "you must execute this evil person" (See: Nominal Adjectives)
All Israel
The word "Israel" is a metonym for the people of Israel. AT: "All the people of Israel" (See: Metonymy)
will hear of it and fear
The full meaning of this statement can be made explicit. AT: "will hear about what happened to the son and be afraid that the people will punish them also" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
translationWords
stone
die
evil
Israel
fear
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 21:20 Calling someone a glutton and a drunkard was…
21:20 Calling someone a glutton and a drunkard was probably a proverbial cliché suggesting self-indulgence and laziness. Such a son was a good-for-nothing who rebelled against his parents and thus also against the community and divine authority (see Prov 23:20-21).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.