Ki Tetze “when you go”
It is customary for religiously practicing Jews to read from an annual cycle of weekly Old Testament readings called Torah Portions. This is said to be the same reading schedule that was taught every Sabbath in the Synagogues during the times of Jesus in the first century.
As Christians exploring the Torah portion cycle we must maintain a balance of including the Old Testament, the prophets, and the gospels in our weekly bible study.
Torah Portion Name and Readings-
Ki Tetze are the Hebrew word for “when you go” and is the name for the weekly Torah Portion reading for the Deuteronomy starting in chapter 21 verse 10 and going through chapter 25 and verse 19.
Prophets and New Testament-
It is also important to point out that along with the Torah portion readings and teachings, there are what are called Haftarah portions which are readings from the Bible in the books of the prophets. This week’s haftarah readings come from the book of Isaiah in chapter 54 verse 1 through verse 10.
The gospel readings incorporated with the weekly Torah portion readings come from the book of Matthew in chapter 24 with verses 29 through verse 42.
Torah Portion Overview-
I am enjoying seeing Bible tools progress. With the advent of Logos AI from Faithlife, I asked it to summarize Deuteronomy 21:10 to 25:19 in one sentence and again it did not disappoint! The following is the summary from Logos Bible Software.
“Deuteronomy 21:10 to 25:19 presents a diverse collection of laws and regulations covering various aspects of Israelite life, including family matters, treatment of captives, inheritance rights, community responsibilities, and ethical conduct in war and daily life, all aimed at guiding Israel's obedience to God and securing their future in the promised land.”
When we study this torah portion we must first remember that Israel was an ancient nation and they were a product of their time just as we are a product of our time. It is easy to look at some laws that Israel had and view them from our paradigm today, however, this would be a mistake. Instead, we must view Israel from the perspective of Israel. Their laws, although sometimes seen as strange, or even oppressive, were for their time, liberating to the oppressed classes. Although today we read of the way they allowed women to be treated and it seems as foreign to us, we must remember that these laws are over 4,000 years old. After all, we must be careful when we judge an ancient people, for one day we too will be judged by those who come after us. Just as Israel can seem strange at times, so too we will seem strange one day. That being said, some laws, I believe, were designed by God to provide the most justice possible to a people who lived among the wicked. These laws do not align with our justice system, but they do align with God’s policy to protect the weak, love the vulnerable, and be kind to those who are oppressed. The first laws we come across are those which allow Israel to take captive woman as wives. It is important to note that they were to allow the women to mourn for their fallen family, and also were to treat them as wives, not as slaves. In these laws we see a heart of God to protect these women, Israel was not to mistreat them.
Furthering the protection God said that Israel was not to give the firstborn rights to another son whom they loved more than their firstborn. The firstborn was to receive the double portion based on who he was, not how much his mother was loved. However, the son who was worthless and rebellious was not to be tolerated; he was to be put to death. Next we get a collection of what appears to be miscellaneous laws; they were not to leave a corpse hanging overnight, they were to care for their neighbor’s stray animals or lost garments, not cross dress, not take the mother and the young from a nest, but instead to only take the young. They were to build a parapet around a flat roof. They were not to sow a vineyard with two types of seed, not plow with an ox and donkey together, not wear mixed clothes, in other words, they were to not mix inappropriately or contrary to God’s design. In their holiness they were to wear tassels on their clothes. A man who falsely accused his wife of adultery was fined and never allowed to divorce her, however, if she were guilty then she was to be stoned. Adulterers, married and betrothed were to be stoned, however, if an engaged woman is raped in the country where she cannot cry out she was not stoned because she did not commit adultery. This was to protect the woman, for it was understood that in the country no one would be around to hear her protest if she were attacked. However, if she were in the city, then there would be plenty to hear her scream and so if she were found to be unfaithful it was assumed that it was done on purpose. A man who took a single woman was fined and forced to marry her (to protect the women from destitution). He could never divorce her. In ancient times some nations allowed men to take their father’s concubine in order to receive the authority from their father, think of a transfer from a king to his son. But in Israel it was not to be done like this, a man could not marry his father’s wife. Next we get a list of those who were not allowed to enter the Tabernacle or Temple. We then see laws concerning keeping Israel’s war camps clean. Remembering that Israelites were slaves, escaped slaves in Israel were to be kept free and not returned to their master. They could choose where to live. There was to be no form of sacred prostitution. The poor were also not to be oppressed, Israel was forbidden to charge interest. When money was owed because a vow was made, Israel was not to delay in fulfilling their vows. Israel was to share with the neighbors from their crops what they could eat. Next we see some of Israel’s divorce laws. These would later be greatly expanded by the Pharisees. A newly married man was exempt from military service for a year and was to make his wife happy. They were not to take a millstone as pledge (lest an Israelite not be able to make bread). Kidnapping and selling an Israelite into slavery had the death penalty. Israel was to watch for leprosy and follow the laws to protect themselves. Next came laws about pledges for loans and a reminder that Israel was to pay poor laborers the same day. There are some miscellaneous laws on justice and generosity. In order to protect the family and keep a family line from being wiped out, if a man died without a son his brother was to give the man’s wife a son. Lastly there are more miscellaneous laws on justice.
Today I want to talk about the commandment that instructed Israelites to stone a rebellious and worthless son.
“If someone has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey his father and mother, who does not heed them when they discipline him, then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his town at the gate of that place. They shall say to the elders of his town, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard.’ Then all the men of the town shall stone him to death. So you shall purge the evil from your midst, and all Israel will hear and be afraid.”
Deuteronomy 21:18-21 (NRSVue)
This commandment may seem harsh, after all, who could stone their child? The reality is that this commandment is harsh, and the reality is that the point of this commandment is to be harsh. I would argue that the Torah uses the death penalty as a way to persuade others not to do the sin the person is put to death for. As an example, theft in certain counties in the east is met with a harsh and strict punishment. The first offence is branding, then the loss of a hand, and then death. This is very harsh. However, the countries that impose strict laws like this see little to no theft. I am NOT saying that these laws on theft are good and just, but I am saying that they act as a deterrent. In the same way, if a son knows that he will die if he is rebellious, he will control himself to avoid such a harsh punishment. Thus, I believe the heart of the law of a rebellious son was not to put to death all the rebels, but to keep people from becoming rebels.
There is another reason for this harshness during that time. As J. G. McConville explains in his commentary on Deuteronomy (Apollos; InterVarsity Press, 2002) page 331, rejection of your parents authority was like rejecting the covenant. Thus, a crime against your parents was seen as a crime against the covenant.
“The law is harsh compared with Babylon, where the severest punishment is amputation of the hand for striking the father (CH 195). The harshness corresponds to the fact that rejection of parental authority is tantamout to breach of the covenant in Israel. The parents’ motive, moreover, in taking this unlikely action against their own son, might be understood in terms of their devotion to the covenant, or, more probably, in order to safeguard the integrity of their own name, family and even property from dangers to them arising from possible crimes committed by the son (cf. on 22:21). The law may be placed along with laws on homicide, instead of with laws concerning authority as such (16:18–18:22) because rebelliousness of this sort might lead to the worst crimes. Even so, there is no evidence of such measures actually having been taken in the OT.”
Thus, we can see that the actions of the parents would have been to protect the covenant (and their family honor) more than punishment of a son that they were having trouble with. This brings up an important point. In Israel, the individual was not as important as the covenant. The covenant protected the whole, and so the individual was not allowed to harm the covenant, as they would be harming the group. To quote Spock, “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few”. This is a central point in understanding the Biblical culture. They were not individualists, they lived in community. The actions of each individual were compared to the needs and demands of the community. This is why they had the death penalty, to protect the covenant and thus, to protect the community. Think about each crime that is punished with death and you will quickly find a harm to the community. Idolatry, punished with exile of the entire community. Adultery, confusion of community identity through creation of bastards, conflict and divorce through the breaking of the trust of the covenant. Not only this, but many sexual sins that were punished with death we know today cause diseases. In other words, their sexual sins were a threat to the health of the community. Thus, to understand this action, one must consider the community and the harm that a rebellious son could bring. A rebellious son could tear apart the family, sow strife in the community, cause chaos, and eventually bring death. Thus they were a threat to the community, and their punishment, if they did not repent, was death.
But what does this mean to us today? We do not have this command in the New Testament, and I know of no church, congregation, or public gathering of Christians that believes that we should stone our children. So how does this apply to us today?
Firstly, we are commanded to honor and respect our parents? In Ephesians Paul emphasizes that we should honor our parents. However, he does not use the threat of death as the reasoning, but the promise of a blessing and long life.
“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother”—this is the first commandment with a promise—“so that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.” And, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”
Ephesians 6:1-4 (NRSVue)
Why the change? Why would the New Testament go from the Old Testament command to stone to the New Testament encouragement to receive a blessing? I suspect the reason for this change is that the familial relationship changed in the New Testament. In the new covenant the family is seen first and foremost as the church.
“And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”
Mark 3:33-35 (NRSVue)
The church is your family. There can still be death if you threaten the community of the church (Acts 5:1-11), although the punishment was carried out by the Holy Spirit and not by men. However, we see no instance of the New Testament saints stoning their rebellious sons because it was understood that such a son was outside of the covenant, and thus, could not threaten the community. Only those inside the community are a true threat to the community. That is also why Paul instructs the Corinthians to abstain from those who say they are believers yet practice wickedness, and yet clarifies that he is not speaking about staying away from unbelievers.
“I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral persons, not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since you would then need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother or sister who is sexually immoral or greedy or an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler. Do not even eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging those outside? Are you not judges of those who are inside? God will judge those outside. “Drive out the wicked person from among you.”
1 Corinthians 5:9-13 (NRSVue)
Unfortunately, this is often reversed in the church. The church all too often passes judgement on those outside of the community and ignores the sins of those in the community. We should always be looking to our sins as a danger to the body of Christ, in order to protect the community. This does not mean that we will be perfect, but that we will see our actions as either helpful or harmful to the community of the church.
The point of these verses in the Torah then, should be to honor your parents but also to protect the church body. Do not let your actions cause harm to the church.
Torah Portion Scriptural Highlights-
Deuteronomy 21:10 Laws that allowed Israel to take captive women as wives and how they were not to be mistreated.
Deuteronomy 21:15 Inheritance protection for the unloved firstborn son.
Deuteronomy 21:18 The death sentence for a stubborn son who is worthless and rebellious.
Deuteronomy 21:22 Miscellaneous laws for Israel; do not leave a corpse hanging overnight, care for your neighbors stray animals or lost garments, no cross dressing, do not take the mother and the young from a nest, build a parapet around a flat roof, do not sow a vineyard with two types of seed, do not plow with an ox and donkey together, do not wear mixed clothes, wear tassels on your clothes.
Deuteronomy 22:13 A man who falsely accuses his wife of adultery is fined and may never divorce her, however, if she is guilty then she shall be stoned.
Deuteronomy 22:22 Adulterers, married and betrothed are stoned, however, if an engaged woman is raped in the country where she cannot cry out she shall not be stoned because she did not commit adultery.
Deuteronomy 22:28 A man who takes a single woman is fined and forced to marry her (to protect the women from destitution). He may never divorce her.
Deuteronomy 22:30 A man shall not marry his father’s wife.
Deuteronomy 23:1 List of those who were not allowed to enter the Tabernacle or Temple.
Deuteronomy 23:9 Laws concerning keeping Israel’s war camps clean.
Deuteronomy 23:15 Escaped slaves in Israel were to be kept free and not returned. They could choose where to live.
Deuteronomy 23:17 Anti prostitution laws.
Deuteronomy 23:19 Israel forbidden to charge interest.
Deuteronomy 23:21 Israel not to delay fulfilling vows.
Deuteronomy 23:24 Israel was to share with the neighbors from their crops what they could eat.
Deuteronomy 24:1 Divorce laws.
Deuteronomy 24:5 A newly married man is exempt from military service for a year and is to make his wife happy.
Deuteronomy 24:6 Do not take a millstone as pledge (lest an Israelite not be able to make bread).
Deuteronomy 24:7 Kidnapping and selling into slavery an Israelite has the death penalty.
Deuteronomy 24:8 Israel was to watch for leprosy and follow the laws to protect themselves.
Deuteronomy 24:10 Laws about pledges for loans.
Deuteronomy 24:14 Israel was to pay laborers the same day.
Deuteronomy 24:16 Miscellaneous laws on justice and generosity.
Deuteronomy 25:5 Israelite laws on Levirate Marriage (to protect the brother’s name from being cut off and his wife from destitution).
Deuteronomy 25:11 More miscellaneous laws on justice.
Haftarah (Prophets) Scriptural Highlights-
Isaiah 54:1 God will restore His wife Israel.
Brit (Gospel) Scriptural Highlights-
Matthew 24:29 Jesus talks about His return.
References-
J. G. McConville, Deuteronomy, ed. David W. Baker and Gordon J. Wenham, vol. 5 of Apollos Old Testament Commentary (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Apollos; InterVarsity Press, 2002), 331.
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