Deuteronomy 21 - Observations on the Law

Deuteronomy 21 delves deep into the Law, and at times it can be difficult to comprehend.  It reveals a lot about the Old Law, and how it could paradoxically be both stringent as rock and also strangely malleable.  In the former case, I refer to the Laws on child disobedience.  There were apparently very harsh punishments in store for any son who recklessly disobeys his parents, namely stoning.  This seems instantly overly cruel, especially to 21st century ears.  But we must always look at the bigger picture and not let our modern sensibilities cloud our vision.  What the Bible describes here as "disobedience" is really much worse than what the word today implies.  We're talking here about a son who wants to murder his parents!  A son who is old enough to know better yet rejects his parents, hates his parents, and would rather see them die so that he could continue to live a life of debauchery and drunkenness!  All mild cases of child disobedience were handled with much more moderate punishments.  Girls were exempt from this rule altogether.  And to put it more in perspective, it's interesting to note how other ancient societies handled this issue (which, if you think of it, if allowed to go on, could threaten the very foundation of civil order).  The Romans, according to Justinian and as quoted in my commentary, "formerly sewed such wretches in a leathern sack, but afterwards they enclosed with them a dog, a cock, a viper, and a monkey; and having first whipped them so as to fetch blood, placed them in a chariot drawn by black oxen, and hurled them into the sea or into some river."  The severity of the crime must be remembered.

The other issue is of complications arising from polygamy.  It's interesting to note how the Old Testament treats of polygamy.  Deuteronomy 21:15-16 states, "If a man have two wives, one beloved, and the other hated, and they have had children by him, and the son of the hated be the first-born;  And he meaneth to divide his substance among his sons: he may not make the son of the beloved the first-born, and prefer him before the son of the hated."  Moses here does not endorse polygamy or praise it, he simply speaks of it.  It was not the ideal way and nowhere in the Old Testament does it speak of polygamy as the ideal way.  It was a remnant of a polytheistic, pagan culture that must have been harder to eradicate than a field of weeds!  In the Old Testament, polygamy, at times, is simply tolerated in an effort to avoid greater sins.  And this toleration has since been revoked by Christ "as contrary to the primary design of God, and the institution of matrimony" (Challoner).

The Old Law is truly a fascinating study.  I'm simply picking at the upper most part of the surface.  I leave a more thorough analysis to those more capable.