18. The Stubborn and Rebellious Son

Tractate Sanhedrin, Herbert Danby tr. [1919], at sacred-texts.com

18. The Stubborn and Rebellious Son.

M.VIII. 1. At what time can one be deemed a "stubborn and rebellious son"? ² From the time that he can produce two hairs until the lower beard is encompassed (not the upper one, for the wise men spoke modestly), for it is written: WHEN A MAN HAS A SON; not a daughter, but a son; neither must he be a man; whereas a minor is exempt since he does not come within the scope of the commandments. ³

T. XI. 6a. "A stubborn and rebellious son "there never was and there never will be such. Then why is it written? To teach, "Study and receive the reward."

R. Shimeon, the son of Eleazar, says: It should

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say "a daughter" and not "a son"; ¹ but the decree of the King ² is: A stubborn and rebellious son.

M. VIII. 2. When does he become guilty? When he eats a tritimor ³ of flesh, and drinks a half log ⁴ of Italian ⁵ wine; or, according to R. Jose, a manê of flesh and a log of wine. If he consumed it at a religious festival or at the intercalation of the month; if he ate the Second Tithe at Jerusalem; ⁶ or if he ate carcases, ⁷ meat torn by beasts, ⁸ things detestable ⁹ or crawling; ¹⁰ if he ate anything which was according to the requirement of the Law, or anything which was a transgression of the Law; if he ate food which was not flesh, or drank any drink but not wine; he is not thereby a stubborn and rebellious son,--not until he eat flesh and drink wine, for it is said: A GLUTTON (‏זולל‎) AND A WINE-SWILLER (‏וסובא‎). ¹¹ And though there is no proof of the verbal dependence, it is suggested in ¹² BE NOT AMONG THOSE WHO SWILL WINE (‏בסבאי יין‎) AND GLUT THEMSELVES WITH FLESH (‏בזללי בשר‎). ¹³

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T. XI. 6b. Even one who furnishes his table as though it were a banquet of Solomon, if it be at its proper season, is not adjudged a stubborn and rebellious son; unless he put in his mouth the (forbidden) amount, or do similarly at a public meal.

M.VIII. 3. If he steal aught from his father and eat it in his father's domain; or anything from others and eat it in his father's domain; or anything from others and eat it in the others’ domain,--he is not a stubborn and rebellious son;--not until he steals what belongs to his father and eats it in another's domain. R. Jose, ¹ the son of Jehuda, holds: Not until he steals from his father and from his mother.

4. If his father concur and not his mother, or his mother concur and not his father, he is not a stubborn and rebellious son;--not until they both concur in his condemnation. According to R. Jehuda, if his mother be not suited ² to his father he cannot become a stubborn and rebellious son. If either of them be maimed in the hands, lame, dumb, blind, or deaf, he cannot become a stubborn and rebellious son, for it is written: THEY SHALL SEIZE HIM--so they must not be maimed in the hands; AND MAKE HIM GO--so they must not be lame; AND SAY--so they must not be dumb; THIS OUR SON--so they must not

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M.be blind; DOES NOT HEAR OUR VOICE--So they must not be deaf. ¹

VIII. 4. If he has been warned in the presence of three witnesses and beaten, and again becomes degenerate, he must be tried by twenty-three judges; but he cannot be stoned unless the first three witnesses are there, for it is written, THIS OUR SON, as if to say, "This is he who was beaten in your presence."

If he escape away before his trial be completed and afterward the lower beard become encompassed, he is free. But if he escape away after his trial is completed and then the lower beard become encompassed, he is liable to the penalty.

5. A stubborn and rebellious son is condemned in view of what he might afterwards become. Let him die innocent and let him not die guilty. For the death of the ungodly is a benefit to them and a benefit to the whole world; but that of the righteous is a misfortune to them and a misfortune to the whole world. When the ungodly indulge in wine and sleep, it is a benefit to them and a benefit to the whole world; but when the righteous so indulge, it is a misfortune to them and a misfortune to the whole world. The isolation of the ungodly is a benefit to them and a benefit to the whole world, but in the case of the righteous it is a misfortune to them and a misfortune to the whole world. The assembling together of the ungodly is a misfortune to them and a misfortune to the whole world; but in the

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M.case of the righteous it is a benefit to them and a benefit to the whole world. Silence among the ungodly is a misfortune to them and a misfortune to the whole world, but in the case of the righteous it is a benefit to them and a benefit to the whole world. ¹

T. XI. 7. A stubborn and rebellious son, a defiant elder, a beguiler to idolatry, one who leads a town astray, a false prophet, and perjurers, are not killed at once but brought up to the great court at Jerusalem and kept in prison till a feast and killed at a feast, for it is written: AND ALL THE PEOPLE SHALL HEAR AND FEAR, AND DO NO MORE PRESUMPTUOUSLY, ²--so R. Meir; but R. Jehuda said to him: "Ought it not then to say, 'All the people shall see and fear'? But it is not so written but 'ALL THE PEOPLE SHALL HEAR AND FEAR.' Then why should they postpone such a one's death? Therefore they kill him at once, and write and send everywhere, saying 'The trial of N. has been completed in such and such a court, and N. and N. are his witnesses; such and such has been done to him."

8. R. Shimeon, the son of Jehuda, says in the name of Shimeon: Beauty and power and wisdom and wealth and old age and glory and honour and sons, are good for the righteous and good for the whole world; for it is written, OLD AGE IS A CROWN OF GLORY, ³ and CHILDREN'S CHILDREN ARE THE CROWN OF OLD MEN, ⁴ and THE GLORY OF YOUNG MEN IS THEIR STRENGTH, ⁵ and BEFORE HIS ELDERS IS HONOUR. ⁶ R. Shimeon, the son of

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[paragraph continues] Menasia, says, "These seven qualities which the wise have counted among the virtues of the righteous were all exemplified in Rabbi and his sons."

Footnotes

107:2 Deut. 21. 18-21.

107:3 An Israelite is responsible for observance of the Law only on reaching the age of thirteen years and one day. Cf. Baba Mesia 96a.

108:1 Sanh. 69b (end): "According to reason a daughter should he more open to this charge of being 'stubborn and rebellious' than a son."

108:2 Gemara has "Scripture."

108:3 Τριτημόριον, a triens, in Roman measure one quarter of a libra--about three ounces. According to Yer. Sanh. VIII. 2, it is half a litre, about six ounces.

108:4 Lev. 14. 10. A liquid measure, holding, according to tradition, the contents of six eggs.

108:5 So CN. Another reading is, "according to Italian measure."

108:6 Cf. Deut. 14. 26.

108:7 Cf. Deut. 14. 21.

108:8 Cf. Exod. 22. 31.

108:9 Cf. Lev. 11. to 10 ff.

108:10 Cf. Lev. II. 44 ff

108:11 Deut. 21. 20.

108:12 Prov. 23. 20.

108:13 For the type of argument, see p. 72, note 6.

109:1 R. Jose b. Jehuda (b. Il’ai) lived towards the close of the second century, and was a distinguished contemporary of Rabbi Jehuda ha-Nasi.

109:2 Sanh. 71a explains this: "If she have not the same voice, appearance and stature."

110:1 Deut. 21. 19-20.

111:1 Since the one is supposed to be concocting mischief, and the other studying the Law.

111:2 Deut. 17. 13.

111:3 Prov. 16. 33.

111:4 Prov. 17. 6.

111:5 Prov. 20. 29.

111:6 Isa. 24. 23.