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20 `This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey us, he is a glutton and a drunkard. Deuteronomy 21:20

This son deserved death by stoning. I always wondered if he was a child or an adult. Since the verse is not specific, we need to look at it through inference I guess. If the son is rebellious, should we assume that he was living under the roof of his parents? If he was qualified as glutton and drunkard, should we infer he was an adult?

The bottom line is wherever God makes minors accountable for their sins or not.

Thank you.

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  • Rebellion and drunkness imply practice, and that of evil, which is the scriptural 'knowlegde' of evil. Chidren don't practice evil, adults do. Children occasionally 'wobble,' if you like, as they grow into all 'knowledge.' In Deut 1:39, the 'little ones' included 20 yr olds, who aren't innocent by many standards, but whom God says had 'no knowledge of good or evil'. So this son is an adult. – Ted O Feb 22 '17 at 14:34
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As long as a child (of whatever age) had not left his father's household, he was considered a dependent.

The father was head of the household and so responsible {to YHWH} for the sins of the household. The son was responsible to the father for his own sins (until such time as he left and started his own family)

Yes everyone is responsible for their own sins. The question is - who are they responsible to?

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  • Can you cite some verse to support your claim that in the context of Deuteronomy a dependency relationship absolved adult children from culpability to God? Deuteronomy 24:16 seems to indicate the opposite. It is clear from the narrative of Joseph that the other sons are culpable, and not just to their father Israel for what they did to Joseph, and that Joseph is also culpable for his behavior, despite the fact that they are all under their father's tent. – Abu Munir Ibn Ibrahim Feb 24 '17 at 12:19
  • Are you still trying to make children - master's of their own ships? I won't defend the strawman argument you are trying to credit me with since that's your interpretation and not what I argued. I will defend: “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land YHWH your God is giving you” (Ex. 20:12) and its application (Ephesians 6:1-3). To address this question specifically look at (Deut. 21:18-21) – user34445 Feb 24 '17 at 12:45

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