Deuteronomy 21:19

his father and mother are to lay hold of him and bring him to the elders of his city, to the gate of his hometown,

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — The Mosaic legislation addresses the Israelite community immediately after defining a stubborn and rebellious son in Deuteronomy 21:18. It instructs the parents to initiate a formal legal proceeding within the local civic structure.

The words — The Hebrew verbs תָּפְשׂוּ (tafeśu) and הוֹצִיאוּ (hoṣīʾū) literally mean “they will seize” and “they will bring out,” describing the parents’ mandatory physical action to transfer the son into civic jurisdiction.

The thread — This civic procedure recurs in Deuteronomy 16:18, which mandates judges and officials in every town, and Deuteronomy 25:7, which places legal hearings at the city gate before the elders. The same elders appear in Deuteronomy 21:2 to perform civic measurements, establishing a consistent local judicial framework.

Why it lands — The text requires parents to publicly submit their child to established civic authorities rather than exercising private discipline. It places family correction under communal oversight and formal legal process.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וְתָ֥פְשׂוּve./Ta.fe.suand/ they will seizeב֖וֹv/o<in> <the>/ himאָבִ֣יו'a.Vi/vfather/ his וְאִמּ֑וֹve./'i.M/oand/ mother/ his וְהוֹצִ֧יאוּve./ho.Tzi.'uand/ they will bring out אֹת֛וֹ'o.T/o<obj.>/ him אֶל־'el-to זִקְנֵ֥יzik.Nei[the] elders of עִיר֖וֹi.R/ocity/ his וְאֶל־ve./'el-and/ to שַׁ֥עַרSha.'ar[the] gate of מְקֹמֽוֹ׃me.ko.M/oplace/ his

King James Version

Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place;

Cross-references

Deuteronomy 16:18 You are to appoint judges and officials for your tribes in every town that the LORD your God is giving you. They are to judge the people with righteous judgment.
Deuteronomy 21:2 your elders and judges must come out and measure the distance from the victim to the neighboring cities.
Deuteronomy 25:7 But if the man does not want to marry his brother’s widow, she is to go to the elders at the city gate and say, “My husband’s brother refuses to preserve his brother’s name in Israel. He is not willing to perform the duty of a brother-in-law for me.”
Zechariah 13:3 And if anyone still prophesies, his father and mother who bore him will say to him, ‘You shall not remain alive, because you have spoken falsely in the name of the LORD.’ When he prophesies, his father and mother who bore him will pierce him through.