Children: Beatings, Stubbornness, Mockers and Sacrifice:In the section entitled “Children” we are told “Beatings don’t kill kids” (Proverbs 23:13). I suppose that, logically, if a beating does not kill a kid then a beating did not kill a kid. Let us keep in mind that when reading, quoting and interpreting the book of Proverbs we are dealing with, you guessed it, proverbs. A “proverb” is “a pithy maxim, usually of a metaphorical nature; hence a simile (as an adage, poem, discourse): a byword, like, parable, proverb, an aphorism, a similitude.” To begin with spanking, even with a switch or “rod” is a tool that many parents have found useful. Yet, we must recall what a proverb is. For instance, the beginning of ch. 23 states:
“When you sit down to eat with a ruler, look carefully at what is before you; and put a knife to your throat, if you are a man given to appetite. Do not desire his delicacies, for they are deceitful food”
Yet, there is no indication of Jews wearing knives so that they could hold them to their own throats in case they were called in to dine with a ruler-this is a proverb.
Ultimately, we must keep in mind that the historical context informs us that this was a culture well acquainted with shepherds. Consider Psalm 23, “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want_” Shepherds utilized two basic tools: the staff and rod. The staff was used to guide the sheep and the rod was used to fight off predators and to break the legs of the sheep who had a tendency to stray. The rod was thus used to drive away destructive evils-the predators, and to bring intimacy-while the sheep’s leg was healing the shepherd would carry it on his back and thus build a bond that the sheep would not break again.
The next subsection on children states “Execute stubborn kids” (Deuteronomy 21:18-21). This is certainly a favorite text from which the pseudo-skeptic builds enormous edifices of un-historical, un-contextual mockery. Notice Cliff Walker’s conveniently selective quotation:
“If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son…Then shall his father and his mother…bring him out unto the elders of his city…And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die.” [ellipses in poster]
He not only manipulates the text but fails to consider other texts that deal with the same issue. He is pushing the idea that stubborn kids are summarily executed. However the text actually explains what their stubbornness entails:
Verse 18 “_stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them.”
Verse 20 refers to the son as “stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard.”
It is fascinating to note that when Prof. Richard Dawkins mentioned this text he referred to “disobedient children.”1 When Sam Harris mentioned it he referred to children who “talk back to us.”2 But, considering the immediate and greater context we note that the Bible refers to stubborn, rebellious, disobedient, gluttonous, drunkards who “smiteth” and curse their parents and have already been chastened (Exodus 21:15, Leviticus 20:9 and Deuteronomy 21:18). Thus, we are not dealing with little Johnny who refuses to put his toys away. Rather, the references are not to a little child but to someone who is stubborn in their rebellious, disobedience and is violently drunk to the point that they beat up their very own parents, lives off of their hard work in a gluttonous manner, then curses them, and has already been chastened. Moreover, stoning offenses does not mean that if you saw someone committing a stoneable offense you just executed them on the spot. Beginning at Exodus 18:13-26 we see a careful judicious system being established. For instance, reference to the two or three witnesses that were required are found in Deuteronomy 17:6, 19:15, Matthew 18:16, 2nd Corinthians 13:1, 1st Timothy 5:19 and Hebrews 10:28. These are a part of a very careful and restrictive system.
Furthermore, the Talmud (Sandedrin 71a) basically makes the point that such severe restrictions were placed on these commandments that “There never was, and never will be, a wayward and defiant son” or “stubborn and rebellious son.” Actually, Cliff Walker is well aware of this as he wrote, “The Pharisees, to their credit, interpreted this law so that it would be almost impossible to carry out_ I have not studied any era of Christian history where the orders of either Moses or Jesus were invoked to justify the execution of one’s own son!”3 However, and of course, he also condemns the interpretation, as I discuss in another essay that I wrote responding to Cliff Walker, which is entitled, Relative Ethics and Absolute Condemnations.
Next is “Kids killed for mocking hero” (2nd Kings 2:23-24) quoted as:
“Some small boys came out of the city and jeered at [the prophet Elisha], saying, ‘Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!’ And _he cursed them in the name of the Lord. And two she-bears came out of the woods and tore fortytwo of the boys.”
There is much implied in these two verses and much to be gleaned. The term used to denote the mockers refers to significance, importance as well as stature or age. They were in some sense lesser than Elisha in either social standing, stature, age or any combination thereof. Based on various Old Testament references, the mockers were between 12 and 30 years old (Isaac in his early twenties Genesis 22:12; Joseph seventeen yrs Genesis 37:2; army men between twelve and thirty 1st Kings 20:14-15). Elisha is likely to have been near their age. Elisha had just demonstrated his willingness, and miraculous ability, to help the needy as God’s representative. This event took place somewhere between Bethel and Jericho where Baal was worshipped. A large gathering of young men may denote that they were some sort of what we would term, gang. Elisha could have been bald(ing?) for various reasons including purposeful shaving as a sign of grief over Elijah’s departure (assumption into heaven). They may have been mocking his grief and telling him to get lost or, from their perspective, die. In any regard, there are various ways to look at this event. One is that of the social order of the day, a social order that was difficult to establish considering the occasional tendency of the Israelites to worship false gods. Another, and one that relates, is something quite foreign to us moderns and that is honor and respect. The gang of young men was besmirching the God of the Bible and His prophet in a land overrun with the worship of false gods who demanded human sacrifice among other “sacraments.” I understand that none of this will seem the least bit relevant when compared to the emotionally charged gut reaction that the pseudo-skeptic, and even believer, may feel. Some appear to be of the opinion that God is the ultimate pushover whom we ought to slap around at will and have His only response be, “Oh, come on guys.”
Our attention is next drawn to the idea that “God orders child sacrifice” (Genesis 22:1-2). The reference is to God asking Abraham to offer Isaac as a burnt offering. This comment is either a scholarly hoax or the utter bankruptcy of what Cliff Walker has to offer in the way of biblical criticism. Cliff Walker neglects not only to understand the text but he again neglects historical/cultural context. The text states that God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son and then told him not to do it. Why? Did God change His mind? In Abraham’s time human/child sacrifice was a common commandment of various gods. The God of the Bible was making it clear that He did not want, and would not accept, human/child sacrifice. This is why Jews, Christians (and by extension, Muslims) have never offered human/child sacrifices to the God of the Bible (and by extension, the Qur’an). I also dealt with Prof. Richard Dawkins’ mishandling of this text in my essay, Planting God More Firmly on His Throne, part 8 of 10.
Wait just a moment because next up in Cliff Walkers poster is, “Daughter: a burnt offering” (Judges 11:30-32, 34, 39). I dealt with this text in quite a bit of detail in the aforementioned essay in part 9 of 10. The bottom line is that the text does not seem to state anything about Jephthah sacrificing his daughter and if he did, his actions were condemned annually (I also discuss this further in Relative Ethics and Absolute Condemnations).
If you are interested in a more detailed handling of human/child sacrifice in general see the section entitled “Child Sacrifice: Sanctioned and “the right thing to do”?” in my essay, Dan Barker’s Scriptural Misinterpretations and Misapplications.
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