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Exodus 21:12–17
“Whoever curses his father or his mother shall be put to death” (Ex. 21:17).
After giving case laws related to slavery and second wives in Exodus 21:1–11, God in verses 12–17 delivers case laws related to killing and the treatment of parents. These laws illustrate how to apply the fifth and sixth commandments (20:12–13).
Exodus 21:12–14 distinguishes between killing that is accidental and killing that is intentional. Those who kill other human beings are to be put to death if they had lain in wait for the victim or had killed him willfully. The person who did not kill intentionally, however, must be spared. We see here that the Lord does not treat all cases of killing alike but grants leniency to those who kill someone unintentionally. To put it in more modern terms, the person whose killing qualifies as what we often call manslaughter is not to be punished in the same way as the person whose killing qualifies as murder with intent. Moreover, killers with intent must be executed; they cannot take refuge in the sanctuary (vv. 12, 14; see 1 Kings 2:5–6, 28–34). Those guilty of manslaughter must flee to what will eventually be designated cities of refuge if they want to escape vengeance from the victim’s family (Ex. 21:13). The person who commits manslaughter, as the law later makes clear, enjoys protection in a city of refuge as long as he does not leave it (Num. 35:9–34). Note that while the individual guilty of manslaughter is not executed, having to take refuge in a city not his own is a kind of punishment, for it takes the person away from the life he knows. Manslaughter is a serious matter even though it is not a capital crime.
Kidnappers—those who steal away noncombatants—are to be put to death as well as those who curse or strike their parents (Ex. 21:15–17). With respect to parents, a hastily spoken insult or a single slap or punch is not in view, though those things are serious. The laws address assault with intent to harm or kill and sworn vows or curses made against one’s mother or father. Such things risk the lives of one’s parents, who are the foundational authority figures and providers for human society. Their status as the first authorities and providers that any of us ever encounter makes a threat against them unlike threats against others and thus warrants the severest penalty humans can inflict. A person willing to threaten his parents with death when they are innocent of a capital crime cannot be trusted to maintain civil order. If he is willing to destroy those who have done so much for him, he is willing to destroy the entire society.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
John Chrysostom, an important early church father, notes that laws against harming or cursing parents place on us the demand to respect and love our mother and father. He then makes an application to those Christians and church leaders who are our mentors and “spiritual parents.” He notes that “if our parents in the flesh should enjoy such good will from us, so much the more would this hold true for our parents in the spirit.”
For Further Study
- Leviticus 20:9
- Colossians 3:20–21