What Does Deuteronomy 21:20 Mean?
And they say to the elders of his city, This our son turns aside and is rebellious, he does not hear and respond to our voice; he is a waster and a deep drinker.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard.THE KEY
Under “obey” is hearing that answers: the accusation names a voice received without response.
THE MEANING
The verse names turning from correction, refusing to hear a parent’s voice, and being consumed by appetite and drink as one public charge. The accusation reaches beyond one act to describe a way of living spoken before the elders.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie is that hearing is complete once the words reach the ears; here, hearing without response is itself a refusal.
THE ROOT
יִשְׁמַע
yishmaʿ
GROWS FROM
שמע
sh-m-ʿ
Hear, listen, heed; in a command, hearing that answers with action.
“does not hear and respond” in this verse is yishmaʿ. The Hebrew verb beneath “obey” is shamaʿ: to hear and respond. The accusation is therefore not only that the son rejects a rule, but that his parents’ voice does not become action in him.
ALSO GROWS
shemaʿ: Hear; attend and respond.
שְׁמַע
The same root makes hearing an active reception, not merely the arrival of sound.
shemuʿah: Report, tidings; what is heard.
שְׁמוּעָה
This branch names what hearing receives; the verse asks whether the parents’ voice is received as a claim on conduct.
מוֹרֶה
moreh
GROWS FROM
מרה
m-r-h
Resist, defy, rebel.
“rebellious” in this verse is moreh. This word names active defiance, beyond a difficult temperament. Beside “stubborn,” it describes persistence becoming rebellion.
ALSO GROWS
marah: To rebel or defy.
מָרָה
The verbal form shows the resistance as an act, not just a label.
meri: Rebellion, defiance.
מְרִי
The related noun names that act as a settled condition, matching the verse’s public description of the son.
THE PATTERN
A voice is truly heard when its words take form in response.
Now therefore, if you will truly hear and respond to my voice, and guard my covenant, then you shall be my own treasure from among all peoples, for all the earth is mine.My sheep hear and respond to my voice, and I perceive them, and they follow me.But be makers of the word, and not hearers only, miscounting yourselves.THE THREAD
Now therefore, if you will truly hear and respond to my voice, and guard my covenant, then you shall be my own treasure from among all peoples, for all the earth is mine.Both verses join שָׁמַע (shamaʿ, hear and respond) with קוֹל (qol, voice or sound). Exodus describes hearing as a relationship carried into action; Deuteronomy names refusal of that same voice.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us