De 21: 18 If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and will not listen to them when they discipline him, 19 his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his town.20 They shall say to the elders, "This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a profligate and a drunkard."
21 Then all the men of his town shall stone him to death. You must purge the evil from among you. All Israel will hear of it and be afraid.
This is not a child. It is one of an age that he can be "profligate and drunkard". He is at an age where he can be dangerous.
He also is totally worrisome to his parents. It is not just the father or the mother that has to bring him to the elders, but it is both of them. They must agree on this course of action. Their own child is so bad that these parents believe the greater danger is his remaining alive rather than dying. Their concern for themselves, their family, and the community is so great that they believe ending his life would be better than what they are experiencing and what they foresee.
That is an incredible indictment against a son by both a mother and a father.
Then, it is the men of the town who will take this offspring and execute the sentence of stoning. Stoning is used so that others would see and fear. It must be a horrendous death. With the men of the town intent upon the execution, one would expect it to be quick. They are to "take him" implies that he is immobilized. An immobilized man subjected to head strikes by large stones could quickly die. Perhaps as fast as with hanging. In any case it is visually brutal, and it is designed to cause fear in others.
Parents will fear and take greater care in the raising of their children. Children will fear when they see the result of rebellion, profligacy, and addiction.
It is that line "purge the evil from among you" that is fascinating. Granted that it could mean no more that "get rid of a bad egg." But, what if in the Wisdom of God there is acknowledgment of defects, genetic or otherwise, that would be terrible to continue in a population that had no defense against them, no medical care to mediate them.
What if it's an acknowledgment that a rabid dog, a mean-natured dog, or a broken dog simply is best served itself by being put down? And what if it's an acknowledgment that an infection in the community can be multiplied in that and ensuring generations if it is tolerated? And what if it matters little if it is behavioral or biological?
Is capital punishment, here, also an acceptance that capital punishment is itself practice of a certain level of eugenics, after due process of law has been brought to bear? It could only be behavioral. I see that. But, could it be both. An intentional controlling that which gets passed on to future generations to prevent a quicker fall into degeneracy?
In stoning, everyone participates, no one know which stone killed.