Mishnayos Sanhedrin Perek 8 Mishnah 1
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סנהדרין פרק ח׳ משנה א׳
The Torah describes the punishment given to a son who steals money from his parents to eat a gluttonous meal of meat and wine in the company of lowly men. If his parents bring him to court for this act, he is exhorted to desist and is punished with lashes. If he repeats the same misdeed and is again brought to court by his parents within the same three-month period, he is considered a stubborn and rebellious son [ben sorer umoreh]. He is liable to receive the death penalty, which in this case is execution by stoning. From when does a stubborn and rebellious son become liable to receive the death penalty imposed upon a stubborn and rebellious son? From when he grows two pubic hairs, which are a sign of puberty and from which time he is considered an adult, until he has grown a beard around. The reference here is to the lower beard surrounding his genitals, and not the upper beard, i.e., his facial hair, but the Sages spoke in euphemistic terms. As it is stated: “If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son” (Deuteronomy 21:18), which indicates that the penalty for rebelliousness is imposed upon a son, but not upon a daughter; and upon a son, but not upon a fully grown man. A minor under the age of thirteen is exempt from the penalty imposed upon a stubborn and rebellious son, because he has not yet reached the age of inclusion in mitzvot.
בֵּן סוֹרֵר וּמוֹרֶה, מֵאֵימָתַי נַעֲשֶׂה בֵן סוֹרֵר וּמוֹרֶה, מִשֶּׁיָּבִיא שְׁתֵּי שְׂעָרוֹת וְעַד שֶׁיַּקִּיף זָקָן, הַתַּחְתּוֹן וְלֹא הָעֶלְיוֹן, אֶלָּא שֶׁדִּבְּרוּ חֲכָמִים בְּלָשׁוֹן נְקִיָּה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (דברים כא), כִּי יִהְיֶה לְאִישׁ בֵּן, בֵּן וְלֹא בַת, בֵּן וְלֹא אִישׁ. הַקָּטָן פָּטוּר, שֶׁלֹּא בָא לִכְלָל מִצְוֹת:
Bartenura
בן סורר ומורה. משיביא שתי שערות. והוא בן י״ג שנה ויום אחד. דמקמי הכי אין השערות סימן אלא שומא:
עד שיקיף זקן התחתון. האי זקן דאמור רבנן, התחתון אמרו, שיקיף השער סביבות הגיד:
ולא העליון. זקן ממש:
שנאמר בן ולא איש. משהקיף זקן התחתון איש הוא. ואע״ג דמקטנותו הוא קרוי בן, לא מצינו לחייבו מקמי שיביא שתי שערות, דקטן פטור, שלא בא לכלל המצות, הלכך חיוביה בתר הכי הוא. והכי קאמר קרא, כי יהיה לאיש בן, בן הסמוך לגבוו. תו של איש, בתחלת אישותו חייביה קרא. ומשהקיף זקן התחתון, איש גמור הוא:
בן סורר ומורה. משיביא שתי שערות – when he brings forth two [pubic] hairs, and he is thirteen years of age and one day old, for before this, the hairs are not a sign, but rather an estimation.
עד שיקיף זקן התחתון – this “beard” that the Rabbis speak about, the lower one they spoke about that the hair surrounds the membrum virile.
ולא העליון – the beard itself.
שנאמר בן ולא איש – where the lower “beard” surrounds it, it is a man, and even though from his youth he is called a son, we do not find him to be liable before he brings for two [pubic] hairs for a minor is exempt [from being a stubborn and rebellious son], for he has not come in to the general [category] of the commandments; therefore, they obligate him after this. And this is what the Bible (Deuteronomy 21:18) states: “When a man has a [wayward and stubborn] son…,” a son who is close to his might as an adult male, at the beginning of his manhood, the Bible makes liable, and when his lower “beard” surrounds [it], he is a complete [adult] man.