![Tissot The Sabbath-Breaker Stoned](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/Tissot_The_Sabbath-Breaker_Stoned.jpg)
Capital punishment in the Bible refers to instances in the
Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
where death is called for as a punishment and also instances where it is proscribed or prohibited. The story of the woman taken in adultery at the start of John 8, is of little relevance to this discussion since that passage is an interpolation into the text of the Gospel of John. There are many Bible verses that command (e.g., Genesis 9) and condone
capital punishment
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
, and examples of it being carried out. Sins that were punishable by death include homicide, striking one's parents, kidnapping, cursing one's parents,
witchcraft and divination, bestiality, worshiping other gods,
violating the Sabbath, child sacrifice, adultery, incest, and male homosexual intercourse (there is no biblical legal punishment for lesbians).
Against capital punishment
While the Bible very clearly condones and commands capital punishment, there are verses that can be interpreted as opposing the practice. For example, when
Cain murdered Abel, God sentenced him to wandering as a fugitive rather than to death, and even issued a warning against killing Cain. A similar sentiment is suggested in Proverbs 28:17. It is seen from 2 Samuel 14:1-11 that kings would grant clemency in extenuating circumstances. In that case, the one who had killed was an only child, and the king allowed him to remain alive under house arrest. The prophets repeatedly beseech the masses to repent so that God will not destroy them. Additionally, there are numerous verses that condemn revenge, judging, anger and hatred, as well as those that promote peace harmony, forgiveness and acceptance.
[Richard H. Hiers]
The Death Penalty and Due Process in Biblical Law
81 U. Det. Mercy L. Rev. 751 (2004)
Hiers (2004 & 2009) shows that the laws related to capital punishment shifted over time with old laws being abandoned, and new laws taking their place; however, he points out that some later laws seem to mitigate the severity of earlier ones. He further quotes Glen Stassen who argues that even in biblical times, capital punishment was "gradually, if not progressively" being abandoned, pointing out that capital punishment is rarely found in the Prophets and the
Writings
Writing is a medium of human communication which involves the representation of a language through a system of physically inscribed, mechanically transferred, or digitally represented symbols.
Writing systems do not themselves constitute h ...
. Paul Onyango cites Carol Meyers argues that treatment of adulteresses in Ezekiel 16 and 23 is far more progressive than that of other ancient near eastern cultures of the time, due to its avoidance/rejection of capital punishment.
Perhaps the strongest case against capital punishment can be made from John 8, where Jesus seems to say that capital punishment should not be carried out contrary to Mosaic law. In John 8, the Pharisees challenge Jesus by presenting a woman who they say committed adultery. They point out that the law of Moses clearly states that such a woman ought be stoned, and challenge Jesus to give his opinion as to what should be done. Jesus famously states "let he who is without sin throw the first stone." Effectively saying that capital punishment should not be carried out, without directly contradicting the law of Moses.
While these examples may show that there was at least some opposition to capital punishment and decline in usage, there can be no doubt that there are far more numerous verses that command and condone capital punishment, and examples of it being carried out.
Torah/Old Testament
Capital sins
The Bible states that for the death penalty to be carried out, at least two witnesses were required. (According to Rabbinic tradition, there were numerous other conditions/requirements (such as a warning) that made it difficult to get a conviction.)
Sins that were punishable by death in the
Torah
The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the s ...
, included the following:
Homicide (excluding negligent homicide), to strike/attack/smite one's parents, kidnapping cursing one's parents,
witchcraft and divination, bestiality worshiping other gods,
violating the Sabbath child sacrifice, adultery, incest, and male homosexual intercourse (there is no biblical legal punishment for lesbians).
The daughter of a
Kohen
Kohen ( he, , ''kōhēn'', , "priest", pl. , ''kōhănīm'', , "priests") is the Hebrew word for "priest", used in reference to the Aaronic priesthood, also called Aaronites or Aaronides. Levitical priests or ''kohanim'' are traditionally b ...
who defiles herself through harlotry, blaspheme (of the
Tetragrammaton
The Tetragrammaton (; ), or Tetragram, is the four-letter Hebrew language, Hebrew theonym (transliterated as YHWH), the name of God in the Hebrew Bible. The four letters, written and read from right to left (in Hebrew), are ''yodh'', ''he (l ...
name of God), a non-
Levite
Levites (or Levi) (, he, ''Lǝvīyyīm'') are Jewish males who claim patrilineal descent from the Tribe of Levi. The Tribe of Levi descended from Levi, the third son of Jacob and Leah. The surname ''Halevi'', which consists of the Hebrew defi ...
"encroaching" on the Levite task of setting up or taking down the
Tabernacle
According to the Hebrew Bible, the tabernacle ( he, מִשְׁכַּן, mīškān, residence, dwelling place), also known as the Tent of the Congregation ( he, link=no, אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד, ’ōhel mō‘ēḏ, also Tent of Meeting, etc.), ...
, a non-Kohen carrying out
priestly
Priestly is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Miranda Priestly, a character in ''The Devil Wears Prada''
* Paul Priestly, a character in ''EastEnders''
See also
* Priestley (disambiguation)
* Priestly source, one of the propose ...
duties, promoting the worship of other gods (if an entire town is swayed by such people, the entire town is to be put to death and destroyed), defiantly refusing to accept a court's ruling, maliciously giving false testimony accusing another person of having committed a capital offence, rebellion against parents, If a man marries a girl and claims that she is not a virgin, the girl's parents should produce evidence of her virginity. If it is found that she was not a virgin, she is stoned to death for fornicating while still under her father's authority, intercourse with an engaged/betrothed virgin girl (if she could have cried out for help and did not, she is killed as well).
Methods
The most common method mentioned is by stoning, followed by burning, and then by sword (once). There is a verse that mentions hanging; however, it isn't clear whether this is a separate method of killing, or something done with the body after it was dead. The verse goes on to command that the body is not to be left up overnight, but rather must be buried that day, since an impaled or hung body was offensive to God.
Examples of capital punishment
In the
Genesis creation narrative
The Genesis creation narrative is the creation myth of both Judaism and Christianity. The narrative is made up of two stories, roughly equivalent to the first two chapters of the Book of Genesis. In the first, Elohim (the Hebrew generic word ...
(
Book of Genesis
The Book of Genesis (from Greek ; Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית ''Bəreʾšīt'', "In hebeginning") is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its first word, ( "In the beginning") ...
2:17), God tells
Adam
Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...
"But of the
Tree of Knowledge of good and evil
In Judaism and Christianity, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil ( he, עֵץ הַדַּעַת טוֹב וָרָע, ʿêṣ had-daʿaṯ ṭōḇ wā-rāʿ, label=Tiberian Hebrew, ) is one of two specific trees in the story of the Garden ...
you shall not eat of it, for on the day that you eat thereof, you shall surely die." According to the
Talmud
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...
, this verse is a death penalty.
In Genesis 38:24-26, when Judah is told that Tamar (his former daughter-in-law) had become a harlot and was pregnant, he sentences her to death by burning. However, she proves that he (Judah) is the father, and (apparently) the ruling is reversed.
During the period that the Israelites wandered the wilderness, examples include: A man was stoned for gathering wood on Sabbath, while another was stoned for blasphemy. In the rebellion of
Korah
Korah ( he, ''Qōraḥ''; ar, قارون ''Qārūn''), son of Izhar, is an individual who appears in the Book of Numbers of the Hebrew Bible and four different verses in the Quran, known for leading a rebellion against Moses. Some older Englis ...
, the ground opened up swallowing Korah, other leaders, and their families; and a heavenly fire consumed another 250 followers. The next day, all the Israelites railed against Moses and Aaron, blaming them for the deaths, and God sent a plague that killed another 14,700.
During the period of Kings, examples include:
Elijah
Elijah ( ; he, אֵלִיָּהוּ, ʾĒlīyyāhū, meaning "My God is Yahweh/YHWH"; Greek form: Elias, ''Elías''; syr, ܐܸܠܝܼܵܐ, ''Elyāe''; Arabic: إلياس or إليا, ''Ilyās'' or ''Ilyā''. ) was, according to the Books of ...
captured and "slaughtered" the prophets of Baal.
King Asa and the tribes who followed him made a covenant to worship God and "whoever would not worship the LORD God of Israel would be put to death." King
Ahab
Ahab (; akk, 𒀀𒄩𒀊𒁍 ''Aḫâbbu'' 'a-ḫa-ab-bu'' grc-koi, Ἀχαάβ ''Achaáb''; la, Achab) was the seventh king of Kingdom of Israel (Samaria), Israel, the son and successor of King Omri and the husband of Jezebel of Sidon, ...
eliminated
Naboth
Naboth ( he, נבות) was a citizen of Jezreel. According to the Book of Kings in the Hebrew Bible, he was executed by Queen Jezebel so that her husband Ahab could possess his vineyard.
Narrative
1 Kings 21:1-16 states that Naboth owned a vine ...
(to get his land) by getting false witnesses to testify that Naboth had blasphemed God and the King.
In the uprising against
Athaliah
Athaliah ( el, Γοθολία ''Gotholía''; la, Athalia) was the daughter of either king Omri, or of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel of Israel, the queen consort of Judah as the wife of King Jehoram, a descendant of King David, and later quee ...
when
Jehoash was appointed king of Judah, Mattan, the priest of Baal was killed.
New Testament
Sermon on the Mount
The
Sermon on the Mount
The Sermon on the Mount (anglicized from the Matthean Vulgate Latin section title: ) is a collection of sayings attributed to Jesus of Nazareth found in the Gospel of Matthew (chapters 5, 6, and 7). that emphasizes his moral teachings. It is ...
rejects "
an eye for an eye
"An eye for an eye" ( hbo, עַיִן תַּחַת עַיִן, ) is a commandment found in the Book of Exodus 21:23–27 expressing the principle of reciprocal justice measure for measure. The principle exists also in Babylonian law.
In Roman c ...
" and thus, implicitly,
retributive justice
Retributive justice is a theory of punishment that when an offender breaks the law, justice requires that they suffer in return, and that the response to a crime is proportional to the offence. As opposed to revenge, retribution—and thus retr ...
, which has been argued to include capital punishment. Whether supportive or not, commentators establish the relevance of the Sermon to considerations of capital punishment, for example
Augustine
Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berbers, Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia (Roman pr ...
, who cites it in his analysis supporting capital punishment as carried out by duly constituted authority. In 2018 the Roman Catholic catechism changed to repudiate capital punishment in any circumstances, and the Vatican website explicitly references the Sermon on the Mount in justification for this.
Woman caught in adultery
In a passage that may be a later
interpolation
In the mathematical field of numerical analysis, interpolation is a type of estimation, a method of constructing (finding) new data points based on the range of a discrete set of known data points.
In engineering and science, one often has a n ...
, John 8:3–11 mentions a
woman caught in adultery being brought to
Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
for judgment. Jesus does not condemn her, but says "Go and from now on do not sin any more." (John 8:11)
Death of Jesus
Jesus is sentenced to death and dies on a cross in all four Gospels.
Perspectives
Walter Harrelson in ''The Ten Commandments and Human Rights'' says "
ere can be no question... of our sixth commandment's having the initial meaning that human life is never, under any circumstances, to be taken by another human being or by the appointed authorities in Israel."
[Walter Harrelson, The Ten Commandments and Human Rights. Page 108 (Fortress Press, 1980)]
Richard Hiers (2004 & 2009) writes:
In summary, biblical law gave expression to a highly positive evaluation of human life, and affirmed the bodily and moral integrity of persons individually, in families, and as an ordered and just society. Those whose conduct violated laws that served these interests might, therefore, be subject to the death penalty. Biblical law was particularly concerned lest innocent persons be wrongly executed. Moreover, only those who had recklessly or intentionally committed capital offenses were to be put to death. Numerous due process procedures were designed to effectuate these concerns. And those who sat in judgment were strongly admonished to do so impartially, according equal protection of the laws, whether the accused were rich or poor, native born or foreigners.
See also
*
Religion and capital punishment
The major world religions have taken varied positions on the morality of capital punishment and as such, they have historically impacted the way in which governments handle such punishment practices. Although the viewpoints of some religions have ...
*
Capital punishment in Judaism
References
{{reflist
External links
Excerpts from Richard H. Hiers' ''The Death Penalty and Due Process in Biblical Law''
Death penalty
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
Religion and capital punishment