What You Need to Know About the Death Penalty According to the Bible
If you’ve skimmed through the Old Testament of the Bible, it’s possible that your initial thoughts would be that just about any violation of God’s (YHWH) commandments and Law generally resulted in the death penalty. However, this thought isn’t actually supported by Scripture… For those who violated or broke YHWH’s commandments by mistake or imprudence (unintendedly), no punishment would be dealt to them since that person would still have had a chance to repent – to realize his/her mistake! However, it’s important to note that repentance of the violation would have still needed to be accompanied by a sacrifice as laid out in the book of Leviticus for their unintentional lawlessness (sin), but this sacrifice was not atonement for their sin itself…though many religious teachings support that idea today. A violation was only considered serious when the person’s actions could be described as malicious, intentional, or a systematic violation of the commandments of YHWH Elohim (willfully or presumptuously). In that case, atonement for their malicious sin by sacrifice was out of the question. The death penalty was reserved for these malicious and systemic violations of the commandments. BUT it has always been an exceptional punishment system when appropriate. Several important conditions/conditions should be met before the death penalty becomes a viable method of punishment. Here are eight types of sins wherein the death penalty was considered to be an appropriate punishment for the people of YHWH:
- Intentional murder, including testifying as a false witness that leads to the death of another person
- Adultery
- Homosexuality and Zoophilia
- Idolatry
- Practicing Witchcraft and Occult
- Shabbat violation
- Malicious disobedience to parents (children who do not want to listen to the father’s instruction to follow the Commandments of YHWH)
- Hostage-taking or kidnapper
Hostage-taking
While these are the 8 types of violations (sins) that would consider the death penalty to be an appropriate punishment, there were still specific conditions that needed to be met. Let’s look at them:
Deut.17:6 But never put a person to death on the testimony of only one witness. There must always be at least two or three witnesses. The witnesses must throw the first stones, and then all the people will join in. In this way, you will purge all evil from among you.
Deut.19:15 The facts of the case must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses (by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established).
People who deserved the death penalty could not be judged, let alone executed, without witnesses (two or three). This is exactly what happened with Yeshua when the Pharisees brought a woman “taken in adultery” before him to try to trap him according to laws and commandments:
Jn.8:1 Yeshua went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning (at dawn), he came back into the temple court, and the people came to him in crowds. He sat down and was teaching them when the scribes and Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery. They made her stand in the middle of the court and put the case before him. Teacher, they said, This woman has been caught in the very act of adultery. Now Moses in the Law commanded us that such shall be stoned to death. But what do you say (to do with her – what is your sentence)? This they said to try (test) him, hoping they might find a charge on which to accuse Him. But Yeshua stooped down and wrote on the ground with his finger. However, when they persisted with their question, he raised himself up and said, let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her. Then he bent down and went on writing on the ground with his finger. They listened to him, and then they began going out, conscience-stricken, one by one, from the oldest down to the last one of them, till Yeshua was left alone, with the woman standing there before Him in the center of the court.
It is interesting to note that Yeshua did not let the Pharisees carry out the death penalty against this woman, even though they demanded it “according to the Torah”. Instead, Yeshua released her according to the commandment from the Torah. The Pharisees were testing him and trying to trap him by causing Yeshua to violate the commandments using incorrect execution of the Torah. Yeshua did not place mercy above the Law, as modern religious teachings teach today (notice that the Pharisees did not bring out the man whom she had supposedly committed her adultery with). This woman could have only been stoned to death according to the Torah (Law) if her adulterous partner was there as well to stand accused (which he wasn’t), according to the truthful word of two or three witnesses (who were also absent). Yeshua knew that according to the wording of the commandment, “The hands of the witnesses shall be the first against him/her” the Pharisees could not have her put to death without having two or three legitimate witnesses present. This is why everyone left because no one wanted to make themselves a false witness in this situation to try trapping Yeshua. Yeshua acted according to the Law since the Law was on the side of this woman and Yeshua confirmed this in how he rightly reacted to the Pharisee’s poor attempt to trap him. We should also take note of Yeshua telling this woman to “go and sin no more” – which means “go and do the commandments”.
Shabbat violation example:
Num.15:32 Now while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day. And those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron, and to all the Congregation. They put him under guard because it had not been explained what should be done to him. Then YHWH said to Moses, “The man must surely be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.” So, as YHWH commanded Moses, all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him with stones, and he died.
These people didn’t just “accidentally” forget about Shabbat, but rather they began to collect firewood — wilfully/presumptuously (Num.15:30). They were taken into custody to find out exactly what happened, and only after that, they were charged. The death penalty is an extreme measure of punishment for malicious and systematic violations. In the eyes of YHWH, these extreme measures can only be taken with the right motivation: the extermination of evil around oneself… Let’s not forget that the death penalty for these extreme violations could only be carried out through a trial by judges who knew and understood the Law of YHWH. In addition to having two or more truthful witnesses who were ready to “be the first to throw a stone at the violator”.
Today, there are “modern humanistic societies” that disagree with the justification of this capital punishment; however, it is still practiced in many countries and is a powerful deterrent for those who might want to commit maliciously criminal acts. Now, our modern courts decide what punishment to apply, based on man-made laws rather than the Holy Word of YHWH Elohim. We believe that is why our world suffers more murders and adulteries because of the cruelty and immorality of people that are allowed to grow outside of YHWH’s law. Following the Law of YHWH is the only way to prevent this. You can learn more about the judicial system of the Almighty here: JUDICIAL SYSTEM.