The Stocks (nj?'7'?> ivXdf vtirrfavpiY'/o'')- This machine, though probably of Egyp. ori-^in, is not described in the Mosaic legislation, but in it Hanani, the seer, was put by Asa (2 Ch 16'°), and Jeremiah was punished (Jer 20^). In Jer 27' KV uses 'bars for AV 'yokes,' and in Jer 29* changes 'priiion' to 'stoclcs,' and 'stocks' to 'shackles,' that is, the pillory. It usually contained five holes for the neck, arms, and legs, which sometimes were inserted crosswiBe. One form (np) was designed for the legs only. The word ' stocks ' is employed in Job 13" 33'f and Pr 7", and this form of torture was probably in mind when Ps 105" was written. It was an infliction among the Romans as indicated by Ac 16".
Stoning was the ordinary formal and legal mode of indicting punishment in the earlier history of the children of Israel, and was in vogue before the departure from ECTpt (Ex 8"). Even beasts might be the victims, evidently as a spectacular example (Ex 19" 21»«- "■ "). Stoning was the penalty for taking ' the accursed thing ' (Jos 7*°); for adultery and unchastity,the death sentence bein^ pronounced in Lv 20'°, and the means of carrying it out stated in Dt 22"- ", Jn 9.^- ' ; for blasphemy (Lv 24'""), and on this specious charge Nauoth (1 K 21'°) and Stephen (Ac 7'*) suffered, and an effort was made to show Jesus guilty by a feint to stone Hiui (Jn 10") ; for divination (Lv 20"'- "), idolatry (Dt 13'°), dishonour to parents (Dt 21*'), i>rophesying falsely (Dt 13»-'°), and Sabbath - breaking (Ex 31" 35^ Nu 15"- "•). Doubtless other capital crimes would thus be punished, and the city of Jerusalem was so threatened as if it were an individual culprit (Ezk M"). In an orderly proceeding the witness was to east the first stone (Dt 17', J n 8'), and as the Rabbins Kky. on the chest ; and if others were necessary to produce death, the bystanders hurled them. Law- less movements are mentioned or suggested, like that to which Moses thought himself exposed (Ex 17*), the accomplished acts on Adoram (1 K 12'") and Zechariah (2 Ch 24^'), in the danger dreaded by the priests on account of their estimate of the Baptist (Lk 20'), and the assault on St. Paul in Iconium (Ac 14'). Poisoners among the Persians were laid on one stone and crushed by another (Rawlinson, Anc. Mon. iii. 247 ; see M^ 21**, Lk 20'").
Strangling was a later form of capital punishment among the Jews (W. R. Smith, RS .398), but there is no scriptural authority for it. The convict was immersed in clay or mud, and a cloth was twisted around the neck and drawn in oi>posite directions by two lictors, so as to take the breath. During the operation molten lead might be poured down the throat (Sanhedr. 10. 3). Tlie proposed humili- ation of the Syrians before Israel (1 K 20") may hint at the jiractice. See Hanging,
Stripes. — The Mosaic economy ordained that an ofTendcr might be puniHhe<l with strines (Lv 19=", Dt 22'"), not exceeding forty (Dt 2.5*) ; and this limit was carefully observed, as on St. Paul (2 Co 11"), for a single stroke in excess subjected the executioner to punishment. The scourge was com- posed of three thongs, of which 39 was the largest multiple within the limit. It was the most com- mon mode of secondary punishment, and the idea of disgrace did not seem to attach to it (but see Jos. Ant. IV. viii. 21). No station of life was exempt (see from Pr 17", indicating that the noble may be smitten, and 10" that a rod is proper for the vacant-minded). The Viastinado may nave been iiKed on Jeremiah (20' 37"). Scourging was in-
flicted on a bondmaid overtaken in illegal inter- course (Lv 19^), on a husband who falsely accused his wife, on a person who used abusive language (Jos. Ant. XIII. X. 6), on ecclesiastical ofi'enders in the synagogue (Mt 10", Ac 26"), and it might be used on the debtor (Mt S"* 18**). As to the method : the culjjrit lay on the ground while under casti- gation, in the presence of the judge, who during the infliction proclaimed the words in Dt 28'''- '", and concluded with those in Ps 78**. In later times an adult male was stripped to the waist and in a bending posture lashed to a pillar ; a female received the stripes while sitting with head and shoulders bent forward ; and a boy was punished with his hands tied behind him. The Alosaic re- gulations were in pleasing contrast with those of the Zendavesta, which authorizes as many as 10,000 strijjes for the murder of a water dog (Darmesteter, Intro.). The Porcian law forbade the scourging of Rom. citizens (Cic. in Verr. v. 53, Ac 16^' 22^). Nevertheless, it was regarded as a wholesome punishment, and is zealously advocated in Pr 13" 23"- '* ; see also Sir 30'"'*. It is a symbol of divine correction (Ps 89^=), and is regarded as a purifier (Pr20*'). The Moslems have a proverb that the stick is from heaven, a blessing from God.
Suffocation was a recognized Pers. mode of dealing with ofi'enders. A case is described (2 Mac 13*"') : Menelaus was fastened to a revolving wheel in a standpipe 50 cubits high, filled with ashes, in which ne was repeatedly immersed, until death ensued. Another description attributes a similar method to the Macedonians, the victim being placed on a beam, under which the ashes were constantly stirred untQ he was overcome with heat and dust (see Rawlinson, Anc. Mon. iii. 246).