EXECUTION
391
EXECUTION
tnose who should rebuild Carthage (Zonaras, Annal.}. ' An incident somewhat analogous is related (Josh, vi, 2(5) after the taking of Jericho. From the words '■ and Joshua adjured them at that time," it is likelj' that he acted under a divine intimation that Jericho should continue in ruins, as a monument of the divine dis- pleasure and a warning to posterity. The words "cursed be the man (the individuar) before the Lord that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho," although transformed into an execration by the word supplied by the translators, amount to no more than a jjredic- iion that "he shall lay the foundation thereof in his fu'st-born, and in his joungest son shall he set up the gates of it," that is, he shall meet with so many im- pediments to his undertaking that he shall outlive all his children, dying in the course of nature before he shall complete it. See Jericho. Execrations were also pronounced upon cities and their inhabitants be- fore undertaking a siege (Macrobius has preserved two of the ancient forms used in reference to the destruc- tion of Carthage, Saturnal. iii, 9), and before engaging with enemies in war. Tacitus relates that the priest- esses of ancient Britain devoted their Eoman invaders to destruction with imprecations, ceremonies, and at- titudes, which for a time overwhelmed the soldiers with terror (An?iul. xiv, 2'.t). The execrations in the 83d Psalm, probably written on the occasion of the confederacy against Jehoshaphat, and other instances of a like nature, partake of the execrations of the hea- then in nothing but form, being the inspired predic- tions or denunciations of divine vengeance against the avowed enemies of the God of Israel, notwithstand- ing the proofs thej' had witnessed of his supremac)' ; and the object of these imprecations, as in many other instances, is charitable, namel}', their conversion to the true religion (ver. 18 ; see also Psa. lix, 12). — Kitto, s, V. See Anathema ; Imprecatiox.
Execution, or capital punishment, among the Jews, when lawful and regular, was of one of the fol- lowing kinds. 1. Death hy the sword (U'itt "^S^j °^ ^"inn nrri, also simply nsSn ; 2 Sam. i, 15 ; 2 Kings X, 25 ; Jer. xxvi, 23), by which, however, we are not to understand beheading (in 2 Kings x, 7, the bodies were probabij^ decapitated after death), as the Kabbins will have it (Mishna, Sanhedr. vii, 3), a penalty that earl)' occurs in Egypt (Gen. xl, 1',)), and later in the lioman period among the Jews, as the introduction of foreign princes (Matt, xiv, 10 sq.), and as is probably meant in Acts xii, 2 (comp. Josephus, Ant. xv, 1, 2); but the offender was stabbed or cut to death, as the case might be. 2. Stoning (q. v.) ; since the shooting with a dart, mentioned in Exod. xix, 13, was onlj^ se- lected ill place of tliis when an individual was to be put to death at a distance. These punishments were intensified by indignities to the corpse ; namely, (a.) Burning (0X2 ^'^b. Lev, xx, 14; xxi, 9; compare Josh, vii, 15, 25 ; Gen. xxxviii, 24 ; 1 Mace, iii, 5 ; [see Michaelis in loc.]). That we are here not to think of a l)urning alive, we may gather from Josh, vii, 25; and it is the more probable from the procedure detail- ed in the JMishna {Sanhedr. vii, 2), which directs that the delinquent's mouth should be forced open bj' a cloth drawn around the neck, and melted lead then be poured in ! (6.) Hanging (nbri) on a tree or post (Dent, xxi, 22; Num. xxv, 4; comp. Josh, x, 26 ; 2 Sam. iv, 12 ; 1 Sam. xxxi, 8, 10), with which mutila- tion of the dead bodj^ was often connected (2 Sam. iv, 12). The person hung was regarded as execrated (Deut. xxi, 23 ; comp. Gal. iii, 13), and was not al- lowed to remain suspended over night (Deut. xxi, 23 ; comp. Josh, viii, 29 ; x, 2G sq.), through fear of tainting the atmosphere, since putrescence soon began. The op- posite treatment was deemed an extraordinary severi- ty (2 Sam. xxi, G, 9 sq.). The hanging of a living person (Ezra vl, 11) is a Persian punishment. Under
the ITerods this custom was likewise introduced among the Jews (Josephus, A7if. xvi, 11, G), as in the Koman period in Egypt (Philo, ii, 529). (c.) Finally, a heap of stones (bnr« D"^?3X by) was thrown over the body, i. e. the grave (Josh, vii, 25 sq. ; viii, 29 ; 2 Sam. xviii, 17). This dishonor is still common in the East (Pau- lus, A'eu. Repert. ii, 53 ; Jahn, A rchdol. II, ii, 353). One of these kinds of punishment is constantly referred to by the legislative precept, ''That soul shall be cut off
from the people" (153? n-i;5n N"inri Da.?n !^v'n=3;',
or n^a"p), as especially appears from Exod. xxxi, 14 ; Lev. xvii, 4 ; xx, 17 (see Michaelis, Mos. Rechf, V, 37 sq. ; the cases are specified in the Mishna, Cher- ithuth, i, 1) ; but the Rabbins are not altogether agreed; comp. Abarbanel on Num. xv, 30; also in Ugolini Thesaur. xxx) ; not, as most will have it, a mere in- terdict from political or religious privileges. See Ex- communication. All penal inflictions were usually speedy (Josh, vii, 24 sq. ; 1 Sam. xxii, IG), and origin- ally inflicted directly by the populace, but under the kings by their body-guard, or one of their attendants.