death always ••recorded." but not always executed. It is also probable that the severity of the sentence produced in practice an immediate recourse to the pre- scribed means ,,f propitiation in almost every actual remonial defilement (Numb. xv. 27. 28). See Saalschiitz, .1 /«•/,. //,/„■. x. 71. 7.">, vol. ii, 299; Knobel, Calmet, Corn, a Lapide on Gen. a vii, 13, 14; Ceil, Bibl. Arch. vol. ii, p. 264, ii 153; Ewald, Gesch. App. to vol. iii.p. 158; .lalm. . I \ ch. Bibl. § 257.
111. Penalties. Punishments, in themselves, are two- il and secondary; and in the cases we are con- sidering thej were either native or foreign.
i I.) Of capital punishments, properly Hebrew, the follow in:;- only are prescribed by the law.
1. Stoning, which was the ordinary mode of execu- tion (Exod. xvii, 4 ; Luke xx, 6; John x, 31; Acts xiv. We find it ordered in the cases which are marked in the lists above as punishable with death; and we lnay remark further that it is ordered also In the case
of an offending animal (Exod. xix, 13 ; xxi, 29). The false witness, likewise, in a capital case would, by the law of retaliation, become liable to death (Deut, xix, 10; Maccoth, i. 1. 6). In the case of idolatry, and. it may be presumed, in other cases also, the witnesses, of whom then- were to be at least two, were required to cast the first stone (Deut. xiii, 9 ; xvii. 7; Johnviii,7; Acts vii, 58). The Rabbinical writers add that the fir.-t Btone was cast by one of them on the chest of the convict, and if this failed to cause death, the bystanders pro- ceeded to complete the sentence {Sanhedr. vi, 1,3, !; Goodwyn, Moses and Aaron, p. 121). The body was then to be suspended till sunset ( Deut. xxi. 2o : Josh, x, 2G; Josephus. Ant. iv. 8, 21 1. and not buried in the family grave {Sanhedr. \ i. 5 ;.
2. Hanging is mentioned as a distinct punishment (Numb. xxv. 4; 2 Sam. xxi. 6, 9), but is generally, in the case of .lews, spoken of as following death by some other means. Banging alivi may have been a Canaan- itish punishment, since it was practiced by the Gibeon- iti 8 on t he sons of Saul (2 Sam. xxi. It I.
.'!. Burning, in pre-Mosaic times, was the punishment for unchastity (Gen. xxxviii, 21 i. Under the law it is ordered in the case of a priest's daughter (Lev. xxi. 9), of which an instance is mentioned {Sanhedr. vii, 2) ; likewise in case of incest (Lev. xx, 14) ; but it is also mentioned as following death by other means (Josh. \ ii. 25), and some have thought it was never used exo pt- ing after death. Among the heathens this merciful preliminary was not always observed, as, for instance, in the case of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego 1 1 >afl. iii). The Rabbinical account of burning by means of molten had poured down the throat has no authority in Scripture.
4. Death by th sword or spear is named in the law (Exod. xix, 13; xxxii, 27; Numb. xxv. 7), although two of the cases may be regarded as exceptional: but it occurs frequently in regal and post-Babylonian times (Judg. ix. 5; 1 Sam. xv, 33; xxii. 18; 2 Sam. i. 15; iv, 12: xx. 22: 1 Kings ii. 25,34; xix, 1; 2 Kin;.- \. 7 ; 2 Chron. xxi. 1: .ler. xxvi. 23 ; Matt, xiv. 8, L0
in which more than one case of assassination, either with or without legal forms, is included.
5. Strangling is said by the rabbins to have been regarded as the most common but hast severe of the capital punishment -. .and to have been performed by immersing the convict in clay or mud. and then stran- gling him by a cloth twisted round the ne< ■
wyn, M. and A. p. 122: Otho, Lex. Rah. s. v. "Suppli- cia;" Sanhedr. vii. 3; Cer Porter, Trav, ii. 177: ( '. I>. Michaelis. 1>,' Judiciis, ap. Pott, SylL Coram, iv. § 10, 12i. This Rabbinical opinion, founded, it is said, on oral tradition from .Moses, has no Scripture authority.
(/».) Besides these ordinary capital punishments, we read of others, either of foreign introduction or of an ir- regular kind. Among the former,
1. Crucifixion (q. v.) is treated separately, to which article the following remark may be added, that the Jewish tradition of capital punishment, independent of the Roman governor, being interdicted for forty years previous to the Destruction, appears in fact, if not in time, to be justified (John xviii, 81, with lv Wettc, Comment.; Goodwyn, p. 121 ; Ceil, ii, 264; Josephus, A ut. xx. 9, l l.
2. Drowning, though not ordered under the law. was practiced at Rome, and is said by St. Jerome to have been in use among the Jews (Cicero, Pro St tt. R
25; Jerome, Com. on Mutt. lib. iii. p. 138; T\Iatt. xviii, 6; Mark ix, 42). Josephus records that the Galilseans, revolting from their commanders, drowned the parti- sans of Herod {Ant. xiv, I
.".. Sawing asunder or crushing beneath iron instru- ments. The former is said to have been piacticed on Isaiah: the latter may, perhaps, not always havi death, and thus have been a torture rather than a capi- tal punishment (2 Sam. xii. 81, and perhaps Prov. xx, 26; Heb.xi,37; Just Mart. Trgph, 120). The