PUNISHMENT
789
PUNISHMENT
of sawing asunder, as practiced in Barbary, is described by Shaw (TVcra. p. 254).
4. Pounding in a mortar is alluded to in Prov. xxvii, 22, but not as a legal punishment. It is mentioned as a Cingalese punishment by Sir E. Tennant (Ceylon, ii. 88). Something similar to this, beating to death (rvfi- 57f<i'i<r/<oc),was a Greek punishment for slaves. It was inflicted on a wooden frame, which probably derived its name from resembling a drum or timbrel in form, on which the criminal was bound, and beaten to death (2 Mace, vi, 19, 28 ; comp. ver. 30). In Josephus {De Mace.) the same instrument is called rpo^oC) or " wheel" (5, 9). Hence, to beat upon the tympanum, to drum to death, is similar to "breaking on the wheel" (Heb. xi, 35). David inflicted this among other cruelties upon the in- habitants of Kabbath-ammon (1 Chron. xx, 3).
5. Precipitation, attempted in the case of our Lord at Nazareth, and carried out in that of captives from the Edomites, and of St. James, who is said to have been cast from "the pinnacle" of the Temple; also said to have been executed on some Jewish women by the Syr- ians (2 Chron. xxv, 12 ; 2 Mace, vi, 10 ; Luke iv, 29 ; Euseb. //. E. ii, 23). This punishment resembles that of the Tarpeian rock among the Romans.
6. The Persians had a singular punishment for great criminals. A high tower was rilled a great way up with ashes, the criminal was thrown into it, and the ashes, by means of a wheel, were continually stirred up and raised about him till he was suffocated (2 Mace, xiii, 4-6).
Criminals executed by law were buried outside the city gates, and heaps of stones were flung upon their graves (Josh, vii, 25, 26 ; 2 Sam. xviii, 17 ; Jer. xxii, 19). Mohammedans, to this clay, cast stones, in passing, at the supposed tomb of Absalom (Fabri Evagatorium, i, 409 ; Sandys, Trav. p. 189 ; Raumer, Palast. p. 272).
(C.) Of secondary punishments among the Jews, the original principles were,
1. Retaliation, " eye for eye," etc. (Exod. xxi, 24, 25 ; see Gell. Noct. Att. xx, 1). Retaliation, the lex talionis of the Latins, and the di'mrtirovSog of the Greeks, is doubtless the most natural of all kinds of punishment, and would be the most just of all if it could be instan- taneously and universally inflicted; but when delayed, it is apt to degenerate into revenge. Hence the desir- ableness that it should be regulated and modified by law. The one-eyed man mentioned by Diodorus Sicu- lus (xii) complained that if he lost his remaining eye, he would then suffer more than his victim, who would still have one left. Phavorinus argues against this law. which was one of the twelve tables, as not admit- ting literal execution, because the same member was more valuable to one man than another; for instance, the right hand of a scribe or painter could not be so well spared as that of a singer. Hence that law, in later times, was administered with the modification, " Ni cum eo pacet," except the aggressor came to an agreement with the mutilated person, de talione redi- menda, to redeem the punishment by making compen- sation. Moses, accordingly, adopted the principle, but lodged the application of it in the judge. "If a man blemish his neighbor, as he hath done, so shall it be done to him. Life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, wound for wound, stripe for stripe, breach for breach" (Lev. xxiv, 19-22). He, however, makes wilful mur- der, even of a slave, always capital, as did the Egyp- tians. Roman masters had an absolute right over the lives of their slaves (Juvenal, vi, 219). The Egyptians doomed the false accuser to the same punishment which he endeavored to bring on his victim, as did Moses (Deut. xix, 19).
2. Compensation, identical (restitution) or analogous; payment for loss of time or of power (Exod. xxi, 18-36 ; Lev. xxiv, 18-21 ; Deut. xix, 21). The man who stole a sheep or an ox was required to restore four sheep for a sheep, and five oxen for an ox thus stolen (Exod. xxii, 1). The thief caught in the fact in a dwelling
might even be killed or sold ; or if a stolen animal were found alive, he might be compelled to restore double (Exod. xxii, 2-4). Damage done by an animal was to be fully compensated (ver. 5). Fire caused to a neigh- bor's corn wras to be compensated (ver. 6). A pledge stolen, and found in the thief s possession, was to be compensated by double (ver. 7). All trespass was to pay double (ver. 9). A pledge lost or damaged was to be compensated (vers. 12, 13); a pledge withheld, to be restored with 20 per cent, of the value (Lev. vi, 4, 5). The "sevenfold" of Prov. vi, 31, by its notion of com- pleteness, probably indicates servitude in default of full restitution (Exod. xxii, 2-4). Slander against a wife's honor was to be compensated to her parents by a fine of one hundred shekels, and the traducer himself to be punished with stripes (Deut. xxii, 18, 19).
3. Stripes, whose number was not to exceed forty (Deut. xxv, 3) ; whence the Jews took care not to ex- ceed thirty -nine (2 Cor. xi, 24 ; Josephus, A nt. iv, 8, 21). This penalty was to be inflicted on the offender lying on the ground in the presence of a judge (Lev. xix, 20 ; Deut. xxii, 18). In later times, the convict was strip- ped to the waist and tied, in a bent position, to a low pillar, and the stripes, with a whip of three thongs, were inflicted on the back between the shoulders. A single stripe in excess subjected the executioner to punish- ment (Maccoth, iii, 1, 2, 3, 13, 14). It is remarkable that the Abyssinians use the same number (Wolff, Trav. ii, 276). We have abundant evidence that it was an an- cient Egyptian punishment. Nor was it unusual for Egyptian superintendents to stimulate laborers to their work by the persuasive powers of the stick. Women received the stripes on the back, while sitting, from the hand of a man; and boys also, sometimes with their hands tied behind them. The modern inhabitants of the valley of the Nile retain the predilection of their forefathers for this punishment. The Moslems say, "The stick came down from heaven a blessing from God." Moses allowed corporal punishment of this kind by masters to servants or slaves of both sexes (Exod. xxi, 20). Scourging was common in after-times among the Jews, who associated with it no disgrace or incon- venience beyond the physical pain it occasioned, and from which no station was exempt (Prov. xvii, 26; comp. x, 13; Jer. xxxvii, 15-20). Hence it became the symbol for correction in general (Psa. lxxxix, 32). Solomon is a zealous advocate for its use in education (Prov. xiii, 24 ; xxiii, 13, 14; comp. Ecclus. xxx, 1). In his opinion, " the blueness of a wound cleanseth awray evil, and stripes the inward parts of the belly" (Prov. xx, 30). It was inflicted for ecclesiastical offences in the synagogue (Matt, x, 17; Acts xxvi. 11). Among torturing or tedious penalties,