Thirty-six different offenses in the Bible qualified for capital punishment. How many of these apply to you?
In a Texas murder case that ultimately reached the Supreme Court, a juror brought a Bible into the sentencing process – showing that the Bible recommends death for anyone who kills another person with an iron rod (Numbers 35:16).
Astonishingly, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to revisit the case. The court argued that even though bringing the Bible into the sentencing was improper, there is no evidence that it swayed the jury. Rest assured that when the Bible and other authorities (like our judicial system ) are at odds, we can trust Texas jurors to ignore the Bible and do what is right. Half the country believes that God made humans in their present form because the Bible says so–but we can count on believders (school boards excepted) to follow the evidence and the constitution.
All the same, just in case an issue like this should come up in your state, thirty six different offenses in the Bible qualified for capital punishment. Do any of these apply to you?
Cursing Parents
For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him. Leviticus 20:9
Working on the Sabbath Whosoever doeth any work in the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Exodus 31:15
Premarital Sex (girls only)
. . .If, however, this charge is true, that evidence of the young woman’s virginity was not found, then they shall bring the young woman out to the entrance of her father’s house and the men of her town shall stone her to death, Deuteronomy 22:20
Disobedience (boys only)
If someone has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey his father and mother, who does not heed them when they discipline him, then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his town at the gate of that place. They shall say to the elders of his town, “This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard.” Then all the men of the town shall stone him to death. Deuteronomy 21:18
Worshipping any god but Yahweh
If there be found among you, within any of thy gates which the LORD thy God giveth thee, man or woman, that . . . hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded; . . .Then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, which have committed that wicked thing, unto thy gates, even that man or that woman, and shalt stone them with stones, till they die. Deuteronomy 17:2-5
Witches
Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. Exodus 22: 18
Wizards (epileptics? migraine sufferers? schizophrenics?)
A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them. Leviticus 20:27
Loose Daughters of Clergy
And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing the whore, she profaneth her father: she shall be burnt with fire. Leviticus 21:9
Girls who are Raped within the City Limits
If there is a girl who is a virgin engaged to a man, and another man finds her in the city and lies with her, then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city and you shall stone them to death; the girl, because she did not cry out in the city . . . But if in the field the man finds the girl who is engaged, and the man forces her and lies with her, then only the man who lies with her shall die. Deuteronomy 22:23-25
Blasphemers
And he that blasphemeth the name of the LORD, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him: as well the stranger, as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth the name of the Lord, shall be put to death. Leviticus 24:16
Anyone Who Tries to Deconvert Yahweh Worshipers
If anyone secretly entices you–even if it is your brother, your father’s son or your mother’s son, or your own son or daughter, or the wife you embrace, or your most intimate friend–saying, “Let us go worship other gods,” . . . you shall surely kill them; your own hand shall be first against them to execute them. Deuteronomy 12:6
Men who Lie With Men
If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them. Leviticus 20:13
Adulterers
And the man that committeth adultery with another man’s wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. And the man that lieth with his father’s wife hath uncovered his father’s nakedness: both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them. And if a man lie with his daughter in law, both of them shall surely be put to death: they have wrought confusion; their blood shall be upon them. Leviticus 20: 10-12
Men who Lie with Beasts and Beasts who Lie with Men
And if a man lie with a beast, he shall surely be put to death: and ye shall slay the beast. Leviticus 20:15
So. Are you up for the death penalty?
Just so you know, it could be worse. As I am reminded by people who want me to make nice, this list represents an advancement from mob justice. They are right, and the Levitical Code would a fascinating window into human moral history were it not for the fact that juries in Texas, politicians in Colorado, and clergy in Africa all advocate the death penalty for one person or another on the basis of these texts (murderers, homosexuals, and child witches respectively).
When people put God’s name on Iron Age documents, and then make those documents a golden calf, they get stuck with Iron Age moral thinking. Maybe it’s time to take the Bible down off of its pedestal, and acknowledge the obvious human handprints on the texts. Maybe it’s even time to do again what Thomas Jefferson did: cut the book apart, keep the parts that are worth keeping, and leave the rest on the floor in the cutting room of history.
————-
More from the Bible at Awaypoint:
Captive Virgins, Polygamy, Sex Slaves: What Marriage Would Look Like if We Actually Followed the Bible
Mandrakes and Dove Blood: Biblical Healthcare Anyone?
If the Bible Were Law, Would You Qualify For the Death Penalty?
What the Bible Says About Rape and Rape Babies
Woman’s Hanging and Burning of Dog Biblical
Valerie Tarico is a psychologist and writer in Seattle, Washington. She is the author of Trusting Doubt: A Former Evangelical Looks at Old Beliefs in a New Light and Deas and Other Imaginings, and the founder of www.WisdomCommons.org. Her articles can be found at Awaypoint.Wordpress.com.
Comments at: http://www.streetprophets.com/story/2009/4/22/124045/027
AwayPoint 
My dog is nervous.
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Afraid of ending up homeless?
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It seems kind of petty to deny people the opportunity to sin during this tiny sliver of life, given that they’re facing an eternity of agony in Hell.
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Yes. The Bible god is a petty tyrant in more ways than one.
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You didn’t capitalize “God.” Good luck talking your way out of eternal damnation.
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They will have to kill me 4 times….hahaha
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Let’s see – Cursing and Disobenience – start stoning me now. But the funny thing is my curses usually come true over time.
I also could have blasphemer and lies with men applied too. But the lies with beasts, does that include my cat sleeping next to or on me?
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I think it depends on the gender of your cat.
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The feline resident of the house is a female named Angie.
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Guess I’ve got 7 counts of death
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Sorrry to be late to the party . . . .
“I know I’m ruining my liberal credentials here, but I frankly don’t have any moral problem with the jury condemning him to death.”
Where did you steal those credentials from in the first place?
Thanks.
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It’s not clear to me what you mean. Are you saying by definition someone of the liberal persuasion can’t favor the death penalty?
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Yes.
There can hardly be any more abusive and anti-social act than a State sponsored death penalty. State sponsored murder is still murder. In fact, it is premeditated murder. Supposedly, the worst kind.
Someone might think they are a “liberal . . . .
Other good questions —
Can a “liberal” support “preemptive” war? You know, the illegal kind.
Can a “liberal” support torture?
Can a “liberal” support any type of human rights infringing police state?
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Speaking as a libertarian, not a liberal, we seem to be on the same page, although my problem with the death penalty is not just ideological, but practical. Mistaken convictions can never be corrected, even in theory, if the defendant has been executed.
Most mistakes stem from unreliable eyewitness testimony, flawed forensics, and prosecutorial misconduct. For those who favor the death penalty, I recommend the Innocence Project website: http://www.innocenceproject.org/
Much of the same reasoning applies to torture. It produces unreliable information, and gives government thugs incentive to cover up abuse and exaggerate (or fabricate) information supposedly gleaned from torture.
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I agree with everything you wrote.
“unreliable eyewitness testimony, flawed forensics, and prosecutorial misconduct” — That’s our “justice” system in a nutshell!
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One policy change that would reduce eyewitness error is lineups (photo or live) being sequential, rather than simultaneous. Other reforms recommended by the Innocence Project are here: http://www.innocenceproject.org/fix/Eyewitness-Identification.php
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Reblogged this on bbnewsblog and commented:
Valerie Tarico asks in this blog a question to her readers/followers: Let’s suppose that the Bible were law in your country. Would you then be sentenced to death?
Of course all atheists would be executed because of blasphemy; that goes without saying. But what about other people? Is there any now living human who hasn’t broken at least one of the divine laws and therefore should be killed? For example by having premarital sex or by not obeying his or her parents? I’m afraid that we should all be stoned to death or executed in some other way.
We know from the Bible that God has eradicated humanity once, in the Flood, except for eight people. But why doesn’t that same God kill all of today’s divine law breakers? Why making laws and then don’t care a bit about implementing and using them?
It’s not only non-believers, apostats and homosexuals who qualify for the death penalty. Or is it?
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Of course he didn’t capitalize God, the context he used it in didn’t merit it. Big G God is the name whereas little g god is the title, so saying Mars, the god of war or God, the Christian god are appropriate.
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Thank you so much for your series of articles on here. I’m currently working on a Fine Art topic at university in London based on these kinds of bible passages and your articles have really been invaluable to my research! Thank you!! xx
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This is a wonderful piece that is easy to comprehend even for people who aren’t used to archaic writing or the bible. I found it interesting that male homosexuality is condemned, but there is no mention of women “lying with women,” so to speak.
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I find it fascinating and somewhat hilarious how people pull things from the Bible and condemn it without even bothering to try and understand it.
First, although Christians may find the law informative they are not under the law you use here.
Next, the law was for the Israelite believers and not for the world in general and so those alive today living in a non-Israelite country and not aware of those laws would not be liable to those laws and so none would “qualify for the death penalty”.
But let’s make a quick perusal of some of those “nonsensical” Biblical laws you mention.
First, if the US was under the Law, there would not be over 2 million prisoners in the US, with over 150,000 serving life sentences, talk about cruel and usual punishment. Israel under the law had no jails or prisons.
Next, let’s look at Disobedience (boys only); the US is all up in arms about school shootings (pretty much boys only), would such shootings be eliminated if irreformable disobedient boys were put to death before they went on shooting sprees? Not to mention the possible elimination of gangs and gang shootings and drug traffic.
Let’s look at sex, if sex is totally monogamous, STD transmission would be eliminated or at least severely curtailed. Since the 80s over a million people have been diagnosed with HIV, wouldn’t it have been better to for this to be 100 or less?
And while we are talking about sex, what about rape? Men are always responsible and put to death but why are some women put to death and not others? Women in the city are able to call for help and be saved but if they don’t call for help then they are considered also responsible for what happened. Also, men who are put to death for one rape seldom become serial rapists.
I didn’t touch on all you mentioned but perhaps you get the idea, just dwelling on the fact that the Law recommend the death penalty without even mentioning the possible benefits of that Law for a society, seems a bit disingenuous.
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Hmm. Perhaps you might ask yourself, if these Iron Age laws don’t apply to Christians, why you feel so invested in defending them. For many of us who are former Christians, like me, one of the troubling things about faith is how it gets genuinely decent people to rationalize the ugliness in the Bible and Christian history.
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If the laws were for Israelites, what then are you doing with the book in the first place. You go when it’s smooth and hang on when it’s rough. Hypocrisy
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