Lapidation

LAPIDATION. - Among the Jews, it was the ordinary capital punishment, which was applied when a different execution was not specified. In Hebrew it is expressed by the verbs zāqal and rāgham, often with the addition of bā'ābhānim or bā'ebhen. In the Law it is prescribed for idolatry (Deut. 13, 10; 17, 5), for sacrifices to Moloch (Lev. 20, 2), for the false prophet (Deut.

15, 5), for divination, magic (Lev. 20, 6.27; Deut. 18, 10 ff.), for blasphemy (Lev. 24, 14), for the desecration of the Sabbath (Ex. 31, 14 ff.; Num. 15, 35), for the stubborn disobedience of a son toward his parents (Deut. 21, 21), for the fornication of a young woman and for adultery (ibid. 22, 21 ff.).

The execution took place outside the camp or the city (Lev. 24, 14-23); the witnesses had to cast the first stones, and the people completed the execution (Lev. 24, 14; Deut. 13, 10 [Vulg. 9]). Sometimes the corpse of the executed person was hung on a stake and left thus until evening (Deut. 21, 22 ff.). Regarding these details, Jewish tradition is more explicit. The corpse could not be buried in the family tomb, but in a place ordinarily designated by the Sanhedrin: mourning was prohibited (cf. Sanhedrha, IV, 4; VI, 1-5; Flavius Josephus, Antiq. Iud., IV, 8).

Lapidation was familiar to the Jews at the time of Jesus. Popular fury easily resorted to such an execution (Io. 8, 59; 10, 31, 33; 11, 8; Act. 7, 57 ff.; 14, 5, 18; II Cor. 11, 25).