LAPIDATION. - Among the Hebrews, it was the ordinary capital punishment, which was applied when a different torture was not specified. In Hebrew it is expressed with 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 profanation of the Sabbath (Ex. 31, 14 f.; 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 throw the first stones, the people completed the torture (Lev. 24, 14; Deut. 13, 10 [Vulg. 9]). Sometimes the corpse of the executed person was hung on a pole and thus left until evening (Deut. 21, 22 f.). Regarding these particulars, 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 forbidden (cf. Sanhedrha, IV, 4; VI, 1-5; Flavius Josephus, Antiq. Ind., IV, 8).
L. was familiar to the Jews at the time of Jesus. Popular fury readily resorted to such a torture (Io. 8, 59; 10, 31, 33; 11, 8; Act. 7, 57 f.; 14, 5, 18; I Cor. 11, 25).
Bibliography4 works
Francesco Spadafora