In our effort to answer the basic question posed by this article, we will first determine what the Bible says regarding a number of the types of offenses that are appropriate to be punished by some form of civil death penalty. Then, we will consider secular considerations that should be helpful in assessing the propriety of the death penalty in our society.
Biblical Guidelines Regarding the Death Penalty
The following scriptures advocate putting people to death for a wide variety of offences including murder, kidnapping, deadly negligence, idolatry, blasphemy of God’s name, working on the Sabbath day, seriously abusing a parent, sexual immorality, engaging in bestiality, and acting as a medium.
[Note: When we quote Scripture in this article, we use the wording in the New King James Version of the Bible, unless indicated otherwise.]
Murder
Exodus 21:12-14 applies the death penalty to anyone who premeditatedly kills someone by striking that person. According to this scripture,
He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death. However, if he did not lie in wait, but God delivered him into his hand, then I will appoint for you a place where he may flee. But if a man acts with premeditation against his neighbor, to kill him by treachery, you shall take him from My altar, that he may die.
Numbers 35:16-18 also pertains to putting to death a person who kills someone by striking that person, but there is no mention in this scripture that this applies to only killings that are premedicated. This scripture says,
[If a man strikes another man] with an iron implement, so that he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death. And if he strikes him with a stone in the hand, by which one could die, and he does die, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death. Or if he strikes him with a wooden hand weapon, by which one could die, and he does die, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death.
Numbers 35:20-21 likewise asserts that the death penalty is warranted when a person murders someone else by striking or pushing them. This scripture declares,
If [a man] pushes [another man] out of hatred or, while lying in wait, hurls something at him so that he dies, or in enmity he strikes him with his hand so that he dies, the one who struck him shall surely be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him.
Kidnapping
Exodus 21:16 advocates putting to death anyone who kidnaps another person, as follows:
He who kidnaps a man and sells him, or if he is found in his hand [the kidnapper still holds him captive], shall surely be put to death.
Deadly Negligence
Exodus 21:28-29, which pertains to putting to death a person whose negligence results in the death of someone, states,
If an ox gores a man or a woman to death, then the ox shall surely be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be acquitted. But if the ox tended to thrust with its horn in times past, and it has been made known to his owner, and he has not kept it confined, so that it has killed a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned and its owner also shall be put to death.
Idolatry
Deuteronomy 17:2-5 clearly states that anyone who worships any god other than the one true God (i.e., the God of the Bible) should be stoned to death, as follows:
If there is found among you, within any of your gates which the Lord your God gives you, a man or a woman who has been wicked in the sight of the Lord your God, in transgressing His covenant, who has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, either the sun or moon or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded, and it is told you, and you hear of it, then you shall inquire diligently. And if it is indeed true and certain that such an abomination has been committed in Israel, then you shall bring out to your gates that man or woman who has committed that wicked thing, and shall stone to death that man or woman with stones.
And, Deuteronomy 13:6-10 infers that anyone who attempts to entice another person to serve any god other than the one true God should be put to death. According to this scripture,
If your brother, the son of your mother, your son or your daughter, the wife of your bosom, or your friend who is as your own soul, secretly entices you, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which you have not known, neither you nor your fathers, of the gods of the people which are all around you, near to you or far off from you, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth, you shall not consent to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him or conceal him; but you shall surely kill him; your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. And you shall stone him with stones until he dies, because he sought to entice you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
Blasphemy of God’s Name
Leviticus 24:16-17a declares that blasphemy of God’s name is an offense worthy of death. (Webster’s Dictionary defines blasphemy as “profane or contemptuous speech, writing, or action concerning God or anything held as divine.”) This scripture says,
And whoever blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall certainly stone him, the stranger as well as him who is born in the land. When he blasphemes the name of the Lord, he shall be put to death.
Working on the Sabbath Day
Exodus 31:15 condemns to death anyone who works on the Sabbath day, as follows:
Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.
Likewise, Exodus 35:2, which is worded similarly to Exodus 31:15, condemns to death anyone who works on the Sabbath day.
Numbers 15:32-36 provides a specific account of a man who was stoned to death because he worked on the Sabbath day. This scripture states,
Now while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day. And those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron, and to all the congregation. They put him under guard, because it had not been explained what should be done to him. Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man must surely be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.” So, as the Lord commanded Moses, all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him with stones, and he died.
Seriously Abusing a Parent
Exodus 21:15, 17 sanctions putting to death a son who strikes or curses one of his parents, as follows:
[H]e who strikes his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. . . . And he who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.
Leviticus 20:9, which does not mention striking a parent, but advocates the death penalty for a son who curses one of his parents, states,
[E]veryone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother. His blood shall be upon him.
[Note: The Bible does not indicate whether or not a daughter should face the same penalty for identical offenses.]
Sexual Immorality
Leviticus 20:15-16 indicates that bestiality is another crime punishable by death. (According to Webster’s Dictionary, bestiality is “sexual relations between a person and an animal.”) This scripture says,
The man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, he who commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress, shall surely be put to death. The man who lies with his father’s wife has uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them. If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death. They have committed perversion. Their blood shall be upon them. If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them.
Engaging in Bestiality
Leviticus 20:15-16 indicates that bestiality is another crime punishable by death. (According to Webster’s Dictionary, bestiality is “sexual relations between a person and an animal.”) This scripture says,
If a man mates with an animal, he shall surely be put to death, and you shall kill the animal. If a woman approaches any animal and mates with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood is upon them.
Acting as a Medium
Leviticus 20:27 advocates the death penalty for people who act as mediums. (Webster’s Dictionary defines a medium as “a person through whom communications are thought to be sent to the living from spirits of the dead.”) According to this scripture,
A man or a woman who is a medium, or who has familiar spirits, shall surely be put to death; they shall stone them with stones. Their blood shall be upon them.
Secular Sources Regarding the Death Penalty
An article on the website The Guardian reports that 23 people were executed and 39 sentenced to death in the USA during a relatively recent year (i.e., a total of 62 people). However, it is uncertain how many of these people are innocent of the crime for which they were convicted.
According to the website article https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/documents, there were 161 men and women exonerated (i.e., absolved of guilt) during a relatively recent 44-year period. Although 161 may seem to be a small number of people during such a period of time, probably many other people, including their families, their friends, and perhaps others, also benefitted from these exonerations.
In his highly acclaimed book entitled Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson, an American lawyer, social justice activist, founder/executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, and a clinical professor at New York University School of Law, indicates that many hundreds, if not several thousand, people may deserve to be exonerated.
On page 16 of the same book, Stevenson states,
Scores of innocent people have been exonerated after being sentenced to death and nearly executed. Hundreds more have been released after being proved innocent of noncapital crimes through DNA testing. Presumptions of guilt, poverty, racial bias, and a host of other social, structural, and political dynamics have created a system that is defined by error, a system in which thousands of innocent people now suffer in prison.
And, on page 17 of the book, Stevenson says,
[One case in particular] taught me about our system’s disturbing indifference to inaccurate or unreliable verdicts, our comfort with bias, and our tolerance of unfair prosecutions and convictions. [That case] taught me how our system traumatizes and victimizes people when we exercise our power to convict and condemn irresponsibly – not just the accused but also their families, their communities, and even the victims of crime.
With regard to the exoneration of the man alluded to on page 17 of Stevenson’s book (i.e., a man who had been convicted of a murder that he did not commit and whom Stevenson helped to exonerate), Stevenson states on pages 224-225,
I thought about how certain it was that hundreds, maybe thousands, of other people were just as innocent as [his client] but would never get the help they need.
Subsequently, on page 227 of his book, Stevenson declares,
The number of death row prisoners in Alabama for whom we’d won relief reached one hundred. We had created a new community of formerly condemned prisoners in Alabama who had been illegally convicted or sentenced and received new trials or sentencing hearings. Most never returned to death row.
So, if there were 100 such cases of relief in Alabama alone, it is reasonable to assume that there probably were several thousand death row prisoners throughout the entire nation who could have qualified, or did qualify, for new trials or sentencing hearings during that same period.
Conclusion
The Old Testament scriptures that we cited indicate that the death penalty is the decreed way to deal with almost all of the offenses that are mentioned in this article. In other words, the Old Testament indicates that, except for the specific exceptions that are noted in these scriptures, no distinctions should be made in the punishment for the offenses that are addressed. For our society, the question is not just whether or not the death penalty should be administered according to the perceived differences in the seriousness of the offenses that we have mentioned, but also whether or not the death penalty should be administered for any offense.
The distinctions made by our society as to which of the previously-mentioned offenses should be punished by execution are usually secular distinctions, not biblical distinctions. Most of the people in our society evidently believe that murder and other offenses that are generally regarded as heinous are much more serious than the other types of offenses and should generally be punished by execution.
Perhaps, the strongest argument against capital punishment is that the death penalty has been administered in a number of cases in which the person who was put to death was innocent of the crime for which he (or she) was found guilty. In other words, innocent people are being convicted of offenses for which they are not guilty. The fact that many people have been exonerated before the date on which they were scheduled to be put to death suggests that it is reasonable to assume that many other people have been put to death before they could be exonerated. So, if capital punishment is entirely abolished, innocent people will be able to have hope that they will be exonerated before they die.
Furthermore, it can be argued with regard to not only this matter, but also with regard to other matters, that unless a biblical command that is found in the Old Testament is reaffirmed in the New Testament, it is no longer binding. If this viewpoint is valid, then perhaps there should not be a death penalty for any offense, because the New Testament does not reaffirm the decree to put someone to death for any of the previously-mentioned Old Testament offenses – not even murder. Instead, the New Testament advocates love, mercy, and grace for everyone. Thus, a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole is arguably sufficient retribution for murder and other heinous crimes.
In any case, people who seek the death penalty for any offense should examine their motive for doing so. If the motive of these people is revenge rather than justice, it should be noted that God does not generally want us to take revenge. Romans 12:19 asserts, “Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, . . . for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord.” [For a discussion of relevant considerations in this regard, click on “Judging, Anger, and Forgiveness.”]