STONING

 

STONING

Friday, September 13, 2013

 

1Samuel [GW] 30:6a [King] David was in great distress because the people in their bitterness said he should be stoned.

John [GW] 8:1-12 Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Early the next morning he returned to the temple courtyard. All the people went to him, so he sat down and began to teach them. 3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught committing adultery. They made her stand in front of everyone 4 and asked Jesus, "Teacher, we caught this woman in the act of adultery. 5 In his teachings, Moses ordered us to stone women like this to death. What do you say?" 6 They asked this to test him. They wanted to find a reason to bring charges against him. Jesus bent down and used his finger to write on the ground. 7 When they persisted in asking him questions, he straightened up and said, "The person who is sinless should be the first to throw a stone at her." 8 Then he bent down again and continued writing on the ground. 9 One by one, beginning with the older men, the scribes and Pharisees left. Jesus was left alone with the woman. 10 Then Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Where did they go? Has anyone condemned you?" 11 The woman answered, "No one, sir." Jesus said, "I don't condemn you either. Go! From now on don't sin." 12 Jesus spoke to the Pharisees again. He said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will have a life filled with light and will never live in the dark."

 

  Being curious about many things, I asked my Sunday School teacher about stoning. After arriving home I looked the topic up in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia:  

 

“Of capital punishments that are properly regarded as of Hebrew origin, we note:

(1) Stoning

Stoning, which was the ordinary mode of execution (Exo_19:13; Lev_20:27; Jos_7:25; Luk_20:6; Act_7:58; Act_14:5). The witnesses, of whom there were at least two, were required to cast the first stone (Deu_13:9 f; Joh_8:7). If these failed to cause death, the bystanders proceeded to complete the sentence, whereupon the body was to be suspended until sunset (Deu_21:23).”

 

  The following Sunday my teacher had information on stoning for the class. (Sorry, I tried wording the last phrase of this sentence different ways, but could do no better.) On page 2 of today’s DT is the chart the teacher gave us. It has to do with contemporary stonings in Iran. Note the Muslim consideration for female anatomy.  EBB4