Duvduv

We have discussed this before, but I wanted to clarify a few points of talmudic law. BOTH partners involved in adultery are liable for capital punishment ONLY if two witnesses warned both of them about the sin they were about to commit, and both witnesses gave exactly the same testimony to the Sanhedrin, which was the only Jewish court empowered to impose capital punishment.

Where the author of John 8 got his scenario of abject vigilantism is a significant mystery.

IF they are liable for stoning, the procedure was to throw them forcefully off a platform at least 12 feet off the ground onto a stone slab. If for some reason they did not die, then a stone requiring two men to lift it was thrown onto the person. If after that the person was still alive, then whoever was in attendance would throw rocks at them until they died.

This is discussed in Sanhedrin in the Jerusalem Talmud (15:1) and in the Babylonian Talmud (43a and 45a) as well as in the Midrash Sifrei15:36 on the Book of Numbers, and by Maimonides.

Huon

What a superb procedure ! It should be inscribed in the laws of civilized nations...

MrMacSon

i'm intrigued by the requirement for "two witnesses [to] warn both of them about the sin they were about to commit" ...

they have to warn & witness?

Duvduv

Yes, that is the requirement. Plus both witnesses must testify to precisely the same experience. Any discrepancy invalidates the capital case. The witnesses are interviewed separately. Yet the story in GJohn is one of vigilantism and mob justice....