5. Strangling is said by the rabbins to have been regarded as the most common but least severe of the capital punishments, and to have been performed by immersing the convict in clay or mud, and then strangling him by a cloth twisted round the neck (Goodwyn, M. and A. p. 122; Otho, Lex. Rab. s.v. “Supplicia;” Sanhedr. 7:3; Ker Porter, Trav. ii, 177; C. B. Michaelis, De Judicus, ap. Pott, Syll. Comm. 4: § 10, 12). This Rabbinical opinion, founded, it is said, on oral tradition from Moses, has no Scripture authority.
(B.) Besides these ordinary capital punishments, we read of others, either of foreign introduction or of an irregular kind. Among the former,
1. Crucifixion (q.v.) is treated separately, to which article the following remark may be added, that the Jewish tradition of capital punishment, independent of the Roman governor, being interdicted for forty years previous to the Destruction, appears in fact, if not in time, to be justified (Joh_18:31, with De Wette, Comment.; Goodwyn, p. 121; Keil, 2, 264; Josephus, Ant. 20:9, 1).
2. Drowning, though not ordered under the law, was practiced at Rome, and is said by St. Jerome to have been in use among the Jews (Cicero, Pro Sext. Rosc. Am. 25; Jerome, Com. on Matthew lib. iii, p. 138; Mat_18:6; Mar_9:42). Josephus records that the Galilaeans, revolting from their commanders, drowned the partisans of Herod (Ant. 14:15, 20).
3. Sawing asunder or crushing beneath iron instruments. The former is said to have been practiced on Isaiah; the latter may, perhaps, not always have caused death, and thus have been a torture rather than a capital punishment (2Sa_12:31, and perhaps Pro_20:26; Heb_11:37; Just. Mart. Tryph. 120). The process of sawing asunder, as practiced in Barbary, is described by Shaw (Trav. p. 254).
4. Pounding in a mortar is alluded to in Pro_27:22, but not as a legal punishment. It is mentioned as a Cingalese punishment by Sir E. Tennant (Ceylon, ii, 88). Something similar to this, beating to death (
ôõìðáíéóìüò
), was a Greek punishment for slaves. It was inflicted on a wooden frame, which probably derived its name from resembling a drum or timbrel in form, on which the criminal was bound, and beaten to death (2Ma_6:19; 2Ma_6:28; comp. 2Ma_6:30). In Josephus (De Macce.) the same instrument is called
ôñï÷üò
, or “wheel” (5, 9). Hence, to beat tupon the tympanum, to drum to death, is similar to “breaking on the wheel” (Heb_11:35). David inflicted this among other cruelties upon the inhabitants of Rabbath-ammon (1Ch_20:3).
5. Precipitstion, attempted in the case of our Lord at Nazareth, and carried out in that of captives from the Edomites, and of St. James, who is said to have been cast from “the pinnacle” of the Temple; also said to have been executed on some Jewish women by the Syrians (2Ch_25:12; 2Ma_6:10; Luk_4:29; Euseb. H.E. ii, 23). This punishment resembles that of the Tarpeian rock among the Romans.
6. The Persians had a singular punishment for great criminals. A high tower was filled a great way up with ashes, the criminal was thrown into it, and the ashes, by means of a wheel, were continually stirred up and raised about him till he was suffocated (2Ma_13:4-6).
Criminals executed by law were buried outside the city gates, and heaps of stones were flung upon their graves (Jos_7:25-26; 2Sa_18:17; Jer_22:19). Mohammedans, to this day, cast stones, in passing, at the supposed tomb of Absalom (Fabri Evagatorium,, i, 409; Sandys, Trav. p. 189; Raumer, Palast. p. 272).
(C.) Of secondary punishments among the Jews, the original principles were,
1. Retaliation, “eye for eye,” etc. (Exo_21:24-25; see Gell. Noct. Att. 20:1). Retaliation, the lex talionis of the Latins, and the
ἀíôéðåðïíèüò
of the Greeks, is doubtless the most natural of all kinds of punishment, and would be the most just of all if it could be instantaneously and universally inflicted; but when delayed, it is apt to degenerate into revenge. Hence the desirableness that it should be regulated and modified by law. The one-eyed man mentioned by Diodorus Siculus (12) complained that if he lost his remaining eye, he would then suffer more than his victim, who would still have one left. Phavorinus argues against this law, which was one of the twelve tables, as not admitting literal execution, because the same member was more valuable to one man than another; for instance, the right hand of a scribe or painter could not be so well spared as that of a singer. Hence that law, in later times, was administered with the modification, “Ni cum eo pacet,” except the aggressor came to an agreement with the mutilated person, de talione redimenda, to redeem the punishment by making compensation. Moses, accordingly, adopted the principle, but lodged the application of it in the judge. “If a man blemish his neighbor, as he hath done, so shall it be done to him. Life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, wound for wound, stripe for stripe, breach for breach” (Lev_24:19-22). He, however, makes wilful murder, even of a slave, always capital, as did the Egyptians. Roman masters had an absolute right over the lives of their slaves (Juvenal, 6:219). The Egyptians doomed the false accuser to the same punishment which he endeavored to bring on his victim, as did Moses (Deu_19:19).
2. Compensation, identical (restitution) or analogous; payment for loss of time or of power (Exo_21:18-36; Lev_24:18-21; Deu_19:21). The man who stole a sheep or an ox was required to restore four sheep for a sheep, and five oxen for an ox thus stolen (Exo_22:1). The thief caught in the fact in a dwelling might even be killed or sold; or if a stolen animal were found alive, he might be compelled to restore double (Exo_22:2-4). Damage done by an animal was to be fully compensated (Exo_22:5). Fire caused to a neighbor's corn was to be compensated (Exo_22:6). A pledge stolen, and found in the thief's possession, was to be compensated by double (Exo_22:7). All trespass was to pay double (Exo_22:9). A pledge lost or damaged was to be compensated (Exo_22:12-13); a pledge withheld, to be restored with 20 per cent. of the value (Lev_6:4-5). The “sevenfold” of Pro_6:31, by its notion of completeness, probably indicates servitude in default of full restitution (Exo_22:2-4). Slander against a wife's honor was to be compensated to her parents by a fine of one hundred shekels, and the traducer himself to be punished with stripes (Deu_22:18-19).
3. Stripes, whose number was not to exceed forty (Deu_25:3); whence the Jews took care not to exceed thirty-nine (2Co_11:24; Josephus, Ant. 4:8, 21). This penalty was to be inflicted on the offender lying on the ground in the presence of a judge (Lev_19:20; Deu_22:18). In later times, the convict was stripped to the waist and tied, in a bent position, to a low pillar, and the stripes, with a whip of three thongs, were inflicted on the back between the shoulders. A single stripe in excess subjected the executioner to punishment (Macccoth, iii, 1, 2, 3, 13, 14). It is remarkable that the Abyssinians use the same number (Wolff, Trav. ii, 276). We have abundant evidence that it was an ancient Egyptian punishment. Nor was it unusual for Egyptian superintendents to stimulate laborers to their work by the persuasive powers of the stick. Women received the stripes on the back, while sitting, from the hand of a man; and boys also, sometimes with their hands tied behind them. The modern inhabitants of the valley of the Nile retain the predilection of their forefathers for this punishment. The Moslems say, “The stick came down from heaven a blessing from God.” Moses allowed corporal punishment of this kind by masters to servants or slaves of both sexes (Exo_21:20). Scourging was common in after-times among the Jews, who associated with it no disgrace or inconvenience beyond the physical pain it occasioned, and from which no station was exempt (Pro_17:26; comp. 10:13; Jer_37:15-20). Hence it became the symbol for correction in general (Psa_89:32). Solomon is a zealous advocate for its use in education (Pro_13:24; Pro_23:13-14; comp. Sir_30:1). In his opinion, “the blueness of a wound cleanseth away evil, and stripes the inward parts of the belly” (Pro_20:30). It was inflicted for ecclesiastical offences in the synagogue (Mat_10:17; Act_26:11). Among torturing or tedious penalties,
4. Scourging with thorns is mentioned (Jdg_8:16). Reference to the scourge with scorpions, i.e. a whip or scourge armed with knots or thorns, occurs in 1Ki_12:11. So in Latin, scorpio means a knotted or thorny switch. The stocks are mentioned (Jer_20:2); passing through fire (2Sa_12:31); mutilation (Jdg_1:6; 2Ma_7:4; and see 2Sa_4:12); plucking out hair (Isaiah 1, 6; Neh_13:25); in later times, imprisonment, and confiscation or exile (Ezr_7:26; Jer_37:15; Jer_38:6; Act_4:3; Act_4:18; Act_12:4). Imprisonment, not as a punishment, but custody till the royal pleasure was known, appears among the Egyptians (Gen_39:20-21). Moses adopted it for like purposes (Lev_26:12). It appears as a punishment inflicted by the kings of Judah and Israel (1Ki_22:27; 2Ch_16:10; Jer_37:21); and during the Christian tera, as in the instance of John (Mat_4:12) and Peter (Act_12:4). Murderers and debtors were also committed to prison, and the latter “tormented” till they paid (Mat_18:30; Luk_23:19). A common prison is mentioned (Act_5:18); and also an inner prison, or dungeon, which was sometimes a pit (Jer_38:6), in which were “stocks” (Jer_20:2; Jer_29:26; Act_16:24). Prisoners are alluded to (Job_3:18), and stocks (13:27). Banishment was inflicted by the Romans on John (Rev_1:9). As in earlier times imprisonment formed no part of the Jewish system, the sentences were executed at once (see Est_7:8-10; Selden, De Syn. ii, c. 13, p. 888). Before death, a grain of frankincense in a cup of wine was given to the criminal to intoxicate him (ibid. 889). The command for witnesses to cast the first stone shows that the duty of execution did not belong to any special officer (Deu_17:7).
(D.) Of punishments, especially non-capital, inflicted by other nations we have the following notices: In Egypt, the power of life and death and imprisonment rested with the king, and to some extent also with officers of high rank (Gen_40:3; Gen_40:22; Gen_42:20). Death might be commuted for slavery (Gen_42:19; Gen_44:9; Gen_44:33). The law of retaliation was also in use in Egypt (Wilkinson, Ancient Egyptians, 2:214. 215, 217). In Egypt, and also in Babylon, the chief of the executioners, Rab-Tabbachim, was a great officer of state (Gen_37:36; Genesis 39; Genesis 40; Jer_39:13; Jer_41:10; Jer_43:6; Jer_52:15-16; Dan_2:14; Mar_6:27; Michaelis, Mos. Recht, iii, 412; Josephus, Ant. 10:8, 5). He was sometimes a eunuch (Josephus, Ant. 7:5, 4). SEE CHERETHITE
Putting out the eyes of captives, and other cruelties, as flaying alive, burning, tearing out the tongue, etc., were practiced by Assyrian and Babylonian conquerors; and parallel instances of despotic cruelty are found in abundance in both ancient and modern times in Persian and other history. The execution of Hamnan and the story of Daniel are pictures of summary Oriental procedure (2Ki_25:7; Est_7:9-10; Jer_29:22; Dan_3:6; Dan_6:7; Dan_6:24; comp. Herod. 7:39; 9:112, 113; see Chardin, Voy. 6:21, 118; Layard, Nineveh, ii, 369, 374, 377; Nin. and Bab. p. 456, 457). The duty of counting the numbers of the victims, which is there represented, agrees with the story of Jehu (2Ki_10:7), and with one recorded of Shah Abbas Mirza, by Ker Porter (Travels, ii, 524, 525; see also Burckhardt, Syria, p. 57; and Malcolm, Sketches of Persia, p. 47).
With the Romans, stripes and the stocks,
ðåíôåóýñéããïí îýëïí
, nervus and columbar, were in use, and imprisonment with a chain attached to a soldier. There were also the liberoe custodioe in private houses (Act_16:23; Act_22:24; Act_28:16; comp. Xenoph. Hell. iii, 3, 11; Herod. 9:37; Plautus, Rud. iii, 6, 30, 34, 38, 50; Aristot. Eq. [ed. Bekker] 1044; Josephus, Ant. 18:6, 7; 19:6, 1; Sallust, Cat. 47).
Exposure to wild beasts appears to be mentioned by St. Paul (1Co_15:32; 2Ti_4:17), but not with any precision. The lion's den was a Babylonian punishment (Daniel 6), and is still customary in Fez and Morocco (see accounts of, by Hoest. c. ii, p. 77).