Stoning was a method of execution practiced in ancient Israel and commanded by God in the Mosaic Law given to Moses. However, with the coming of Jesus Christ and His sacrifice on the cross, many Old Testament practices like stoning were ultimately fulfilled and replaced by forgiveness and grace. Still, stoning remains a controversial topic when discussing the ethics of the Bible.
According to the Old Testament, stoning was the prescribed punishment for various sins under the Law of Moses. These sins included idolatry (Deuteronomy 17:2-5), child sacrifice (Leviticus 20:2), mediums and spiritists (Leviticus 20:27), Sabbath breaking (Numbers 15:32-36), adultery (Deuteronomy 22:22), premarital sex (Deuteronomy 22:20-21), and blasphemy (Leviticus 24:16).
The procedure for stoning according to the Law was that witnesses to the crime would begin by throwing the first stones, then the whole community would join in. Stoning someone to death demonstrated God’s righteous wrath against sin and removed the evil influence from the community. It required high standards of evidence and testimony to convict someone of a stoning offense.
Some key examples of stoning commands or events in the Old Testament include:
- The stoning of Achan for taking devoted things under the ban after the battle of Jericho (Joshua 7:25)
- The stoning of Naboth at the direction of King Ahab for refusing to sell his vineyard (1 Kings 21:10-13)
- The stoning of Stephen after he rebuked the Jewish leaders for rejecting Jesus as the Messiah (Acts 7:54-60)
- The story of the woman caught in adultery whom the Pharisees wanted to stone as a trap for Jesus (John 8:1-11)
However, while the Law of Moses commanded stoning for certain offenses, the Mishnah (oral Jewish law) made it extremely difficult to actually implement. The rabbis insisted on very stringent evidence standards, such as two eyewitnesses to the actual crime who warned the offender immediately beforehand. This made stoning rare in practice.
More importantly, the coming of Jesus Christ fundamentally changed how God’s people relate to Old Testament Law. Christians believe Jesus’ death and resurrection fulfilled the penalties of the Law like stoning once and for all. When Jewish leaders wanted to stone the adulteress in John 8, Jesus said “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her” (John 8:7). This act of grace, along with Jesus’ own words not to judge others, superseded the Old Testament sanctions.
The apostle Paul further explained in the book of Romans how Christians are not under the Law of Moses, but under grace (Romans 6:14). Other New Testament writers affirmed the need for mercy over judgment or stoning for sins (James 2:13). So while stoning is commanded in places in the Old Testament, Christians see it as part of an older covenant that was fulfilled in Christ.
There are a few considerations regarding the difficult topic of stoning in the Bible:
- Stoning was a harsh punishment for harsh sins to protect God’s people under the Old Covenant.
- It required very high standards of evidence and gave opportunity for repentance.
- Jesus emphasized grace, mercy and forgiveness over judgment of sinners.
- The New Covenant in Christ fulfills the penalties of the Old Covenant Law.
- Christians see stoning as abrogated, though it remains in the OT as part of its historical record.
In summary, stoning is an Old Testament practice not carried out by Christians today. While the sins it targeted may still be wrong, God’s people are called to forgiveness, leaving judgment to God alone. The Bible’s mention of stoning reminds believers both of God’s hatred of sin and amazing grace in Christ.
Some key Bible passages about stoning include:
- Leviticus 20:2 – “Say to the people of Israel, Any one of the people of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones.”
- Leviticus 24:16 – “Whoever blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him. The sojourner as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.”
- Deuteronomy 13:10 – “You shall stone him to death with stones, because he sought to draw you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”
- Deuteronomy 22:21 – “Then they shall bring out the young woman to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death with stones, because she has done an outrageous thing in Israel by whoring in her father’s house. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.”
- John 8:7 – “And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”
- Romans 6:14 – “For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.”
- James 2:13 – “For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.”
In conclusion, stoning was a form of capital punishment in the Old Testament Law for serious sins to keep God’s people pure. However, Christians see stoning as fulfilled by Christ and replaced by grace, mercy and forgiveness in the New Covenant. While stoning reminds believers of the seriousness of sin, the emphasis for God’s people today is on repentance and restoration by the power of the cross.