Corporal punishment (Judaism)

The Torah describes certain forms of corporal punishment for certain sins and crimes.

Types

The four types of capital punishment, known as "mitath beth din" (execution by the rabbinic court), were:
* "Sekila" - stoning
* "Serefah" - burning
* "Hereg" - decapitation
* "Chenek" - strangulation

The Talmud (tractate Sanhedrin) recognizes that the former two are more serious, and are administered for more serious crimes.

One form of non-capital corporal punishment is known, namely that of lashes ("malkuth"). The maximum number of lashes allowed per sentence was 40, given in multiples of 3, effectively making the maximum 39.If one violated two or more commandments and was being punished for them at the same time, multiples of this could theoretically be given consecutively. Apart from as a punishment for violating Torah law, "malkuth mardus" (lashes of rebellion) was also administered in cases of contempt of court and violation of rabbinic law, where the court lashes the violator to the extent they see fit.

Capital crimes

The following is a list by Maimonides in his Mishneh Torah (Hilchoth Sanhedrin Chapter 15) of which crimes carry a capital punishment.

Penalty of Sekila

*Intercourse between a man and his mother.
*Intercourse between a man and his father's wife (not necessarily his mother).
*Intercourse between a man and his daughter in law.
*Intercourse with another man's wife from the first stage of marriage.
*Intercourse between two men.
*Bestiality.
*Cursing the name of God in God's name.
*Idol Worship.
*Giving one's progeny to Molech.
*Necromantic Sorcery.
*Pythonic Sorcery.
*Attempting to convince another to worship idols.
*Instigating a community to worship idols.
*Witchcraft.
*Violating the Sabbath.
*Cursing one's own parent.
*A stubborn and rebellious son.

Penalty of Serefah

*The daughter of a priest who completed the second stage of marriage commits adultery.
*Intercourse between a man and his daughter.
*Intercourse between a man and his daughter's daughter.
*Intercourse between a man and his son's daughter.
*Intercourse between a man and his wife's daughter (not necessarily his own daughter).
*Intercourse between a man and his wife's daughter's daughter.
*Intercourse between a man and his wife's son's daughter.
*Intercourse between a man and his mother in law.
*Intercourse between a man and his mother in law's mother.
*Intercourse between a man and his father in law's mother.

Penalty of Hereg

*Unlawful premeditated murder.
*Being a member of a city that has gone astray.

Penalty of Chenek

*Committing adultery with another man's wife, where it doesn't fall under the above criteria.
*Wounding one's own parent.
*Kidnapping another member of Israel.
*Prophesying Falsely.
*Prophesying in the name of other deities.
*A sage who is guilty of insubordination in front of the grand court in the Chamber of the Hewn Stone.

The "Mishnah" (tractate Makkoth 1:11) states that a court that administers capital punishment more than once every seventy years is called a "murderous court". There are many restrictions on the evidence admissible in capital cases, and unless a warning ("hatra'ah") was given (to ascertain the offender's intent), a verdict of "guilty" could not be passed. In addition, the process had to be witnessed by two unrelated witnesses, and the timing of the warning (several seconds before the act) was crucial.

The harshness of the penalty indicated the seriousness of the crime. Jewish philosophers argue that the whole point of corporal punishment was to serve as a reminder to the community of the severe nature of certain acts.

Non-capital crimes

Standard prohibitions such as eating non-kosher food carried a penalty of 40 lashes.

Some rabbinical prohibitions, such as violating the laws of "muktzah" (moving objects which may not be used on shabbat) carried a penalty of being lashed to the extent the court sees fit.

Present state

While Jewish law approves of the death penalty in principle, the standard of proof required for application of death penalty has always been extremely stringent (Babylonian Talmud Makkoth 7b). According to the Talmud forty years before the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE (i.e. in 30 CE) the Sanhedrin effectively abolished capital punishment.

No physical punishment is presently administered by rabbinical courts.

Further reading

* [http://www.jlaw.com/Briefs/capital2.html Jewish Law Legal Briefs]