The Death Penalty - What does the Bible say about it?
This study of the Old and New Testaments is dedicated to those who feel in their heart that the death penalty cannot be right, yet feel confused by quotes from the Bible that are misused to justify and support it. May the reader of this article be open to the true direction and context of the scriptures on this life and death matter. The Apostle Peter warned that scripture is not a matter of personal interpretation. It was written in the Holy Spirit and can only be understood in that same Spirit. (2 Peter 1:20-21)
Let’s first look at the quotations that are generally taken from the Old Testament to defend capital punishment. Some are very well known:
Genesis 9:5,6
"For your life blood I will surely require a reckoning, of every beast I will require it and of man; of every man’s brother I will require the life of man. Whoever sheds the blood of man by man shall his blood be shed; for God made man in his own image." (Given to Noah after the flood)
Exodus 21:22-24
"When men strive together and hurt a woman with child, so that there is a miscarriage, and ... If any harm follows then you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe."
Leviticus 24:16-22
"He who blasphemes the name of the Lord shall be put to death... He who kills a man shall be put to death...When a man causes disfigurement in his neighbor, as he has done it shall be done to him. Fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, as he has disfigured a man so shall he be disfigured. You shall have one law for the sojourner and the native for I am the Lord your God."
Numbers 35:31
"If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death....Moreover you shall accept no ransom for the life of the murderer, who is guilty of death; but he shall be put to death."
Deuteronomy 19:21
"Your eye shall not pity; it shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot."
Deuteronomy 22:21-24
"But if the thing is true, that the tokens of virginity were not found in the young woman, then they shall bring out the young woman to the door of her father’s house, and the men of the city shall stone her to death with stones, because she has wrought folly in Israel by playing the harlot in her father’s house; so you shall purge this evil from Israel."
Deuteronomy 24:7
"If a man is found stealing one of his brethren, the people of Israel, and treats him as a slave or sells him, then that thief shall die; so you shall purge the evil from the midst of you."
Now the first question to Christians should be how does all this relate to Jesus? In a certain way it would be enough for a Christian to say that Jesus taught a different way and that Jesus was given the authority by God to give us new teachings.
Deuteronomy 18:15, 18-20
"The Lord your God shall raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brethren. Him you shall heed..."
"And the Lord said to me...I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brethren; and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And whoever will not give heed to my words which he will speak in my name, I myself will require it of him."
Jeremiah 31:31-34
"Behold the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers...for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."
Many such quotes from Moses and the other prophets show that they knew old law would make way for something better. So what did Jesus teach on the topic of the death penalty?
Here is his teaching on the well known and often quoted "eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth" passages:
Matthew 5:38-39
"You have heard that it was said ’and eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,’ but I say to you do not resist one who is evil. If anyone strikes you on the right cheek turn to him the other also..."
This was spoken during Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. God gave Moses his law on the top of a mountain. The Gospel writer Matthew felt it important to point out that these new teachings of Jesus came again from the top of a mountain.
Jesus also blocked the death penalty (as prescribed in Deuteronomy 22) when the woman was caught in adultery:
John 8:1-11
"Let him who is without sin cast the first stone"
In this passage John found it important to record "Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger...and once more he bent down and wrote with his finger...".
In Exodus 31:18 God Himself was described as having written the law with his finger.
The settings recorded by Matthew and John underline that these are significant pronouncements that Jesus is making. He is clearly speaking in fulfillment of prophesies like Deuteronomy 18 and Jeremiah 31 (above). And believers are required to take notice.
What else did Jesus say about the old law?
Mark 10:5
"But Jesus said to them ’For your hardness of heart Moses wrote you this commandment. But from the beginning ..."
This is regarding a law that regulates divorce, Jesus says that Moses had to introduce commandments to restrain the hardness of people’s hearts. But these commands were not in keeping with God’s plan from the beginning.
What was God’s original statement on the death penalty?
The story of Cain and Abel ends with a very clear message:
Genesis 4:13-15
"Cain said to the Lord ... ’whoever finds me will slay me’. Then the Lord said to him, ’Not so! If anyone slays Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.’ And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest any who came upon him should kill him."
This is God’s original judgment on the topic. This original passage most closely reflects God’s will, otherwise Jesus would have been speaking in contradiction to God’s law in Matthew 10 and John 8 (above). Jesus Himself says he could not do this:
Matthew 5:17-20
"Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you till heaven and earth pass away not an iota, not a dot will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you unless your righteousness exceeds that of the Scribes and the Pharisees you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."
So this makes it very interesting. There appear to be places in the Old Testament that call for revenge and retribution (via the death penalty) for the crime of murder and others. But Jesus appears on one hand to contradict this, while on the other hand he teaches that he is fulfilling the law.
Lets take a closer look at the Old Testament quotes (this time in their full context and real-life settings). In the bigger picture we will see that these laws were written not to serve revenge but to serve restraint.
Galatians 3:23-25
"Now before faith came, we were confined under the law, kept under restraint until faith should be revealed. So that the law was our custodian until Christ came..."
If the laws of equal retribution in the Old Testament, had been introduced to a world where revenge and retribution were unknown, then it would be valid to argue that God’s justice demands equal retribution (eye for eye, tooth for tooth, life for life).
But let’s look deeper. Equal retribution was actually a radical step toward restraint in the context of the unlimited retribution found in Old Testament times.
Genesis 4:23
"I have slain a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me. If Cain is avenged seven fold, truly Lamech seventy sevenfold."
This setting was evident not only in the case of the individuals like Lamech, but the power of life and death exercised by the state in Old Testament times, was without boundaries whatsoever. In the book of Esther for example we see that not only did the queen herself fear the death penalty for approaching the King uninvited (Esther 4:11), but the King had the power to exterminate the whole Jewish people on the whim of his advisor Haman, whose grudge was against only one Jewish man. (Eshter 3:5-15).
Moses’ limit of equal retribution meant not only was the degree of punishment sharply limited (to an eye for an eye) but that only the man guilty of a crime could be punished (not all of his children and relatives as well). This was so revolutionary even the people of Israel questioned God:
Ezekiel 18:19
"Yet you say, ’Why should not the son suffer for the iniquity of the father?’ When the son has done what is lawful and right, and is careful to observe all my statutes, he shall surely live...The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son ..."
God had to underline this restraint several places in the law and the prophets (see also Deuteronomy 24:16, 2 Chronicles 25:4 and Jeremiah 31:29-30).
There are those who reason that Moses introduced the Lex Talionis (law of the Talon, or law of equal retribution) in a spirit of required revenge and therefore it must be God’s will that "the punishment fit the crime" but this premise is not even historically accurate.
The Lex Talionis version prescribed by Hammurabi (400 years prior to Moses) shows both the historical context and a different spirit at work. If a man’s son was killed in the collapse of a poorly built house it was not the negligent carpenter who was punished but the (totally innocent) son of the carpenter who was put to death! It was also prescribed that an infraction commited against a common man was to be repaid 5 times but to a nobleman it was to be repayed 50 times! Moses’ eye for an eye (in its true context) was not prescribing any new requirements for revenge but was rather saying that the eye and tooth of one citizen was equal to another.
Moreover, it is important to note that there is no record in any history of the Jewish people where either an eye or a tooth was ever actually put out in retribution.
(Late chief rabbi of Great Britain, Dr. J.H.Herz)
Since restraint was the main motive, establishing a law of equal retribution was obviously not enough. God’s Spirit continued to pull against man’s hardened hearts for even more restraint.
An accused man could not be punished without at least 2 or 3 eyewitnesses:
Numbers 35:30
"...but no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness."
Deuteronomy 17:6,7
"On the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses he that is to die shall be put to death; a person shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness..."
Deuteronomy 19:15
"A single witness shall not prevail against a man for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. Only on the evidence of two witnesses or three witnesses shall a charge be sustained."
This requirement alone would throw out the vast majority of cases where people sit on death row today. It has been estimated that up to 98% of the people on death row in this country are there on circumstantial evidence!
But that limitation was still not enough, God takes it further.
It must be absolutely clear that all witnesses are telling the truth:
Deuteronomy 19:16-21
"If a malicious witness rises against any man to accuse him of wrong doing ... the judges shall inquire diligently and if the witness is a false witness and has accused his brother falsely then you shall do to him as he had meant to do to his brother... Your eye shall not pity; it shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
How many people today, who glibly quote an "eye for an eye" realize this law was set up to protect the defendant from false witnesses? What would happen if this were applied in courtrooms today? In Philadelphia? Los Angeles?
The Talmud clearly sensed the spirit of restraint in these commands and Jewish lawmakers even required the eyewitnesses to have warned the accused prior to the crime!
But God goes still further in his limitations:
Exodus 21:12,13
"Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death, but if he did not lie in wait for him...then I will appoint for you a place to which he may flee."
Numbers 35:22
"...But if he stabbed him suddenly without enmity, or hurled anything on him without lying in wait, or used a stone by which a man may die...though he was not his enemy and did not seek his harm...the congregation shall rescue the manslayer from the avenger of blood."
Moses was very emphatic that cities of refuge should be set up for people to flee to who were guilty of murders that were not premeditated.
(See also: Deuteronomy 4:41-43, Deuteronomy 19:1-10, Joshua 20:1-9).
Although such offenders would have been condemned even under the original restraint of equal retribution (as established in Genesis 9) the law of Moses has now progressed to a point where if such were executed the congregation themselves would be considered guilty of the "innocent blood".
Deuteronomy 19:9-10
"Then you shall add three other cities to these three, lest innocent blood be shed in your land... and so the guilt of bloodshed be upon you."
These cities of refuge were clearly set up as havens against the spirit of revenge. The setting and context of the time was one of unbridled revenge and the whole spirit of the law was to limit, restrain and ultimately forbid this revenge.
Leviticus 19:18
"You shall not take vengeance or bear any grudge ... but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord."
Several passages remind us that vengeance belongs to God alone:
Deuteronomy 32:35
"Vengeance is mine and recompense"
Deuteronomy 32:39
"There is no God beside me. I kill and I make alive."
Proverbs 20:22
"Do not say, ’I will repay evil’ wait for the Lord, and he will help you."
In case we are not sure how this message is meant to be applied, Paul the apostle elaborates in his letters:
Romans 12:19-21
"Beloved never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God for it is written, ’Vengeance is mine, I will repay’...Overcome evil with good".
Hebrews 10:30
"Vengeance is mine, I will repay. The Lord will judge his people".
Now for the next step of restraint, the most radical yet... even the criminal convicted of a capital crime will be freed from execution, if he repents:
Ezekiel 18:21-23,
"But if a wicked man turns away from all his sins which he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him; for the righteousness which he has done shall he live. Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked? says the Lord God and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?"
Ezekiel 18:27-32
"Again when a wicked man turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is lawful and right, he shall save his life. Because he considered and turned away from all the transgressions which he has committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die..."
Here again the context and setting becomes very clear. The hard-hearted people question and even protest God’s Spirit of forgiveness!
Ezekiel 18:27-32 (continued)
"...Yet the house of Israel says ’The way of the Lord is not just’ O house of Israel, are my ways not just? Is it not your ways that are not just? Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, everyone according to his ways, says the Lord God. Repent and turn from all your transgressions lest iniquity be your ruin. Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed against me, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O House of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, says the Lord God; so turn and live."
Jeremiah 18:7-12
"If at any time I declare concerning a nation or kingdom that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will repent of the evil that I intended to do to it... Return every one from his evil way and amend your ways and your doings."
(See also the story of Ninevah where hard-hearted Jonah cannot understand God’s wish to forgive a repentant people. Book of Jonah chapters1-4)
Peter reminds us of this longing of God in his second letter. It is clearly God’s theme from the beginning and this is why Jesus, whose gospel starts and finishes with the call to repentance is not removing "a dot or an iota" of God’s law but is showing us the way to its fulfillment.
2 Peter 3:9
"The Lord is not slow about his promise as some count slowness, but is forbearing toward you, not wishing that any should perish but that all should reach repentance."
Maybe this is a good place to start looking at more New Testament passages.
The prophets brought things so far that even the guilty man is spared if he repents. Was it possible for Jesus to take it farther than that? Here are the words of an innocent victim as he was still being killed, the result of mob spirit, hatred and false accusations.
Luke 23:34
"Father forgive them; for they know not what they do."
A total victory over the spirits of revenge and retribution, do the followers of Jesus Christ still seek that victory in today’s world?
Does it really sound like the Lex Talionis could ever be the fulfillment of God’s will for this earth? The word "talionis" is not the Latin root for "justice" but for "retaliation"! This can never be the essense of God’s justice, to the Christian believer.
Luke 18:11
"The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself ’God I thank thee that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector..."
What does this quote have to do with capital punishment vs. the Christian message? Lots! We live in a time where people are divided into "the good guys and the bad guys". But think about it, which one of us ever gets punished as we really deserve?
Do we ever wonder why it was that God chose to give his law through Moses, a man who was himself guilty of murder?
Exodus 2:12
"He looked this way and that, and seeing no one he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand".
Or why the patriarch Judah was chosen to fulfill so many prophesies and sire the lineage of the Christ?
Genesis 38:24-26
"Judah said ’take her out and let her be burned’ As she was being brought out she sent word to (Judah) "by the man to whom these things belong, I am with child’...then Judah acknowledged them and said ’she is more righteous than I’."
If the many prescriptions for punishment stated in the Old Testament, (and Jesus’ infinitely sharpened version of each in the Sermon on the Mount) serve any purpose it should be first to show us that we are ALL under judgment. There are no clearly defined "good guys and bad guys" in Christ’s perspective.
Matthew 5:21-22
"You have heard that it was said to the men of old ’You shall not kill; and whoever kills shall be liable to judgment’. But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment ...and whoever says ’you fool’ shall be liable to the hell of fire."
Matthew 5:27-28, 31
"You have heard that it was said ’You shall not commit adultery’. But I say to you that every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart."
"...and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery."
Whose conscience can stand unconvicted by these passages in our world today?
These are capital crimes according to the Old Testament law, as are many other sins like disrespect to parents, using the Lord’s name in vain and not keeping the Sabbath holy. Do those who cry for capital punishment in "obedience to God" dare to put themselves under this broader judgment?
When the thief on the cross cried out in repentance:
Luke 23:41
"... for we are receiving the just reward for our deeds..."
A Christian should never stand above him, (as I have heard some do) saying "this quote proves the death penalty is the just reward for such people!" Let it rather strike every conscience, that only in sharing this repentance will we see Paradise with the thief.
Christians who use the Bible to promote the death penalty as "God’s will" should remember their master’s warning:
John 16:2-3
"Indeed the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering a service to God. And they will do this because they have not known the Father, nor me."
In this context of discerning "God’s will" it is very interesting that there are in fact two sins serious enough that even Jesus warns us of God’s full and equal retribution - these are the sins of loveless judging and unforgiveness - here is where "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" is fulfilled in its deepest sense:
Matthew 7:1,2
"Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get."
Matthew 18:32-35
"You wicked servant...should you not have mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you? And in anger his lord delivered him to the jailers till he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart."
Matthew 6:14,15
"For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your father forgive your trespasses."
The above passages are not intended, as some argue, to be limited to only "personal forgiveness", allowing governments to carry on with business as usual. Jesus gave his teachings to all of mankind, and only to the extent that we follow and actually apply them will the prophecy ever come to pass:
Isaiah 9:6
"And the government will be upon His shoulder, and His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."
It is clear that Moses did not make this artificial separation between the "personal level" and the governing of the people. In Old Testament executions Moses required the witness himself to throw the first stone (Deuteronomy 17:7) this was to directly challenge the conscience of that witness. Jesus went further in this same direction asking the man without sin to cast the first stone. This struck consciences even deeper:
John 8:9
"When they heard this they went away one by one, beginning with the oldest"
Conscience is a very important factor in this topic. Today our society’s conscience is under attack.
Matthew 7:15-18
"Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits... A sound tree cannot bear evil fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit."
In this line of thinking let’s look at the four traditional methods of execution that have been used internationally over the centuries: hanging, stoning, beheading and death by firing squad. The United States is the only country in the world currently using the "more humane" methods of electrocution, gas chamber, and lethal injection. While this appears to show some struggle of national conscience, based on law forbidding "cruel and unusual punishment", our death machinery rolls on. Other countries have been faster to recognize the inherent cruelty of capital punishment and outlaw it.
Now let’s look at Paul’s letter to the Romans:
Romans 13:1-4
"Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore he who resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment... If you do wrong, be afraid for he does not bear the sword in vain; he is the servant of God to execute his wrath on the wrongdoer."
This verse is one of the most often quoted New Testament passages to defend capital punishment (or anything else a government happens to be doing). When one remembers all the Christian church leaders of Germany quoting this verse as they fell in line behind Hitler, it warns us that the devil can also quote scripture (Matthew 4:6)
First of all the "sword" that is referred to, is in the original Greek text the small "machiara"-a symbol of judicial authority at that time, not an executioner’s tool. (Professor J H Yoder). By comparison in today’s court room a hammer is used to restore order and represent judicial authority, it is not an executioner’s tool.
Next lets put this verse back into the context of the rest of the letter where Paul writes:
Roman’s 12:17-21
"Repay no one evil for evil...beloved never avenge yourselves but leave it to the wrath of God for it is written ’Vengeance is mine, I will repay’...Overcome evil with good."
Roman’s 13:8-10
"Owe no one anything, except to love one another...You shall not kill...You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
Is it possible that Paul was advocating capital punishment in the context of this letter? The apostle also could not be preaching blind obedience, since Paul himself spent years in prison over differences with governing religious and state authorities. Lets also have a look at what Paul means when he calls government the "servant of God’s wrath". Throughout the Bible we can find instances where in creation’s rebellious state God allowed the evil acts of one to punish the evil of another. He calls Nebuchadnezzar his "servant" in such an action against the children of Israel. In the next breath, however, he outlines the punishment in store for that very "servant" whose violence, while punishing others, brought guilt upon himself:
Jeremiah 25:8-14
"Because you have not obeyed my words I will send for...Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant ...the whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the King of Babylon seventy years. Then after seventy years are completed I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation... for their iniquity, says the Lord, making that land an everlasting waste."
(See also Jeremiah 27:6-7 and Isaiah 10:24-27)
Being a "servant of God’s wrath" is not the calling of a Christian. Nor is the believer to hold back his protest against the acts of such a "servant". Here is what God’s prophet Daniel had to say to the same Nebuchadnezzar:
Daniel 4:27
"Therefore, O king, let my council be acceptable to you; break off your sins by practicing righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed, that there may be perhaps a lengthening of your tranquility."
(See also in 1 Kings 21, how God commanded Elijah to speak out in the case of an unjust execution.)
There is a difference between God giving the state the power to execute and giving the state his blessing to execute. As Jesus faced execution He acknowledged the power of the state as given from above, but he did not excuse Pilate from the fact that he was about to commit a sin. A lesser sin than that of Judas and the Pharisees, but still a sin. Pilate, a pagan magistrate with no prior religious instruction concerning the God of Israel was going to be held accountable for his part. His conscience realized this and he tried to get out of it:
John 19:10-11
"Pilate therefore said to him... ’do you not know that I have power to release you, and power to crucify you?’ Jesus answered him, ’you would have no power over me unless it had been given from above; therefore he who delivered me to you has the greater sin’. Upon this Pilate sought to release him."
Pilate later washed his hands in front of the crowd, and did all that was within his power to distance himself from the situation. Still 2,000 years later the name Pilate is synonymous with "culprit and coward" he has been remembered for 2 millennia as the one who did not prevent the execution of an innocent man.
In this generation, in this country, Speaker of the House Gingrich has called for a mandatory death penalty for people bringing drugs into the United States, and says we’ll really be sending a message "the first time we execute 27 or 30 or 35 people at one time..."
Should Christians follow the example of Daniel and Elijah who spoke out?... Pilate who washed his hands?...Or the crowd who called for the death penalty?
Proverbs 24:11-12
"Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. If you say ’behold, we did not know this’ does not He who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not He who keeps watch over your soul know it, and will He not requite man according to his work?"
There is a wide gap between revenge and true justice. We need to consider the spirit of the scriptures and the spirit of Jesus when turning to the Bible for answers. To honor God we need to leave life and death in the hands of God. Eternity is a long time and nobody will "get away with" anything in the final judgment.
