Deuteronomy 17:5

5 you must bring out to your gates that man or woman who has done this evil thing and stone them to death.

Deuteronomy 17:5 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 17:5

Thou shall bring forth that man or that woman which have
committed the wicked thing
Idolatry in any of the above instances: this must be supposed to be done after he or she have been had before a court of judicature, and have been tried and found guilty, and sentence passed on them, then they were to be brought forth to execution:

unto thy gates;
the Targum of Jonathan says, unto the gates of your sanhedrim, or court of judicature; but Jarchi observes, that this is a mistake of the paraphrase, for he says, we are taught by tradition that "thy gate" is the gate in which he has served or committed idolatry; and so says Maimonides F4, they do not stone a man but at the gate where he served or worshipped; but if the greatest part of the city are Heathens, they stone him at the door of the sanhedrim; and this is received from tradition, that "to thy gates" is the gate at which he served, and not where his judgment is finished:

[even] that man or that woman;
this is repeated, and the woman as well as the man is expressed, to show that no compassion is to be had on her as is usual, nor to be spared on account of the weakness and tenderness of her sex, but she as well as the man must be brought forth and executed according to her sentence, without any mercy shown; and this is observed to show the resentment of the divine Majesty, and his indignation at this sin:

and shalt stone them with stones until they die;
of the manner of stoning men and women, (See Gill on Acts 7:58).


FOOTNOTES:

F4 Hilchot Sanhedrin, c. 15. sect. 2.

Deuteronomy 17:5 In-Context

3 and has gone to worship other gods by bowing down to the sun, moon, or all the stars in the sky-which I have forbidden-
4 and if you are told or hear [about it], you must investigate it thoroughly. If the report turns out to be true that this detestable thing has happened in Israel,
5 you must bring out to your gates that man or woman who has done this evil thing and stone them to death.
6 The one condemned to die is to be executed on the testimony of two or three witnesses. No one is to be executed on the testimony of a single witness.
7 The witnesses' hands are to be the first in putting him to death, and after that, the hands of all the people. You must purge the evil from you.
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