Deuteronomy 17:5

5 take the man or woman who has done the evil thing to the city gates and throw stones at that person until he dies.

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 That person may have served other gods and bowed down to them or to the sun or moon or stars of the sky, which I have commanded should not be done.
4 If someone has told you about it, you must look into the matter carefully. If it is true that such a hateful thing has happened in Israel,
5 take the man or woman who has done the evil thing to the city gates and throw stones at that person until he dies.
6 There must be two or three witnesses that it is true before the person is put to death; if there is only one witness, the person should not be put to death.
7 The witnesses must be the first to throw stones at the person, and then everyone else will follow. You must get rid of the evil among you.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.