Deuteronomy 17:5

5 then you shall bring out that man or that woman who has done this evil thing to your gates; that is, the man or the woman, and you shall stone them with stones {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 by going and serving other gods and [so] he bows down to them and to the sun or to the moon or to any [of] the host of heaven {which I have forbidden},
4 and it is reported to you or you hear [about it] and you enquire [about it] thoroughly and, indeed, [the] trustworthiness of the deed [has] been established, it {has occurred}, this detestable thing, in Israel,
5 then you shall bring out that man or that woman who has done this evil thing to your gates; that is, the man or the woman, and you shall stone them with stones {to death}.
6 {On the evidence of} two or three witnesses {the person shall be put to death}. The person shall not be put to death by the mouth of one witness.
7 The hand of the witnesses shall be first against the person to kill the person, and afterward the hands [of] all the people, and [so] you shall purge the evil from your midst.

Footnotes 2

Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.