The penalties inflicted in ancient times for various crimes and offences, varied in different nations, and at different times. Capital punishment for murder is generally agreed to have been permanently instituted at the origin of the human race; and Cain was only saved from it by a special interposition of God, Ge 4:14-15. It was reenacted, with reasons, after the deluge, Ge 9:5-6, and in the wilderness, Nu 35:9-34; and was early and widely recognized among mankind.
The mode of capital punishment usual among the Hebrew was stoning, De 13:9-10Jos 17:18Joh 8:7; but various other modes became known to them by intercourse with other nations: as decapitation, 2Ki 10:6-8Mt 14:8-12; precipitation from rocks, 2Ch 25:12Lu 4:29; hanging, Jos 8:29Es 7:10; burning, Da 3:1-30; cutting asunder, Da 2:5 3:29 Heb 11:27; beating, on a wheel-like frame, Heb 11:35; exposure to wild beasts, Da 6:1-281Co 15:32; drowning, Mt 18:6; bruising in a mortar, Pr 27:22; and crucifixion, Joh 19:18. Minor punishments were scourging, Le 19:202Co 11:24; retaliation in kind for an injury done, Ex 21:23-25De 19:19; imprisonment, 2Ch 16:10Mt 4:12; the stocks, Ac 16:24; banishment, Re 1:9; and personal torture, 2Ch 18:26Isa 50:6Mt 18:30Heb 11:37.