⚠️ Once in seven years
A court that carries out an execution once in seven years is called "destructive". Even this is thought to be too often. The word shows the rabbis disapproved of a court that used the penalty often.
Jewish Beliefs about Peace and Conflict » Judaism and Capital Punishment
What you'll learn this session
Study time: 30 minutes
Edexcel spec: Paper 1, 3.6 (Judaism)
- What the Torah says about killing and the death penalty (Exodus 21:12-14)
- What Mishnah Makkot 1:10 teaches, and why executions became very rare
- What happened in the State of Israel
- Why Jews today hold different views
🔒 Unlock Full Course Content
Sign up to access the complete lesson and track your progress!
Unlock This CourseCapital punishment in the Torah
In the lesson Capital Punishment: Arguments For and Against, you met capital punishment (the death penalty) as the legal killing of a person for a very serious crime. In the lesson Jewish Attitudes to Punishment and Its Aims, you saw that Jewish punishment must be fair, fit the crime and be decided by a proper court. This lesson asks what Jews teach about the death penalty itself.
The Torah does list crimes that carry the death penalty, and murder is the clearest. Exodus 21:12-14 says that whoever strikes a person so that they die shall be put to death. But it then makes a difference between two kinds of killing. If the killer did not plan it, and it was an accident, there is a place of refuge where they can run to be safe. If someone kills on purpose, even the altar of the Almighty will not protect them.
Why does this matter? It shows that the Torah does not treat every death the same. Among killings, only planned, deliberate killing carries the death penalty. An accidental killer can go to the place of refuge. It also fits what Jews believe about life: because every person is made in the image of the Almighty, taking a life is a very serious wrong (see Sanctity of Life, Pikuach Nefesh and Abortion in Judaism).
What was the purpose of the punishment? The Torah gives several. It is retribution: a murderer pays for taking a life. It protects the community from someone who has shown they are dangerous. It is also a deterrent, as Deuteronomy 19:20 says that others will hear and be afraid. Deuteronomy 17:7 speaks of removing the evil from among the people.
Key terms:
- Place of refuge: a safe place in the Torah where a person who killed by accident could run, to be protected from revenge until a court judged the case.
- Sanhedrin (recap from Conflict, Isaiah's Vision of Peace and Just War in Judaism): the court of rabbis (Jewish teachers) that judged serious cases in ancient times, including cases that could end in the death penalty.
- Rules of evidence: the rules about what proof a court must have before it can find someone guilty.
Mishnah Makkot 1:10: a court that kills is "destructive"
The Mishnah is the first written collection of the rabbis' teachings. In Makkot 1:10 the rabbis discuss how often a court should use the death penalty. They give different answers:
📅 Once in seventy years
Rabbi Eleazar ben Azariah said a court should be called destructive if it did this once in seventy years. That means he expected it to be almost never.
🚫 Never
Rabbi Tarfon and Rabbi Akiva said that if they had been on the court, nobody would ever have been put to death.
💬 A warning from Rabban Simeon ben Gamaliel
He replied that this would "multiply the shedders of blood" in Israel. If killers knew they would never be executed, he said, there would be more murders.
So the Mishnah shows a real debate. Some rabbis wanted the penalty to be almost never used. Another feared that having no death penalty at all would make killing more common. The Mishnah does not settle the argument. It records both sides, and Jews still read it today.
Why executions became very rare
Although the Torah allows the death penalty, the rabbis made it extremely hard to use. They set strict rules of evidence:
- There had to be at least two witnesses who saw the crime (Deuteronomy 19:15). One witness was never enough.
- The witnesses had to have warned the person beforehand that what they were about to do was a crime that carried the death penalty.
- The case had to be heard by a full court of judges, the Sanhedrin, who questioned the witnesses carefully. If the witnesses disagreed, the case failed.
With rules this strict, it was very unlikely that anyone could actually be sentenced to death. The Mishnah's comment that a court which used it once in seventy years was "destructive" shows how rare the rabbis wanted it to be. Their aim was to protect the innocent: it was better to let a guilty person go free than to kill someone who was not guilty. This links to the idea of a miscarriage of justice, which you met in Capital Punishment: Arguments For and Against.
The State of Israel
What happened in Israel
The State of Israel was founded in 1948. In 1954 it ended the death penalty for murder. Israel has carried out one execution after a civilian trial: Adolf Eichmann, in 1962. He had played a leading part in organising the Nazi murder of millions of Jews in the Holocaust, and he was tried in Jerusalem.
Israel is a state, and its law is not the same as Jewish teaching. Israel's law differs from the Torah's allowance, and Jews hold different views on it.
Why Jews today differ
📖 Against the death penalty
Some Jews, including many Progressive (Reform and Liberal) Jews, stress the sanctity of life and the risk of killing an innocent person. They follow the rabbis who said a court should almost never, or never, use it. They may say the Torah's rules belong to a different time.
⚖️ For it in the most serious cases
Some Jews, including some Orthodox Jews, point out that the Torah allows the death penalty for deliberate murder in Exodus 21:12-14, and say the Torah cannot simply be put aside. They may also agree with Rabban Simeon ben Gamaliel that it protects life.
Even Jews who accept that the Torah allows it often say that, because of the rabbis' strict rules, it should hardly ever be carried out in practice. So Jews can agree that life is holy and still disagree about the death penalty.
Common mistakes
- Saying the Torah has no death penalty. It does, but the rabbis made it extremely hard to use.
- Saying Mishnah Makkot 1:10 bans the death penalty. It records a debate: some rabbis wanted it almost never used, and one warned against abolishing it.
- Treating all Jews as having one view. Orthodox and Progressive Jews often differ.
- Mixing up the dates and facts: 1954 ended the death penalty for murder, and Eichmann was in 1962.
Exam-style question
(a) Identify three features of the rabbis' rules of evidence for a death sentence. [3 marks]
(b) Choose one religion. Outline two teachings about capital punishment in this religion. [4 marks]
(c) Choose one religion. Explain why the death penalty is rarely used in this religion. [6 marks]
(d) "A country that wants to be fair should never use the death penalty." Evaluate this statement, showing you have considered different points of view. In your answer you should refer to at least one religion. [12 marks]
Model answer
(a) 1. At least two witnesses (1) 2. A warning given beforehand (1) 3. A full court of judges, the Sanhedrin (1)
(b) Judaism. Exodus 21:12-14 teaches that someone who deliberately kills should be put to death (1), but a person who killed by accident can go to a place of refuge (1). Mishnah Makkot 1:10 teaches that a court that carries out an execution once in seven years is "destructive" (1), which shows the rabbis wanted it to be extremely rare (1).
(c) Judaism. The rabbis set very strict rules of evidence (1). There had to be at least two witnesses (1), as Deuteronomy 19:15 says one is not enough, and they had to have warned the person beforehand (1). The case went to a full court, the Sanhedrin, which questioned the witnesses and could drop the case if they disagreed (1). Mishnah Makkot 1:10 says a court that executes once in seven years is "destructive", and some rabbis said once in seventy years or never (1). This is because Jews believe life is holy and that it is better to let a guilty person go free than to kill an innocent one (1).
(d) Plan. For the statement: life is holy, made in the image of the Almighty; the risk of killing an innocent person; the rabbis' rules made executions almost impossible; Mishnah Makkot 1:10 calls a court that executes "destructive"; Rabbi Tarfon and Rabbi Akiva said never; Israel ended the death penalty for murder in 1954 and has used it once after a civilian trial (Eichmann, 1962); humanist views that it cannot be undone. Against: Exodus 21:12-14 says a deliberate killer shall be put to death; Rabban Simeon ben Gamaliel warned that abolishing it would multiply killers; retribution, deterrence and justice for victims; some Orthodox Jews say the Torah cannot be put aside. Possible conclusion: Jewish teaching points strongly towards being very cautious, so a fair country should almost never use it, but "never" ignores the Torah's allowance and the view that it protects life. A justified view is that the risk of a miscarriage of justice is the strongest reason for caution, because a wrongful execution cannot be undone.
Exam tip
In part (c), do not just say "it is rare". Give the reason: name the rules of evidence (two witnesses, a warning, a full court) and the Mishnah, so each point is explained.