Last semester I took a class on the Pentateuch. One of our assignments was to write weekly blog posts about our observations from our text book and the Biblical text. Over the next two months or so I'm going to re-post a few of these blog entries here (with a few modifications). I hope you enjoy!
In a recent class we had a discussion about capital punishment. One of the concerns with it is that a person might be wrongly accused of a crime and then killed for it. I'm wondering if Deuteronamy 19:16-19 has something to add to this discussion:
"If a malicious witness takes the stand to accuse a man of a crime,
the two men involved in the dispute must stand in the presence of the
LORD before the priests and the judges who are in office at the time.
The judges must make a thorough investigation, and if the witness
proves to be a liar, giving false testimony against his brother, then do to him as he intended to do to his brother."
So if someone falsely testified that a person was a murderer, they themselves would be subject to capital punishment. It seems a little harsh at first, but I'm sure it would help dissuade people from making a false accusation. I certainly don't think this answers all of the questions regarding this issue, but its something to think about.
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