Sex and Death in the Law

I searched the internet for links to this website because I wanted to see what people said about the work I have done here, and see if there was any indication that the pages here carry value for people. Unsurprisingly, the sexual laws of the Bible were among the top two pages viewed by visitors. What did surprise me was that some people were primarily interested in the subject of “honor killings.” There were some cross-links to Islamic pages where the discussion was honor killings, and some of the writers linked to my page about the Biblical law of adultery.

Sex, In General

YHWH created the sexual act as the preferred means for humans and most animals (and plants, for that matter), to continue their respective species beyond the death of each generation. Sexual reproduction is the natural way of ensuring genetic diversity, which is necessary for natural selection against diseases and other threats which would otherwise cause extinction. Because of the importance of sexual reproduction for survival of species, the drive for sex was made particularly strong, sometimes overcoming other drives for food, sleep, etc. Indeed, in many creatures the drive for sex is greater than the drive for personal survival. See praying mantis males, and in fact the males of all species including our own who take stupid and foolish, but highly visible, risks in order to attract the attention of females and attempt to secure mating opportunities for the males.

“Enlightened” human beings can “plan” parenthood in ways that they believe will optimize reproductive success. However, among humans and other creatures, it is the “non-planners”– the earthy, natural, instinctive procreators– who are most directly responsible for the survival and success of species. The enlightened planners contribute little to the gene pool, and to the generational cycle.

Females will have babies. It is a given. No-one else can. Every female of every species has a better than average probability of reproducing. It is the males who will try to out-compete one another for the opportunity to be the fathers of the next generation. This competitive drive is what we sometimes call “jealousy.” Thus, husbands of wives will try to gain assurances that their genes are being passed on when their wives have babies, and not the genes of other men.

For most animals, this is a simple matter. There is the annual contest, and the winners of the contest get to mate. For humans it is more complex. Our babies take many years to mature. We form long-lasting pair bonds in order to ensure that our babies are not only born, but survive to adulthood. When our pair-bonds are threatened, or when we are unsure of our genes being passed on, we males get “jealous.”

Since time forgotten, this jealousy has been so accepted that most historical cultures, and even some modern cultures, will excuse a husband’s “crime of passion” if he kills his wife and her discovered lover in the heat of the moment of discovery. Some cultures expand on the practice by allowing the killing of any female in the family based on real or imagined transgressions of the family’s “honor.”

YHWH’s Law is compatible with an entrepreneurial outlook on life. The laws against stealing imply a set of property rights. Capitalist economists agree that property rights are a necessary condition for people to want to be productive. Nobody wants to produce something that someone else will then take away. Men also have a property interest tied to their reproductive success. Nobody wants to produce children that will be taken away and raised by someone else, or to unknowingly raise someone else’s children. The instinct is to protect one’s reproductive interests by jealously protecting the pair bond.

Capital Punishment

This article is not going to get into the definition of family honor. For now, we’ll simply try to find out what the Bible says about the capital punishment of sexual offenders. First, regarding capital punishment in general, it is not something to be enjoyed by the executioners. If a person takes joy in killing the transgressors, that person is not qualified to do the job. Here is what YHWH says about capital punishment:

For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye. Ezekiel 18:32

Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel? Ezekiel 33:11

If YHWH himself takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, then we should not either. Also, YHWH requires due process for a conviction under the death penalty.

Whoso killeth any person, the murderer shall be put to death by the mouth of witnesses: but one witness shall not testify against any person to cause him to die. Numbers 35:30

At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death. Deuteronomy 17:6

One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established. Deuteronomy 19:15

If anyone is to be put to death for anything, there must be two or three witnesses. Suspicion is not enough. Circumstantial evidence is not enough. Confession isn’t even enough. Because sex is normally an intimate matter between two, or sometimes more, people, it would be difficult and rare for two or three witnesses to catch the transgressors in the act. There is a separate law for a husband who has suspicion, but no witnesses, that his wife has committed adultery. See Numbers 5:11-31. There is no killing involved. It is a sort of trial by ordeal. But if the woman is convicted through the ordeal, she is not killed. She “shall be a curse among her people.” She still cannot be killed without two or three witnesses.

Now, examining the Law, let’s look at what is worthy of death and what is not.

Adultery

When a wife has sexual relations with another man beside her husband, she and the man have committed a capital crime.

And the man that committeth adultery with another man’s wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. Leviticus 20:10

If a man be found lying with a woman married to an husband, then they shall both of them die, both the man that lay with the woman, and the woman: so shalt thou put away evil from Israel. Deuteronomy 22:22

When a husband has sexual relations with another woman beside his wife, it is not by definition adultery. Don’t shoot the messenger, I am just reading the text for what it is without adding any words or preconceived notions to it. Read the Hebrew definitions. Think about the logical survival advantages going both directions. And most important of all, analyse the situation in the complete context of ancient Hebrew society.

If a virgin who is betrothed to be married has sexual relations with another man besides her betrothed husband, they have both committed a capital crime. However, if the man forces the virgin against her will, then he only is put to death. Deuteronomy 22:23-27.

Pre-marital sex

Note that except for the case of the betrothed virgin, nobody was ever punished by death for having pre-marital sex. In Genesis 34, the sons of Jacob found that Shechem, a prince of the Hivites, had pre-marital sex with their sister. In fact, he wanted to marry her. The sons of Jacob tricked Shechem into a vulnerable position, then Simeon and Levi slew all the males of the city. They did not kill their sister for having pre-marital sex. In Genesis 38, Judah was going to have his daughter-in-law Tamar killed for being pregnant out of wedlock. To see why she was not in fact killed, read the story. She was keeping YHWH’s law, and Judah mistook her actions for transgressions. In this case, she had been married to two of Judah’s sons, and was betrothed to his third son. She was like a betrothed virgin, in that although she had been married twice, she was still childless.

What about a virgin who is not betrothed?

If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, which is not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found; Then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife; because he hath humbled her, he may not put her away all his days. Deuteronomy 22:28,29

If the virgin is not spoken for, the result of pre-marital sex is not death, but marriage.

Miscellaneous

Deuteronomy 25:11,12 presents the case of the woman who catches her husband’s attacker by the genitals. Her hand is cut off. Not capital punishment, but pretty harsh with long-lasting consequences.

When men strive together one with another, and the wife of the one draweth near for to deliver her husband out of the hand of him that smiteth him, and putteth forth her hand, and taketh him by the secrets: Then thou shalt cut off her hand, thine eye shall not pity her. Deuteronomy 25:11,12

Leviticus 20 prescribes death for male homosexual relations and bestiality, among other things. Note there is no penalty for female homosexual relations.

Deuteronomy 22:13-21 outlines the curious case of the man who marries a wife whom he assumes is a virgin, but then comes to doubt her virginity. If it can be proven that she was not a virgin when she married him, then she is put to death. The nature of this proof, the “tokens of virginity,” is not fully explained in the text.

Conclusion

Generally, the dominant capital sexual crime in Biblical Law is the crime where a woman who is pledged or married to a husband has sexual relations with another man. Antinomians will assume that these laws were human creations, made by men to protect their interests. If we are to believe the Bible at all, we must assume that YHWH’s laws actually came from YHWH himself, and were designed for the good and happiness of all humankind, at least on the average. The remaining capital offenses involve forbidden relationships between two men, or between a human and an animal. The capital punishment of the offenders requires two or three witnesses to the crime, and when carried out, the punishers should feel no pleasure in the death of the transgressors. Again, because of the intimate nature of sexual relationships, even if there was a great deal of adultery taking place in the society, capital punishment for these crimes would probably be very rare. We see that YHWH would rather we turn from our wickedness and live. Herein is my personal bias revealed. I am a pacifist by nature. I believe the death penalty laws had a deterrent nature, and not a retributive one. Just having the laws on the books, even if they were never actually enforced, would have a deterrent effect on would-be law-breakers. Maybe that is enough.