The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 24:23

The Pulpit Commentary · Joseph S. Exell and contributors · Public domain

The penalty is inflicted on the offender solemnly as an act of the Law, not of mob fury. So it was by a judicial or semi-judicial proceeding that St. Stephen was stoned: "They brought him to the council, and set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the Law" (Acts 6:12, Acts 6:13). And in spite of the violence exhibited, there was still some form of law, according to Jewish practice, observed in his stoning (Acts 7:58). In the case of our Lord, on the other hand. when they regarded him as guilty of blasphemy on his saying, "Before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58), and "I and my Father are one" (John 10:30), the Jews "took up stones to cast at him," not waiting for a judicial condemnation, but, as they supposed, taking the law into their own hands. Had his death been by Jewish hands, it would at the last have been by stoning under this law. But the power of life and death had been taken away from the Jews by the Romans, "that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he spake, signifying what death he should die" (John 18:32).

HOMILIES BY R.M. EDGAR

More for Leviticus 24:23

Continue with other commentaries and DiscipleDeck content connected to this verse, chapter, or topic.

Other commentaries

Matthew Henry on Leviticus 24:10-23Leviticus 24:10-23 · Matthew Henry Concise CommentaryThis offender was the son of an Egyptian father, and an Israelitish mother. The notice of his parents shows the common ill effect of mixed marriages. A standing law for the stoning of blasphemers was made upon this occa…The Blasphemy of Shelomith's Son; The Punishment of Shelomith's Son. (b. c. 1490.)Leviticus 24:10-23 · Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole BibleTHE BLASPHEMY OF SHELOMITH'S SON; THE PUNISHMENT OF SHELOMITH'S SON. (B. C. 1490.) Evil manners, we say, beget good laws. We have here an account of the evil manners of a certain nameless mongrel Israelite, and the good…The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 24:10-23Leviticus 24:10-23 · The Pulpit CommentaryEXPOSITION The reason why the narrative of the blasphemer's death (Leviticus 24:10-23) is introduced in its present connection, is simply that it took place at the point of time which followed the promulgation of the la…The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 24:10-23Leviticus 24:10-23 · The Pulpit CommentaryShelomith's son. Here a narrative is introduced into the midst of a code of laws; but this is done as a preamble to enactments of whose publication the case was the occasion. We notice— I. THE CRIME OF THIS SON OF SHELO…The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 24:10-23Leviticus 24:10-23 · The Pulpit CommentaryThe law of death. Blasphemy, murder, willful injury, whether by Israelite or stranger, judged and punished on the principle of compensation without mercy (cf. Isaiah 12:1-6; Romans 11:1-36). I. Here is the evil of a fal…

commentaryMatthew Henry on Leviticus 24:10-23This offender was the son of an Egyptian father, and an Israelitish mother. The notice of his parents shows the common ill effect of mixed marriages. A standing law for the stoning of blasphemers was made upon this occa…Matthew Henry commentaryThe Blasphemy of Shelomith's Son; The Punishment of Shelomith's Son. (b. c. 1490.)THE BLASPHEMY OF SHELOMITH'S SON; THE PUNISHMENT OF SHELOMITH'S SON. (B. C. 1490.) Evil manners, we say, beget good laws. We have here an account of the evil manners of a certain nameless mongrel Israelite, and the good…Matthew Henry commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 24:10-23EXPOSITION The reason why the narrative of the blasphemer's death (Leviticus 24:10-23) is introduced in its present connection, is simply that it took place at the point of time which followed the promulgation of the la…Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 24:10-23The law of death. Blasphemy, murder, willful injury, whether by Israelite or stranger, judged and punished on the principle of compensation without mercy (cf. Isaiah 12:1-6; Romans 11:1-36). I. Here is the evil of a fal…Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 24:10-23Shelomith's son. Here a narrative is introduced into the midst of a code of laws; but this is done as a preamble to enactments of whose publication the case was the occasion. We notice— I. THE CRIME OF THIS SON OF SHELO…Joseph S. Exell and contributors