Bible Strands
Leviticus 24:14
“Take the blasphemer outside the camp, and have all who heard him lay their hands on his head; then have the whole assembly stone him.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The LORD instructs Moses on the immediate judicial procedure for a man who has cursed the divine name. This directive occurs within a broader legal discourse addressing capital offenses in the Israelite camp.
The words — הוֹצֵא (ho.Tze') means "bring out" and מִ/חוּץ (mi./Chutz) denotes "from the outside." Together they establish the required location for the execution.
The thread — The procedure mirrors the witness-first execution model in Deuteronomy 17:7 and the communal stoning mandated in Deuteronomy 21:21. It also aligns with the capital penalty for spiritists in Leviticus 20:27.
Why it lands — The text demands the removal of the offender from the community and the collective participation of the assembly in carrying out the sentence. It requires readers to recognize that blasphemy triggers immediate, communal judicial action rather than private judgment.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Bring forth him that hath cursed without the camp; and let all that heard him lay their hands upon his head, and let all the congregation stone him.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 17:7 The hands of the witnesses shall be the first in putting him to death, and after that, the hands of all the people. So you must purge the evil from among you.
- Leviticus 20:27 A man or a woman who is a medium or spiritist must surely be put to death. They shall be stoned; their blood is upon them.’”
- Deuteronomy 21:21 Then all the men of his city will stone him to death. So you must purge the evil from among you, and all Israel will hear and be afraid.
- Leviticus 20:2 “Tell the Israelites, ‘Any Israelite or foreigner living in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech must be put to death. The people of the land are to stone him.
- John 10:31 At this, the Jews again picked up stones to stone Him.
- Leviticus 13:46 As long as he has the infection, he remains unclean. He must live alone in a place outside the camp.
- Numbers 5:2 “Command the Israelites to send away from the camp anyone with a skin disease, anyone who has a bodily discharge, and anyone who is defiled by a dead body.
- Numbers 15:35 And the LORD said to Moses, “The man must surely be put to death. The whole congregation is to stone him outside the camp.”
- Deuteronomy 13:9 Instead, you must surely kill him. Your hand must be the first against him to put him to death, and then the hands of all the people.
- Deuteronomy 22:21 she shall be brought to the door of her father’s house, and there the men of her city will stone her to death. For she has committed an outrage in Israel by being promiscuous in her father’s house. So you must purge the evil from among you.