# Would You Have Been Put To Death Under the Mosaic Code? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 18, 2011, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-been-put-to-death-under-the-mosaic-code/568019 "2011-01-18T00:12:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![SecondJudith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@SecondJudith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecondJudith)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-been-put-to-death-under-the-mosaic-code/568019/41 "2011-01-18T11:17:32Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Is one killed for being raped, or only for raping someone? How loud do you have to yell for it to be “crying out”? Loud enough for someone to hear you, if it happened in a city; you don’t have to be heard if it happened in a field or the country. So, basically, “loud enough for someone to hear you if there were people around.” > [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](#): > > How come working on the Sabbath is ceremonial and taking God’s name in vain isn’t? I was thinking, “how come taking God’s name in vain is moral and working on the Sabbath isn’t?” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-been-put-to-death-under-the-mosaic-code/568019/42 "2011-01-18T11:21:23Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > ``` > * Witchcraft (Exodus 22:18) > > ``` “He makes fire without flint and steel! He rides in a wagon pulled by invisible horses! He stares into a glowing window that grants him visions of faraway places!” “KILL THE WITCH!!” ---
**Author:** ![6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/e19adc/32.png) [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-been-put-to-death-under-the-mosaic-code/568019/43 "2011-01-18T11:27:30Z")
I _have_ been stoned for a couple of these offences…I mean _before_ a couple of these offences… ---
**Author:** ![newcomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e5b9ba/32.png) [@newcomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcomer)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-been-put-to-death-under-the-mosaic-code/568019/44 "2011-01-18T12:01:06Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > ``` > * Taking God's name in vain > > ``` Is the suggestion here that there is a non-vain use of God’s name? I mean, ultimately, any use of God’s name is in vain, right? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-been-put-to-death-under-the-mosaic-code/568019/45 "2011-01-18T12:58:14Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > If Mosaic Law was still in effect would you have been executed under it in its moral and civil aspects (not its ceremonial aspects such as working on the Sabbath)? What about you? ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-been-put-to-death-under-the-mosaic-code/568019/46 "2011-01-18T13:07:04Z")
Let’s clarify something- children were not liable to execution. Around the start of puberty, you started to become responsible to Torah & were considered a full citizen, able to distinquish right from wrong & eligible for the death penalty at age 20. And cursing involved more than an angry outburst but an actual invocation of contempt or slander. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-been-put-to-death-under-the-mosaic-code/568019/47 "2011-01-18T13:17:50Z")
Damn. I’m guilty of only 5 of them. Two of them would require a sex change. I’m just not into bestiality. Murder, rape, and kidnapping carry substantial penalties under our laws. That leaves homosexual sex. So, it’d just have to be sex, right? I wouldn’t have to hang around and cuddle afterwards? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-been-put-to-death-under-the-mosaic-code/568019/48 "2011-01-18T13:42:23Z")
> [@](#): > > A betrothed woman who does not cry out while being raped This actuially is not what the Bible says. It says a woman raped in the city should be put to death, period, and a woman raped in the country is off the hook. The _reasoning_ given is that a woman raped in the city can call for help, so if nobody heard her she must have wanted it. The way the OP states it glosses the true repulsiveness of the law. ---
**Author:** ![Double\_Foolscap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85e7bf/32.png) [@Double\_Foolscap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Double_Foolscap)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-been-put-to-death-under-the-mosaic-code/568019/49 "2011-01-18T14:20:38Z")
I curse all the time, but it’s mainly invoking Jesus rather than God. So it depends if this is a BC society to which I’ve been transported, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-been-put-to-death-under-the-mosaic-code/568019/50 "2011-01-18T14:23:12Z")
Are the people who answered “no” all under 10 years old or something? ---
**Author:** ![SecondJudith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@SecondJudith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecondJudith)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-been-put-to-death-under-the-mosaic-code/568019/51 "2011-01-18T14:41:21Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > This actuially is not what the Bible says. It says a woman raped in the city should be put to death, period, and a woman raped in the country is off the hook. The _reasoning_ given is that a woman raped in the city can call for help, so if nobody heard her she must have wanted it. The way the OP states it glosses the true repulsiveness of the law. Unless the woman in the city did call for help, of course. IMO the reason it’s in there is so that women can’t agree to consensual sex and then say afterwards that the man raped them. It’s an attempt to introduce a standard of evidence for rape other than he said/she said. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-been-put-to-death-under-the-mosaic-code/568019/52 "2011-01-18T14:47:46Z")
The virgin one the wedding night one would be a pain in the neck for parents- I mean- “We’ve only just paid for the wedding, and now you’re telling us we have get her a funeral as well? Oh for god’s sake…did I just say that? Nuts, better see if they’ll do a 2-for-1 deal.” ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-been-put-to-death-under-the-mosaic-code/568019/53 "2011-01-18T14:51:20Z")
Yes, but not in Texas or Lousisiana. TX and LA jurpisprudence allows for the fact that some Moms just need cussin’. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-been-put-to-death-under-the-mosaic-code/568019/54 "2011-01-18T14:52:41Z")
Texas law also allows for homosexual sex with a trespasser, but only at night and if the trespasser is carrying wire cutters. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-been-put-to-death-under-the-mosaic-code/568019/55 "2011-01-18T18:29:17Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > Let’s clarify something- children were not liable to execution. Around the start of puberty, you started to become responsible to Torah & were considered a full citizen, able to distinquish right from wrong & eligible for the death penalty at age 20. And cursing involved more than an angry outburst but an actual invocation of contempt or slander. Then I’m scot free. ---
**Author:** ![MegaBee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f0a364/32.png) [@MegaBee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MegaBee)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-been-put-to-death-under-the-mosaic-code/568019/56 "2011-01-18T18:32:13Z")
As I’m an American adult, I have to answer yes. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-been-put-to-death-under-the-mosaic-code/568019/57 "2011-01-18T18:33:47Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Is one killed for being raped, or only for raping someone? How loud do you have to yell for it to be “crying out”? > > Well, it doesn’t really matter much, as there are half a dozen other things on there I’m guilty of. Time to get stoned! 😃 It clearly has to be “crying out loud.” ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-been-put-to-death-under-the-mosaic-code/568019/58 "2011-01-18T18:48:33Z")
If you define “adultery” narrowly as “having sex with someone you’re not married to,” then I’d have been stoned at age 17 when I busted my cherry on a girl from high school. . . . Totally would have been worth it, too. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-been-put-to-death-under-the-mosaic-code/568019/59 "2011-01-18T18:55:30Z")
> [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](#): > > No. Originally known as ‘The Law of Mosaics’ it was decreed that something nice be made from all the smashing bits of smash - whether it be rock, tile, teeth or bone. The term eventually shortened as people demanded less time for language and more time for patterns and adhesives. Stop that. You’re being far too silly. **Autolycus** , it’s called Mosaic law because “Mosaic” is the English adjectival form for Moses. Mosaic = about, belonging to, or having to do with Moses. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-been-put-to-death-under-the-mosaic-code/568019/60 "2011-01-19T00:46:47Z")
> [@ratatoskK](#): > > Are the people who answered “no” all under 10 years old or something? That wouldn’t even have counted for me – I also used to tell my parents I hated them, and could throw a tantrum like nobody’s business. (My parents were pretty hardcore about ignoring it – all I usually accomplished was giving myself a monster headache and some major hitched breathing) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-been-put-to-death-under-the-mosaic-code/568019.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-been-put-to-death-under-the-mosaic-code/568019.md?page=4)