# 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:** 14\ **Page:** 4
**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 19, 2011, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-been-put-to-death-under-the-mosaic-code/568019/61 "2011-01-19T00:55:52Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > 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. 🆒 Adultery is sex with a married person. Fornication is sex between two unmarried people, and not a violation of the Jewish 10 commandments. Trust me, it’s a lot better than ham. ---
**Author:** ![SecondJudith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@SecondJudith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecondJudith)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-been-put-to-death-under-the-mosaic-code/568019/62 "2011-01-19T13:06:23Z")
For the record, the only thing that got me was “not a virgin on the wedding night” – if I were unmarried I could have checked no. ---
**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 19, 2011, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-been-put-to-death-under-the-mosaic-code/568019/63 "2011-01-19T13:51:11Z")
> [@SecondJudith](#): > > For the record, the only thing that got me was “not a virgin on the wedding night” – if I were unmarried I could have checked no. Btw, if a woman had not purported to be a virgin on her wedding night, informed the groom & he’d paid the amended dowry, she would not be liable for any penalty. The death penalty was technically more for fraud. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-been-put-to-death-under-the-mosaic-code/568019/64 "2011-01-19T18:01:04Z")
Lessee: never kidnapped anyone, cursed my parents (I think), murdered anyone that I know of, committed adultery except “in my heart”. Nor been raped (and boy, that’s oddly phrased - I guess a non-betrothed woman or a married woman is allowed to be silent???), done unspeakable things with critters, or most of the rest of the list. I’m dead anyway, but I wonder if playing with a Ouija board as a kid qualifies as witchcraft? Wishing on a star? Crossing fingers? pulling a wishbone? I suppose a Ouija board might qualify as witchcraft, so I’m right out on that one. And a couple of others ;). ---
**Author:** ![Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prelude_to_Fascination)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-been-put-to-death-under-the-mosaic-code/568019/65 "2011-01-19T18:20:48Z")
I voted yes, but I’m not as adventurous as some others. They get to kill me only 3 times, because that’s how many codes on Qin’s list I’ve broken. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Weird\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@The\_Weird\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Weird_One)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-been-put-to-death-under-the-mosaic-code/568019/66 "2011-01-19T18:41:43Z")
Does stoning for homosexual sex apply to women as well as men? It was my understanding that the Bible is mum on the subject of lesbianism; only sex between men is addressed. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-been-put-to-death-under-the-mosaic-code/568019/67 "2011-01-19T18:52:11Z")
> [@The\_Weird\_One](#): > > Does stoning for homosexual sex apply to women as well as men? It was my understanding that the Bible is mum on the subject of lesbianism; only sex between men is addressed. It is an abomination for a man to lie with another man. But there is no mention of whether it is an abomination for a woman to lie with another woman. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-been-put-to-death-under-the-mosaic-code/568019/68 "2011-01-19T18:53:18Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > Btw, if a woman had not purported to be a virgin on her wedding night, informed the groom & he’d paid the amended dowry, she would not be liable for any penalty. The death penalty was technically more for fraud. Right, otherwise a man couldn’t marry his brother’s widow and begat his brother’s children upon her. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Weird\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@The\_Weird\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Weird_One)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-been-put-to-death-under-the-mosaic-code/568019/69 "2011-01-19T19:03:56Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > It is an abomination for a man to lie with another man. But there is no mention of whether it is an abomination for a woman to lie with another woman. That’s what I thought. In that case, they’ve only got me on taking God’s name in vain (assuming that atheism doesn’t count as worshiping other gods). Now, they _would_ have me on the virginity thing, except that I’m not married yet, and my fiance is aware of my non-virginal status. Never cursed my parents – I was a good kid like that. ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-been-put-to-death-under-the-mosaic-code/568019/70 "2011-01-19T19:17:23Z")
I’m good for at least four of those if you count atheism as ‘worshipping other gods’. I suppose it depends on whether you’re going for literal meaning or implied. I would not have made it into double digits, however. I didn’t treat my mom all that well as a teenager. Shocking, I know. But as a wise man once said: > [@](#): > > They’ll stone you when you’re trying to be so good > They’ll stone you just like they said they would > They’ll stone you when you’re trying to go home > They’ll stone you when you’re there all alone > But I would not feel so all alone > Everybody must get stoned I’ll take my place at the back of the queue. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-been-put-to-death-under-the-mosaic-code/568019/71 "2011-01-19T19:40:58Z")
I like to think that people who start threads by cutting and pasting from another website, and then can’t be arsed to tidy up the extraneous reference links, would be put to death under Mosaic law. Sadly, Mosaic law is several thousand years out of date in these matters. I’d fail quite a few of those desert goat-herder things though. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-been-put-to-death-under-the-mosaic-code/568019/72 "2011-01-20T21:58:18Z")
> [@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. In that case the Hebrew Age of Liability is actually lower than ours. Where did you get this from BTW? I’ve been down with a fever the last couple of days and suffering from extreme guilt at cursing at my aunt in a very unfortunate incident two years ago or so. ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-been-put-to-death-under-the-mosaic-code/568019/73 "2011-01-20T23:16:37Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > In that case the Hebrew Age of Liability is actually lower than ours. Where did you get this from BTW? I’ve been down with a fever the last couple of days and suffering from extreme guilt at cursing at my aunt in a very unfortunate incident two years ago or so. Don’t worry, we won’t stone you. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-been-put-to-death-under-the-mosaic-code/568019/74 "2011-01-21T19:57:03Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > Btw, if a woman had not purported to be a virgin on her wedding night, informed the groom & he’d paid the amended dowry, she would not be liable for any penalty. The death penalty was technically more for fraud. So here’s an interesting question (this is the one that does me in too, BTW): what if the groom is the one who took the bride’s virginity? If this is me, I wasn’t a virgin on my wedding night, but I did marry the guy that I lost it to. I never would have thought to have “informed” him that I wasn’t a virgin; presumably he’d already know that, one hopes. If he pays the amended dowry, are we in the clear then? If so, then Imma gonna point and laugh at all you doomed sinners. (We’ll just not mention my general non-belief at this point.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-been-put-to-death-under-the-mosaic-code/568019.md?page=3)