Capital punishment

Abstract

Medieval halakhists ruled, on the basis of talmudic sources, that the Jewish judiciary (lesser Sanhedrins) could not try capital cases unless the Great Sanhedrin was sitting in its chamber at the Temple. The death penalty was rarely imposed even in the days of the Temple, however, which suggests that capital punishment was considered by Jewish law more as a deterrent than as a viable option. Nonetheless, medieval talmudic exegetes interpreted and analyzed passages that dealt with capital punishment, and suggested new theories and applications.