Deuteronomy 17:5

Deu 17:5 Then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, which have committed that wicked thing, unto thy gates, [even] that man or that woman, and shalt stone them with stones, till they die.

Ver. 7. Thou shalt put the evil.] Both person and thing. {1Co 5:13}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

17:5 the gates: A typical town in ancient Israel was small (about 10 acres or less) and crowded. It had few open areas except for a plaza just inside or outside the main gate where public meetings were held, including trials and other judicial proceedings. The place here is clearly outside of the town because stoning to death would not occur inside the walls (22:24; 1 Kgs 21:10) except under unusual circumstances (Deut 22:21).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

5. thou shalt bring forth … unto thy gates] Cp. Deu_22:24 : the usual place for stoning was without the gate, so that the city might not be polluted (cp. Lev_24:14, Num_15:36); where also Stephen was stoned, Act_7:58, under this law. On stoning see on Deu_13:10 (11).

even the man or the woman] Omit with LXX.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Thou shall bring forth that man or that woman which have committed the wicked thing,.... Idolatry in any of the above instances: this must be supposed to be done after he or she have been had before a court of judicature, and have been tried and found guilty, and sentence passed on them, then they were to be brought forth to execution:

unto thy gates; the Targum of Jonathan says, unto the gates of your sanhedrim, or court of judicature; but Jarchi observes, that this is a mistake of the paraphrase, for he says, we are taught by tradition that "thy gate" is the gate in which he has served or committed idolatry; and so says Maimonides (d), they do not stone a man but at the gate where he served or worshipped; but if the greatest part of the city are Heathens, they stone him at the door of the sanhedrim; and this is received from tradition, that "to thy gates" is the gate at which he served, and not where his judgment is finished:

even that man or that woman; this is repeated, and the woman as well as the man is expressed, to show that no compassion is to be had on her as is usual, nor to be spared on account of the weakness and tenderness of her sex, but she as well as the man must be brought forth and executed according to her sentence, without any mercy shown; and this is observed to show the resentment of the divine Majesty, and his indignation at this sin:

and shalt stone them with stones until they die; of the manner of stoning men and women; see Gill on Act 7:58.

(d) Hilchot Sanhedrin, c. 15. sect. 2.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Stoned, not far from the gates, where they received sentence. Thus the sabbath-breaker was stoned without the camp, (Numbers xv. 35,) and St. Stephen out of the city of Jerusalem, Acts vii. 57. When only a few were concerned, the twenty-three judges passed sentence: but if a whole tribe had been guilty, the cognizance of the affair was left to the Sanhedrim. When a city was infected with this abomination, it was wholly destroyed. But no one was punished, except two witnesses (ver. 6,) attested that formal idolatry, by sacrifice, &c., had been committed. (Selden, Syned. iii. 4.)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

5. Unto thy gates — The punishment was to be in public before the whole people. By the gate is to be understood the open space near the gate, where in Eastern cities judicial proceedings take place. Comp. Neh_8:1; Neh_8:3; Job_29:7. The sentence was to be carried into execution outside of the city, as in Act_7:58; Heb_13:12, as in the wilderness it had been outside of the camp: to denote that the criminal was excluded from the congregation.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Unto thy gates; judicial proceedings were conducted at the gates of the city, and in some place outside the walls the sentence was executed on the condemned criminal (Neh_8:1, 3Jo 29:7; Deu_22:24; Act_7:58; Heb_13:12) just as, during the journey through the wilderness, it had been outside the camp that transgressors were punished. (Lev_24:14; Num_15:36)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, will he who must die be put to death

Here "the mouth" represents the testimony of a witness. This can be translated in active form. AT: "If two or three witnesses speak against the person, then you must execute him" (See: Metonymy and Active or Passive and Numbers)

but at the mouth of only one witness he must not be put to death

Here "the mouth" represents the testimony of a witness. This can be translated in active form. AT: "but if only one person speaks against him, then you must not execute him" (See: Metonymy and Active or Passive)

The hand of the witnesses must be the first to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people

Here "hand" represents the entire group of witnesses. AT: "The witnesses themselves must be the first ones to throw stones. Then all the people will execute the person by throwing stones at him" (See: Synecdoche)

you will remove the evil from among you

The nominal adjective "the evil" can be stated as an adjective. AT: "you must remove from among the Israelites this person who does this evil thing" or "you must execute this evil person" (See: Nominal Adjectives)

translationWords

evil

gate

stone

die

testimony

hand

people group

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

והוצאת את האיש ההוא אל שעריך וגו׳ THEN THOU SHALT BRING FORTH THAT MAN [OR THAT WOMAN WHO HAVE DONE THAT EVIL THING] UNTO THY GATES — He who renders אל שעריך in the Targum by לתרע בית דינך, unto the gate of thy court, is in error, for thus we have learned (Sifrei Devarim 148:2; Ketubot 45b): אל שעריך — this means the gate (the city) in which he has worshipped the idol. Or, perhaps this is not so, but it means the gate where he is being judged (the judges sat “at the gate of the city”; cf., e.g., Ruth 4:1 ff.)?! The term שעריך, however, is used below (i.e. here, which is the latter part of this section) and is used above (v. 2), and this suggests an analogy. What is the meaning of שעריך that is mentioned above? Evidently the gate (the city) wherein he served the idol! So, too, does שעריך mentioned below (in our verse) denote the gate in which he served the idol. The correct rendering in the Targum is therefore לקרויך “thou shalt bring him forth unto thy cities” (cf. Rashi on Deuteronomy 16:18).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.