When
someone is convicted of a crime punishable by death and is executed,
and you hang him on a tree,1
his corpse must not remain all night upon the tree; you shall bury
him that same day, for anyone hung on a tree is under God’s curse.2
You must not defile the land3
that the Lord your God is giving you for possession.
1 My assumption is that the hanging on the tree is meant as a visible sign to others, in the “fear” motif. However, this command limits the extent to which that could be done.
1 My assumption is that the hanging on the tree is meant as a visible sign to others, in the “fear” motif. However, this command limits the extent to which that could be done.
2
This is a little hard to parse for us. Why exactly is the one hung
on a tree under God's curse – because they were found guilty of a
capital crime (thus only those rightly killed were under God's
curse)? The wording of the sentence makes is sound like all hung on
a tree, regardless of reason, are under God's curse, which is
strange. And what does being under God's curse have to do with
having to bury the body immediately?
3
To leave executed bodies hanging would be to defile the land.
Take-home: Instructions are given for the disposition of the body after execution.
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