“Take the blasphemer outside the camp, and have all who heard him lay their hands on his head; then have the whole assembly stone him.
Parallel translations
- WEB “Bring out of the camp him who cursed; and let all who heard him lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him.
- KJV Bring forth him that hath cursed without the camp; and let all that heard him lay their hands upon his head, and let all the congregation stone him.
- NKJV “Take outside the camp him who has cursed; then let all who heard him lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him.
- NASB “Bring the one who has cursed outside the camp, and have all who heard him lay their hands on his head; then have all the congregation stone him.
- NLT “Take the blasphemer outside the camp, and tell all those who heard the curse to lay their hands on his head. Then let the entire community stone him to death.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Witnesses were to lay hands on the blasphemer's head, and the whole congregation was to stone him. The community shared responsibility for upholding God's honor.
Overview
The laying on of hands signified that the witnesses transferred the guilt back upon the offender, affirming the testimony was true. Communal stoning made the whole assembly participants in purging evil from their midst. The seriousness reflects how holy God is, and how grave it is to despise his name, a debt only Christ could fully bear for sinners.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Deut 17:7The hands of the witnesses shall be the first in putting him to death, and after that, the hands of all the people. So you must purge the evil from among you.
- Lev 20:27A man or a woman who is a medium or spiritist must surely be put to death. They shall be stoned; their blood is upon them.’”
- Deut 21:21Then all the men of his city will stone him to death. So you must purge the evil from among you, and all Israel will hear and be afraid.
- Lev 20:2“Tell the Israelites, ‘Any Israelite or foreigner living in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech must be put to death. The people of the land are to stone him.
- John 10:31–33At this, the Jews again picked up stones to stone Him.
- Num 5:2–4“Command the Israelites to send away from the camp anyone with a skin disease, anyone who has a bodily discharge, and anyone who is defiled by a dead body.
- John 8:59At this, they picked up stones to throw at Him. But Jesus was hidden and went out of the temple area.
- Josh 7:25“Why have you brought this trouble upon us?” said Joshua. “Today the LORD will bring trouble upon you!” And all Israel stoned him to death. Then they stoned the others and burned their bodies.
- Num 15:35–36And the LORD said to Moses, “The man must surely be put to death. The whole congregation is to stone him outside the camp.”
- Deut 22:21she shall be brought to the door of her father’s house, and there the men of her city will stone her to death. For she has committed an outrage in Israel by being promiscuous in her father’s house. So you must purge the evil from among you.
- Lev 13:46As long as he has the infection, he remains unclean. He must live alone in a place outside the camp.
- Deut 13:9–10Instead, you must surely kill him. Your hand must be the first against him to put him to death, and then the hands of all the people.
- Acts 7:58–59They dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile the witnesses laid their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Every sacrifice, every priest, and every day of atonement points beyond itself to the one perfect offering and the great High Priest who, by his own blood, makes the unclean holy once for all.
How Leviticus 24:14 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.