Topic reference
What does the Bible say about the death penalty?
Does the word appear in the Bible?
The word "the death penalty" does not appear in the Bible.
The phrase 'death penalty' or 'capital punishment' in modern English does not appear in the Bible. The Hebrew Bible prescribes 'putting to death' (mut in the Hophal) for a substantial number of offenses (Exodus 21–23, Leviticus 20, Deuteronomy 13, etc.). The New Testament does not prescribe judicial penalties for the Christian community to administer; Romans 13:4 references the civil authority's 'sword.' Whether and how these texts apply in any modern context is a question on which Christian and Jewish traditions diverge significantly.
Every relevant passage
Genesis 9:5-6
And surely I will require the life of any man or beast by whose hand your lifeblood is shed. I will demand an accounting from anyone who takes the life of his fellow man: Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man his blood will be shed; for in His own image God has made mankind.
And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man. Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.
Genesis 9:5–6 appears within the Noahic covenant after the flood narrative. The verse pairs the prohibition on shedding human blood with the rationale that humans are made 'in the image of God.' In Christian and Jewish interpretive traditions, this verse is often cited as the foundational statement on capital punishment within the biblical canon. The verse comes before the giving of the Mosaic law and is addressed to humanity broadly through Noah, not specifically to Israel.
Exodus 20:13
You shall not murder.
The sixth commandment from the Decalogue. The Hebrew verb is רָצַח (ratsach), which has a narrower range than the more general verb 'to kill' (הָרַג, harag). The same Hebrew Bible that contains this prohibition also prescribes capital penalties for various offenses — using ratsach to describe what is prohibited, and other verbs (mwt, 'put to death') for judicial executions. The KJV's rendering 'Thou shalt not kill' has been read by some traditions as a broader prohibition; the Hebrew verb is more specific.
Leviticus 24:17, 24:21
Whoever takes a human life must surely be put to death. […] Whoever kills an animal must make it good, but whoever kills a man must be put to death.
Leviticus 24 contains a series of statements pairing offenses with penalties. The verses use the verb mut (מוּת) in the Hophal stem, meaning 'to be put to death' — the standard biblical Hebrew expression for judicial execution.
Exodus 21:23-25
But if a serious injury results, then you must require a life for a life — eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, and bruise for bruise.
The lex talionis ('law of retaliation') passage in Exodus 21. The principle of proportional retribution is repeated in Leviticus 24:19–20 and Deuteronomy 19:21. Scholarly discussion of these texts notes that in their ancient Near Eastern context, the formula functions to limit retaliation (no more than equal) as much as to require it.
Numbers 35:30-34
If anyone kills a person, the murderer is to be put to death on the testimony of the witnesses, but no one is to be put to death on the testimony of a lone witness. You are not to accept a ransom for the life of a murderer who deserves to die; he must surely be put to death. […] You shall not pollute the land in which you live, for blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it.
Numbers 35 sets out the procedure for the cities of refuge and the requirements for judicial execution in cases of homicide. The text requires multiple witnesses (35:30) and distinguishes between intentional killing (capital) and unintentional killing (refuge). Deuteronomy 19 contains a parallel passage.
Deuteronomy 19:15
A lone witness is not sufficient to establish any wrongdoing or sin against a man, regardless of what offense he may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.
Deuteronomy 19 establishes the requirement of multiple witnesses for any judicial proceeding. The two-witness rule is repeated throughout the legal material of the Hebrew Bible.
Matthew 5:38-39
You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye and tooth for tooth.' But I tell you not to resist an evil person. If someone slaps you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also.
Part of Jesus's Sermon on the Mount, in the 'You have heard… But I say to you' series. The cited 'eye for eye' is from Exodus 21:24. Christian traditions interpret this passage's relationship to the lex talionis differently — some read it as superseding the older principle, others as addressing personal vengeance distinct from civil justice.
John 7:53-8:11
[Then they all went home, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. […] The scribes and Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery and made her stand before them. 'Teacher,' they said, 'this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such a woman. So what do You say?' […] Jesus straightened up and asked her, 'Woman, where are your accusers? Has no one condemned you?' 'No one, Lord,' she answered. 'Then neither do I condemn you,' Jesus declared. 'Now go and sin no more.']
The pericope adulterae — the narrative of the woman caught in adultery — has a complex textual history. The passage is absent from the earliest and most reliable manuscripts of John (including Papyrus 66, 75, Codex Sinaiticus, Codex Vaticanus). It appears in some manuscripts of John 7:53–8:11 and in others in different positions, including after Luke 21:38. Most modern critical editions (NA28, UBS5) print the passage in double brackets indicating uncertain authenticity. The narrative is widely cited in death-penalty discussions; the textual situation is documented in any standard textual commentary on the New Testament.
Romans 13:1-4
Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which is from God. The authorities that exist have been appointed by God. Consequently, whoever resists authority is opposing what God has set in place, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. […] He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.
Romans 13 addresses the Christian's relationship to civil authority. Verse 4 includes the phrase 'he does not bear the sword in vain' (KJV: 'beareth not the sword in vain'). The Greek word for 'sword' is μάχαιραν (machairan). The phrase is sometimes cited as biblical warrant for the state's authority to execute. Other interpretations argue that the 'sword' references general civil enforcement rather than capital punishment specifically. Both readings are present in scholarly commentary.
Original language
Original language
Two Hebrew vocabulary points shape modern interpretation: • רָצַח (ratsach) — the verb in the sixth commandment (Exodus 20:13). Its semantic range is narrower than the general 'to kill' (הָרַג, harag) or 'to put to death' (מוּת, mut, in the Hophal stem). The standard scholarly Hebrew lexicon (HALOT) glosses ratsach with reference to murder and unlawful killing rather than all forms of killing. The KJV's 'Thou shalt not kill' has therefore been read by some traditions more broadly than the Hebrew necessarily requires; modern translations typically render it 'Thou shalt not murder.' • מוּת (mut) in the Hophal stem ('to be put to death') — the standard biblical Hebrew expression for judicial execution. The phrasing מוֹת יוּמָת (mot yumat, 'he shall surely be put to death') appears repeatedly in the Pentateuch's capital crime statutes. The repeated use of this phrasing alongside ratsach in the same legal corpus indicates the texts distinguish between unlawful killing (prohibited) and lawful execution (prescribed), in their own categories.
What the text does not say
Passages commonly cited in this discussion that, in full context, are about something else.
- Exodus 20:13 ('Thou shalt not kill')
The Hebrew verb (ratsach) is narrower than 'kill' generally. The same Hebrew Bible that contains this commandment also prescribes capital penalties for various offenses, using different verbs. Reading the commandment as a blanket prohibition on all killing requires a translation choice that the Hebrew does not directly support.
- John 7:53-8:11 (woman caught in adultery)
The narrative is absent from the earliest and most reliable manuscripts of the Gospel of John. Modern critical editions print it in double brackets. The passage's textual status is documented in any standard textual commentary.
- Matthew 5:38-39 ('turn the other cheek')
Christian traditions interpret the relationship between this passage and the older lex talionis differently — some read it as superseding the principle entirely, others as distinguishing personal retaliation from civil justice.
What we are showing you
This page lists every Bible passage commonly cited in discussions of capital punishment. We do not draw a conclusion about whether any modern application is biblical, just, or otherwise; the RULEBOOK governing this site does not permit us to resolve interpretive questions of this kind. Christian and Jewish traditions, and academic scholars within them, take widely differing positions.
Three things to know about the texts
First, the Hebrew Bible contains a substantial body of legal material prescribing “putting to death” (Hebrew: mut in the Hophal stem) for various offenses — homicide (Numbers 35:30–31), kidnapping (Exodus 21:16), striking or cursing one’s parents (Exodus 21:15, 17), adultery (Leviticus 20:10), and others (Leviticus 20 contains the longest list). The same Hebrew Bible’s prohibition “you shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13) uses a narrower verb (ratsach) than the general verb for killing. The texts distinguish, in their own vocabulary, between unlawful killing and judicial execution.
Second, Genesis 9:5–6 — within the Noahic covenant, before the giving of the Mosaic law to Israel — is the verse most frequently cited in modern discussions as a foundational biblical statement on the death penalty. The verse pairs the requirement with the rationale that humans are made “in the image of God.”
Third, the famous narrative of the woman caught in adultery (John 7:53–8:11) is widely cited in death-penalty discussions and is absent from the earliest and most reliable manuscripts of the Gospel of John. Modern critical editions of the Greek New Testament print the passage in double brackets indicating textual uncertainty. This is documented in any standard textual commentary; the BSB and most modern translations include the passage with a footnote on its textual status. Whether and how the narrative bears on death-penalty discussions is interpreted differently depending on how one weighs the textual evidence.