As an enlightened society we shudder at the barbarism of the past. Stories of witch trials and death by burning curdle our blood. Similar modern excesses in fanatical Muslim states have mobilized human rights organizations to act in behalf of the victims. The world hears cases of adulterous wives being tortured to death and rightly responds with just indignation. But what does the Bible say on the matter? Gen 38. Judah accuses Tamar of being a prostitute and, being a God fearing man, cries for her to be burned alive! Notice what the Jewish Encyclopedia has to say about the practice:
Only in comparatively few instances is the particular mode of death incurred by the commission of a crime prescribed. Blasphemy, idolatry, Sabbath-breaking, witchcraft, prostitution by a betrothed virgin, or deceiving her husband at marriage as to her chastity (Deut. xxii. 21), and the rebellious son are, according to the Pentateuchal laws, to be punished with death by stoning; bigamous marriage with a wife's mother and the prostitution of a priest's daughter are punished by burning; communal apostasy is punished by the sword. With reference to all other capital offenses, the law ordains that the perpetrator shall die a violent death, occasionally adding the expression, "His (their) blood shall be upon him (them)." This expression, as we shall see presently, post-Biblical legislation applies to death by stoning. The Bible speaks also of hanging (Deut. xxi. 22), but, according to the rabbinical interpretation, not as a mode of execution , but rather of exposure after death (Sanh. vi. 4, 75b).