And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree:
The law provides that a man found to have committed a sin worthy of death is to be put to death and then hung on a tree, with hanging on a tree as the form of execution for criminals guilty of death. Hanging is thus joined to capital punishment for transgressors, and crucifixion is understood as its cruel and disgraceful counterpart in which the Romans scourged criminals before crucifying them, as was done to Jesus. The provision belongs to the case in which parents bring an ungovernable son before the public authorities to be judged and punished, which distinguishes punishment administered by public authorities under law from corporal punishment inflicted by a master on a servant.
Being hung on the tree exposed the executed person as accursed of God and under a curse, expressing the judgment and punishment of the divine law. The body must not be left hanging overnight but must be taken down and buried that same day before sunset, so that the land will not be defiled. The stated reason for prompt burial is to keep the land from being defiled in obedience to God's command, not to protect belief in the soul's immortality, and it is consistent with the truth that death is real.
On such a tree Christ bore the curse of sinful man and the penalty of the violated law in humanity's place for salvation. His death was not merely punishment inflicted by human judges but God's penal judgment borne on behalf of humanity, paying for violation of God's law so that the blessing of Abraham could come to the Gentiles. Leaving the seven sons of Saul hanging on the hill for months violated this civil law requiring same-day takedown. At Jesus' crucifixion the bodies were not to remain on the crosses overnight, especially as the Sabbath was approaching, so the Jewish leaders asked Pilate to hasten the victims' deaths that the bodies could be taken down before sunset, though their stated concern for the Sabbath concealed their fear of public attention to the crucifixion.
The law provides that a man found to have committed a sin worthy of death is to be put to death and then hung on a tree, with hanging on a tree as the form of execution for criminals guilty of death. Hanging is thus joined to capital punishment for transgressors, and crucifixion is understood as its cruel and disgraceful counterpart in which the Romans scourged criminals before crucifying them, as was done to Jesus. The provision belongs to the case in which parents bring an ungovernable son before the public authorities to be judged and punished, which distinguishes punishment administered by public authorities under law from corporal punishment inflicted by a master on a servant.
Being hung on the tree exposed the executed person as accursed of God and under a curse, expressing the judgment and punishment of the divine law. The body must not be left hanging overnight but must be taken down and buried that same day before sunset, so that the land will not be defiled. The stated reason for prompt burial is to keep the land from being defiled in obedience to God's command, not to protect belief in the soul's immortality, and it is consistent with the truth that death is real.
On such a tree Christ bore the curse of sinful man and the penalty of the violated law in humanity's place for salvation. His death was not merely punishment inflicted by human judges but God's penal judgment borne on behalf of humanity, paying for violation of God's law so that the blessing of Abraham could come to the Gentiles. Leaving the seven sons of Saul hanging on the hill for months violated this civil law requiring same-day takedown. At Jesus' crucifixion the bodies were not to remain on the crosses overnight, especially as the Sabbath was approaching, so the Jewish leaders asked Pilate to hasten the victims' deaths that the bodies could be taken down before sunset, though their stated concern for the Sabbath concealed their fear of public attention to the crucifixion.