Context is key.
Fact Check: Does the Bible Really Condone Stoning?
"...“Any Biblical death penalty procedure had to be accomplished in one instantaneous stroke,” he explained. “For while the death penalty may have been administered, it was not done in a way to prolong agony or suffering, nor in a manner of public humiliation that degraded the human being created in the image of God.”
This in mind, Spero said that there was no humiliation or entertainment value imbued by the stoning process.
Theologian R.P. Nettelhorst added that capital punishment is seen in the Bible for a variety of offenses: Murder, adultery, rape, Sabbath breaking, disobedience to parents, witchcraft, and idolatry. While the codes were similar to other legal constructs in the Ancient Near East, he agreed that there were some notable differences...."
“The laws are applied equally to all members of society. There are not different laws for different classes,” he told TheBlaze. “Second, the laws were intended to be proportional. The lex talionis ‘eye for eye, tooth for tooth’ was designed to limit punishments to being no worse than the offense.”
At the time, this was actually considered lenient, Nettelhorst argues, compared to what was practiced by many of the other cultures of the time.
Adding to the apparent leniency, Spero also claims that stoning was likely not rampant and that ancient rabbis attempted to abolish its use by making capital punishment a rarity.
