261. Capital Punishment (#3 of 4): The obligation to execute by burning when called for

Here, we are told that there is an obligation to punish certain crimes through the capital punishment of s’reifah, burning. Contrary to popular misconception, this did not entail tying someone to a stake and lighting kindling under them, nor was an oven used as in the Biblical Book of Daniel or the Midrashic story of Abraham (or the children’s story “The Five Chinese Brothers”). Rather, the convicted offender’s mouth was forced open and molten metal was poured down his throat.

The reason for this mitzvah is to serve as a deterrent. The death penalty was rarely employed, but the possibility was intended to dissuade people from committing serious offenses.

This mitzvah applies to the courts in the time of a properly-ordained Sanhedrin. It is discussed in the Talmud in tractate Sanhedrin on pages 52a-b. It is codified in the Mishneh Torah in the fourteenth chapter of Hilchos Sanhedrin. This mitzvah is #228 of the 248 positive mitzvos in the Rambam’s Sefer HaMitzvos. As with the other forms of capital punishment, the Ramban (Nachmanides) does not count them as individual mitzvos.