Punishment of a Blasphemer

(Leviticus 24:10 - 24:23)
A certain man whose mother was an Israelite and whose father was an Egyptian had accompanied the Israelites on their Exodus.  It happened that a fight broke out in camp between this man and an Israelite, and, during the fight, this son of Israelite woman blasphemed -- he uttered in a curse the name of Jehovah.  He was thus brought to Moses.  (This man's mother was, by name, Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri of the tribe of Dan.)  They held him under close arrest until Jehovah's will in this matter could be learned.

Jehovah instructed Moses, "Let those who heard him utter the blasphemy take charge of him and bring the blasphemer to a place outside of camp.  There let him be stoned to death by the entire community.  Tell the people of Israel that those who curse their god will be punished for their sin.  Anyone who commits blasphemy by cursing in the name of Jehovah will be stoned to death by the entire community of Israel.  Indeed, any native born-Israelite or foreigner who lives among you that is guilty of blasphemy by cursing in my name is to be put to death. 

"Furthermore, anyone who takes the life of another human being must be put to death.  Anyone who causes the death of an animal must make restitution to the owner, that is, a live animal for the one that was killed.  Anyone who inflicts injury on another person must be injured in the same way, a broken bone for a broken bone, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth; the perpetrator must suffer the same injury as his victim.  Whoever kills an animal may make restitution, but whoever kills a human being must be put to death.  This is the law for both foreigner and native-born citizen alike.  Thus says Jehovah your god."

Moses conveyed what Jehovah had said to the Israelites.  They did indeed take the blasphemer outside of camp and there stoned him to death, doing exactly as Jehovah had commanded Moses.

Notes
1.  This incident is, for some reason, inserted in the midst of the explanations of Jehovan laws and Hebrew customs.  But it is quite illuminating. --- However, it is not clear in the story exactly how the Egyptian-Israelite, the mixed-ethnicity camp follower, blasphemed or cursed Jehovah.  Did he use his name as a cuss word?  Did he say “Jehovah d--n it!” or "D--n Jehovah!"  Did he suggest that Jehovah was a lousy god or even tell his Israelite opponent that Jehovah should go f--- himself, or something to that effect?  Whatever it was, it was deemed serious enough an infraction of the prohibition against dissing Jehovah that the matter was brought to Moses.  Moses has to consult Jehovah to find out what to do.  And Jehovah responds with the pronouncement of a sentence that is swiftly enacted -- an ideal justice system!?

2. It was the custom of ancient Egyptians to curse their gods as well as praise them.  Thus, the act of this half-Egyptian Israelite was doubly offensive.  It violated Jehovan law and it also conformed to a noxious foreign custom.

3.  The laws set down for the Israelites apply equally to foreigners or resident aliens living with them.  This is equitable, but in this instance was there a prejudice against the accused because he was half Egyptian?  (Undertones in the text suggest a disapproval of mixed marriages.)  We cannot know, but we can be pretty sure that the accused had no opportunity to defend himself, present his case, offer extenuating circumstances, or profess contrition and plead for mercy.  With a presumptive god serving as prosecutor, judge and jury, there would be no need for legal proceedings.

4.  At times there are in the Levitical ordinances suggestions of a nascent legal system and moral sensibilities that are almost modern.  At other times they betray values that are primitive, barbaric, and tribalistic.  Executing someone for an act of blasphemy, especially one that probably occurred under stress, during the anger of the moment, is more than draconian.  It reveals an unbending, fanatical mindset, much like that of the contemporary Islamic Jihadist who believes that any sign of disrespect to his god to be a capital offense.  But this conforms to Jehovah's legal doctrine, that man's greatest moral responsibility is obedience to him.

5.  The infamous moral imperative, "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth," is unambiguously presented here.  If you knock a man's eye out in a fight, you must let him gouge out your eye.  If you break his leg, your leg must also be broken.  This is the morality of getting back at others for what they've done to you.  This is the morality of raw emotion and animal instinct, of the caveman and the criminal.  This is the morality of revenge, blood feuds, brutality, cruelty, hatred, and unforgiveness.  But there's flaw in this morality: the original offense may seem justified to the perpetrator.  His punishment is, therefore, deemed unjust, an act that itself requires punishment.  There ensues an endless cycle of reprisals.  "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth," results in a world of sightless, toothless men.

6.  Jehovah must be fairly proud of his people, for they followed his orders to kill the man who offended him and did so with no apparent reluctance.  He has what he wants, a docile, sheep-like people who will mindlessly obey and do what they are told, who do not criticize or question, but accept, who make no moral judgments on their own, but defer to him, who will do their thinking for them.

7. Leviticus tells us nothing of the backstory, who the blasphemer was, what the quarrel was about, and who his mother Shilomith was.  Other sources of legend fill in the gap and satisfy our curiosity.  Supposedly, the Egyptian father was a taskmaster who killed Shelomith’s father and, one assumes, raped her.  This was the very man that Moses had killed.  The blasphemer’s grievance was that he could not camp with his mother.  Poor chap -- it seems as if he was paying for the sins of his father.