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Leviticus 20:10 objection: if adultery = death, how can it be grounds for divorce (the person would be dead)? Four responses: (1) The death penalty wasn't practiced after 30 AD under Roman rule — John 18:31: "it is not lawful for us to put anyone to death." (2) The Mishnah has rules for divorced adulteresses (can't marry their lover) — proving they weren't killed. (3) Adultery was hard to prove (requires 2+ witnesses). (4) Jesus uses porneia (broader than adultery) to include lesser sexual offenses.

Answering Your Questions and Push-Back on My Divorce and Remarriage Teaching 00:09:15 – 00:18:55

Adultery death penalty objection — four rebuttals

Talmud records death penalty ceased ~30 AD. John 18:31: Jews told Pilate they couldn't execute. Mishnah Yevamot 2:8: rules for divorced adulteresses prove they lived. Luke 4, John 8, Acts 7 show mob violence only, not lawful execution. David Instone-Brewer's research (footnote 156) provides extensive sourcing. Jesus's use of porneia rather than the LXX term from Deuteronomy 24 shows he's offering a different solution, not interpreting "indecent thing."

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