Sanhedrin 49 – Four Methods of Execution

The court used four different methods of execution, depending on the various capital offenses that the person committed. In descending order of severity, these are stoning, burning, beheading, and strangulation.

What difference does the severity of the execution make? In a situation where one has committed several capital offenses, each of which renders him liable to a different type of execution – since one cannot be executed more than once - he receives the more severe execution for which he is liable. Rabbi Shimon lists them in a different order: burning, stoning, strangulation, and beheading.

Art: The Execution Of Lady Jane by Paul Delaroche -  Grey