Translations:Does Joseph's intent to divorce Mary show that the death penalty for adultery was not mandatory?/2/en

However, perhaps the most significant illustration of this leeway in the law is the case of adultery. Leviticus 20:10 is one of several passages calling for the death penalty on adultery using that phrase, möt yumat. It says, “The man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, he who commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress, shall surely be put to death.”

The phrase möt yumat is clearly tied to adultery, yet Scripture makes clear that the victim of the adultery is not required to prosecute, and if he or she does prosecute, he or she is not required to ask for the maximum penalty. Matthew 1:19 draws attention to Joseph’s uprightness when he chooses not to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law - “Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly.” He chose not to impose the death penalty upon her (making her a “public example”), but the text makes it clear that this quiet divorce was consistent with Biblical justice. It says, “being a just man” he did this.