Translations:Does Joseph's intent to divorce Mary show that the death penalty for adultery was not mandatory?/33/en

Neither of these statements is "clear" from scripture, much less the "Joseph and Mary" example. For the sake of argument, let's assume that statement number 1 is true, and that Joseph could be considered a "just man" by refusing to prosecute Mary for adultery. I affirm with scripture, of course, that Joseph was a "just man." We will discuss Joseph's situation in detail later and discover some obvious reasons why he would not prosecute Mary. But Kayser is attempting to conflate the two issues above when he states that Joseph "chooses not to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law". In fact, Joseph chose not to "prosecute" at all. He was intending to "put away" (divorce) Mary privately. Under Biblical law, there were no "private" or "secret" courts: cases were handled at the city gates, in the most public way, so that everyone could see that justice was being done, and anyone could speak up if they wanted to contradict a false witness.