A form of punishment in which the guilty party is expelled from a region and forbidden to return. An important example is the banishment of Adam and Eve from Eden as a result of their disobedience to God.
Banishment is a punishment for disobedience
Ezra 7:26 See also Exodus 12:15, Exodus 31:14; Leviticus 7:20–21; Numbers 15:30
If anyone does not keep the law of your God and the law of the king, let a strict judgment be executed against him, whether death, banishment, confiscation of property, or imprisonment.
Banishment by God
Adam and Eve were banished from Eden because of their disobedience
Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil. And now, lest he reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever...” Therefore the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. So He drove out the man and stationed cherubim on the east side of the Garden of Eden, along with a whirling sword of flame to guard the way to the tree of life.
God banished kings as a punishment
Nebuchadnezzar was banished from every human being because of his sin: Daniel 4:25, Daniel 4:32–33; Ezekiel 28:16–17 The king of Tyre was banished from God's presence because of his sin.
God punished the people of Judah by banishing them from their land
Jeremiah 23:39 God also promised their return (Jeremiah 32:37). See also Jeremiah 8:3, Jeremiah 24:9, Jeremiah 25:10, Jeremiah 27:10
therefore I will surely forget you and will cast you out of My presence, both you and the city that I gave to you and your fathers.
At the final judgment, God will banish all evildoers
Matthew 7:23 See also Matthew 8:12, Matthew 22:13, Matthew 25:46
Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’
Kings used banishment as a punishment
Saul expelled all mediums and spiritists from the land: 1 Samuel 28:3, 1 Samuel 28:9; 1 Kings 15:12 Asa banished all the shrine-prostitutes from the land.
The psalmists recognised banishment as the severest of punishments
Psalm 5:10, Psalm 31:22, Psalm 37:22, Psalm 37:28, Psalm 37:34, Psalm 37:38, Psalm 51:11, Psalm 71:9, Psalm 125:5; Jonah 2:4 This portion of the book of Jonah is written in the same manner as the Psalms, i.e., as Hebrew poetry.
The church is to use banishment as a means of discipline
1 Corinthians 5:12–13 See also Deuteronomy 17:7, Deuteronomy 19:19, Deuteronomy 21:21, Deuteronomy 22:21, Deuteronomy 22:24, Deuteronomy 24:7
What business of mine is it to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked man from among you.”
Related themes
Dictionary of Bible Themes © 1999 Martin Manser, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, via Bible Aquifer. Formatted for this site, with Scripture from the Berean Standard Bible.