Criminals

Individuals who are guilty of crimes such as murder, adultery, theft, perjury or treason. Scripture refers to and gives examples of young law-breakers (delinquents).

Criminals guilty of murder

Cain

Genesis 4:8

Then Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.

Abimelech

See also Judges 9:5

Doeg the Edomite

1 Samuel 22:18

David

2 Samuel 11:14–17

Absalom

2 Samuel 13:23–29

Herod the Great

Matthew 2:16

Barabbas

Mark 15:7 parallel Luke 23:19

Criminals guilty of adultery

David

2 Samuel 11:2–5

One evening David got up from his bed and strolled around on the roof of the palace. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing— a very beautiful woman. So David sent and inquired about the woman, and he was told, “This is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” Then David sent messengers to get her, and when she came to him, he slept with her. (Now she had just purified herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned home. And the woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.”

Gomer (Hosea's wife)

See also Hosea 3:1

Criminals guilty of theft

Rachel

Genesis 31:19, Genesis 31:30

Achan

Joshua 7:21

Judas Iscariot

John 12:6

Criminals guilty of perjury

Joel and Abijah (sons of Samuel)

1 Samuel 8:3

Two who gave false evidence against Naboth

1 Kings 21:13

Examples of criminals guilty of treason

Zimri

1 Kings 16:15–18

Athaliah

2 Kings 11:1–3 parallel 2 Chronicles 22:10–12

Examples of delinquents

Those who break the fifth commandment as minors may have been treated as criminals

Exodus 20:12

Manasseh, king of Judah

2 Kings 21:1–2

Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. His mother’s name was Hephzibah. And he did evil in the sight of the LORD by following the abominations of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.

Youths who jeered Elisha

2 Kings 2:23–24

From there, Elisha went up to Bethel, and as he was walking up the road, a group of boys came out of the city and jeered at him, chanting, “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!” Then he turned around, looked at them, and called down a curse on them in the name of the LORD. Suddenly two female bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys.

Those who ignore the wise counsel of Solomon

Proverbs 1:1–4 It seems that sections of Proverbs were written with young people in mind. Those who choose to act upon its wisdom will please God and keep themselves out of the troubles common to youth.

These are the proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel, for gaining wisdom and discipline, for comprehending words of insight, and for receiving instruction in wise living and in righteousness, justice, and equity. To impart prudence to the simple and knowledge and discretion to the young,

Those who succumb to the evil desires of youth

See also 2 Timothy 2:22 Young people are warned that the strength of their desires can easily get them into trouble. Young Christians are, with God's help, able to control such desires.

The punishment of criminals

By hanging

Deuteronomy 21:22–23 See also 2 Samuel 21:9; Ezra 6:11; Esther 7:9–10

If a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and he is executed, and you hang his body on a tree, you must not leave the body on the tree overnight, but you must be sure to bury him that day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse. You must not defile the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.

By stoning

Deuteronomy 22:23–24 See also Leviticus 20:1–2; Joshua 7:24–25

If there is a virgin pledged in marriage to a man, and another man encounters her in the city and sleeps with her, you must take both of them out to the gate of that city and stone them to death— the young woman because she did not cry out in the city, and the man because he has violated his neighbor’s wife. So you must purge the evil from among you.

By beating

Deuteronomy 25:2–3 See also Acts 16:20–23; 2 Corinthians 11:24–25

If the guilty man deserves to be beaten, the judge shall have him lie down and be flogged in his presence with the number of lashes his crime warrants. He may receive no more than forty lashes, lest your brother be beaten any more than that and be degraded in your sight.

By confiscation of property

Ezra 7:26 See also Ezra 10:8

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.

By crucifixion

Luke 23:32–33 parallels Matthew 27:38, Mark 15:27 See also Luke 23:40–41

Two others, who were criminals, were also led away to be executed with Jesus. When they came to the place called The Skull, they crucified Him there, along with the criminals, one on His right and the other on His left.