under patriarchal law material evidence was acceptable in some cases. (Gen. 38:24-26) Circumstances were given consideration as evidence. If an engaged girl was attacked in the city, failure on her part to scream was deemed evidence of willful submission and guilt.—Deut. 22:23-27.

Secret adultery

A man suspecting his wife of secret adultery, for which he had no confession or eyewitness, could take her before the priest, where she would be judged by Jehovah, who saw and who knew all the facts. It was not a trial by ordeal. There was nothing in the procedure itself that would harm the woman or make manifest her innocence or guilt, but it was Jehovah who judged the woman and made known his verdict. If she was innocent, she would be unharmed and was to be made pregnant by her husband. If she was guilty, her reproductive organs would be affected so that she would be incapable of pregnancy. If there had been the required two witnesses, the matter would not have been taken to Jehovah in this manner, but she would have been adjudged guilty by the judges and stoned to death.—Num. 5:11-31.

Documents

Records or documents of various kinds were used. A husband was required to give his wife a certificate of divorce when putting her away. (Deut. 24:1; Jer. 3:8; compare Isaiah 50:1.) Genealogical records were available, as we see particularly in First Chronicles. Mention is made of deeds registering the sale of real estate. (Jer. 32:9-11) Historical annals were in existence from the beginning of human history. (Gen. 5:1; 6:9) Many letters were written, some of which may have been retained and may have figured in legal cases.—2 Sam. 11:14; 1 Ki. 21:8-14; 2 Ki. 10:1; Neh. 2:7.

JESUS’ TRIAL

The greatest travesty of justice ever committed was the trial and sentencing of Jesus Christ. Prior to his trial the chief priests and older men of the people took counsel together with a view to putting Jesus to death. So the judges were prejudiced and had their minds made up on the verdict before ever the trial took place. (Matt. 26:3, 4) They bribed Judas to betray Jesus to them. (Luke 22:2-6) Because of the wrongness of their actions they did not arrest him in the temple in the daytime, but waited until under cover of darkness, and then sent a crowd armed with clubs and swords to arrest him in an isolated place outside the city.—Luke 22:52, 53.

Jesus was then taken first to the house of Annas, the ex-high priest, who still wielded great authority, his son-in-law Caiaphas being the high priest at the time. (John 18:13) There Jesus was questioned and slapped in the face. (John 18:22) Next he was led bound to Caiaphas the high priest. False witnesses were hunted for by the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin. Many came forward against Jesus but could not agree on their testimony, except two who twisted his words recorded at John 2:19. (Matt. 26:59-61; Mark 14:56-59) Finally Jesus was put under oath by the high priest and questioned as to whether he was the Christ the Son of God. When Jesus answered in the affirmative and alluded to the prophecy at Daniel 7:13, the high priest ripped his garments and called upon the court to find Jesus guilty of blasphemy. This verdict was rendered and he was sentenced to death. After this they spit in his face and hit him with their fists, taunting him, contrary to the Law.—Matt. 26:57-68; Luke 22:66-71; Acts 23:3; compare Deuteronomy 25:1, 2 and John 7:51.

After this illegal night trial the Sanhedrin met early in the morning to confirm their judgment and for a consultation. (Mark 15:1) Jesus was now led, again bound, to the governor’s palace, to Pilate, since they said: “It is not lawful for us to kill anyone.” (John 18:31) Here he was charged with forbidding paying of taxes to Caesar and saying that he himself was Christ a king. Blasphemy against the God of the Jews would not have been so serious a charge in the eyes of the Romans, but sedition would. Pilate, after making futile attempts to get Jesus to testify against himself, told the Jews that he found no crime in him. Discovering, however, that Jesus was a Galilean, Pilate was happy to send him to Herod, who had jurisdiction over Galilee. Herod questioned Jesus, hoping to see a sign performed by him, but Jesus refused. Herod then discredited Jesus, making fun of him, and sent him back to Pilate.—Luke 23:1-11.

Pilate now tried to release Jesus in harmony with a custom of that time, but the Jews refused, calling for the release of a seditionist and murderer instead. (John 18:38-40) Pilate therefore had Jesus scourged, and the soldiers again mistreated him. After this Pilate brought Jesus outside and tried to get his release, but the Jews insisted: “Impale him! Impale him!” Finally he issued the order to have Jesus impaled.—Matt. 27:15-26; Luke 23:13-25; John 19:1-16.

The following are some of the laws of God that were flagrantly violated by the Jews in the trial of Christ: bribery (Deut. 16:19; 27:25); conspiracy and the perversion of judgment and justice (Ex. 23:1, 2, 6, 7; Lev. 19:15, 35); bearing false witness, in which matter the judges connived (Ex. 20:16); letting a murderer (Barabbas) go, thereby bringing bloodguilt upon themselves and upon the land (Num. 35:31-34; Deut. 19:11-13); mob action, or ‘following a crowd to do evil’ (Ex. 23:2, 3); in crying out for Jesus to be impaled they were violating the law that prohibited following the statutes of other nations, and also that prescribed no torture, but provided that a criminal be stoned or put to death before being hung on a stake (Lev. 18:3-5; Deut. 21:22); they accepted as king one not of their own nation but a pagan (Caesar), and rejected the King whom God had chosen (Deut. 17:14, 15); and, finally, were guilty of murder.—Ex. 20:13.

LEGION

The name by which one of the two demon-possessed men, whom Christ Jesus encountered in the region E of the Sea of Galilee, identified himself. Evidently, though, “Legion” was not his actual name, as it referred to his being possessed by many demons. Possibly the chief one of these demons caused this man to say that his name was “Legion.” The fact that in the first century C.E. Roman legions usually consisted of 6,000 men may give some indication of the large number of demons involved. So fierce were the demon-possessed man and his companion that no one dared to pass the area where they had their dwelling among the tombs. Under demon influence the man who said his name was Legion walked about naked, and day and night he cried aloud and slashed himself with stones. All efforts to bind him, even with fetters and chains, were unsuccessful. Christ Jesus, however, freed this man and his companion from the power of the demons. Thereafter the expelled demons took possession of a herd of swine and caused these to rush over a precipice to their death in the Sea of Galilee.—Matt. 8:28-34; Mark 5:1-20; Luke 8:26-39; see GADARENES; SWINE.

For details about the Roman legions, see ARMY (Roman).

LEHABIM

(Le·haʹbim).

A name appearing at Genesis 10:13 and 1 Chronicles 1:11 among the descendants of Ham through Mizraim. Since the Hebrew name is a plural form, many scholars hold that a tribe taking its name from one of Mizraim’s sons is meant. (See, however, MIZRAIM.) The Lehabim are generally identified with the Libyans and at least seem to have constituted one of the tribes inhabiting Libya in ancient times. While identification is difficult, they were probably the same as the Lu·vimʹ mentioned elsewhere in the Hebrew text, as at