Q&A: Does repentance exempt a person from punishment?
Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
Does repentance exempt a person from punishment?
Question
Sorry for my ignorance, but if So-and-so murdered someone or raped someone, and then fully repented in an extraordinary way, with no doubt at all that he truly regrets it, etc. etc., does that exempt him from the punishment he deserves (death, imprisonment, etc.)?
Answer
In the conventional view, no. I suggested that maybe it does. See column 91.