Q&A: The Relationship Between the Severity of the Sin and the Punishment
The Relationship Between the Severity of the Sin and the Punishment
Question
I seem to remember that we learned there is no necessary rule that a more severe transgression leads to a more severe punishment. There can be a minor transgression with a severe punishment, and a severe transgression with a lighter punishment.
<br>
And yet, in the Mishnah in Sanhedrin, chapter 9 mishnah 3, it seems clear that there is such a relationship between the severity of the transgression and the severity of the punishment. It says there that the Sages hold that stoning is the most severe punishment, since it was assigned to one who blasphemes and to one who worships idols: “If stoning were not more severe, it would not have been given to the blasphemer and the idol worshiper.”
<br>
Doesn’t this contradict what we learned above?
Answer
In the article that deals with the issue of the severity of punishment versus the transgression, I mentioned this Talmudic passage as well. Indeed, there it does seem that the severity of the punishment is proportional to the severity of the transgression. We see this also regarding those liable to different death penalties who became mixed together, where we judge them by the lighter one.