24:13-16
The sentence is death by stoning, as the Lord tells Moses. He is to be taken outside the camp. Those who heard him swear are to lay hands on him. This may represent them transferring what they heard back to the man. The entire assembly is to stone him. This incident is used as a template for future action. We have two choices when reading a passage such as this. One is to be shocked at the barbarity of the sentence, the other is to realise how seriously we need to take the matter of blaspheming the Lord.
24:17-23
This particular case is then broadened out. We have the taking of a human life, taking the life of an animal, causing injury to another person. Taking the life of another human being is the most serious and deserves the death penalty. There is a chiasmic structure to 24:17-21. Killing a man is more serious than killing an animal. The punishment is to fit the crime.
The same laws applied to the Israelites and to foreigners in the land. Moses spoke to the Israelites and the sentence was duly carried out.
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