The Mekhilta records the precise procedure for carrying out the judicial penalty of strangulation — one of the four methods of capital punishment prescribed by Torah law. Far from being a crude or arbitrary act of violence, the rabbinic description reveals a carefully regulated process governed by specific rules and protocols.
The condemned person was first made to stand in a mound of soft foliage — possibly dung or similar material — up to the level of the hips. This was not for restraint but for positioning, ensuring the person stood in a fixed, stable posture during the execution.
The executioners then prepared the instrument of strangulation. They placed a hard scarf — a rough, firm cloth — inside a soft one, creating a layered band. This composite was then wrapped around the condemned person's neck. The soft outer layer prevented the kind of external bruising or tearing that would constitute unnecessary suffering, while the hard inner layer provided the force necessary for the act.
Two people then stood on opposite sides, each holding one end of the cloth. One pulled from one direction, and the other pulled from the opposite direction, tightening the band around the neck. They continued pulling until the condemned person's soul expired.
The Mekhilta concludes simply: "This is strangulation." The matter-of-fact tone underscores that this was understood as a legal procedure, not an act of cruelty. Every detail — the foliage, the layered scarves, the two executioners — was prescribed to ensure that the sentence was carried out with as much precision and as little unnecessary suffering as the grim task allowed.