"... Given the essentially private nature of sexual activity, this provision cuts down the practical operation of the death penalty for sexual offenses. In addition, we saw that although the formulation “... [so-and-so] shall be put to death” (mot yumat) might sound mandatory to our ears, biblical law does not have any clear or regular way of distinguishing between different modalities, such as “may,” “must,” and “it would be a good idea.” The idea that the death penalty for adultery may not, in practice, always be mandatory is reflected in other biblical texts, such as Proverbs 6:32–35 which speaks of the vengeful husband refusing ransom from the adulterer for the adultery. This is a case of the exception proving the rule because it implies that it was possible, at least in some cases, for the sexual offender to commute the death penalty to a monetary payment ..."