If a man has committed a sin deserving of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain overnight on the tree, but you shall surely bury him that day, so that you do not defile the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance; for he who is hanged is accursed of God. – Deut. 21:22, 23

I am probably not the first to notice this, but I think it odd – fascinating, rather, that instructions are given regarding what to do with the body of a man executed by means of hanging on a tree, yet, stoning is the method always mentioned for capital offences in the Mosaic Law (Lev. 20:27; 24:14; 14:16; Deut. 13:10; 17:5; 21:21; 22:21; 22:24).

Now, there is an instance in which God commanded death by hanging in Numbers 23, but this was in response to a particular situation, and not prescribed as law. Furthermore, it is stated that when certain offenders were pursued and thrust through with a javelin, God’s anger was appeased.

So, the oddity remains that, in the text of the law, there are rules for handling the body of a man executed by hanging on a tree (specifically a tree), when the method of execution prescribed by the law is always stoning. Could this be prophetic of Messiah’s death (Gal. 3:13)? If Christ had not been buried the day of His death, He would not have been buried and raised again on the third day, according to the Scriptures (1 Cor. 15:3, 4).