Biblical Examples of Husbands Killing Wives for Affair

The Hebrew Bible does not contain explicit narratives of a husband killing his wife for adultery, though it prescribes capital punishment for both parties involved in such an act ^[3]. Mosaic Law stipulated that both the married woman and the man who committed adultery with her were to be stoned to death ^[3]. This penalty applied even to a betrothed woman if she was free ^[3]. Josephus notes that Moses "forbade it entirely" as a crime that undermined the family and city by obscuring the paternity of children ^[4].

While direct instances of a husband executing this penalty are absent, the legal framework existed. The Mishneh Torah discusses a scenario where a newlywed husband claims his wife is not a virgin and produces witnesses to her pre-marital adultery; if the testimony is not disproved, she is executed ^[9]. This reflects the severity with which adultery was viewed within Jewish law. The Talmud also connects adultery with bloodshed, citing Ezekiel 23:37 ("For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands") to suggest that adultery can lead to murder ^{[2, 11]}.

The closest biblical narrative to a husband causing the death of his wife due to an affair involves King David and Bathsheba. However, in this case, David committed adultery with Bathsheba and then orchestrated the death of her husband, Uriah, to cover up the sin and take Bathsheba as his wife ^{[5, 8]}. This is an inverse of the scenario in the question, where the husband is the perpetrator of the affair and the murder, not the avenger. Augustine discusses David's sin, noting that he "fell into adultery" but was not driven by "carnal jealousy" in his subsequent actions concerning his son ^[10].

Later theological discussions, such as those by Thomas Aquinas, address the morality and legality of a husband killing his wife for adultery. Aquinas considers whether it is lawful for a man to kill his wife if she is discovered in the act of adultery. He distinguishes between a husband bringing a criminal accusation before a secular court, which he deems lawful if motivated by "zeal for justice" and not "vindictive anger or hatred," and a husband taking the law into his own hands ^[6]. Aquinas states that a husband could, without sin, demand capital punishment for his wife in a secular court as prescribed by law ^[6]. However, he also discusses "wife-murder" as an impediment to marriage, particularly if a man kills his wife to marry another, which voids any subsequent marriage contract ^[7]. If the killing is due to adultery or hatred, it can still be an impediment, though a dispensation might be granted if there is fear of incontinence ^[7].

The Old Testament also records instances of men putting away their wives, as seen in Ezra 10:19, where men "gave their hand that they would put away their wives" and offered a ram for their guilt ^[1]. This action, while not lethal, indicates a severe consequence for marital transgressions or perceived impurity. The broader context of biblical law and narrative emphasizes the sanctity of marriage and the severe repercussions for adultery, even if direct examples of husbands killing wives for it are not explicitly detailed in the biblical text itself.

Sources

Ezra “They gave their hand that they would put away their wives; and being guilty, they offered a ram of the flock for their guilt. -- Ezra 10:19”
Ezekiel “Ezekiel 23:37 (BSB) — For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. They have committed adultery with their idols. They have even sacrificed their children, whom they bore to Me, in the fire as food for their idols.”
Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Adultery — (Exodus 20:14) The parties to this crime, according to Jewish law, were a married woman and a man who was not her husband. The Mosaic penalty was that both the guilty parties should be stoned, and it applied as well to the betrothed as to the married woman, provided she were free. (22:22-24) A bondwoman so offending was to be scourged, and the man was to make a trespass offering. (Leviticus 19:20-22) At a later time, and when owing, to Gentile example, the marriage tie became a looser bond of union, public feeling in regard to adultery changed, and the pena”
Project Gutenberg “Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, CHAPTER 12, section 1: . Several Laws. 1. As for adultery, Moses forbade it entirely, as esteeming it a happy thing that men should be wise in the affairs of wedlock; and that it was profitable both to cities and families that children should be known to be genuine. He also abhorred men's lying with their mothers, as one of the greatest crimes; and the like for lying with the father's wife, and with aunts, and sisters, and sons' wives, as all instances of abominable wickedness. He also forbade a man to lie with his wife when she was defiled by her nat”
Project Gutenberg “Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, CHAPTER 7, section 1: . How David Fell In Love With Bathsheba, And Slew Her Husband Uriah, For Which He Is Reproved By Nathan.”
theology (Catholic (Scholastic)) “Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Supplement (Supplementum), Of Wife-Murder, Art. 1: Article: Whether it is lawful for a man to kill his wife if she be discovered in the act of adultery? I answer that, It happens in two ways that a husband kills his wife. First, by a civil judgment; and thus there is no doubt that a husband, moved by zeal for justice and not by vindictive anger or hatred can, without sin, bring a criminal accusation of adultery upon his wife before a secular court, and demand that she receive capital punishment as appointed by the law; just as it is lawful to accuse a person of murde”
theology (Catholic (Scholastic)) “Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Supplement (Supplementum), Of Wife-Murder, Art. 2: Article: Whether wife-murder is an impediment to marriage? I answer that, By the Church's decree wife-murder is an impediment to marriage. Sometimes however it forbids the contracting of marriage without voiding the contract, when to wit the husband kills his wife on account of adultery or even through hatred; nevertheless if there be fear lest he should prove incontinent, he may be dispensed by the Church so as to marry lawfully. Sometimes it also voids the contract, as when a man kills his wife in order to marry he”
Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “ANF Vol 8: Twelve Patriarchs, Excerpts, Epistles, Apocrypha, Decretals — CHAP. X.--DAVID'S SIN, SO ADMONITORY TO US WEAK MEN.: Does not the case of David instruct thee, whom God "found a man after His heart,"(3) one faithful, faultless, pious, true? This same man saw the beauty of a woman--I mean of Bathsheba--when he saw her as she was cleansing herself and washing unclothed. This woman the holy man saw, and was thoroughly(4) captivated with desire by the sight of her.(5) See, then, what evils he committed because of a woman, and haw this righteous man sinned, and gave command that the husban”
Mishneh Torah (Maimonides) (Jewish (Rabbinic)) “Mishneh Torah (Maimonides), Mishneh Torah%2C Forbidden Intercourse 3:8: There is a new law that applies to a person who spreads a malicious report [about his wife]. 29 See Deuteronomy 22:13-21 and Hilchot Na'arah , ch. 3, where this instance is discussed. A man enters into relations with his newly-wed wife and afterwards, claims she is not a virgin. Moreover, he produces witnesses who testify that the women committed adultery before entering into relations with him. If the testimony of the witnesses is not disproved, the women is executed as the Rambam continues to explain. What is this new [l”
Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 2: Augustine — City of God, Christian Doctrine — CHAP. 21.--DAVID NOT LUSTFUL, THOUGH HE (part 1): FELL INTO ADULTERY. But when King David had suffered this injury at the hands of his impious and unnatural son, he not only bore with him in his mad passion, but mourned over him in his death. He certainly was not caught in the meshes of carnal jealousy, seeing that it was not his own injuries but the sins of his son that moved him. For it was on this account he had given orders that his son should not be slain if he were conquered in battle, that he might have a place of repentance aft”
Babylonian Talmud (Jewish (Rabbinic)) “Babylonian Talmud, Nedarim 91b.5: The case was brought before Rava, who said: His wife is permitted to him, for were it so that the adulterer had committed a transgression, it would have been preferable for him that the husband should eat the cress and die. This is because one who commits adultery is also suspected of bloodshed, as it is written: “For they have committed adultery and blood is on their hands” (Ezekiel 23:37), indicating that adultery leads to murder.”

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