1. Acts 7:58 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

Why do the witnesses lay down their clothes?

Acts 7:58 (ESV)

58 Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.

According to old covenant law, the witnesses were the ones responsible for executing those accused of blasphemy (Leviticus 24:14).1 They lay down their outer garments in order to make it easier to pick up and throw stones.