This was not a form of capital punishment in the O.T. Ishbosheth was beheaded by his murderers that his head might be carried to David, 2 Samuel 4:7,8; as Goliath's head had been carried to Saul. In the N.T. John the Baptist was killed in the Roman manner of beheading with the sword. Matthew 14:10; Mark 6:16,27; Luke 9:9 . In Revelation 20:4 , those 'beheaded' for the witness of Jesus, may be killed in other ways, for the word πελεκίζω signifies 'to cut with an axe,' having no particular reference to the head.