Halakhah for Sanhedrin 7:3
מִצְוַת הַנֶּהֱרָגִים, הָיוּ מַתִּיזִין אֶת רֹאשׁוֹ בְסַיִף כְּדֶרֶךְ שֶׁהַמַּלְכוּת עוֹשָׂה. רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר, נִוּוּל הוּא זֶה, אֶלָּא מַנִּיחִין אֶת רֹאשׁוֹ עַל הַסַּדָּן וְקוֹצֵץ בְּקוֹפִיץ. אָמְרוּ לוֹ, אֵין מִיתָה מְנֻוֶּלֶת מִזּוֹ. מִצְוַת הַנֶּחֱנָקִין, הָיוּ מְשַׁקְּעִין אוֹתוֹ בַזֶּבֶל עַד אַרְכֻּבּוֹתָיו וְנוֹתְנִין סוּדָר קָשָׁה לְתוֹךְ הָרַכָּה וְכוֹרֵךְ עַל צַוָּארוֹ, זֶה מוֹשֵׁךְ אֶצְלוֹ וְזֶה מוֹשֵׁךְ אֶצְלוֹ, עַד שֶׁנַּפְשׁוֹ יוֹצְאָה:
Execution by decapitation: They would cut off his head with a sword, in the manner of (execution by) the monarchy. R. Yehudah says: This is degrading. [For he is killed standing and he falls.] Rather, his head is placed on a block and it is chopped off with a hatchet. [The baraitha explains that R. Yehudah disagrees with the rabbis by reason of (Leviticus 18:3): "And in their statutes you shall not walk." And the rabbis counter: Since death by the sword is alluded to in the Torah, viz. (Exodus 21:20): "Vengeance shall be taken," they (their statutes) are not our source. The halachah is in accordance with the sages.] Execution by strangulation: They would steep him in refuse until his thighs, place a hard cloth in a soft one, and tie it around his throat; and one pulled from one end, and another from the other, until he died.]