This is probably a silly question, but...if a violation of the 7 mitzvot bnai noach brings the death penalty, why does the idolator need to steal from a yisrael to get the death penalty? Isn't idolatry itself one of the 7 mitzvot bnai noach?
n r, thornhill, canada
The Gemara in Sanhedrin lists the requirements for bringing a Nochri to judgement. There must be at least one witness who saw the Nochri sin in order for him to be sentenced to death. Therefore, if a witness saw the idolater serve idols, then he indeed could be put to death for this alone. However, if he never served idols in front of a witness, or idolatry is simply not his thing (when the Gemara says "Akum," this commonly refers to any Nochri, even if he is not an actual idolater), he could be put to death for other violations such as stealing.
All the best,
Yaakov Montrose