Deuteronomy 25:3

forty [times] he doth smite him — he is not adding, lest, he is adding to smite him above these — many stripes, and thy brother is lightly esteemed in thine eyes.

Young's Literal Translation

In The King James Version

Forty stripes he may give him, and not exceed: lest, if he should exceed, and beat him above these with many stripes, then thy brother should seem vile unto thee.

In Context

2then it hath come to pass, if the wrong-doer is to be smitten, that the judge hath caused him to fall down, and [one] hath smitten him in his presence, according to the sufficiency of his wrong-doing, by number;

4'Thou dost not muzzle an ox in its threshing.

Read all of Deuteronomy 25

Cross References

Luke 15:30but when thy son — this one who did devour thy living with harlots — came, thou didst kill to him the fatted calf.

2 Corinthians 11:24from Jews five times forty [stripes] save one I did receive;

Matthew Henry on Deuteronomy 25:2-5

Stripes Not to Exceed Forty. ( b. c. 1451.) 1 If there be a controversy between men, and they come unto judgment, that the judges may judge them; then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked. 2 And it shall be, if the wicked man be worthy to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down, and to be beaten before his face, according to his fault, by a certain number. 3 Forty stripes he may give him, and not exceed: lest, if he should exceed, and beat him above these with many stripes, then… Read the whole commentary →

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