Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Deuteronomy 25:2
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.
2. then it shall be, if the guilty man be worthy to be beaten ] Lit. a son of strokes.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 2. The judge shall cause him to lie down, and to be beaten before his face] This precept is literally followed in China; the culprit receives in the presence of the magistrate the punishment which the law directs to be inflicted. Thus then justice is done, for the magistrate sees that the letter of the law is duly fulfilled, and that the officers do not transgress it, either by indulgence on the one hand, or severity on the other. The culprit receives nothing more nor less than what justice requires.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Worthy to be beaten; which the Jews say was the case of all those crimes which the law commands to be punished, without expressing the kind or degree of the punishment.
Before his face; that the punishment may be duly inflicted, without excess or defect, which otherwise might easily happen through the executioners passion or partiality.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
2, 3. if the wicked man be worthy tobe beatenIn judicial sentences, which awarded punishment shortof capital, scourging, like the Egyptian bastinado, was the mostcommon form in which they were executed. The Mosaic law, however,introduced two important restrictions; namely: (1) The punishmentshould be inflicted in presence of the judge instead of beinginflicted in private by some heartless official; and (2) The maximumamount of it should be limited to forty stripes, instead of beingawarded according to the arbitrary will or passion of the magistrate.The Egyptian, like Turkish and Chinese rulers, often applied thestick till they caused death or lameness for life. Of what thescourge consisted at first we are not informed; but in later times,when the Jews were exceedingly scrupulous in adhering to the letterof the law and, for fear of miscalculation, were desirous of keepingwithin the prescribed limit, it was formed of three cords,terminating in leathern thongs, and thirteen strokes of this countedas thirty-nine stripes (2Co11:24).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And it shall be, if the wicked man be worthy to be beaten,…. There were four kinds of death criminals were put to by the Jews, stoning, strangling, burning, and slaying with the sword; and such crimes not as severe as these were punished with beating or scourging; and who they were that were worthy to be beaten is at large set forth in the Misnic treatise called Maccoth x, or “stripes”, which are too many to be transcribed. Maimonides says y, that all negative precepts in the law, for the breach of which men are guilty of cutting off, but not of death by the sanhedrim, are to be beaten. They are in all twenty one, and so all deserving of death by the hand of heaven; and they are eighteen, and all negative precepts of the law broken, for which there is neither cutting off nor death by a court of judicature, for these men are to be beaten, and they are one hundred and sixty eight; and all that are to be beaten are found to be two hundred and seven;
that the judge shall cause him to lie down; which seems to be on the floor of the court, since it was to be done immediately, and in the presence of the judge; and the Jews gather z from hence, that he was to be beaten neither standing, nor sitting, but bowed; that is, ye shall command or order him to lie down, or to fall upon the ground with his face towards it:
and to be beaten before his face; in the presence of the judge, that the sentence might be properly executed, neither exceeded not diminished; and indeed all the judges were to be present, especially the bench of three; while he was beating, the chief of the judges read the passage in De 28:58; and he that was next to him counted the strokes, and the third at every blow said Smite a: of the manner of beating or scourging, [See comments on Mt 10:17];
according to his fault, by a certain number; as his crime and wickedness was more or less heinous, more or fewer stripes were to be laid on him; as ten or twenty, fewer or more, according to the nature of his offence, as Aben Ezra observes, only he might not add above forty; though he says there are some who say that according to his fault the stripes are larger or lesser, but all of them in number forty.
x Ib. c. 3. sect. 1. 2, 3, &c. y Hilchot Sanhedrin, c. 19. sect. 1. z Misn. Maccot, c. 3. sect. 13. a Maimon & Bartenora in ib. sect. 14.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
2. The judge shall cause him to lie down The punishment was inflicted on the back. This was the Egyptian method also, as can be seen from representations on the monuments. The culprit lies flat on the ground, being held fast by his hands and feet, and receiving his punishment in the presence of the judge.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Ver. 2, 3. The judge shall cause him to lie down, &c. To prevent severity in judgment upon persons found guilty of misdemeanors, Moses here not only enjoins the number of stripes to be inflicted, but takes care that it shall be done before the face of the judge himself. The criminal lay down in open court, either upon the ground, or before a low pillar, to which his hands were tied, and, being stripped to his waist, the executioner stood behind him, and scourged him on the back with thongs made of ox’s hide: the stripes were not to exceed forty; on which account they were generally confined to thirty-nine. Thus St. Paul says of himself, Of the Jews, five times received I forty stripes save one. 2Co 11:24. The sacred writer adds, lest if he should exceedthy brother should seem vile unto thee; i.e. lest the judges, by exceeding the bounds of humanity, and that compassion which is due to a brother, a partaker of human nature in common with themselves, might be accustomed to think despicably of their poor brethren, and set their lives at nought. The Vulgate renders it, ne foede laceratus abeat; lest your brother go away vilely mangled. There were no laws more mild than the Mosaic in this particular. The Athenian laws condemned criminals to fifty stripes; and, among the Romans, they were frequently lashed to death. How far the inflicting such a number of stripes, as unhappily is done, in some cases, among us, can be justified upon any principles of that merciful religion which we profess, may well deserve a very serious consideration. Respecting this punishment of the scourge, we refer to the Dissertation of Calmet, prefixed to his Commentary on Deuteronomy.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Deu 25:2 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.
Ver. 2. To be beaten before his face. ] The Turks, when cruelly lashed, are compelled to return to the judge that commanded it, to kiss his hand, to give him thanks, and to pay the officer that whipped them.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Mat 10:17, Mat 27:26, Luk 12:47, Luk 12:48, Act 5:40, Act 16:22-24, 1Pe 2:20, 1Pe 2:24
Reciprocal: Neh 13:25 – smote Act 23:3 – smitten 2Co 11:24 – forty
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Deu 25:2. Worthy to be beaten Which the Jews say was the case of all those who had committed crimes which the law commands to be punished, without expressing the kind or degree of punishment. Before his face That the punishment might be duly inflicted, without excess or defect. And from this no persons rank or quality exempted him, if he were a delinquent.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
25:2 And it shall be, if the wicked man [be] worthy to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down, {b} and to be beaten before his face, according to his fault, by a certain number.
(b) When the crime does not deserve death.