Deuteronomy 25:2
in Deuteronomy 25If the guilty man deserves to be beaten, the judge shall have him lie down and be flogged in his presence with the number of lashes his crime warrants.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
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 wickedness, by number.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 25
Commentary
6 notes on this verseAnd 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.
This site's exposition
If there be a controversy between men
on Deuteronomy 25:1-3
The court's whole work is put in one clause, justify the righteous and condemn the wicked, and Proverbs 17:15 calls the reverse of it an abomination. The beating is carried out in front of the judge and the count is capped, and the reason given for the cap is that thy brother should not seem vile unto thee, so the man under the rod is still named a brother. Later Jewish practice fixed the number at thirty-nine to stay inside the forty, which is the count Paul gives at 2 Corinthians 11:24 when he says that five times he received forty stripes save one.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
BonaventureCollations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 18 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
From the second consideration comes forth that fruit of justice which consists in fleeing evil, that is, by means of distinguishing judgments. No one, indeed, wants to reap cockle or tares, for as it is said in Deuteronomy: "According to the measure of the sin …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
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 punishment. Before his face - That the punishment may be duly inflicted, without excess or defect. And from this no person's rank or quality exempted him, if he was a delinquent.
If a man were accused of a crime, and the proof fell short, so that the charge could not be made out against him by the evidence, then he was to be acquitted: " Thou shalt justify the righteous, " that is, "him that appears to the court to be so." If the accusation be proved, then the conviction of the accused is a justification of the accuser, as righteous in the prosecution.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
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.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
According to the tradition of our Rabbis that stripes are administered to those who are guilty of having violated negative commandments. Makkoth 13b. [and not in civil cases, the question arises] what is its [the stripes’] connection with a quarrel between two people?
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
12 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהָיָ֛ה | vehayah | and it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| בִּ֥ן | bin | [is] a son of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| הַכּ֖וֹת | hakot | striking | H5221 → | 499 times |
| הָרָשָׁ֑ע | harasha' | the guilty [one] | H7563 → | |
| וְהִפִּיל֤וֹ | vehipilo | and he will make lie down him | H5307 → | 435 times |
| הַשֹּׁפֵט֙ | hashofet | the judge | H8199 → | 202 times |
| וְהִכָּ֣הוּ | vehikahu | and someone will strike him | H5221 → | 499 times |
| לְפָנָ֔יו | lefanav | <to> before him | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| כְּדֵ֥י | kedei | according to [the] sufficiency of | H1767 → | |
| רִשְׁעָת֖וֹ | rishato | wickedness his | H7564 → | 15 times |
| בְּמִסְפָּֽר׃ | bemispar | by number | H4557 → | 134 times |
וְהָיָ֛הand it will be
vehayahH1961 →3559 times
אִם־if
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
בִּ֥ן[is] a son of
binH1121 →4930 times
הַכּ֖וֹתstriking
hakotH5221 →499 times
הָרָשָׁ֑עthe guilty [one]
harasha'H7563 →
וְהִפִּיל֤וֹand he will make lie down him
vehipiloH5307 →435 times
הַשֹּׁפֵט֙the judge
hashofetH8199 →202 times
וְהִכָּ֣הוּand someone will strike him
vehikahuH5221 →499 times
לְפָנָ֔יו<to> before him
lefanavH6440 →2123 times
כְּדֵ֥יaccording to [the] sufficiency of
kedeiH1767 →
רִשְׁעָת֖וֹwickedness his
rishatoH7564 →15 times
בְּמִסְפָּֽר׃by number
bemisparH4557 →134 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Matthew 10:17But beware of men; for they will hand you over to their councils and flog you in their synagogues.
it leads to
- Mark 13:9
So be on your guard. You will be delivered over to the councils and beaten in the synagogues. On My account you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Matthew 23:34
Because of this, I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and others you will flog in your synagogues and persecute in town after…
- Acts 26:11
I frequently had them punished in the synagogues, and I tried to make them blaspheme. In my raging fury against them, I even went to foreign cities to persecute them.
- Mark 13:9
Through
1 Peter 2:20How is it to your credit if you are beaten for doing wrong and you endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God.
it leads to
- 1 Peter 2:19
For if anyone endures the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God, this is to be commended.
- 1 Peter 3:17
For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
- Matthew 5:10–12
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
- Luke 6:32
If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them.
- 1 Peter 4:14–16
If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.
- 1 Peter 2:19
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Bonaventure, Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 18; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.