Deuteronomy 25:3

Deuteronomy 25:3 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)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.
• New International Version (NIV)but the judge must not impose more than forty lashes. If the guilty party is flogged more than that, your fellow Israelite will be degraded in your eyes.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Forty stripes may be given him, but not more, lest, if one should go on to beat him with more stripes than these, your brother be degraded in your sight.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Forty blows he may give him and no more, lest he should exceed this and beat him with many blows above these, and your brother be humiliated in your sight.

Context of Deuteronomy 25:3

1“If there is a controversy between men, and they go to court, and the judges decide [the issue] between them, and they judge in favor of the innocent and condemn the guilty, 2then it shall be that if the guilty man deserves to be beaten, the judge shall make him lie down and be beaten in his presence with a [certain] number of stripes in proportion to his offense. He may have him beaten forty times, but no more. He is not to be beaten with more stripes than these and he is not to be degraded [that is, treated like an animal] in your sight. 4“You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing [to prevent him from eating any of the grain]. 5“If brothers are living together and one of them dies without a son, the widow of the deceased shall not be married outside the family to a stranger. Her husband’s brother shall be intimate with her after taking her as his wife and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her.

Deuteronomy 25:3 word by word

אַרְבָּעִ֥ים יַכֶּ֖נּוּ לֹ֣א יֹסִ֑יף פֶּן־יֹסִ֨יף לְהַכֹּת֤וֹ עַל־אֵ֙לֶּה֙ מַכָּ֣ה רַבָּ֔ה וְנִקְלָ֥ה אָחִ֖יךָ לְעֵינֶֽיךָ׃ סRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Fortyאַרְבָּעִים'arbâ‛îym · fortyH705
• stripesנָכָהnâkâh · to smiteH5221
• not exceedיָסַףyâsaph · to add: againH3254
• him above these with manyרַבrab · manyH7227
• stripesמַכָּהmakkâh makkeh · woundH4347
• then thy brotherאָח'âch · brother: compatriotH251
• should seem vileעַ֫יִן‛ayin · eye: seeingH5869
• should seem vileקָלָהqâlâh · to dishonorH7034

Cross-references for Deuteronomy 25:3

• 2 Corinthians 11:24Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes.
• Job 18:3Why are we regarded as beasts, As if [we are] stupid (senseless) in your eyes?
• Luke 15:30but when this [other] son of yours arrived, who has devoured your estate with immoral women, you slaughtered that fattened calf for him!’
• Luke 18:9He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves and were confident that they were righteous [posing outwardly as upright and in right standing with God], and who viewed others with contempt:
• James 2:2For if a man comes into your meeting place wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in dirty clothes also comes in,

Commentaries on Deuteronomy 25:3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3Forty stripes he may give him, and not exceed - According to God's institution a criminal may receive forty stripes; not one more! But is the institution from above or not, that for any offense sentences a man to receive three hundred, yea, a thousand stripes? What horrible brutality is this! and what a reproach to human nature, and to the nation in which such shocking barbarities are exercised and tolerated! Most of the inhabitants of Great Britain have…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3The Jews to keep within the letter of the law fixed 39 stripes as the maximum (compare the marginal reference.). Forty signifies the full measure of judgment (compare Genesis 7:12; Numbers 14:33-34); but the son of Israel was not to be lashed like a slave at the mercy of another. The judge was always to be present to see that the Law in this particular was not overpassed.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3During a whipping, the maximum number of strikes allowed was forty lashes. Fewer could be given depending on the situation (25:2). As people created in the image of God, they deserved mercy and respect, even if they did wrong. In later Judaism, they gave thirty-nine lashes (see 2 Corinthians 11:24 and note).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-192-3. if the wicked man be worthy to be beaten--In judicial sentences, which awarded punishment short of capital, scourging, like the Egyptian bastinado, was the most common form in which they were executed. The Mosaic law, however, introduced two important restrictions; namely: (1) The punishment should be inflicted in presence of the judge instead of being inflicted in private by some heartless official; and (2) The maximum amount of it should be limited…Read the comment

Topics related to Deuteronomy 25:3

• Beating
• Forty
• Judge
• Justice
• Punishment
• Scourging

In the dictionaries

• Bastinado
• Beat
• Exceed
• Hindmost
• Muzzle
• Pashur
• Scourging
• Stripe
• Stripes
• Atonement, Day of

Commentaries on Deuteronomy 25

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings