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

1When there is an argument between two people, they must both go to the judges. Then the judges will decide which of the two people is right. They will decide the punishment for the guilty person. 2The judge may decide that his officers should beat the guilty person as punishment. The judge will make him lie down on the ground. Then he will watch as his officers beat the guilty person. They will hit him as many times as he deserves because of his wicked act. But they must not hit him more than 40 times as his punishment. If it is more than that, nobody would respect him any more. 4Do not tie shut the mouth of your ox while it walks on your grain to prepare it for you. 5Perhaps two brothers live together in the same place. One of the brothers may die before he has any son. If that happens, his widow must not marry anyone who does not belong to the family. Instead, the other brother must marry her. That is the right thing for him to do for his dead brother.

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 11:24At five different times, the Jewish leaders punished me with whips. Each time they hit me 39 times.
• Job 18:3You should not think that we are as foolish as cows.
• Luke 15:30But now this other son of yours has returned. He has wasted all the money that you gave to him. He has spent it on prostitutes. But you have even killed the fat young cow for him.”
• Luke 18:9Jesus told a story to teach other people. These people thought that they were very good in front of God. They thought that they were much better than other people.
• James 2:2When you are meeting together as believers, maybe two men will come to join with you. One of them is wearing beautiful clothes, and he has gold rings on his hands. The other man is poor, and he is wearing old clothes that are dirty.

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