Deuteronomy 25:3
“Fourtie stripes he may giue him, and not exceed: lest if he should exceede, and beate him aboue these, with many stripes, then thy brother should seeme vile vnto thee.”
1611 King James Version (KJV)
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Deuteronomy 25:3 Context
1If there bee a controuersie betweene men, and they come vnto iudgment, that the Iudges may iudge them, then they shall iustifie the righteous, and condemne the wicked. 2And it shall be, if the wicked man be worthy to be beaten, that the Iudge shall cause him to lie downe, and to bee beaten before his face, according to his fault, by a certaine number. 3Fourtie stripes he may giue him, and not exceed: lest if he should exceede, and beate him aboue these, with many stripes, then thy brother should seeme vile vnto thee. 4¶ Thou shalt not mussell the oxe when he treadeth out the corne. 5¶ If brethren dwell together, and one of them die, and haue no child, the wife of the dead shall not marrie without, vnto a stranger: her husbands brother shall go in vnto her, and take her to him to wife, and performe the duetie of an husbands brother vnto her.
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Other Translations for Deuteronomy 25:3
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.
- King James Version
"He may beat him forty times {but} no more, so that he does not beat him with many more stripes than these and your brother is not degraded in your eyes.
- New American Standard Version (1995)
Forty stripes he may give him, he shall not exceed; lest, if he should exceed, and beat him above these with many stripes, then thy brother should seem vile unto thee.
- American Standard Version (1901)
He may be given forty blows, not more; for if more are given, your brother may be shamed before you.
- Basic English Bible
With forty [stripes] shall they beat him; they shall not exceed, lest, if they continue to beat him with many stripes above these, thy brother become despicable in thine eyes.
- Darby Bible
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 to thee.
- Webster's Bible
Forty stripes he may give him, he shall not exceed; lest, if he should exceed, and beat him above these with many stripes, then your brother should seem vile to you.
- World English Bible
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.
- Youngs Literal Bible
Forty stripes he may give him, he shall not exceed; lest, if he should exceed, and beat him above these with many stripes, then thy brother should be dishonoured before thine eyes.
- Jewish Publication Society Bible
Wesley's Notes for Deuteronomy 25:3
25:3 Forty stripes - It seems not superstition, but prudent caution, when the Jews would not exceed thirty - nine stripes, lest through mistake or forgetfulness they should go beyond their bounds, which they were commanded to keep. Should seem vile - Should be made contemptible to his brethren, either by this cruel usage of him, as if he were a brute beast: or by the deformity or infirmity of body which excessive beating might produce.