scourge Summary and Overview

SCOURGE . After the Babylonish Captivity the scourge was formed of three lashes or thongs made of leather or small cords, thirteen strokes of which were equal to thirty-nine lashes, and not more than forty could be given under the Law. Deut 25:1-3; 2 Cor 11:24. The sufferer was tied by his arms to a low pillar, his back laid bare and his body bent forward, and the blows so applied. Sometimes sharp iron points or sharp cornered pieces of metal were fastened to the end of the thongs, to render the suffering still more extreme. It is debated whether the whip was used before the Flagellum or Scourge. Captivity. Certainly the rod was, as is the case to-day in the East. The punishment was inflicted in the synagogue. Matt 10:17; Acts 23:34; Acts 5:40. The Romans used to beat with rods and whips; the number of blows was unlimited. But so degrading was this punishment in its nature and effects that no citizen of the Roman empire could be subjected to it. Acts 22:25-26. Many were known to die under the cruel infliction. Sometimes it took place on the way to execution, and sometimes it was itself the only punishment. The punishment with rods or twigs seems to have been a separate infliction. 2 Cor 11:25. In our Lord's scourging, Matt 27:26; Mark 15:15; John 19:1, we see a literal fulfilment of Isaiah's prophecy. Isa 53:5.