Thirty-nine Stripes
by Pastor Walter Snyder

Q: What is the Biblical origin of thirty-nine stripes?

A: The number has its origin with Deuteronomy 25:1-3, where the Lord commands, "If there is a
dispute between men and they come into court and the judges decide between them, acquitting
the innocent and condemning the guilty, then if the guilty man deserves to be beaten, the judge
shall cause him to lie down and be beaten in his presence with a number of stripes in proportion to
his offense. 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."

Saint Paul, an expert on receiving beatings, lashings, and stoning, wrote the Corinthian Christians,
"Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. (2 Cor. 11:24)" Why the
change from thirty-nine to forty? Before a full answer, let's see what Martin Luther said about the
Deuteronomy text: "First a law is established concerning the penalties for evildoers. Those who
are not to be punished with death or fines but with stripes shall be flogged according to the
measure of the crime; only the stripes are not to exceed forty in number. The purpose is added:
'That the brother may not be made contemptible and degraded in your presence.' Therefore he
wants punishments to be inflicted, not because of our passion or desire for vengeance but by a
rule of moderation and reason guided by uprightness. This befits an honorable commonwealth."

We note that the punishment was to be carried out in the presence of the sentencing judge. His
job was to guarantee that the beating didn't exceed his command, whether forty lashes or less. We
may think the forty lashes harsh, but evidently up to that point was not what God considered to be
"cruel" or "unusual." With this in mind, it's easier to see why Paul (and others) would receive
"the forty lashes less one." Those responsible for interpreting and carrying out the Law of God
didn't want to exceed His command, so they built in a safeguard. If someone accidentally missed
one count, the flogging would still stop before forty was exceeded.

Thirty-nine was also the closest multiple of three to forty without going over. Since lashings were
often done with a treble-lash or set of rods, thirteen strokes would complete the punishment.
Here, however, a miscount could raise the number to forty-two, so extra care would likely be
taken. Through extra-biblical writings such as rabbinical commentaries, we read that thirty-nine
lashes were standard by the time of the New Testament period.

By writing about this, Paul (who "boasts" in his weakness) also lets us know just how horrible the
crime of preaching the Gospel was to his enemies. Nothing save death or extended imprisonment
was a harsher punishment than the maximum number of lashes the Law allowed. Thus we see that
few "crimes" or "sins" more vile existed than proclaiming Christ. Making the claim that Jesus was
the true Son of God, preaching that He was the Way, the Truth, and the Life and that no one
received salvation except through Him was considered shameful, horrible blasphemy.

Paul's boast also illustrates the strength he received from God to endure such treatment on
multiple occasions and the joy he experienced in being allowed to suffer as did his Savior. Of
course, Jesus wasn't flogged by the Jews but the Romans. Roman law had fewer qualms about
either the pain or the shame, so and its beatings were often severe. Thus, we cannot know but that
Christ received many more wounds on our behalf. Through the prophet, He made His "boast"
even before His birth: "I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out
the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting. (Isaiah 50:6)" Just as "with His stripes we
are healed, (Isaiah 53:5)" so do we receive the strength and encouragement to faithfully proclaim
and live His truth to a world that violently resists hearing and believing.

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Walter Snyder is the pastor of Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Emma, Missouri and coauthor of
the book "What Do Lutherans Believe."

Scripture quotes from ~The Holy Bible, English Standard Version~<TM>, © 2001 by Crossway Bibles.

Ask the Pastor, © 2002 by Walter P. Snyder. It may be reproduced in totality, including this
disclaimer, by anyone, provided that no profit is generated by said republication and
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