SCOURGE (שׁﯴט֒, H8765, שֹׁטֵט, H8849; μάστιξ, G3465; φραγέλλιον, G5848; to scourge; יָסַר֒, H3579; μαστιγόω, G3463; μαστίζω, G3464; φραγελλόω παιδεύω in Luke 23:16, 22). Scourging was a common form of punishment among ancient peoples, but most instances of shoṭ or shoṭeṭ in the OT are metaphorical. The figure is used for the tongue (Job 5:21), that slays suddenly (9:23 KJV, RSV renders disaster), the divine judgment (Isa 28:15, 18). The Lord is said to wield a scourge (10:26) and the nations of Canaan may become a scourge on the sides of Israel (Josh 23:13). The only references to the scourge as an instrument of punishment are in 1 Kings 12:11, 14 and the almost identical 2 Chronicles 10:11, 14. It is not clear whether the word “scorpions” which occurs as parallel to “whips” in these passages is merely a vivid figure, or implies a weighted scourge corresponding to the Rom. scorpio. Mosaic law permitted a person found guilty in court to be beaten. The sentence was executed upon the prostrate man in the presence of the judge. The number of strokes was no doubt proportioned to the offense but might not exceed forty (Deut 25:1-3). Later the Jews used a three-thonged whip, but kept to the stated limit, allowing one stroke short in case of miscount (2 Cor 11:24). Local synagogue authorities and the Sanhedrin administered scourging for offenses against the law (Matt 10:17). It appears from Deuteronomy 22:18 and Josephus (Antiq. IV. viii. 23) that defamation was one of the offenses so punishable but there is no record of other charges on which a man might be scourged. Mishnah Mokkah 11:12 describes the method employed. When the physical fitness of the offe nder had been ascertained, his hands were bound to a pillar and his back and chest bared. Thirteen strokes were administered on the chest and thirteen on each shoulder. If the victim died, no blame was attached to those inflicting punishment. The Rom. Porcian law forbade scourging a Rom. citizen (Acts 22:25), but slaves and non-Romans might be examined by scourging (22:24). The Romans commonly used a scourge weighted by pieces of bone or metal, but the word rhabdizein (16:22 and 2 Cor 11:25) implies that lictors’ rods were employed on the occasions mentioned. Scourging usually followed condemnation to crucifixion (Livy, 33, 36), but seems to have preceded it in the case of Jesus, since Pilate thought the Jews might have been satisfied with this degree of punishment (Luke 23:16, 22; John 19:1).

Bibliography TDNT, IV (1967), 515-519.