251 When men have a legal dispute, let them go to court; the judges will decide between them, declaring one innocent and the other guilty. 2 If the guilty one deserves punishment, the judge will have him prostrate himself before him and lashed as many times as his crime deserves, 3 but not more than forty. If you hit him more than forty times, you will degrade him to something less than human.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Deuteronomy 25:1-3
Commentary on Deuteronomy 25:1-3
(Read Deuteronomy 25:1-3)
Every punishment should be with solemnity, that those who see it may be filled with dread, and be warned not to offend in like manner. And though the criminals must be shamed as well as put to pain, for their warning and disgrace, yet care should be taken that they do not appear totally vile. Happy those who are chastened of the Lord to humble them, that they should not be condemned with the world to destruction.