Deuteronomy 25:1-3
New English Translation
25 If controversy arises between people,[a] they should go to court for judgment. When the judges[b] hear the case, they shall exonerate[c] the innocent but condemn[d] the guilty. 2 Then,[e] if the guilty person is sentenced to a beating,[f] the judge shall force him to lie down and be beaten in his presence with the number of blows his wicked behavior deserves.[g] 3 The judge[h] may sentence him to forty blows,[i] but no more. If he is struck with more than these, you might view your fellow Israelite[j] with contempt.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Deuteronomy 25:1 tn Heb “men.”
- Deuteronomy 25:1 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the judges) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Deuteronomy 25:1 tn Heb “declare to be just”; KJV, NASB “justify the righteous”; NAB, NIV “acquitting the innocent.”
- Deuteronomy 25:1 tn Heb “declare to be evil”; NIV “condemning the guilty (+ party NAB).”
- Deuteronomy 25:2 tn Heb “and it will be.”
- Deuteronomy 25:2 tn Heb “if the evil one is a son of smiting.”
- Deuteronomy 25:2 tn Heb “according to his wickedness, by number.”
- Deuteronomy 25:3 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the judge) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Deuteronomy 25:3 tn Heb “Forty blows he may strike him”; however, since the judge is to witness the punishment (v. 2) it is unlikely the judge himself administered it.
- Deuteronomy 25:3 tn Heb “your brothers” but not limited only to an actual sibling; cf. NAB) “your kinsman”; NRSV, NLT “your neighbor.”
Deuteronomy 25:1-3
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
25 “Suppose two persons have a dispute and enter into litigation, and the judges decide between them, declaring one to be in the right and the other to be in the wrong.(A) 2 If the one in the wrong deserves to be flogged, the judge shall make that person lie down and be beaten in his presence with the number of lashes proportionate to the offense. 3 Forty lashes may be given but not more; if more lashes than these are given, your neighbor will be degraded in your sight.(B)
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