Flog

(whip, scourge)

Flogging was a form of punishment that employed a variety of devices to lash the exposed flesh of the victim. The biblical authors describe this grisly business with a variety of Greek and Hebrew terms, each of which has been translated in our English versions in more than one way. That makes this phenomenon a bit more difficult to trace through the pages of our Bible. But we will get the basics by tracing the terms flogging, whipping, and scourging.

In the Jewish culture, flogging employed either an oxtail whip or a strap of leather cowhide that was folded multiple times and attached to a wooden handle.[91] Old Testament law limited the number of strokes to no more than forty (Deut. 25:2–3), though that apparently was reduced to thirty-nine as a hedge against violation of this command (2 Cor. 11:24).[92] The Jewish traditional writings offer even more details about the administration of this punishment. People who were flogged were tied in a slightly bent over position with their hands on each side of a pillar. The administrator of the punishment would then tear off their clothing to expose the region of the body to be beaten. Then one-third of the determined number of blows were struck on the front of the body and two-thirds on the back of the body.[93] While this beating caused physical pain and embarrassment, the Bible is clear that the person flogged should never be degraded to the point of public ostracism (Deut. 25:3). Its purpose was to correct errant behavior and attitude (Prov. 19:25). Jesus warned his disciples that as they spoke about him and his message, they could expect that the synagogue leaders would use flogging in an effort to punish them and discredit their message (Matt. 10:17; 23:34; Mark 13:9). And this is exactly what the apostles experienced shortly after Jesus’s ascension (Acts 5:40).

The biblical authors liken heartache to the painful blows of a whip.

The Romans appear to have had at least two types of whips for flogging. The more serious of the two, the flagellum, consisted of a handle with leather straps attached to it. Knots were tied into the straps with bone or sharp metal bits tied onto them.[94] This was the device used prior to crucifixion to brutalize those condemned so severely that they would be incapable of effective resistance. There was no limit to the number of blows that could be struck, and the beating often continued until the flesh hung down in bloody strips. This is the kind of punishment Jesus anticipated when he spoke to the disciples about their final trip to Jerusalem, and it is what he received prior to his crucifixion (Matt. 20:19; 27:26; Mark 10:34; 15:15; John 19:1).

The other types of Roman whips, the scutica and the virga, lacked the metal and bone fragments and consisted only of a handle with thongs made of twisted parchment or leather. These devices were deployed when the goal was to get better information during an interrogation or punish a crime that was not serious enough to merit crucifixion. Paul was about to receive such a flogging in Jerusalem in connection with an interrogation over an uproar that had occurred in the temple complex. But just before it was administered, Paul used his Roman citizenship to stop the process (Acts 22:24–29).

The Bible also contains examples of flogging that are figurative or symbolic. In several places in Proverbs we read of a spirit that has been flogged (NIV “crushed”). Heartache can be unbearable; it can beat down one’s spirit like a whip on the bare back, robbing us of joy and leaving us physically exhausted (Prov. 15:13; 17:22; 18:14). Sometimes that heartache is caused by those who speak maliciously about us. That is why the tongue itself is likened to the whip that delivers a flogging (Job 5:21).

David was given an array of wonderful promises (see 2 Samuel 7), including the promise that his rule would pass to his sons, thus forming a royal dynasty. The Lord warned, however, that when any of David’s descendants traveled on godless paths, it would lead to that person being flogged. “I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands” (2 Sam. 7:14; see also Pss. 39:10; 89:32).

The Roman flagellum was used to beat the condemned and so reduce their resistance when being crucified.

David’s grandson Rehoboam deployed the whip rhetorically as his kingdom teetered on the brink of division. He could try to hold together his fracturing kingdom with kindness or coercion; in the end he chose the latter. Subjects from the northern part of his kingdom asked Rehoboam to lighten the burdens they had carried under his father. Rehoboam’s response precipitated the shattering of his kingdom: “My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions” (1 Kings 12:14).[95]

Even Jesus made a whip out of cords and used it to clear the temple of animal sellers and money changers (John 2:15). This was clearly a literal act, and the flailing whip helped Jesus create the intended disruption. But given what we know of Jewish flogging, we see important symbolism attached to his use of a whip. This was the tool used by Jewish leaders to embarrass and hurt Jews who had gone astray. Thus his use of a whip became a metaphorical flogging of the temple leadership who ran the temple market in a way that was disruptive to the intended spirit of worship there.