the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Bible Dictionaries
Beating
Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament
or The Authorized Version uses the word ‘beat’ to express some form of corporal punishment, without defining the particular mode of infliction. 1. In Acts 5:40; Acts 22:19 when δέρω (‘to scourge, so as to flay off the skin’) is thus translated, the allusion is to the Jewish mode of castigation, inflicted with a leathern scourge, in the former instance by the authority of the supreme Sanhedrin at Jerusalem, in the latter by that of the rulers of the synagogues, or local Sanhedrins, at the instigation of Saul. St. Paul himself, during the period of his apostolic career previous to the writing of 2 Cor., was subjected to this species of chastisement on no less than five occasions (2 Corinthians 11:24), none of which is referred to in the Acts.
2. In Acts 16:22, when ῥαβδίζω is rendered by the verb ‘beat,’ the allusion is to the Roman punishment with rods. In defiance of the Roman Law, which exempted every citizen from the disgrace of being scourged with rods or whips, the duumvirs at Philippi subjected St. Paul and Silas to this cruel form of maltreatment. St. Paul suffered from two other inflictions of the same sort, regarding which the Acts is silent.
3. In Acts 18:17; Acts 21:32 the verb τύπτω is used to denote another mode of beating, namely, that inflicted by mob violence. In the case of Sosthenes, the assault, apparently by members of the Greek lower order, entailed no danger to the life or limb of the victim. In St. Paul’s case, on the other hand, the onslaught by the fanatical Asiatic Jews was of such a violent character that nothing but the timely intervention of the Roman tribune prevented a fatal result.
See, further, article Scourging.
W. S. Montgomery.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Beating'. Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdn/b/beating.html. 1906-1918.
