Deuteronomy 22:18

18 Then the elders of that city shall take the man and whip[a] him,

Deuteronomy 22:18 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 22:18

And the elders of that city shall take the man, and chastise
him.
] Not with words, but blows. Jarchi interprets it of beating, and so does the Talmud F24; and both the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan render it,

``shall beat him;''

that is, with the beating or scourging of forty stripes, save one.


FOOTNOTES:

F24 T. Bab. Cetubot, fol. 46. 1.

Deuteronomy 22:18 In-Context

16 And the father of the young woman shall say to the elders, 'I gave my daughter to this man to marry, and he hates her;
17 and behold, he has accused her of misconduct, saying, "I did not find in your daughter evidence of virginity." And yet this is the evidence of my daughter's virginity.' And they shall spread the cloak before the elders of the city.
18 Then the elders of that city shall take the man and whip him,
19 and they shall fine him a hundred shekels of silver and give them to the father of the young woman, because he has brought a bad name upon a virgin of Israel. And she shall be his wife. He may not divorce her all his days.
20 But if the thing is true, that evidence of virginity was not found in the young woman,

Footnotes 1

The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.