Discovery BoxDeuteronomy 25:2-3 
Context25:2 Then, 1 if the guilty person is sentenced to a beating, 2 the judge shall force him to lie down and be beaten in his presence with the number of blows his wicked behavior deserves. 3 25:3 The judge 4 may sentence him to forty blows, 5 but no more. If he is struck with more than these, you might view your fellow Israelite 6 with contempt.
1 tn Heb “and it will be.”
2 tn Heb “if the evil one is a son of smiting.”
3 tn Heb “according to his wickedness, by number.”
4 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the judge) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
5 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.
6 tn Heb “your brothers” but not limited only to an actual sibling; cf. NAB) “your kinsman”; NRSV, NLT “your neighbor.”
