Deuteronomy 25:2

Deu 25:2 And it shall be, if the wicked man [be] worthy to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down, and to be beaten before his face, according to his fault, by a certain number.

Ver. 2. To be beaten before his face.] The Turks, when cruelly lashed, are compelled to return to the judge that commanded it, to kiss his hand, to give him thanks, and to pay the officer that whipped them.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Deu 25:2. Worthy to be beaten — Which the Jews say was the case of all those who had committed crimes which the law commands to be punished, without expressing the kind or degree of punishment. Before his face — That the punishment might be duly inflicted, without excess or defect. And from this no person’s rank or quality exempted him, if he were a delinquent.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

When the crime deserveth not death.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 2. The judge shall cause him to lie down, and to be beaten before his face] This precept is literally followed in China; the culprit receives in the presence of the magistrate the punishment which the law directs to be inflicted. Thus then justice is done, for the magistrate sees that the letter of the law is duly fulfilled, and that the officers do not transgress it, either by indulgence on the one hand, or severity on the other. The culprit receives nothing more nor less than what justice requires.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

2. then it shall be, if the guilty man be worthy to be beaten] Lit. a son of strokes.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And it shall be, if the wicked man be worthy to be beaten,.... There were four kinds of death criminals were put to by the Jews, stoning, strangling, burning, and slaying with the sword; and such crimes not as severe as these were punished with beating or scourging; and who they were that were worthy to be beaten is at large set forth in the Misnic treatise called Maccoth (x), or "stripes", which are too many to be transcribed. Maimonides says (y), that all negative precepts in the law, for the breach of which men are guilty of cutting off, but not of death by the sanhedrim, are to be beaten. They are in all twenty one, and so all deserving of death by the hand of heaven; and they are eighteen, and all negative precepts of the law broken, for which there is neither cutting off nor death by a court of judicature, for these men are to be beaten, and they are one hundred and sixty eight; and all that are to be beaten are found to be two hundred and seven:

that the judge shall cause him to lie down; which seems to be on the floor of the court, since it was to be done immediately, and in the presence of the judge; and the Jews gather (z) from hence, that he was to be beaten neither standing, nor sitting, but bowed; that is, ye shall command or order him to lie down, or to fall upon the ground with his face towards it:

and to be beaten before his face; in the presence of the judge, that the sentence might be properly executed, neither exceeded not diminished; and indeed all the judges were to be present, especially the bench of three; while he was beating, the chief of the judges read the passage in Deu 28:58; and he that was next to him counted the strokes, and the third at every blow said Smite (a): of the manner of beating or scourging; see Gill on Mat 10:17,

according to his fault, by a certain number; as his crime and wickedness was more or less heinous, more or fewer stripes were to be laid on him; as ten or twenty, fewer or more, according to the nature of his offence, as Aben Ezra observes, only he might not add above forty; though he says there are some who say that according to his fault the stripes are larger or lesser, but all of them in number forty.

(x) Ib. c. 3. sect. 1. 2, 3, &c. (y) Hilchot Sanhedrin, c. 19. sect. 1. (z) Misn. Maccot, c. 3. sect. 13. (a) Maimon & Bartenora in ib. sect. 14.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Down, tying him to a low pillar; (Menochius) (Grotius) though many assert, that the criminal was forced to lie prostrate on the ground, as the Jews still do, in Germany, when they undergo this punishment. (Buxtorf, Syn. 20.) The Jews do not commonly give above 39 strokes, and double the number is inflicted on the back, from what fall upon the breast.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Worthy to be beaten; which the Jews say was the case of all those crimes which the law commands to be punished, without expressing the kind or degree of the punishment.

Before his face; that the punishment may be duly inflicted, without excess or defect, which otherwise might easily happen through the executioner’s passion or partiality.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

2. The judge shall cause him to lie down — The punishment was inflicted on the back. This was the Egyptian method also, as can be seen from representations on the monuments. The culprit lies flat on the ground, being held fast by his hands and feet, and receiving his punishment in the presence of the judge.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Beaten - Which the Jews say was the case of all those crimes which the law commands to be punished, without expressing the kind or degree of punishment. Before his face - That the punishment may be duly inflicted, without excess or defect. And from this no person's rank or quality exempted him, if he was a delinquent.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

והפילו השפט AND THE JUDGE SHALL CAUSE HIM TO FALL DOWN — This teaches that one is not lashed whilst standing or sitting but only when bending (Makkot 22b).

לפניו כדי רשעתו [AND THE JUDGE SHALL … SMITE HIM] IN FRONT ACCORDING TO HIS WICKEDNESS (כדי רשעתו may mean “as much as is sufficient for his wickedness”, i.e., for one part of his wickedness, רשעתו being singular) — in front (on his chest) corresponding to one part of his wickedness, and on his back corresponding to two parts: hence they (the Rabbis) derived that one must give him (anyone sentenced to lashes) two-thirds on his back and one third on his chest (Sifrei Devarim 286:6; Makkot 22b, 23a).

בְּמספר BY A NUMBER — but it (the word) is not punctuated בַּמספר by the number; this shows that it is connected with the following word, to read בְּמִסְפַּר ארבעים [“he shall smite him”] … by the number of forty, (i.e. by the number leading to forty), not, however, a full forty, but a number that leads up to the full total of forty, i.e., forty less one (Makkot 22a).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.