The scourge is a whip with one or more lashes attached to its handle. It is a symbol of both human and divine punishment. In the ancient world it was common to beat or flog slaves, criminals, and children. In Jesus' time, those condemned to the cross were flogged before crucifixion in order to hasten death.
Around the world ritual flogging has been considered necessary in rites of purification. Women were lightly scourged to chase away spirits of infertility. Demoniacs, cursed, and bewitched people were flogged during exorcisms. Idols, effigies, and even slaves were flogged to drive off bad luck and evil spirits which threatened the hunt or the crops. Initiates in many cultures were beaten to rid them of any hindrances to their success in the new society.
Biblical flogging also seems to have purification as its goal. Proverbs relates that blows "cleanse away evil" and stripes wash the heart (Prov 20:30). The wicked were "scourged from the land" (Job 30:8). The Lord "scourges" all His children to help them increase in holiness (Heb 12:6-10). The stripes Christ received at the hands of the Romans were to heal us of our sins (Isa 53:5; 1 Pet 2:24-25).
Plagues, famine, wicked men, evil tongues, vermin, various hardships, and war are the scourges of the Lord (2 Esdras 16:19-20; Isa 10:26; 28:18). Joshua warned the children of Israel that if they did not utterly destroy the Canaanites but instead bound themselves to them in matrimony, these remnants would become scourges on their sides driving them from the land (Josh 23:13). The Lord promised to visit David's children with stripes if they failed to keep His commandments (Psa 89:32). When Christ returns He will punish sinners according to the light that was shown them. Those who know God's will and refuse to obey Him will receive many stripes while those who are both ignorant and wicked will receive a milder flogging (Lk 12:47-48).
Job, who lived in a day when the just were thought to escape even the scourge of the tongue, learned through his sufferings that there appeared to be no moral order. The innocent seemed to be scourged as suddenly and severely as the wicked. In his distress he momentarily concluded that God "laughs at the plight of the innocent" (Job 9:23; 5:21). Augustine, on the other hand, says the scourge of the Lord "educates the good to patience" (The City of God, Book 1 Chapt. 8).
The whip was a symbol of power and domination akin to the scepter. The horse's whip and its sound was often used as a symbol of war and terror (Nahum 3:2). Pharaohs held the whip as a sign of their right to met out discipline. Xerxes once ordered the Hellespont flogged because its waves tossed his ships about interfering with his battle plans.
The action of the whip was associated with lightning, making this weapon an attribute of wind and storm gods. In Ancient Egypt, the wind-god Min went forth with the royal flail, representing the fertility of lightning, to open the harvest season. Hecate used whips to control the monstrous denizens of the underworld. The Furies chased the wicked, lashing them with whips, remorse, and guilt. At the shrine of Zeus in Dodona, a statue of a child held a whip whose thongs struck a cauldron when the wind blew. The sounds of these thongs were interpreted as omens.
In Christian art, scourges, especially when pictured with skulls, often symbolized self-inflicted penance. Holy people of many religions flogged themselves to drive off fleshly temptations. In the fourth century, St. Ambrose turned his "whip" on the Arian heretics and drove them out of Italy. Persons martyred with this instrument also have whips as their attributes. Jesus warned His followers that they would be scourged in the synagogues by men pretending to carry out the sentence of God (Mt 10:17). But, upon these persecutors would come "all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah..." (Mt 23:35).
Mosaic Law prescribed scourging for various offenses, including fornication (Lev 19:20; Deut 22:18; 25:2). If an Israelite was tried and found guilty of an offense which deserved flogging, he could receive a maximum of 40 blows (Deut 25:2-3). The phrase "40 stripes save one" refers to the Jewish custom of giving the guilty only 39 stripes to avoid accidentally giving someone more than 40 lashes. The criminal was given 13 stripes on the chest and 13 on each shoulder. During the whipping, the chief judge read the following passages of scripture to him: "If you do not carefully observe all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, THE LORD YOUR GOD, then the Lord will bring upon you and your descendants extraordinary plagues--great and prolonged plagues--and serious and prolonged sicknesses (Deu 28:58-59). Therefore keep the words of this covenant, and do them, that you may prosper in all that you do (Deu 29:9). But He, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and did not destroy them. Yes, many a time He turned His anger away, and did not stir up all His wrath" (Psa 78:38).
The so-called "rebels' beating" was inflicted upon people caught in the act of defying Jewish laws and traditions. In this case the guilty party received no trial. Outraged Jews beat such persons with their fists, and anything else that came quickly to hand. Sometimes they even stoned the "rebels" to death. Both Paul and Stephen received such beatings (Acts 7:57-60; 21:26-31). Jesus administered a "rebels' beating" to the merchants in the Temple (John 2:15-16).
Roman scourgings were much more severe than Jewish ones. The victim might be beaten with rods, thorny clubs, chains, or leather lashes which had wires and sharp bones woven into them in order to tear the person's flesh from his body. There was no limit to the number of blows that might be received and the criminal often died under the lash. This punishment was so dreaded that Roman citizenship carried with it an exemption from being flogged. Romans generally scourged everyone condemned to be crucified in order to lessen the time on the cross.
The Apostle Paul once escaped examination under scourging by revealing that he was a Roman citizen (Acts 22:24-25). Most of the time he was not so lucky. In addition to imprisonments, stonings, and beatings, he received 3 Roman scourgings and 5 Mosaic floggings (2 Cor 6:4-6; 11:23-24).
On His final journey to Jerusalem, Jesus warned His followers that He would soon be turned over to the Romans to be mocked, scourged, and crucified (Mt 20:17-19; Mk 10:34; Lk 18:33). Pilate wanted to flog Jesus and then release Him but the Jewish leaders would not be satisfied with anything less than the death sentence (Lk 23:14-22; Mt 27:26; Mk 15:15; John 19:1). As a prelude to the crucifixion Jesus was taken into an enclosed courtyard, away from the Jews, where He was stripped and severely scourged in the Roman manner. St. Augustine concluded that since every sinner deserves many blows, Christ, the bearer of all our sins, must have received an uncountable number of stripes. Jesus was beaten so severely that He fell several times on His journey to Calvary and finally had to allow Simon the Cyrenian to carry His cross for Him (Mt 27:32). It is commonly thought that Christ's scourging especially atoned for sins of sexual impurity.
All scripture quotes are from the NKJV Bible unless otherwise indicated.
Comments© 1998 by Suzetta Tucker
To cite this page:
Tucker, Suzetta. "The Weapons of Christ - Scourge."
ChristStory Christian Bestiary. 1998. http://ww2.netnitco.net/users/legend01/scourge.htm
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