Matthew Poole and continuators on 2 Corinthians 11:24

24 Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one .

God, to restrain the passions of his people, which might carry them out to cruelty in the punishments of Malefactors, forbad the Jewish Magistrates to give any Malefactor above forty stripes; (so many th[illegible: 1 letter]y might give them by the Divine Law, Deut. 25 3.) But they had made an Order, that none should receive above thirty nine This was amongst their Constitutions which they called [illegible: 1 word] Legis, Hedges to the Divine Law; which indeed was a violation of the Law: For that did not oblige them to give every Malefactor, that had not deserved death, so many stripes; it gave them only a liberty to go so far, but they were not to exceed▪ Some think, that they punished every such Malefactor with thirty nine stripes: Others more rationall[illegible: 1 letter] think, that they did not so, but thirty nine was the highest number the[illegible: 1 letter] laid upon any. And it is most probable, that out of their hatred to the Apostle, they laid as many stripes upon him, as their Constitution would suffer them to do.