The Jews, to keep within the letter of the law, fixed 39 stripes as the maximum (compare the marginal reference). Forty signifies the full measure …

Deuteronomy 25:1–3. HUMANITY IN PUNISHMENTS.

They shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wick…

Forty stripes he may give him, and not exceed
And that this number might not be exceeded, it is ordered by the Jewish canons t…

Every punishment should be with solemnity, so that those who see it may be filled with dread, and be warned not to offend in a similar manner. And …