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The Authorized Version uses the word ‘beat’ to express some form of corporal punishment, without defining the particular mode of infliction. 1. In Act_5:40; Act_22:19 when äÝñù (‘to scourge, so as to flay off the skin’) is thus translated, the allusion is to the Jewish mode of castigation, inflicted with a leathern scourge, in the former instance by the authority of the supreme Sanhedrin at Jerusalem, in the latter by that of the rulers of the synagogues, or local Sanhedrins, at the instigation of Saul. St. Paul himself, during the period of his apostolic career previous to the writing of 2 Cor., was subjected to this species of chastisement on no less than five occasions (2Co_11:24), none of which is referred to in the Acts.
2. In Act_16:22, when ῥáâäßæù is rendered by the verb ‘beat,’ the allusion is to the Roman punishment with rods. In defiance of the Roman Law, which exempted every citizen from the disgrace of being scourged with rods or whips, the duumvirs at Philippi subjected St. Paul and Silas to this cruel form of maltreatment. St. Paul suffered from two other inflictions of the same sort, regarding which the Acts is silent.
3. In Act_18:17; Act_21:32 the verb ôýðôù is used to denote another mode of beating, namely, that inflicted by mob violence. In the case of Sosthenes, the assault, apparently by members of the Greek lower order, entailed no danger to the life or limb of the victim. In St. Paul’s case, on the other hand, the onslaught by the fanatical Asiatic Jews was of such a violent character that nothing but the timely intervention of the Roman tribune prevented a fatal result.
See, further, article Scourging.
W. S. Montgomery.