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by Him to tread upon serpents and scorpions conveys the thought of victory over
spiritually antagonistic forces, the powers of darkness, as is shown by His reference to the
“power of the enemy” and by the context in vv. 17, 20.¶
SCOURGE (Noun and Verb)
A. Noun.
(
$ !
, 5416), “a whip” (from Latin,
7
$
), is used of the
“scourge” of small cords which the Lord made and employed before cleansing the
Temple, John 2:15. However He actually used it, the whip was in itself a sign of authority
and judgment.¶
B. Verbs.
1.
(
$
, 5417) (akin to A: Latin,
7
;
Eng., “flagellate”), is the
word used in Matt. 27:26, and Mark 15:15, of the “scourging” endured by Christ and
administered by the order of Pilate. Under the Roman method of “scourging,” the person
was stripped and tied in a bending posture to a pillar, or stretched on a frame. The
“scourge” was made of leather thongs, weighted with sharp pieces of bone or lead, which
tore the flesh of both the back and the breast (cf. Ps. 22:17). Eusebius (
)
!
) records
his having witnessed the suffering of martyrs who died under this treatment.¶
Note:
In John 19:1 the “scourging” of Christ is described by Verb No. 2, as also in
His prophecy of His sufferings, Matt. 20:19; Mark 10:34; Luke 18:33. In Acts 22:25 the
similar punishment about to be administered to Paul is described by Verb No. 3 (the
“scourging” of Roman citizens was prohibited by the Porcian law of 197, B.C.).
2.
(
, 3146), akin to
@
(see below), is used (a) as mentioned
under No. 1; (b) of Jewish “scourgings,” Matt. 10:17 and 23:34; (c) metaphorically, in
Heb. 12:6, of the “chastening” by the Lord administered in love to His spiritual sons.¶
Note:
The Jewish method of “scourging,” as described in the Mishna, was by the use
of three thongs of leather, the offender receiving thirteen stripes on the bare breast and
thirteen on each shoulder, the “forty stripes save one,” as administered to Paul five times
(2 Cor. 11:24). See also
SCOURGINGS
(below).
3.
(
&
, 3147), akin to No. 2, occurs in Acts 22:25 (see No. 1, above).¶
In the Sept., Num. 22:25.¶
SCOURGING (-S)
@
(
1
, 3148), “a whip, scourge,” is used (a) with the meaning “scourging,”
in Acts 22:24, of the Roman method (see above, B, No. 1, Note), (b) in Heb. 11:36, of the
“sufferings” of saints in the OT times. Among the Hebrews the usual mode, legal and
domestic, was that of beating with a rod (see 2 Cor. 11:25); (c) metaphorically, of
“disease” or “suffering”: see
PLAGUE
, No. 1.
SCRIBE (-S)
$
(
$
"
, 1122), from
, “a writing,” denotes “a scribe, a
man of letters, a teacher of the law”; the “scribes” are mentioned frequently in the
Synoptists, especially in connection with the Pharisees, with whom they virtually formed
one party (see Luke 5:21), sometimes with the chief priests, e.g., Matt. 2:4; Mark 8:31;
10:33; 11:18, 27; Luke 9:22. They are mentioned only once in John’s gospel, 8:3, three
times in the Acts, 4:5; 6:12; 23:9; elsewhere only in 1 Cor. 1:20, in the singular. They