36S Book IV. JLrolung unto jjefu.S'. · --------~------~ . t .. For the lhame, it was of fuch ihf1my that the Romans exempted all their Citizens A<kz.z),z1. from tt. ], it lawful for )'Oit ( fatd Paul) to fwerge a man that z; fl Roman? --and when the (:entltrion he~rd tha~, he went) and told the chief captain, faJ·ing, tak§ heed what thou dofl, for tht> rrrm Ha Roman; the Romans looked upon it as a mofi infamous punii!Jmenr, fit only for·theeves and llaves, and not for free-born or priviledged Ro– mans; and the Jews themfelves would not futfer it above fo many firipes, left a brother Deut. '5·'•3· ll10uld feem vtle unto them;, If a wicktd man be worthy to be beaten, that the 'judge jha/1 cmtfc htm to !yedown,--jorty jlrtpCJ he maygwe han, and not exceed, lejl if he p,o,/d cxucd, and bc~t htm above thefe Wtth many jlnpcs, then thy brother jhould fccm vile unto thee. Wbtpptng IS fo unworthy a punill1mem, that only children, bondllave9, and rogues wereufed to be corrected therewith, efpecially if rhey exceeded the number of •Cor.u, •4· fortyflnpes; when Paul was thus ufed, he tells us, Of thejewJ fivetimCJ r<ceivedl forty j/ripe1 {aveone .. TheophilaEf fayesthey would not excee that number, Jell Paul lhould have become !nfam?us, and ever after uncapable of publick office, and hoping they m1ght have regamed !urn, they would not brand him with that note of infamy. 0 ~hen if one lh.1pe above forty was fo 1nfamous amongft the Jews, what lhame, what tnfamy was tlus, when fo many [cores, hundreds, and thoufands of firipes (as fome reckon them) were laid on Jcfus Chrill? and yet our Lord doth not difd~in to undergo them for our fakes, he beau in his body thofe wounds and firipes that we had deferved by our lins. 2. For the pain; this kind of punill1ment, was not only infamous, but terrible; no fooner the Souldiers had their commillion, but they charged, and difcharged upon him fuch bloody blows, as if he had been the grearefi offender, and bafefl llave in all the Nice[>.l.t,r, 3· world. Nicephoms calls tbefe whippers bloody hang-men, by the fiercenefs of whofe • , d . whipping many bad dyed under their bands, " The manner of their whipping is de– ;;;~in: p~. " fcribed thus; After they had firippcd him, they bound him to a pillar, whither came 8~o. · "fix young and firong executioners, fcourgers, varlets, hang-men (faith Jerome) to " fcourge him, and whip him while they could; whereof two whipped him with rods of " thorns; and when they had wearied themfelves, other two whipped him with ropes "or whip-cords, tyed and knotted like a carters whip; and when they were tyred, the " other two fcourged off his very skin with wires, or little chains of iron ; and thus " they continued, rill by alternate and fucceflive turns they had added flripe upon flripe, '· and wound upon wound, latter upon former, and new upon old, that he was all over "in a gore blood. The Scripture tells us, that He IVM wounded for o11r tranfgreffi•ns, and bruifcd for our iniqnities, the chaftifcment of ollr peace.wM laid.upon him, ~ndrvith h~ ftriprs we are he.tled; he was wounded, brmfed, chafi1fed, whtpped wuh llnpes; tf you would know with how many firipes? fome reckon them to the number of the .soul– diers, fix hundred and lixty, or a tboufand firipes; others reckon them accordmg to the number of the bones compacted in mans body; which fay .Anar.mij/s aretwo hun– dred and iixty, and Chrifi having received for every bone three llrrpes accordmg to the triple manner of his whipping, tlH'Y amounted in all to feven hundred and CJg!uy ftripes; others reckon them to five thoufand, above the forty wluch the Jews were commanded not to exceed in.--And the truth is if the whole band of Souldters were the whippers of Chrifl ( as fome would have it J I cannot fee but his llripes might be more than fo ; when the fon of an lfrR.elitif/, woman blafpbemed God, the Lord fa1d ro Levit. '4·, 4 , MofeJ, Bring forth him that hath curfcd wJthom the camp,. and let all that hra>·d htm lay their handJ upon hi& head, and let all the congregation jlonc htm ;· now Chnflhad fa1d be– fore all rhe band, that he was the So11 of uod; which they called blafpemy ; and there– fore why might the)! not all (according to this law ) lay the1r hands upon h1m~ and fall upon him if not wuh fiones ( wluch now was turned uno wluppmg) yet wuh 10ds, whip-cords, and little chains? . . . . . I 011ll not contend about the number of !m finpes; but t!m ".'Cenam, that the Soul– diers, with violence and unrelenting hands, executed their comm1ffion; they tore In~ ten– der fle0 1, till rhe pillar and pavement wer~ .rurpled with a 010wer of blood t and tf we may brlie.e Bernard, " They piowed With therr wh1ps upon !us back: ana made long "furrows, and after thatthey turned his back upon thep11lar, and wlupt !mbclly and " his breafl, rill there was no part free from !us face unto h1s foot. A fcou1gmgable to kill any man, and would have killed him, buttbat he,was prefened by the Godheadlo endure, and to fuffer a more 0Jameful denh. We .>'
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