2 Corinthians 11:24

2 Corinthians 11:24

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

a. NLT: Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. [Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.]

b. NIV: Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. [THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by Permission of Biblica, Inc.® All rights reserved worldwide.]

c. YLT: from Jews five times forty stripes save one I did receive; [The Young's Literal Translation was translated by Robert Young, who believed in a strictly literal translation of God's word. This version of the Bible is in the public domain.]

d. Amplified Bible Classic:  Five times I received from [the hands of] the Jews forty [lashes all] but one; [The Young's Literal Translation was translated by Robert Young, who believed in a strictly literal translation of God's word. This version of the Bible is in the public domain.]

e. Worrell Translation: from the Jews five  times I received forty stripes save one; [Copyright 1904 by A.S. Worrell. Copyright assigned to the Assemblies of God, Springfield, MO. This edition was published 1980 by the Gospel Publishing House, Springfield, MO 65802. Printed in the U.S.A.]

1. “Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one.”

a. Of [Strong: 5259 hupŏ, hoop-o'; a primary preposition; under, i.e. (with the genitive case) of place (beneath), or with verbs (the agency or means, through); (with the accusative case) of place (whither (underneath) or where (below) or time (when (at)):—among, by, from, in, of, under, with.

b. [the] Jews [Strong: 2453 Ioudaîos, ee-oo-dah'-yos; from G2448 (in the sense of G2455 as a country); Judæan, i.e. belonging to Jehudah:—Jew(-ess), of Judæa.

c. five times [Strong: 3999 pentákis, pen-tak-ece'; multiplicative adverb from G4002; five times:—five times.

d. received [I] [Strong: 2983 lambánō, lam-ban'-o; a prolonged form of a primary verb, which is use only as an alternate in certain tenses; to take (in very many applications, literally and figuratively (properly objective or active, to get hold of; whereas G1209 is rather subjective or passive, to have offered to one; while G138 is more violent, to seize or remove)):—accept, + be amazed, assay, attain, bring, × when I call, catch, come on (X unto), + forget, have, hold, obtain, receive (X after), take (away, up).]

e. forty [stripes] [Strong: 5062 tessarákonta, tes-sar-ak'-on-tah; the decade of G5064; forty:—forty.]

f. save [Strong: 3844 pará, par-ah'; a primary preposition; properly, near; i.e. (with genitive case) from beside (literally or figuratively), (with dative case) at (or in) the vicinity of (objectively or subjectively), (with accusative case) to the proximity with (local (especially beyond or opposed to) or causal (on account of):—above, against, among, at, before, by, contrary to, × friend, from, + give (such things as they), + that (she) had, × his, in, more than, nigh unto, (out) of, past, save, side…by, in the sight of, than, (there-)fore, with.]

g. one [Strong: 1520 heîs, hice; a primary numeral; one:—a(-n, -ny, certain), + abundantly, man, one (another), only, other, some.

1). To get an idea of what Paul was talking about we need to go to Deuteronomy.

a). Deuteronomy 25:1-3 “If there be a controversy between men, and they come unto judgment, that the judges may judge them; then they shall justify the righteous, and  condemn the wicked.
25:2 And it shall be, if the wicked man be worthy to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down, and to be beaten before his face, according to his fault, by a certain number.
25:3 Forty stripes he may give him, and not to exceed: lest, if he should exceed, and beat him above these with many stripes, then thy brother should seem vile unto thee.”

2). These incidents of getting beaten by the Jewish authorities is not in the record of Acts. What we can take from this record is that during Paul’s journeys, probably the early ones, Paul ministered to Jewish synagogues and constantly ran into persecution. I personally believe between the time he fled from Jerusalem and sent to Tarsus in Acts 9:30, and the time Barnabas came to Tarsus to bring him to Antioch in Acts 11:25, 26, that Saul experienced many of these incidents.

3). William M. Ramsay who wrote Saint Paul the Traveler and the Roman Citizen, theorizes that Saul spent at least 8 years in Tarsus. Given the zeal that he had before he was sent to Tarsus to protect his life, I don’t believe that Saul remained idle and silent. While in Arabia, probably on Mt. Sinai Paul received either a large portion of the New Covenant or all of it, (Galatians 1:15-17; Galatians 4:25). He received it directly from Jesus, Galatians 1:11, 12. The revelation he received fueled his zeal to the point during the first three years of his Christian experience Saul had to flee for his life at least twice. But I don’t believe trying to kill Saul was the first reaction to Saul’s message, which from their Jewish perspective, was heresy. The Jewish community tries to follow the law and in light of that I believe their first reaction to Saul’s message was that he needs to be disciplined according to the law first. I think that all of the “five times” getting 39 stripes from the Jews is referring to this. Where and when exactly all this happened I don’t know, but my reasoning I believe is sound.