OT: lashes [Was: more lost subjunctive; protest at]

Joel S. Berson Berson at ATT.NET
Sat Dec 1 22:26:47 UTC 2007


At 12/1/2007 02:34 PM, Wilson Gray wrote:
>OT: Should there be anyone who doesn't already know, the lashes are
>applied incrementally and not all at once. The lashee is allowed to
>heal between sets of lashings. For dekkids, I'd wondered how slaves
>and seamen lived through those twenty to 100 lashes that you read
>about.

By :"all at once", I will assume Wilson does not mean "at the same
instant."  That would require 40 lashers, or about 4 and 1/2
simultaneous cats-o-nine-tails.

I believe up to 40 lashes could be given in one set in colonial
America, limited by something or other in the Bible.  This could be
repeated for multiple transgressions.  However, it will take me some
time to cite authorities (whether Biblical or Colonial), if I be required to.

Joel

Joel

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