Digest of Biblical Civil Law

The only corporal punishment named in the Pentateuch is that of stripes; and the limitations put upon the judges are that they must cause the culprit to be beaten in their presence, and that the number of stripes imposed must not exceed forty (Deut. 35:2-3).
- Wilhelm Bacher and Lewis N. Dembitz, Stripes, Jewish Encyclopedia (1901), at http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=1135&letter=S.