Acts 5:40

Acts 5:40. And to him they agreed. How bitterly many of that council must have reproached themselves for the past! The present vote, which dismissed the apostles with a comparatively light penalty, silently condemned the crucifixion of the apostles' Master as a mistake, perhaps as an awful crime.

And beaten them. The Sanhedrim thus declining to pronounce any decisive judgment on the real question before them, they inflicted scourging as a penalty for disobedience to their commands. This cruel punishment was inflicted on the naked back of the sufferer. The scourge which was used generally consisted of two lashes knotted with bronze, or heavy indented circles of bronze, or terminated by hooks; it was looked upon by Romans as so shameful a chastisement that it was forbidden to be inflicted on a Roman citizen. This torture was endured by our blessed Saviour.