OET interlinear 2 COR 11:24

11:24

Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one: The phrase Five times indicates that the Jews whipped Paul on five different occasions, and that on each occasion they whipped him thirty-nine times (forty lashes minus one).

I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one: This clause refers to the Jews striking Paul with a whip. Paul probably used the verb received to keep the focus on himself. In some languages it is more natural to refer to the Jews striking Paul with a whip than translating the verb received. For example:

the Jews whipped me the forty lashes minus one

the Jews: This phrase refers to Jewish leaders. They could have been synagogue leaders or city leaders or some other kind of leader.

In some languages a literal translation would wrongly indicate that Jews without proper authority were whipping Paul. If that is true in your language, you may want to explain in your translation. For example:

the Jewish leaders (NLT)

forty lashes minus one: This phrase refers to thirty-nine strikes with a whip. This was the worst punishment (other than death) that the Jews used. They used thirty-nine lashes on those who broke their more important laws. They used a leather whip. Their laws allowed forty at the most, but they always made sure to strike one less than forty in case they had not counted correctly. A man would whip the lawbreaker thirteen times on his chest and thirteen times on each shoulder. This kind of punishment was very severe. Another way to translate this phrase is:

thirty-nine lashes (GNT)