Его ручка [то есть ручка, к которой прикреплен ремешок] - это ширина руки [длинна], а ширина (у стринга икры) - ширина руки, а его кончик (у ремешка) достигает его пупка. [По этой причине в ручке должно быть отверстие, благодаря которому бусина может удлиняться или укорачиваться, как требуется; ибо он поражен только ремешком, наконечник которого достигает пупка.] И он поражен, одна треть впереди и две трети сзади, [написано (Второзаконие 25: 2): «И он поразит его пред собой по злости его ". «Перед ним», согласно одному злу (то есть одной трети) и позади него, одной трети на одном плече и одной трети на другом.] И он поражает его, не стоя и не сидя, но наклонившись, это пишется (Там же): «Тогда судья согнет его». И тот, кто поражает, делает это одной рукой [(но когда он поднимает стринги, он делает это обеими руками)], изо всех сил, [написано (там же 3): «большой удар».]
Bartenura on Mishnah Makkot
ידה טפח – the handle that the strap is hanging from, is the length of a hand-breadth.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Makkot
Introduction
Mishnah thirteen continues to describe the whip and how the lashes are to be administered.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Makkot
ורחבה – of the strap of the calf is a hand-breadth.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Makkot
The handle is a handbreadth long and a handbreadth wide, its tip reaching to the edge of the [offender’s] abdomen. Our mishnah continues to describe the whip used for lashing. Its handle was one handbreadth by one handbreadth. The tip of the whip, meaning the extra straps, should be long enough to reach the offender’s abdomen when the minister strikes him. The offender will be struck by the tip and not by the body of the whip, made of the cowhide.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Makkot
וראשה מגעת על פי כריסו – for that reason, there must be in the handle of the strap a hole, that the sexton who flogs can lengthen or shorten the strap as he wishes, for we do not flog a person other than with a strap whose head reaches the belly which is his navel.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Makkot
He administers one-third [of the lashes] in front and two-thirds behind. He lashes him not in a standing or sitting position but stooping, as it says, “And the judge shall cause him to fall [stoop] down” (Deut. 25:2). He who administers the lashes lashes with his one hand and with his whole force. As we learned previously, one-third of the lashes are on his front and two-thirds on his back. The offender, when he is being lashed, is not to stand nor to sit but to lean over. This is learned from the verse which states that the judge should cause him to fall over. The verse is understood not to mean that the judge should cause him to fall all the way down but to stoop down. The person lashing can use only one hand but he should use all of his force.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Makkot
שליש מלפניו – as it is written (Deuteronomy 25:2): “and be given lashes in his presence, [by count] as his guilt warrants” – “in his presence (i.e., in his front) as his guilt warrants” – one, and from his back – two. מלפניו – on his heart. מאחריו – one-third on this shoulder and one-third on the other shoulder.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Makkot
Questions for Further Thought: • Why do you think that two-thirds of the lashes are given on the back and one-third on the front?
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Bartenura on Mishnah Makkot
מכה בידו אחת – but when he lifts the strap, he lifts it with his two hands.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Makkot
כבל כחו – as it is written (Deuteronomy 25:3): “to excess, [your brother be degraded before your eyes].”
