Deuteronomy 25:2-3
And it shall be, if the wicked man[ be] worthy to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down, and to be beaten before his face, according to his fault, by a certain number.Forty stripes he may give him,[ and] not exceed: lest,[ if] he should exceed, and beat him above these with many stripes, then thy brother should seem vile unto thee.