Note: The Jews had a law limiting whip lashes to 40 (Deuteronomy 25:3). To ensure this was never exceeded, “39 lashes” became the standard of punishment. Paul mentions undergoing this penalty five times in 2 Corinthians 11:24 . Whether Jesus’ flogging was 39 lashes or not we cannot say as His punishment was conducted by Romans. It was probably much more cruel than the Jewish version, and something that Bouguereau in his The Flagellation of Our Lord Jesus Christ (1880) somewhat sanitizes.