Deuteronomy 25:2-3

YLT(i) 2 then it hath come to pass, if the wrong-doer is to be smitten, that the judge hath caused him to fall down, and one hath smitten him in his presence, according to the sufficiency of his wrong-doing, by number; 3 forty times he doth smite him—he is not adding, lest, he is adding to smite him above these—many stripes, and thy brother is lightly esteemed in thine eyes.