Forty times he shall strike him; he shall not add, lest he continue to strike him beyond these with a great blow, and your brother be degraded before your eyes.
English: ‘And your brother be degraded before your eyes’ – from here they said: if he became soiled with excrement or urine he is exempt [from further lashes].
On the daf / in context: Sifrei teaches that once the offender has suffered the ultimate public degradation of losing control of his bodily functions, the purpose of the penalty has already been achieved.
Type of Learning
Derash on the completion of degradation (Sifrei).
What Is Learned
If during the flogging the offender loses control of his bowels or bladder, the remaining lashes are cancelled. The Torah’s goal of measured public degradation has been fully realized.