What did it mean in Abinadi’s day to scourge someone with faggots?

Thomas R. Valletta

“We generally say that Abinadi was burned at the stake—and that may be true, although technically it might not be the whole story. … Three words in [verse 13] should be noted. The first is that they bound him. … The second is that they scourged him. To scourge means to whip, flail, or beat. The third term is faggots. … A faggot is a bundle of sticks or twigs. This passage seems to say that Abinadi’s tormentors took burning torches and poked him with these, burning his skin until he died” (Matthews, “Abinadi,” in Nyman and Tate, Mosiah, 103).

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