When Malkut (lashes) is given, one of the Dayanim (judges) reads different Pesukim (verses) that fit the theme of the punishment. There are usually three Dayanim there. One of them reads the Pesukim. The second judge counts how many lashes have been given, and the third judge announces before each lash that he should hit.
The Mishnah says that he reads the Pesukim starting from Devarim, where it says that if a person is not careful with the words of the Torah, and he violates the mitzvot (commandments) and the name of Hashem, then Hashem is going to hit that person and their children with great and faithful blows. Some versions of this Mishnah have, “Then he goes back and reads these Pesukim again.” But the commentaries take that out. It doesn’t make sense in the context. It would make sense only at the end of the Pesukim. They continue with another set of Pesukim. The judge reads that a person has to keep the agreement with Hashem about following the mitzvot. Then comes a third set of Pesukim, and they conclude that Hashem is merciful and forgives sin.
The Dayanim should try to finish these Pesukim when the Malkut is done. If he sees that he is finishing, he should try to calculate how many lashes are supposed to be given. If it’s a lot of lashes, read these Pesukim slowly. If it’s not many lashes, he should read them quickly. If he finishes too quickly, he starts over and reads these Pesukim again. He should also end with the Malkut. And that’s what we read over here. After he finishes these Pesukim, he goes back to the beginning and reads them once more.
We learned in the second perek (chapter) that if somebody kills by mistake, he goes to an Ir Miklat (city of refuge). Here the Mishnah tells us that a court attendant administering the lashes would not go to the Ir Miklat because giving the Malkut is a mitzvah. If the one who was getting lashed, the one who was getting whipped, died by the hand of the Beit Din (court) while receiving Malkut, the person who gave him the Malkut is Patur. He’s exempt from Galut (exile), even though he killed somebody here inadvertently. He did so while he was engaged in a mitzvah, and therefore he would not have to go into Galut.
But if he added any more lashes than he was supposed to—let’s say he miscalculated, counted wrong, and gave extra lashes, and then the sinner died as a result—in that case, the person who was whipping him would go into exile for killing him, because it wasn’t a mitzvah to hit him more. Therefore, he is guilty of killing him inadvertently, and he’s not exempt from the Galut.
If, while receiving lashes, the person who was getting lashed went to the bathroom because he couldn’t control himself, whether with waste or urine, Patur; he would be exempt from the rest of the lashes. From that point on, he had received such great embarrassment, and the goal of the Malkut he was getting was embarrassment. The Pasuk (verse) tells us that the whole point is that your brother is going to be disgraced or degraded before your eyes. So if somebody goes to the bathroom publicly like that, that’s enough of a disgrace, and we don’t have to continue giving him the rest of the punishment.
Rabbi Yehuda argues and says that a man is exempt from lashes only if he soils himself with waste, by going to the bathroom in that way, as opposed to urine. If he only urinates, that would not exempt him because that’s not such an embarrassment. But with ha'isha b'mayim (the woman with water), a woman who is much more sensitive to shame, even a lesser shame like urinating herself is enough to exempt her from the rest of the Malkut.