1 Kings 12:10-11

My little finger shall be thicker, &c. Or, rather, is thicker, and therefore stronger, and more able to crush you, if you proceed in these mutinous demands, than his loins In which is the principal seat of strength. My father was young and weak, and had many enemies, when he first took the kingdom, but I am the undoubted heir, and I find the kingdom by his wise care, far better settled and fortified against all enemies, foreign or domestic, than he did. Or, they advise him, in these words, to threaten to lay burdens upon them as much heavier than his father's, as the loins of a man are thicker than his little finger. I will add to your yoke That is, I will make it heavier and stronger, both to punish your petulance, and to curb and restrain you from seditions attempts. My father chastised you with whips Punished and made you smart when you transgressed his laws or resisted his authority; but I will chastise you with scorpions With such whips as will sting you like scorpions. If you proceed in these courses, I will most severely punish you. What sort of instrument is here meant by scorpions, cannot now be perfectly determined; though some authors think that whips with rowels in them, or sharp thorns tied to them, are intended by the expression. Undoubtedly it was a scourge, called so from its cruelty.