Perirrhegnymi (G4048) means to tear off all around — to strip or rip off clothing completely. Appearing only once in the NT (Acts 16:22), it describes the Roman magistrates tearing the garments of Paul and Silas before ordering them beaten with rods in Philippi. The verb's intensive form (peri = all around + rhegnymi = tear, break) emphasizes the complete, violent stripping that preceded their flogging.
The stripping and beating of Paul and Silas at Philippi (Acts 16:22-25) produces one of the NT's most stunning reversals. Stripped, beaten, thrown in stocks in the innermost prison — they sang hymns at midnight. The earthquake came. The jailer, ready to kill himself, asked 'What must I do to be saved?' The most humiliating physical act (perirrhegnymi) became the platform for the most powerful spiritual declaration: 'Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.' The tearing of their outer clothing could not touch what was within — the unstrippable joy of the Spirit. Christ's own garments were divided at the cross (John 19:23-24), yet He rose clothed in resurrection glory.