94:12 How blessed is the one 1 whom you instruct, O Lord,
the one whom you teach from your law,
3:11 My child, do not despise discipline from the Lord, 2
and do not loathe 3 his rebuke.
3:12 For the Lord disciplines 4 those he loves,
just as a father 5 disciplines 6 the son in whom he delights.
31:18 I have indeed 7 heard the people of Israel 8 say mournfully,
‘We were like a calf untrained to the yoke. 9
You disciplined us and we learned from it. 10
Let us come back to you and we will do so, 11
for you are the Lord our God.
“My son, do not scorn 12 the Lord’s discipline
or give up when he corrects 13 you.
12:6 “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son he accepts.” 14
12:7 Endure your suffering 15 as discipline; 16 God is treating you as sons. For what son is there that a father does not discipline? 12:8 But if you do not experience discipline, 17 something all sons 18 have shared in, then you are illegitimate and are not sons. 12:9 Besides, we have experienced discipline from 19 our earthly fathers 20 and we respected them; shall we not submit ourselves all the more to the Father of spirits and receive life? 21 12:10 For they disciplined us for a little while as seemed good to them, but he does so for our benefit, that we may share his holiness. 12:11 Now all discipline seems painful at the time, not joyful. 22 But later it produces the fruit of peace and righteousness 23 for those trained by it.
1 tn Heb “[Oh] the happiness [of] the man.” Hebrew wisdom literature often assumes and reflects the male-oriented perspective of ancient Israelite society. The principle of the psalm is certainly applicable to all people, regardless of their gender or age. To facilitate modern application, we translate the gender and age specific “man” with the more neutral “one.” The generic masculine pronoun is used in v. 2.
2 tn Heb “the discipline of the
3 tn The verb קוּץ (quts) has a two-fold range of meaning: (1) “to feel a loathing; to abhor” and (2) “to feel a sickening dread” (BDB 880 s.v.). The parallelism with “do not despise” suggests the former nuance here. The common response to suffering is to loathe it; however, the righteous understand that it refines one’s moral character and that it is a means to the blessing.
4 tn Heb “chastens.” The verb יָכַח (yakhakh) here means “to chasten; to punish” (HALOT 410 s.v. יכח 1) or “to correct; to rebuke” (BDB 407 s.v. 6). The context suggests some kind of corporeal discipline rather than mere verbal rebuke or cognitive correction. This verse is quoted in Heb 12:5-6 to show that suffering in the service of the
5 tc MT reads וּכְאָב (ukh’av, “and like a father”) but the LXX reflects the Hiphil verb וְיַכְאִב (vÿyakh’iv, “and scourges every son he receives”). Both readings fit the parallelism; however, it is unnecessary to emend MT which makes perfectly good sense. The fact that the writer of Hebrews quotes this passage from the LXX and it became part of the inspired NT text does not mean that the LXX reflects the original Hebrew reading here.
6 tn The verb “disciplines” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the parallelism; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.
7 tn The use of “indeed” is intended to reflect the infinitive absolute which precedes the verb for emphasis (see IBHS 585-86 §35.3.1f).
8 tn Heb “Ephraim.” See the study note on 31:9. The more familiar term is used, the term “people” added to it, and plural pronouns used throughout the verse to aid in understanding.
9 tn Heb “like an untrained calf.” The metaphor is that of a calf who has never been broken to bear the yoke (cf. Hos 4:16; 10:11).
10 tn The verb here is from the same root as the preceding and is probably an example of the “tolerative Niphal,” i.e., “I let myself be disciplined/I responded to it.” See IBHS 389-90 §23.4g and note the translation of some of the examples there, especially Isa 19:22; 65:1.
11 tn Heb “Bring me back in order that I may come back.” For the use of the plural pronouns see the marginal note at the beginning of the verse. The verb “bring back” and “come back” are from the same root in two different verbal stems and in the context express the idea of spiritual repentance and restoration of relationship not physical return to the land. (See BDB 999 s.v. שׁוּב Hiph.2.a for the first verb and 997 s.v. Qal.6.c for the second.) For the use of the cohortative to express purpose after the imperative see GKC 320 §108.d or IBHS 575 §34.5.2b.
12 tn Or “disregard,” “think little of.”
13 tn Or “reproves,” “rebukes.” The Greek verb ἐλέγχω (elencw) implies exposing someone’s sin in order to bring correction.
14 sn A quotation from Prov 3:11-12.
15 tn Grk “endure,” with the object (“your suffering”) understood from the context.
16 tn Or “in order to become disciplined.”
17 tn Grk “you are without discipline.”
18 tn Grk “all”; “sons” is implied by the context.
19 tn Grk “we had our earthly fathers as discipliners.”
20 tn Grk “the fathers of our flesh.” In Hebrews, “flesh” is a characteristic way of speaking about outward, physical, earthly life (cf. Heb 5:7; 9:10, 13), as opposed to the inward or spiritual dimensions of life.
21 tn Grk “and live.”
22 tn Grk “all discipline at the time does not seem to be of joy, but of sorrow.”
23 tn Grk “the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”
24 tn The word for “man” or “individual” here is ἀνήρ (anhr), which often means “male” or “man (as opposed to woman).” However, as BDAG 79 s.v. 2 says, here it is “equivalent to τὶς someone, a person.”
25 tc Most
26 tn Grk “Behold! We regard…”
27 sn An allusion to Exod 34:6; Neh 9:17; Ps 86:15; 102:13; Joel 2:13; Jonah 4:2.
28 tn The Greek pronoun ὅσος (Josos) means “as many as” and can be translated “All those” or “Everyone.”