Proverbs 13:24

13:24 The one who spares his rod ¹  hates ²  his child, ³ 

but the one who loves his child ⁴  is diligent ⁵  in disciplining ⁶  him.

Proverbs 22:15

22:15 Folly is bound up ⁷  in the heart of a child, ⁸ 

but the rod of discipline ⁹  will drive it far from him.

Proverbs 23:13-14

23:13 Do not withhold discipline from a child;

even if you strike him with the rod, he will not die.

23:14 If you strike ¹⁰  him with the rod,

you will deliver him ¹¹  from death. ¹² 

Proverbs 29:15

29:15 A rod and reproof ¹³  impart ¹⁴  wisdom,

but a child who is unrestrained ¹⁵  brings shame ¹⁶  to his mother. ¹⁷ 

Proverbs 29:17

29:17 Discipline your child, and he will give you rest; ¹⁸ 

he will bring you ¹⁹  happiness. ²⁰ 

Hebrews 12:7-10

12:7 Endure your suffering ²¹  as discipline; ²²  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, ²³  something all sons ²⁴  have shared in, then you are illegitimate and are not sons. 12:9 Besides, we have experienced discipline from ²⁵  our earthly fathers ²⁶  and we respected them; shall we not submit ourselves all the more to the Father of spirits and receive life? ²⁷  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.

[13:24]  ¹ sn R. N. Whybray cites an Egyptian proverb that says that “boys have their ears on their backsides; they listen when they are beaten” (Proverbs [CBC], 80). Cf. Prov 4:3-4, 10-11; Eph 6:4; Heb 12:5-11.

[13:24]  ² sn The importance of parental disciplining is stressed by the verbs “hate” and “love.” “Hating” a child in this sense means in essence abandoning or rejecting him; “loving” a child means embracing and caring for him. Failure to discipline a child is tantamount to hating him – not caring about his character.

[13:24]  ³ tn Heb “his son.”

[13:24]  ⁴ tn Heb “him”; the referent (his child) is specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:24]  ⁵ tn Heb “seeks him.” The verb שָׁחַר (shahar, “to be diligent; to do something early”; BDB 1007 s.v.) could mean “to be diligent to discipline,” or “to be early or prompt in disciplining.” See G. R. Driver, “Hebrew Notes on Prophets and Proverbs,” JTS 41 (1940): 170.

[13:24]  ⁶ tn The noun מוּסָר (musar, “discipline”) functions as an adverbial accusative of reference: “he is diligent in reference to discipline.”

[22:15]  ⁷ sn The passive participle is figurative (implied comparison with “binding”); it means that folly forms part of a child’s nature (J. H. Greenstone, Proverbs, 238).

[22:15]  ⁸ tn The “heart of a child” (לֶב־נָעַר, lev-na’ar) refers here to the natural inclination of a child to foolishness. The younger child is meant in this context, but the word can include youth. R. N. Whybray suggests that this idea might be described as a doctrine of “original folly” (Proverbs [CBC], 125). Cf. TEV “Children just naturally do silly, careless things.”

[22:15]  ⁹ tn The word “rod” is a metonymy of adjunct; it represents physical chastening for direction or punishment, to suppress folly and develop potential. The genitive (“discipline”) may be taken as an attributive genitive (“a chastening rod”) or an objective genitive, (“a rod [= punishment] that brings about correction/discipline”).

[23:14]  ¹⁰ tn Or “punish” (NIV). The syntax of these two lines suggests a conditional clause (cf. NCV, NRSV).

[23:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “his soul.” The term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul”) functions as a synecdoche of part (= soul) for the whole (= person); see BDB 660 s.v. 4.

[23:14]  ¹² tn The term שְׁאוֹל (shÿ’ol, “Sheol”) in this context probably means “death” (so NIV, NCV, NLT) and not the realm of the departed (wicked) spirits (cf. NAB “the nether world”). In the wisdom of other lands, Ahiqar 6:82 says, “If I strike you, my son, you will not die.” The idea is that discipline helps the child to a full life; if the child dies prematurely, it would be more than likely a consequence of not being trained by discipline. In the book of Proverbs the “death” mentioned here could be social as well as physical.

[29:15]  ¹³ tn The word “rod” is a metonymy of cause, in which the instrument being used to discipline is mentioned in place of the process of disciplining someone. So the expression refers to the process of discipline that is designed to correct someone. Some understand the words “rod and reproof” to form a hendiadys, meaning “a correcting [or, reproving] rod” (cf. NAB, NIV “the rod of correction”).

[29:15]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “gives” (so NAB).

[29:15]  ¹⁵ tn The form is a Pual participle; the form means “to let loose” (from the meaning “to send”; cf. KJV, NIV “left to himself”), and so in this context “unrestrained.”

[29:15]  ¹⁶ sn The Hebrew participle translated “brings shame” is a metonymy of effect; the cause is the unruly and foolish things that an unrestrained child will do.

[29:15]  ¹⁷ sn The focus on the mother is probably a rhetorical variation for the “parent” (e.g., 17:21; 23:24-25) and is not meant to assume that only the mother will do the training and endure the shame for a case like this (e.g., 13:24; 23:13).

[29:17]  ¹⁸ tn The verb, a Hiphil imperfect with a suffix, could be subordinated to the preceding imperative to form a purpose clause (indirect volitive classification): “that he may give you rest.” The same then could apply to the second part of the verse.

[29:17]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “your soul.” The noun נַפְשֶׁךָ (nafshekha, “your soul”) is a synecdoche of part (= inner soul) for the whole person (= you); see, e.g., Isa 43:4; 51:23; BDB 600 s.v. 4.a.2.

[29:17]  ²⁰ sn The parallelism of this verse is synthetic; the second half adds the idea of “delight/pleasure” to that of “rest.” So a disciplined child will both relieve anxiety (“give…rest”) and bring happiness to the parents.

[12:7]  ²¹ tn Grk “endure,” with the object (“your suffering”) understood from the context.

[12:7]  ²² tn Or “in order to become disciplined.”

[12:8]  ²³ tn Grk “you are without discipline.”

[12:8]  ²⁴ tn Grk “all”; “sons” is implied by the context.

[12:9]  ²⁵ tn Grk “we had our earthly fathers as discipliners.”

[12:9]  ²⁶ 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.

[12:9]  ²⁷ tn Grk “and live.”