Psalms 103:13

103:13 As a father has compassion on his children, ¹ 

so the Lord has compassion on his faithful followers. ² 

Proverbs 3:12

3:12 For the Lord disciplines ³  those he loves,

just as a father ⁴  disciplines ⁵  the son in whom he delights.

Proverbs 4:1-4

Admonition to Follow Righteousness and Avoid Wickedness ⁶ 

4:1 Listen, children, ⁷  to a father’s instruction, ⁸ 

and pay attention so that ⁹  you may gain ¹⁰  discernment.

4:2 Because I give ¹¹  you good instruction, ¹² 

do not forsake my teaching.

4:3 When I was a son to my father, ¹³ 

a tender only child ¹⁴  before my mother,

4:4 he taught me, and he said to me:

“Let your heart lay hold of my words;

keep my commands so that ¹⁵  you will live.

Ephesians 6:4

6:4 Fathers, ¹⁶  do not provoke your children to anger, ¹⁷  but raise them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Ephesians 6:1

6:1 Children, ¹⁸  obey your parents in the Lord ¹⁹  for this is right.

Ephesians 2:11

New Life Corporately

2:11 Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh – who are called “uncircumcision” by the so-called “circumcision” that is performed on the body ²⁰  by human hands –

Hebrews 12:5-11

12:5 And have you forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as sons?

“My son, do not scorn ²¹  the Lord’s discipline

or give up when he corrects ²²  you.

12:6 “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son he accepts.” ²³ 

12:7 Endure your suffering ²⁴  as discipline; ²⁵  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, ²⁶  something all sons ²⁷  have shared in, then you are illegitimate and are not sons. 12:9 Besides, we have experienced discipline from ²⁸  our earthly fathers ²⁹  and we respected them; shall we not submit ourselves all the more to the Father of spirits and receive life? ³⁰  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. ³¹  But later it produces the fruit of peace and righteousness ³²  for those trained by it.

[103:13]  ¹ tn Or “sons,” but the Hebrew term sometimes refers to children in general.

[103:13]  ² tn Heb “those who fear him.”

[3:12]  ³ 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 Lord is a sign of membership in the covenant community (i.e., sonship).

[3:12]  ⁴ 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.

[3:12]  ⁵ 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.

[4:1]  ⁶ sn The chapter includes an exhortation to acquire wisdom (1-4a), a list of the benefits of wisdom (4b-9), a call to pursue a righteous lifestyle (10-13), a warning against a wicked lifestyle (14-19), and an exhortation to righteousness (20-27).

[4:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “sons.”

[4:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “discipline.”

[4:1]  ⁹ tn The Qal infinitive construct with preposition ל (lamed) indicates the purpose/result of the preceding imperative.

[4:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “know” (so KJV, ASV).

[4:2]  ¹¹ tn The perfect tense has the nuance of instantaneous perfect; the sage is now calling the disciples to listen. It could also be a perfect of resolve, indicating what he is determined to do.

[4:2]  ¹² tn The word לֶקַח (leqakh, “instruction”) can be subjective (instruction acquired) or objective (the thing being taught). The latter fits best here.

[4:3]  ¹³ tn Or “a boy with my father.”

[4:3]  ¹⁴ tc The LXX introduces the ideas of “obedient” and “beloved” for these two terms. This seems to be a free rendering, if not a translation of a different Hebrew textual tradition. The MT makes good sense and requires no emendation.

[4:4]  ¹⁵ tn The imperative with the vav expresses volitional sequence after the preceding imperative: “keep and then you will live,” meaning “keep so that you may live.”

[6:4]  ¹⁶ tn Or perhaps “Parents” (so TEV, CEV). The plural οἱ πατέρες (Joi patere", “fathers”) can be used to refer to both the male and female parent (BDAG 786 s.v. πατήρ 1.b).

[6:4]  ¹⁷ tn Or “do not make your children angry.” BDAG 780 s.v. παροργίζω states “make angry.” The Greek verb in Col 3:21 is a different one with a slightly different nuance.

[6:1]  ¹⁸ tn The use of the article τά (ta) with τέκνα (tekna) functions in a generic way to distinguish this group from husbands, wives, fathers and slaves and is left, therefore, untranslated. The generic article is used with γύναῖκες (gunaikes) in 5:22, ἄνδρες (andres) in 5:25, δοῦλοι (douloi) in 6:5, and κύριοι (kurioi) in 6:9.

[6:1]  ¹⁹ tc B D* F G as well as a few versional and patristic representatives lack “in the Lord” (ἐν κυρίῳ, en kuriw), while the phrase is well represented in Ì⁴⁶ א A D¹ I^vid Ψ 0278 0285 33 1739 1881 Ï sy co. Scribes may have thought that the phrase could be regarded a qualifier on the kind of parents a child should obey (viz., only Christian parents), and would thus be tempted to delete the phrase to counter such an interpretation. It is unlikely that the phrase would have been added, since the form used to express such sentiment in this Haustafel is ὡς τῷ κυρίῳ/Χριστῷ (Jw" tw kuriw/Cristw, “as to the Lord/Christ”; see 5:22; 6:5). Even though the witnesses for the omission are impressive, it is more likely that the phrase was deleted than added by scribal activity.

[2:11]  ²⁰ tn Grk “in the flesh.”

[12:5]  ²¹ tn Or “disregard,” “think little of.”

[12:5]  ²² tn Or “reproves,” “rebukes.” The Greek verb ἐλέγχω (elencw) implies exposing someone’s sin in order to bring correction.

[12:6]  ²³ sn A quotation from Prov 3:11-12.

[12:7]  ²⁴ tn Grk “endure,” with the object (“your suffering”) understood from the context.

[12:7]  ²⁵ tn Or “in order to become disciplined.”

[12:8]  ²⁶ tn Grk “you are without discipline.”

[12:8]  ²⁷ tn Grk “all”; “sons” is implied by the context.

[12:9]  ²⁸ tn Grk “we had our earthly fathers as discipliners.”

[12:9]  ²⁹ 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]  ³⁰ tn Grk “and live.”

[12:11]  ³¹ tn Grk “all discipline at the time does not seem to be of joy, but of sorrow.”

[12:11]  ³² tn Grk “the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”