# Proverbs 23:13-14 The rod



## JesusIsLord (Apr 21, 2016)

Good day gents, I have a co-worker that is a believer but doesn't believe that spanking is a just way to deal with your childs disobedience. However, we spoke bit about proverbs 23:13-14 which speaks about discipline with the rod and it not hurting the child. So my question is what does the original language say? Does rod mean a rod and should I be considering something else when exegeting this text?


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## Contra_Mundum (Apr 21, 2016)

(KJV) Prv.20:30, "The blueness of a wound cleanseth away evil: so do stripes the inward parts of the belly."

(ESV) Prv.20:30, "Blows that wound cleanse away evil; strokes make clean the innermost parts."

The picturesque language of the KJV calls to mind a bruise' coloration. The ESV translates "blows;" the same term is in Is.53:5, "by his _*stripes*_ we are healed."

A child does not deserve a _beating._ A corrective spanking or application of the rod is not a beating. The theory of corporal punishment is simple: the relatively mild discomfort of light physical pain, resulting from bad behavior instantly corrected is a valuable lesson, akin to the child snatching his own hand back from reaching out to touch a candle's flame (one error may be enough to last a lifetime).

The BEST time to teach respect for parental authority is in the toddler years. Most children have some inclination to seek approval anyway, especially of those figures to whom they have bonded emotionally. This desire wars with their innate self-centeredness, which leads even the very young to elevate personal will. A loving parent aims at helping a child to find the proper balance. A compliant child can be trained to respond to "No" and "Come" etc. quickly by the judicious use of slight discomforts to the backside. The goal is to get obedience without resorting to the rod at all!

Corporal punishment has the further advantage of beginning life-lessons about cause and effect. Moral consequences are similar to physical consequences. Bumps and bruises are a part of growing up; gravity is an unforgiving mistress. The moral sense is in need of development, just as much as balance. Reasoning with a toddler is not effective (as they lack the full capacity), but it is possible for most children to learn some moral self-control long before they can reason using cause and effect. So much better for a child to learn to fear properly parental "wrath," rather than the cold indifference of a speeding car from playing in the forbidden street.

Moreover, it is good to learn about moral consequences when light correction has great effect. For the older the child gets, the stronger must be the penalty. And you don't want to be trying to spank a bigger kid; to be effective, it would have to become a true beating--but in our society, those are not even seen as civil penalties any more (for better or worse). I remember the nightly network news here in the States when I was in High School, about some American dude who broke the law in Singapore and who was publicly whipped with a rod (big one) on his bared buttocks. I guess someone tried to make an international incident out of it, to try to get the sentence changed.

The points to note are 1) the ease of comparison between a child's discipline and the grown-up punishment; and 2) the fact that for the adult the corrective action had become a true beating. Incorrigibility is a tragic thing; penalties escalate; while the goal may still include some hope of reform, things are shifting over to pure retribution.

As for Prv.23:13, the idea that the rod will not literally hurt is not there; but "he will not die." He should neither die at all from a light-correction (painful though it may be); and he should be deterred from crimes that would bring on real danger (from bad company and activity) or even the death-penalty. The continuum of punishment is in view.

Here are some other texts: 
Job 5:17-18 "Behold, blessed is the one whom God reproves; therefore despise not the discipline of the Almighty. For he wounds, but he binds up; he shatters, but his hands heal."

Heb.12:11, "For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it."

Rev.3:19 "Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent."


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