We are swinging through another cycle of child abuse charges, comments, and confusion. The advocates for removal of privileges type punishment, and bold expressions of cruelty of a belt, paddle, tree limb, or hand action on a girl or boy’s bottom are rising to the surface to express strong statements against any corporal punishment. Sadly, such comments would nullify and eliminate all comments Solomon made about “the rod” and child discipline in Proverbs.

Please, before you seek to dismiss Biblical Expressions about child discipline, carefully note what God’s Word teaches. In Proverbs 13:24, Solomon stated that a father will not spare the rod, if he “loves” his son, he will discipline him diligently! Note that he “loves” (Heb. Aheb—loves as one’s own soul, breathe after desire) the child, and “disciplines” (Heb. Musar—corrects, example, instruction) “diligently” (Heb. Shachar—carefully prepares chastisement, to long after). Proverbs 22:15 states that the rod will remove from the child his or her “foolishness” (Heb. Ivveleth—impiety, power, pre-eminence of fools). Proverbs 23:13f adds that the use of the rod will “deliver” his soul (Heb. Natsal—to snatch out of danger, to escape).¹

Meditate on all that Solomon wrote! Our culture, social scene, and those in the church desperately need that kind of love, instruction, discipline to remove some fatal foolishness, impiety, and uncontrolled power manifested by some Young People of our day!

Put a rod, or belt, or paddle, or tree limb, or a sturdy hand with that kind of heart and love and instruction in God’s principles into action—you can be assured it will never result in child abuse! God’s Word—even on child discipline—is still up to date if we will carefully study up on (dig deeply into) God’s Word!

¹All of these definitions are taken from Samuel Prideaux Tregelles’s Gesenius’ Hebrew & Chaldee Lexicon, Wm. B. Eerdman’s Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1967, pp. 15f, 92, 21, 563.