Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 13:24
He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him quickly.
24. betimes ] Or, diligently, R.V. marg. See Pro 1:28 note.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Pro 13:24
He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.
The child wisely chastened
Under this apparent severity is to be found the spirit of true kindness. It would seem as if the last word in the text were an emphatic word. There is a good deal of chastening, but it is not timely; the will has grown strong, the passions have acquired tenacious hold upon the mind, the chastening comes too late in life. It is the easiest of all things to spare the rod; it enables family life to proceed with fluency; it avoids all controversy and all painful collision as between the elder and the younger. For a time this is beautiful, so much so that people commend the family as one characterised by great harmony and union; on the contrary, it ought to be reprobated. The child that is wisely chastened comes to love the very hand that used the rod. Children must be taught that all things are not theirs, that the world is a place for discipline, and that all life is valuable only in proportion as it has been refined and strengthened by patient endurance. Let no merely cruel man take encouragement from these words to use the rod without measure, and to use it merely for the sake of showing his animal strength. That is not the teaching of the passage. The chastening is to be with measure, is to be timely, is to have some proportion to the offence that is visited, and is to give more pain to the inflicter of the punishment than to its receiver. Great wisdom is required in the use of the rod. The rod has to be used upon every man sooner or later; we cannot escape chastisement: we must be made to feel that the world is not all ours, that there are rights and interests to be respected besides those which we ourselves claim: the sooner that lesson can be instilled into the mind the better; if it can be wrought into the heart and memory of childhood it will save innumerable anxieties and disappointments in all after-life. (J. Parker, D. D.)
The wise use of the rod
The rod is to be taken for correction or punishment in general, not specifically for corporal punishment.
1. The rod should be the last resource. The cases in which it is necessary to appeal to the rod are very rare.
2. When the rod is used, be quite sure that a fault has been committed. Children are sometimes severely chastened when they have committed no fault, and this produces a sense of injury and a loss of confidence, which cannot fail to exert evil influences.
3. Let there be a due proportion between the fault and the correction.
4. Never chastise in a passion.
5. Let chastisement be preceded by, or accompanied with, earnest efforts to convince the offender of his fault.
6. Accompany the correction with a system of encouragement. (R. Wardlaw.)
The use of the rod
Properly treated and fully expanded, this subject of the stick would cover all the races of man in all regions and all ages; indeed, it would hide every member of the human family. Attention could be drawn to the respect accorded in every chapter of the worlds history, sacred and profane, to the rabdos–to the fasces of the Roman lictors, which every schoolboy honours (often unconsciously) with an allusion when he says he will lick, or vows he wont be licked–to the heralds staff of Hermes, the caduceus of Mercury, the wand of AEsculapius, the rods of Moses, and the contending sorceress–to the mystic bundle of nine twigs, in honour of the nine muses, that Dr. Bushby loved to wield, and which many a simple English parent believes Solomon, in all his glory, recommended as an element in domestic jurisdiction–to the sacred wands of savage tribes, the staffs of our constables and sheriffs, the highly-polished gold sticks and black rods that hover about the ante-rooms of courts at St. James or Portsoken. The rule of thumb has been said to be the government of this world. And what is this thumb but a short stick, a sceptre emblematic of a sovereign authority which none dares to dispute? The stick, says the Egyptian proverb came down from heaven. (J. Cordy Jeaffreson.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 24. He that spareth his rod hateth his son] That is, if he hated him, he could not do him a greater disservice than not to correct him when his obstinacy or disobedience requires it. We have met with this subject already, and it is a favourite with Solomon. See the places referred to in the margin (Ps 34:10; Ps 37:3).
The Rev. Mr. Holden makes some sensible observations on this passage: “By the neglect of early correction the desires (passions) obtain ascendancy; the temper becomes irascible, peevish, querulous. Pride is nourished, humility destroyed, and by the habit of indulgence the mind is incapacitated to bear with firmness and equanimity the cares and sorrows, the checks and disappointments, which flesh is heir to.”
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
He that spareth, Heb. withholdeth it from his son when it is due to him,
his rod, that correction which his sons fault requires, and he as a father is required to give him,
hateth his son; not directly and properly in regard of his affection, but consequently, and in respect of the event. His fond affection is as pernicious to him as his or another mans hatred could be.
Chasteneth him betimes; either,
1. In his tender years, as soon as he is capable of it. Or,
2. Speedily, before he be hardened and inveterate in sin. Gods favour and blessing gives the righteous man a competent estate, and a heart to use it, and comfort and satisfaction in it; whereas wicked men commonly want either all these blessings, or some of them.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
24. sparethor, “withholds.”
rodof correction.
hatethor, acts as ifhe hated him (compare Pro 3:12;Pro 8:36).
chasteneth . . . betimesor,”diligently seeks for him all useful discipline.”
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
He that spareth his rod hateth his son,…. Who withholds or withdraws his rod of correction, which is in his hand, which he has power to use, and ought to exercise at proper times; he, instead of loving his son, may be said to hate him; for such fond love is no better than hatred; and, if he really hated him, he could scarcely do a more ill thing by him than not to correct him for a fault; which was the sin of good old Eli, and both he and his sons suffered for it;
but he that loveth him; that has a true love for his son, and a hearty concern for his welfare and future good; he will regulate his affections by his judgment, and not give way to a fond passion, to the prejudice of his child: but he
chasteneth him betimes, or “in the morning” x; in the morning of his infancy, before vicious habits are contracted, or he is accustomed to sinning, and hardened in it; or as soon as a crime is perpetrated, before it is forgot or repeated: or every morning, as Jarchi and Aben Ezra; that is, continually, as often as it is necessary, or as faults are committed.
x “mane castigat eum”, Munster; “matutinat ei disciplinam”, Michaelis.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
24 He that spareth his rod hateth his son,
And he who loveth him visits him early with correction.
The paedagogic rule of God, Pro 3:12, avails also for men, Pro 23:13., Pro 29:15. The rod represents here the means of punishment, the patria potestas . He who spareth or avoideth this, and who does this even from love, has yet no true right love for his son; he who loveth him correcteth him early. With of the lxx (cf. Sir. 30:1, ) the thought is in general indicated, but the expression is not explained. Many erroneously regard the suffix of as referring to the object immediately following (de Dieu, Ewald, Bertheau, Zckler); Hitzig, on the contrary, rightly remarks, that in this case we should expect the words to be, after Pro 5:22 (cf. Exo 2:6), . He himself, without any necessity, takes in the sense of the Arab. skhar , compescere . Hofmann ( Schriftbew. ii. 2. 402) is right in saying that “ is connected with a double accusative as elsewhere occurs; and the meaning is, that one ought much more to anticipate correction than restrain it where it is necessary.” means to go out early to anything, according to which a Greek rendering is ( Venet. ) : maturat ei castigationem = mature eum castigat (Fl.). does not denote the early morning of the day (as Rashi, ), but the morning of life (as Euchel, ). “The earlier the fruit, the better the training.” A father who truly wishes well to his son keeps him betimes under strict discipline, to give him while he is yet capable of being influenced the right direction, and to allow no errors to root themselves in him; but he who is indulgent toward his child when he ought to be strict, acts as if he really wished his ruin.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
24 He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.
Note, 1. To the education of children in that which is good there is necessary a due correction of them for what is amiss; every child of ours is a child of Adam, and therefore has that foolishness bound up in its heart which calls for rebuke, more or less, the rod and reproof which give wisdom. Observe, It is his rod that must be used, the rod of a parent, directed by wisdom and love, and designed for good, not the rod of a servant. 2. It is good to begin betimes with the necessary restraints of children from that which is evil, before vicious habits are confirmed. The branch is easily bent when it is tender. 3. Those really hate their children, though they pretend to be fond of them, that do not keep them under a strict discipline, and by all proper methods, severe ones when gentle ones will not serve, make them sensible of their faults and afraid of offending. They abandon them to their worst enemy, to the most dangerous disease, and therefore hate them. Let this reconcile children to the correction their good parents give them; it is from love, and for their good, Heb. xii. 7-9.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
The Spared Rod
Verse 24 emphasizes the importance of proper and timely correction of the child including use of the rod when required. Such is necessary because (1) foolishness is in the heart of the child and needs to be dealt with early, Pro 19:18; Pro 22:15; (2) if not corrected, will bring shame to parents (Pro 29:15) and may .lead to a Christless death (23:14). Failure to correct is both failure to love as a parent should and disregard for the commands of God (Vs. 24; Pro 19:18; Pro 23:13). Correction is to be administered in the spirit Solomon’s parents demonstrated (4:3-4) and which he exhibits twenty times in the first 7 chapters of Proverbs. Excess is to be avoided (Eph 6:4). Properly administered, correction will bring peace of mind and delight to faithful parents (Pro 29:17).
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro. 13:24
THE CHILD AND THE ROD
I. Pain is a necessary instrument in human training. The rod is to be included in the means of education. Some natures need an experience of pain to quicken their mental capabilities. Sometimes children are like untilled land (see Pro. 13:23), they have large capabilities lying dormant, which will not awaken unless they are subjected to severe discipline and punished for their shortcomings. And what is necessary in intellectual training is also necessary in moral training. Children must be made to feel that pain is the outcome of transgression, and evil habits must if possible be crushed while in the bud. They can be overcome then at the expense of far less suffering than when they have taken firmer hold, and the pain is as nothing compared with that which the habits themselves will inflict if they are allowed to go on through life and enthrall the soul entirely. A thorn which has but just entered the skin can be extracted with a very small amount of suffering, even by an unskilful hand; if left for a few days it may produce a festering wound; if not extracted at all, it may end in mortification. The fear of suffering is also a great preventive of sin. The Great Father of men uses it as an instrument to dissuade men from breaking His laws. He warns them, over and over again, of the suffering which they will bring upon themselves if they disobey His commands and their experience of the suffering that has followed sin in the past often leads them to avoid it in the future. And what is effectual in the training of men is effectual also with children. They will often avoid the repetition of an act which they know has brought them punishment before and will do so again. This fear of pain is not the highest motive for abstinence from wrong-doing, but in both the child and the man it may be the foundation of an upbuilding of character which shall by-and-by go on growing in goodness without this instrumentality.
II. That infliction of pain is compatible with the highest love, and is often a token of it. The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews tells us that God scourges His children whenever He sees that they need it. And yet they have become His children only by the exercise of His own Infinite love. But we know that He chastens not for His pleasure, but for our profit (Heb. 12:10); that He has love and wisdom enough to see the far-off interest of tears. So it is the father or mother, who truly loves his or her child, who is willing to undergo the present suffering of inflicting pain in order to ensure a future blessing to their children. You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for your iniquities (Amo. 3:2). What is true of the Divine parent is true also of the human. It follows
III. That the neglect of chastisement is a proof of the want of real love. He that spareth his rod hateth his son. What should we think of a father who would see his child bleed to death rather than bind up the wound, because in so doing he would inflict some present bodily pain upon the child, and some mental suffering upon himself? Or of the physician who would not use the knife to stop the progress of mortal disease because the patient shrinks from the incision, and he himself is averse to the sight of blood? We should say they were destroyers of life which had been entrusted to them to preserve. But what shall we say of a parent who is so fond of his child that he cannot inflict pain upon him now for deeds that, if repeated until they become habits, will ruin him for time and for eternity? Such sickly sentimentalism in a parent makes him unworthy of his name, and turns him who should have been his childs highest earthly blessing into his direst curse. Many inmates of our gaols are there because they have been the victims of this so-called love; and when God sums up their misdeeds a large portion of the guilt will fall elsewhere than on the child cursed by such a parent.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
Fond parents think it love (that spares the rod), but Divine wisdom calls it hatred.-John Howe.
The discipline of our children must commence with self-discipline. Nature teaches us to love them much. But we want a controlling principle to teach us to love them wisely. The indulgence of our children has its root in self-indulgence.Bridges.
This phrase betimes, or early in the morning, admonisheth parents to procure the means of their childrens welfare before all other matters; and, as it were, as soon as they rise out of their beds. The Lord be merciful to us for the neglect of this duty; for if we have any worldly business to do we go first about that, and then teach and instruct our children at our leisure. O reckless carelessness about the chiefest matters! Oh that as we use to feed our children in the morning so we could once be brought to instruct them also betimes.Muffet.
Justice must be observed in the correction of children.
1. That there is a fault committed.
2. That the fault so committed deserveth punishment.
3. That the punishment do not exceed the quality of the fault, which will otherwise seem to rage and revenge rather than to chastise for amendment.Spencer.
To spare the rod in the first clause being opposed to chastening in the second, by the rod must be meant not only that particular instrument of punishment, but everything besides that may prove the means of our correction and amendment. And by chastisement is here intended every instrument of correction, every means of effecting what we intend by chastising, whether it be reproof, restraint of liberty, disappointment of our childrens wills, or corporal punishment. By loving and hating is not here meant the exerting actually those passions in the heart, for then the text would be untrue, but the acting agreeably to the reason, and not the blindness of those passions; the producing such effects as are in Gods account, and in wise mens too, and in our own when freed from partial prejudices; the consequences and fruits of love and hatred acting regularly, such as are commonly esteemed the effects of those two causes, whether they indeed proceed from them or no. For if we are to reckon of love or hatred by the effects, then it is easy to discern when parents hate their children, namely, when, through neglect or fondness, they permit them to enter on a course of ruin, and so let them fall into such miseries as the utmost hatred of their inveterate enemies could neither wish nor make them greater, whatever love there may be at the bottom. A mother is as much a murderess who stifles her child in a bed of roses as she that does it with a pillow-bear (pillow-case). The end and mischief is as great, though the means and instrument be not the same.Bishop Fleetwood.
He that spareth the rod from his son maketh him to be his rod, wherewith he whips himself, and wherewith God whips both of them. It is better thy son should feel thy rod than thou feel the sorrow of his wicked life. And do not hate him in not correcting of him, lest he hate thee by thy not correcting of him, and God shew His hatred against both by His wrath upon you.Jermin.
The Koh-i-noor diamond, when it came into the Queens possession, was a mis-shapen lump. It was very desirable to get its corners cut off and all its sides reduced to symmetry; but no unskilful hand was permitted to touch it. Men of science were summoned to consider its nature and capabilities. They examined the form of its crystals and the consistency of its parts. They considered the direction of the grain, and the side on which it would bear a pressure. With their instructions, the jewel was placed in the hands of an experienced lapidary, and by long, patient, careful labour, its sides were ground down to the desired proportions. The gem was hard, and needed a heavy pressure; the gem was precious, and every precaution was taken which science and skill could suggest to get it polished into shape without cracking it in the process. The effort was successful. The hard diamond was rubbed down into forms of beauty, and yet sustained no damage by the greatness of the pressure to which it was subjected. Jewels, bright jewels, in the form of little children, are the heritage which God gives to every parent. They are unshapely and need to be polished; they are brittle, and so liable to be permanently injured by the pressure; but they are stones of peculiar preciousness, and if they were successfully polished they would shine as stars for ever and ever, giving off, from their undimning edge, more brilliantly than other creatures can, the glory which they get from the Sun of Righteousness. Those who possess these diamonds in the rough should neither stike them unskilfully nor let them be uncut Prayer and pains must go together in this difficult work. Lay the whole case before our Father in heaven; this will take the hardness out of the correction, without diminishing its strength.Arnot.
Correction is a kind of cure, saith the philosopher (Arist. Ethic. lib. ii.), the likeliest way to save the childs soul; where, yet, saith Bernard, it is the care of the child that is charged upon the parent, not the cure, that is Gods work alone.Trapp.
In order to form the minds of children, the first thing to be done is to conquer the will. To inform the understanding is a work of time, and must, with children, proceed by slow degrees, as they are able to bear it; but the subjecting of the will must be done at once, and the sooner the better; for, by neglecting timely correction, they will contract a stubbornness and obstinacy which are hardly ever conquered, and not without using such severity as would be as painful to me as to the child. I insist upon the conquering of the will betimes, because this is the only strong and rational foundation of a religious education, without which both precept and example will be ineffectual. But when this is thoroughly done, a child is capable of being governed by the wisdom and piety of its parents till its own understanding comes to maturity, and the principles of religion have taken root in the mind.Mrs. S. Wesley.
It is his rod that must be used, the rod of a parent, not the rod of a servant.Henry.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(24) Betimes.While he may yet be influenced rightly, and before faults are rooted in him.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
24. He that spareth his rod Withholdeth suitable correction of some kind.
Hateth his son The effect of undue indulgence and lack of discipline will be to injure the child, and the result be as though he hated him.
But he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes Literally, Seeketh for him chastising. Really regards the entire well-being of the child, and would discharge to him the early obligation of a parent.
Solomon seems to have had no idea that a good education could be secured without correction. It is not necessary, says Stuart, “to understand the word rod in a literal sense; but it at least means correction of some kind for faults.” It must be remembered that moral suasion alone, as the exclusive appliance in the education of children, is a comparatively modern idea. It may be doubted whether it will stand the test of experience, in opposition to the judgment of the wise and good of the past ages. There are, probably, in this matter extremes on either hand to be guarded against, and a golden mean of right conduct, which every parent will do well to seek. There are some children who perhaps, never need corporal punishment; but there are others who are injured by the neglect of it. Compare Pro 3:11; Pro 23:13-14; Pro 29:15.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
v. 24. He that spareth his rod hateth his son,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Pro 13:24. Chasteneth him Instructeth him, is the rendering of several versions. As the chapter begins with an admonition to hearken to reproof, especially from parents, which is repeated again in the 13th and 18th verses; so here again advice is given to parents not to spare the rod, if reproof will not do. The Lacedemonians, out of an universal love and care for each others good, made it lawful for any man to correct the child of another person, if he saw him do amiss: and if the child complained of it to his father, it was looked upon as a fault in the father if he did not correct him again for making that complaint. For they did not, says Plutarch, look every man after his own children, servants, and cattle; but every man looked upon what was his neighbour’s as his own; that there might be, as much as possible a communion among them; and they might take care of what belonged to others, as if they were their own proper goods.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Pro 13:24 He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.
Ver. 24. He that spareth his rod hateth his son. ] It is as if one should be so tender over a child as not to suffer the wind to blow upon it, and therefore hold the hand before the mouth of it, but so hard as he strangleth the child. It is said of the ape that she huggeth her young one to death; so do many fond parents, who are therefore peremptores potius quam parentes, rather parricides than parents. Eli would not correct his children: God therefore corrected both him and them. David would not once cross his Absalom and his Adonijah, and he was therefore singularly crossed in them ere he died. a The like befell old Andronicus the Greek emperor, in his unhappy nephew of the same name; and Muleasses king of Tunis, in his son Amida, whom he cockered so long, till, Absalom like, he rose against his father, and possessing himself of the kingdom, put out his father’s and brethren’s eyes, slew his captains, polluted his wives, and took the castle of Tunis. b
But he that loveth him, chasteneth him betimes.
a Bernard.
b Turkish History, 745, 747.
c I . – Arist., Ethic., lib. ii.
d Sidonius, Ep., lib. iv.
e Daniel’s History.
spareth = withholdeth. Illustrations: Eli (1Sa 3:13; 1Sa 4:11); David (2Sa 13:39; 2Sa 14:25. 1Ki 1:6).
chasteneth him betimes = carefully seeketh correction (or discipline) for him: or, seeketh early, &c.
Pro 13:24
Pro 13:24
“He that spareth the rod hateth his son; But he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.”
The 20th century in America has witnessed the alarming and disastrous rejection of what is taught here. For any who might wish to pursue this thought further, we have thoroughly discussed it in Vol. 10 (Hebrews) of our New Testament Commentary, pp. 294-295. Today, our Society of the Undisciplined is in the business of dismantling and wrecking a whole civilization that was constructed upon a foundation of Christian values.
“He that loveth him chasteneth him betimes” (Pro 13:24). Betimes, here is hardly a current English expression. It means “in a timely manner.” or “as it may be required.” The alternate reading from the American Standard Version margin is diligently.
Pro 13:24. The first statement puts the outcome for the attitude; that is, in view of what will result from sparing the rod, one is not really loving his child by sparing the rod (some claim they love their child too much to discipline him with whippings). It is better to spare the child from ruination than from the rod! Consider the wisdom of the saying: Spare the rod and spoil /the child. For chasteneth him betimes the Amplified says he punishes him early; American Bible Union says: gives him timely chastisement; early (Pulpit Commentary); others give diligently. Immediately seems to be the thought. A wise parent will not defer punishing, will not put it off and off and really do nothing about his childs disobedience.
Pro 3:12, Pro 8:36, Pro 19:18, Pro 22:15, Pro 23:13, Pro 23:14, Pro 29:15, Pro 29:17, Luk 14:26, Heb 12:6-8
Reciprocal: Deu 21:18 – when they Rom 9:13 – hated Heb 12:7 – for what
Pro 13:24. He that spareth Hebrew, , withholdeth; his rod From his son, when it is due to him; or that keeps back that correction which his sons fault requires, and which he, as a father, is required to give him; hateth his son His fond affection is as pernicious to his son as his or another mans hatred could be; but he that loveth him, chasteneth him betimes Either, 1st, In his tender years, as soon as he is capable of being profited by chastisement; or, 2d, Speedily, before he be hardened in sin. Thus, as the chapter begins, says Bishop Patrick, with an admonition to hearken to reproof, especially from parents, which is repeated again in the thirteenth and eighteenth verses, so here again, in the last verse but one, advice is given to parents not to spare the rod, if reproof will not do, some children being so disposed that they must be thus treated. And it seems a wonderful piece of wisdom in the old Lacedemonians, as Plutarch relates, who, out of a universal love and care for each others good, made it lawful for any man to correct the child of another person, if he saw him do amiss. And if the child complained of it to his father, it was looked upon as a fault in the father if he did not correct him again for making that complaint. For they did not, according to Plutarch, look every man only after his own children, servants, and cattle; but every man looked upon what was his neighbours as his own, , that there might be, as much as possible, a communion among them; and they might take care of what belonged to others, as if they were their own proper goods.
"’Spare the rod and spoil the child.’ This common maxim (a one-size-fits-all approach to child discipline) is often wrongly attributed to the Bible. (This maxim comes from a poem written by Samuel Butler in 1664.) In reality the book of Proverbs, when taken as a whole, encourages its readers to use multiple levels of discipline ranging from pointing out improper behavior to the use of corporal punishment." [Note: Paul D. Wegner, "Discipline in the Book of Proverbs: ’To Spank or Not To Spank?’" Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 48:4 (December 2005):715-32. See also Waltke, The Book . . ., p. 574.]
"The proverb simply commends bodily chastisement as a means of training; details are left to the judgment of parents . . ." [Note: Toy, p. 278.]
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)