Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 22:15
Foolishness [is] bound in the heart of a child; [but] the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.
15. bound ] Better, bound up, R.V. Comp., for the force of the Heb. word, Gen 44:30.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Pro 22:15
Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of cor-rection shall drive it far from him.
Foolishness and the remedy
I. The evil deplored.
1. Of what does this foolishness consist? Wrong wishes, purposes, thoughts, pride, sin, levity, etc.
2. Where does this foolishness lurk? In the heart. Deep in the nature, among the affections. Hidden, secret, for some time unknown. In the heart of a child, even of a little child.
3. How this foolishness is held in the heart–bound. Children often hold to their folly with great tenacity; bound with other things, and spoiling what is good, like the thorns that choked the good seed.
4. How this foolishness in the heart shows itself. In evil tempers, in vain murmurings, in ungodly deeds, in wilfulness and obstinacy, etc.
5. The consequences to which, if uncorrected, this foolishness will lead. The forming of a character that men will despise and God hate. The embittering of the present life and the ruin of the life to come.
II. The remedy prescribed.
1. As a general rule correction is needed.
2. Literally, the rod required is often the whip for the fools back. It will often accomplish what words will not.
3. It may stand for wholesome discipline of many kinds. Learn–
(1) Seek the removal of folly from the heart by thought and prayer.
(2) In every correction, remember that it is for our good.
(3) Consider that the father who uses the rod does not willingly afflict.
(4) Better that folly be driven from us, than that we should be banished from heaven. (Handbook of S.S. Addresses.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Is bound; is fixed and settled there, as being born with him, and rooted in his very nature, and not plucked up without great difficulty and diligence.
The rod of correction shall drive it far from him; the smart of punishment makes him weary of his sin, and watchful against it.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
15. is boundor firmly fixed.Chastisement deters from crime and so leads to reformation ofprinciple.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Foolishness [is] bound in the heart of a child,…. That is, sin, the greatest of all folly; this is naturally in the heart of man; it is in the heart of a child, it is in him from his infancy; it is bound in his heart, it is rooted and riveted in him, being conceived in sin, and shapen in iniquity; it is what cleaves close to him, and he has a strong affection for and desire after: the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth, Ge 8:21; so that he is not easily brought off of sin, or becomes wise;
[but] the rod of correction shall drive it far from him; the rod used by parents, for the correction of sin and folly, is a means of making children wise, and of restraining the folly that is bound up in them; and of reclaiming them from those sinful ways, which the folly of their hearts leads them to, and so in some measure of driving it far from them.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
15 Folly is bound to the heart of a child;
The rod of correction driveth it forth.
Folly, i.e., pleasure in stupid tricks, silly sport, and foolish behaviour, is the portion of children as such; their heart is as yet childish, and folly is bound up in it. Education first driveth forth this childish, foolish nature (for, as Menander says:
),
and if effects this when it is unindulgently severe: the ( vid., Pro 23:13) removeth from the heart, for it imparts intelligence and makes wise (Pro 29:15). The lxx is right in rendering 16a: (from ) ; but the Syr. has “here mangled the lxx, and in haste has read : folly makes the understanding of the child fly away” (Lagarde).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
15 Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.
We have here two very sad considerations:– 1. That corruption is woven into our nature. Sin is foolishness; it is contrary both to our right reason and to our true interest. It is in the heart; there is an inward inclination to sin, to speak and act foolishly. It is in the heart of children; they bring it into the world with them; it is what they were shapen and conceived in. It is not only found there, but it is bound there; it is annexed to the heart (so some); vicious dispositions cleave closely to the soul, are bound to it as the cion to the stock into which it is grafted, which quite alters the property. There is a knot tied between the soul and sin, a true lover’s knot; they two became one flesh. It is true of ourselves, it is true of our children, whom we have begotten in our own likeness. O God! thou knowest this foolishness. 2. That correction is necessary to the cure of it. It will not be got out by fair means and gentle methods; there must be strictness and severity, and that which will cause grief. Children need to be corrected, and kept under discipline, by their parents; and we all need to be corrected by our heavenly Father (Heb 12:6; Heb 12:7), and under the correction we must stroke down folly and kiss the rod.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Correction Of Children
Verse 15- See comment on Pro 13:24.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro. 22:15
A FACT STATED AND A DUTY INFERRED
I. Human nature in its most attractive form contains latent depravity. The flower of the thistle is beautiful to look upon, and its downy seed is an apparently harmless object, and one worthy of admiration, as it rears its head among the corn. But how much power of mischief is wrapped up in that ball of soft down, if it is allowed to scatter its seed unchecked. A young lion is as pretty and harmless a creature as a kitten, but what ferocious instincts lie dormant there. A child is the most attractive and innocent of human creatures. As we look upon its guileless face we can hardly connect the idea of sin with its nature, and hardly believe it possible that the most depraved man or woman in the world was once as pure and stainless. But the Book of God tells us that even that young soul is tainted with the disease that infects all our race, and what the Book says is confirmed by the experience of all who have had anything to do with training children. The foolishness of self-will very soon shows itself, and the little one early gives proof that he or she is a true child of Adam by rebelling against the restraints with which it is lovingly surrounded, and desiring at all risks to eat forbidden fruit. In the fairest child-form now living upon the globe there may be hidden seeds which, when fully developed, will fill the world with terror and misery.
II. That this depraved tendency is deeply rooted in the childs nature. It is bound in it or fettered to it by a cable of many strands, or a chain of heavy linksit is not a slight preference for the wrong which can easily be overrulednot a garment put on which the wearer can easily be persuaded to put off again, but a part of the very naturea bent of all the faculties of the soul.
III. The disease is one which will yield to proper treatment. We do not suppose that Solomons words teach that any corrective rod will be potent enough to drive out all tendency to go wrong, inasmuch as experience and observation contradict it, but the same experience and observation confirm the truth that wise correction in youth is mighty in its moral power, and may so bring the child round to the love of the true and the good, that its own efforts will second the efforts of the parent, and it will itself turn upon the enemies within, being fully convinced that the self-will that is bound up in its own heart is the greatest folly to which it is liable. There are many who, looking back upon the wise and loving chastisement of a tender parent, can bear testimony to the truth of this proverb. On this subject see also on chap. Pro. 13:24, page 334.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
The rod of correction is proper to drive away no other foolishness than that which is of a moral nature. But how comes wickedness to be so firmly bound, and strongly fixed, in the hearts of children, if it be not there naturally.Jonathan Edwards.
Bound, or fettered. Firmly knit, closely settled; well tied in; that is, fixed in the childish spirit; this is the sense of nearly all the commentators. Of course, there are great difficulties at once. The fact theologically is just the opposite. Folly is not fixed in the childish heart; but stronger and stronger in periods afterwards. Why not, pro vero, bound? In much the majority of texts it means simply tied down, or fettered. Folly is fettered in the heart of a child; that is, tied down, and, in many ways, repressed. This is literally the case. It is weak, and hemmed in, and easier to grapple with and drag out of the soul in youth than at any other period.Miller.
Observeit is foolishness, not childishness. That might belong to an unfallen child. No moral guilt attaches to the recollectionWhen I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child. (1Co. 13:11.) A child is to be punishedas Mr. Scott wisely observednot for being a a child, but for being a wicked child. Comparative ignorance, the imperfect and gradual opening of the faculties, constitute the nature, not the sinfulness of the child. The holy child increased in wisdom. (Luk. 2:52.) But foolishness is the mighty propensity to evilimbibing wrong principles, forming bad habits, entering into an ungodly course. It means the very root and essence of sin in a fallen naturethe folly of being revolted from a God of love.Bridges.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(15) Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child.Self-will is meant. (See above on Pro. 1:7.) Children have to be taught to yield their wills to others.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
15. Foolishness Probably meaning perverseness, rather than folly. Ignorance, weakness, inclination to evil, corruption of heart, are maladies which accompany all men from their birth. Pious education, instruction, correction, (with the divine blessing,) cure them, or, at least, diminish very much their ill effects. (Calmet.)
Is bound Perhaps inheres; or, metaphorically, “is bound there,” as with cords fixed there. Miller suggests this idea that folly is bound in the heart of a child: and, therefore, more easily controlled than in older persons. This, however, seems contrary to the sense of the word else-where, which implies strength rather than weakness. But if any conjunction is needed, yet will express the relation of the two clauses better than but. Compare on this Gen 30:42. For the general subject compare Pro 13:24; Pro 19:18; Pro 23:13; Pro 29:15; Pro 29:17.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
v. 15. Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Pro 22:15. Foolishness is bound, &c. Ignorance, weakness, inclination to evil, corruption of heart, are maladies which accompany all men from their birth: education, instruction, correction, under the influence of Divine grace, cure them, or diminish very much their ill effects. Calmet. Dr. Taylor’s gloss is, “How strong soever appetite may be in children, proper discipline will correct and regulate it.”
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Pro 22:15 Foolishness [is] bound in the heart of a child; [but] the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.
Ver. 15. Foolishness is bound in the heart, &c. ] As a pack or fardle is bound to a horse’s back. Error and folly be the knots of Satan, wherewith he ties children to the stake to be burnt in hell. Better see their brains dashed out against the stones, saith one, than suffer the ignorance of God to abide in their heads. Therefore, that we may loose the bands of death and works of the devil, parents must bring their sons in their arms, and their daughters upon their shoulders, to the house of God, that they may learn to know him. Isa 49:22 They must also see to their profiting, and exact of them a daily growth, “nurturing,” as well as nourishing them, Eph 6:4 – the one being as needful as the other, – and using the rod where words will not do; so to chase away that evil by chastisement, seasoned with admonition, and seconded with prayer, that else will prove pernicious to their souls. Eli brought up his sons to bring down his house. David’s sons were undone by their father’s fondness. A fair hand, we say, makes a foul wound. Correction is a kind of cure, saith Aristotle; a and God usually blesseth it to that purpose. “Corrections of instructions are the way of life.” Pro 6:23
a I .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Foolishness. Hebrew. ‘evil. See note on Pro 1:7.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Pro 22:15
Pro 22:15
“Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; But the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.”
A number of proverbs deal with the discipline of children (Pro 13:24; Pro 22:6; Pro 29:15; Pro 29:21). Corporal punishment is mentioned here. Our current culture has rejected corporal punishment for disobedient and unruly children; and this should be evaluated in the light of this report from the front page of today’s Houston Post, June 22,1993. The banner headline reads: UNITED STATES LOSING A GENERATION. “About one-fourth of all 10 to 17 year olds are at risk of failing to lead productive adult lives. Why? High-risk behavior – drugs … sex … liquor … etc.” In a word, no discipline, either at home or at school. Perhaps our “smart educators” should take another look at their policies.
Folly is very much bound up in the nature of children, more so with boys than with girls. “The rod of discipline is needed to get rid of the folly.
Pro 22:15. A childs actions often reflect lack of good judgment and his immaturity: When I was a child, I spake as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child: now that I am become a man, I have put away childish things (1Co 13:11). Oh, the foolish, unwise, careless, thoughtless things that children will do! What will drive it far from him? Proper, severe punishment. Other passages teaching such punishment; Pro 13:24; Pro 19:18; Pro 23:13-14; Pro 29:15. Many parents do not do as God commands, and that foolishness remains engrained in the natures and ways of their rebellious children.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Foolishness: Job 14:4, Psa 51:5, Joh 3:6, Eph 2:3
but: Pro 13:24, Pro 19:18, Pro 23:13, Pro 23:14, Pro 29:15, Pro 29:17, Heb 12:10, Heb 12:11
Reciprocal: Deu 21:18 – when they 1Ki 1:6 – had not 2Ki 2:23 – little children Psa 58:3 – estranged Pro 20:11 – General Pro 20:30 – stripes Ecc 11:10 – for Mat 15:19 – out Mar 7:22 – foolishness Eph 6:4 – but Heb 12:7 – endure Rev 3:19 – many
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Pro 22:15. Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child Is fixed and settled there, as being born with him, and rooted in his very nature; but the rod, &c., shall drive it far from him The smart of punishment will make him weary of his sin, and watchful against it. Ignorance, weakness, inclination to evil, corruption of heart, says Calmet, are maladies which accompany all men from their birth; education, instruction, correction, to which we must add divine grace, earnestly asked of God, and received, cure them, or diminish, very much, their ill effects.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
22:15 Foolishness [is] bound {l} in the heart of a child; [but] the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.
(l) He is naturally given to it.