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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Spare the rod, spoil the child | Prov 13:24 | MJH | 178400 | ||
Searcher, See my answer to her original question.... But to paraphrase, Proverbs are not commands. The word "child" in Proverbs 22 and 23 should be translated "young man" as it is everywhere else in scripture (that I found). The use of "son" in Proverbs 13 does not mean toddler, but son. And all proverbs was written to a young man, and other proverbs point to this "son" as being older. It is incorrect to read Proverbs as commands. To do so is to fail to understand the genre. To discipline does not equal “to punish.” Punishment may be a part of discipline, but they are not synonyms. To discipline is more of an act of guiding a person in the way they should go as a Shepherd guides a sheep; only in extreme cases is the instrument of guiding ever used to strike. Most Christian parents strike their toddlers and young children, but not their older children. Personally our family uses the spanking method so seldom that my children think we are “non-spankers” that is until they really cross the line. But for families that do not use this form of discipline, their children are no less well off as long as loving guiding discipline is used. And those who use corporal punishment have every right by God do to so, assuming it is never done out of anger or frustration. MJH |
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2 | Spare the rod, spoil the child | Prov 13:24 | Hank | 178416 | ||
MJH - Back in English Lit 101 we learned about genre. That was years ago (Elvis was still in high school), but I still know what genre means. And frankly I've always been a trifle timid about trying to sort out Scripture based on genre, especially since that day many moons past when I committed to memory that familiar passage the old apostle wrote in his second letter to his young friend. "ALL Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16,17 NIV). ..... Being a student (of sorts) of things literary, I know there are some rather long-established guidelines for approaching various kinds of writing; that, for example, the poetry of Milton differs measurably from the prose of Dickens, and the Psalms from Luke's Gospel, and thus they demand different things of the reader. So therefore the reader ought to be aware of the kind of writing -- the genre, if you will -- that he attends himself to. But since Scripture says of itself that it is all inspired of God, I can't see making too much ado over genre, certainly not to the point of saying that this genre or that genre should be given greater or lesser weight, or that God used some genres for His commands but not others. ...... In my user profile I say that my favorite verses of Scripture are Genesis 1:1, Revelation 22:21 and every verse in between, because all are God-breathed and profitable. Not by any means are all of God's commandments tucked neatly into Exodus 20. :-) We find them at various places in Scripture. Even Proverbs. --Hank | ||||||