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NASB | Proverbs 23:13 ¶ Do not hold back discipline from the child, Although you strike him with the rod, he will not die. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Proverbs 23:13 ¶ Do not withhold discipline from the child; If you swat him with a reed-like rod [applied with godly wisdom], he will not die. |
Subject: beating your child with a rod |
Bible Note: Thomas, there is a vast difference between proper parental discipline and child abuse, of course, and I, as a father of three, know something whereof I speak. And a 1/2 inch rod of steel is by far not the only implement for abuse. For example, a couple of days ago, just as I was leaving a retail store, I met a woman who was entering. Behind her, milling around just outside the sliding door was a little boy, perhaps 6 or 7 years old. The woman, obviously his mother, raised her voice and began yelling at the little boy, cursing him in language no adult should use in the presence of another adult, much less a small child. The last words I heard from her were, "What the h--- is your problem?" Well, it's clear to me that the one with the bigger problem was the mother, not the child. And it's equally clear that abuse does not always have to be physical. Verbal abuse can be as damaging and potentially can inflict even greater permanent damage than physical. Abusing a child is not correction. It is simply abuse and is indefensible. Letting a child go undisciplined when discipline is clearly indicated is also indefensible. Proper discipline tempered with love, patience and reason is the duty of parents. I believe the "rod" of Proverbs 23:13 is properly understood as being what my mother used to call a "switch". It warmed up my sitting-down place, I can tell you, but the damage it inflicted wasn't mortal! I've survived for 66 years. --Hank |