"Train up a child in the way he should go..." means?

[Dave]

"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it" (Proverbs 22:6).

I just heard a snippet from moody radio about this verse. Apparently most people get the wrong meaning from it. The original Hebrew apparently says it differently than what most would take away from it. He said that most people take this as some kind of guaranteed result. Do the first, get the second. Anyone schooled in Hebrew want to help translate this more accurately?

 

[Rescued One]

I'm definitely not schooled in Hebrew, but I have an opinion. We are impefect people. Will our attempts at training our children cause them to be sinless? Why weren't Adam and Eve perfect?

 

[Dave]

I'm definitely not schooled in Hebrew, but I have an opinion. We are impefect people. Will our attempts at training our children cause them to be sinless? Why weren't Adam and Eve perfect?

@Rescued One

That was part of the point that the speaker was also making. He said something along the lines of it was more of a habitual thing, I guess would be one way to put it. It doesn't guarantee results, but creates good habits. I'm going to look into this further as I have time. You're actually creating good habits with your child. It could be anything, like trusting in the Word of God, reading the Bible, etc.

 

[Arial]

"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it" (Proverbs 22:6).

I just heard a snippet from moody radio about this verse. Apparently most people get the wrong meaning from it. The original Hebrew apparently says it differently than what most would take away from it. He said that most people take this as some kind of guaranteed result. Do the first, get the second. Anyone schooled in Hebrew want to help translate this more accurately?

I don't know that being schooled in Hebrews would resolve the issue. And I don't know that it won't.

What I do know, and therefore, gain whatever understanding I have of the Proverb is this: Proverbs is wisdom literature. It gives instruction is wise living, the beginning of which is the knowledge of God--- from who all godly wisdom comes. It is not a book of commands or absolutes, but what is wise.

So if we train up our children in godly ways, you establish that in them, but do not guarantee it. Teenagers and young adults are often influenced by the world and their peers, for a time, but if they return, at least they know what to return to. And I suspect their conscience does not leave them alone, even during rebellious times.

 

[ElectedbyHim]

Here is a variety of commentaries on this verse.

I did not see anything from the Hebrew as mentioned in the OP

22:6. Formative years



The training prescribed is lit. ‘according to his (the child’s) way’, implying, it seems, respect for his individuality and vocation, though not for his selfwill (see verse 5, or 14:12). But the stress is on parental opportunity and duty. Train means elsewhere to ‘dedicate’ a house (Deut. 20:5), temple (1 Kgs 8:63), etc. Possibly a trace of this meaning clings to it.

Derek Kidner, Proverbs: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 17, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1964), 139.

Train up a child (early) in the way he should go—The verb which, according to Arabic analogies, is equivalent to imbuit, initiavit (comp. Schultens on this passage), denotes here the first instruction that is given to a boy, his early education and the formation of his habits. Compare the expression of Horace (Ep. I., 2, 69): Quo semel est imbuta recens, servabit odorem Testa diu; and also the modern proverbs Jung gewohnt, alt gethan [Young accustomed is done old]: or “Was Hänschen nicht lernt, lernt Hans nimmermehr” [“What little Johnnie does not learn, John learns never.” So our English proverb—“Just as the twig is bent the tree’s inclined.”] עַל־פִי דַרְכּוֹ can have no other meaning than “according to the standard of his way” (Gen. 43:7; Lev. 27:8, etc.), i.e., according to the way that is determined for him, according to the calling and the manner of life for which he is intended. With this interpretation, which is as simple as it is pertinent, Hitzig’s emendation may be dismissed as superfluous: עַל־פִּי רֻכּוֹ, “according to his tenderness, since he is still tender.” [Notwithstanding the “simplicity” of the interpretation “in accordance with his way, or his going,” three different meanings have been found in it. It may be, a) “his way” in the sense of his own natural and characteristic style and manner,—and then his training will have reference to that to which he is naturally fitted; or b), the way in life which he is intended by parents or guardians to pursue; or c) the way in which he ought to go. The last is moral and relates to the general Divine intention concerning man’s earthly course; the second is human and economical; the first is individual and to some extent even physical. Yet although the third presents the highest standard and has been generally adopted and used where little account is made of the original, it has the least support from the Hebrew idiom. So De W., B., K., S., H. (?), and others.—A.

John Peter Lange et al., A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures: Proverbs (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2008), 192.



22:6 Direct your children. “Direct” is from khanak [TH2596, ZH2852], a rare word found elsewhere only in Deut 20:5, 1 Kgs 8:63, and 2 Chr 7:5, always in the sense of dedicating a structure to God. If one’s own home was not consecrated, one was not prepared for holy war. See also the cognate nouns khanukkah [TA/ZA10273, S2598], from Aramaic, and Heb., khanukkah [TH2598, ZH2853], used for the “dedication” of cultic objects (Num 7:10–11; Neh 12:27; Dan 3:2–3). Here, religious language is employed to highlight the needed level of devotion. Every parent mimics Solomon the wise, who dedicated the Temple, by similarly committing their child to the path of wisdom. This involves long-term moral and religious education, not lacking in physical discipline (22:15). Hildebrandt also sees here the initiation of a cadet into manhood and adult responsibilities (1988:10).

onto the right path. Lit., “in accordance with his way.” Delitzsch argues that this denotes the child’s nature: “The education of the youth … ought to regulate itself according to … the degree of development [to] which the mental and bodily life of the youth has arrived” (1875:86–87; cf. Garrett 1993:188). But the image of the path does not predicate human nature but rather a lifestyle and system of valuation that are both learned and chosen—“the way he ought to go” (McKane 1970:564), “according to the standard and status of what would be demanded of the na‘ar [TH5288, ZH5853] in that culture” (Hildebrandt 1988:18). This verse should be seen in the light of the first nine chapters of Proverbs. The “path” (derek [TH1870, ZH2006]) with the third-person pronominal suffix is found 18 times in Proverbs, culminating in its final usage here. In every case it signifies life direction and moral character. See the way of the oppressor (3:31), of the ant (6:6), of the loose woman (7:25), of Wisdom (3:17), and of God (8:22). Here, youths committed by wise parents to the good path (not the thorny one of 22:5) are set for life. The themes of 22:5–6 resume in 22:15.

George M. Schwab, “The Book of Proverbs,” in Cornerstone Biblical Commentary, Vol 7: The Book of Psalms, The Book of Proverbs (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2009), 589–590.

 

[ElectedbyHim]

6. Train up14 a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart fron it.

The hopes of at least two generations hang upon this most important rule. How can we look on a child without thoughtful anxiety? An existence is commenced for eternity. No power of earth or hell can crush it. The whole universe does not afford an object of deeper interest. It is an “arrow in the hand of a mighty man”—a most powerful instrument of good or evil, according to the direction that is given to it.1

Every thing depends on his training, Two ways lie before him—the way in which he would go—headlong to ruin, and the way in which he should go—the pathway to heaven. The rule for training implies obliquity; else he would not need it. A young and healthy tree shoots straight upwards, and instead of putting forth crooked and deformed branches, gives promise of a fine and fruitful maturity.

Begin the training of the child, as Hannah did, with his dedication to God,2 This done—train him as God’s child—entrusted to your care, asking guidance from day to day—“How shall we order the child, and how shall we do unto him?”3 Train him as a baptized child, in the principles of his baptismal engagements. Pray for him. Teach him to pray. Instruct him “from a child in the Holy Scriptures” as the sole rule of faith, and directory of conduct.”4 Never was this training so momentous. From a defect here many young persons are tossed to and fro in every vacillation of error; and the anxious attempt to set them right we find to be—‘building, where there is no foundation, or rather, where there is not so much as ground to build upon.’5 In fact, the mind—abhorring a vacuum—must have some notions. And the alternative is not between sound principles and none; but between wholesome truth and those crude or poisonous errors, which the subtle enemy is ever ready to inject, and the corrupt heart equally prepared to receive. Nor let the formation of sound practical habits, diligence, industry, and self-government be forgotten. Let the child be trained, as the soldier under arms, to endurance, order, and subjection.

Wisely does Solomon direct us to begin at the mouth or entrance of his way6—at the first opening intelligence. The more early the training, the more easy the work, and the more encouraging the results. It is a matter of experience, that what is early learnt, is most tenaciously retained. It stands the friction of time with the least injury. Far better, instead of waiting for the maturity of reason, to work upon the pliability of childhood.1 The gardener begins to graft in the first rising of the sap. If the crooked shoots of self-will and disobedience are not cut off, their rapid growth and rapidly growing strength will greatly increase the future difficulty of bending them. Present neglect occasions after risk and perplexity. We may begin our work too late, but we can scarcely begin it too soon.2 If the child be too young to teach to read, he cannot be too young to teach to obey. Never let the watchfulness to check the buddings of evil, and to cherish the first tenderness of right feeling, be relaxed. The ceaseless activity of the great enemy teaches the value of early training. Be beforehand with him. Pre-occupy the ground with good seed, as the most effectual exclusion of his evil tares.3 Be at the mouth of the way with wholesome food, ere he has the opportunity of pouring in his “bread of deceit;” ere nature is hardened by the habits of sin—brutalized by familiarity with vice.

But this training must be practical. The mere talk to a child about religion, without bringing it to bear upon his loose habits, and self-willed tempers, is utterly ineffective. Here also lies the momentous weight of Christian consistency. If the child hears of godliness, and sees but wickedness, this is bringing him bread with one hand and poison with the other; ‘beckoning him with the hand to heaven, and at the same time taking him by the hand, and leading him in the way to destruction.’4 Who would receive even the choicest food from a leprous hand! Neglect is far better than inconsistency; forgetfulness, than contempt of principle. A child is influenced by the eye more than by the ear. He is ready to look out for apologies for his own faults; and their discovery in parental example will harden him in infidelity or ungodliness.

This is indeed a work of watchful anxiety, attended with painful, and often long-protracted exercise, of faith and patience. Who could hold on in it, but for the Divine support of the parental promise—When he is old, he shall not depart from it. The man will be, as the child is trained. Education is utterly distinct from grace. But—when conducted in the spirit, and on the principles of the Word of God—it is a means of imparting it. Sometimes the fruit is immediate, uniform, and permanent to the end.1 But often “the bread cast upon the waters of the covenant is found” not till “after many days”2—perhaps not till the godly parent has been laid in the grave.3 Yet the fruit, though late, will not be the less sure.4 The child may depart when he is young. But when he is old—in after years—smothered convictions will bring back the power of early impressions. The seeds of instruction will burst forth into life.5 He will find it “hard,” in a course of sin, “to kick against the pricks.”6 The scriptures early fastened on his memory, will force themselves upon him with many a sharp and painful struggle. Conscience will disturb his pleasures, and embitter the sweetness, which he had found, or fancied that he had found, in his sins. The remembrance of his father’s house brings the prodigal “to himself,” and he comes home with shame in his face, tears in his eyes, and godly sorrow in his heart.7

Cultivate, then, the exercise of parental faith; trusting—not to what we see, but to what God has promised; like our father Abraham—“against hope, believing in hope.”8 Expect the fulfilment of the parental promise, as confidently as any other free promise of the gospel.9 Exercise faith in the full energy of Christian diligence, and in the patience of Christian hope. Leave God to accomplish his own gracious will. If his Sovereignty reserves the time and means to himself, his faithfulness secures the promise to us, which is, and ever must be, “Yea, and Amen”—“I will be a God to thee, and to thy seed after thee. I will pour out my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring.”1

This is faith—the reward of faith—of those who make the salvation of the soul the primary object of education. The mass of mankind deal with their children as if they were born only for the world—‘Must they not be like others, to make their way in the world?’ Thus they fearlessly bring them into contact with the evil around them, set their feet in the “broad road of destruction,” and bid them go on with the rest. In all important matters they educate them consistently for time, not for eternity. They concentrate their grand interest on matters in which the soul has no concern; accomplishments or scholarship, not godliness; refinement of taste and manners, not soundness of faith. Need we say that this is an education without God—without his promise—without rest? The parents of such children, and the children of such parents, are alike objects of compassion. Eternity will bring a solemn account to both.^[1]



Continued......

 

[ElectedbyHim]

14 There is a considerable difference in the translation of the original word; but all coming to the same point. All commentators stamp it as a most significant term—Imbue. Schultens. Geier—‘gives it the first dip, dye, seasoning.’ Initia—‘Begin the first instruction—lay the groundwork—the first stone.’ Instruc. This is substantially the margin;—catechise—like Abraham’s servants—instructed (catechised, marg.) alike in the art of war and in the fear of God. Gen. 14:14; 18:19. The word elsewhere conveys the idea of dedication to the service of God (Comp. Deut. 20:5, 1 Kings 8:6, 2 Chron. 7:5; title to Ps. 30.) In this view a judicious expositor conceives the illustration may be thus—‘As a house, altar, or temple, newly built, and not yet profaned, is fitted by certain rites and sacrifices for its future use; so a child, as a newly-formed edifice, is fitted by a certain course for the service and the church, and his heart is made meet as an habitation of God, and the temple of the Holy Ghost.’ Geier in loco.

1 Psalm 127:4.

2 1 Sam. 1:28.

3 Jud. 13:12.

4 2 Tim. 3:15. Comp. the Wise Man’s own Training, chap. 4:3, 4.

5 South’s Sermon on the text, vol. 5:1.

6 Heb. See Schultens, and the general voice of critics.

1 The Heathen moralists seem well to have understood the subject. Horace—after alluding to the early discipline of the colt and the hound—applies it—

——‘Nunc adbibe puro​

Pectore verba, puer: nunc tu melioribus offer.

Quo semel est imbuta recens, servabit odorem

Testa diu.’

Epis. l. i. ii. 64–69.​

——‘Adeo in teneris consuescere multum est.’

Virg. Geor. ii. 272.​

‘Udum et molle lutum es; nunc, nunc properandus, et acri

Fingendus sine line rotâ.’

Persius. Sat. iii. 23.​

2 See Eccl. 11:6, Isa. 28:9, 10, Lam. 3:27.

3 Matt. 13:25–28.

4 Abp. Tillotson’s Sermons on Education.

1 1 Sam. 1:28; 2:2; 12:2, 3. Comp. Ps. 92:13–15.

2 Eccl. 11:1.

3 2 Chron. 33:11–13. ‘It is no small mercy,’ said Mr. Flavel, alluding to this case, ‘to have thousands of fervent prayers lying before the Lord, filed up in heaven for us.’ Fountain of Life, Sermon xx.

4 Hab. 2:3.

5 Timothy was instructed as a child, but not converted till adult age. Comp. 2 Tim 3:15, with 1 Tim. 1:2.

6 Acts 9:5.

7 Luke 15:17–20.

8 Rom. 4:18–20.

9 Such as John 6:37—couched in the same grammatical terms—a promise connected with a duty, as the encouragement to the duty—“Him that cometh—he that traineth; in no wise cast out—will not depart.” Yet the latter is often considered a general promise, admitting of various and indefinite exceptions. The other is “Yea and Amen.” But we might ask—How can we loosen the ground of one promise, without shaking the foundation of all? And do not admitted exceptions in the educational promise give occasion to many an exercised Christian to find his own exception in the Gospel promise? We fully concede that here the ground is more clear to the exercise of faith. We have the demonstrable certainty of the work of the Son, the faithfulness of the Father, and the agency of the Spirit, drawing the “given to come” (vv. 37, 44, 65)—the compact of the Eternal Three unchangeably fulfilled. In this parental promise the manifestly imperfect training of the parent, and the wanton rebellion of the child, obscures the ground of faith to our vision. But this touches only the apprehension of the ground, not the ground itself. If the performance of the parent’s duty in the one promise were as certain, as the work of God in the other, would not the assurance of the promise in both cases be equally firm? We cannot indeed anticipate an universal fulfilment of the promise. Yet, as believers in the inspiration of Scripture, we are bound implicitly to receive it. Is it not far safer and more satisfactory to take all the promises of the Bible upon the same ground? The cases that appear to contravene the educational promise may be fairly explained. Not that the promise is falsified, but that the Lord’s time of fulfilment is not yet come. Or—has not some important element of education been omitted? Has not some disproportion of one or other part of the system hindered the efficiency of the whole? Has instruction and discipline been always accompanied with prayer and faith? Or has prayer been always confirmed by consistent practice? Does not man’s indolence, self-indulgence, unbelief, unfaithfulness to the conditions implied, wither the blessing? While Abraham—training up his family for God—shall find him “faithful that hath promised” (Gen. 18:19, with Heb. 10:23) the Elis and the Davids—good men but bad parents—(1 Sam. 3:13, 1 Kings 1:6) shall know “God’s breach of promise.” (Num. 14:34.) It is too deep for man to reconcile the absolute election of God with weak, imperfect, unfaithful fulfilment of duty. Nevertheless in all cases—“Let God be true, and every man a liar.” (Rom. 3:4.)

1 2 Cor. 1:20, Gen. 17:7, Isa. 44:3–5.

Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs (New York: Robert Carter & Brothers, 1865), 338–342.

 

[ElectedbyHim]

6. This is one of the best-known but most easily misused proverbs. Some find here a promise that if they bring their children up in the ways of God, then they can guarantee that their children will be believers. Yet this is confusing a proverb with a promise. A proverb describes what is typically true, not what is universally true. Not all children of godly parents do follow God, and it is simply not in our power to make someone else trust in God—that is God’s work. This proverb gives us encouragement to value the influence we can have on our children and youth by noting that godly training has a real lasting effect on how they turn out. The church needs to devote resources to youth and children’s ministries, and parents need to make the Christian training of their children a priority in their use of time and money. Yet this proverb should not be pushed so far that we are judgmental on those parents whose children do not follow God.



Lindsay Wilson, Proverbs: An Introduction and Commentary, ed. David G. Firth, vol. 17, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (London: Inter-Varsity Press, 2017), 243.

 

[Soyeong]

"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it" (Proverbs 22:6).

I just heard a snippet from moody radio about this verse. Apparently most people get the wrong meaning from it. The original Hebrew apparently says it differently than what most would take away from it. He said that most people take this as some kind of guaranteed result. Do the first, get the second. Anyone schooled in Hebrew want to help translate this more accurately?

Proverbs contains good advice that is generally true, but is not necessarily always true. For example:

Proverbs 26:4-5
4 Answer not a fool according to his folly,
lest you be like him yourself.
5 Answer a fool according to his folly,
lest he be wise in his own eyes.

There are times when it is appropriate to answer a fool and times when we should ignore a fool and we should be careful to discern which is which.

 

[Rescued One]

When he is old he will not depart from it? But they can be tempted to depart! What are we to believe? Are parents to blame?

 

[Dave]

6. This is one of the best-known but most easily misused proverbs. Some find here a promise that if they bring their children up in the ways of God, then they can guarantee that their children will be believers. Yet this is confusing a proverb with a promise. A proverb describes what is typically true, not what is universally true. Not all children of godly parents do follow God, and it is simply not in our power to make someone else trust in God—that is God’s work. This proverb gives us encouragement to value the influence we can have on our children and youth by noting that godly training has a real lasting effect on how they turn out. The church needs to devote resources to youth and children’s ministries, and parents need to make the Christian training of their children a priority in their use of time and money. Yet this proverb should not be pushed so far that we are judgmental on those parents whose children do not follow God.



Lindsay Wilson, Proverbs: An Introduction and Commentary, ed. David G. Firth, vol. 17, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (London: Inter-Varsity Press, 2017), 243.

That's pretty close to what I heard on the radio. Thanks. I didn't know this passage was so misunderstood, even by me.