Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.

Probably the most quoted verse in Proverbs is 22:6. Over the years, the verse has held as a precious promise to parents that if they do everything right, their kids will turn out right. It has also been used as a guilty club to beat up parents who are feeling defeated over the choices of a rebellious child. Both responses are a misinterpretation and a misapplication of the text.

This verse is not saying what most people think it is saying. The common interpretation is that if you train your child—as in maintaining an orderly and Christian atmosphere in the home through consistent discipline—children will live like Christians throughout their lives. This interpretation misses the nuances of the verse.

Train up a child

The word translated train up (hunuk) is translated this way only here in all of the scripture. Elsewhere, the word is understood as dedicate or dedicate to. In 1 Kings 8:63 and 2 Chronicles 7:5, 9, it is used in the sense of Solomon dedicating the Temple. In Daniel 3:2 it is used to describe the event in which Nebuchadnezzar dedicated his image. In Numbers 7:10 it describes the dedication of the altar.

The word is then not so much about the process of raising a child but about the purpose of parents in raising a child. This should change a parent’s thinking. …

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