Proverbs 23:13

Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(13) He shall not die—i.e., a moderate correction, such as that advised in Proverbs 19:18 (see note), will not injure him—quite the reverse.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

23:12-16 Here is a parent instructing his child to give his mind to the Scriptures. Here is a parent correcting his child: accompanied with prayer, and blessed of God, it may prove a means of preventing his destruction. Here is a parent encouraging his child, telling him what would be for his good. And what a comfort it would be, if herein he answered his expectation! 17,18. The believer's expectation shall not be disappointed; the end of his trials, and of the sinner's prosperity, is at hand.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

i. e., "You will not kill your son by scourging him, you may kill him by with holding the scourge."

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

13, 14. While there is little danger that the use of the "divine ordinance of the rod" will produce bodily harm, there is great hope of spiritual good.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

It is a likely mean to prevent their corruption, and the destruction which commonly follows it, as the next verse explains this.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Withhold not correction from the child,.... When he has committed a fault, and correction is necessary; for to spare it is the ruin of the child, and no proof of true affection in the parent, but the reverse; see Proverbs 13:24;

for, if thou beatest him with a rod, he shall not die; if he be beaten moderately, there is no danger of his dying under the rod, or with the stripes given him; besides, such moderate and proper corrections may be a means of preserving him from such crimes as would bring him to a shameful and untimely death, and so he shall not die such a death; and by such means, through the grace of God, he may escape the second, or eternal death.

Geneva Study Bible

Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

13. if thou beatest him] Or, though, R.V. marg., meaning thou needest not to be afraid that corporal punishment will result in death. It is better, however, to understand death here as the consequence of the sin, into which, if allowed to go uncorrected, he will fall. See Proverbs 19:18 note. This view is borne out by the next verse here.

Proverbs 23:15-35. The style of composition changes from separate proverbs or wise maxims to a continuous address, not unlike chaps. 1–9 in character.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 13. - An injunction to the tutor or parent (comp. Proverbs 13:24; Proverbs 19:18; Proverbs 22:15; Proverbs 29:17). For if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. This has been understood in various senses; e.g. "Though than scourge him, that correction will not kill him;....If thou chastise him, thou wilt save him from the doom of the rebellious son" (Deuteronomy 21:18-21); or, "He shall not die eternally," which rather anticipates the conclusion in the next verse. The expression merely means - Do not be weak, thinking that you will injure your child by judicious correction, and in this fear withholding your hand; but punish him firmly when necessary, and, far from harming him, you will be doing him the greatest good. Proverbs 23:13

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

13 Withhold not correction from the child;

     For thou will beat him with the rod, and he will not die.

14 Thou beatest him with the rod,

     And with it deliverest his soul from hell.

The exhortation, 13a, presupposes that education by word and deed is a duty devolving on the father and the teacher with regard to the child. In 13b, כּי is in any case the relative conjunction. The conclusion does not mean: so will he not fall under death (destruction), as Luther also would have it, after Deuteronomy 19:21, for this thought certainly follows Proverbs 23:14; nor after Proverbs 19:18 : so may the stroke not be one whereof he dies, for then the author ought to have written אל־תּמיתנּוּ; but: he will not die of it, i.e., only strike if he has deserved it, thou needest not fear; the bitter medicine will be beneficial to him, not deadly. The אתּה standing before the double clause, Proverbs 23:14, means that he who administers corporal chastisement to the child, saves him spiritually; for שׁאול does not refer to death in general, but to death falling upon a man before his time, and in his sins, vid., Proverbs 15:24, cf. Proverbs 8:26.