Proverbs 23:13-14 New English Translation
13 Do not withhold discipline from a child;
even if you strike him with the rod, he will not die.
14 If you strike[a] him with the rod,
you will deliver him[b] from death.[c]
Footnotes
- Proverbs 23:14 tn Or “punish” (NIV). The syntax of these two lines suggests a conditional clause (cf. NCV, NRSV).
- Proverbs 23:14 tn Heb “his soul.” The term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul”) functions as a synecdoche of part (= soul) for the whole (= person); see BDB 660 s.v. 4.
- Proverbs 23:14 tn The term שְׁאוֹל (sheʾol, “Sheol”) in this context probably means “death” (so NIV, NCV, NLT) and not the realm of the departed (wicked) spirits (cf. NAB “the nether world”). In the wisdom of other lands, Ahiqar 6:82 says, “If I strike you, my son, you will not die.” The idea is that discipline helps the child to a full life; if the child dies prematurely, it would be more than likely a consequence of not being trained by discipline. In the book of Proverbs the “death” mentioned here could be social as well as physical.
New English Translation (NET)
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