He who spares his rod hates his son, But he who loves him disciplines him promptly.
Parallel translations
- WEB One who spares the rod hates his son, but one who loves him is careful to discipline him.
- KJV He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.
- BSB He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him diligently.
- NASB He who withholds his rod hates his son, But he who loves him disciplines him diligently.
- NLT Those who spare the rod of discipline hate their children. Those who love their children care enough to discipline them.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
To withhold needed discipline is actually to hate one's child; true love disciplines diligently. Loving correction shapes a child's character.
Overview
This well-known proverb teaches that loving parents correct their children rather than indulge them, framing neglect of discipline as a failure of love. 'The rod' represents firm, formative correction, to be applied with care and not cruelty, aiming at the child's good. It mirrors the Father's loving discipline of His own children for their growth in holiness (Hebrews 12:6).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Prov 29:17Correct your son, and he will give you peace; yes, he will bring delight to your soul.
- Prov 23:13–14Don’t withhold correction from a child. If you punish him with the rod, he will not die.
- Prov 29:15The rod of correction gives wisdom, but a child left to himself causes shame to his mother.
- Prov 19:18Discipline your son, for there is hope; don’t be a willing party to his death.
- Heb 12:6–8For whom the Lord loves, he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives.”
- Prov 22:15Folly is bound up in the heart of a child: the rod of discipline drives it far from him.
- Prov 3:12for whom Yahweh loves, he reproves; even as a father reproves the son in whom he delights.
- Prov 8:36But he who sins against me wrongs his own soul. All those who hate me love death.”
- Luke 14:26“If anyone comes to me, and doesn’t disregard his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he can’t be my disciple.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Wisdom personified, with God before creation and the agent of all things, anticipates Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom' — the wisdom of God made flesh.
How Proverbs 13:24 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.