Physical discipline may well save them from death.
Parallel translations
- WEB Punish him with the rod, and save his soul from Sheol.
- KJV Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.
- BSB Strike him with a rod, and you will deliver his soul from Sheol.
- NKJV You shall beat him with a rod, And deliver his soul from hell.
- NASB You shall strike him with the rod And rescue his soul from Sheol.
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
Loving correction guides a child away from destructive paths and toward life.
Overview
Discipline is framed as ultimately saving, steering a child from the way of death. "Sheol" here pictures ruin and untimely destruction that folly invites. The verse shows that wise correction has eternal stakes in view, reflecting God's fatherly aim to bring His children to life (Heb. 12:10).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- 1 Cor 11:32But when we are judged, we are punished by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.
- 1 Cor 5:5are to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
- Prov 22:15Folly is bound up in the heart of a child: the rod of discipline drives it far from him.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 23:14 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.