Recently, I chaired a
panel discussion on the topic of parenting at River Church FMC, where I serve as Family Ministries Director. We called it “Train
Up a Child,” the first words of Proverbs 22:6 in the King James Version, which is
followed by both ESV and NASB.
The verse reads in full as follows:
Train up a child in the way he should go:
and when he is old, he will not depart from it. (KJV)
But the translations are
not real clear on how to understand the Hebrew text behind these words (ḥănōk
lanna‘ar).
NAB
|
NRSV
|
NIV (2011)
|
Train the young in the way they should go;
even when old, they will not swerve from it
|
Train children the right way,
and when old, they will not stray.
|
Start children off on the way they should go,
and even when they are old they will not turn
from it.
|
The verse seems simple
enough, right? But, when we start asking questions, it becomes less clear as to
exactly what this adage is suggesting.
What does it mean to “train”
a child?
An athlete trains by
engaging in certain exercises that helps them reach their highest potential in
performance. A soldier trains through physical and mental exercises, using
their weapons, and mastering their specific skill—whether it’s flying a jet,
driving a tank, or programming a computer. A musician trains by repeatedly
rehearsing key strokes and finger placement, practicing the most difficult
measures until they’re second nature.
But, what does it mean to
train a child?
The Hebrew root behind
verb “train” is ḥnk (חנךְ). Of the 49 times in
which the root appears, 18 refers to the palate (ḥēk; חֵךְ), 15 pertains to the personal name Enoch (ḥănôk; חְַנוֹךְ), and twice with reference to the toponym
Enoch (ḥănôk; חְַנוֹךְ). Of the remaining 14
uses, it is used as verb only five times, including Prov 22:6. In each of the
other four instances, it clearly refers to a dedication. In fact it is the same
word from which we get the word Hanukah, or Feast of Dedication. It is this
sense of dedication, whether altars (Num 7:10, 2 Chron 7:9), walls (Neh 12:27),
or the temple (Ps 30:1) that accounts for eight of the remaining nine occurrence
of the root. The final occurrence is found in Gen 14:14, when Lot was taken
captive by a coalition of kings. His uncle Abram led a group of ḥānîk (חָנִיךְ) men. Most translations say these men were
“trained,” but since each of these men were born in Abram’s house, perhaps
“dedicated” fits better. Moreover, Cain’s son Enoch was named after a city. It
seems more likely that the city would be called “dedicated” rather than
“trained.”
ḥēk; חֵךְ
|
ḥănôk; חְַנוֹךְ
|
ḥănukkâ חְַנֻכָּה
|
ḥānak חָנַךְ (verb)
|
ḥănōkî חְַנֹכִי
|
ḥānîk חָנִיךְ
|
palate 18x
|
Enoch (PN) 15x
Enoch (TP) 2x
|
Dedication 8x
|
dedicate 4x
? 1x
|
Hanochite 1x
|
? 1x
|
In other words, it’s
unclear what the training in Prov. 22:6 entails, and whether it’s training at
all. Perhaps what the proverb has in mind is not a particular regiment, but a
commitment on the part of the parents to present this child before the Lord as
a dedication.
In what way should the
child go?
There are three basic
interpretations of the training of the child.
- The
training should be based on the child’s nature and personality; that is,
according to the child’s way.
- The
training should be in a matter appropriate for a child; that is, according
to societal norms for child-rearing.[3]
- The
training should be done the according to a specific method; that is,
according to God’s way of doing things.
Of these three options, interpretation
#3 seems to fit best with the overall theme of Proverbs. The book opens with an
outline for the collection’s purpose:
2For learning about wisdom and
instruction,
for understanding words of insight,3for gaining instruction in wise
dealing,
righteousness, justice, and equity;4to teach shrewdness to the simple,
knowledge and prudence to the young—5let the wise also hear and gain in
learning,
and the discerning acquire skill,6to understand a proverb and a figure,
the words of the wise and their riddles.7The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Moreover, the book is set
out as a set of instructions for wise living, passed down from instructor to
student, from parent to child.
[source: Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii
Collection (Library of Congress), WikiCommons]
So, in the scope of the
book of Proverbs it seems that the parents are dedicating themselves to the faithful
teaching of the fear of the Lord.
What does Prov 22:6
promise?
Too often I have heard
various proverbs cited as promised from God. But that’s not how proverbs
operate. Proverbs are common expressions used to express a universal truth in broad,
but memorable strokes. Proverbs are sometimes contradictory, like Prov. 26:4–5.
4Do not answer fools according to their
folly,
or you will be a fool yourself.5Answer fools according to their folly,
or they will be wise in their own eyes.
So, it takes wisdom to
know when to apply proverbs to various situation. Proverbs are based on
observation and experience. They are not legal guarantees from God.
If parents
dedicate themselves to raising children who fear the Lord, experience shows
that these children will likely continue to walk with God throughout life. The
book of Proverbs is a guidebook for providing the best opportunities to succeed in doing that, but it doesn’t guarantee it.
This view was promulgated as early as the 9th century CE by
a the Jewish scholar Saadia.
[3] Duane A. Garrett, Proverbs,
Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, The New American Commentary 14 (Nashville:
Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1993), 187–188. See also Carl Friedrich Keil
and Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament. vol 6 (Peabody,
MA: Hendrickson, 1996), 324. “The instruction of youth, the education of youth,
ought to be conformed to the nature of youth; the matter of instruction, the
manner of instruction, ought to regulate itself according to the stage of life,
and its peculiarities; the method ought to be arranged according to the degree
of development which the mental and bodily life of the youth has arrived at.”
See, for example, W. McKane, Proverbs: A New Approach, Old Testament Library (London, SCM, 1970), 564. “There is only
one right way – the way of life – and the educational discipline which directs
young men along this way is uniform.”