Train a child in the ways in which he should go...

[Cassidy]

and when he is grown he will NEVER depart from it.

What does this scripture mean to you?

How can you apply it to your walk?

What other parent/child relationship can this refer to?

 

[nephilimiyr]

and when he is grown he will NEVER depart from it.

What does this scripture mean to you?

How can you apply it to your walk?

What other parent/child relationship can this refer to?

It can apply to our relationship with our heavenly Father. God will allow us to go through seasons of testing so to make our relationship with him stronger, and us more wiser.

As for the "NEVER", yeah, if the child was a good student, he will not turn away from what he was taught.

If the purpose here is yet another arguement for OSAS, I'd like to point out that the child should be yours to begin with, is he not? So here we have the possibly of one being a child of God, but if not trained up correctly, departing from it. So in order to be sure that child of God wont depart from it you must train him up correctly.

 

[Always in His Presence]

and when he is grown he will NEVER depart from it.

6 Train up a child in the way he should go,
And when he is old he will not depart from it. NKJV

6 Train a child in the way he should go,
and when he is old he will not turn from it.NIV

6Train up a child in the way he should go [and in keeping with his individual gift or bent], and when he is old he will not depart from it AMP

6 Point your kids in the right direction—
when they're old they won't be lost. Message

Give instruction to a youth about his way, Even when he is old he turneth not from it. Youngs Literal

Sounds like if we train a child properly he will not change off of what he is trained in .

 

[Cassidy]

Thanks Balance.

It can apply to our relationship with our heavenly Father. God will allow us to go through seasons of testing so to make our relationship with him stronger, and us more wiser.

As for the "NEVER", yeah, if the child was a good student, he will not turn away from what he was taught.

The scripture doesn't say that it dependant upon the child being a good student...rather it focused on the parent doing their job.

If the purpose here is yet another arguement for OSAS,

You caught me

I'd like to point out that the child should be yours to begin with, is he not?

From before the foundation of the world through adoption.

So here we have the possibly of one being a child of God, but if not trained up correctly, departing from it. So in order to be sure that child of God wont depart from it you must train him up correctly.

That's right. And God being the perfect parent? Do you think he'd ever fail in training us properly as his children?

 

[nephilimiyr]

Thanks Balance.

[/size]

The scripture doesn't say that it dependant upon the child being a good student...rather it focused on the parent doing their job.

And the scripture doesn't say "NEVER" either.

You caught me



From before the foundation of the world through adoption.



That's right. And God being the perfect parent? Do you think he'd ever fail in training us properly as his children?

No, but I believe in bad students. Doesn't matter how good your teacher is, if the student doesn't want to learn, and in fact refuses to learn, he is not going to.

 

[Yitzchak]

The hebrew word used here in Proverbs 22:6 for train is chanuk. The same word used for the holiday Chanukah. Because it means dedicate and chanukah was the rededication of the temple which had been profaned by the Greeks.

These passages all translate the same hebrew word as dedicate.

Deu 20:5 And the officers shall speak unto the people, saying, What man is there that hath built a new house, and hath not dedicated it? let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man dedicate it.

1Ki 8:63 And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered unto the LORD, two and twenty thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the LORD.

2Ch 7:5 And king Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty and two thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep: so the king and all the people dedicated the house of God.

Just a side note here. It is also the same hebrew root word for Enoch whose name means dedicated one.

I am not saying that to train is an incorrect translation. But we sometimes get a more full understanding of the word by looking at the root word.

Remember Hannah

1Sa 1:27 For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of him:
1Sa 1:28 Therefore also I have lent him to the LORD; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the LORD. And he worshipped the LORD there.

I also think that this understanding of training ties in better with the rest of the verse "the way he should go " .If you see the way that the child should go as God's calling or destiny for that child.

I like this understanding of the verse better. Because the focus is on the child belonging to the Lord and the destiny that The Lord has for the child. It does not put the emphasis upon the parents self effort to be perfect parents. It is not my perfect parenting skills that decide the fate of my child. It is my dedicaticating the child to God every day and trusting The Holy Spirit to lead and accomplish His will for my child.

 

[Cassidy]

[/size]
And the scripture doesn't say "NEVER" either.

LOL

Well he definetly doesn't say 'he might not' or 'if you're lucky they won't' or 'If they are bad enough they won't'. It says 'will not'. And to me...will not...means...will not.

No, but I believe in bad students. Doesn't matter how good your teacher is, if the student doesn't want to learn, and in fact refuses to learn, he is not going to.

We're not talking about students and teachers...trust me, teachers have no love for their students...and they also don't really care, in the long run, what happens with a student. They have no affection for them.

I'm talking about a parent to a child. No where in that verse does it say anything about a child not being willing to learn. It simply says to teach and that they won't depart...nothing else. It's not dependent upon the child because that would mean that the child has the control. If a parent teaches their child properly...they simply won't depart.

And God being our heavenly father, I truly believe...doesn't fail! Remember I said in the other thread 2 things that God cannot do (with all his free will)...he can't sin and he can't fail. So if we are made in his image and if we are the ones who are taught by him, in the ways in which we should go...then when we are grown, the Lord promises, that we won't depart.

I don't see any if's or but's or maybe's about it, i have full faith in my father in heaven that he is going to teach me right and that I will never depart from him. That's what my faith is all about...believing that HE is in control of my salvation. He is God...I am not!

And quite frankly...I'm glad it's not up to me, because I know exactly what I'd do, I certainly wouldn't have eternal security, that's for sure

 

[zaksmummy]

Duet 6v4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on
your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

I love this passage - doing all the things mentioned will impress upon your children that they are to love God and it puts everything else in life into perspective - well thats how I see it anyway

 

[Yitzchak]

Chanuk l'nahar al-peh dereku gam ki yaz'chen lo yasur miminah
חנך לנער על־פי דרכו גם כי־יזקין לא־יסור ממנה׃

Dedicate/Train a young boy according to his path also/when he is an old man he will not/never turn away.

The word in this verse for not is "lo" . It can actaully be translated never depending upon the context. In modern hebrew if I ask you a yes or no question and your answer is no then the hebrew word used is the same .."lo"

Yasur means to be turn away as in this verse where the same hebrew word is used.

Deu 7:4 For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.

Here are some quotes from a Christian commentary on the verse.

1) The Hebrew word "Chanac", which we translate "train up" or "initiate," signifies also "dedicate," and is often used for the consecrating of anything, house, or person, to the service of God.

"Dedicate, therefore in the first instance, your child to God; and nurse, teach, and discipline him as God's child, whom He has entrusted to your care" (Adam Clarke, Commentary On The Bible; Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill Press, 1967, 546).

"In The Way He Should Go"

2) The phrase, "in the way he should go," is often misapplied. The assumption is that it means "in the way of righteousness and the true religion," -- a course which all, both young and old, ought to follow -- but his is not what Solomon meant here.

The Hebrew phrase from which the words in the way he should go," means "according to the tenor of his way," that is, in harmony with his disposition, his natural talents, and his individual character.

Taught here is the obligation of parents to study the nature and disposition of their children and to train them accordingly. This is in harmony with Paul's instructions to the Ephesians and Colossians (Eph. 6:4; Col. 3:21). Instead of giving all the emphasis to a rigorous standard to be applied "indiscriminately," each child's "temperment" is to be closely considered and the teaching is to be done so as to achieve the greatest possible adaptation to the childs need.

3) Strangely, the words, "when he is old," are usually interpreted these days to mean, "when he is grown" -- has reached adulthood -- but this the passage neither says nor teaches.

The affirmation of Solomon deals with the fruits of training in old age; and, the meaning is, that an individual who has been trained properly in the principles of truth and has lived in harmony therewith until he reaches old age will not then abandon that which has become "second nature" to him. Seldom indeed do people who have followed the course of rectitude and devotion to God abandon this life-long mode of living in their declining years.

 

[gratefulgrace]

This is a very muti faceted scripture and I have heard it interpreted different ways. It is more that just giving them the knowledge of God and seeing they obey go to church etc. This is all so important as is our example of what it means to live a life of FAITH. But the emphasis that I see in the scripture is the part that says,"in the way he should go." *I feel there is a danger as christian parents to feel WE KNOW what is best for our child in terms of life partner, career choice, spiritual focus etc. And we do not! Only God knows that and we need to believe that God will deal with them. We need to remind and instill that into our children at a young age and train them to hear HIS VOICE.

I has also been a very encouraging scripture for me as I have had sons that walked away from the things we taught them. I teaches me to NEVER lose faith that God holds them in His hand and they will come to a knowledge of the truth. They are coming home one by one. Hallelujah. gg
*PS just a side note I have seen the fall out of overbearing christian parenting that actually drives their children from God

 

[He put me back together]

A better translation, IMO:

"Dedicate a youth to the mouth of his path, so that when he grows old he will not stray from it."

 

[Yitzchak]

A better translation, IMO:

"Dedicate a youth to the mouth of his path, so that when he grows old he will not stray from it."

This is the literal hebrew translation. It is actually very common for english translations to take the literal and interpret it for us. One of the key differences between hebrew is that hebrew is concrete versus english which is more abstract.

 

[gratefulgrace]

HPMBT how would you then interpret this verse based on its concrete hebrew translation?