Proverbs 29:15
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A rod of correction imparts wisdom, but a child left to himself disgraces his mother.
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
A proverb with שׁבט, Pro 29:15, is placed next to one with שׁופט, but it begins a group of proverbs regarding discipline in the house and among the people: 15 The rod and reproof give wisdom; But an undisciplined son is a shame to his mother. With שׁבט [a rod], which Pro 22:15 also commends as salutary, תּוכחת refers to discipline by means of words, which must accompany bodily discipline, and without them is also necessary; the construction of the first line follows in number and gender the scheme Pro 27:9, Zac 7:7; Ewald, 339c. In the second line the mother is named, whose tender love often degenerates into a fond indulgence; such a darling, such a mother's son, becomes a disgrace to his mother. Our "ausgelassen," by which Hitzig translates משׁלּח, is used of joyfulness unbridled and without self-restraint, and is in the passage before us too feeble a word; שׁלּח is used of animals pasturing at liberty, wandering in freedom (Job 39:5; Isa 16:2); נער משׁלח is accordingly a child who is kept in by no restraint and no punishment, one left to himself, and thus undisciplined (Luther, Gesenius, Fleischer, and others).
Open source ↗Parents, in educating their children, must consider, 1. The benefit of due correction. They must not only tell their children what is good and evil, but they must chide them, and correct them too, if need be, when they either neglect that which is good or do that which is evil. If a reproof will serve without the rod, it is well, but the rod must never be used without a rational and grave reproof; and then, though it may be a present uneasiness both to the father and to the child, yet it will give wisdom. Vexatio dat intellectum - Vexation sharpens the intellect. The child will take warning, and so will get wisdom. 2. The mischief of undue indulgence: A child that is not restrained or reproved, but is left to himself, as Adonijah was, to follow his own inclinations, may do well if he will, but, if he take to ill courses, nobody will hinder him; it is a thousand to one but he proves a disgrace to his family, and brings his mother, who fondled him and humoured him in his licentiousness, to shame, to poverty, to reproach, and perhaps will himself be abusive to her and give her ill language.
Open source ↗29:15 Wisdom is not instinctive—it must be taught.
Open source ↗Original language
The Hebrew and Greek words behind this passage, with Strong's numbers — from openscriptures (CC BY-SA).
Cross-references
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The proverbs of Solomon: A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son grief to his mother.
A foolish son brings grief to his father and bitterness to her who bore him.
Discipline your son, and he will give you rest; he will bring delight to your soul.
He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him diligently.
Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him.
Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.
A man fathers a fool to his own grief; the father of a fool has no joy.
He who gathers in summer is a wise son, but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son.
(His father had never once reprimanded him by saying, “Why do you act this way?” Adonijah was also very handsome, born next after Absalom.)
A servant pampered from his youth will bring grief in the end.