15:10

Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:

10a
Discipline is harsh for him who leaves the path ;

10b
he who hates correction will die.

In both the Berean Standard Bible and Hebrew, the parallel parts occur in the form of a chiasm. That is, the parts in 15:10a occur in the opposite order from the parallel parts in 15:10b. In some languages, it may be more natural to translate the parallel parts in the same order. Use whatever order is natural in your language.

15:10a–b

Discipline is harsh for him who leaves the path; he who hates correction will die: The two lines of this verse are similar in meaning. But the parts in 15:10b have stronger, more specific meanings than the parallel parts in 15:10a. For example, both lines describe the consequences of evil conduct. The consequence in 15:10a is described as Discipline. The second line then specifies the extreme severity of that discipline—death.

The first line refers in a general way to a person who leaves the path. The second line specifies hates correction as one of the main attitudes of someone who has left the right path.

The words Discipline and correction also occur in 15:5a–b and 13:18a–b. See the notes on those verses.

15:10a

Discipline is harsh: This phrase refers here to painful, harsh, or severe punishment.

for him who leaves the path: This severe punishment will be experienced by a person who leaves the path. As in other verses in Proverbs, the path is a metaphor that refers to conduct. The previous verse speaks of pursuing righteousness in contrast to the way (behavior) of the wicked. So the path here probably represents right conduct.

Some ways to translate this line are:

• Keep the metaphor. For example:

Whoever abandons the right path will be severely punished (New Living Translation (1996))

• Translate the meaning without a figure of speech. For example:

The person who quits doing what is right will be punished (New Century Version)
-or-
If you do what is wrong, you will be severely punished (Good News Translation)

Notice that the New Century Version and Good News Translation express the same meaning in opposite ways.

15:10b

he who hates correction will die: As in most references to death in Proverbs, this probably refers primarily to physical death. However, the verse itself does not specify either physical death or eternal death. So it is recommended that you do not specify one meaning or the other in your translation.

Some other ways to translate 15:10b are:

and the one who hates to be corrected will die (New Century Version)
-or-
if you refuse correction, you will die (Contemporary English Version)

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