22:15

The first line of this proverb describes the natural tendency of a child to act foolishly. The second line describes the remedy—physical punishment.

15a Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child,

15b but the rod of discipline drives it far from him.

22:15a

Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child: This clause indicates that moral foolishness is figuratively tied or fastened to the heart of a child. It implies that a child is born with a tendency to do wrong. Foolishness is part of his original character. This clause does not refer to silly or childish play. Some ways to translate this figure of speech are:

• Use a different figure of speech to describe the connection between Foolishness and the heart of a child. For example:

Folly is anchored in the heart of a youth (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
Folly is deep-rooted in the hearts of children (Revised English Bible)

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

A youngster’s heart is filled with foolishness (New Living Translation (2004))

Foolishness: In Hebrew, this word refers to moral foolishness, not mental stupidity.

a child: In this context, the word child probably refers to a young child, as in 22:6a.

22:15b

but: In Hebrew, there is no conjunction here. Verse 22:15b describes how to change the situation in 22:15a. It does not describe two contrasting situations. In some languages, it may be more natural not to use a conjunction here.

the rod of discipline: In Hebrew, this phrase refers to bodily discipline or punishment, such as a spanking or using a switch. It can also represent any punishment that causes enough pain to correct bad behavior.

drives it far from him: This clause means that physical discipline or punishment will remove a child’s tendency to be morally foolish.

Some other ways to translate this clause are:

but physical discipline will drive it far away (New Living Translation (2004))

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