Many parents believe that the Bible does not have a concept of child abuse apart from obeying the law of the land. Most American parents support the present-day definitions of child abuse under state and federal law. However, God's Law is above the law of the land. The Bible has its own definitions of child abuse - whatever the child victim perceives as abuse.
The Greek root word denoting parental entitlement is πλεονέκτης (Latin: pleonektés) and is defined as, officially speaking, wanting things from children, to the point of imposition. Unofficially speaking, parental entitlement consists of a parent who is sorely disappointed when they don't get the well-behaved child that they feel that they deserve. Even any parent anger directed towards children is parental entitlement, and was seen as entitlement in the Early Church. Whenever this sense of entitlement in parents then was perceived by children as offensive or damaging, it was deemed child abuse. See also Colossians 3:21 KJV:
Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.
The Greek root word translated "provoke...to anger" is ερεθιζο (Latin: erethizo) and refers here to child abuse, as understood then. This child abuse consisted of entitlement in parents, leading to offense in children. Offense in children consists of hurt feelings that parents refuse to apologize for, at minimum. With that said, if you ever lose your cool with your child as a parent, including while setting limits, you definitely need to give a formal apology for hurting your child's feelings with your anger, such as "I apologize for hurting your feelings with my temper", and then commit never to lose your cool with your child ever again, as any parent anger directed towards a child alone is entitlement, and was seen as entitlement in the Early Church. This commandment cross-references the Eighth and the Tenth Commandments, with the Apostle Paul here convicting a group of Greek Christian parents who brought into the church their pagan custom of patrias potestas, which is a Latin term roughly translating to "power to the parent", namely the power to impose punitive sanctions on children, such as spanking or other forms of punishment of children. However, this commandment was ultimately received by the parish at Colossae as prohibiting causing offenses in children as perceived by the child, at minimum. Paul, contrary to popular legend, was anti-spanking, and opposed any and all punitive parenting in his secular writings. Attachment parenting was banned under Roman law, but the Early Christians did it anyway, obeying God over men.
The Greek root word translated "they be discouraged" is αθυμέω (Latin: athumeo) and refers here to long-term damages, namely childhood trauma. The ancients in the Bible had a basic understanding of childhood trauma. Whenever a child grew up to be atheist, shame fell onto the parents - meaning never the child - for being too harsh on their child. An atheist then was seen as an abused child, not a "lost soul" to be "won over".
The ancients in the Bible even had their own definition of child sexual abuse. The Greek root word translated "fornication" is πορνεία (Latin: porneia) and refers here to any sexual activity outside of the Christian norm, as understood then. This norm prohibits any sexual relations or advances outside of the context of a Christian marriage between one adult man and one adult woman, with this marriage needing to be equal in terms of chronological age. A groom was only allowed a bride his age or up to 4 years older. Intergenerational marriages or sexual relations were prohibited entirely in the Early Church. Also prohibited then was pornography, as intended as such, especially when it depicted children. Most child sexual abuse then happened in the form of father-child incest, with daughters being the usual victims. Most fathers then who had a parent attraction to their child masturbated to thoughts of the child that they were attracted to. Sexual attraction to children was something most men in the Early Church openly admitted to, with all men having an honest masturbation policy. Child sexual abuse was rare in the Early Church, meaning it almost never happened. Whenever a child was sexually abused. it was a huge moral outrage. A sexually abused child could easily know what was happening to them, and then they self-reported the abuse that they were suffering.
Contrary to popular belief, the Early Christians were not well-integrated into Rome. Instead, the Early Christians lived in urban enclaves in major Greco-Roman cities, shunning the broader Greco-Roman world, and the world at large. The Early Christians even had their own court system, with these courts being binding into the end of the 1st Century.
Child abuse was prosecuted in the Early Church by way of internal church investigation. This investigation usually started when a child confided into a clergyperson about their home life. From there, the parents were summoned to appear before a council of 3 church elders, who would preside over the investigation. If the parents were at all defensive in court, as opposed to simply answering to the court, they were excommunicated from the Early Christian Churches of God, as well as any witnesses testifying on behalf of the parents.
The Bible is an anti-spanking document. All 88 books of the Bible - from Genesis to Revelation - were written by anti-spanking Jews, with any spanking of a child being prohibited under Jewish law. All of the biblical writers also wrote parenting manuals that advocated attachment parenting. Even King Solomon wrote an attachment parenting manual, with the rod in Proverbs referring to a form of judicial corporal punishment towards an adult child known as the 40 minus lashes. It just so happens that these parenting manuals were not translated into English until the 1960s. Before then, this level of parenting knowledge was known only to the Jewish world.
The Bible is America's book. America is a Christian nation founded on Judeo-Christian values. Many of our customs and mannerisms come from the Bible. Even our legal codes, under the English common law, is based off of a basic understanding of the Bible. However, the criminal defense of "reasonable chastisement" is based off of dated biblical understanding. It is about time that we abolish the "reasonable chastisement" defense in all 50 states, and redefine child abuse to include whatever the child victim perceives as abuse.
The depraved and entitled parents who provoke their children to anger through punitive parenting will not inherit the Kingdom of God! Let them be cast forever into the lake of fire and burning sulfur, which is the second death prepared for Satan and his accomplices! Let them descend into the abyss which is the ever-burning Hell of fire and torrents, suffering God's Wrath day and night forever and ever! Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!