Proverbs 13:24: Why this verse is not a pro-spanking verse

Many parents still punish their children, and use the Bible as a justification for punishing their children. 35% of children were punished physically according to a recent study. Many more have expeirenced time-out. One verse in the Bible used as an excuse for punishing children is Proverbs 13:24.

It says in Proverbs 13:24 KJV:

He that spareth the rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.

The Hebrew root word translated "rod" is שםח (Latin: shebet) and refers to, in the context of Proverbs, a switch or tree branch used for legal correction under the Law, namely the 40 minus 1 lashes. Whippings could only happen under the strictest of circumstances, namely after an adult criminal was convicted of a capital offense in a court of law. The 40 minus 1 lashes was a last chance at life, after many warnings that an adult son was engaging in habits that were criminal in nature. Most criminal offenses that resulted in whippings were crimes against the state and crimes against children. Many of the criminal statutes in the 613 Commandments of Moses were never used. No child was ever sentences to a whipping, and otherwise, a whipping could not happen.

In the New Testament, the Early Christians never used corporal or capital punishment to enforce law. The Early Christians instead used righteous judgment to collectively individually enforce law upon each other, alongside moral shunning. The Early Christians were pacifists in that they opposed all wars, as well as prohibited members of the church to participate in Roman floggings or executions.

Prov. 13:24 has little to do with parenting, and more to do with judicial corporal punishment for adults. There are parenting passages, but they prescribe natural parenting, meaning attachment parenting. See Colossians 3:20-21 KJV:

Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord. Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.

The Greek root word translated "obey" is υπακουο (Latin: hupakouo) and refers to secure, vulnerable rest in the love and grace of parents. Children are to rest securely in the sacrifice of parents, just as parent believers rest securely in the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Parents are to be extensions of Christ in the family home, dutifully and selflessly submitting to children as they would to God, expecting absolutely nothing in return, with children resting safely and securely in the submission of parents. Parents are to submit to children as their enemy, from beneath yet from above, revering and fearing children as vulnerable extensions of God.

The Greek root word translated "provoke...to anger" is ερεθιζο (Latin: erethizo) and refers to damages or offenses, namely the slightest of personal offense perceived by a child, including, but not limited to, the slightest of offensive touch or speech perceived by a child, stemming from entitlement. This commandment was intended by the Apostle Paul, and understood in its original context, as a moral statute prohibiting all forms of punitive parenting, including any punishments and controlling demeanor towards children. In the Old Testament, punitive parents were put to death by way of bloodletting, after punishing their children one last time. Parents who punished their children were charged with kidnapping, with "kidnapping" being defined under the Law as the slightest of damages or offenses stemming from hostage-taking - child punishment was seen in biblical times as holding your child hostage merely for things that they did wrong, thereby treating your child as a quartered slave. Paul here was lifting up the Law in order to convict a group of Greek Christian parents who brought their pagan custom of spanking and punishing children into the church. Paul, contrary to popular legend, was anti-spanking, and opposed any and all punishment of a child.

Children are in the providing custody of their parents, primarily of their mothers, and secondarily of their fathers. Mothers formed a secure attachment to their children, and did so by way of providing for them nourishment and sustenance, namely attachment parenting items such as breastfeeding and skin-on-skin comfort. During the first 6 years of a child's life, children were in constant closeness with their mothers, starting with mothers constantly holding their babies, and then with children wanting to be held constantly. Mothers and children went naked in the family home, with children being naked all of the time until they were adults. After age 6, children started exploring the terrain, playing outside with friends, venturing further and further from home, but then retreating to the sustaining warmth of mothers once more by night, sleeping next to her every night until puberty. When children shook off the closeness of parents at the onset of puberty, that was the beginning of the end, with children attaining majority at age 13 under Early Christian church ordinance. 

Child punishment of any kind was prohibited under church ordinance as well as Christian law in general. Corporal punishment was seen in the biblical context as connected to the death penalty, meaning only judicial corporal punishment existed in biblical times, and only in the Old Testament - domestic corporal punishment was outlawed even during the time of Solomon. In Ancient Israel, whippings were a final warning before an immediate execution for recidivism. Christ then abolished capital and corporal punishment on the cross, with the Early Church forbidding all Christians from participating in Roman and Greek executions. Children were not legal subjects under Christian law, with children instead being regarded as learning the law. Thus, no legal penalty could be imposed on a child, at least until the child attained the age of majority under Early Christian church ordinance.

The depraved and entitled parents who provoke their children to anger through punitive parenting will not inherit the Kingdom of God! Let them be forever cast 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 torment, suffering God's Wrath forever and ever! Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!