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

Many parents think the Bible says somewhere "spare the rod, spoil the child". However, there is no such verse in the Bible. However, there are passages in the book of Proverbs that do mention a rod. However, this rod refers to judicial corporal punishment of a young adult, when understood in context.

The Bible says in Proverbs 13:24 KJV:

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

The rod here refers to a specific form of judicial corporal punishment known as the 40 minus 1 lashes. These lashes were administered as a final warning before being executed for a capital offense, meaning it was a once and a lifetime event that was harrowing in nature. Children under the age of majority could not be whipped under the Law. This passage is a reminder that fathers are to whip their errant young adult children if the time came, because otherwise, fathers would refuse to whip their children with the 40 minus 1 lashes.

All 7 of the rod verses are repealed verses. Christ suffered corporal punishment before being nailed to the cross, and did so unjustly. The Early Christians did not practice corporal or capital punishment for this reason alone. Christ died in order to abolish the harsh punishments under the Law of Moses. The Law of Moses is still binding today, but only in spirit, meaning the first 10 commandments sum up the rest of them. Laws were only to be followed if they are repeated in the New Testament, and even then, the Early Christians did not whip or execute anyone. All of the harsh punishments in the Old Testament are null and void, thanks to Christ's work on the cross.

The Bible actually prohibits the corporal punishment of children, as well as any punishments or controlling demeanor towards children. The Greek root word denoting parental entitlement, and cross-references the Tenth Commandment, is πλεονέκτης (Latin: pleonektés) and is defined as, officially speaking, wanting things from children, to the point of imposition. When this want was imposed on a child, and the child perceived it, it became child abuse. See 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 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 was understood in its original context, as a moral statute prohibiting all forms of punitive parenting, including, but not limited to, any punishments, reprimands, or other 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 as the slightest of damages or offenses stemming from hostage-taking - child punishment was seen 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 in his secular writings. Paul may not have gotten along with the women of the church, but he sure loved children, and even took in a few orphaned children during his time as deacon. Indeed, Greco-Roman parents got out the scourge of cords in order to punish their children, but NOT the Christians among them - the Early Christians were largely persecuted for being "too soft" on their children.

The various writers of all 88 books of the Bible were all anti-spanking, including both the Apostle Paul and King Solomon. All of them were Jews, and the Jewish faith prohibited the use of force on minor children even then. Judaism is the root religion of Christianity, and Judaism prohibits striking or punishing children for any reason. In the Hebraic context, the rod was only employed rarely, and even then, only in the Old Testament. In the Early Church, parishioners were forbidden from participating in Roman floggings or executions by church leadership. King Solomon did not intend for his work to be an excuse for child abuse. Parents then brought up their children as comes naturally, meaning attachment parenting. 

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 torment, suffering God's Wrath day and night forever and ever! Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!