"Biblical spanking": Why the rod verses in Proverbs are repealed verses

Many parents think that the Bible says somewhere "spare the rod, spoil the child". This saying is nowhere in the Bible. However, the Bible mentions the rod of correction 6 times in the book of Proverbs. But, the rod verses in Proverbs are repealed verses.

One commonly cited rod verse is Proverbs 13:24 KJV:

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

The Hebrew word translated "son" is ben and refers to a mature adult son. The Hebrew word translated "rod" is shebet and refers to the rod of correction, coming in the form of a switch. This passage ultimately refers to the 40 minus 1 lashes, administered to the bare back, as a sentence for a crime. Striking a fellow Jew outside of a courtroom setting was unlawful then. Striking a minor child was always wrong then. The reason for this commandment is that otherwise, Jewish parents would refuse to whip their adult children. The court then would deputize the father to whip his errant son, and usually, fathers were hesitant to administer the blows.

Christ abolished the harsh punishments in the Old Testament by way of doing His Work on the cross. Christ endured corporal punishment unjustly, and thus corporal punished in any case was banned in the Early Church. Before Christ was nailed to the cross, He was administered a whipping to the bare back, also coming in the form of 40 minus 1 lashes. 

The book of Proverbs does not give parenting advice. However, the Bible does weigh in on the spanking issue, and then some. 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 and refers here to offenses or damages, 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, with this entitlement including any parent anger directed towards children. It is one thing to stop spanking children. However, it is not enough to stop spanking or punishing children. You need to avoid offense in children. Avoiding offense in children is the same as avoiding offense in other adults - be willing to apologize for hurting the feelings of another, especially in the case of children. Hurt feelings are inevitable in parenting, just like it is inevitable in relationships with other adults. Thus, when you do hurt your child's feelings, you should apologize for hurting their feelings. Usually, all that is necessary is reassurance of good intent, coming from parents when children could not accept a limit not set out of anger, such as "I'm sorry, but I had to set X limit for Y reasons". However, if you ever lose your cool with your child as a parent, including while setting limits, you need to give a formal apology for hurting your child's feelings with your anger, such as "I apologize for losing my temper with you", and then commit never to losing your cool with your child ever again, as losing your cool alone with your 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 phrase 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. 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 staple punishment for children in Ancient Greece was a spanking to the bare bottom. Spanking originated as a pagan custom infiltrating the Early Christian church parishes. Paul would have none of it, and used his inspired pen to convict the scofflaw parents who punished their children.

Any parent anger directed towards a child was seen as entitlement then. Christian parents in the Early Church were not motivated by anger, and instead were motivated by worry or concern. Anger directed towards children was seen then as akin to a viper. Maybe children were given a warning, but not by much. 

"Biblical spanking" is a man-made teaching. King Solomon himself advocated for attachment parenting in his secular writings. King Solomon issued a parenting manual for Jewish parents to use as reference in parenting. This parenting manual advocated against spanking. All of the other biblical writers advocated attachment parenting as well. 

The depraved and entitled parents who provoke their children to anger through punitive parenting will nor 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!