"Spare the rod, spoil the child": Why the rod verses in the book of Proverbs are repealed verses

Many parents spank or punish their children. Most American parents support the use of corporal punishment in parenting. This is a common attitude amongst American parents. However, most American parents need an attitude adjustment in this regard. The teaching of "biblical spanking" is a man-made teaching. The Bible nowhere condones or commands any spanking of a child.

The phrase "spare the rod, spoil the child" is nowhere directly mentioned in the Bible. However, 6 verses in the book of Proverbs refer to the rod of correction. With that said, nowhere does the Bible refer to domestic corporal punishment. One popularly 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 here to a mature adult son. The Hebrew word translated "rod" is shebet and refers to, in the book of Proverbs, to the rod of correction, in the form of a switch. Ultimately, the rod verses in Proverbs refer to the 40 minus 1 lashes, administered in a courtroom setting, as a sentence for a crime. It was unlawful then to strike another Jew except in a courtroom setting, with striking a minor child being prohibited in all settings. The reason for this commandment is that, otherwise, the father would refuse to whip his son. The father was deputized by the court to administer the blows in the courtroom.

Christ died on the cross in order to repeal the harsh punishments in the Old Testament. Christ ultimately prohibited corporal punishment entirely by suffering the 40 minus 1 lashes before being nailed onto the cross. Nowhere are the rod verses repeated in the New Testament, with Heb. 12:5-6 referring to trials and tribulations headed the way of believers. 

The Bible nowhere speaks of a "biblical spanking". However, the Bible does touch on the issue of spanking, 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 (Latin: erethizo) and refers here to offenses or damages, namely the slightest of personal offense perceived by a child, stemming from entitlement/ It is one thing to stop spanking your child. However, it is not enough to simply stop spanking your child, or stop punishing them altogether for that matter. You need to avoid offense in children. Avoiding offense in children is the same as avoiding offense in other adults. Just as hurt feelings are inevitable in relations between adults, hurt feelings are also inevitable in children when dealing with them. Thus, in order to avoid offense in children, you need to be willing to give a meaningful apology whenever you hurt your child's feelings. Usually, all that is necessary is a reassurance of good intent coming from parents when hurting a child's feelings with limits not set out of anger, in the form of an informal apology, 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 when setting limits, you definitely need to give a formal apology to your child for hurting their feeling with your anger, such as "I apologize for losing my temper with you", and then commit never to lose your cool with your child ever again, as any parent anger directed towards a child 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 onto children, such as spanking or other forms of punishment of children. However, this commandment ultimately was received as prohibiting all offenses or damages as perceived by the child. 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 writers of all 88 books of the Bible wrote parenting manuals that advocated attachment parenting. All of the biblical writers were anti-spanking Jews, with no Jew worth mentioning ever endorsing corporal punishment of a child, or anything punitive with a child for that matter. Even King Solomon wrote an attachment parenting manual. 

Spanking was never truly a Christian concept, but instead came from European influence on the Christian faith. Spanking was a facet of pagan parenting in the broader Greco-Roman world. Contrary to popular belief, the Early Christians were not well-integrated into Rome, and instead lived in urban ghettos, shunning the outside world. The Early Christians were otherworldly Christians, and saw themselves as citizens of the Kingdom of God. One of the things shunned as of this world was spanking a child.

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!