"Biblical spanking": Why the rod verses in the book of Proverbs are repealed verses

Many parents believe that spanking children is condoned or even commanded in the Bible. This is a common attitude amongst American parents. A common excuse for spanking a child is found in 5 verses in the book of Proverbs. However, the teaching of "biblical spanking" is a man-made teaching. 

One commonly cited rod verse is 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 "son" is ben and refers to a mature adult son. The Hebrew root word translated "rod" is shebet and refers here to the rod of correction, namely a switch. Ultimately, this passage refers to the 40 minus 1 lashes, administered to the bare back, in a courtroom setting, as a sentence for a crime. The 40 minus 1 lashes was a final warning before an errant son was put to death. In the biblical context, it was unlawful to strike a fellow adult Jew outside of the context of a courtroom. It was unlawful to strike a minor child in all settings. The reason for this commandment is that, otherwise, fathers of adult sons would shield their children from blame, and would refuse to whip their sons.

Christ died and Rose on the Third Day in order to put an end to the harsh punishments of the Old Testament. Christ did this by enduring corporal punishment unjustly before being placed on the cross. The Early Christians did not use capital or corporal punishment as a form of church discipline. The Old Testament punishments were seen as God's flawed punishment, with Hell being the perfect punishment for sin. Christ opened up the gates of Heaven and Hell for motivation as to how to behave as a Christian, replacing the flawed Old Testament punishments.

The teaching of "biblical spanking" is a man-made teaching. The Bible nowhere legitimately calls for the corporal punishment of children, or any punishment for that matter. However, the Bible does touch o 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 (Latin: erethizo) and here refers 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 stop spanking your child, or even stop punishing your child altogether for that matter. You need to avoid offense in children. If you hurt someone else's feelings, you need to apologize. It works the same w ay when dealing with children. Thus in order to avoid offense in children, you need to apologize to your child for hurting their feelings. One thing that surely hurts a child's feelings is parent anger directed towards children. If you ever lose your cool with your child as a parent, including while setting limits, you definitely need to apologize 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 children 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 intended 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. 

Contrary to popular belief, the parents in the biblical context did not enslave their children. Instead, attachment parenting was the norm in both the Old and the New Testament. All of the biblical writers also wrote parenting manuals that advocated attachment parenting. For the first 6 years of childhood, children were in constant closeness to mothers, with children following mothers around wherever she went. For the latter years of childhood, children played freely outside, with thus play often being wet and messy in nature. Whenever children got into mischief, parents laughed with their child. When children lashed out at parents , parents cried with their children. The Early Christian context is an attachment parenting context, and is the perfect context for attachment parenting inspiration. 

The Early Christians, contrary to popular belief, were not well-integrated into Rome. Instead, the Early Christians shunned the broader Greco-Roman world, and the world at large. The Early Christians even had their own court system that was binding into the end of the 1st Century. 

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!