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INSTRUCTION
A. Noun.
$
(
, 4148), “instruction; chastisement; warning.” This noun occurs 50
times, mainly in Proverbs. The first occurrence is in Deut. 11:2: “… I speak not with your
children which have not known, and which have not seen the chastisement of the Lord
your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his stretched out arm.”
One of the major purposes of the wisdom literature was to teach wisdom and
$
(Prov. 1:2).
"$
is discipline, but more. As “discipline” it teaches how to live correctly
in the fear of the Lord, so that the wise man learns his lesson before temptation and
testing: “Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction”
(Prov. 24:32). This “discipline” is training for life; hence, paying attention to
$
is
important. Many verbs bear out the need for a correct response: “hear, obey, love,
receive, obtain, take hold of, guard, keep.” Moreover, the rejection is borne out by many
verbs connected with
$ &
“reject, hate, ignore, not love, despise, forsake.” When
$
as “instruction” has been given, but was not observed, the
$
as
“chastisement” or “discipline” may be the next step: “Foolishness is bound in the heart of
a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him” (Prov. 22:15).
Careful attention to “instruction” brings honor (Prov. 1:9), life (Prov. 4:13), and
wisdom (Prov. 8:33), and above all it pleases God: “For whoso findeth me findeth life,
and shall obtain favor of the Lord” (Prov. 8:35). The lack of observance of “instruction”
brings its own results: death (Prov. 5:23), poverty, and shame (Prov. 13:18), and is
ultimately a sign that one has no regard for one’s own life (Prov. 15:32).
The receptivity for “instruction” from one’s parents, teacher, the wise, or the king is
directly corollary to one’s subjugation to God’s discipline. The prophets charged Israel
with not receiving God’s discipline: “O Lord, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast
stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused
to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to
return” (Jer. 5:3). Jeremiah asked the men of Judah and the inhabitants in the besieged
Jerusalem to pay attention to what was happening around them, that they still might
subject themselves to “instruction” (35:13). Isaiah predicted that God’s chastisement on
man was carried by the Suffering Servant, bringing peace to those who believe in Him:
“But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the
chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed” (53:5) The
Septuagint has the translation of
(“upbringing; training; instruction”). The Greek
word is the basis for our English word
, “training of a child.” The
KJV
has the
translations: “instruction; correction; chastisement; chastening.”
B. Verb.
(
, 3256), “to discipline.” This verb occurs in Hebrew and Ugaritic with the
sense of “to discipline.” Outside of these languages the root is not represented. The verb
appears 42 times in the Old Testament; cf. Prov. 19:18: “Chasten thy son while there is
hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying.”