Proverbs 23:14

Footnotes

1. 23 Or “punish” (). The syntax of these two lines suggests a conditional clause (cf. , ).
2. 24 Heb “his soul.” The term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul”) functions as a synecdoche of part (= soul) for the whole (= person); see 660 4.
3. 25 The term שְׁאוֹל (shé’ol, “Sheol”) in this context probably means “death” (so , , ) and not the realm of the departed (wicked) spirits (cf. “the nether world”). In the wisdom of other lands, Ahiqar 6:82 says, “If I strike you, my son, you will not die.” The idea is that discipline helps the child to a full life; if the child dies prematurely, it would be more than likely a consequence of not being trained by discipline. In the book of Proverbs the “death” mentioned here could be social as well as physical.