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Pro 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. (KJV)

Is it true?

It's great advice.

It doesn't always happen, but it is better than training them the wrong way.

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Cobra (the car, not the poisonous reptile)
all scripture is NRSV unless otherwise noted

Pil,

I believe this is true. It doesn't say when he is young he won't depart from it. Old age tends to bring people back to their roots. (If they live to see it)
Generally patterns of rebellion are eventually exhausted. If the child has tried everything and done everything without success and happiness and he was raised properly in a Christian home modeling Christ and his love and all the benefits of living that kind of lifestyle, when he has exhausted all options, he will look back to see the examples of his youth and recognize the truth within it and return. We see this in the prodigal son story. I think this is the idea it is talking about. However, to say this is 100 percent going to happen one would have to define what "the way is". Is it to teach the Gospel? We know that God's word will not come back to him void. So I say this is the large part of it. Many times parents teach their children right from wrong but leave out the Gospel that drives it. It happens even in the best of the Christian homes. In the cases where the children are not daily taugh the word of God, the things of the Lord and the work of Christ there is no certaintly that a child won't depart from a right path, because the right path cannot be established in the absence of clear, constant and repetitive spiritual nurishment.

It is a true proverb. The title of the book is not Promises, but Proverbs

Unfortunately, many preachers have preached these wise words as promises and caused some grief along the way. Some would say that the above verse is more comforting as a promise, but I believe that it is also meant to be a challenge to faithful parenting.

There are other verses which tell us that God uses our efforts for His glory.

John

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"The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love." Gal 5:6b

Pastor John C. Blackburn

My pastor says that "train up" could be better understood as teaching a child disciplined way of life.

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Martin Luther, 475 years ago, was asked, "How do we love and serve God? How do we love and serve our neighbors?" and Luther answered, "In commune per vocatione." We love and serve God, we love and serve our neighbors, in community, through vocation. And let it be so with us.

My mother holds to this as a promise and it is breaking her heart. You see my brother is a drug addict and drunk who gives God little thought and he is 52. We were both raised to be believers. I love him dearly. He taught me to throw & catch, ride a bike, shoot the BB-gun, etc. But now he is so hardened and hostile to the gospel.

A proverb is a trueism and not a promise. We are responsible to train our children in the ways of God. They are responsible for the decision they make of whether to accept or reject that training. I pray my brother comes to God in Christ. But I know that if he dies today without Christ that the word of God is still faithful and true.

Blessings,
Randy.

Randy wrote:

A proverb is a truism and not a promise.

Well said, Randy. The book of Proverbs often presents ideals rather than everyday reality. "The fear of the wicked indeed will befall him, but the desire of the righteous will be granted" (10:24). In an ideal world, this would happen without exception. In the real world...

It strikes me that this is a conclusion about what the author of the text was observing about the nature of parenting in his time. Perhaps it is a truism and should be seen as such I suppose. However, to take this passage in its rawest form as how to parent today is to so oversimplify Christian family life as to make it a meaningless text IMO. Problems come I think when the bible is a set of rules instead of "fatherly" advice on how to live a holistic life of faith.

Problems come when the specific commands of the Bible are ignored and suppressed by a "holistic life of faith" which is determined on a "pick and mix" basis.

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Anthony Forsyth
Pastor, Calvary Bible Church Medway

This is neither a command nor general advice, but an observation based founded upon the fear of God and the belief that our Creator God had created an ordered world in which the patterns He has ordained are followed except in those who seek to be rebellious to His revealed will.

It is a general truth rather than a specific truth. children who are raised well generally live well, but it is incorrect to say that every child who is raised well must turn out well. Judas watched the miracles of our Lord, heard his preaching, and witnessed his compassion, yet rejected Him. Simon Magus saw both the integrity and the spirituality of the Apostles, yet such only bred greed. Are we going to argue that it was David's poor parenting skills that led to the rebellion of his sone - no it was other sins -- and the sins his children chose to commit.

Timothy was raised well, John the Baptist as well, but what about Paul? Did he not have a wonderful childhood? Yet, but for God's intervening grace he would have missed the truth.

Back to Proverbs - there is a middle - and I believe hermeneuticaly sound ground to stand upon. This verse describes the type of parenting which generally works and is commended by God for our benefit. It is certainly superior to any other approach.

John

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"The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love." Gal 5:6b

Pastor John C. Blackburn

Gorden Hugenberger in "The Basics of Biblical Hebrew" p284-285, says that the verse is better understood to mean "Train up a child according to his way" - in other words let him live as he so chooses. It is an ironic command communicating the concept that if you teach a child to do as he likes it'll be something he is stuck with.

I'm sure one thing we all agree on is the need to discipline a child and teach him not to simply do as he desires - after all, that is simply life in the flesh - carnality.

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Anthony Forsyth
Pastor, Calvary Bible Church Medway

That is one of the 3 options I have seen - Garret follows Delitzsch is understanding it to mean train the child in a manner befitting a child - I find Hugenberger's option to to be anachronistic - it is a legitimate reading, but it seems to be reading a modern idea back into the text, but I will have to check it out in context.

Garret's option is reasonable. I would recommend his commentary because he does a better job of seeing literary patterns and context than most others do. Waltke has full discussion along the same lines and makes a very needed corrective - the verse is not saying that a child will return to right behavior, but that he will continue to make right decisions.

To return to the OP. I do not believe that this verse promises that an individual who is trained well will always be faithful - nor even that such an individual will always finally return to faithfulness. Rather it does inform us both that an individual who chooses to begins well has the opportunity to end well with an inference that the individual who has been trained well will always have the opportunity to return to his training.

This verse may be well used to move parents to make sure their child is well trained so that they may have the opportunity to choose well.

John

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"The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love." Gal 5:6b

Pastor John C. Blackburn

Lol...everybody picks and mixes...just read these forums for awhile.

Not me. I pick and choose.
My father-in-law, rest his soul, was famous for picking and grinning.
As an Englander, Pantman is more likely to pick a dilly.
Oh, but I wax silly.

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Cobra (the car, not the poisonous reptile)
all scripture is NRSV unless otherwise noted