The Lord's Discipline
Proverbs 3:11
Proverbs 3:11 and 12 represent a change of topic by introducing the idea that those who “trust in the Lord” may experience pain or adversity. Some commentators suggest that this paragraph is placed here to correct the thought that might be taken from verses 5–10 that prosperity always comes to the person who honors the Lord.
My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline: For My son see 1:8, 10. This form of address often marks the beginning of a new theme in the early part of Proverbs. Despise translates a word having nearly the same meaning as that used in 1:7 and 30. The learner is cautioned not to reject, refuse, or, as CEV says, “turn away.” In some languages this warning may be expressed as “Don’t throw it behind you.” Discipline renders a word used in 1:2, 3, 7, and 8, where RSV translates it as “instruction.” However, in the present verse it refers to correction, rebuke, or warning. The Lord’s discipline is the correction or rebuke that the Lord gives. We may say, accordingly, “Do not refuse it when the Lord corrects you” or in a positive way “When the Lord corrects you, accept it.” FRCL says “My son, accept the Lord as your educator.”
Or be weary of his reproof: Be weary translates a verb used, for example, in Gen 27:46, where Rebekah says to her husband “I am weary of my life because of the Hittite women.” There, as here, the sense is to hate, loathe, be disgusted with. The teacher of wisdom asks the learner not to be disgusted or to hate the reproof or punishment the Lord gives.
We may translate verse 11, for example:
• My child, do not resist it when the Lord corrects your ways, and do not resent it when he punishes you for the wrong you do
Reyburn, William David, and Euan McG. Fry. A Handbook on Proverbs. New York: United Bible Societies, 2000. Print. UBS Handbook Series.
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