Bible Strands
Proverbs 22:6
Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — An unnamed wise instructor addresses a parent within the "words of the wise" collection (Prov 22:17–24:22), offering practical aphorisms on social order and conduct. The moment is didactic: a general principle stated as a cause-and-effect observation.
The words — חֲנֹךְ (chanokh) carries the verse; it means "to train, to accustom, to initiate," the same root as חֲנֻכָּה (chanukkah), the dedication of a person or object into a fixed purpose. The verb implies repeated, deliberate shaping rather than a single act.
The thread — Deuteronomy 6:7 commands diligent teaching to children in daily life, and Ephesians 6:4 frames parental discipline as "the discipline and instruction of the Lord." Both share the assumption that early, sustained instruction sets a person's trajectory, as does 2 Timothy 3:15's reference to knowing the Scriptures "from infancy."
Why it lands — The verse places the causal weight on the parent's action, not the child's character. It is a claim about responsibility: what a parent does in the formative years is presented as the determining factor in the adult's course.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
Cross-references
- Ephesians 6:4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath; instead, bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
- Deuteronomy 6:7 And you shall teach them diligently to your children and speak of them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
- 2 Timothy 3:15 From infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
- Genesis 18:19 For I have chosen him, so that he will command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, in order that the LORD may bring upon Abraham what He has promised.”
- Deuteronomy 4:9 Only be on your guard and diligently watch yourselves, so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen, and so that they do not slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and grandchildren.
- Psalms 78:3 that we have heard and known and our fathers have relayed to us.
- 1 Samuel 1:28 I now dedicate the boy to the LORD. For as long as he lives, he is dedicated to the LORD.” So they worshiped the LORD there.
- 1 Samuel 2:26 And the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor with the LORD and with man.
- 1 Samuel 12:2 Now here is the king walking before you, and I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day.