Bible Strands
Proverbs 29:21
A servant pampered from his youth will bring grief in the end.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The wisdom author addresses a student reader within a structured collection of moral instructions, placing this observation between warnings about hasty speech and destructive anger.
The words — מְפַנֵּק (mepanneq) means pampered or indulged, and מָנוֹן (manon) denotes trouble or grief. These terms anchor the proverb in the concrete reality of a household servant’s upbringing and its eventual outcome.
The thread — The text traces the causal link between early indulgence and eventual failure, a pattern that runs through the broader wisdom tradition’s emphasis on training and discipline. It stands as a practical observation within a sequence of household and character warnings.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that indulgent upbringing produces predictable failure, requiring the reader to prioritize disciplined training over short-term comfort. It asks for a shift from permissive habits to deliberate correction.
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
He that delicately bringeth up his servant from a child shall have him become his son at the length.