properly · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
child
לַ֭נַּעַרLa.na.'ar
H5288
(concretely) a boy (as active) · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
way
דַרְכּ֑וֹdar.Ko
H1870
a road (as trodden) · noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
go
פִּ֣יpi
H6310
the mouth (as the means of blowing) · noun, common masculine singular construct
old
יַ֝זְקִ֗יןyaz.Kin
H2204
to be old · verb, hiphil imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
depart
יָס֥וּרya.Sur
H5493
to turn off (literal or figurative) · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Ephesians 6:4 And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
Deuteronomy 6:7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by th…
2 Timothy 3:15 And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ…
Genesis 18:19 For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and ju…
Deuteronomy 4:9 Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from t…
Psalms 78:3-6 Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.
1 Samuel 1:28 Therefore also I have lent him to the LORD; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the LORD. And he worshipped the LORD there.
1 Samuel 2:26 And the child Samuel grew on, and was in favour both with the LORD, and also with men.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Proverbs 22:6
Here is, 1. A great duty enjoined, particularly to those that are the parents and instructors of children, in order to the propagating of wisdom, that it may not die with them: Train up children in that age of vanity, to keep them from the sins and snares of it, in that learning age, to prepare them for what they are designed for. Catechise them; initiate them; keep them under discipline. Train them as soldiers, who are taught to handle their arms, keep rank, and observe the word of command. Train them up, not in the way they would go (the bias of their corrupt hearts would draw them aside), but in the way they should go, the way in which, if you love them, you would have them go. Train up a…
Train--initiate, or early instruct.
the way--literally, "his way," that selected for him in which he should go; for early training secures habitual walking in it.
John Gill on Proverbs 22:6
Train up a child in the way he should go,.... As Abraham trained up his children, and those born in his house, in the way of the Lord, in the paths of justice and judgment; which are the ways in which they should go, and which will be to their profit and advantage; see Genesis 14:14; and which is the duty of parents and masters in all ages, and under the present Gospel dispensation, even to bring such who are under their care in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, Ephesians 6:4; by praying with them and for them, by bringing them under the means of grace, the ministry of the word, by instructing them in the principles of religion, teaching them their duty to God and man, and setting them…
6 Give to the child instruction conformably to His way;
So he will not, when he becomes old, depart from it.
The first instruction is meant which, communicated to the child, should be על־פּי, after the measure (Gen 43:7 = post-bibl. לפי and כּפי) of his way, i.e., not: of his calling, which he must by and by enter upon (Bertheau, Zckler), which דּרכּו of itself cannot mean; also not: of the way which he must keep in during life (Kidduschin 30a); nor: of his individual nature (Elster); but: of the nature of the child as such, for דּרך נער is the child's way, as e.g., derek col-haarets, Gen 19:31, the general custom of the land; derek Mitsrâyim, Isa 10:24, the way (the manner of acting) of th…
The Church Fathers
Thus, here also it calls him a new child who was reborn through the washing of regeneration and educated and made childlike, who is made fit for the kingdom of heaven through this process in the same way. The book of Proverbs, therefore, provides training which imparts perception and understanding to the recently born child who is hungry for rational and genuine milk: a perception of present realities but an understanding of future realities. For the child is educated in human matters and given a perception of reality so that he would neither be enslaved to shameful desires nor long for the empty glory of this world. Beyond this, Proverbs confers an understanding of the coming age and encourages faith in the promises by its words.
It is a proverb, Train up a child in the way he should go, etc. It is evident that many change from the vices they had as youths in old age, by the gift of the Lord, and conversely, some, by the Lord deserting them, abandon the virtues they seemed to have displayed in their youth. But because much more often each one is accustomed to follow the habits with which he was imbued from youth into the remaining time of his life, he says there is a proverb, because what anyone takes up in youth, he will not change in old age. However, he does not always confirm that it happens this way. Therefore, he posits this kind of proverb to persuade his listeners to pursue virtues from early age, lest perhaps in old age they are unable to learn pursuits which they despised to embrace in tender age. For 'What is once imbued in fresh clay will long preserve its scent,' and Greek history tells that Alexander, the most powerful king, ruler of the world, could not refrain in his manners and conduct from the vices with which he had been infected when he was still a boy by his tutor Leonidas.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Children · Should be: Instructed in the ways of God — Should be: Instructed in the ways of God
Parents · Their duty to their children is: To train them up for God — Their duty to their children is: To train them up for God
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Living by deceit is dangerous; corrupt people never know when their treachery will be discovered or backfire.
Rashi on Proverbs 22:6
Train a child According to what you teach a child and train him in matters, either for good or bad, even when he grows old, he will not turn away from it.
