Several years back, I visited Bedford, VA to see the National D-Day Memorial. While there, I happened upon a dear older lady who attended a good local church. Well, I say “attended” but Betty (name changed) hadn’t been there much since her kids left the house. She was discouraged and heartbroken. Betty said that she lost her faith in the Scriptures, in her local church, and in God. You see, Betty’s children had made really bad decisions over the past decade since her husband passed away. She had clung to Proverbs 22:6 to prove that her children would turn out and now she believed that God had failed her and her family.
Proverbs 22:6 states…
Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
Has God really failed this woman? No.
First, the book of Proverbs is full of “truisms.” This means that Proverbs is an excellent source of general knowledge and “street smarts.” But, this also means that you can’t claim that every proverb will always happen exactly as stated. It is generally true that children with godly parental influence will turn out to be godly individuals. But, don’t expect God to take away your child’s free will! Even children with godly parents have the free will to make bad, life-altering choices.
Second, every verse in our English Bible has been translated from another language. The book of Proverbs was originally written in Hebrew. Here’s what it looks like in Hebrew.
חֲנֹ֣ךְ לַ֭נַּעַר עַל־פִּ֣י דַרְכּ֑וֹ גַּ֥ם כִּֽי־יַ֝זְקִ֗ין לֹֽא־יָס֥וּר מִמֶּֽנָּה׃
Wow, that’s quite different! And, it is an incredibly difficult passage to translate. This verse, like much of Proverbs, is a one-verse saying in ancient poetical form. I have great respect for the translators but in this instance I respectfully disagree with their translation. Here is another legitimate (and I believe correct) translation of Proverbs 22:6.
Dedicate a young man upon the entrance of his chosen path (or vocation) that even when old he will not turn aside from it.
While still a truism, this passage now has an entirely different intended challenge. It is a challenge for elder members of society (and parents) to help a young man remember life-changing events in his life. Take weddings for example. Abby and I will always remember the commitment that we made to each other on June 20, 2015. In part, we will always remember that day because of the many people who came to “dedicate” us to our chosen path.
Application
- Know your Bible genres.
- Make dedications a memorable and sacred event (for the good of the dedicatee).
