Proverbs 22 · Verse 6

Proverbs 22:6

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Proverbs 22:6, King James Version

Proverbs 22:6 in other translations

BSB	Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.
WEB	Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.
ASV	Train up a child in the way he should go, And even when he is old he will not depart from it.
YLT	Give instruction to a youth about his way, Even when he is old he turneth not from it.
DARBY	Train up the child according to the tenor of his way, and when he is old he will not depart from it.
BBE	If a child is trained up in the right way, even when he is old he will not be turned away from it.
Webster	Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

What does Proverbs 22:6 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

6. 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.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 6 Train up a child in the way he should go - The Hebrew of this clause is curious: חנך לנער על פי דרכו chanoch lannaar al pi darco, "Initiate the child at the opening (the mouth) of his path." When he comes to the opening of the way of life, being able to walk alone, and to choose; stop at this entrance, and begin a series of instructions, how he is to conduct himself in every step he takes. Show him the duties, the dangers, and the blessings of the path; give him directions how to perform the duties, how to escape the dangers, and how to secure the blessings, which all lie before him. Fix these on his mind by daily inculcation, till their impression is become indelible; then lead him to practice by slow and almost imperceptible degrees, till each indelible impression becomes a strongly radicated habit. Beg incessantly the blessing of God on all this teaching and discipline; and then you have obeyed the injunction of the wisest of men. Nor is there any likelihood that such impressions shall ever be effaced, or that such habits shall ever be destroyed. חנך chanac, which we translate train up or initiate, signifies also dedicate; and is often used for the consecrating any thing, house, or person, to the service of God. Dedicate, therefore, in the first instance, your child to God; and nurse, teach, and discipline him as God's child, whom he has intrusted to your care. These things observed, and illustrated by your own conduct, the child (you have God's word for it) will never depart from the path of life. Coverdale translates the passage thus: "Yf thou teachest a childe what waye he shoulde go, he shall not leave it when he is olde." Coverdale's Bible, for generally giving the true sense of a passage, and in elegant language for the time, has no equal in any of the translations which have followed since. Horace's maxim is nearly like that of Solomon: - Fingit equum tenera docilem cervice magister Ire viam, quam monstrat eques; venaticus, ex quo Tempore cervinam pellem latravit in aula, Militat in sylvis catulus. Nunc adbibe puro Pectore verba, puer; nunc te melioribus ofter. Quo semel est imbuta recens, servabit odorem Testa diu. Hor. Ep. lib. i., ep. 2, ver. 64. "The docile colt is form'd with gentle skill To move obedient to his rider's will. In the loud hall the hound is taught to bay The buckskin trail'd, then challenges his prey Through the wild woods. Thus, in your hour of youth From pure instruction quaff the words of truth: The odours of the wine that first shall stain The virgin vessel, it shall long retain." Francis.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

Train children, not in the way they would go, that of their corrupt hearts, but in the way they should go; in which, if you love them, you would have them go. As soon as possible every child should be led to the knowledge of the Saviour.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Proverbs 22:6 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

חֲנֹ֣ךְcha.NokhtrainH2596

לַ֭נַּעַרLa.na.'ar<to> the youthH5288

עַל\־'al-onH5921

פִּ֣יpi[the] mouth ofH6310

דַרְכּ֑וֹdar.Koway hisH1870

גַּ֥םgamalsoH1571

כִּֽי\־ki-ifH3588

יַ֝זְקִ֗יןyaz.Kinhe will be oldH2204

לֹֽא\־lo'-notH3808

יָס֥וּרya.Surhe will turn asideH5493

מִמֶּֽנָּה\׃mi.Me.nahfrom itH4480

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Proverbs 22:6

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 the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
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 Jesus.
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 judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.
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 thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons;
Psalms 78:3-6
Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done. For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children: That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children:
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.
1 Samuel 12:2-3
And now, behold, the king walketh before you: and I am old and grayheaded; and, behold, my sons are with you: and I have walked before you from my childhood unto this day. Behold, here I am: witness against me before the Lord, and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I received any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Train up. or, Catechize. a child.
Ge 18:19; De 4:9; 6:7; Ps 78:3-6; Eph 6:4; 2Ti 3:15
the way. Heb. his way. when.
1Sa 1:28; 2:26; 12:2,3

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Proverbs 22:5
Thorns and snares are in the way of the froward: he that doth keep his soul shall be far from them.
Proverbs 22:6
Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 22:7
The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.

Read all of Proverbs 22

Proverbs 22:6 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Instruye al niño en su carrera: aun cuando fuere viejo no se apartará de ella.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Élève le jeune garçon selon la règle de sa voie; même lorsqu’il vieillira, il ne s’en détournera point.
German Elberfelder 1871	Erziehe den Knaben seinem Wege gemäß; er wird nicht davon weichen, auch wenn er alt wird.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Proverbium est: adolescens juxta viam suam; etiam cum senuerit, non recedet ab ea.