“Train Up a Child in the Way He should Go”? (Proverbs 22:6)

Proverbs 22:6 ESV Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.

Proverbs 22:6 is popularly understood as a promise that if parents train up their child well, then he will not go astray later in life. Of course, this understanding is reflected in most translations of the verse. However, such translations are actually misleading.

Firstly, the Hebrew word for “train up” here is the verb ḥānaḵ, which actually means “to initiate”. Secondly, the Hebrew expression for “the way he should go” is darkōw, which simply means “his way”. However, the Hebrew text does not indicate that the child “should go” in this way. Hence, a more accurate translation of Proverbs 22:6 is:

Initiate a child in his own way, and when he becomes older, he will not depart from it.

Therefore, Proverbs 22:6 is not a promise that good parenting will result in good children. Rather, it is a warning to parents that if they leave their children in their own way and do not discipline them, then it would be highly unlikely that they will turn back to the right way when they get older.