Biblical Education

Reprove your son while there is hope, and to his moaning pay no heed.  A very hotheaded man bears punishment, try to save him—you will make things worse.  Proverbs 19:18-19  Robert Alter

Hope – What does “hope” mean and how is it connected to discipline?  Unfortunately, it’s not possible to run to some biblical text to get the answers.  “ . . . there is in the OT no clear and exclusively fixed concept for ‘to hope’ or ‘hope.’  Therefore the noun tiqwâ does not even begin  to cover the full range of ideas associated with hope in the OT; at best, it covers certain aspects of this dimension of human existence, which is expressed by a highly differentiated cluster of linguistic tools.”[1]

Accordingly, tiqwâ provides two of the elements found in the biblical idea of hope.  The first is the resolution of uncertainty in life, reflection on personal expectations and fulfillment, and the desire for purpose and security.  Waschke cites Ruth 1:12 as an example, “where Naomi dismisses her daughters-in-law because she no longer has any ‘prospect’ (tiqwâ) of having sons of her own . . .”[2]

The second aspect emerges in these verses in Proverbs.  According to Waschke, the basic principle of biblical education (perhaps, education in general) is “a lifetime (‘aḥ^arît) grounded in wisdom. . . . that education must take place while there is still a prospect (tiqwâ) of success. . . There can be no alternative, because from the wisdom perspective any other choice would bring death. . . [and] death puts an end to all hope and . . . expectations for the future . . .”[3]  In the Tanakh, life ends with death.  There isn’t any “other world” on the other side of the grave.  If you don’t find the road to wisdom here and now, there isn’t another chance later.  With this in mind, we can appreciate the stern warnings of Proverbs.  “While there is still hope” is essentially, “while you still have time to change.”  Consequently, Proverbs instructs parents not to be swayed by a child’s emotional resistance.  Note that Chabad translates this phrase as “do not set your heart upon his destruction.”  The NASB renders “do not desire his death.”  Alter’s translation changes hămît (death) to moaning.  Perhaps that captures the reality since no parent would desire the death of his child, but the verse seems much stronger than “moaning.”  How many of us, as parents and children, have experienced exactly what Proverbs warns.  No consequences—no development—no change, and Proverbs suggests that interfering with the natural instructive process of action and consequence isn’t just misguided parental protection.  It’s death!  Expulsion from the Garden wasn’t just momentary punishment.  It was the primordial example of human instruction.  Everything has consequences.  The secret of wisdom literature is how to manage that reality, not forestall it.  According to Proverbs, “only wisdom and the fear of God can safeguard the prospect of the future, making room for a hope that cannot be accidentally ‘cut off’ . . .”[4]

Topical Index: tiqwâ, hope, hămît, death, consequence, Proverbs 19:18-19

[1] E.-J. Waschke, tiqwâ, TDOT, Vol. 16, p. 760.

[2] Ibid., p. 761.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid., 762.