A Nation That Hopes In Itself Corrupts The Hope That Is From God.

*Correct your son *thoroughly in the *discipline while there is *still hope because his *death is not the *prayer of your soul. (MAST)

*[Discipline/correct] literally, the discipline. The Piel stem of the verb, to correct, carries the imperative action of the verb’s object into a state or condition through the obedience of the subject. Therefore the imperative intent of the correction is to reform the object. Solomon is first, commanding himself and the nation second, to be reformed by this particular discipline. Again, in the Piel stem, the verb has a direct, definite condition, which is the reformation of the soul. But the manner of the correction has one particular identifying state, the discipline. So Solomon’s intention is for the sons of Israel to be disciplined in the order of the commandments and covenant of the nation, and for us, as Christians, it is the discipline of the gospel towards godliness (1Tim.3:16;4:7-8;6:3-11; 2Pet.3:11).

*[thoroughly] literally, a conjunction of emphasis with respect to the force of the verb’s action and the duration of time that marks out the imperative quality and need to conform to the command. It’s like an exclamation point at the end of a sentence to create the mood that necessitates the imperative’s urgency. It’s as if Solomon is stating that there is no time to waste regarding this responsibility. As king of the nation, he bears the sword to put evil to death, but it is not in his heart to do so without love for the soul of his own flesh and blood, his kin. In other words, says Solomon, that he does not bear the sword in vain, and that he will put to death any evil that is found in the sons of Israel who continue in the covenant without “the” discipline. He is laying the responsibility of this discipline at the feet of the parents because he is appointed only to be responsible to bear the sword (Prov.8:36;11:19;13:24;23:13-14; Ecc.7:17; Rom.3:1-7).

*[still hope] literally, Yes, this hope is mine! Again, this is a conjunction that joins the imperative to its particular end, which is Solomon’s hope. Solomon is not saying he has hope in the system of his own court to generate the “condition” or “state” of this outcome of discipline but that the system restrains the evil that is in those who continue without discipline. The national covenant was given to Israel in the hope that the children would subject themselves to “the” reform of the soul because the creation had been subjected to futility in judgment (Rom.8:19-22). Solomon’s hope is not in the heart of man but the covenant God had made with the sons of Israel out of the value and trustworthiness His own heart. His hope is not in the goodness of humanity but in the heart of God to reform the nature of the soul to the image of eternal life. In other words, through the mercy of the Mosaic covenant the hope of eternal life rests in the discipline of the covenant (1Chr.29:15; Ps.78:7;119:49;130:7;147:11; Rom.8:20;15:4,12-13; Eph.4:4; 1Tim.1:1; Tit.1:2;3:7; Heb.3:6;6:11,19;7:19;10:23).

*[his death] literally, the death that is in him, or the death that is his; and again, because within him (the son) is death. This verb, dying, is the Hifil infinitive (causative) of the previous verb, to correct towards discipline. The infinitive is in relation to the object, the son. But the cause or “reason” to correct towards discipline is because of the death that abides in the son due to the nature of his evil soul. The son is “dying” because God subjected the creation to justice because it was accounted (imputed with) evil. But the heart or Spirit of God subjected it to justice in hope through a system, or covenant, of mercy. Death is what is owed, but mercy is what buys hope. Therefore what is in the son is both justice and mercy, but without discipline, to show mercy is vain. God’s justice has put a limit on the mercies of men, for their mercies are not born out of the goodness of God’s discipline but their own imaginations. They have created a discipline of their own that does not lead to the obedience of eternal life (Jn.12:50; Prov.6:23; Jn.5:39;6:54;10:28;12:25;17:2-3; Rom.2:7;5:21;6:23; 1Tim.6:12; Tit.1:2;3:7; 1Jn.2:25;5:11,13,20; Jude 21) but rather a discipline that continues to abide in death (Gen.3:17) in the name of saving their own skin (Mk.8:35).

*[the prayer] literally, but his death is not in your soul to bear. The verb carries a double negative with the jussive imperative conjunction to the third person (the son). Because the son acts without volition to “the” discipline, the jussive position of the father is not to be his substitute but to pray (hope) for mercy against his death. It’s as if Solomon is saying; it’s not for you to bear death in your soul in his place but to lift up his soul in prayer to God for his mercy. Because it’s not in your heart to see the love for your son die, lift up your heart to the hope that is in God to see him live. Therefore the double negative imperative is towards the deaths of both father and son. Each are commanded to live under this discipline. Because the son is in the bosom of the father, he was born in the father’s death, but both father and son are commanded to be disciplined towards life in God. Nevertheless, the father is not commanded to die with the son in his volition with death (Isa.28:15;Ezk.18:4-20). The father is to continue to turn from death and live by seeking the life of his son “through discipline” (Prov.14:27). Do not stop correcting your son in the temptation to give him over to the sword but continue to pray for mercy on his soul. Lift him up to God to give him to the rod of hardship for the preservation of his soul (Gen.5:29; 2 Tim.2:3).