Proverbs or Proverb?

I come from one of those families where scripture is used to scare you straight. I used to wonder how parents ever expected kids to like reading the scriptures if they were always associated with punishment. I mean, no wonder my siblings and I didn't want to wake up for early morning scripture study. Go stand in the corner, Go sit in the corner, Go kneel in the corner, Go to your room (ok, so I was a bit of a trouble maker, but that's not the point) and take your scriptures with you.

*Side note: I don't know how I ended up loving to read, but it's one of my favorite things to do, even though I had to do it when I was in trouble at home. Even at school I had to read the dictionary for punishment...hmmm well I guess that explains my excellent vocabulary.

Anyway, there was one verse in the Bible that I couldn't stand when I was younger. I had never read it, but I had heard it quoted by numerous parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, neighbors, teachers, and random old ladies watching me make mischief. It's one of the scariest scriptures known to children-kind, yes, that's the one. If I've heard it once, I've heard it a thousand times: "the Bible says; spare the rod, spoil the child."

To me it seemed like every adult I knew, had this scripture memorized. I naturally assumed that while we children were being told to memorize the Articles of Faith in Primary, grown-ups we're being told to memorize "Spare the rod, spoil the child," in adult Sunday school. Even my school Principal had a big paddle nailed above his door. The Principal loved mallard ducks, he had wooden ducks on his desk and one Christmas my mother found fabric with mallards on it and she made him hand towels out of it. Well, even that giant wooden paddle above his door had a mallard duck in flight on it. I never wanted to be sent to his office, because I figured that a paddle with a duck on it meant he liked paddling kids just as much as he liked ducks, and if that were the case...well, you get the picture.

After hearing this scripture for the thousandth time, I decided to do a little research. The first thing I did was search high and low for the scripture, and after searching every Bible nook and cranny, I couldn't find it anywhere! I did however find this:

Proverbs 10:13 In the lips of him that hath understanding wisdom is found: but a rod is for the back of him that is void of understanding.

Proverbs 13:24 He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.

Proverbs 19:18 Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying.

Proverbs 22:15 Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.

Proverbs 23:13 Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.

Proverbs 23:14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.

Proverbs 26:3 A whip for the horse, a bridle for the ass, and a rod for the fool’s back.

Proverbs 29:15 The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.

Yikes! I had a million questions. Who was this Mr. Proverbs? What had I ever done to him? Why doesn't he like children and what could I do about getting his advice removed from the Holy Bible? It took some time, but I finally I found out that the book of Proverbs was actually written by King Solomon. Well you must know how I felt about dear old King Solomon. Turns out that King Solomon was well known for his wisdom, and while I had to admit that with 700 wives and 300 concubines he probably did know a thing or two about raising children, I still wasn't happy about his scary scripture verses. Then another thing happened, I learned the definition of the word proverb (probably while I was in a corner at school reading the dictionary). A proverb is a short, popular, wise or profound saying. So get this, around the year 1662 a man by the name of Samuel Butler had a poem published that had some lines in it that went a little something like this:

Love is a Boy, by Poets styl'd,
Then Spare the Rod, and spill the Child.

Also written as:

Love is a Boy, by Poets styl'd,
Then Spare the Rod, and spoil the Child.

Apparently spill in this context means spoil. Well, well, well, didn’t I feel smug and what did you think I did with my new found knowledge the next time some grown-up said “Spare the rod and spoil the child” to me…. that’s right brothas and sistas…. I did absolutely nothing! Why, you ask? Well, do I look crazy to you? I just sat in the corner with my Bible thinking, ain’t that a shame, grown folks don’t even know the difference between a proverb and the book of Proverbs…. um, um, um…so sad, think they quotin Bible, but they quotin Butler!

Hallelujah Holla Back,
Sista Laurel