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Does the Bible say…

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“Spare the rod, spoil the child”

Not in the Bible Not in this form

This phrase does not appear in the Bible.

From Samuel Butler's satirical poem 'Hudibras' (1664). Not in the Bible — though Proverbs 13:24 uses related wording.

1664
Samuel Butler, 'Hudibras' Part II
Proverbs 13:24
the related actual verse
0×
times the phrase appears in Scripture

Full reference

Full passage in context and origin

Origin

The phrase “Spare the rod, spoil the child” comes from Hudibras, a long satirical poem by Samuel Butler published in three parts (1663, 1664, 1678). The relevant lines appear in Part II, Canto I (1664), in a passage comparing courtship to corporal discipline:

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

Butler’s lines treat the saying as a familiar proverb, suggesting it had wider currency in the spoken English of his time, but the wording itself is his.

What the Bible does say

Several verses in the book of Proverbs address parental discipline using the word “rod”:

  • Proverbs 13:24 (BSB): “He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him diligently.”
  • Proverbs 22:15 (BSB): “Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; the rod of discipline will drive it far from him.”
  • Proverbs 23:13–14 (BSB): “Do not withhold discipline from a child; although you strike him with a rod, he will not die. Strike him with a rod, and you will deliver his soul from Sheol.”

These verses use the word “rod” (Hebrew: שֵׁבֶט, shevet) and discuss parental discipline, but none of them contains the wording of Butler’s proverb. Proverbs 13:24 is the closest in construction.

Why the misattribution persists

The proverb’s wording sits close enough to Proverbs 13:24 that many readers conflate the two. The shared keyword “rod” and the shared subject of parental discipline contribute to the confusion. The proverb has been quoted as Scripture in sermons and parenting books since at least the 19th century.

Read on Bible1.org

Read the full chapter on our companion site: Proverbs 13 on Bible1.org → — BSB text in context, all verses.

What the Bible does say about this

What the Bible does say about this

  • Proverbs 13:24 — BSB

    He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him diligently.

  • Proverbs 22:15 — BSB

    Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; the rod of discipline will drive it far from him.

  • Proverbs 23:13-14 — BSB

    Do not withhold discipline from a child; although you strike him with a rod, he will not die. Strike him with a rod, and you will deliver his soul from Sheol.

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External references