What Does Proverbs 23:14 Mean in the King James?

Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.

Proverbs 23:14 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

THE KEY

The verse holds a stark equation in one line: a blow to the body is presented as a means of rescuing the child’s whole living self from death.

THE MEANING

This verse presents the rod’s blow as a real physical act and names its intended end as the child’s living self being delivered from the realm of the dead. It binds bodily violence to a stated claim of rescue.

THE ROOT

תַּצִּיל

tatzil

GROWS FROM

נצל

natsal

to take away, snatch away, rescue

“deliver” in this verse is tatzil. The verse describes rescue as a movement that pulls the child’s living self away from the realm of the dead. The root’s sense of taking away gives deliverance a concrete direction, while the sentence keeps the forceful means in view.

ALSO GROWS

hitsil: to rescue or deliver

הִצִּיל

This causative form makes the act of pulling someone out of danger explicit.

nitsal: to be rescued or escape

נִצַּל

This form shows the same root from the rescued person’s side: being brought out of danger.

תַּכֶּנּוּ

takkenu

GROWS FROM

נכה

nakah

to strike, hit, smite

“beat” in this verse is takkenu. This is a striking verb, and its word family also names the blow that results. The language keeps the physical force of the rod present in the verse’s claim of rescue.

ALSO GROWS

hikkah: he struck or smote

הִכָּה

This form makes the action of striking explicit in the same root family.

makkah: a blow, wound, or plague

מַכָּה

This noun carries the root from the striking action to the injury or blow it names.

נַפְשׁוֹ

nafsho

GROWS FROM

נפש

n-p-sh

the living self or person

The child’s soul here is the child’s living self, not an abstract part detached from the body. Set against the realm of the dead, the word makes the claimed rescue about the child’s life itself.

ALSO GROWS

nefesh: living soul, person, or life

נֶפֶשׁ

This form shows the range carried by the child’s soul in the verse: the living person and that person’s life.

nafash: to rest or be refreshed

נָפַשׁ

This verbal form shares the root and adds the sense of life restored to refreshment.

THE PATTERN

Scripture presents correction as an intervention that teaches and yields life-giving fruit, even when it is grievous.

My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction:

Proverbs 3:11 · KJVCorrection is named as a weighty encounter that the verse asks the reader to receive without dismissing it.

Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O LORD, and teachest him out of thy law;

Psalm 94:12 · KJVChastening is joined directly to teaching, making correction part of instruction.

Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

Hebrews 12:11 · KJVThe verse holds the pain of correction and its later fruit together, echoing this passage’s severe claim of rescue.

THE THREAD

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

Proverbs 23:13 · KJV

The verb ⁨תַּכֶּנּוּ⁩ (takkenu, “you strike him”) recurs from ⁨נכה⁩ (nakah, “strike”). Verse 13 says the child struck with the rod will not die; verse 14 names deliverance from the realm of the dead as the blow’s claimed end, making the sequence’s stark logic explicit.

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