What Does Proverbs 3:12 Mean in the King James?
For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.
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 places correction inside love: the one who reproves you is also the one who delights in you.
THE MEANING
The LORD’s correction meets you within love. Like a father delighting in his son, the verse holds reproof and delight in the same relationship; correction does not mean you are unwanted.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that being corrected means the one correcting you has withdrawn their love.
THE ROOT
יוֹכִיחַ
yôḵîaḥ
GROWS FROM
יכח
yāḵaḥ: to decide, prove, reprove, or correct; here, to reprove or correct.
“correcteth” in this verse is yôḵîaḥ. The root carries the sense of reproof and of bringing a matter into judgment. In this verse, correction is spoken of within a bond of love and a father’s delight, not apart from relationship.
ALSO GROWS
hôḵîaḥ: To reprove, prove, or decide a matter.
הוֹכִיחַ
This verb form shares the root יכח (yāḵaḥ, reprove or decide) and shows the force carried by the correction in the verse.
tôḵaḥat: Reproof or correction.
תּוֹכַחַת
This noun appears in the nearby verse, linking the act of correction here with the word Proverbs uses for reproof.
יֶאֱהָב
yeʾĕhav
GROWS FROM
אהב
ʾāhav: to love; the root names love as an active relation.
“loveth” in this verse is yeʾĕhav. The same root names love and the act of loving. Here, love is not merely set beside correction: the verse places correction within the relationship love creates.
ALSO GROWS
ʾāhav: To love.
אָהַב
This verb form makes the root’s action visible: the LORD’s correction is held within the act of loving.
ʾahavah: Love.
אַהֲבָה
This noun names the bond that the verse says accompanies correction.
THE PATTERN
Scripture places divine correction within the continuing bond between parent and child.
Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the LORD thy God chasteneth thee.Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O LORD, and teachest him out of thy law;For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.THE THREAD
My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction:The word translated “correction” is תּוֹכַחַת (tôḵaḥat, “reproof” or “correction”), from the same root יכח (yāḵaḥ, “reprove” or “decide”) as יוֹכִיחַ (yôḵîaḥ, “reproves”) here. The repeated root ties the two verses together: one names the correction, and the next places it within love and a father’s delight.
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