Train up a child in the way he should go;
and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 22:6
“Train” “. . . used in the days of Solomon to describe the action of a midwife who, soon after helping deliver a child, would dip her finger into the juice of chewed or crushed dates, reach into the mouth of the infant, and massage the gums and the palate within the mouth so as to create a sensation of sucking, a sense of taste. Then she would place the child in its mother’s arms to begin feeding from the mother’s breast. . .” You and Your Child by Charles Swindoll
“Child” in Hebrew refers to any age from infant to young adult.
“The way he should go” is found in John 14:6: “Jesus saith unto him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
“Old” in Hebrew refers to when a boy is old enough to grow hair on his chin.
So – this verse simply stated – if you create a hunger in your child for Jesus when he is an infant until he is a young adult, then when he is a young adult, he will not depart from the Way.
Here’s an excellent sermon by my excellent husband on Proverbs 22:6 – Who’s Kidding Who?
