Re: Hebrews 12: 5-6 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and SCOURGETH every son whom he receiveth.
What is the meaning of the word scourge in the verse and how does it apply? Recently I have read that the word scourge could be a translation issue…and since, God having scourged His son as spoken of in Isa. 53:4-5 why would He then scourge or whip us? I have been following your blog for awhile now and have learned a great deal from your teachings. Thank you!
Hebrew 12:5-6 is a quote from Proverbs 3:11-12 where it reads;
“My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary of his correction: For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.”
Scourging was a severe means of corporal punishment that involved using a whip into which bits of bone or metal were embedded. It comes from a Latin word that means “to flay the skin”. When you look at the original language of Proverbs 3:11-12 you won’t find any word from which “scourge” could have come.
Common sense tells us no father would use such a method of punishment on a son in whom he delights. The single exception in the Bible is when God allowed such punishment for His son, and then it was in payment for our sins. This is why some have speculated that there’s a translation problem here.