Proverbs 19:18

18. Chasten… while there is hope Correct for the purpose and with the expectation of improvement; of course, therefore, neither vindictively nor cruelly.

Let not thy soul spare for his crying Or, as many good critics read. “Lift not up thy soul to slay him;” let not thy desire or passion extend so far as to slay him; a very necessary caution to a passionate father, especially where, as in the East, he had the power of life and death over his children. Rueetschi, however, maintains that it is not a caution against undue severity, but against the cruel kindness that kills by witholding seasonable correction. He suggests as parallels Proverbs 3:12; Proverbs 13:24; Proverbs 22:15. More in point is Proverbs 23:13. The Speaker’s Commentary favours this view; but many respectable commentators take the other, and regard Ephesians 6:4, and Colossians 3:21, as supporting it.