Proverbs 3:11–12
Whom the Lord Loveth
Wording onlyQuoted by the apostles in Hebrews 12:5–6, in the older Greek wording
Hebrews says the Father scourges every son He receives. Your Proverbs never says scourge.
Side by Side
The Older Text
Septuagint, translated before Messiah
My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord; nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: for whom the Lord loves, he rebukes, and scourges every son whom he receives.
The Later Text
Masoretic, finished about 1,000 years after the cross
My son, despise not the chastening of Yahuah; neither be weary of his correction: For whom Yahuah loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.
Quoted in Hebrews 12:5–6
The apostle’s Old Testament
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.
Your KJV reads: the Hebrew “as a father the son” in Proverbs, and the Greek “scourgeth every son” in Hebrews.
See what changed and why ↓What Your Bible Says
For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Hebrews 12:6 KJV
Hebrews tells believers not to lose heart when life is hard. Correction is a sign that the Father has received them as sons.
What the Proverb Says
For whom Yahuah loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.
Proverbs 3:12 KJV
There is no scourge in the Hebrew. There is a father and the son he delights in.
What Changed
The Hebrew words for “as a father” are very close to a Hebrew verb that means “to cause pain.” The Greek translators read the line that way and wrote “scourges every son.” They also wrote “nor faint when thou art rebuked” where the Hebrew says “neither be weary of his correction.”
Hebrews quotes the Greek. The father is not lost; Hebrews brings him straight back: “what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?” (Hebrews 12:7).
The Law Behind the Lesson
Proverbs 3 opens: “My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments” (Proverbs 3:1). The correction trains a son in his Father’s instruction. And the son is already received before the correction comes. Correction does not make him a son. It shapes the son he already is, “that we might be partakers of his holiness” (Hebrews 12:10).
Purpose of the Change
No motive evident: wording variation only. It matters because Hebrews quoted the Greek wording, which is why your KJV reads “as a father the son” in Proverbs and “scourgeth every son” in Hebrews.
The Bottom Line
The Hebrew shows a father correcting the son he delights in. The Greek shows him scourging every son he receives. Hebrews quoted the Greek, and both mean love.
Messiah says the same at the end: “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent” (Revelation 3:19).
Dig Deeper The evidence, for anyone who wants it
An Honest Note
Scholars are split on this line. The Hebrew as written reads “as a father.” The Greek translators read nearly the same letters as a verb, “and he causes pain.” This is a different reading of the Hebrew, not a change to it, and some modern Bibles even follow the Greek here.
Correction Is Not Rejection
“No chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness” (Hebrews 12:11). A father who never corrects has given up on his child.