Please give me every pro spanking biblical argument you have.

Please, everyone, give me your best pro-spanking arguments for child discipline so I can better understand this position. I sense I am missing a lot, as spanking is a newer idea to me, and I feel like I must be missing a lot of the rationale behind it because it just doesn't make sense biblically. I am very much pro child discipline but do not think spanking is a form of discipline the Bible condones.

Spanking is something my (newish) church believes in strongly, and it came up in a discussion between me and one of my friends there. We are going to get together for coffee later, and this topic is likely going to come up.

I have a lot of biblical reasons for thinking spanking is wrong, but I don't want to belabor all of them, so I will only discuss the 4 verses in Proverbs that are “pro-spanking,” as these are the only ones I can find in the entire Bible that seem to directly discuss the topic, but I think these verses are clearly anti-spanking (with one extreme exception), and I will briefly explain why so people can speak against my reasoning.

>Proverbs 13:24 "Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him."

This is the most common verse used (partly due to a famous poem); the verse really hinges on the word "discipline." The pro-spanking argument seems to rely on a conflation of "spanking" with "discipline," and that conflation is the major problem I see in the discourse of this topic. The Hebrew word is מוּסָר or "Musar," which in all my study means instruction, correction, and moral guidance, but nowhere can I find it to mean physical striking of any kind.

The word "rod" gives the image of striking with the rod, especially when you conflate it with the word "discipline," but the verse doesn't tell parents to strike their child; it tells parents to discipline or morally guide them. The Hebrew word for "rod" is שֵׁבֶט "shevet," which is literally a shepherd's rod or a scepter referring to royal authority or leadership. It feels very clear that the verse is stating that whoever relinquishes authority hates their child, especially with the next part of the verse not speaking of physical violence but diligent guidance. The rod could be used by a shepherd for physically correcting sheep, but that seems like an exception during my study of the topic. If the verse said "whoever spares the hammer," the verse would not make you think to spank children because although a hammer could be and sometimes is used to hit someone, its main use is outside of violence and makes the meaning of the verse connected to the main use of the item, not an ancillary use for one of the meanings of the word, especially when the second part of the verse doesn't connect the item to a unique use of the item but the opposite.

>2. Proverbs 22:15 "Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him."

This verse is similar, the rod and discipline taken from Hebrew do not seem to be talking about physical violence, and that only happens when you conflate the word "discipline" with "spanking." "The rod of moral guidance," "the rod of instruction," and "the scepter of correction" clearly show a different teaching than spanking, and in my mind make the understanding of the last verse more clear that it is not speaking to physically striking a child.

>3. Proverbs 23:13–14 "Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you strike him with a rod, he will not die. If you strike him with the rod, you will save his soul from Sheol."

This is the only verse that shows an exception to spanking/striking a child. The first part follows with the word "Musar," which means moral teaching. The second part speaks to striking them with a "Shevet" he will not die, but the verse clearly says "if," not "should." It then goes on to say "if" you will save his soul. If this is how we are supposed to raise children, the verse would say "should" or give a command of some kind rather than an "if" statement. Now if my child is running into traffic, yes, it is ok to hit them to prevent them from getting hit by a car.

I think this ultimately becomes a very nuanced discussion that this post is already too long to dive into, but I feel this verse is clearly speaking to an extreme exception of what to do rather than a clear directive in parenting. Also notice this is the only verse that uses the word "strike"; the other verses do not say to strike your child but to use the rod, and the one time it talks about striking, it says "if" and is about saving them from death, not everyday discipline of children.

>4. Proverbs 29:15 "The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother."

The last verse I can find. The first part is just a true statement that guidance (even if it intends to be harsh) and criticism do give wisdom, but this verse is a warning, not an instruction. The verse is saying that although these methods of parenting give wisdom, if you alienate the child, he will bring shame. The verse is warning parents that even things that can bring wisdom must be used with care, as breaking the bond of parenting will bring destruction.

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Outside of these verses I cannot find an argument for spanking in the Bible and many that insinuate against it, but that's why I am bringing up this topic, so please provide verses or themes I may be missing as well.

To be clear, I am not anti-child discipline, as I think that is extremely important, but spanking is not the biblical way to raise children.