What Does Proverbs 22:6 Mean?
Two renderings of the same sentence, the verses it belongs to, and what the passage is doing — so you can decide what it means rather than take someone's word for it.
"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6, King James Version
The same verse in modern English
"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6, Berean Standard Bible
What it sits inside
A verse quoted on its own is the commonest way one gets misread. Here it is with what comes immediately before and after, in the King James Version.
Proverbs 22:4 By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, and honour, and life.
Proverbs 22:5 Thorns and snares are in the way of the froward: he that doth keep his soul shall be far from them.
Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 22:7 The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.
Proverbs 22:8 He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity: and the rod of his anger shall fail.
A conversation built on it
Parenting invites a very particular fear — that a mistake made now will be permanent. The proverb is careful about its timing: it promises what holds when he is old, which quietly allows for all the years in between. And the way named is his, not the one you would have chosen.
Questions people ask
What does Proverbs 22:6 mean?
In modern English (Berean Standard Bible) it reads: “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” The King James rendering most people know is: “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”
What is the context of Proverbs 22:6?
The verses immediately around it read: (Proverbs 22:4) By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, and honour, and life. (Proverbs 22:5) Thorns and snares are in the way of the froward: he that doth keep his soul shall be far from them. (Proverbs 22:6) Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. (Proverbs 22:7) The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender. (Proverbs 22:8) He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity: and the rod of his anger shall fail.
How is Proverbs 22:6 used in a conversation about this?
Parenting invites a very particular fear — that a mistake made now will be permanent. The proverb is careful about its timing: it promises what holds when he is old, which quietly allows for all the years in between. And the way named is his, not the one you would have chosen.
Reading it is one thing. Saying what it stirs up is another.
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