Leonard Cook

Proverbs 20:30

“Blows and wounds scrub away evil, and beatings purge the inmost being.”

 Other translation

NLT: “Physical punishment cleanses away evil; such discipline purifies the heart.”

ESV: “Blows that wound cleanse away evil; strokes make clean the innermost parts.”

KJV: “The blueness of a wound cleanseth away evil: so do stripes the inward parts of the belly.”

NKJV: “Blows that hurt cleanse away evil, As do stripes the inner depths of the heart.”

 Explanation Proverbs 20:30

There a generalization of language doesn’t seem to suggest that it is limited the application to kids as a parent punishes their children. Nor does it seem to limit the application to a specific gender.  The Bible calls a parent not to spare the rod when raising a child (Prov 13:24). But looking at the big picture in Scripture is more prudent and insights from society in history.  Many times, throughout history physical pain or discipline was used as a detent for social behavior. Even in the Old Testament, scourging was an acceptable means of correction and was described in the Old Testament as a form of punishment either by God (Is. 10:26), or by men (1 Kin. 12:11).  According to the Mosaic Law a wicked person could be whipped with forty blows save one (Deut. 25:2-3) but could not exceed more.  Under this Jewish form of scourging, the victim was disrobed and was beaten thirteen times on each bare shoulder and thirteen times across the bare buttocks with a long flexible wooden rod or semi thick smooth tree switch.  It also was usually done inside and was not done in public for all to see and watch and was administered by one person.  Although the scars might fade, the memory of shame, humiliation and the association of what earned it seldom did. 

 No discipline feels fun or easy, but all of it has the potential, if we will submit ourselves to it, to drive out evil from us. The true seat of the soul, the inner being, the inner man or woman, this is who we truly are under the surface that we have so carefully put on for the world to see. The act of self-disciplining themselves in whatever form that takes truly is the mark of maturity.  This verse speaks to the reason for discipline and the positive effects physical discipline can have on someone, “purge the inmost being.”  Not to be taken wrongly, the right consequences for our errors and sins can cause us to avoid the same errors and sins in the future. This is often made connection to child rearing.  The language directly supports some sort of “pain” must come from spanking or “beating” but while it does directly indicate physical pain, it does not suggestion anything that would cause permanent harm or damage. Welts, bruises and marks all heal within a few days to a week.   

What can it mean?  Another way to consider this is that when one experiences full cathartic sobbing brokenness, there is a purifying of spirit that can occur so long as one accepts the pain as discipline and/or willing submits as a means of emotional cleansing and rejuvenation. Certainly, doesn’t not imply permanent harm but it does imply a physical pain that produces full cathartic release of emotions, broken will, contrite spirit and/or loss of composure. This would apply the desire results a parent would want to accomplish when disciplining their child. But again, the language doesn’t seem to have any limited application to just kids or a specific gender.  Weather unwillingly (forced, usually the cause with children) or consistent (volunteer/request/willingly submit) to a “beating,” the process of thorough and physical and painful punishment can produce that cathartic sobbing brokenness and can “purge the inmost being,” from self guilt that gets bottled up inside that they refuse to get go and can be a self-deterrent of unwarranted a behavior if they allow themselves to accept as that inside their heart.  Enduring hardship, for the person who lives their life in a meaningful way, can forge endurance and grit, which can later be used to face larger obstacles. In a fallen world, hard things happen. It is those who find meaning in the hard things and use them to strengthen their “inmost being” who can not only survive the hardship but thrive under it.

 The inference and application of Christianity doesn’t not detract the application of this verse to us, here and now, if we are unable to receive it through prayer and meditation. Some people still may choose to apply this as a catalyst for cleansing their heart and mind because “Blows and wounds scrub away evil, and beatings purge the inmost being.”

 Other verses that indicate no age or gender.

Proverbs 18:6, “The lips of fools bring them strife, and their mouths invite a beating.”

Proverbs 19:29, “Penalties are prepared for mockers, and beatings for the backs of fools.”

Proverbs 27:6, “Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.

 However, ultimately, one should not take lightly the discipline of our Father in heaven, who loves us and will lead like a good father. It should also be understood that the “blows and wounds” which “scrub away evil” the most effectively have been those inflicted on Jesus Christ, who was pierced for our transgressions (Isa 53:5). He took the blows, but our inmost being was purged, praise be to God! Maturity is becoming on the outside what we are on the inside, the inside having been purged by the gospel of Jesus Christ and the wounds of our own discipline.