Ephesians 6:4

καὶ οἱ πατέρες, μὴ παροργίζετε τὰ τέκνα ὑμῶν : and, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath. The καί continues the statement of this second of the relative or domestic duties, presenting now the other side. The duty is one not only of children to parents, but also of parents to children. The parental duty is set forth in terms of the father's obligation without particular mention of the mother's, not because children of maturer age are in view (Olsh.), but simply because the father is the ruler in the house, as the husband is the head of the wife; the mother's rule and responsibility being subordinate to his and represented by his. The parental duty is given first negatively, as avoidance of all calculated to irritate or exasperate the children injustice, severity and the like, so as to make them indisposed to filial obedience and honour. παροργίζειν, a strong verb, found again in Romans 10:19, with which cf. μὴ ἐρεθίζετε in Colossians 3:21. ἀλλʼ ἐκτρέφετε αὐτὰ ἐν παιδείᾳ καὶ νουθεσίᾳ Κυρίου : but nurture them in the discipline and admonition of the Lord. For ἀλλʼ TTrWHRV prefer ἀλλά as before. We have now the statement of parental duty on the positive side. ἐκτρέφειν has here obviously the sense of bringing up (cf. Proverbs 23:24), not that of nourishing as in Ephesians 5:29 above. ἐν is not instrumental here but local, denoting the ethical sphere or element in which the παιδεία and the νουθεσία take place. παιδεία in classical Greek means education, the whole instruction and training of youth, including the training of the body. In the NT as also in the OT and the Apocrypha παιδεία and its verb παιδεύειν mean education per molestias (Aug., Enarr., in Psalms 119:66), discipline, instruction by correction or chastening (Luke 23:16; Hebrews 12:5; Hebrews 12:7-8; Revelation 3:9; cf. Leviticus 26:18; Psalms 6:1; Isaiah 53:5; Sir 4:17; Sir 22:6; 2Ma 6:12). Of the general Greek sense there is but one instance in the case of the verb in the NT (Acts 7:22); and as regards the noun the passage in 2 Timothy 3:16 suits the idea of disciplinary instruction. There is no reason, therefore, for departing from the usual biblical sense of the word here, or for giving it the wide sense of all that makes the education of children. The term νουθεσία, not entirely strange to classical Greek (e.g., Aristoph., Ranae, 1009), but current rather in later Greek (Philo, Joseph., etc.) in place of the earlier form νουθέτησις (νουθετία also appearing to occur occasionally), means admonition, training by word, and in actual use, mostly, though not necessarily, by word of reproof, remonstrance or blame (cf. Trench, NT Syn., pp. 104 108). The Vulg. translates very well, “in disciplina et correptione”. The distinction, therefore, between the two terms is not that between the general and the special (Mey.), but rather that between training by act and discipline and training by word (Ell.). The Κυρίου is taken by some as the gen. obj., = “about Christ” (so the Greek commentators generally); by others as = “according to the doctrine of Christ” (Erasm., Est., etc.), or as = “worthy of the Lord” (Matthies). But it is best understood either as the possess. gen. or as the gen. of origin, = “the Lord's discipline and admonition,” i.e., Christian training, the training that is of Christ, proceeding from Him and prescribed by Him.