Colossians 3:21

Col 3:21.[28] Ἵνα μὴ ἀθυμῶσιν, lest they be discouraged) ἀθυμία, despondency (a broken-down spirit), the bane of youth.

[28] οἱ πατέρες, the fathers) The husband is the head of the wife; wherefore power is principally attributed to the fathers.—V. g.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Col 3:21 . ἐρεθίζετε : i.e. , irritate by exacting commands and perpetual faultfinding and interference for interference, sake. The consequence of such foolish exercise of authority is that the child becomes discouraged; in other words, his spirit is broken, and since what he does leads to constant blame, he loses hope of ever being able to please. “Fractus animus pestis juventutis” (Beng.).

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Of parents, that they be gentle towards their children.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

(Eph 6:4.) It is a different Greek verb, therefore translate here, "irritate not." By perpetual fault-finding "children" are "discouraged" or "disheartened." A broken-down spirit is fatal to youth [BENGEL].

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 21. Fathers, provoke not] See Clarke on Eph 6:4.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(21) Provoke not . . . to anger.—This, in the text followed by our version, is borrowed from Eph_6:4. The true reading is provoke to emulation, as in 2Co_9:2. What is forbidden is a constant and restless stimulation, “spurring the willing horse;” which will end in failure and despondency.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

21. Fathers] We may (as in Eph_6:4, where see note) equally well render Parents. Cp. Heb_11:23, in the Greek. Still, the father is the natural representative of the dual parental authority.

provoke not … to wrath] Chafe, irritate. The Greek word is as old as Homer (e.g. Iliad, i. 32, iv. 5), who almost always uses it of provocation to combat. Unwise, unloving, parental despotism, exacting, needlessly chiding, interposing for the sake of interposition, is a fatally sure challenge to the child’s will. The Christian father should handle that will as kindly as firmly.

be discouraged] Lose hope, the hope of pleasing, the animating expectation of doing right and so winning the “well done” of love. The eternal Father “upbraideth not” (Jas_1:5; cp. Isa_57:16).—Luther has here, auf dass sie nicht scheu werden.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Fathers, provoke not your children to anger,.... See Gill on Eph 6:4.

lest they be discouraged; or disheartened and dispirited; their spirits be broke through grief and trouble, and they become indolent, sluggish, and unfit for business; or, despairing of having any share in the affections of their parents, disregard their commands, instructions, and corrections, and grow obdurate, stubborn, and rebellious.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

21 Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.

Ver. 21. Provoke not your children] {See Trapp on "Eph 6:4"}

Lest they be discouraged] αθυμωσιν, dispirited, and through despondency grow desperate in their resolutions.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Fathers, provoke not ... - Notes, Eph 6:4.

Lest they be discouraged - Lest, by your continually finding fault with them, they should lose all courage, and despair of ever pleasing you. There is much sound sense and practical wisdom in this observation of the apostle. Children should not be flattered, but they should be encouraged. They should not be so praised as to make them vain and proud, but they should be commended when they do well. The desire of praise should not be the principle from which they should be taught to act, but they should feel that the approbation of parents is a desirable thing, and when they act so as to deserve that approbation, no injury is done them by their understanding it. He who always finds fault with a child; who is never satisfied with what he does; who scolds and frets and complains, let him do as he will, breaks his spirit, and soon destroys in the delicate texture of his soul all desire of doing well. The child in despair soon gives over every effort to please. He becomes sullen, morose, stupid, and indifferent to all the motives that can be presented to him, and becomes to a great extent indifferent as to what he does - since all that he does meets with the same reception from the parent.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Fathers, provoke not your children to anger: and to moderate the parental authority, that they may exercise it Christianly, he allows not parents to do that which is in a direct tendency to irritate or move the passions of their children merely for their own pleasure, without a principal regard to God’s glory, and their children’s profit, Heb 12:10. Indeed, he seems here more strictly to guard fathers against mal-administration of their power in this extreme than he doth elsewhere, when writing upon the same subject, Eph 6:4, considering the original word he here puts the negative upon, to engage them to lay aside rigour in their government, (as well as unwarrantable indulgence), and that upon a very weighty reason, drawn from the end, viz.

lest they be discouraged; lest some children, who might with a moderate hand be reduced to obedience, should be (as it were) dispirited, by the roughness of their father’s discipline, and even pine away with grief, or grow desperate.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

21. Provoke not—Do not irritate your children, by unreasonableness, undue severity, perpetual faultfinding, or passionate speech and conduct.

Many a child becomes discouraged in the performance of his filial duty, and reckless of results, by the sad home treatment to which he is subjected. And if he be ruined forever, a share of the responsibility belongs to the irritating father.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Ye fathers, do not irritate your children, lest they be disheartened. (Eph_6:4) Ereqizw ("irritate" or "provoke") St. Paul uses once besides, (2Co_9:2) in a good sense. It implies a use of parental authority which, by continual exactions and complaints, teaches the child to look on the father as his enemy rather than his friend. The synonymous parorgizw ofw (Eph_6:4, found here in many copies, is, more definitely "to rouse to anger." Aqume) (only here in the New Testament) means "to lose heart," to have the confidence and high spirit of youth broken; "fractus animus pestis juventutis" (Bengel). In place of this treatment, "the discipline and admonition of the Lord" are recommended in Eph_6:4.

The duties of fathers.

"Fathers, provoke not your children, lest they be discouraged.

I THE DUTY OR PARENTS. It is here exhibited on its negative side. They are not to abuse their authority over their children by too great severity either in words or deeds. Some parents spoil their children by indulgence; others, by unwise severities. Bitter words are used, unreasonable commands are given, immoderate correction is administered. Parents are to behave lovingly to their children, even while maintaining their just authority over them.

II THE DANGER OF NEEDLESS HARSHNESS. "Lest they be discouraged." They may lose heart; their spirit may be broken; they may become morose, sullen, and reckless. Thus they may be turned aside from the service of God, lose the capacity to do great things, become pusillanimous, and eventually become a sad disappointment to their parents. T. C.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Lest they be discouraged - Which may occasion their turning either desperate or stupid.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Here the parents duty, that is the duty of both parents, is laid down, provoke not your children to wrath; that is, abuse not your power and authority over them, by being too severe unto them; imbitter not their spirits against you, by denying them what is convenient for them, by inveighing with bitter words against them, by unjust, unseasonable, or immoderate correcting of them; give them no just occasion to be angry.

The reason is added, lest they be discouraged; either dispirited and heartless, or desperate and hardened; lest by dejection of spirit, they become stupid. A parent’s conduct must be moderated with prudence, shunning the extremes of too much indulgence on the one hand, and too great rigour and severity on the other.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

21. Fathers, provoke not your children. See notes on Eph. 6:4.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

21. ἐρεθίζετε BDbcK, etc. παροργίζετε is read by אACD*GL from Eph 6:4. (On the Syriac verss. here see Lightfoot, add. note.)

21. οἱ πατέρες. The change from γονεῖς (Col 3:20) seems to forbid the inclusion of mothers here (contrast Heb 11:23), who are too in a distinctly subordinate position to fathers, and therefore have, strictly speaking, less effect upon the temper of the children.

μὴ ἐρεθίζετε. See notes on Textual Criticism.

Elsewhere in N.T. 2Co 9:2 only, and there in a good sense. It is but slightly different from παροργίζειν, || Eph 6:4, which apparently signifies irritation of a less deep and more transitory kind. ἐρεθ. in Aquila (Pro 15:18; Pro 28:25) and Symmachus (Pro 29:22) = stir up strife, in 1Ma 15:40 = stir up the people, i.e. to invade Judah. The only passage in the Greek Bible at all closely resembling the usage here is 2Ma 14:27, ὁ δὲ βασιλεὐς ἔκθυμος γενόμενος καὶ ταῖς τοῦ πανπονήρου διαβολαῖς ἐρεθισθείς, “and the king, falling into a rage, and being exasperated by the calumnies of that most wicked man” (R.V.). Observe the present tense; it is the continuance of exasperating acts that leads to the result deprecated.

ἵνα μὴ ἀθυμῶσιν. ἀθυμεῖν here only in N.T. Compare Deu 28:65, καὶ δώσει σοι Κύριος ἐκεῖ καρδίαν ἀθυμοῦσαν (A), where B has καρδ. ἑτέραν ἀπειθοῦσαν; Jdt 7:22, καὶ ἠθύμησεν τὰ νήπια αὐτῶν; Symmachus, Psalms 101(102):1, προσευχὴ τῷ πτωχῷ, ἐν τῷ ἀθυμεῖν αὐτόν.

It = the deep discouragement that persons have, especially children, when they find that they can do nothing right. All subsequent commentators quote Bengel’s words: ἀθυμία, fractus animus, pestis juventutis.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

21.] See on Eph 6:4, for πατέρες.

μὴ ἐρεθ.] do not irritate them—τοῦτό ἐστι, μὴ φιλονεικοτέρους αὐτοὺς ποιεῖτε. ἔστιν ὅπου καὶ συγχωρεῖν ὀφείλετε, Chrys. In ἵνα μὴ ἀθ., it is assumed that the result of such irritation will be to cause repeated punishment, and so eventual desperation, on the part of the child. It would be well if all who have to educate children took to heart Bengel’s remark here; ‘ἀθυμία, fractus animus, pestis juventutis.’ Wetst. quotes from Æneas Tacticus, ὀργῇ δὲ μηθένα μετιέναι τῶν τυχόντων ἀνθρώπων· ἀθυμότεροι γὰρ εἶεν ἄν.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

21. μὴ ἐρεθίζετε. “Do not irritate.” The verb means to “excite, provoke,” not necessarily to anger, or in a bad sense; and in 2Co 9:2 it is used in a good sense.

There is another reading, παροργίζετε, very strongly supported, being read in אACD*GKL al. Euthal. (Tisch. cod.), Theodoret (cod.), Theoph.

ἐρεθίζετε is read in B DboK, most MSS., Syr. (both, but Harcl marg. has the other reading), Clem., Chrys.

παροργίζετε occurs in the parallel Eph 4:4 (with no variety), and to this is obviously due its introduction here.

ἵνα μὴ ἀθυμῶσιν. “That they may not lose heart.” “Fractus animus pestis juventutis,” Bengel. A child frequently irritated by over-severity or injustice, to which, nevertheless, it must submit, acquires a spirit of sullen resignation, leading to despair.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Provoke to anger [ερεθιζετε] . Only here and 2Co 9:2, where it is used of stirring up to good works. To anger is added by A. V. Be discouraged (ajqumwsin). Only here in the New Testament. Lose heart, or become dispirited.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

21. ἐρεθίζετε] ‘provoke, irritate’. The other reading παροργίζετε has higher support, but is doubtless taken from the parallel passage, Ephes. vi. 4. ‘Irritation’ is the first consequence of being too exacting with children, and irritation leads to moroseness (ἀθυμία). In 2 Cor. IX. 2 ἐρεθίζειν is used in a good sense and produces the opposite result, not despondency but energy.

ἀθυμῶσιν] ‘lose heart, become spiritless’, i.e. ‘go about their task in a listless, moody, sullen frame of mind’. ‘Fractus animus’, says Bengel, ‘pestis juventutis’. In Xen. Cyr. i. 6. 13 ἀθυμία is opposed to προθυμία, and in Thuc. ii. 88 and elsewhere ἀθυμεῖν is opposed to θαρσεῖν.

J. B. Lightfoot, St Paul's Epistles to the Colossians and Philemon: a revised text with introductions, notes and dissertations (London: Macmillan, 1875) — public domain. Electronic text from Project Gutenberg (ebook #50857). Covers Colossians and Philemon only (the verse-by-verse notes; introductions and dissertations are omitted); Lightfoot's companion Galatians and Philippians volumes are not included, as the available public-domain scans carry garbled Greek that cannot be faithfully reproduced.