Deuteronomy 8:5

Deu 8:5 Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, [so] the LORD thy God chasteneth thee.

Ver. 5. That as a man chasteneth his son.] This is reckoned here as a high favour. So Job accounts it, {Job 7:17-18} and Paul describes it, {Heb 12:7-8} and Jeremiah prays for it. {Jer 10:24}

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.

Deu 8:5. As a man chasteneth his son — That is, unwillingly, being constrained by necessity; moderately, in judgment remembering mercy; and for his reformation, not his destruction.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

So that his afflictions are signs of his fatherly love toward us.

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

(5) As a man chasteneth his son.—This is the foundation of many similar sayings in Holy Scripture: Pro_13:24, “He seeketh chastening for him,” i.e., seeks it early. All our ideas of training necessarily imply time; it cannot be done in a moment. But the main point of the illustration is to prove God’s love. “Whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth;” else, why should He be at the pains to chasten at all?

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

5. And thou shalt consider in thine heart] Lit. know with thy heart; cp. ‘conscire sibi,’ and see above on Deu_7:9.

as a man chasteneth his son] disciplineth, cp. Deu_4:36, Deu_11:2 q.v.; Hos_11:1-4, also Deu_2:14 on the wilderness as a school of discipline. In Deut. which so frequently emphasises physical suffering and adversity as God’s punishment for sin this explanation of them as signs not of His hostility, but of His fatherly providence, is remarkable. It anticipates the more developed doctrine of later O.T. writings and of the N.T.

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.

Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God,.... Not only because they are the commands of God, and of a covenant God and Father, which are reasons sufficient for the observance of them; but because the Lord had dealt so bountifully with them, in providing food and raiment for them in the wilderness, which always continued with them; and because, when he afflicted them, it was a fatherly chastisement, with great tenderness and compassion, and for their good; all which laid them under obligations to keep the commands of God, whatsoever he had enjoined them, whether of the moral, ceremonial, or judicial kind:

to walk in his ways, and to fear him; to walk in the ways he directed, to be under an awe of his majesty, a fear of offending him, and a reverential affection for him, such as children have to a father.

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

Up, by mildness and correction alternately. Hebrew, "chastiseth thee," Proverbs iii. 12.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

i.e. Unwillingly, being constrained by thy necessity; moderately, in judgment remembering mercy; and for thy reformation, not for thy destruction. Compare Pro 3:11,12; Heb 12:5, &c.

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

5. As a man chasteneth his son — The word which in our version is rendered chasteneth is also used in the sense of instruct, educate. In Deu_4:36, it is translated instruct. This discipline of the wilderness was designed to educate the people. It was to teach them obedience and trust in Him who was guiding them and providing for them. It was training them to become a holy and peculiar people whose God is Jehovah.

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

Thus God educated, disciplined, and trained his people as a father does his child. Chasteneth. The idea is not so much that of punishment or chastisement, properly so called, as that of severe discipline and training. God made them feel his hand upon them, but ever for their good; the end of the discipline to which they were subjected was that they might keep his commandments and walk in his ways, so as to enjoy his favor. (cf. Heb_12:5, etc.)

God the Chastener.

I CHASTISEMENT IS A NECESSITY OF OUR MORAL NATURE. He is no wise parent who spares the rod when the good of the child requires that chastisement be administered. Gentler methods failing, the undutiful son ought to be chastised, he deserves it. He needs the discipline. It acts wholesomely upon him, awakening conscience, begetting respect for paternal authority, deterring from evil, leading probably to penitence and submission.

II CHASTISEMENT IS AN ESSENTIAL PART OF GOD"S TREATMENT OF HIS CHILDREN. His chastisements proceed from love. (Heb_12:6) They are wisely meted out, and are always for our profit. (Heb_12:10) God can bear to punish. He will not allow our faults to slip. He will make us feel when we do wrong, hedging up our way, and laying stripes upon us. God"s children have the comfort of knowing that they are thus in a Father"s hand, and that in all they suffer they are being chastened by unerring love and wisdom.

III CHASTISEMENT IS A PART OF GOD"S DISCIPLINE OF US FOR WHICH WE SHOULD BE GRATEFUL. Not murmuring, but submitting to it. Without this chastisement:

1. How forgetful of God would we soon become!

2. How haughty and self-willed!

3. How dilatory in duty! J.O.

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

As a man chastiseth his son - That is, unwillingly, being constrained by necessity; moderately, in judgment remembering mercy; and for thy reformation not thy destruction.

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

AND THOU SHALT CONSIDER IN THY HEART, THAT, AS A MAN CHASTENETH HIS SON, placing upon him the yoke of instruction for his benefit, as it is said, Chasten thy son, for there is hope; but set not thy heart on his destruction — SO THE ETERNAL THY G-D CHASTENETH THEE, at first with the affliction of the wilderness and the trial with the manna so that the goodness of the Land and its fruits should be pleasing to you. Therefore walk after Him, for the Eternal thy G-d bringeth thee into a good Land.

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.