Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.

Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, and the rod of correction shall drive it away.

Folly is bound in the heart of a child; the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.

Folly is bound up in the heart of a youth, The rod of chastisement putteth it far from him.

Foolish ways are deep-seated in the heart of a child, but the rod of punishment will send them far from him.

Foolishness has been bound to the heart of a child, and a rod of discipline shall cause it to flee.

Foolishness [is] bound (l) in the heart of a child; [but] the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.
(l) He is naturally given to it.

Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child,.... That is, sin, the greatest of all folly; this is naturally in the heart of man; it is in the heart of a child, it is in him from his infancy; it is bound in his heart, it is rooted and riveted in him, being conceived in sin, and shapen in iniquity; it is what cleaves close to him, and he has a strong affection for and desire after: the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth, Genesis 8:21; so that he is not easily brought off of sin, or becomes wise;
but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him; the rod used by parents, for the correction of sin and folly, is a means of making children wise, and of restraining the folly that is bound up in them; and of reclaiming them from those sinful ways, which the folly of their hearts leads them to, and so in some measure of driving it far from them.

Sin is foolishness, it is in the heart, there is an inward inclination to sin: children bring it into the world with them; and it cleaves close to the soul. We all need to be corrected by our heavenly Father.

is bound--or firmly fixed. Chastisement deters from crime and so leads to reformation of principle.

15 Folly is bound to the heart of a child;
The rod of correction driveth it forth.
Folly, i.e., pleasure in stupid tricks, silly sport, and foolish behaviour, is the portion of children as such; their heart is as yet childish, and folly is bound up in it. Education first driveth forth this childish, foolish nature (for, as Menander says:
Ὁ μὴ δαρεὶς ἄνθρωπος οὐ παιδεύεται),
and if effects this when it is unindulgently severe: the שׁבט מוּסר (vid., Proverbs 23:13) removeth אוּלת from the heart, for it imparts intelligence and makes wise (Proverbs 29:15). The lxx is right in rendering 16a: ἄνοια ἐξῆπται (from ἐξάπτειν) καρδίας νέου; but the Syr. has "here mangled the lxx, and in haste has read ἀνοίᾳ ἐξίπταται: folly makes the understanding of the child fly away" (Lagarde).

Bound - Is fixed and settled there, as being born with him, and rooted in his very nature.