Paideia also has a rich history in the biblical world. Parents are told plainly in Deut 6:1–9 to instruct their children in all of the Lord’s instructions and commandments in every occasion of life, “when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise” (Deut 6:7). This becomes the way that children encounter the Lord’s training and reproof: “My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline [παιδεία (paideia)] or be weary when you are reproved by him [ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ ἐλεγχόμενος (hypʼ autou elenchomenos)], for the Lord disciplines him whom he loves, and chastises every son whom he loves” (Prov 3:11–12; my trans. from the LXX; cf. Heb 12:6). Reproof is needed for children that they may abandon the negative and sinful practices they naturally develop (see 2:3) and that they adopt and wisely discern how to live holy lives that please their heavenly Father (5:10). “Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him” (Prov 13:24; cf. Heb 12:7–11). Hence, what makes parental “training” and “reproof” tolerable is that it is “in the Lord,” where the passage begins (v. 1), and “of the Lord,” where it ends (v. 4).
Evangelical Exegetical Commentary: Ephesians