Proverbs 20:30

Beatings and wounds cleanse away ¹  evil, and floggings cleanse ²  the innermost being. ³ 

Blows and wounds cleanse away evil, and beatings purge the inmost being.

Stripes that wound scour away evil, And strokes reach the innermost parts.

Physical punishment cleanses away evil; such discipline purifies the heart.

A good thrashing purges evil; punishment goes deep within us.

By the wounds of the rod evil is taken away, and blows make clean the deepest parts of the body.

Blows that wound cleanse away evil; beatings make clean the innermost parts.

Blows that hurt cleanse away evil, As do stripes the inner depths of the heart.

Beatings and wounds cleanse away ¹  evil, and floggings cleanse ²  the innermost being. ³ 

¹ tc The verb מָרַק (maraq) means “to polish; to scour”; in the Hiphil it means “to cleanse away,” but it is only attested here, and that in the Kethib reading of תַּמְרִיק (tamriq). The Qere has תַּמְרוּק (tamruq, “are a means of cleansing”). The LXX has “blows and contusions fall on evil men, and stripes penetrate their inner beings”; the Latin has “the bruise of a wound cleanses away evil things.” C. H. Toy suggests emending the text to read “stripes cleanse the body, and blows the inward parts” or “cosmetics purify the body, and blows the soul” (Proverbs [ICC], 397). Cf. CEV “can knock all of the evil out of you.”

² tn The term “cleanse” does not appear in this line but is supplied in the translation in the light of the parallelism.

³ sn Physical punishment may prove spiritually valuable. Other proverbs say that some people will never learn from this kind of punishment, but in general this may be the only thing that works for some cases.