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Context check · 2 min read

What Proverbs 22:6 means in context

By Living Sword · Updated 2026-10-13

Photographic illustration of a quiet woodland walk

Proverbs 22:6 encourages parents to train a child in the way he should go, and observes that early training tends to last. It is a proverb: wise counsel about how life usually works. It is not a guarantee that every child raised well will follow God. Parents whose grown children have walked away have not necessarily failed.

What kind of writing is a proverb?

1The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel:

2To know wisdom and instruction, To perceive the words of understanding,

3To receive the instruction of wisdom, Justice, judgment, and equity;

4To give prudence to the simple, To the young man knowledge and discretion—

The book states its own purpose: to give wisdom, instruction and good judgment, especially to the young. Proverbs are short, memorable sayings about what is generally true. Two of them sit side by side and seem to contradict each other:

4Do not answer a fool according to his folly, Lest you also be like him.

5Answer a fool according to his folly, Lest he be wise in his own eyes.

Each fits a different situation, and wisdom means knowing which one applies. Proverbs are meant to be weighed and used well. They are not contracts.

What does Proverbs 22:6 say?

Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.

It belongs to a long collection headed “The proverbs of Solomon”, which runs from Proverbs 10 to the middle of chapter 22. Scholars discuss whether “the way he should go” means the right way to live, or a way suited to the particular child. Both readings call for careful, attentive parenting.

What if a child walks away anyway?

God Himself speaks of children who rebelled:

Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth! For the LORD has spoken: “I have nourished and brought up children, And they have rebelled against Me;

If God's own children could rebel, a child's choices are not simply a verdict on their parents. Grown children make their own choices. Keep praying, keep loving, and leave room for a story that is not finished yet.

How can a parent pray from this verse?

  1. Thank God for the child, by name.
  2. Ask for wisdom to train them well for who they are.
  3. If they have walked away, ask God to draw them back, and to keep your love steady.
  4. Leave the outcome with God.

For example: “Father, thank You for Anna. Give me wisdom to raise her well, and patience when I get it wrong. Draw her to You, and keep my love for her steady whatever she chooses. Amen.” This is a prepared example.

For more on praying for a child or friend, read how to pray for someone you love. For a method you can use with any verse, read how to read a Bible verse in context.

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