Proverbs 22:6

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

In English we miss the wonderful truths found only in the Hebrew Scriptures, and this is another example of why we need to learn Hebrew.

In the above verse, to "Train" means, "Chew the Date." It's a concept we don't understand.

Are you ready? For here is what it's trying to say!

To "Train" in Hebrew is the word Chanak, and in Strong's Concordance you'll find "to initiate" and when you look this up in Brown, Drivers and Briggs Hebrew Lexicon, you'll find under Chanak "rub palate of child with chewed dates…before it begins to suck."

Now here is the beauty of what we're not seeing!

When a newborn baby is about to take its first mother's milk, she would take a Date and Chew it until it's soft and palatable. She would then take this sweet, soft and creamy Date from her mouth and rub this in the mouth of her new child to initiate the suckling action. Here is what it's saying. From the very begging after birth, initiate the child's learning and training from whatever is sweet, good, nourishing and wholesome and put that from your mouth into their mouths, and when they become mature they will not depart from what you taught them.

Even before a Jewish child is able to speak, they will introduce the first letter of the Hebrew Alphabet on a wood block smeared with honey, or they'll be given a cookie in the shape of a letter. From the very begging they will learn that education is sweet and good!

So to train a child is to "Chew the Date."

SIDE NOTE: I did an experiment with a friend's grandchild a few years ago. I teach the basic Hebrew Alphabet, and I decided to teach her some Hebrew Letters. Everyone thought she was too young to learn, but I knew differently. So we sat under the backyard porch, I flashed a few letters with her over a period of a few hours off and on. When I was back in the kitchen with her grandmother I said, "Watch this." I took out a few of the letters and showed them to her grandchild, and to her surprise, she said, "If she can do that, she can learn her alphabet!"

Just give them a chance even at a young age, for their minds are like a sponge and ready to absorb. All they need is someone to love them and give them direction.