The 'Rod' in Proverbs Is a Shepherd's Comfort Tool. Here's Why
The Hebrew word shebet, translated "rod" in Proverbs 13:24, is the same word used in Psalm 23:4 — "your rod and your staff, they comfort me" — because it refers to a shepherd's guiding tool that protects, directs, and rescues, not a weapon for beating
Spare the Rod, Spoil the Child' Is Not in the Bible. Here's Why.
Spare the rod, spoil the child" comes from a 1662 satirical poem by Samuel Butler called Hudibras, not from anywhere in the Bible — and the Hebrew word for "rod" (shebet) is the same word used in Psalm 23:4 for the shepherd's staff that brings comfort
The Word 'Homosexual' Was Not in Any Bible Until 1946. Here's Why
For 564 years of English Bible translation — from the first Wycliffe Bible in 1382 through 1945 — no translator used the word "homosexual," because the concept of sexual orientation as an innate identity did not exist in the ancient world and the Greek words in question don't mean that
The Bible Never Says Suicide Sends You to Hell. Here's Why
The teaching that suicide automatically sends someone to hell comes from Augustine (5th century) and was formalized by Thomas Aquinas (13th century). It was a theological conclusion, not a biblical citation. Even the Catholic Church's current Catechism has walked it back, acknowledging diminished responsibility and stating: "We should not despair of the eternal salvation of persons who have taken their own lives."
Romans 8:38-39: "Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God."
Neither death. That means the method of death does not override God's love.
*If you are struggling right now:* you are not condemned. Call or text 988. There are doors out of suffering that are not death.