The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.

The rod and reproof give wisdom; But a child left to himself causeth shame to his mother.

The rod and reproof give wisdom: but the child that is left to his own will bringeth his mother to shame.

A rod and reproof give wisdom, And a youth let away is shaming his mother.

The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself brings his mother to shame.

The rod and sharp words give wisdom: but a child who is not guided is a cause of shame to his mother.

The rod and its correction distribute wisdom. But the child who is left to his own will, brings shame to his mother.

Left to himself - The condition of one who has been pampered and indulged. The mother who yields weakly is as guilty of abandoning the child she spoils, as if she cast him forth; and for her evil neglect, there shall fall upon her the righteous punishment of shame and ignominy.

The rod and reproof give wisdom,.... Are the means of giving wisdom to a child, reproved by its parent with the rod; and of driving out foolishness from him, and of making him wiser for the time to come; he shunning those evils for which he was before corrected, Proverbs 22:15; So the children of God grow wiser by the corrections and chastisements of their heavenly Father, which are always for their good; and he is a man of wisdom that hearkens to the rod, and to him that has appointed it, and learns the proper instructions from it, Micah 6:9;
but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame; a child that has the reins thrown upon his neck, is under no restraint of parents, but suffered to take his own way, is left to do his own will and pleasure; he does those things which his parents are ashamed of, one as well as another; though the mother is only mentioned, being generally most fond and indulgent, and most criminal in suffering children to have their own wills and ways; and so has the greater share in the shame that follows on such indulgences.

Parents must consider the benefit of due correction, and the mischief of undue indulgence.

(Compare Proverbs 13:24; Proverbs 23:13).

A proverb with שׁבט, Proverbs 29:15, is placed next to one with שׁופט, but it begins a group of proverbs regarding discipline in the house and among the people:
15 The rod and reproof give wisdom;
But an undisciplined son is a shame to his mother.
With שׁבט [a rod], which Proverbs 22:15 also commends as salutary, תּוכחת refers to discipline by means of words, which must accompany bodily discipline, and without them is also necessary; the construction of the first line follows in number and gender the scheme Proverbs 27:9, Zac 7:7; Ewald, 339c. In the second line the mother is named, whose tender love often degenerates into a fond indulgence; such a darling, such a mother's son, becomes a disgrace to his mother. Our "ausgelassen," by which Hitzig translates משׁלּח, is used of joyfulness unbridled and without self-restraint, and is in the passage before us too feeble a word; שׁלּח is used of animals pasturing at liberty, wandering in freedom (Job 39:5; Isaiah 16:2); נער משׁלח is accordingly a child who is kept in by no restraint and no punishment, one left to himself, and thus undisciplined (Luther, Gesenius, Fleischer, and others).

Left - Suffered to follow his own will without restraint and chastening.