Pampering a servant from childhood produces a relationship that will end in trouble.
A warning about indulged servants is given in Proverbs 29:21: He who pampers his slave from childhood will in the end find him to be a son (v. 21). The result is mixed.
He who pampers his slave from childhood. The Hebrew is debated. The picture is of a master who treats a slave with extravagant indulgence over years.
Will in the end find him to be a son. The exact sense is debated. One reading is that the slave eventually presumes the privileges of a son and demands inheritance. Another is that excessive indulgence ruins the relationship by eliminating the proper structure between master and servant. Either way, the verse warns against undisciplined pampering, which produces complications no one intended. The proper care of any subordinate involves both kindness and structure; either alone produces problems.
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Proverbs 29:21 meaning
A warning about indulged servants is given in Proverbs 29:21: He who pampers his slave from childhood will in the end find him to be a son (v. 21). The result is mixed.
He who pampers his slave from childhood. The Hebrew is debated. The picture is of a master who treats a slave with extravagant indulgence over years.
Will in the end find him to be a son. The exact sense is debated. One reading is that the slave eventually presumes the privileges of a son and demands inheritance. Another is that excessive indulgence ruins the relationship by eliminating the proper structure between master and servant. Either way, the verse warns against undisciplined pampering, which produces complications no one intended. The proper care of any subordinate involves both kindness and structure; either alone produces problems.