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Actually, sheepherders DO set the dogs on sheep who won’t move. And I’ve helped a sheep rancher use a rubber hose to get sheep thru a ramp before.

Corporal punishment is definitely allowed and encouraged in the Bible.

“He who withholds his rod hates his son,
But he who loves him disciplines him diligently.”

I’m sorry, but that does not sound to me like encouragement to read the Bible to my kids regularly. That is a good thing too, but it is not what the verse is talking about. The same goes for:

“Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child;
The rod of discipline will remove it far from him.”

“Do not hold back discipline from the child,
Although you strike him with the rod, he will not die.
You shall strike him with the rod
And rescue his soul from Sheol.”

“A whip is for the horse, a bridle for the donkey,
And a rod for the back of fools.”

Actually, sheepherders DO set the dogs on sheep who won’t move. And I’ve helped a sheep rancher use a rubber hose to get sheep thru a ramp before.

A sheep dog who bites or grips is a bad sheep dog. I doubt a normal sheepherder ever “set the dogs” on the sheep. They simply let their dogs herd the sheep. That’s normal and requires no physical contact from the dog. The rubber hose is indicative of a impatient rancher.

Plus, children aren’t sheep. All analogies break down eventually.

Corporal punishment is definitely allowed and encouraged in the Bible.

“He who withholds his rod hates his son,
But he who loves him disciplines him diligently.”

I’m sorry, but that does not sound to me like encouragement to read the Bible to my kids regularly. That is a good thing too, but it is not what the verse is talking about.

The Rod is the Word of God, but the Word of God is more than just reading, it’s doing, it’s sharing, it’s interpreting, etc. Sitting down and reading the Bible won’t do it, but living the Bible will.

The same goes for:

“Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child;
The rod of discipline will remove it far from him.”

Again, discipline isn’t punishment and discipline needn’t be corporal at all. Correction or reproof aren’t a spanking.

“Do not hold back discipline from the child,
Although you strike him with the rod, he will not die.
You shall strike him with the rod
And rescue his soul from Sheol.”

You’re losing the context here. Why the Sheol reference? Matthew Henry gets it right again. This is a spiritual issue. Sheol is the holding place of the dead. What leads to resurrection?

“A whip is for the horse, a bridle for the donkey,
And a rod for the back of fools.”

Utterly different context at 26. The entire chapter isn’t about children, but fools. http://biblehub.com/context/proverbs/26-1.htm