He that chastiseth the heathen, shall not he correct? he that teacheth man knowledge, shall not he know?
He that chastiseth the heathen, shall not he correct? He who admonishes the pagan through His law written on the conscience (though they have not the revealed law), and through the inward thoughts reproving them for sin (Romans 1:20; Romans 2:14-15), shall not He punish? The Hebrew х yaacar (H3256)] for "chastiseth" means to admonish (here by the voice of conscience witnessing for God even in the pagan breast), as the parallelism to 'teacheth knowledge' proves. So the same Hebrew is used in Psalms 94:12; also in Psalms 2:10, "be instructed, ye judges of the earth." From the admonitory influence which God exercises on the consciences of the people and the pagan, there follows necessarily the conclusion that He 'sees' and 'punishes' their evil deeds against the godly. Translate, 'shall not He punish?' The sense is not, shall not He who formerly punished the pagan, punish them also now? The Hebrew verbs are distinct, and there is no 'formerly' or 'now' to sustain such a sense.
He that teacheth man knowledge, (shall not he know)? It is to God that men owe whatever knowledge they have. Shall not, then, He know what they know and think? The latter clause is rightly supplied in the English version.