12:1 Antithetic and juxtapositional. The sages are emphatic in teaching the need for discipline and openness to reproof. Discipline (mûsār) is a mark of love (13:24), but it is also parallel to corporal punishment. It has a wide range of meaning, such as “instruction” or correction (as the word pair in this verse suggests). Stupid is, literally, “brutish, like an animal.”

12:2–3 Antithetic. These verses are an affirmation of traditional retribution theory.

12:4 Antithetic and chiastic. Noble character is literally “power” and indicates strong men (as warriors). It also connotes able and good women and is used in this way here and in 31:10, where a full description follows. The judgment is made from the viewpoint of the husband. The frequent reference to wives shows how much Israelite men…