Colossians 3:21

Provoke not (mh ereqizete). Present imperative of old verb from ereqw, to excite. Only twice in N.T., here in bad sense, in good sense in 2 Corinthians 9:2 (to stimulate). Here it means to nag and as a habit (present tense). That they be not discouraged (ina mh aqumwsin). Negative purpose (ina mh) with the present subjunctive (continued discouragement) of aqumew, old verb, but only here in N.T., from aqumo (dispirited, a privative, qumo, spirit or courage). One does not have to read Jane Eyre or Oliver Twist to know something of the sorrows of childhood as is witnessed by runaway children and even child suicides.