Charles Ellicott Commentary Colossians 3:21

"Fathers, provoke not your children, that they be not discouraged." — Colossians 3:21 (ASV)

Provoke not . . . to anger.—This, in the text followed by our version, is borrowed from Ephesians 6:4. The true reading is provoke to emulation, as in 2 Corinthians 9:2. What is forbidden is a constant and restless stimulation, “spurring the willing horse;” which will end in failure and despondency.