Deuteronomy 5:16, commentary and pictures

It is the fifth commandment of God's law, standing among the six that define duty to others, and it requires children to love, honor, and obey father and mother in close connection with love and loyalty to God. It was recapitulated by Moses at the Jordan for the generation about to enter Canaan, calling all Israel to hear, learn, keep, and do the statutes spoken from Sinai as the condition of prosperity. Its promise is prolonged life and well-being in the land the Lord gives, making obedience essential to life there. It is a definite and repeated requirement to be remembered, kept, and perfectly obeyed, to be kept continually before the people and taught diligently to children from infancy by parental example in word and conduct. Keeping it brings reverence for God, His cooperation and blessing, a plain path, and shelter from temptation, while disobedience shows unbelief and lack of reverence and forfeits the promised blessing and must be repented of and reformed through Christ's grace.

Words and Historical Setting

Moses restated this law on the east side of the Jordan just before Israel crossed over to take possession of Canaan, summoning all Israel to hear the statutes and judgments, to learn them, to keep them, and to do them. The repetition was needed because the law had first been spoken from Sinai, and few of that new generation had been old enough to grasp the solemnity of that giving. He reminded them that the covenant at Horeb had been made not with their fathers but with those alive that day. At that time the Lord had spoken with them face to face out of the midst of the fire. Obedience was set before them as the condition of prosperity in the land they were about to enter.

The restatement was a solemn rehearsal of the Decalogue for the generation preparing to enter Canaan, that they might understand, know, and obey God's law and bind themselves to observe its precepts. Within that law this command is the fifth commandment. It stands among the last six commandments, which define human duty toward other people.

To honor father and mother is to show filial love and obedience. That filial duty is closely joined to love and loyalty toward God. Despising parental authority opens the way to despising divine authority.

The command was given as the Lord God had commanded, with the assurance that days would be prolonged and that life would go well in the land the Lord God gives. Obedience to God's definite, repeated requirements was thus made essential to life and well-being there. Keeping this commandment carries blessing, while neglecting or breaking it forfeits the promised blessing.

Obedience, Teaching and Blessing

The command is part of God's definite, repeated requirements that are to be remembered, kept, and obeyed perfectly, with no excuse accepted for disobedience. Its violation is sin, because it belongs to the Ten Commandments which are God's law. Transgression of God's law brings harmful consequences, including the curse upon the earth and living creatures. Obedience to the commandments is essential to life and well-being in the land God gives, as part of His call for His people to be sanctified in mind, soul, and body and to obey His will perfectly.

The commandments were to remain before the people and to be taught diligently to their children in the land He was giving them. The chapter is given to parents to read as God's instruction for training their children from very infancy to form characters that will meet God's approval. Every precaution is required to prevent children from growing up with objectionable traits of character.

Parents are to set an example in word and conduct and to teach their families consecrated service to God. Fathers and mothers must teach this instruction to children from their very babyhood. Its direction belongs to what is to be carefully observed, including by those carrying responsibilities in sacred work.

Children are commanded to obey their parents. As they grow in years they are called to appreciate the care their parents have given them. They are to find their greatest pleasure in helping father and mother.

Honoring father and mother is the fifth commandment and carries a blessing for those who obey it. Keeping it brings reverence for God and the Lord's cooperation and blessing. The commandments make the path plain and shield those who heed them from temptation. Disobedience shows unbelief and lack of reverence and forfeits blessing, a refusal found even among many who profess to be serving the Lord. Neglecting or breaking this commandment means forfeiting that promised blessing, so repentance and reform through Christ's grace are necessary.

The principle of filial love and obedience was little heeded among many heathen peoples. Elderly parents unable to provide for themselves were abandoned or killed, and mothers were treated with little respect and placed under an eldest son's authority after the husband's death. As Israel turned from the Lord they also disregarded this commandment along with others.

The verse shows part of what God required in Deuteronomy 4-8 that His people might be a holy people unto Himself. Its instruction was recorded for later generations to study and put into practice in principle. It is to be studied now with profit in preparation for God's great final review, when the world must stand before the Judge of all the earth to answer for deeds, in the present time of investigation when every character is investigated and every case decided for eternity. It tests obedience to God, so that failure to honor God-fearing parents is failure to obey God and bars entry to the promised land understood as the new earth where the faithful will live eternally.