Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.
Hearken to a father's instruction and counsel, and do not despise or dishonor a mother, especially when she is old, in obedience and respectful honor. This duty does not end with childhood but continues into old age, when children should still go to parents for counsel. Grown children are to repay lifelong parental care with patient, tender, faithful and loving care that comforts aged and feeble parents, brings them joy and peace, and does not grieve, burden, neglect or leave them without support. To despise an old mother is to forget her after all she has done, going away and staying away, unwelcoming, unwriting and unreturning while prospering, which leaves her lonesome and broken in mind. Heeding and honoring such instruction fosters honor to God and his laws, and wisely followed it brings joy to father and mother and to others.
Meaning and Lasting Obligation
The verse commands children to hearken to their father's instruction and counsel and not to despise or dishonor their mother, especially when she is old, as obedience and respectful honor. The duty to honor parents does not end with childhood but continues into their old age, and parents are those to whom a child should go for counsel. That respect is owed even when parents are humble, uncultivated, or uncouth in manner, because children owe them their lives and the opportunities to use their abilities. Scorning parents lowers the child, while honoring them by deference and loving service dignifies the child, and withholding due respect brings God's wrath. Exposing parents' shortcomings to others reveals the child's own defects, rather than guarding them from public exposure.
Heeding and honoring parental instruction fosters a tendency to honor God and His laws, and wisely following it brings joy to father and mother and to others. The command stands together with the prohibition against joining with drunkards and excessive eaters, because drunkenness and gluttony lead to poverty and rags. Heeding such parental instruction and guidance almost invariably helps keep children from the evils of intemperance. The verse belongs to the practical moral standard of Proverbs 23-26 against which lives are to be measured.
Tender Care in Old Age
The command reaches past childhood to grown sons and daughters, binding them to care tenderly for aged and feeble parents instead of neglecting them or leaving them without support, and that honoring includes remembering and acknowledging the care and training received from them. When a son has grown to manhood's strength, he is to repay his mother for her watchful care over him from helpless infancy through childhood and youth, now that life's meridian with her is past and the infirmities of age are creeping on. Repayment comes by hearkening to her and honoring her with tender, deferential, ready help in every small comfort, and by finding pleasure in making her comfortable. Kindness shown only as cold duty done in a business way, or tenderness withheld because it is thought beneath men and feminine, crushes the maternal spirit, whereas tender care cheers the pathway down to the grave, makes it even joyful, and frees old age from much gloom. A young man habitually tender and deferential to his mother will become a good citizen, a true friend, and faithful in all the walks of life.
Children are to surround aging parents with patient, tender, faithful, loving care that comforts them and repays their lifelong care. That care avoids choices that grieve them and seeks to bring them joy and peace rather than adding to their burdens or dishonoring and neglecting them. In particular, a mother is to be honored and cared for when age makes her dependent on her children, in remembrance of the support, labor, watchfulness, and sympathy she gave through life. Her precious love is to be cherished while she is living, because parting comes and her death leaves a lasting grief.
Daughters are to prize a mother's care and counsel, confide in her about all things, and consult her wisdom and wishes, including in matters of young love, since such guidance can prevent years of sorrow. To despise a mother when she is old is to forget her after she has done all she could for her children in childhood. The command is broken by grown children going away and staying away, not wanting her to visit them, not writing to her, not coming back to her for years, and forgetting her while they prosper and become fine gentlemen and ladies. Such passive, cold forgetfulness and neglect leaves an old mother lonesome and broken in mind and kills the souls of parents who love their children best, and few sons and daughters are wholly free from this guilt even when they are not guilty of extreme cruelty.
The spirit of the command is seen even in small courtesies, as when a boy gives a friendly greeting to an elderly woman and respectfully doffs his cap and removes it before her.
Hearken to a father's instruction and counsel, and do not despise or dishonor a mother, especially when she is old, in obedience and respectful honor. This duty does not end with childhood but continues into old age, when children should still go to parents for counsel. Grown children are to repay lifelong parental care with patient, tender, faithful and loving care that comforts aged and feeble parents, brings them joy and peace, and does not grieve, burden, neglect or leave them without support. To despise an old mother is to forget her after all she has done, going away and staying away, unwelcoming, unwriting and unreturning while prospering, which leaves her lonesome and broken in mind. Heeding and honoring such instruction fosters honor to God and his laws, and wisely followed it brings joy to father and mother and to others.
Meaning and Lasting Obligation
The verse commands children to hearken to their father's instruction and counsel and not to despise or dishonor their mother, especially when she is old, as obedience and respectful honor. The duty to honor parents does not end with childhood but continues into their old age, and parents are those to whom a child should go for counsel. That respect is owed even when parents are humble, uncultivated, or uncouth in manner, because children owe them their lives and the opportunities to use their abilities. Scorning parents lowers the child, while honoring them by deference and loving service dignifies the child, and withholding due respect brings God's wrath. Exposing parents' shortcomings to others reveals the child's own defects, rather than guarding them from public exposure.
Heeding and honoring parental instruction fosters a tendency to honor God and His laws, and wisely following it brings joy to father and mother and to others. The command stands together with the prohibition against joining with drunkards and excessive eaters, because drunkenness and gluttony lead to poverty and rags. Heeding such parental instruction and guidance almost invariably helps keep children from the evils of intemperance. The verse belongs to the practical moral standard of Proverbs 23-26 against which lives are to be measured.
Tender Care in Old Age
The command reaches past childhood to grown sons and daughters, binding them to care tenderly for aged and feeble parents instead of neglecting them or leaving them without support, and that honoring includes remembering and acknowledging the care and training received from them. When a son has grown to manhood's strength, he is to repay his mother for her watchful care over him from helpless infancy through childhood and youth, now that life's meridian with her is past and the infirmities of age are creeping on. Repayment comes by hearkening to her and honoring her with tender, deferential, ready help in every small comfort, and by finding pleasure in making her comfortable. Kindness shown only as cold duty done in a business way, or tenderness withheld because it is thought beneath men and feminine, crushes the maternal spirit, whereas tender care cheers the pathway down to the grave, makes it even joyful, and frees old age from much gloom. A young man habitually tender and deferential to his mother will become a good citizen, a true friend, and faithful in all the walks of life.
Children are to surround aging parents with patient, tender, faithful, loving care that comforts them and repays their lifelong care. That care avoids choices that grieve them and seeks to bring them joy and peace rather than adding to their burdens or dishonoring and neglecting them. In particular, a mother is to be honored and cared for when age makes her dependent on her children, in remembrance of the support, labor, watchfulness, and sympathy she gave through life. Her precious love is to be cherished while she is living, because parting comes and her death leaves a lasting grief.
Daughters are to prize a mother's care and counsel, confide in her about all things, and consult her wisdom and wishes, including in matters of young love, since such guidance can prevent years of sorrow. To despise a mother when she is old is to forget her after she has done all she could for her children in childhood. The command is broken by grown children going away and staying away, not wanting her to visit them, not writing to her, not coming back to her for years, and forgetting her while they prosper and become fine gentlemen and ladies. Such passive, cold forgetfulness and neglect leaves an old mother lonesome and broken in mind and kills the souls of parents who love their children best, and few sons and daughters are wholly free from this guilt even when they are not guilty of extreme cruelty.
The spirit of the command is seen even in small courtesies, as when a boy gives a friendly greeting to an elderly woman and respectfully doffs his cap and removes it before her.