Ephesians 6:3
in Ephesians 6“that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life on the earth.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.
KJV
That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.
⋯
This verse in Ephesians 6
Commentary
14 notes on this verseWhat is promised in honoring one's father and mother is not intended for the Jews alone, nor was it intended as an outright financial exchange.… For there surely have been many who, even while being obedient to their parents, died abruptly. Others who have been irreverent to their parents have reached extreme old age.… Rightly interpreted, the command looks for the land that the Lord promises to Israel. It is offered to those who have left the spiritual Egypt.
This site's exposition
obey your parents in the Lord
on Ephesians 6:1-3
Paul cites the fifth commandment from Exodus 20:12, the first commandment with a promise. In the Lord bounds the obedience, and the household order stands inside a higher allegiance.
This site's exposition
have a long life on the earth
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read the promise as reaching the godly in every land, fulfilled literally or by a higher blessing. Jerome admits some obedient children die young and some irreverent ones grow old, so he reads the land spiritually. Henry says such loss is made up with something better.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
A commentator
CyprianTreatise XII Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews · Written before 258.
proposed
That we must obey parents. In the Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians: "Children, be obedient to your parents: for this is right. Honour thy father and thy mother (which is the first command with promise), that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest be long-lived on the earth."
As a man in forming a body, places the head first, after that the neck, then the feet, so does the blessed Paul proceed in his discourse. He has spoken of the husband, he has spoken of the wife, who is second in authority, he now goes on by gradual advances to the third rank-which is that of children. For the husband has authority over the wife, and the husband and the wife over the children. Here he has not a word of discourse concerning Christ, not a word on high subjects, for he is as yet addressing his discourse to tender understandings. And it is for this reason, moreover, that he makes his exhortation short, inasmuch as children cannot follow up a long argument. For this reason also he does not discourse at all about a kingdom, (because it does not belong to the tender age of childhood to understand these subjects,) but what a child's soul most especially longs to hear, that he says, namely, that it shall "live long." For if any one shall enquire why it is that he omitted to discourse concerning a kingdom, but set before them the commandment laid down in the law, he does this because he speaks to them as infantile, and because he is well aware that if the husband and the wife are thus disposed according to the law which he has laid down, there will be but little trouble in securing the submission of the children. For whenever any matter has a good and sound and orderly principle and foundation, everything will thenceforward go on with method and regularity, with much facility: the more difficult thing is to settle the foundation, to lay down a firm basis. "Children," saith he, "obey your parents in the Lord," that is, according to the Lord. This, he means to say, is what God commands you. But what then if they shall command foolish things? Generally a father, however foolish he may be himself, does not command foolish things. […]
The Medieval Church3 voices
Look how briefly and concisely he speaks in the present case, because children are not able to follow a lengthy discourse. And besides, if a husband will conform to the laws which he set forth above, little effort is needed to bring children into submission. …
A commentator
BonaventureCollationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 5 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
By reason of governance, the honor of obedience is owed to the father; whence the Apostle to the Ephesians: Children, obey your parents, for this is just. Honor your father and your mother: which is the first commandment with a promise, that it may be …
On this account he adds that you may live long upon the earth. In the Old Testament temporal promises were pledged because the people then were immature and hence were graciously taught as children under a tutor. Nevertheless, in those little gifts which were suited …
6 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
That thou mayest live long upon the earth - This is usually fulfilled to eminently dutiful children; and he who lives long and well has a long seed-time for the eternal harvest. But this promise, in the Christian dispensation, is to be understood chiefly in a more exalted and Spiritual sense.
Not indeed that it is always so; there are instances of such children who meet with much affliction in this life: but ordinarily obedience is thus rewarded, and, where it is not, it is made up with something better. The gospel has its temporal promises, as well as spiritual ones.
That it may be well with thee,.... In this world, and that which is to come; see Deu 5:
He exhorts and directs Christians how to behave themselves in the spiritual warfare with the enemies of their souls; and to the exercise of several Christian graces, which he proposes to them as so many pieces of spiritual armour, to preserve and defend them in the conflict,
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The godly are equally blessed in every land, as the Jews were in the land which God gave them. This promise is always fulfilled, either literally, or by the substitution of a higher blessing, namely, one spiritual and eternal (Job 5:26;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
That it may be well with thee - This is found in the fifth commandment as recorded in Deu 5:16. The whole commandment as there recorded is, “Honour thy father and thy mother, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” The meaning here is, that they would be more happy, useful, and virtuous if they obeyed their parents than if they disobeyed them.
The words behind it
10 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ἵνα | ina | that | G2443 → | 668 times |
| εὖ | eu | well | G2095 → | |
| σοι | soi | with you | G4771 → | 2973 times |
| γένηται | genetai | it may be | G1096 → | 667 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| ἔσῃ | ese | you will be | G1510 → | 2333 times |
| μακροχρόνιος | makrochronios | long-lived | G3118 → | |
| ἐπὶ | epi | upon | G1909 → | 883 times |
| τῆς | tes | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| γῆς.¶ | ges | earth. | G1093 → | 248 times |
ἵναthat
inaG2443 →668 times
εὖwell
euG2095 →
σοιwith you
soiG4771 →2973 times
γένηταιit may be
genetaiG1096 →667 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ἔσῃyou will be
eseG1510 →2333 times
μακροχρόνιοςlong-lived
makrochroniosG3118 →
ἐπὶupon
epiG1909 →883 times
τῆςthe
tesG3588 →19766 times
γῆς.¶earth.
gesG1093 →248 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Deuteronomy 5:16Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that your days may be long and that it may go well with you in the land that the…
it leads to
- Exodus 20:12
Honor your father and mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
- Ephesians 6:1–3
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
- Colossians 3:20
Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to the Lord.
- Exodus 20:12
Through
Deuteronomy 6:18Do what is right and good in the sight of the LORD, so that it may be well with you and that you may enter and possess the good land that the LORD your…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 4:40
Keep His statutes and commandments, which I am giving you today, so that you and your children after you may prosper, and that you may live long in the land that the LORD your…
Reached by 4 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 4:40
Through
Deuteronomy 4:40Keep His statutes and commandments, which I am giving you today, so that you and your children after you may prosper, and that you may live long in the land that the LORD your…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 12:25
Do not eat it, so that it may go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is right in the eyes of the LORD.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 6:3
Hear, O Israel, and be careful to observe them, so that you may prosper and multiply greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers,…
- Deuteronomy 12:28
Be careful to obey all these things I command you, so that it may always go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is good and right…
- Deuteronomy 5:16
Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that your days may be long and that it may go well with you in the land that the…
- Deuteronomy 12:25
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Ephesians
This page draws on 12 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bonaventure, Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 5; Cyprian, Treatise XII Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ephesians 6:1; John Chrysostom, Homily on Ephesians 21; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Ephesians and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Ephesians.