Proverbs 17:6
in Proverbs 17Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of a son is his father.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Children’s children are the crown of old men; And the glory of children are their fathers.
KJV
Children’s children are the crown of old men; and the glory of children are their fathers.
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This verse in Proverbs 17
Commentary
6 notes on this verseWe must regard the woman's crown to be her husband, and the husband's crown to be marriage; and the flowers of marriage the children of both, which the divine husbandman plucks from meadows of flesh. "Children's children are the crown of old men." And the glory of children is their fathers, it is said; and our glory is the Father of all; and the crown of the whole church is Christ.
This site's exposition
Children’s children are the crown
on Proverbs 17:6-9
Grandchildren crown old men and fathers are the glory of their children, a mutual honour running down and up the generations that the bench reads as the family's own economy of praise. Excellent speech becometh not a fool, much less lying lips a prince, since eloquence and rank both raise the stakes of what a mouth is trusted to say. A gift shines like a precious stone to the man who has one, prospering wherever it turns, and covering a transgression seeketh love while repeating a matter separates the closest of friends, the chapter's first warning against the wound a rehearsed grievance opens.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
And instead of that joy, which a man experiences from the possession of a single field or house, he will enjoy a delight in riches a hundred times greater, if he passes over to the adoption of sons of God, and possesses as his own all things which belong to the eternal Father, and asserts in heart and soul after the fashion of that true Son: "All things that the Father hath are mine;" and if no longer tried by that criminal anxiety in distractions and cares, but free from care and glad at heart he succeeds everywhere to his own, hearing daily the announcement made to him by the Apostle: "For all things are yours, whether the world, or things present, or things to come;" and by Solomon: "The faithful man has a whole world of riches."
The Medieval Church1 voice
The crown of old men is the children of children, etc. He calls the patriarchs and prophets old men, who are celebrated with worthy praise by the children of children, that is, by the successors of the apostles; and it is a glory of the …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Children's children are the crown of old men,.... Ancient parents. Grandfathers with the Jews are called old men, as Buxtorf (d) observes.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The reciprocity of good in sustained family relationships. A long line of children’s children is the glory of old age, a long line of ancestors the glory of their descendants.
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עֲטֶ֣רֶת | ʾateret | [are the] crown of | H5850 → | 23 times |
| זְ֭קֵנִים | zekenim | old [people] | H2205 → | 178 times |
| בְּנֵ֣י | benei | children of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| בָנִ֑ים | vanim | children | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| וְתִפְאֶ֖רֶת | vetiferet | and [are the] honor of | H8597 → | 51 times |
| בָּנִ֣ים | banim | children | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| אֲבוֹתָֽם׃ | ʾavotam | parents their | H1 → | 1212 times |
עֲטֶ֣רֶת[are the] crown of
ʾateretH5850 →23 times
זְ֭קֵנִיםold [people]
zekenimH2205 →178 times
בְּנֵ֣יchildren of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
בָנִ֑יםchildren
vanimH1121 →4930 times
וְתִפְאֶ֖רֶתand [are the] honor of
vetiferetH8597 →51 times
בָּנִ֣יםchildren
banimH1121 →4930 times
אֲבוֹתָֽם׃parents their
ʾavotamH1 →1212 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
Proverbs 13:22A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, but the sinner’s wealth is passed to the righteous.
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 2:26
To the man who is pleasing in His sight, He gives wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner He assigns the task of gathering and accumulating that which he will hand over…
- Job 27:16–17
Though he heaps up silver like dust and piles up a wardrobe like clay,
- Proverbs 28:8
He who increases his wealth by interest and usury lays it up for one who is kind to the poor.
- Psalms 37:25
I once was young and now am old, yet never have I seen the righteous abandoned or their children begging for bread.
- Psalms 112:2
His descendants will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.
- Ecclesiastes 2:26
Through
Proverbs 16:31Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is attained along the path of righteousness.
it leads to
- Proverbs 20:29
The glory of young men is their strength, and gray hair is the splendor of the old.
- Leviticus 19:32
You are to rise in the presence of the elderly, honor the aged, and fear your God. I am the LORD.
- Proverbs 3:1–2
My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments;
- Proverbs 20:29
Where this verse is studied
About Proverbs
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor Book 2; John Cassian, CONFERENCE 24:26; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).