Proverbs 23:22
in Proverbs 23Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, And despise not thy mother when she is old.
KJV
Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.
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This verse in Proverbs 23
Commentary
5 notes on this verseDespise not thy mother when she is old - A very necessary caution, as very old women are generally helpless, useless, and burdensome: yet these circumstances do not at all lessen the child’s duty. And this duty is strengthened by the Divine command here given.
This site's exposition
Listen to your father who gave
"Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old" renews the honor of the fifth commandment. The weight falls on "when she is old," since honor is easy while parents are strong and becomes the test once they are not.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
As the ancient saying goes, soul is the mother of the mind, because it is the soul which leads the mind to enlightenment by means of practical virtues.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Hearken unto thy father that begat thee,....
And since the mother also, from a sense of duty to God and from love to her child, gives him good instructions, let him not despise her, nor her advice, when she is old.
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שְׁמַ֣ע | shema' | listen | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| לְ֭אָבִיךָ | leavikha | to father your | H1 → | 1212 times |
| זֶ֣ה | zeh | who | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| יְלָדֶ֑ךָ | yeladekha | he begot you | H3205 → | 496 times |
| וְאַל־ | veal- | and may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תָּ֝ב֗וּז | tavuz | you despise | H936 → | 12 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | if | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| זָקְנָ֥ה | zakenah | she is old | H2204 → | |
| אִמֶּֽךָ׃ | ʾimekha | mother your | H517 → | 220 times |
שְׁמַ֣עlisten
shema'H8085 →1159 times
לְ֭אָבִיךָto father your
leavikhaH1 →1212 times
זֶ֣הwho
zehH2088 →1180 times
יְלָדֶ֑ךָhe begot you
yeladekhaH3205 →496 times
וְאַל־and may not
veal-H408 →724 times
תָּ֝ב֗וּזyou despise
tavuzH936 →12 times
כִּֽי־if
ki-H3588 →4482 times
זָקְנָ֥הshe is old
zakenahH2204 →
אִמֶּֽךָ׃mother your
ʾimekhaH517 →220 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 1:8Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction, and do not forsake the teaching of your mother.
it leads to
- Proverbs 6:20
My son, keep your father’s commandment, and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
- Proverbs 30:17
As for the eye that mocks a father and scorns obedience to a mother, may the ravens of the valley pluck it out and young vultures devour it.
- Proverbs 5:1–2
My son, pay attention to my wisdom; incline your ear to my insight,
- Proverbs 6:20
Through
Proverbs 30:17As for the eye that mocks a father and scorns obedience to a mother, may the ravens of the valley pluck it out and young vultures devour it.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 21:18–21
If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and does not listen to them when disciplined,
- Proverbs 30:11
There is a generation of those who curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers.
- 2 Samuel 18:14–17
But Joab declared, “I am not going to wait like this with you!” And he took three spears in his hand and thrust them through the heart of Absalom while he was still alive…
- Leviticus 20:9
If anyone curses his father or mother, he must be put to death. He has cursed his father or mother; his blood shall be upon him.
- Deuteronomy 21:18–21
Through
Proverbs 6:20My son, keep your father’s commandment, and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
it leads to
- Ephesians 6:1
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
- Ephesians 6:1
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Proverbs
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Evagrius Ponticus, SCHOLIA ON PROVERBS 258:23.22; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.