Proverbs 6:20
in Proverbs 6My son, keep your father’s commandment, and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
My son, keep the commandment of thy father, And forsake not the law of thy mother:
KJV
My son, keep thy father’s commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
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This verse in Proverbs 6
Commentary
8 notes on this versePreserve, my son, the precepts of your father, etc. Now under the guise of the adulterous woman, he forbids listening to heresy.
This site's exposition
do not forsake your mother’s teaching
on Proverbs 6:20-23
The chapter returns to the father's appeal, naming both parents as teachers and telling the son to “tie them around your neck” like an ornament. The teaching will guide him when he walks, watch over him when he lies down and speak to him when he wakes, a constant companion.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
My son, keep thy father's commandment,....
(1.) By its arguments it is a light, which our understandings must subscribe to; it is a lamp to our eyes for discovery, and so to our feet for direction. The word of God reveals to us truths of eternal certainty, and is built upon the highest reason.
It is God's commandment and his law. But, (1.) Our parents directed us to it, put it into our hands, trained us up in the knowledge and observance of it, its original and obligation being most sacred.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2406: “An Appeal to Children of Godly Parents” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
You have here, before you, the advice of King Solomon, rightly reckoned to be one of the wisest of men, and verily he must be wise, indeed, who could excel in wisdom the son of David, the King of Israel. It is worth while to listen to what Solomon has to say—it must be good for the most intelligent young person to listen—and to listen carefully, to what so experienced a man as Solomon has to say to young men. But I must remind you that a greater than Solomon is here, for the Spirit of God inspired the Proverbs! They are not merely jewels from earthly mines, but they are also precious treasures from the heavenly hills, so that the advice we have, here, is not only the counsel of a wise man, but the advice of that Incarnate Wisdom who speaks to us out of the Word of God! Would you become the sons of wisdom? Come and sit at the feet of Solomon! Would you become spiritually wise? Come and hear what the Spirit of God has to say by the mouth of this wise man! In considering this subject, I am going, first of all, to show you that true godliness, of which the wise man, here, speaks, comes to many of us recommended by parental example—"My son, keep your father's commandment, and forsake not the law of your mother: bind them continually upon your heart, and tie them about your neck." But, in addition to that, true religion comes to us commended by practical uses, by its beneficial effect upon our lives—"When you go, it shall lead you; when you sleep, it shall keep you; and when you awake, it shall talk with you. For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life." I. Now, in the first place, I want to show you that TRUE RELIGION COMES TO MANY OF US RECOMMENDED BY PARENTAL EXAMPLE. Unhappily, it is not so with all of you.
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2406: “An Appeal to Children of Godly Parents” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
You have here, before you, the advice of King Solomon, rightly reckoned to be one of the wisest of men, and verily he must be wise, indeed, who could excel in wisdom the son of David, the King of Israel. It is worth while to listen to what Solomon has to say—it must be good for the most intelligent young person to listen—and to listen carefully, to what so experienced a man as Solomon has to say to young men. But I must remind you that a greater than Solomon is here, for the Spirit of God inspired the Proverbs!
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Keep thy father’s commandment - See on Pro 1:8 (note).
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| נְצֹ֣ר | netzor | keep | H5341 → | 63 times |
| בְּ֭נִי | beni | O son my | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| מִצְוַ֣ת | mitzvat | [the] commandment of | H4687 → | 181 times |
| אָבִ֑יךָ | ʾavikha | father your | H1 → | 1212 times |
| וְאַל־ | veal- | and may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תִּ֝טֹּ֗שׁ | titosh | you forsake | H5203 → | 40 times |
| תּוֹרַ֥ת | torat | [the] instruction of | H8451 → | 219 times |
| אִמֶּֽךָ׃ | ʾimekha | mother your | H517 → | 220 times |
נְצֹ֣רkeep
netzorH5341 →63 times
בְּ֭נִיO son my
beniH1121 →4930 times
מִצְוַ֣ת[the] commandment of
mitzvatH4687 →181 times
אָבִ֑יךָfather your
ʾavikhaH1 →1212 times
וְאַל־and may not
veal-H408 →724 times
תִּ֝טֹּ֗שׁyou forsake
titoshH5203 →40 times
תּוֹרַ֥ת[the] instruction of
toratH8451 →219 times
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
Ephesians 6:1Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
it leads to
- Colossians 3:20–25
Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to the Lord.
- Proverbs 1:8
Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction, and do not forsake the teaching of your mother.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 23:22
Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.
- Colossians 3:16–17
Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to…
- Deuteronomy 21:18
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,
- Colossians 3:20–25
Through
Proverbs 23:22Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.
it leads to
- 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 30:17
Through
Deuteronomy 27:16‘Cursed is he who dishonors his father or mother.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’
it leads to
- Leviticus 19:3
Each of you must respect his mother and father, and you must keep My Sabbaths. I am the LORD your God.
- Exodus 21:17
Anyone who curses his father or mother must surely be put to death.
- Leviticus 19:3
Where this verse is studied
About Proverbs
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2406: “An Appeal to Children of Godly Parents” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.