Bible Strands
Proverbs 23:22
Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The speaker addresses a young listener, positioning this command between a warning about poverty from drunkenness and a directive to pursue wisdom. The words — The imperative שְׁמַע (shĕmaʿ) demands direct attention, while תָּבֹז (tāḇōz) strictly forbids contempt, specifically triggered when the mother reaches old age (זָקְנָה). The thread — This instruction mirrors the filial respect command in Proverbs 1:8 and directly opposes the judgment pronounced in Proverbs 30:17 for those who mock a father or scorn a mother. Why it lands — The text requires active obedience to a father’s authority and forbids abandoning or looking down on a mother in her decline, grounding wisdom in familial honor.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.
Cross-references
- 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 1:8 Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction, and do not forsake the teaching of your mother.
- John 19:26 When Jesus saw His mother and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, “Woman, here is your son.”
- Proverbs 6:20 My son, keep your father’s commandment, and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
- Ephesians 6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
- Deuteronomy 27:16 ‘Cursed is he who dishonors his father or mother.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’
- Leviticus 19:3 Each of you must respect his mother and father, and you must keep My Sabbaths. I am the LORD your God.
- 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,
- Proverbs 30:11 There is a generation of those who curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers.
- Matthew 15:4 For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’