English Standard Version
Proverbs 23:22
22Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.
Proverbs 23:22 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.
- New International Version (NIV)Listen to your father, who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Listen to your father who begot you, And do not despise your mother when she is old.
- New Living Translation (NLT)Listen to your father, who gave you life, and don’t despise your mother when she is old.
Context of Proverbs 23:22
20Be not among drunkards or among gluttonous eaters of meat, 21for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and slumber will clothe them with rags. Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old. 23Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding. 24The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him.
Read all of Proverbs 23Proverbs 23:22 word by word
שְׁמַ֣ע לְ֭אָבִיךָ זֶ֣ה יְלָדֶ֑ךָ וְאַל־תָּ֝ב֗וּז כִּֽי־זָקְנָ֥ה אִמֶּֽךָ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Proverbs 23:22
- Proverbs 1:8Hear, my son, your father's instruction, and forsake not your mother's teaching,
- Proverbs 6:20My son, keep your father's commandment, and forsake not your mother's teaching.
- Deuteronomy 21:18"If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and, though they discipline him, will not listen to them,
- Deuteronomy 27:16"'Cursed be anyone who dishonors his father or his mother.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.'
- Mark 7:10For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother'; and, 'Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.'
- Ephesians 6:1Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
- Proverbs 30:11There are those who curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers.
- Leviticus 19:3Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and you shall keep my Sabbaths: I am the Lord your God.
- Matthew 15:4For God commanded, 'Honor your father and your mother,' and, 'Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.'
- John 19:26When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son!"
Commentaries on Proverbs 23:22
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 22Despise 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.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 15-35Verses 15-35 Another continuous exhortation rather than a collection of maxims. Proverbs 23:16 The teacher rejoices when the disciple‘s heart Proverbs 23:15 receives wisdom, and yet more when his lips can utter it. Reins - See Job 19:27 note. Proverbs 23:17 Envy sinners - Compare in Psalm 37:1; Psalm 73:3; the feeling which looks half-longingly at the prosperity of evil doers. Some connect the verb “envy” with the second clause, “envy not sinners, but…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 19-28Verses 19-28 The gracious Saviour who purchased pardon and peace for his people, with all the affection of a tender parent, counsels us to hear and be wise, and is ready to guide our hearts in his way. Here we have an earnest call to young people, to attend to the advice of their godly parents. If the heart be guided, the steps will be guided. Buy the truth, and sell it not; be willing to part with any thing for it. Do not part with it for pleasures…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 22-25Saying 16: This saying encourages seeking the wisdom that both a godly father and mother offer. Unlike other ancient Near East wisdom texts, Proverbs credits wisdom to both parents (Proverbs 1:8; 6:20).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2222. Hearken--that is, obey (Pr 1:8; Ep 6:1). despise ... old--Adults revere the parents whom, as children, they once obeyed.Read the comment
Topics related to Proverbs 23:22
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Proverbs 23
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries