New King James Version
Proverbs 23:22
22Listen to your father who begot you, 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.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Listen to your father who gave you life, 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
20Do not mix with winebibbers, Or with gluttonous eaters of meat; 21For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, And drowsiness will clothe a man with rags. Listen to your father who begot you, And do not despise your mother when she is old. 23Buy the truth, and do not sell it, Also wisdom and instruction and understanding. 24The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice, And he who begets a wise child will delight 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 1:8My son, hear the instruction of your father, And do not forsake the law of your mother;
- Proverbs 6:20My son, keep your father’s command, And do not forsake the law of your mother.
- 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 who, when they have chastened him, will not heed them,
- Deuteronomy 27:16‘Cursed is the one who treats his father or his mother with contempt.’ “And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’
- Mark 7:10For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’
- Ephesians 6:1Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
- Proverbs 30:11There is a generation that curses its father, And does not bless its mother.
- Leviticus 19:3‘Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and keep My Sabbaths: I am the Lord your God.
- Matthew 15:4For God commanded, saying, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’
- John 19:26When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, 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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries