a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
hear
שְׁמַ֣עshe.Ma'
H8085
to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
instruction
מוּסַ֣רmu.Sar
H4148
properly · noun, common masculine singular construct
father
אָבִ֑יךָ'a.Vi.kha
H1
father · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
forsake
תִּ֝טֹּ֗שׁti.Tosh
H5203
properly · verb, qal jussive, 2nd person masculine singular
law
תּוֹרַ֥תto.Rat
H8451
a precept or statute · noun, common feminine singular construct
mother
אִמֶּֽךָ'i.Me.kha
H517
a mother (as the bond of the family) · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Proverbs 6:20 My son, keep thy father’s commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
Proverbs 30:17 The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall…
Proverbs 5:1-2 My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding:
Proverbs 2:1 My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee;
Proverbs 31:1 The words of king Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him.
2 Timothy 1:5 When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am p…
Leviticus 19:3 Ye shall fear every man his mother, and his father, and keep my sabbaths: I am the LORD your God.
Deuteronomy 21:18-21 If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they ha…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Proverbs 1:7-9
Solomon, having undertaken to teach a young man knowledge and discretion, here lays down two general rules to be observed in order thereunto, and those are, to fear God and honour his parents, which two fundamental laws of morality Pythagoras begins his golden verses with, but the former of them in a wretchedly corrupted state. Primum, deos immortales cole, parentesque honora - First worship the immortal gods, and honour your parents. To make young people such as they should be,
I. Let them have regard to God as their supreme.
1. He lays down this truth, that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge (Pro 1:7); it is the principal part of knowledge (so the margin); it is the head of…
My son--This paternal form denotes a tender regard for the reader. Filial sentiments rank next to piety towards God, and ensure most distinguished rewards (compare Pro 6:20; Eph 6:2-3).
John Gill on Proverbs 1:8
My son, hear the instruction of thy father,.... This is not to be understood of God the Father of mankind, and of that law which he has given them, as Jarchi and Gersom interpret it, but of Solomon and his son in a literal sense; and of anyone that came to him for instruction, any pupil, hearer, or reader of his; and it is a direction to all children to hearken to the instruction of their parents, and obey their commands; so, next to the fear and worship of God, he exhorts to obedience to parents, and proceeds just in the same order and method in which the decalogue or ten commands were written; the first table respects God and his worship, and the second follows, which begins with "honour t…
After the author has indicated the object which his Book of Proverbs is designed to subserve, and the fundamental principle on which it is based, he shows for whom he has intended it; he has particularly the rising generation in his eye:
8 Hear, my son, thy father's instruction,
And refuse not the teaching of thy mother;
9 For these are a fair crown to thy head,
And Jewels to thy neck.
"My son," says the teacher of wisdom to the scholar whom he has, or imagines that he has, before him, addressing him as a fatherly friend. The N.T. representation of birth into a new spiritual life, Co1 4:15; Plm 1:10; Gal 4:19, lies outside the circle of the O.T. representation; the teacher feels himself as a…
The Church Fathers
If you preserve in your faithful heart the law of your Father and observe the commands of your mother, you will receive the crown of graces on your head and the golden necklace in the resurrection of the righteous ones. You will be glorified in the heavenly and imperishable kingdom and crowned by Christ if you fight in a manner worthy of such a crown. No athlete is crowned unless such a person has contended strongly and legitimately.
Through listening to paternal instruction and through observance of maternal law, grace is put on our head and a neck ring on our neck. For the more one gives heed to divine commands [and] strives to observe with greater diligence what one has learned in the unity of mother church, the more one may now ascend with greater worthiness to the honor of preaching and may in the future ascend with greater exaltation to the blessedness of reigning with Christ for ever.
The church is not truly called the "pillar and foundation of truth" if it is found unsound in the most basic mystery of human salvation. But because it is truly called the "pillar and foundation of truth" by the apostle, whatever according to the canons of the church itself is given and received within it, among the holy mysteries of human redemption and reconciliation, is given with firm truth and received with firm truth.It is so commanded in Proverbs: "Hear, my child, your father's instruction and do not reject your mother's teaching," so that we may never reject the general canons of holy mother the church, that is, those which the most harmonious assent of all the bishops confirms.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Children · Should: Attend to parental teaching — Should: Attend to parental teaching
Mother · 18:7;19:3;20:9; — 18:7;19:3;20:9;
Young Men · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
My child (Literally My son): Like other wisdom literature of the ancient Near East, much of chs 1–9 is a father’s (and occasionally, a mother’s) instruction to a son. Because the son is being trained to follow in his father’s profession, much of the teaching concerns the son’s occupation. The NLT usually translates the term as child, since the lessons are applicable to both sons and daughters.
1:8-19 There are two paths (1:15) in the book of Proverbs: a wise, just way and a foolish, evil way. The parents represent the wise way and encourage their child to follow it.
Rashi on Proverbs 1:8
Hearken, my son, to the discipline of your father What the Holy One, blessed be He, gave Moses in writing and orally.
your mother Heb. אמך [like אמתך], your nation, the nation of Israel, as in (Ezek. 19:2): “What a lioness was your mother [meaning your nation]!” These are the words of the Scribes, which they innovated and added and made safeguards for the Torah.
