Proverbs 6:20

My son, keep thy father’s commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother:

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
son	בְּ֭נִי Be.ni	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
keep	נְצֹ֣ר ne.Tzor	H5341	to guard · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
father’s	אָבִ֑יךָ 'a.Vi.kha	H1	father · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
commandment	מִצְוַ֣ת mitz.Vat	H4687	a command · noun, common feminine singular construct
forsake	תִּ֝טֹּ֗שׁ ti.Tosh	H5203	properly · verb, qal jussive, 2nd person masculine singular
law	תּוֹרַ֥ת to.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

Ephesians 6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.
Deuteronomy 27:16 Cursed be he that setteth light by his father or his mother. And all the people shall say, Amen.
Proverbs 7:1-4 My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee.
Proverbs 1:8-9 My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
Proverbs 23:22 Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.
Deuteronomy 21:18 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…
Proverbs 30:11 There is a generation that curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 6:20–end

Here is, I. A general exhortation faithfully to adhere to the word of God and to take it for our guide in all our actions. 1. We must look upon the word of God both as a light (Pro 6:23) and as a law, Pro 6:20, Pro 6:23. (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. Scripture-light is the sure light. (2.) By its authority it is a law, which our wills must submit to. As never such a light shone out of the schools of the philosophers, so never such a law issued from the throne of any prince,…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 6:20

(Compare Pro 1:8; Pro 3:3, &c.).

John Gill on Proverbs 6:20

My son, keep thy father's commandment,.... These are not the words of David to Solomon continued from Proverbs 4:4; but the words of Solomon to his son; and not to his son only, in a strict natural relation, but to everyone that came to him for and put himself under his instruction; and to everyone that stood in such a relation to a religious father; for not the divine Being, the Father of all, is here meant, according to some Jewish writers; though the commandment no doubt is the commandment of God taught by godly parents; or such a system of precepts that is founded upon and agrees unto the revealed will of God, and which being so should be laid up and kept in the heart, and not forgotten;…

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Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 6:20-21

After these three smaller sections, the teacher of wisdom returns here to the theme of the eighth: Warning against sins of the flesh, whose power and prevalence among men is so immeasurably great, that their terrible consequences cannot sufficiently be held up before them, particularly before youth. 20 Keep, my son, the commandment of thy father, And reject not the instruction of thy mother. 21 Bind them to thy heart evermore, Fasten them about thy neck. The suff. -ēm refers to the good doctrine (cf. Pro 7:3) pointed out by מצוה and תּורה; the masc. stands, as is usual (e.g., Pro 1:16; Pro 5:2), instead of the fem. Regarding the figure, reminding us of the Tefillin and of Amuletes for perpe…

The Church Fathers

Preserve, my son, the precepts of your father, etc. Now under the guise of the adulterous woman, he forbids listening to heresy.
— Bede, Commentary on Proverbs

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: Obey parents — Should: Obey parents
Commandments · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
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).

Proverbs 6:20

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 6:20–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 6:20

John Gill on Proverbs 6:20

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 6:20-21

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Proverbs 6:20

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 6:20–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 6:20

John Gill on Proverbs 6:20

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 6:20-21

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Proverbs 6:20-35

Rashi on Proverbs 6:19