Honor your father and your mother
Encyclopedia
The commandment Honor your father and your mother is the fifth of the Ten Commandments
in the Hebrew Bible
. The commandment is generally regarded in Protestant and Jewish sources as the fifth in both the list in Exodus 20:1-21, and in Deuteronomy 5:1-23, though in Catholic counting this is the fourth commandment.
These commandments are widely understood as moral imperatives by legal scholars, Jewish scholars, Catholic scholars, and Post-Reformation scholars. The book of Exodus describes the Ten Commandments as being spoken by God
, inscribed on two stone tablets by the finger of God, broken by Moses
, and rewritten on replacements stones by the .
, keeping this commandment was associated with individual benefit and with the ability of the nation of Israel to remain in the land to which God was leading them. Dishonoring parents by striking or cursing them was punishable by death. In the Talmud
, the commandment to honor one's human parents is compared to honoring God. According to the prophet Malachi
, God makes the analogy himself:
In the gospels, Jesus
affirmed the importance of honoring one's father and mother. Paul quotes the commandment in his letter to the church in Ephesus
. In his letters to the Romans
and Timothy, Paul describes disobedience to parents as a serious sin. According to the Catholic Catechism
, the import of honoring father and mother is based on the divine origin of the parental role:
The Post-Reformation
theologian John Calvin
also refers to the sacred origin of the role of human father, and comments that the commandment does not therefore depend on the particular worthiness of the parent.
Because honoring parents is part of honoring God, the mitzvah
does not depend on the worthiness of the parent:"Even if his father is wicked and a sinner, he must fear and revere him ... A convert to Judaism must not curse or despise his non-Jewish father." (Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 143:13,25)
It also requires honor to one's stepparents or an older sibling who is raising one, and one's teachers, though one has a greater obligation to honor a parent than a grandparent.
The commandment is repeated eight times throughout the bible.
, striking or cursing one’s father or mother was punishable by immediate death. In Deuteronomy
, a procedure is described for parents to bring a persistently disobedient son to the city elders for death by stoning.
Honoring one's parents is also described in the Torah as an analogue to honoring God. According to the prophet Jeremiah
, God refers to himself as Father to Israel, and according to the prophet Isaiah
, God refers to Israel as his sons and daughters. According to the prophet Malachi
, God calls for similar honor:
According to Jeremiah, God blessed the descendants of Rechab
for obeying their forefather’s command to not drink wine and uses the family as a counterexample to Israel’s failure to obey his command to not worship other gods:
this commandment requires one to honor both of one's parents equally; there is no greater weight given to either the father or the mother. While in some parts of scripture, father is stated first, in others, mother comes first. This shows that the honor due to each is equal.
While Jewish teaching holds that a married woman must honor her husband, there are also guidelines for how she may continue to honor her parents:
The commandment requires one to obey one's parents when the command given by a parent is reasonable and permissible under Jewish law. For example, if a parent asks a child to bring him/her water, s/he must obey. Because honoring God is above all mitzvah, if a parent asks a child to break a law of the Torah
, s/he must refuse to obey.
A child is not required to obey if a parent says that s/he must marry a particular person, or must not marry a person s/he wishes to marry, provided the marriage is permissible by Jewish law.
Letting parents know s/he is safe:
A child who is traveling has an obligation to communicate with his/her parents to let them know s/he is safe in order to prevent them from worrying.
After the parent's death:
A child must continue to honor his/her parent after their deaths. This can be done by reciting kaddish
for 11 months and on the yarzeit (anniversary of the parent's death), and by donating charity in the memory of the parent. The study of Torah is also considered to be reverence toward a parent, for it shows that a parent raised a worthy child.
Other requirements:
A child must never put a parent to shame, or speak arrogantly
toward one's parent.
A person who is told to do something by his/her mother for which his father does not like the result is not permitted to tell his/her father that his/her mother said to do that. This is because this could lead to his/her father cursing his/her mother.
A child is not permitted to interrupt or contradict a parent, or to disturb a parent's sleep.
A father has the following obligations toward his children:
affirmed the importance of honoring one's father and mother (Matthew 19:17-19, Mark 10:17-19, Luke 8:18-21) Paul quotes the commandment in his letter to the church in Ephesus
:
In his letters to the Romans
and Timothy, Paul describes disobedience to parents as a serious sin (Romans 1:29-31, 2 Timothy 3:2).
The words of Jesus and the teaching of Paul indicate that adult children remain obligated to honor their parents by providing for material needs. In the gospels, Jesus is portrayed as angry with some people who avoided materially providing for their parents by claiming the money they would have used was given to God (Matthew 15:3-8, Mark 7:9-12. In these passages, Jesus quotes Isaiah 29:13) According to the Gospel of John
, when Jesus was on the cross, he provided for his natural mother by giving the Apostle John the charge to care for her, which John accepted (John 19:26-27).
According to the gospel of Matthew
, the obligation to honor one’s parents is bounded by one’s obligation to God: “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me.” (Matthew 10:37 ESV) Such boundaries, and the primacy of the first commandment itself, lead scholars to conclude that honoring one's parents does not include breaking God’s law (i.e., committing a sin) at the behest of a parent.
Paul’s instructions to Timothy regarding the physical care of widows include the following:
The Catholic Church views the family as a miniature church within itself, which is intended to have positive, profound effect. The import of honoring father and mother is based on the divine origin of the parental role:
For a child in the home, the commandment to honor parents is comprehensive, excluding immoral actions. The Catechism quotes from the Gospel of Luke
that, as a child, Jesus was obedient to his earthly parents. Grown children, while not obligated to obedience in the same way, should continue to afford respect for parental wishes, advice and teaching.
The Catholic Church teaches that adult children have a duty to honor their parents by providing “material and moral support in old age and in times of illness, loneliness, or distress.” This honor should be based on the son or daughter’s gratitude for the life, love and effort given by the parents and motivated by the desire to pay them back in some measure.
The principle of the commandment is extended to the duty to honor others in direct authority, such as teachers, employers, and especially persons in addition to parents who may have contributed to one’s coming to and living a life of faith in Jesus
. The teachings of the Catholic Church explain that the commandment to honor father and mother also forms a basis for charity to others when each person is seen, ultimately, as “a son or daughter of the One who wants to be called ‘our Father.’ In this way our relationships with our neighbors are recognized as personal in character. The neighbor is not a ‘unit’ in the human collective; he is ‘someone’ who by his known origins deserves particular attention and respect.” Thus, charitable actions are viewed as extensions of the honor owed to the heavenly Father. To clarify both the importance of and priorities for charity to others, the Catechism quotes these words of James
:
on the commandment to honor father and mother is consistent with the interpretation in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. He summarizes the actions that express honor as follows: 1. An inward esteem of them, outwardly expressed, 2. Obedience to their lawful commands (Ephesians 6:1-3), 3. Submission to their rebukes, instructions and corrections, 4. Acting with consideration of parental advice, direction and constant, 5. Giving comfort and providing for physical needs of aged parents.
Like the Catechism, Wesley also teaches that the commandment includes honoring others in legitimate secular authority. He also encourages people toward honor of those in spiritual leadership with the question, “Have ye all obeyed them that watch over your souls, and esteemed them highly in love for their work's sake?” This question is reminiscent of Paul’s statements to the church in Galatia and to Timothy.
Matthew Henry
explains that the commandment to honor father and mother applies not only to biological parents but also to those who fulfill the role of mother or father. He uses the example of Esther
honoring her guardian and cousin Mordecai:
In addition to supporting the preceding applications of the commandment to honor parents, John Calvin
describes the sacred origin of the role of human father (which thus demands honor). The analogy between the honor of parents and the honor of God himself is further strengthened by this understanding that earthly fatherhood is derived from God’s Fatherhood. Thus the duty to honor does not depend on whether the parent is particularly worthy. However, Calvin acknowledges that some fathers are outright wicked and emphasizes there is no excuse for sin in the name of honoring a parent, calling the notion “absurd.”
The commandment itself encourages obedience “so that you may enjoy long life and that it may go well with you.” Henry, Wesley and Calvin affirm the applicability of this promise for all who keep the commandment, though each notes that for the New Testament Christian, the promise may be fulfilled as earthly rewards and/or heavenly rewards, as God sees fit in his wisdom and love for the individual.
In his commentary, Calvin notes the harsh consequences required in Exodus and Leviticus for specific failures to keep the commandment. Those who struck or cursed a parent were to be sentenced to death. Persistently disobedient sons were to be brought before the city elders and stoned by the whole community if the parents’ testimony was judged to be accurate. Calvin writes that God knew capital punishment for these offenses would seem harsh and be difficult to pronounce, even for those responsible for adjudicating the situation. This is why, he argues, the text specifically places responsibility for the consequences on the offender. The severity of the sentence emphasized the importance of removing such behavior from the community and deterring others who might imitate it.
Though Calvin refers mostly to fathers in his commentary on the commandment to honor father and mother, he writes near the beginning that the commandment mentions both parents on purpose. As described above, Proverbs supports the value of guidance from both father and mother, and Paul specified that children should provide for their own widowed mothers and grandmothers, “which is pleasing to God.”
Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments, also known as the Decalogue , are a set of biblical principles relating to ethics and worship, which play a fundamental role in Judaism and most forms of Christianity. They include instructions to worship only God and to keep the Sabbath, and prohibitions against idolatry,...
in the Hebrew Bible
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible is a term used by biblical scholars outside of Judaism to refer to the Tanakh , a canonical collection of Jewish texts, and the common textual antecedent of the several canonical editions of the Christian Old Testament...
. The commandment is generally regarded in Protestant and Jewish sources as the fifth in both the list in Exodus 20:1-21, and in Deuteronomy 5:1-23, though in Catholic counting this is the fourth commandment.
These commandments are widely understood as moral imperatives by legal scholars, Jewish scholars, Catholic scholars, and Post-Reformation scholars. The book of Exodus describes the Ten Commandments as being spoken by God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
, inscribed on two stone tablets by the finger of God, broken by Moses
Moses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
, and rewritten on replacements stones by the .
Hebrew Bible
In the TorahTorah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
, keeping this commandment was associated with individual benefit and with the ability of the nation of Israel to remain in the land to which God was leading them. Dishonoring parents by striking or cursing them was punishable by death. In the Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
, the commandment to honor one's human parents is compared to honoring God. According to the prophet Malachi
Malachi
Malachi, Malachias or Mal'achi was a Jewish prophet in the Hebrew Bible. He had two brothers, Nathaniel and Josiah. Malachi was the writer of the Book of Malachi, the last book of the Neviim section in the Jewish Tanakh...
, God makes the analogy himself:
In the gospels, Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
affirmed the importance of honoring one's father and mother. Paul quotes the commandment in his letter to the church in Ephesus
Epistle to the Ephesians
The Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians, often shortened to Ephesians, is the tenth book of the New Testament. Its authorship has traditionally been credited to Paul, but it is considered by some scholars to be "deutero-Pauline," that is, written in Paul's name by a later author strongly influenced by...
. In his letters to the Romans
Epistle to the Romans
The Epistle of Paul to the Romans, often shortened to Romans, is the sixth book in the New Testament. Biblical scholars agree that it was composed by the Apostle Paul to explain that Salvation is offered through the Gospel of Jesus Christ...
and Timothy, Paul describes disobedience to parents as a serious sin. According to the Catholic Catechism
Catechism of the Catholic Church
The Catechism of the Catholic Church is the official text of the teachings of the Catholic Church. A provisional, "reference text" was issued by Pope John Paul II on October 11, 1992 — "the thirtieth anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council" — with his apostolic...
, the import of honoring father and mother is based on the divine origin of the parental role:
The Post-Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
theologian John Calvin
John Calvin
John Calvin was an influential French theologian and pastor during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism. Originally trained as a humanist lawyer, he broke from the Roman Catholic Church around 1530...
also refers to the sacred origin of the role of human father, and comments that the commandment does not therefore depend on the particular worthiness of the parent.
Judaism
The commandment to honor one's human parents is compared to honoring God. The Talmud says that since there are three partners in the creation of a person (God and two parents), honor showed to parents is the same as honor shown to God. It also compares a number of similarly constructed passages from the Torah and concludes that honor toward parents and honor toward God are intentionally equated:Because honoring parents is part of honoring God, the mitzvah
Mitzvah
The primary meaning of the Hebrew word refers to precepts and commandments as commanded by God...
does not depend on the worthiness of the parent:"Even if his father is wicked and a sinner, he must fear and revere him ... A convert to Judaism must not curse or despise his non-Jewish father." (Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 143:13,25)
It also requires honor to one's stepparents or an older sibling who is raising one, and one's teachers, though one has a greater obligation to honor a parent than a grandparent.
The commandment is repeated eight times throughout the bible.
Historical beliefs
Keeping this commandment was associated by the Israelites with individual benefit and with the ability of the nation of Israel to remain in the land to which God was leading them. Dishonoring parents in specific ways was associated with severe punishment. According to the TorahTorah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
, striking or cursing one’s father or mother was punishable by immediate death. In Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy
The Book of Deuteronomy is the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible, and of the Jewish Torah/Pentateuch...
, a procedure is described for parents to bring a persistently disobedient son to the city elders for death by stoning.
Honoring one's parents is also described in the Torah as an analogue to honoring God. According to the prophet Jeremiah
Jeremiah
Jeremiah Hebrew：יִרְמְיָה , Modern Hebrew:Yirməyāhū, IPA: jirməˈjaːhu, Tiberian:Yirmĭyahu, Greek:Ἰερεμίας), meaning "Yahweh exalts", or called the "Weeping prophet" was one of the main prophets of the Hebrew Bible...
, God refers to himself as Father to Israel, and according to the prophet Isaiah
Isaiah
Isaiah ; Greek: ', Ēsaïās ; "Yahu is salvation") was a prophet in the 8th-century BC Kingdom of Judah.Jews and Christians consider the Book of Isaiah a part of their Biblical canon; he is the first listed of the neviim akharonim, the later prophets. Many of the New Testament teachings of Jesus...
, God refers to Israel as his sons and daughters. According to the prophet Malachi
Malachi
Malachi, Malachias or Mal'achi was a Jewish prophet in the Hebrew Bible. He had two brothers, Nathaniel and Josiah. Malachi was the writer of the Book of Malachi, the last book of the Neviim section in the Jewish Tanakh...
, God calls for similar honor:
According to Jeremiah, God blessed the descendants of Rechab
Rechabite
Rechabites are the descendants of Rechab through Jonadab or Jehonadab. They belonged to the Kenites who accompanied the children of Israel into the holy land, and dwelt among them. Moses married a Kenite wife, and Jael was the wife of "Heber the Kenite". Saul also showed kindness to the Kenites...
for obeying their forefather’s command to not drink wine and uses the family as a counterexample to Israel’s failure to obey his command to not worship other gods:
Precedence
According to the Mishneh TorahMishneh Torah
The Mishneh Torah subtitled Sefer Yad ha-Hazaka is a code of Jewish religious law authored by Maimonides , one of history's foremost rabbis...
this commandment requires one to honor both of one's parents equally; there is no greater weight given to either the father or the mother. While in some parts of scripture, father is stated first, in others, mother comes first. This shows that the honor due to each is equal.
While Jewish teaching holds that a married woman must honor her husband, there are also guidelines for how she may continue to honor her parents:
Requirements
Obedience:The commandment requires one to obey one's parents when the command given by a parent is reasonable and permissible under Jewish law. For example, if a parent asks a child to bring him/her water, s/he must obey. Because honoring God is above all mitzvah, if a parent asks a child to break a law of the Torah
Halakha
Halakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...
, s/he must refuse to obey.
A child is not required to obey if a parent says that s/he must marry a particular person, or must not marry a person s/he wishes to marry, provided the marriage is permissible by Jewish law.
Letting parents know s/he is safe:
A child who is traveling has an obligation to communicate with his/her parents to let them know s/he is safe in order to prevent them from worrying.
After the parent's death:
A child must continue to honor his/her parent after their deaths. This can be done by reciting kaddish
Kaddish
Kaddish is a prayer found in the Jewish prayer service. The central theme of the Kaddish is the magnification and sanctification of God's name. In the liturgy different versions of the Kaddish are used functionally as separators between sections of the service...
for 11 months and on the yarzeit (anniversary of the parent's death), and by donating charity in the memory of the parent. The study of Torah is also considered to be reverence toward a parent, for it shows that a parent raised a worthy child.
Other requirements:
A child must never put a parent to shame, or speak arrogantly
Arrogance
Arrogance or arrogant may refer to:*Overbearing*Hubris...
toward one's parent.
A person who is told to do something by his/her mother for which his father does not like the result is not permitted to tell his/her father that his/her mother said to do that. This is because this could lead to his/her father cursing his/her mother.
A child is not permitted to interrupt or contradict a parent, or to disturb a parent's sleep.
Parents' obligations
As a child must respect his/her parents, a parent must respect his/her children in return. This gives him/her the ability to respect his/her parents.A father has the following obligations toward his children:
- To teach his children
- To rebuke his children. A parent who fails to do so will lead his children into delinquency.
- To refrain from showing favoritism toward his children. But a parent must never terrorize a child.
- To train a child according to his/her interests
- To teach a child a trade
- To teach a child how to swim
Rewards
The rewards for honoring one's parents are as follows:- Long life (Exodus 20:12, Deuteronomy 5:16)
- One's children will honor the follower of this commandment
Consequences
As with most terms of the covenant between God and Israel, there are consequences for disobedience as well as rewards for obedience:New Testament
In the gospels, JesusJesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
affirmed the importance of honoring one's father and mother (Matthew 19:17-19, Mark 10:17-19, Luke 8:18-21) Paul quotes the commandment in his letter to the church in Ephesus
Epistle to the Ephesians
The Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians, often shortened to Ephesians, is the tenth book of the New Testament. Its authorship has traditionally been credited to Paul, but it is considered by some scholars to be "deutero-Pauline," that is, written in Paul's name by a later author strongly influenced by...
:
In his letters to the Romans
Epistle to the Romans
The Epistle of Paul to the Romans, often shortened to Romans, is the sixth book in the New Testament. Biblical scholars agree that it was composed by the Apostle Paul to explain that Salvation is offered through the Gospel of Jesus Christ...
and Timothy, Paul describes disobedience to parents as a serious sin (Romans 1:29-31, 2 Timothy 3:2).
The words of Jesus and the teaching of Paul indicate that adult children remain obligated to honor their parents by providing for material needs. In the gospels, Jesus is portrayed as angry with some people who avoided materially providing for their parents by claiming the money they would have used was given to God (Matthew 15:3-8, Mark 7:9-12. In these passages, Jesus quotes Isaiah 29:13) According to the Gospel of John
Gospel of John
The Gospel According to John , commonly referred to as the Gospel of John or simply John, and often referred to in New Testament scholarship as the Fourth Gospel, is an account of the public ministry of Jesus...
, when Jesus was on the cross, he provided for his natural mother by giving the Apostle John the charge to care for her, which John accepted (John 19:26-27).
According to the gospel of Matthew
Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel According to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth...
, the obligation to honor one’s parents is bounded by one’s obligation to God: “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me.” (Matthew 10:37 ESV) Such boundaries, and the primacy of the first commandment itself, lead scholars to conclude that honoring one's parents does not include breaking God’s law (i.e., committing a sin) at the behest of a parent.
Paul’s instructions to Timothy regarding the physical care of widows include the following:
Catholicism
According to the teachings of the Catholic Church, the commandment to honor father and mother reveals God’s desired order of charity – first God, then parents, then others. The Catholic Catechism states that keeping the commandment to honor father and mother brings both spiritual and temporal rewards of peace and prosperity, while failure to honor parents harms the individual as well as society. The pervasive societal effect of obedience or disobedience to this command is attributed to the status of the family as the fundamental building block of society:The Catholic Church views the family as a miniature church within itself, which is intended to have positive, profound effect. The import of honoring father and mother is based on the divine origin of the parental role:
For a child in the home, the commandment to honor parents is comprehensive, excluding immoral actions. The Catechism quotes from the Gospel of Luke
Gospel of Luke
The Gospel According to Luke , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Luke or simply Luke, is the third and longest of the four canonical Gospels. This synoptic gospel is an account of the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. It details his story from the events of his birth to his Ascension.The...
that, as a child, Jesus was obedient to his earthly parents. Grown children, while not obligated to obedience in the same way, should continue to afford respect for parental wishes, advice and teaching.
The principle of the commandment is extended to the duty to honor others in direct authority, such as teachers, employers, and especially persons in addition to parents who may have contributed to one’s coming to and living a life of faith in Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
. The teachings of the Catholic Church explain that the commandment to honor father and mother also forms a basis for charity to others when each person is seen, ultimately, as “a son or daughter of the One who wants to be called ‘our Father.’ In this way our relationships with our neighbors are recognized as personal in character. The neighbor is not a ‘unit’ in the human collective; he is ‘someone’ who by his known origins deserves particular attention and respect.” Thus, charitable actions are viewed as extensions of the honor owed to the heavenly Father. To clarify both the importance of and priorities for charity to others, the Catechism quotes these words of James
Epistle of James
The Epistle of James, usually referred to simply as James, is a book in the New Testament. The author identifies himself as "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ", with "the earliest extant manuscripts of James usually dated to mid-to-late third century."There are four views...
:
Post-Reformation commentary
The commentary of John WesleyJohn Wesley
John Wesley was a Church of England cleric and Christian theologian. Wesley is largely credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, as founding the Methodist movement which began when he took to open-air preaching in a similar manner to George Whitefield...
on the commandment to honor father and mother is consistent with the interpretation in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. He summarizes the actions that express honor as follows: 1. An inward esteem of them, outwardly expressed, 2. Obedience to their lawful commands (Ephesians 6:1-3), 3. Submission to their rebukes, instructions and corrections, 4. Acting with consideration of parental advice, direction and constant, 5. Giving comfort and providing for physical needs of aged parents.
Like the Catechism, Wesley also teaches that the commandment includes honoring others in legitimate secular authority. He also encourages people toward honor of those in spiritual leadership with the question, “Have ye all obeyed them that watch over your souls, and esteemed them highly in love for their work's sake?” This question is reminiscent of Paul’s statements to the church in Galatia and to Timothy.
Matthew Henry
Matthew Henry
Matthew Henry was an English commentator on the Bible and Presbyterian minister.-Life:He was born at Broad Oak, a farmhouse on the borders of Flintshire and Shropshire. His father, Philip Henry, had just been ejected under the Act of Uniformity 1662...
explains that the commandment to honor father and mother applies not only to biological parents but also to those who fulfill the role of mother or father. He uses the example of Esther
Esther
Esther , born Hadassah, is the eponymous heroine of the Biblical Book of Esther.According to the Bible, she was a Jewish queen of the Persian king Ahasuerus...
honoring her guardian and cousin Mordecai:
In addition to supporting the preceding applications of the commandment to honor parents, John Calvin
John Calvin
John Calvin was an influential French theologian and pastor during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism. Originally trained as a humanist lawyer, he broke from the Roman Catholic Church around 1530...
describes the sacred origin of the role of human father (which thus demands honor). The analogy between the honor of parents and the honor of God himself is further strengthened by this understanding that earthly fatherhood is derived from God’s Fatherhood. Thus the duty to honor does not depend on whether the parent is particularly worthy. However, Calvin acknowledges that some fathers are outright wicked and emphasizes there is no excuse for sin in the name of honoring a parent, calling the notion “absurd.”
The commandment itself encourages obedience “so that you may enjoy long life and that it may go well with you.” Henry, Wesley and Calvin affirm the applicability of this promise for all who keep the commandment, though each notes that for the New Testament Christian, the promise may be fulfilled as earthly rewards and/or heavenly rewards, as God sees fit in his wisdom and love for the individual.
In his commentary, Calvin notes the harsh consequences required in Exodus and Leviticus for specific failures to keep the commandment. Those who struck or cursed a parent were to be sentenced to death. Persistently disobedient sons were to be brought before the city elders and stoned by the whole community if the parents’ testimony was judged to be accurate. Calvin writes that God knew capital punishment for these offenses would seem harsh and be difficult to pronounce, even for those responsible for adjudicating the situation. This is why, he argues, the text specifically places responsibility for the consequences on the offender. The severity of the sentence emphasized the importance of removing such behavior from the community and deterring others who might imitate it.
Though Calvin refers mostly to fathers in his commentary on the commandment to honor father and mother, he writes near the beginning that the commandment mentions both parents on purpose. As described above, Proverbs supports the value of guidance from both father and mother, and Paul specified that children should provide for their own widowed mothers and grandmothers, “which is pleasing to God.”
Further reading
- U.S. Catholic Church. Catechism of the Catholic Church. 2003. Doubleday Religion. ISBN 0-385-50819-0 (accessed 1 September 2009)