“Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with a promise:
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“Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with a promise:
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Honoure thy father and mother that is the fyrst commaundement that hath eny promes
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Honour thy father and mother (which is the first commandement with promise)
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Contradictions (3)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (9)
Passages linked to Ephesians 6:2 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Exodus 20:12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which Yahweh your God gives you.
- Deuteronomy 27:16 ‘Cursed is he who dishonors his father or his mother.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
- Matthew 15:4-6 For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death.’ But you say, ‘Whoever may tell his father or his mother, “Whatever help you might otherwise have gotten from me is a gift devoted to God,” he shall not honor his father or mother.’ You have made the commandment of God void because of your tradition.
- Proverbs 20:20 Whoever curses his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in blackness of darkness.
- Malachi 1:6 “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I am a father, then where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is the respect due me? Says Yahweh of Armies to you, priests, who despise my name. You say, ‘How have we despised your name?’
- Ezekiel 22:7 In you have they treated father and mother with contempt. Among you they have oppressed the foreigner. In you they have wronged the fatherless and the widow.
- Mark 7:9-13 He said to them, “Full well do you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition. For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother;’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death.’ But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban,” ’ ” that is to say, given to God, “then you no longer allow him to do anything for his father or his mother, making void the word of God by your tradition, which you have handed down. You do many things like this.”
- Jeremiah 35:18 Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, “Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Because you have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according to all that he commanded you;’
- Romans 13:7 Therefore give everyone what you owe: if you owe taxes, pay taxes; if customs, then customs; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (16 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 2. Which is the first commandment with promise. The…
2. Which is the first commandment with promise. The promises annexed to the commandments are intended to excite our hopes, and to impart a greater cheerfulness to our obedience; and therefore Paul uses this as a kind of seasoning to render the submission, which he enjoins on children, more pleasant and agreeable. He does not merely say, that God has offered a reward to him who obeys his father and mother, but that such an offer is peculiar to this commandment. If each of the commandments had its own promises, there would have been no ground for the commendation bestowed in the present instance. But this is the first commandment, Paul tells us, which God has been pleased, as it were, to seal by a remarkable promise. There is some difficulty here; for the second commandment likewise contains a promise,
“I am the Lord thy God, who shew mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.” (Exodus 20:5,6.)
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But this is universal, applying indiscriminately to the whole law, and cannot be said to be annexed to that commandment. Paul’s assertion still holds true, that no other commandment but that which enjoins the obedience due by children to their parents is distinguished by a promise.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain The third argument, taken of the profit that ensueth…
The third argument, taken of the profit that ensueth thereby: because the Lord vouchsafed this commandment amongst the rest, of a special blessing.
A proof of the first argument.
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With a special promise: for otherwise the second commandment hath a promise of mercy to a thousand generations, but that promise is general.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 2 Honour thy father and mother; (which is the…
2 Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;)
Ver. 2. First commandment with promise] To wit, with special promise of long life. {See Trapp on "Mat 15:4"}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain i.e. A special promise annexed to the particular duty…
i.e. A special promise annexed to the particular duty commanded. There being promises added to only two commandments, viz. the second and this fifth; that which is annexed to the second commandment is a general one, and which relates to the whole law, but this a special one, and which respects this commandment in particular.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Honour thy father and mother,.... This explains who parents…
Honour thy father and mother,.... This explains who parents are, and points at some branches of obedience due unto them; for they are not only to be loved, and to be feared, and reverenced, their corrections to be submitted to, offences against them to be acknowledged, their tempers to be bore with, and their infirmities covered; but they are to be honoured in thought, word, and gesture; they are to be highly thought of and esteemed; they are to be spoken to, and of, very honourably, and with great veneration and to be behaved to in a very respectful manner; and they are to be relieved, assisted, and maintained in comfortable way when aged, and in necessitous circumstances; and which may be chiefly designed. So the Jews explain "the honour" due to parents, by, &c. "giving them food, drink", and "clothing", unloosing their shoes, and leading them out and in (x). Compare with this Ti1 5:4; See Gill on Mat 15:4;
which is the first commandment with promise: it is the fifth commandment in the decalogue, but the first that has a promise annexed to it: it is reckoned by the Jews (y) the weightiest of the weightiest commands of the law; and the reward bestowed on it, is length of days, as follows.
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(x) T. Hieros. Kiddushin, fol. 61. 2. T. Bab. Kiddushin, fol. 31. 1, 2. Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Kiddushin, c. 1. sect. 7. (y) Debarim Rabba, sect. 6. fol. 241. 3.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain honour - That is, love, reverence, obey, assist, in…
honour - That is, love, reverence, obey, assist, in all things. The mother is particularly mentioned, as being more liable to be slighted than the father. Which is the first commandment with a promise - For the promise implied in the second commandment does not belong to the keeping that command in particular, but the whole law. Exod. xx, 12
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 2. Honour thy father] See Clarke on Ex…
Verse 2. Honour thy father] See Clarke on Ex 20:12, &c., where this subject, together with the promises and threatenings connected with it, is particularly considered, and the reasons of the duty laid down at large.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Honour thy father and mother - see Exo 20:12;…
Honour thy father and mother - see Exo 20:12; compare notes on Mat 15:4.
Which is the first commandment with promise - With a promise annexed to it. The promise was, that their days should be long in the land which the Lord their God would give them. It is not to be supposed that the observance of the four first commandments would not be attended with a blessing, but no particular blessing is promised. It is true, indeed, that there is a “general declaration” annexed to the second commandment, that God would show mercy to thousands of generations of them that loved him and that kept his commandments. But that is rather a declaration in regard to all the commands of God than a promise annexed to that specific commandment. It is an assurance that obedience to the law of God would be followed with blessings to a thousand generations, and is given in view of the first and second commandments together, because they related particularly to the honor that was due to God. But the promise in the fifth commandment is a “special promise.” It does not relate to obedience to God in general, but it is a particular assurance that they who honor their parents shall have a particular blessing as the result of that obedience.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain With a promise. This commandment being delivered with a…
With a promise. This commandment being delivered with a special promise of a long life, which promise is to be understood conditionally, especially in regard to Christians, i.e. unless it be a greater favour to be taken out of the world young. (Witham)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Here the authority of revealed law is added to…
Here the authority of revealed law is added to that of natural law.
which is . . . promise--The "promise" is not made the main motive to obedience, but an incidental one. The main motive is, because it is God's will (Deu 5:16, "Honor thy father and mother, as the Lord thy God hath COMMANDED thee"); and that it is so peculiarly, is shown by His accompanying it "with a promise."
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first--in the decalogue with a special promise. The promise in the second commandment is a general one. Their duty is more expressly prescribed to children than to parents; for love descends rather than ascends [BENGEL]. This verse proves the law in the Old Testament is not abolished.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 2. Honour—Venerate as your natural and divinely sanctioned superiors…
2. Honour—Venerate as your natural and divinely sanctioned superiors and controllers.
Father and mother—Regarding both parents with equal though distinctive honour; the father with more awe, the mother with more love.
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The first commandment with promise—How first in the decalogue with promise? Does not the second commandment promise that God is a Being showing mercy unto thousands of them that love him, and keep his commandments? The satisfactory reply is, that though embraced in this second commandment this promise belongs alike and expressly to all the commandments, and is not peculiar to one; whereas the promise of the fifth is expressly limited to that alone. But the apostle does not, of course, mean that its being the first in order of the decalogue is in itself important; but it is important symbolizing that it is first in promissory eminence, no other decalogue command having any promise at all. It is in this respect true first, and last, and sole, and therefore signal in its promissory character.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 2. Honour, &c.] Exo_20:12; Deu_5:16. The Gr. here is…
2. Honour, &c.] Exo_20:12; Deu_5:16. The Gr. here is verbatim that of the LXX. On the duty, cp. Mat_19:19; Mar_7:10; Mar_10:19; Luk_18:20. The “honour” is that not of mere sentiment but of obedience. See for illustration, Mat_15:4-8.
which is] He adds a significant circumstance about the Commandment.
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the first … with promise] In the Decalogue, to which here the reference plainly is, it is in fact the only “commandment with” definite “promise.” But the Decalogue is, so to speak, the first page of the whole Law-Book of Revelation.
“With”:—lit. “in”; attended, surrounded, by promise.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (2) The first commandment with promise.—It is, indeed, in…
(2) The first commandment with promise.—It is, indeed, in the Decalogue “the only commandment with promise” distinctly attached to it. But it is still the first; the Decalogue being itself the introduction to the Law, in which similar promises are repeated again and again.
(2) (18) Praying always with all prayer and Supplication.—In this verse the metaphor gives place to direct exhortation, unless, indeed, in the word “watch” there still lingers some reference to the soldier on guard. “Prayer” is the general word for “worship,” appropriated to God alone; “supplication,” used also towards man, is one element of such worship—the asking what we need from God. In Php_4:6 we have first the general word “prayer,” and then the two chief elements of worship, “supplication with thanksgiving.” It is by prayer that all the heavenly armour is put on.
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In the Spirit.—That is, “in the Spirit of God” (as in Eph_6:18). Compare the relation of prayer to the inspiration of the Holy Ghost in Rom_8:26-27.
And watching thereunto with all perseverance.—These words in themselves obviously supply the other part of our Lord’s command, “Watch and pray,” naturally apposite to the consideration of the Christian warfare. “Perseverance” implies exertion, holding out against fatigue and difficulty. The corresponding verb is used in relation to all kinds of spiritual labour (see Act_2:42; Act_6:4; Act_8:13); but especially in connection with prayer (Act_1:14; Rom_12:12; Col_4:2). Perhaps from this frequent connection St. Paul is induced to add to it “supplication,” and this time “for all saints,” so leading on to his usual request for the prayers of his brethren. For this he is willing to sacrifice some part of the perfect appropriateness of idea; since the whole picture hitherto has been of the fight, waged by each for himself (although side by side with others), in the combined power of watchfulness and prayer for God’s help.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Honor thy father and mother (which is the first…
Honor thy father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise). The exhortation, based on natural morality (ver. 1), is here confirmed from the Decalogue. "Honor" is higher than obedience (ver. 1); it is the regard due to those who, by Divine appointment, are above us, and to whom our most respectful consideration is due. Father and mother, though not quite on a footing of equality in their relation to each other, (Eph_5:22) are equal as objects of honor and obedience to their children. It is assumed here that they are Christians; where one was a Christian and not the ether, the duty would be modified. But in these succinct verses the apostle lays down general rules, and does not complicate his exhortations with exceptions. The latter part of the verse contains a special reason for the precept; it is the first commandment with a promise attached. But obviously the apostle meant more than this; for as in ver. I he had affirmed the duty to be one of natural religion, so here he means to add that it is also part of the revealed will of God it is one of the commandments; but still further, it is the first commandment with a promise. It may, perhaps, be said that this is appealing, not to the higher, but to the lower part of our nature to our selfishness, not our goodness; but it is not an appeal to one part of our nature to the exclusion of the rest; it is an appeal to our whole nature, for it is a part of our nature to expect that in the end virtue will be rewarded and vice punished. In the case of children it is difficult to look far forward; the rewards and the punishments, to be influential, must be within the ken of vision, as it were; therefore it is quite suitable that, in writing to them, the apostle should lay emphasis on a promise which had its special fulfillment in the life that now is.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 2. Honor thy father and mother. Both of them,…
2. Honor thy father and mother. Both of them, both alike. Which is the first. The first of the ten commandments which has a promise attached.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 6:2-3 Children who honor and respect their parents also…
6:2-3 Children who honor and respect their parents also honor and respect God himself, and blessings follow.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.