“that it may be well with you, and you may live long on the earth.”
Parallel Translations
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“that it may be well with you, and you may live long on the earth.”
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that thou mayst be in good estate and lyve longe on the erthe.
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That it may be well with thee, and that thou mayst liue long on earth.
Cross-references (11)
Passages linked to Ephesians 6:3 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Deuteronomy 5:16 “Honor your father and your mother, as Yahweh your God commanded you; that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land which Yahweh your God gives you.
- Deuteronomy 4:40 You shall keep his statutes and his commandments which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which Yahweh your God gives you for all time.
- Deuteronomy 12:28 Observe and hear all these words which I command you, that it may go well with you and with your children after you forever, when you do that which is good and right in Yahweh your God’s eyes.
- Deuteronomy 12:25 You shall not eat it, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, when you do that which is right in Yahweh’s eyes.
- Deuteronomy 6:3 Hear therefore, Israel, and observe to do it, that it may be well with you, and that you may increase mightily, as Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has promised to you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.
- Deuteronomy 6:18 You shall do that which is right and good in Yahweh’s sight, that it may be well with you and that you may go in and possess the good land which Yahweh swore to your fathers,
- Deuteronomy 22:7 You shall surely let the hen go, but the young you may take for yourself, that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days.
- Ruth 3:1 Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, shall I not seek rest for you, that it may be well with you?
- Psalms 128:1-2 Blessed is everyone who fears Yahweh, who walks in his ways. For you will eat the labor of your hands. You will be happy, and it will be well with you.
- Isaiah 3:10 Tell the righteous “Good!” For they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.
- Jeremiah 42:6 Whether it is good, or whether it is bad, we will obey the voice of Yahweh our God, to whom we send you; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of Yahweh our God.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (12 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 3. That it may be well with thee. The…
3. That it may be well with thee. The promise is — a long life; from which we are led to understand that the present life is not to be overlooked among the gifts of God. On this and other kindred subjects I must refer my reader to the Institutes of the Christian Religion; satisfying myself at present with saying, in a few words, that the reward promised to the obedience of children is highly appropriate. Those who shew kindness to their parents from whom they derived life, are assured by God, that in this life it will be well with them.
And that thou mayest live long on the earth. Moses expressly mentions the land of Canaan,
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“that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” (Exodus 20:12.)
Beyond this the Jews could not conceive of any life more happy or desirable. But as the same divine blessing is extended to the whole world, Paul has properly left out the mention of a place, the peculiar distinction of which lasted only till the coming of Christ.
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.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 3 That it may be well with thee, and…
3 That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.
Ver. 3. And thou mayest live long] Good children help to lengthen their parents’ days, as Joseph did Jacob’s. God therefore lengthens theirs in red-hostimentum, as it were. Or if he take from them this long lease, he gives them a freehold of better value.
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 That thou mayest live long and happily. This promise…
That thou mayest live long and happily. This promise is still fulfilled to believers, either in the thing itself here promised, or in a better way, God’s giving them eternal life.
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 That it may be well with thee,.... In this…
That it may be well with thee,.... In this world, and that which is to come; see Deu 5:16. The Jews (z) say,
"there are four things, which if a man does, he eats the fruit of them in this world, and the capital part remains for him in the world to come; and they are these, "honouring father and mother", doing acts of beneficence, making peace between a man and his neighbour, and learning of the law, which answers to them all.''
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And thou mayest live long on the earth: length of days is in itself a blessing; and though men's days cannot be lengthened beyond God's purpose and decree; and though obedient children do not always live long; yet disobedience to parents often brings the judgments of God on children, so that they die not a common death, Sa2 18:14. On those words in Deu 32:47, the Jews (a) have this paraphrase;
"because it is your life, , "this is honouring father and mother; and through this thing ye shall prolong your days", this is beneficence.''
It may be observed, that the words in this promissory part are not the same as in the decalogue, where they stand thus, "that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee", Exo 20:12, referring to the land of Canaan; for the law in the form of it, in which it was delivered by Moses, only concerned the people of the Jews; wherefore to suit this law, and the promise of it, to others, the apostle alters the language of it.
(z) Misna Peah, c. 1. sect. 1. T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 127. 1, & Kiddushin, fol. 40. 1. (a) T. Hieros. Peah, fol. 15. 4.
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 That thou mayest live long upon the earth -…
That thou mayest live long upon the earth - This is usually fulfilled to eminently dutiful children; and he who lives long and well has a long seed-time for the eternal harvest. But this promise, in the Christian dispensation, is to be understood chiefly in a more exalted and Spiritual sense.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain That it may be well with thee - This…
That it may be well with thee - This is found in the fifth commandment as recorded in Deu 5:16. The whole commandment as there recorded is, “Honour thy father and thy mother, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” The meaning here is, that they would be more happy, useful, and virtuous if they obeyed their parents than if they disobeyed them.
And thou mayest live long on the earth - In the commandment as recorded in Exo 20:12, the promise is, “that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” This referred to the promised land - the land of Canaan. The meaning doubtless, is, that there would be a special providence, securing to those who were obedient to parents length of days. Long life was regarded as a great blessing; and this blessing was promised. The apostle here gives to the promise a more general form, and says that obedience to parents was connected at all times with long life. We may remark here:
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(1) That long life is a blessing. It affords a longer space to prepare for eternity; it enables a man to be more useful; and it furnishes a longer opportunity to study the works of God on earth. It is not improper to desire it; and we should make use of all the means in our power to lengthen out our days, and to preserve and protect our lives.
(2) It is still true that obedience to parents is conducive to length of life, and that those who are most obedient in early life, other things being equal, have the best prospect of living long. This occurs because:
(a) obedient children are saved from the vices and crimes which shorten life. No parent will command his child to be a drunkard, a gambler, a spendthrift, a pirate, or a murderer. But these vices and crimes, resulting in most cases from disobedience to parents, all shorten life; and they who early commit them are certain of on early grave. No child who disobeys a parent can have any “security” that he will not fall a victim to such vices and crimes.
(b) Obedience to parents is connected with virtuous habits that are conducive to long life. It will make a child industrious, temperate, sober; it will lead him to restrain and govern his wild passions; it will lead him to form habits of self-government which will in future life save him from the snares of vice and temptation.
(c) Many a life is lost early by disobeying a parent. A child disobeys a father and goes into a dramshop; or he goes to sea; or he becomes the companion of the wicked - and he may be wrecked at sea, or his character on land may be wrecked forever. Of disobedient children there is perhaps not one in a hundred that ever reaches an honored old age.
(d) We may still believe that God, in his providence, will watch over those who are obedient to a father and mother. If he regards a falling sparrow Mat 10:29, he will not be unmindful of an obedient child; if he numbers the hairs of the head Mat 10:30, he will not be regardless of the little boy that honors him by obeying a father and mother.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain long on the earth--In Exo 20:12, "long upon the…
long on the earth--In Exo 20:12, "long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee," which Paul adapts to Gospel times, by taking away the local and limited reference peculiar to the Jews in Canaan. The godly are equally blessed in every land, as the Jews were in the land which God gave them. This promise is always fulfilled, either literally, or by the substitution of a higher blessing, namely, one spiritual and eternal (Job 5:26; Pro 10:27). The substance and essence of the law are eternally in force: its accidents alone (applying to Israel of old) are abolished (Rom 6:15).
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 3. Well with thee—For conduct early well regulated by…
3. Well with thee—For conduct early well regulated by home law, is likely to he followed by that well regulated conduct which will secure the well-being through life. The child and the youth that obeys and honours his parents in the spirit of the command—that is, in the Lord, and as obeying Christ—is a true Christian. And as the promise is given to him in that spirit and character, never, but as he apostatizes from that spirit and character, can it be otherwise than well with him. Misfortune cannot ruin him, death cannot destroy him, eternity will set its perpetual seal upon his well-being.
Live long on the earth—He to whom God’s law, commencing with parental law, is a regulator in life, keeps apart from violent counsels and violent men. Temperance, regular industry, and upright behaviour, are great prolongers of life. This is just as clear as the reverse fact that violence, intemperance, debauchery, war, or wild excitements of any kind, are the real murderers of three fourths of mankind, even in civilized Christendom. The average of human life would be lengthened by a purification, commencing in home law, of human character. So pointedly does the decalogue look to the right sort of parentage for the right sort of an age, a nation, or a race.
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Meyer well refutes the notion that the promise of the fifth commandment was addressed to the people as a whole, by noting that them and thee show that it was a promise to each individual. Yet the long life of each would be the long enjoyment of Canaan to the whole.
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 3. that, &c.] The Gr. is nearly verbatim from…
3. that, &c.] The Gr. is nearly verbatim from the LXX. of Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. It is observable that the Apostle omits the last words of the original promise. Is not this on purpose, to dilate the reference to the utmost? The Sinaitic limitation was but a special application of a perpetual principle of Providence, illustrated, we may observe, in the remarkable instance of the durability of the Chinese race and empire in its “land.” Not for Jews only, nor for Christians only, is the promise, but for man, with such modifications of the meaning of “the earth,” or “land,” as circumstances may bring.
To seek a reference here to “the better country, that is, the heavenly” (Heb_11:16), is a lawful and beautiful accommodation, but not in point as an interpretation.
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mayest live] Quite lit., “shall live.” And it may be so read. But usage makes it at least probable that the A. V. (and R.V., text) represent rightly the intention of the Greek.
Observe, in passing, the hint given in these verses of the familiarity of the Gentile converts of St Paul with the O.T., and of the Divine authority which, he takes it for granted, they recognized in the Decalogue. See further, Appendix H.
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 (3) That it may be well with thee .…
(3) That it may be well with thee . . .—The quotation is but slightly varied from Exo_20:12; Deu_5:16. But by the omission of the limiting words, “which the Lord thy God hath given thee,” St. Paul at once generalises the application and determines it to the earth, and not to “the good land” of heaven. The words so interpreted are, therefore, a promise that obedience “in the Lord” to the great natural law on which society rests, shall bring with it reward on earth; just as our Lord tells us of “meekness” that it shall “inherit the earth” (Mat_5:5), and St. Paul of “godliness” that it “has the promise of the life that now is, as well as of that which is to come” (1Ti_4:8). The visible exemplification of this law is, indeed, as in all other cases, obscured by the disorder brought in by sin, and, moreover, is affected by the consideration that this life, being a discipline for heaven, must present, in the true sense of the word, “imperfection” or incompleteness, if viewed alone. But it is still a natural law, and is still accordingly fulfilled in actual experience. The promise is not to us so important as to them of old; but it is ours still.
(3, 4) Eph_6:21-24 form the conclusion of the Epistle, in commendation of Tychicus’ salutation and blessing. The extreme brevity and generality of this section here—in contrast with St. Paul’s practice in every other Epistle, except the Second Epistle to the Corinthians and the Epistle to the Galatians (both of which have the abruptness of indignation) and especially with the parallel Epistle to the Colossians—seem to bear on the question of the encyclical character of this Epistle.
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 That it may be well with thee, and thou…
That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. A free rendering (after the manner of the apostle) of the reason annexed to the fifth commandment, "that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee." While the Decalogue was an expression of the will of God on matters of moral and indefeasible obligation, it had a local Hebrew element here and there. In the present ease the apostle drops what is specially Hebrew, adapting the promise in spirit to a wider area. The special promise of long life in the land of Canaan is translated into a general promise of prosperity and longevity. As before, we must not suppose that the apostle excludes exceptions. The promise is not for each individual; many good and obedient children do not live long. But the general tendency of obedience to parents is towards the results specified. Where obedience to parents is found, there is usually found along with it temperance, self-control, industry, regular ways of life, and other habits that tend towards prosperity and longevity. In Christian families there is commonly affection, unity, prayer, mutual helpfulness, reliance on God, trust in Christ, and all that makes life sweet and wholesome. The spirit of the promise is realized in such ways, and it may be likewise in special mercies vouchsafed to each family.
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 3. That it may be well with thee. Quoted…
3. That it may be well with thee. Quoted from Exodus 20:12. This is the promise. A temporal blessing was conditioned upon the promise to Israel, and to honor parents still brings blessing.
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.