‘Cursed is anyone who dishonors father or mother.’ And all the people will reply, ‘Amen.’
Parallel translations
- WEB ‘Cursed is he who dishonors his father or his mother.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
- KJV Cursed be he that setteth light by his father or his mother. And all the people shall say, Amen.
- BSB ‘Cursed is he who dishonors his father or mother.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’
- NKJV ‘Cursed is the one who treats his father or his mother with contempt.’ “And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’
- NASB ‘Cursed is one who treats his father or mother contemptuously.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
A curse falls on dishonoring one's father or mother, and the people affirm it with Amen.
Overview
This echoes the fifth commandment, protecting the God-given order of the family. Honoring parents reflects honoring God's authority. The people's Amen acknowledges that contempt for parents is contempt for God himself.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Lev 19:3“‘Each one of you shall respect his mother and his father. You shall keep my Sabbaths. I am Yahweh your God.
- Exod 21:17“Anyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.
- Exod 20:12“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which Yahweh your God gives you.
- Deut 21:18–21If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son, who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and though they chasten him, will not listen to them;
- Ezek 22:7In 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.
- Prov 30:11–17There is a generation that curses their father, and doesn’t bless their mother.
- Lev 20:9“‘For everyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death: he has cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him.
- Matt 15:4–6For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death.’
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).
How Deuteronomy 27:16 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.