For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’
Parallel translations
- WEB For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death.’
- KJV For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.
- NKJV For God commanded, saying, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’
- NASB For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘The one who speaks evil of father or mother is to be put to death.’
- NLT For instance, God says, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and ‘Anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death.’
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
Jesus cites the command to honor one's parents, showing what God actually requires. It matters because he is about to expose how tradition was being used to evade this very law.
Overview
Jesus quotes the fifth commandment (Exodus 20:12) and the penalty for cursing parents (Exodus 21:17), grounding his argument firmly in the Law of Moses. Honoring father and mother is no minor matter but a weighty command carrying serious consequences. By appealing to Scripture, Jesus shows that genuine obedience to God includes practical care and respect within the family. He, the obedient Son, fulfilled the Law's righteous demands on behalf of those who could not.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Exod 20:12Honor your father and mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
- Exod 21:17Anyone who curses his father or mother must surely be put to death.
- Lev 20:9If anyone curses his father or mother, he must be put to death. He has cursed his father or mother; his blood shall be upon him.
- Deut 5:16Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that your days may be long and that it may go well with you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
- Deut 21:18–21If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and does not listen to them when disciplined,
- Prov 23:22Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.
- Lev 19:3Each of you must respect his mother and father, and you must keep My Sabbaths. I am the LORD your God.
- Matt 19:19honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself.’”
- Eph 6:1Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
- Prov 20:20Whoever curses his father or mother, his lamp will be extinguished in deepest darkness.
- Deut 27:16‘Cursed is he who dishonors his father or mother.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’
- Rom 3:31Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Certainly not! Instead, we uphold the law.
- Matt 5:17–19Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.
- Prov 30:17As for the eye that mocks a father and scorns obedience to a mother, may the ravens of the valley pluck it out and young vultures devour it.
- Matt 4:10“Away from Me, Satan!” Jesus declared. “For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’”
- Isa 8:20To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 15:4 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 Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.