Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction, and do not forsake the teaching of your mother.
Parallel translations
- WEB My son, listen to your father’s instruction, and don’t forsake your mother’s teaching:
- KJV My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
- NKJV My son, hear the instruction of your father, And do not forsake the law of your mother;
- NASB ¶Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction, And do not ignore your mother’s teaching;
- NLT My child, listen when your father corrects you. Don’t neglect your mother’s instruction.
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 child should heed both father's instruction and mother's teaching. It matters because godly wisdom is first received through honored parental guidance.
Overview
The fatherly appeal 'my son' frames much of chapters 1-9. Both parents are sources of moral formation, reflecting the family as God's ordained school of wisdom (Deut. 6:6-7). Honoring such teaching aligns with the fifth commandment and prepares the heart to honor our heavenly Father.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Prov 6:20My son, keep your father’s commandment, and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
- 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.
- Prov 5:1–2My son, pay attention to my wisdom; incline your ear to my insight,
- Prov 2:1My son, if you accept my words and hide my commandments within you,
- Prov 31:1These are the words of King Lemuel—the burden that his mother taught him:
- Prov 4:1–4Listen, my sons, to a father’s instruction; pay attention and gain understanding.
- 2 Tim 1:5I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am convinced is in you as well.
- Lev 19:3Each of you must respect his mother and father, and you must keep My Sabbaths. I am the LORD your God.
- Prov 1:10My son, if sinners entice you, do not yield to them.
- 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 1:15my son, do not walk the road with them or set foot upon their path.
- Prov 7:1My son, keep my words and treasure my commandments within you.
- Prov 3:1My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments;
- 1 Sam 2:25If a man sins against another man, God can intercede for him; but if a man sins against the LORD, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to their father, since the LORD intended to put them to death.
- Matt 9:2Just then some men brought to Him a paralytic lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven.”
- Matt 9:22Jesus turned and saw her. “Take courage, daughter,” He said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was cured from that very hour.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Wisdom personified, with God before creation and the agent of all things, anticipates Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom' — the wisdom of God made flesh.
How Proverbs 1:8 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.