My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
Parallel translations
- WEB My son, listen to your father’s instruction, and don’t forsake your mother’s teaching:
- BSB Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction, and do not forsake the teaching of your 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 thy father’s commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
- Prov 30:17The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it.
- Prov 5:1–2My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding:
- Prov 2:1My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee;
- Prov 31:1The words of king Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him.
- Prov 4:1–4Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding.
- 2 Tim 1:5When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.
- Lev 19:3Ye shall fear every man his mother, and his father, and keep my sabbaths: I am the LORD your God.
- Prov 1:10My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.
- Deut 21:18–21If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them:
- Prov 1:15My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path:
- Prov 7:1My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee.
- Prov 3:1My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:
- 1 Sam 2:25If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him: but if a man sin against the LORD, who shall intreat for him? Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto the voice of their father, because the LORD would slay them.
- Matt 9:2And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.
- Matt 9:22But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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.