Proverbs 23:22

Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Benson Commentary

Proverbs 23:22-25. Hearken unto thy father that begat thee — And who, therefore, desires and seeks thy good in all his counsels; and despise not thy mother when she is old — When the infirmity of age is added to that of her sex, which is apt to produce contempt. Buy the truth — Purchase a true and saving knowledge of God, and his will concerning thy salvation, upon any terms; spare no pains nor cost to obtain it; and sell it not — Do not forget it, nor forsake it for any worldly advantages, as unthinking backsliders frequently do; also wisdom and understanding — Whereby thou mayest be enabled to love and practice the truths known and received. The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice — “For there is no greater joy a parent can have than to see his son take virtuous ways; which, as it is the only wisdom, so it gives both parents and children the highest pleasure and satisfaction.” Thy father and thy mother shall be glad — “Let not thy father and mother then want this singular pleasure; but, by thy well-doing, fill the heart of her that bare thee with joy and triumph; who, for all the pains and care she hath had in thy birth, and about thy education, desires no other requital but only this.” — Bishop Patrick. Thus Solomon twice urges the same consideration, as a powerful argument to prevail with all children, that are not void of natural affection, to labour to be wise and good, that so they may rejoice the hearts of their parents, to whom they are under such high and indelible obligations.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

23:19-28 The gracious Saviour who purchased pardon and peace for his people, with all the affection of a tender parent, counsels us to hear and be wise, and is ready to guide our hearts in his way. Here we have an earnest call to young people, to attend to the advice of their godly parents. If the heart be guided, the steps will be guided. Buy the truth, and sell it not; be willing to part with any thing for it. Do not part with it for pleasures, honours, riches, or any thing in this world. The heart is what the great God requires. We must not think to divide the heart between God and the world; he will have all or none. Look to the rule of God's word, the conduct of his providence, and the good examples of his people. Particular cautions are given against sins most destructive to wisdom and grace in the soul. It is really a shame to make a god of the belly. Drunkenness stupifies men, and then all goes to ruin. Licentiousness takes away the heart that should be given to God. Take heed of any approaches toward this sin, it is very hard to retreat from it. It bewitches men to their ruin.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The three forms of evil that destroy reputation and tempt to waste are brought together.

Drowsiness - Specially the drunken sleep, heavy and confused.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

22. Hearken—that is, obey (Pr 1:8; Eph 6:1).

despise … old—Adults revere the parents whom, as children, they once obeyed.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

That begat thee; and therefore desires and seeks thy good in all his counsels.

When she is old; when the infirmity of age is added to that of her sex, which is apt to breed contempt.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Hearken unto thy father that begat thee,.... And who has a true and hearty affection for thee, and whatever he says is for thy good and welfare, which he studies and has at heart; and who therefore also has an authority over thee, and what he enjoins ought to be strictly regarded; and, having lived longer in the world, must be thought to have a larger experience and knowledge of things, and therefore should be hearkened unto;

and despise not thy mother when she is old; despise not her counsels, instructions, and advice, though she is old; and because she is so, do not reject them as old wives' fables, or as the silly talk of an old woman, as young men are too apt to do.

Geneva Study Bible

Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Pulpit Commentary

Verses 22-25. - An octastich, containing an earnest exhortation to the disciple. Verse 22. - That begat thee. This is a claim on the attention and obedience of the son. When she is old. When old age with its consequent infirmities comes upon thy mother, despise her not, but rather thank God for giving her long life, and profit by her love and long experience (comp. Ecclus. 3:1, etc., where the exhortation to honour parents is very full and touching). Proverbs 23:22

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The parainesis begins anew, and the division is open to question. Proverbs 23:22-24 can of themselves be independent distichs; but this is not the case with Proverbs 23:25, which, in the resumption of the address and in expression, leans back on Proverbs 23:22. The author of this appendix may have met with Proverbs 23:23 and Proverbs 23:24 (although here also his style, as conformed to that of Proverbs 1:9, is noticeable, cf. 23b with Proverbs 1:2), but Proverbs 23:22 and Proverbs 23:25 are the form which he has given to them.

Thus Proverbs 23:22-25 are a whole: -

22 Hearken to thy father, to him who hath begotten thee,

     And despise not thy mother when she has grown old.

23 Buy the truth, and sell it not,

     Wisdom and discipline and understanding.

24 The father of a righteous man rejoiceth greatly;

     (And) he that is the father of a wise man - he will rejoice.

25 Let thy father and thy mother be glad;

     And her that bare thee exult.

The octastich begins with a call to childlike obedience, for שׁמע ל, to listen to any one, is equivalent to, to obey him, e.g., Psalm 81:9, Psalm 81:14 (cf. "hearken to his voice," Psalm 95:7). זה ילדך is a relative clause (cf. Deuteronomy 32:18, without זה or אשׁר), according to which it is rightly accentuated (cf. on the contrary, Psalm 78:54). 22b, strictly taken, is not to be translated neve contemne cum senuerit matrem tuam (Fleischer), but cum senuerit mater tua, for the logical object to אל־תּבוּז is attracted as subj. of זקנה (Hitzig). There now follows the exhortation comprehending all, and formed after Proverbs 4:7, to buy wisdom, i.e., to shun no expense, no effort, no privation, in order to attain to the possession of wisdom; and not to sell it, i.e., not to place it over against any earthly possession, worldly gain, sensual enjoyment; not to let it be taken away by any intimidation, argued away by false reasoning, or prevailed against by enticements into the way of vice, and not to become unfaithful to it by swimming with the great stream (Exodus 23:2); for truth, אמת, is that which endures and proves itself in all spheres, the moral as well as the intellectual. In 23b, in like manner as Proverbs 1:3; Proverbs 22:4, a threefold object is given to קנה instead of אמת: there are three properties which are peculiar to truth, the three powers which handle it: חכמה is knowledge solid, pressing into the essence of things; מוּסר is moral culture; and בּינה the central faculty of proving and distinguishing (vid., Proverbs 1:3-5). Now Proverbs 23:24 says what consequences are for the parents when the son, according to the exhortation of Proverbs 23:23, makes truth his aim, to which all is subordinated. Because in אמת the ideas of practical and theoretical truth are inter-connected. צדּיק and חכם are also here parallel to one another. The Chethı̂b of 24a is גּול יגוּל, which Schultens finds tenable in view of (Arab.) jal, fut jajûlu (to turn round; Heb. to turn oneself for joy) but the Heb. usus loq. knows elsewhere only גּיל יגיל, as the Kerı̂ corrects. The lxx, misled by the Chethı̂b, translates καλῶς ἐκτρέφει (incorrect ἐκτρυφήσει), i.e., גּדּל יגדּל. In 24b, וישׂמח is of the nature of a pred. of the conclusion (cf. Genesis 22:24; Psalm 115:7), as if the sentence were: has one begotten a wise man, then (cf. Proverbs 17:21) he has joy of him; but the Kerı̂ effaces this Vav apodosis, and assigns it to יולד as Vav copul. - an unnecessary mingling of the syntactically possible, more emphatic expression. This proverbial whole now rounds itself off in Proverbs 23:25 by a reference to Proverbs 23:22 - the Optative here corresponding to the Impr. and Prohib. there: let thy father and thy mother rejoice (lxx εὐφρανέσθω), and let her that bare thee exult (here where it is possible the Optat. form ותגל).