“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
English Standard Version (ESV)
This isn't just about respecting parents; it's the first commandment with a specific promise attached. This highlights how foundational family relationships are to God's design, shaping our ability to connect with Him and live well in the community He's building.
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
English Standard Version (ESV)
This verse, Exodus 20:12, is part of the Ten Commandments given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai. Following the commands related to God Himself, this marks the beginning of the laws concerning human relationships. It establishes the foundational importance of family respect before moving on to commandments about murder, adultery, theft, and false witness.
What does it really mean to 'honor' your parents? It's more than just polite words; it's a deep-seated respect that impacts how you live.
The command to 'honor your father and mother' isn't just about avoiding disrespect. It encompasses:
This honor stems from their God-given role as the first authorities in your life, reflecting God's own fatherly care.
This commandment is unique. It's the first of the Ten Commandments to come with a promise attached. What does that tell us?
Exodus 20:12 stands out as 'the first commandment with promise' (Ephesians 6:2). This promise – 'that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you' – is significant.
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While it can have a national dimension, ensuring the flourishing of Israel as a people, it also speaks to individual blessing. It suggests a correlation between honoring parents and experiencing a life of well-being and longevity, not as an ironclad guarantee, but as a general principle of God's favor. Disobedience, conversely, often leads to premature ruin.
This promise underscores the immense value God places on the family structure and the respect due to those He has appointed to guide us.
Understand the original words
kabad · Hebrew Verb
To treat with high respect, reverence, or weightiness. In the context of parents, it implies obedience, provision, and high regard for their God-ordained authority.
erets · Hebrew Noun
The territory promised by God to Abraham and his descendants, serving as a sign of God's covenantal faithfulness, provision, and the place where His people live under His rule.
Paul directly quotes this commandment and expands on its meaning, emphasizing obedience and honoring parents as a path to well-being, echoing the promise of long life.
Proverbs 20:20This proverb directly warns against dishonoring parents, linking it to curses and a lack of prosperity, underscoring the negative consequences of violating this command.
Deuteronomy 5:16This parallel passage in Deuteronomy reiterates the commandment and its promise, but adds the phrase 'that it may go well with you,' broadening the blessing beyond just length of days.
Matthew 15:4-6Jesus rebukes the Pharisees for using tradition to bypass honoring their parents, highlighting that genuine honor is paramount, even above religious rituals, showing the enduring importance of this command.
Leviticus 19:3This passage calls for reverence for both father and mother, and also for observing the Sabbath, placing respect for parents alongside the observance of God's holy day.
clarkeExodus 20:12: "Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee."
Honor thy father and thy mother - There is a degree of affectionate respect which is owing to parents, that no person else can properly claim. For a considerable time parents stand as it were in the place of God to their children, and therefore rebellion against their lawful commands has been considered as rebellion against God. This precept therefore prohibits, not only…
ellicottExodus 20:12: "Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee."
(12) Honour thy father and thy mother. —It is not a matter of much importance how we divide the commandments; nor is it historically certain how they were originally distributed between the two tables. But, practically, the view that the fifth commandment begins the second table, which lays down our duty towards our neighbours, is to be preferred for its convenience, tho…
This isn't just about respecting parents; it's the first commandment with a specific promise attached. This highlights how foundational family relationships are to God's design, shaping our ability to connect with Him and live well in the community He's building.
This verse, Exodus 20:12, is part of the Ten Commandments given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai. Following the commands related to God Himself, this marks the beginning of the laws concerning human relationships. It establishes the foundational importance of family respect before moving on to commandments about murder, adultery, theft, and false witness.
This verse, Exodus 20:12, is part of the Ten Commandments given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai. Following the commands related to God Himself, this marks the beginning of the laws concerning human relationships. It establishes the foundational importance of family respect before moving on to commandments about murder, adultery, theft, and false witness.
"“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you." — This isn't just about respecting parents; it's the first commandment with a specific promise attached. This highlights how foundational family relationships are to God's design, shaping our ability…
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Last reviewed October 2026