18 Bible Verses on Honouring Parents, and the Loophole Jesus Closed



  • Jesus made his sharpest statement on the commandment while attacking a rule that let devout men withhold money from their own parents.
  • Honour in these passages is upkeep rather than manners: Paul calls it repaying, and puts it before anything done at church.
  • Exodus 20:12 is addressed to adults — children rarely need commanding, and grown sons and daughters with ageing parents do.
  • Genesis 9:23 is the Bible’s most practical picture of the duty: two sons walking backwards to cover a father who has humiliated himself.
  • The death-penalty verses are criminal law from a covenant nation with its own courts, not a sentence anyone is authorised to carry out.

The sharpest thing Jesus ever said about honouring parents was said to religious people who had found a way around it. They had a rule: declare your money devoted to God, and you were released from supporting your father and mother. Jesus calls that setting aside the command of God for the sake of a tradition. It is the key to the whole subject, because the commandment turns out to be about upkeep rather than manners. Eighteen passages follow —…

Continue reading with a subscription

Get unlimited access to all our premium content and exclusive features.

Enjoy unlimited access, cancel anytime.



Entdecke mehr von Christian Pure

Jetzt abonnieren, um weiterzulesen und auf das gesamte Archiv zuzugreifen.

Weiterlesen

Share to...