Deuteronomy 5:16

16 '1Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, 2that your days may be prolonged and that it may go well with you on the land which the LORD your God gives you.

Deuteronomy 5:16 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 5:16

Honour thy father and thy mother, as the Lord thy God hath
commanded thee
And is the first commandment with promise, as the apostle observes, ( Ephesians 6:2 Ephesians 6:3 ) with a promise of long life and happiness in the land of Canaan, as follows:

that thy days may be prolonged;
see ( Exodus 20:12 ) here it is added,

and that it may go well with thee;
and which the apostle also has in the place referred to:

in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee;
the land of Canaan; which the same apostle explains to a greater latitude,

that thou mayest live long on the earth;
applying it to Christians under the Gospel dispensation, whether Jews or Gentiles.

Deuteronomy 5:16 In-Context

14 but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant or your ox or your donkey or any of your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you, so that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you.
15 'You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to observe the sabbath day.
16 'Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, that your days may be prolonged and that it may go well with you on the land which the LORD your God gives you.
17 'You shall not murder.
18 'You shall not commit adultery.

Cross References 2

  • 1. Exodus 20:12; Leviticus 19:3; Deuteronomy 27:16; Matthew 15:4; Matthew 19:19; Mark 7:10; Mark 10:19; Luke 18:20; Ephesians 6:2, 3; Colossians 3:20
  • 2. Deuteronomy 4:40
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