Exo 20:12 | KD | STEP | The Fifth Word, “ Honour thy father and thy mother, ” does not refer to fellow-men, but to “those who are the representatives ( vicarii ) of God. Therefore, as God is to be served with honour and fear, His representatives are to be so too” ( Luther decem. praec. ). This is placed beyond all doubt by , where reverence towards parents is placed on an equality with the observance of the Sabbath, and תּירא (fear) is substituted for כּבּד (honour). It also follows from כּבּד, which, as Calvin correctly observes, nihil aliud est quam Deo et hominibus, qui dignitate pollent, justum honorem deferre . Fellow-men or neighbours (רע) are to be loved ( ): parents, on the other hand, are to be honoured and feared; reverence is to be shown to them with heart, mouth, and hand - in thought, word, and deed. But by father and mother we are not to understand merely the authors and preservers of our bodily life, but also the founders, protectors, and promoters of our spiritual life, such as prophets and teachers, to whom sometimes the name of father is given (2Ki 2:12; 2Ki 13:14), whilst at other times paternity is ascribed to them by their scholars being called sons and daughters ( ; ; , , , etc.); also the guardians of our bodily and spiritual life, the powers ordained of God, to whom the names of father and mother ( ; Jdg 5:7) may justly be applied, since all government has grown out of the relation of father and child, and draws its moral weight and stability, upon which the prosperity and well-being of a nation depends, from the reverence of children towards their parents. And the promise, “ that thy days may be long (thou mayest live long) in the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee, ” also points to this. There is a double promise here. So long as the nation rejoiced in the possession of obedient children, it was assured of a long life or existence in the land of Canaan; but there is also included the promise of a long life, i.e., a great age, to individuals (cf. ; ), just as we find in 1Ki 3:14 a good old age referred to as a special blessing from God. In , the promise of long life is followed by the words, “and that it may be well with thee,” which do not later the sense, but merely explain it more fully. As the majesty of God was thus to be honoured and feared in parents, so the image of God was to be kept sacred in all men. This thought forms the transition to the rest of the commandments.

‏ Exodus 20:12

The Fifth Word, “Honour thy father and thy mother,” does not refer to fellow-men, but to “those who are the representatives (vicarii) of God. Therefore, as God is to be served with honour and fear, His representatives are to be so too” (Luther decem. praec.). This is placed beyond all doubt by Lev 19:3, where reverence towards parents is placed on an equality with the observance of the Sabbath, and תּירא (fear) is substituted for כּבּד (honour). It also follows from כּבּד, which, as Calvin correctly observes, nihil aliud est quam Deo et hominibus, qui dignitate pollent, justum honorem deferre. Fellow-men or neighbours (רע) are to be loved (Lev 19:18): parents, on the other hand, are to be honoured and feared; reverence is to be shown to them with heart, mouth, and hand - in thought, word, and deed. But by father and mother we are not to understand merely the authors and preservers of our bodily life, but also the founders, protectors, and promoters of our spiritual life, such as prophets and teachers, to whom sometimes the name of father is given (2Ki 2:12; 2Ki 13:14), whilst at other times paternity is ascribed to them by their scholars being called sons and daughters (Psa 34:12; Psa 45:11; Pro 1:8, Pro 1:10, Pro 1:15, etc.); also the guardians of our bodily and spiritual life, the powers ordained of God, to whom the names of father and mother (Gen 45:8; Jdg 5:7) may justly be applied, since all government has grown out of the relation of father and child, and draws its moral weight and stability, upon which the prosperity and well-being of a nation depends, from the reverence of children towards their parents. ^{▼▼“In this demand for reverence to parents, the fifth commandment lays the foundation for the sanctification of the whole social life, inasmuch as it thereby teaches us to acknowledge a divine authority in the same” (Oehler, Dekalog, p. 322).}

And the promise, “that thy days may be long (thou mayest live long) in the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee,” also points to this. There is a double promise here. So long as the nation rejoiced in the possession of obedient children, it was assured of a long life or existence in the land of Canaan; but there is also included the promise of a long life, i.e., a great age, to individuals (cf. Deu 6:2; Deu 22:7), just as we find in 1Ki 3:14 a good old age referred to as a special blessing from God. In Deu 5:16, the promise of long life is followed by the words, “and that it may be well with thee,” which do not later the sense, but merely explain it more fully.

As the majesty of God was thus to be honoured and feared in parents, so the image of God was to be kept sacred in all men. This thought forms the transition to the rest of the commandments.