What Does Proverbs 23:22 Mean in the King James?
Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
In Hebrew, “hearken” is שְׁמַע (shemaʿ), hearing that responds, so the verse holds attention to a parent through the changes of age.
THE MEANING
Your life is tied to your father who begot you, and your mother’s age does not make her negligible. The verse joins responsive hearing of your father with regard for your mother as the family changes over time.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A parent’s voice and worth matter less once that parent grows old.
THE ROOT
שְׁמַע
shemaʿ
GROWS FROM
שמע
sh-m-ʿ
Hear, listen, and respond.
“Hearken” in this verse is shemaʿ. The verse does not call for sound to reach the ear alone: שְׁמַע (shemaʿ) is hearing that receives and responds. The root brings a responsive kind of attention into the father-child relationship.
ALSO GROWS
shāmaʿ: To hear or listen.
שָׁמַע
The verb names the act behind “hearken”: receiving the father’s words.
shemuʿah: A report or something heard.
שְׁמוּעָה
This branch shows how hearing can carry what was received onward.
shōmēaʿ: One who hears; a hearer.
שֹׁמֵעַ
The verse centers the child as a hearer whose attention answers a relationship.
יְלָדֶךָ
yəladkha
GROWS FROM
ילד
y-l-d
Bear, beget, bring forth.
The word for “begat” belongs to the same family as the word for “child.” Hebrew keeps parent and child joined in the language of bringing forth, making the verse’s appeal to the father part of the reader’s own beginning.
ALSO GROWS
yeled: Child.
יֶלֶד
The child and the one who begets belong to the same word family of birth and origin.
moledet: Birthplace, origin, or kindred.
מוֹלֶדֶת
This branch carries the sense of where a person comes from, deepening the verse’s focus on beginnings.
זָקְנָה
zāqənāh
GROWS FROM
זקן
z-q-n
Grow old; be advanced in age.
“Old” in this verse is zāqənāh. The word for the mother’s age belongs to a word family that also names an elder. The verse describes a life stage without making it a reason to erase her place in the relationship.
ALSO GROWS
zāqēn: An old person or elder.
זָקֵן
This related word can name a person’s standing as an elder, not only their age.
ziqnah: Old age.
זִקְנָה
This noun names the stage of life the verse explicitly holds alongside the mother-child bond.
THE PATTERN
Scripture treats regard for parents as a bond that continues through their changing age and need.
Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;)But if any widow have children or nephews, let them learn first to shew piety at home, and to requite their parents: for that is good and acceptable before God.THE THREAD
My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:The opening “hear” is שְׁמַע (shemaʿ, hear and respond), the same root as “hearken” here. Both verses place the father’s voice and the mother’s place side by side, showing how responsive hearing and regard belong together.
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