What Does Proverbs 6:20 Mean in the King James?
My son, keep thy father’s commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
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
The verse’s paired verbs make inherited wisdom something you guard and something you refuse to abandon.
THE MEANING
You are addressed as a child entrusted with both a father’s commandment and a mother’s instruction. Their guidance stands together in your life now, held as something to preserve rather than discard.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that a mother’s instruction is secondary: the verse places both parents’ guidance in the inheritance entrusted to you.
THE ROOT
נְצֹר
nĕṣōr
GROWS FROM
נצר
n-ṣ-r
Guard, watch over, preserve.
“keep” in this verse is nĕṣōr. The Hebrew verb means more than retaining a rule: it pictures guarding something entrusted to you. Its related word for a shoot or branch also carries the image of life continuing to grow; instruction is something preserved and passed on.
ALSO GROWS
nōṣēr: One who guards or watches over
נוֹצֵר
This related form makes the active sense of “keep” visible: the commandment is treated as something under care.
nēṣer: Shoot, sprout, or branch
נֵצֶר
The same root family links guarding with continuing growth, an image of wisdom carried forward.
תּוֹרָה
tôrāh
GROWS FROM
ירה
y-r-h
Point, direct, instruct.
“law” in this verse is tôrāh. Torah means instruction, and its root carries the sense of pointing or directing. The mother’s teaching is guidance with a direction, held alongside the father’s commandment.
ALSO GROWS
yārāh: To point, direct, or instruct
יָרָה
This verb reveals the guiding sense underneath the mother’s “law.”
mōreh: Teacher or instructor
מוֹרֶה
The related word for a teacher shows instruction as a person guiding another toward a way.
THE PATTERN
Wisdom remains alive when instruction received is carried inward and kept across generations.
And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.THE THREAD
My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:“Keep” here and in Proverbs 6:20 comes from נצר (natsar), meaning to guard or preserve. Proverbs 3:1 locates that guarding in the heart, opening the image of instruction held inwardly.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us