Proverbs 19:26

Pro 19:26 He that wasteth [his] father, [and] chaseth away [his] mother, [is] a son that causeth shame, and bringeth reproach.

Ver. 26. He that wasteth his father.] That spoileth, pilfereth, pillageth, preyeth upon his father; not so much as saying with that scapethrift in the gospel, "Give me the portion that falls to my share." {Luk 15:12} Idleness and incorrigibleness lead to this wickedness, as may appear by the context.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Pro 19:26. He that wasteth his father — That is, his father’s estate, by unjust or riotous courses; and chaseth away his mother — Causes her to avoid and abhor his presence and society, and to go from the house where he is; is a son that causeth shame — Both to himself, and to his parents and family. But this verse ought rather to be rendered, A son that causeth shame, and bringeth reproach, wasteth his father, and chaseth away his mother; that is, as some interpret it, he gives them as much concern as if he were to waste his father’s substance, and turn his mother out of doors.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CRITICAL NOTES.—

Pro_19:27. Cease my son, &c. “That causeth” are not in the original and the instruction spoken of may therefore be evil or good. “Two conceptions are possible:

1. The instruction is that of wisdom itself, and therefore a good wholesome discipline that leads to life; then the words can be only ironical, presenting under the appearance of a dissuasion from discipline in wisdom a very urgent counsel to hear and receive it (so Ewald, Bertheau, Elster).

2. The instruction is evil and perverted, described in clause 2 as one that causes departure from the words of wisdom. Then the admonition is seriously intended” (Zöckler, in Lange’s Commentary). On Zöckler’s first interpretation Dr. Aiken remarks, “To call this ‘irony’ seems to us a misnomer. Cease to hear instruction only to despise it. What can be more direct or literally pertinent?” Delitzsch says, “The proverb is a dissuasive from hypocrisy, a warning against the self-deception of which Jas_1:22-24 speaks, against heightening one’s own condemnation, which is the case of that servant who knows his lord’s will and does it not (Luk_12:47.)”

MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_19:26-28

POSSIBILITIES OF HUMAN DEPRAVITY

I. The tenderest admonitions and the most solemn warnings sometimes fail to influence for good. Sometimes the most loving parental care seems utterly wasted upon an ungrateful child, and the more constant and tender the words of admonition the farther does he depart from the way in which he ought to go. There is many a man so in love with sin that he may be said to “devour iniquity” (Pro_19:28); and when this fatal appetite has taken possession of the soul all appeals to his better nature, and even to his own self-love, are vain.

II. When men are so hardened there is no depth of iniquity to which they may not sink. He who scoffs at all threats of retribution, both in this life and in that which is to come, has broken through all barriers of restraint, and will be capable of outraging all the tender ties of human relationship, even to the extent of bringing his parents to disgrace and shame. The most hardened sinners in the universe of God are not found in heathen lands, or among the ignorant at home, but they are those who, having heard instruction, have “erred from the words of knowledge.” Each day that they resist the good influence brought to bear upon them they increase their moral insensibility, and their final condemnation (Pro_19:29). Hence the admonition of Pro_19:27. (See Critical Notes.)

OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS

Pro_19:26. This were an admirable text for young men entering upon life and still at the expense of their parents. It is a great enormity either to waste the property of their father while he is alive, or after they have succeeded to expel the widowed mother from the premises.—Chalmers.

Pro_19:27. It is so proper and natural for a son to hear instruction, that the hearing instruction maketh to be a son.… But if thou hear instruction, hear it not—not to be the better for it. Instruction speaketh to keep thee from erring; do not thou hear it to err: instruction putteth into thee the words of knowledge; do not thou put them out by erring from them, by not following them.… Cease thus to hear, but hear still. For by hearing at length thine error may be corrected; whereas, if thou hear not, thou dost not only err, but deprivest thyself of the means that reduce thee from erring.—Jermin.

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

With Pro 19:26 there thus begins the fourth principal part of the Solomonic collection of proverbs introduced by chap. 1-9.

He that doeth violence to his father and chaseth his mother,

Is a son that bringeth shame and disgrace.

The right name is given in the second line to him who acts as is described in the first. שׁדּד means properly to barricade [obstruere], and then in general to do violence to, here: to ruin one both as to life and property. The part., which has the force of an attributive clause, is continued in the finite: qui matrem fugat; this is the rule of the Heb. style, which is not filome'tochos, Gesen. 134, Anm. 2. Regarding מבישׁ, vid., at Pro 10:5; regarding the placing together of הבישׁ והחפּיר, vid., Pro 13:5, where for הבישׁ, to make shame, to be scandalous, the word הבאישׁ, which is radically different, meaning to bring into bad odour, is used. The putting to shame is in בּושׁ ni si (kindred with Arab. bâth) thought of as disturbatio (cf. σύγχυσις) (cf. at Ps. 6:11), in חפר (khfr) as opertio (cf. Cicero's Cluent. 20: infamia et dedecore opertus), not, as I formerly thought, with Frst, as reddening, blushing (vid., Psa 34:6). Putting to shame would in this connection be too weak a meaning for מחפּיר. The paedagogic stamp which Pro 19:26 impresses on this fourth principal part is made yet further distinct in the verse that now follows.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

19:26 See Exod 20:12; 21:15, 17.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Here is, 1. The sin of a prodigal son. Besides the wrong he does to himself, he is injurious to his good parents, and basely ungrateful to those that were instruments of his being and have taken so much care and pains about him, which is a great aggravation of his sin and renders it exceedingly sinful in the eyes of God and man: He wastes is father, wastes his estate which he should have to support him in his old age, wastes his spirits, and breaks his heart, and brings his gray head with sorrow to the grave. He chases away his mother, alienates her affections from him, which cannot be done without a great deal of regret and uneasiness to her; he makes her weary of the house, with his rudeness and insolence, and glad to retire for a little quietness; and, when he has spent all, he turns her out of doors. 2. The shame of a prodigal son. It is a shame to himself that he should be so brutish and unnatural. He makes himself odious to all mankind. It is a shame to his parents and family, who are reflected upon, though, perhaps, without just cause, for teaching him no better, or being in some way wanting to him.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Unfilial conduct often condemned (Pro 17:21-25; Pro 20:20; Deu 21:18, Deu 21:21).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 26. He that wasteth his father] Destroys his substance by riotous or extravagant living, so as to embitter his latter end by poverty and affliction; and adds to this wickedness the expulsion of his aged widowed mother from the paternal house; is a son of shame - a most shameful man; and a son of reproach - one whose conduct cannot be sufficiently execrated. Who tormentith the fader, and fleeth the modir, schenful schal ben, and unblisful. - Old MS. Bible. The common reading of the Vulgate is, et fugat matrem, and expels his mother; but the Old Bible was taken from a copy that had fugit matrem, shuns his mother, flees away from her, leaves her to affliction and penury. It is prostitution of the term to call such, man.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

26. wasteth] Rather, violently entreateth, R.V. marg.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He that wasteth his father,.... His father's substance, which he gave him first as his portion, and afterwards by paying his debts, and getting him out of prison and out of broils, and that wastes his spirits and his health, and brings his gray hairs with sorrow to the grave;

and chaseth away his mother: alienates her affections from him, who once had too great a fondness for him; causes her to quit her house, not being able to bear the sight of him and of his actions:

is a son that causeth shame, and bringeth reproach; causes shame to his parents, as well as to himself; and a reproach upon them, as well as on his own character. It may be read thus,

"a son that causeth shame, and bringeth reproach, wasteth his father, and chaseth away his mother (y).''

(y) So Gejerus, Schultens.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Or, A son that causeth shame, and bringeth reproach, is one that wasteth his father, and chaseth away his mother.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Infamous. Hebrew, "a son of confusion and reproach;" a spendthrift.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Wasteth his father, i.e. his father’s estate, by unjust or riotous courses.

Chaseth away his mother; causeth her to avoid and abhor his presence and society, and to go from the house where he is. Bringeth reproach; both to himself, and to his parents and family. But this verse may very well be rendered otherwise, the last words being made the subjects of the proposition, as is usual in Scripture;

A son that causeth shame, and bringeth reproach, ( upon himself and his friends by wicked ways,) wasteth his father’s (estate, and health, and comfort) and chaseth or driveth away his mother. These are the effects of his wickedness.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

26. Wasteth his father — Despoils him of his property, so as to break up his father’s house, and make a fugitive of his mother. To good parents such disgraceful conduct in a son is as great a calamity as can well befall them.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Ver. 26-ch. Pro_24:15, may be taken in the sense of "to spoil," "to deprive of property;" but it is better to adopt a more general application, and to assign to it the meaning of "to maltreat," whether in person or property. Chaseth away his mother; by his shameless and evil life makes it impossible for her to continue under the same roof with him; or, it may be, so dissipates his parents" means that they are driven from their home. A son that causeth shame, and bringeth reproach. (comp. Pro_10:5 Pro_13:5 Pro_17:2)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Wasteth - His father's estate. Chaseth - Causes her to avoid his presence, and to go from the house where he is.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

This is, alas! not an ideal picture of recklessness. "Without natural affection" (Rom 1:30-31 ) — is an awful mark of unrestrained depravity. Man is the debased slave of his selfish lust. The profligate may waste his father’s substance by extravagance, and his spirits and health by his ill-conduct. Absalom wasted his father by his undutiful rebellion. (2Sa 15:1-14 .) And often has a mother’s tenderness been repaid with crushing unkindness. The insolence of an ungrateful son virtually chaseth her from her home. Her idol has become her curse! Such monsters in human shape, outraging every principle of humanity, have been found in every generation. Yet seldom do they escape without some mark of retributive justice even in this life. (Pro 30:11, Pro 30:17 .) And though they may be callous to public opinion, while causing shame, and bringing reproach on their names; yet conscience will speak (Isa 57:20 ); and, sooner or later, the stroke will fearfully fall. Children! A parent’s sorrows carry a heavy account before the bar of God. If "the commandment be with promise" (Eph 6:2 ), will not the breach of the commandment cut off the entail of the promise, with an awful and aggravated weight of condemnation?

Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs (1846) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

v. 26. He that wasteth his father, attacking him violently, abusing him in words and possibly also in deeds, and chaseth away his mother, making life unbearable for her in her own home, is a son that causeth shame and bringeth reproach, his conduct causing grief to his parents not only by his disregard of their authority, but also by the fact that men will point the finger of scorn at them.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

brings shame and reproach

Possible meanings are 1) he brings it to himself. AT: "brings shame and reproach to himself" or 2) he brings it to his family. AT: "brings shame and reproach to his family" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

If you cease to hear instruction

Here "listening and obeying" is spoken of as if it were "hearing." AT: "If you stop paying attention to instruction" or "If you stop obeying instruction" (See: Metonymy)

you will stray from

"you will abandon" or "you will turn your back on"

the words of knowledge

"knowledge"

translationWords

shame

reproach

word

know

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

A son who causes shame and disgrace robs his father, puts his mother to flight Heb. יבריח, puts his mother to flight.

A son who causes shame and disgrace Whose ways are disgraceful. Since Sarah saw the son of the Egyptian maidservant making sport with idolatry and adultery, he caused his mother to be sent away, “and the matter displeased Abraham” (Gen. 21:11).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.