What does Exodus 20:12 mean?

Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
Exodus 20:12, King James Version

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The verse in its chapter

Exodus 20:10-14

  1. 10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
  2. 11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
  3. 12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
  4. 13 Thou shalt not kill.
  5. 14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Study note

Tyndale Open Study Notes (CC BY-SA 4.0).

20:12-17 The remaining six instructions all have to do with human relationships. Many of the stipulations of the covenant with God relate to how people treat each other. This connection of ethical behavior with religious duty is unique in the Old Testament world. There are several ethical law codes known in the ancient Near East, and several of these predate Moses, but all of them are imposed by a human king and have little to do with religion. The pagan gods, meanwhile, were patently unethical and untrustworthy, unlike the God of Israel, whose people worship him by treating others as he does. See also Matt 19:17-19.

Cross references

Other Bible passages linked to this one, most cited first.

About the book of Exodus

Author
Moses, according to Jewish and Christian tradition (authorship debated)
When
15th or 13th century BC by tradition; final form debated
Period
Egito e êxodo, c. 1800 a 1400 a.C. (in Portuguese)

Authorship: the book itself or Christian tradition. Approximate dates, as in Carson and Moo, An Introduction to the New Testament, and Longman and Dillard, An Introduction to the Old Testament.

In the Mercy Bible Atlas (in Portuguese)

More verses from Exodus