WLC 124

Q124. Who are meant by father and mother in the fifth commandment?

By father and mother, in the fifth commandment, are meant, not only natural parents, but all superiors in age and gifts; and especially such as, by God's ordinance, are over us in place of authority, whether in family, church, or commonwealth.

Proof texts

• Prov. 23:22-25 — [22] Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old. [23] Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding. [24] The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him. [25] Let your father and mother be glad; let her who bore you rejoice.
• Eph. 6:1-2 — [1] Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. [2] “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise),
• 1 Tim. 5:1-2 — [1] Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, [2] older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity.
• Gen. 4:20-22 — [20] Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. [21] His brother's name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe. [22] Zillah also bore Tubal-cain; he was the forger of all instruments of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.
• Gen. 45:8 — [8] So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
• 2 Kings 5:13 — [13] But his servants came near and said to him, “My father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it? Has he actually said to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?”
• 2 Kings 2:12 — [12] And Elisha saw it and he cried, “My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” And he saw him no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.
• 2 Kings 13:14 — [14] Now when Elisha had fallen sick with the illness of which he was to die, Joash king of Israel went down to him and wept before him, crying, “My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!”
• Gal. 4:19 — [19] my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you!
• Isa. 49:23 — [23] Kings shall be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. With their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you, and lick the dust of your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD; those who wait for me shall not be put to shame.”

For discussion

1. The Assembly cited Prov. 23:22-25 in support of this answer. Read it in context — how does it bear on what is claimed here?
2. 10 passages are cited here. Which does the most work, and is anything claimed that the proofs do not obviously carry?
3. WSC Q45 treats the same ground. What does it add, and why might it put things differently?
4. HC Q92 treats the same ground. What does it add, and why might it put things differently?

Read alongside

WSC Q45 · HC Q92