Proverbs 6:20 tells a young person to hold on to what their father commands and to refuse to abandon what their mother teaches. Solomon, traditionally identified as the author of the book, speaks this as a father addressing his son, and the instruction carries the weight of a family’s guidance passed from one generation to the next.
My son, keep your father’s commandment, and don’t forsake your mother’s teaching.
Proverbs 6:20 (WEB)
What Proverbs 6:20 Means
The verse begins with “My son,” which marks the words as personal counsel rather than a general rule. The phrase “keep your father’s commandment” asks the young man to guard and obey what his father has directed, treating those instructions as something valuable to be protected rather than something to be tolerated until he is old enough to leave them behind.
The second half, “don’t forsake your mother’s teaching,” widens the picture. A mother’s instruction is named alongside a father’s, showing that wisdom in this household came from both parents and deserved equal respect. The verb “forsake” implies a deliberate turning away, so the verse warns against abandoning a parent’s guidance as though it had stopped mattering.
What the verse does not promise is that every parental command will be perfectly wise or that obedience will bring a comfortable life without difficulty. It describes a posture of listening and faithfulness that the wisdom literature consistently presents as the path toward understanding, leaving the outcomes in the hands of God.
The Context of Proverbs 6:20
The book of Proverbs is a collection of sayings meant to shape character and teach the skill of living well before the Lord. Its opening chapters are addressed to a young learner, often called “my son,” and they repeatedly present the fear of the Lord as the beginning of wisdom. Verse 20 sits within that family setting, where the parents are the first teachers of the way of life.
The verses just before it list things the Lord hates, such as haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and a heart that schemes mischief. Verses 21 through 23 follow with an image of binding the parents’ teaching on the heart and around the neck, saying it will lead, guard, and speak to the one who keeps it, and calling it a lamp and light. Read in that setting, the call to keep a parent’s instruction becomes a safeguard against the very sins just named.
Key Phrases in Proverbs 6:20
Proverbs 1:8-9
8 My son, listen to your father’s instruction, and don’t forsake your mother’s teaching: 9 for they will be a garland to grace your head, and chains around your neck.
(WEB)
This passage opens the book with nearly the same appeal, urging the son to listen to his father’s instruction and not forsake his mother’s teaching. Reading it alongside Proverbs 6:20 shows that the family’s guidance is a recurring theme that frames the whole collection as a parent’s gift to the next generation.
Ephesians 6:1-3
1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with a promise: 3 “that it may be well with you, and you may live long on the earth.”
(WEB)
Paul echoes this honor for parents in his letter to the church at Ephesus, linking it to the Lord and to a life that goes well. Seeing this New Testament teaching next to Proverbs 6:20 helps readers recognize that honoring parents remains a consistent expectation across Scripture.
A Short Prayer From Proverbs 6:20
Lord, thank you for the parents you have given, whether their guidance has been wise and steady or imperfect and hard to receive. Help me to honor what they have taught me and to keep their instruction close as I make decisions in my own life. Where I have turned away or grown dismissive, soften my heart and give me humility to listen again. Let their teaching point me toward you, the true source of all wisdom. Amen.