📖 Biblical Definition
Verbally cursing — reviling, defaming, calling down evil upon — one's father or mother. The biblical category is far stronger than disagreement, conflict, or even sharp disrespect; it names the willed contempt of the parent expressed verbally. Scripture's penalty in the OT is capital: Exodus 21:17 (And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death), reinforced by Leviticus 20:9, Deuteronomy 27:16, and Proverbs 20:20 (Whoso curseth his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness). Christ reaffirms the OT category in Matthew 15:4 and condemns the Pharisees' Corban-loophole that let children escape filial obligation while looking pious. The negative side of the fifth commandment is one of the most heavily-penalized sins in Scripture.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Verbally cursing father or mother; OT capital offense (Ex 21:17); Christ reaffirms (Mt 15:4); strongest negative side of the fifth commandment.
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CURSING PARENTS, n. phr. The willed verbal contempt of one's father or mother. The OT penalty is capital: Exodus 21:17, Leviticus 20:9, Deuteronomy 27:16, Proverbs 20:20. Christ reaffirms the OT category in Matthew 15:4 and condemns the Pharisees' Corban dodge (declaring property dedicated to God to avoid parental support) as the same sin in pious disguise. The fifth commandment (Ex 20:12) is the first commandment with promise; cursing parents is the strongest negative-side violation. The category is heavier than disagreement, conflict, or even sharp disrespect; it names willed contempt expressed verbally.
📖 Key Scripture
Exodus 21:17 — "And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death."
Leviticus 20:9 — "For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him."
Proverbs 20:20 — "Whoso curseth his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness."
Matthew 15:4-6 — "For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Most heavily-penalized negative-side commandment in Scripture; entirely retired by modern church pastoral attention.
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Scripture's seriousness about the cursing of parents is hard to overstate: capital in the OT, reaffirmed by Christ in Matthew 15. The contemporary church has effectively retired the category entirely. Pastors do not address it from the pulpit. Counselors treat it as the natural fallout of family-of-origin wounds. The fifth-commandment frame, both positively (honor) and negatively (curse), has dropped out of contemporary discipleship.
The recovery is to name the category. There is a difference between the adult child who grieves a parent's sin, names the failure clearly, and works through the wound under godly counsel — biblical and necessary — and the adult child who has set the tongue against the parent in contempt, defamation, public mockery, or wished-evil. The first is the work of healing; the second is the sin Ex 21:17 names. Christ's Matthew 15 confrontation shows that the sin can wear pious clothing (the Corban dodge) and still be the same sin. The Christian son and daughter learn to grieve sin without contempt, honor without flattery, and walk in fifth-commandment obedience even when the parent has failed them.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Ex 21:17 capital; reaffirmed by Christ Mt 15:4; the negative side of the fifth commandment.
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['Hebrew', 'H7043', 'qalal', 'to curse, treat lightly (Ex 21:17)']
['Hebrew', 'H3513', 'kabad', 'to honor (positive side of 5th commandment)']
['Greek', 'G2551', 'kakologeo', 'to speak evil of (Mt 15:4)']
Usage
"Grieving a parent's sin under godly counsel is not the same as cursing."
"The sin can wear pious clothing — the Corban dodge in Mt 15."
"Honor without flattery; grieve without contempt."