📖 Biblical Definition
Parental honor is the lifelong weight a child gives to father and mother in word, deed, and provision — the fifth commandment and the first "commandment with promise" (Ephesians 6:2-3; Exodus 20:12): "Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee." Honor is not mere obedience (which expires at adulthood); it is the abiding posture of respect, gratitude, and responsibility — culminating in caring for aged parents (1 Timothy 5:4; Mark 7:9-13). The fifth commandment is the hinge between God-ward and man-ward duty: a child who cannot honor parents will struggle to honor any authority — magistrate, pastor, husband, or God Himself.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
The honor due to father and mother.
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The reverence, esteem, obedience, and provision which children owe to their parents; the fifth commandment, the first with promise, that days may be long upon the land which the Lord gives.
📖 Key Scripture
Ephesians 6:2 — "Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise."
Exodus 20:12 — "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land."
Proverbs 23:22 — "Listen to your father who begot you, and do not despise your mother when she is old."
1 Timothy 5:8 — "If anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Replaced by adolescent autonomy and warehoused elders cared for by strangers.
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Pop culture trains children to mock parents and adults to outsource elder care to facilities. Both undermine the fifth commandment. Honor is weight, and weight does not retire. The grown child who provides for aging parents fulfills the law and pleases God.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Hebrew kabed (be heavy, honor) and Greek timao (to value, honor) describe the weight given.
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H3513 — kabed — to be heavy, to honor
G5091 — timao — to honor, to esteem, to value
Usage
"Honor your parents; God put a promise on it."
"Aging parents are not a burden; they are an assignment."
"The first commandment with promise is still the first."