Everyday life
Parents in the Bible
42 passages of the Berean Standard Bible, line by line, from Nave’s Topical Bible.
Favorites
- Isaac loves Esau; Rebekah loves JacobGen 25:28
The verses
Gen 25:28Because Isaac had a taste for wild game, he loved Esau; but Rebekah loved Jacob.
- Rebekah plans to win Isaac’s blessing for JacobGen 27:6–10
The verses
Gen 27:6–10Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Behold, I overheard your father saying to your brother Esau, ‘Bring me some game and prepare me a tasty dish to eat, so that I may bless you in the presence of the LORD before I die.’ Now, my son, listen to my voice and do exactly as I tell you. Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so that I can make them into a tasty dish for your father—the kind he loves. Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may bless you before he dies.”
- Jacob will not send Benjamin, for fear of harmGen 42:4, Gen 42:38
The verses
Gen 42:4But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, “I am afraid that harm might befall him.”
Gen 42:38But Jacob replied, “My son will not go down there with you, for his brother is dead, and he alone is left. If any harm comes to him on your journey, you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.”
Love and care
- Hagar sits a bowshot away, unable to watch her boy dieGen 21:15–16
The verses
Gen 21:15–16When the water in the skin was gone, she left the boy under one of the bushes. Then she went off and sat down nearby, about a bowshot away, for she said, “I cannot bear to watch the boy die!” And as she sat nearby, she lifted up her voice and wept.
- Rebekah’s mother and brother ask to keep her ten more daysGen 24:55
The verses
Gen 24:55But her brother and mother said, “Let the girl remain with us ten days or so. After that, she may go.”
- Jacob revives on hearing that Joseph is aliveGen 45:26–28
The verses
Gen 45:26–28“Joseph is still alive,” they said, “and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt!” But Jacob was stunned, for he did not believe them. However, when they relayed all that Joseph had told them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him back, the spirit of their father Jacob was revived. “Enough!” declared Israel. “My son Joseph is still alive! I will go to see him before I die.”
- Moses’ mother hides him three months, then puts him in a basketExod 2:2–3
The verses
Exod 2:2–3and she conceived and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him for three months. But when she could no longer hide him, she got him a papyrus basket and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in the basket and set it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile.
- Manoah asks how to raise the boy who is to be bornJudg 13:8
The verses
Judg 13:8Then Manoah prayed to the LORD, “Please, O Lord, let the man of God You sent us come to us again to teach us how to raise the boy who is to be born.”
- Samson’s parents object to a Philistine wifeJudg 14:2–3
The verses
Judg 14:2–3So he returned and told his father and mother, “I have seen a daughter of the Philistines in Timnah. Now get her for me as a wife.” But his father and mother replied, “Can’t you find a young woman among your relatives or among any of our people? Must you go to the uncircumcised Philistines to get a wife?” But Samson told his father, “Get her for me, for she is pleasing to my eyes.”
- Naomi kisses her daughters-in-law and sends them homeRuth 1:8–9
The verses
Ruth 1:8–9Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you to your mother’s home. May the LORD show you loving devotion, as you have shown to your dead and to me. May the LORD enable each of you to find rest in the home of your new husband.” And she kissed them as they wept aloud
- Job rises early to offer burnt offerings for each of his childrenJob 1:5
The verses
Job 1:5And when the days of feasting were over, Job would send for his children to purify them, rising early in the morning to offer burnt offerings for all of them. For Job thought, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular practice.
- David longs to go to Absalom2 Sam 13:39
The verses
2 Sam 13:39And King David longed to go to Absalom, for he had been consoled over Amnon’s death.
- David: “Treat the young man Absalom gently for my sake”2 Sam 18:5
The verses
2 Sam 18:5Now the king had commanded Joab, Abishai, and Ittai, “Treat the young man Absalom gently for my sake.” And all the people heard the king’s orders to each of the commanders regarding Absalom.
- Rizpah guards her sons’ bodies from birds and beasts2 Sam 21:8, 2 Sam 21:10
The verses
2 Sam 21:8But the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons whom Rizpah daughter of Aiah had borne to Saul, as well as the five sons whom Merab daughter of Saul had borne to Adriel son of Barzillai the Meholathite.
2 Sam 21:10And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on a rock. From the beginning of the harvest until the rain from heaven poured down on the bodies, she did not allow the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night.
- The real mother would rather give her baby away than see him killed1 Kgs 3:26
The verses
1 Kgs 3:26Then the woman whose son was alive spoke to the king because she yearned with compassion for her son. “Please, my lord,” she said, “give her the living baby. Do not kill him!” But the other woman said, “He will be neither mine nor yours. Cut him in two!”
- Solomon has a throne brought for his mother1 Kgs 2:19
The verses
1 Kgs 2:19So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah. The king stood up to greet her, bowed to her, and sat down on his throne. Then the king had a throne brought for his mother, who sat down at his right hand.
- Mary and Joseph search anxiously for the boy JesusLuke 2:48
The verses
Luke 2:48When His parents saw Him, they were astonished. “Child, why have You done this to us?” His mother asked. “Your father and I have been anxiously searching for You.”
- Jesus’ mother stands near the crossJohn 19:25
The verses
John 19:25Near the cross of Jesus stood His mother and her sister, as well as Mary the wife of Clopas and Mary Magdalene.
- Jairus pleads for his little daughterMark 5:23
The verses
Mark 5:23and pleaded with Him urgently, “My little daughter is near death. Please come and place Your hands on her, so that she will be healed and live.”
- A royal official: “Come down before my child dies”John 4:49
The verses
John 4:49“Sir,” the official said, “come down before my child dies.”
- A boy’s father: “I do believe; help my unbelief!”Mark 9:24
The verses
Mark 9:24Immediately the boy’s father cried out, “I do believe; help my unbelief!”
- The mother of Zebedee’s sons asks places of honor for themMatt 20:20–21
The verses
Matt 20:20–21Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and knelt down to make a request of Him. “What do you want?” He inquired. She answered, “Declare that in Your kingdom one of these two sons of mine may sit at Your right hand, and the other at Your left.”
- Parents of the man born blind: “He is old enough. Ask him”John 9:20–23
The verses
John 9:20–23His parents answered, “We know he is our son, and we know he was born blind. But how he can now see or who opened his eyes, we do not know. Ask him. He is old enough to speak for himself.” His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews. For the Jews had already determined that anyone who confessed Jesus as the Christ would be put out of the synagogue. That was why his parents said, “He is old enough. Ask him.”
Too lenient
- Eli did not restrain his sons1 Sam 3:13
The verses
1 Sam 3:13I told him that I would judge his house forever for the iniquity of which he knows, because his sons blasphemed God and he did not restrain them.
- David never once rebuked Adonijah1 Kgs 1:6
The verses
1 Kgs 1:6(His father had never once reprimanded him by saying, “Why do you act this way?” Adonijah was also very handsome, born next after Absalom.)
In the Law
- Honor your father and motherExod 20:12
The verses
Exod 20:12Honor your father and mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
- Death for striking or cursing one’s father or motherExod 21:15, Exod 21:17
The verses
Exod 21:15Whoever strikes his father or mother must surely be put to death.
Exod 21:17Anyone who curses his father or mother must surely be put to death.
- Parents explain the Passover to their childrenExod 12:26–27, Exod 13:8
The verses
Exod 12:26–27When your children ask you, ‘What does this service mean to you?’ you are to reply, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when He struck down the Egyptians and spared our homes.’” Then the people bowed down and worshiped.
Exod 13:8And on that day you are to explain to your son, ‘This is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.’
- Both parents bring a stubborn, rebellious son to the eldersDeut 21:18–20
The verses
Deut 21:18–20If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and does not listen to them when disciplined, his father and mother are to lay hold of him and bring him to the elders of his city, to the gate of his hometown, and say to the elders, “This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he does not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard.”
Sayings in Proverbs about parents
- Listen to your father’s instruction and your mother’s teachingProv 1:8
The verses
Prov 1:8Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction, and do not forsake the teaching of your mother.
- A wise son brings joy to his fatherProv 10:1
The verses
Prov 10:1The proverbs of Solomon: A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son grief to his mother.
- A good man leaves an inheritance to his grandchildrenProv 13:22
The verses
Prov 13:22A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, but the sinner’s wealth is passed to the righteous.
- Do not despise your mother when she is oldProv 23:22
The verses
Prov 23:22Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.
- May your father and mother be gladProv 23:24–25
The verses
Prov 23:24–25The father of a righteous man will greatly rejoice, and he who fathers a wise son will delight in him. May your father and mother be glad, and may she who gave you birth rejoice!
- Her children rise up and call her blessedProv 31:28
The verses
Prov 31:28Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband praises her as well:
In the letters
- Parents save up for their children, not children for parents2 Cor 12:14
The verses
2 Cor 12:14See, I am ready to come to you a third time, and I will not be a burden, because I am not seeking your possessions, but you. For children should not have to save up for their parents, but parents for their children.
- Fathers, do not provoke your childrenEph 6:4, Col 3:21
Sources
From Nave’s Topical Bible (Orville J. Nave, 1896; public domain): subjects chosen, lines shortened and put into modern words, lines of interpretation left out; each verse checked.
Berean Standard Bible · Public domain