15:20

Notice that the underlined parallel parts and the parts in bold print contrast in meaning. The parts in italics function together to refer to both father and mother.

20a
A wise son brings joy to his father,

20b but a foolish man despises his mother.

15:20a

A wise son brings joy to his father: This same clause occurs in 10:1b. See the notes there.

15:20b

but a foolish man despises his mother: This line is similar to 10:1c, but 10:1c has “foolish son” instead of foolish man and “grief” instead of despises.

foolish man:

despises: The word that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as despises probably means to reject, scorn, or show a lack of respect for someone. See the note on “shows contempt for his neighbor” at 11:12a.

General Comment on 15:20a–b

In some languages, these parallel lines may wrongly imply that:

(a) This proverb refers only to sons. It does not refer to daughters. One way to avoid this wrong meaning is to use a general term such as “child.”

(b) A wise son brings joy only to his father.

(c) A foolish person despises only his mother and not his father.

One way to avoid the wrong meaning in (b) or (c) is to combine the parallel parts and use a term such as “parents” or “mother and father.” See 15:20a–b (combined/reordered) in the Display.

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