Proverbs 15:20

A wise child ¹  brings joy to his father, but a foolish person ²  despises ³  his mother.

Ex 20:12; Le 19:3; 1Ki 1:48; 1Ki 2:9; 1Ki 5:7; Pr 10:1; Pr 23:15,16; Pr 23:22; Pr 29:3; Pr 30:17; Php 2:22

¹ tn Heb “son.”

² tn Heb “a fool of a man,” a genitive of specification.

³ sn The proverb is almost the same as 10:1, except that “despises” replaces “grief.” This adds the idea of the callousness of the one who inflicts grief on his mother (D. Kidner, Proverbs [TOTC], 116).