Exodus 21:17

“Whoever treats his father or his mother disgracefully ¹  must surely be put to death.

"Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.

"He who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.

"Anyone who curses father or mother must be put to death.

"If someone curses father or mother, the penalty is death.

Any man cursing his father or his mother is to be put to death.

Whoever curses father or mother shall be put to death.

"And he who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.

“Whoever treats his father or his mother disgracefully ¹  must surely be put to death.

¹ tn The form is a Piel participle from קָלַל (qalal), meaning in Qal “be light,” in Piel “treat lightly, curse, revile, declare contemptible, treat shamefully.” (See its use in Lev 19:14; Josh 24:9; Judg 9:26-28; 1 Sam 3:13; 17:43; 2 Sam 16:5-13; Prov 30:10-11; Eccl 7:21-22; 10:20.) It is opposite of “honor” (כָּבֵד, kaved; Qal “be heavy”; Piel “honor,” as in 20:12) and of “bless.” This verse then could refer to any act contrary to the commandment to honor the parents. B. Jacob (Exodus, 640) cites parallels in Sumerian where people were severely punished for publicly disowning their parents. “21:15, 17 taken together evoke the picture of parents who, physically and verbally, are forcibly turned out of the house (cf. Prov. 19:26)” (C. Houtman, Exodus, 3:148).