Ramban, on Exod 20:12

“Honour thy father and thy mother, that thou mayest be longlived upon the land which the Lord thy God will give thee.”

“HONOR THY FATHER. Having finished all that we are obligated towards the Creator Himself and His glory, He turns now to command us about those matters which concern created beings. He begins with the father, for in relation to his offspring, he is akin to a creator, being partner with Him in the forming of the child. G-d is our first Father, and he who begets it [i.e., the child] is our last male parent. This is why He said in the Book of Deuteronomy, [Honor thy father… as the Eternal thy G-d commanded thee]. That is, “just as I have commanded you concerning My honor, so do I command you concerning the honor of those who have joined Me in your formation.” Now Scripture has not explained [the nature of the honor we are to give our parents], for it may be derived from the honor mentioned above that we owe to our first Father, blessed be He. Thus, one is to acknowledge [his male parent] as his father and not deny him, saying of another man that he is his father. Nor should he serve him because of his estate or any other benefit he hopes to derive from him. Nor should he take his father’s name and swear “by the life of my father” in vain or falsely. There are other matters which are included within the term “honor,” for we are commanded in every aspect thereof, and they are explained in the words of our Rabbis. The Sages have already said, 30b. that honoring parents has been likened to honoring G-d. Now since this commandment refers to creatures on the earth, He has designated its reward to be prolongation of life on earth which He will give us. But in the opinion of our Rabbis,, 39b. the purport of the verse is “that thy days may be long and upon the Land.” [It thus expresses two declarations]: He promises that our lives will be prolonged by observing this commandment — i.e., that G-d will fulfill our days in this world and they will be prolonged in the World to Come, which is unending — and that our dwelling will forever be on the good earth which He will give us. And in the Book of Deuteronomy, He expressly stated it: that thy day may be long, and that it may go well with thee, upon the Land which the Eternal thy G-d giveth thee. Thus they are two promises.”

Hebrew and Aramaic words are the commentator’s citations of the sacred text; the English translation that follows each is the translator’s.

Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.