Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ephesians 6:3
That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.
3. that, &c.] The Gr. is nearly verbatim from the LXX. of Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. It is observable that the Apostle omits the last words of the original promise. Is not this on purpose, to dilate the reference to the utmost? The Sinaitic limitation was but a special application of a perpetual principle of Providence, illustrated, we may observe, in the remarkable instance of the durability of the Chinese race and empire in its “land.” Not for Jews only, nor for Christians only, is the promise, but for man, with such modifications of the meaning of “the earth,” or “land,” as circumstances may bring.
To seek a reference here to “the better country, that is, the heavenly” (Heb 11:16), is a lawful and beautiful accommodation, but not in point as an interpretation.
mayest live ] Quite lit., “ shall live.” And it may be so read. But usage makes it at least probable that the A. V. (and R.V., text) represent rightly the intention of the Greek.
Observe, in passing, the hint given in these verses of the familiarity of the Gentile converts of St Paul with the O.T., and of the Divine authority which, he takes it for granted, they recognized in the Decalogue. See further, Appendix H.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
That it may be well with thee – This is found in the fifth commandment as recorded in Deu 5:16. The whole commandment as there recorded is, Honour thy father and thy mother, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. The meaning here is, that they would be more happy, useful, and virtuous if they obeyed their parents than if they disobeyed them.
And thou mayest live long on the earth – In the commandment as recorded in Exo 20:12, the promise is, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. This referred to the promised land – the land of Canaan. The meaning doubtless, is, that there would be a special providence, securing to those who were obedient to parents length of days. Long life was regarded as a great blessing; and this blessing was promised. The apostle here gives to the promise a more general form, and says that obedience to parents was connected at all times with long life. We may remark here:
(1) That long life is a blessing. It affords a longer space to prepare for eternity; it enables a man to be more useful; and it furnishes a longer opportunity to study the works of God on earth. It is not improper to desire it; and we should make use of all the means in our power to lengthen out our days, and to preserve and protect our lives.
(2) It is still true that obedience to parents is conducive to length of life, and that those who are most obedient in early life, other things being equal, have the best prospect of living long. This occurs because:
(a) obedient children are saved from the vices and crimes which shorten life. No parent will command his child to be a drunkard, a gambler, a spendthrift, a pirate, or a murderer. But these vices and crimes, resulting in most cases from disobedience to parents, all shorten life; and they who early commit them are certain of on early grave. No child who disobeys a parent can have any security that he will not fall a victim to such vices and crimes.
(b) Obedience to parents is connected with virtuous habits that are conducive to long life. It will make a child industrious, temperate, sober; it will lead him to restrain and govern his wild passions; it will lead him to form habits of self-government which will in future life save him from the snares of vice and temptation.
(c) Many a life is lost early by disobeying a parent. A child disobeys a father and goes into a dramshop; or he goes to sea; or he becomes the companion of the wicked – and he may be wrecked at sea, or his character on land may be wrecked forever. Of disobedient children there is perhaps not one in a hundred that ever reaches an honored old age.
(d) We may still believe that God, in his providence, will watch over those who are obedient to a father and mother. If he regards a falling sparrow Mat 10:29, he will not be unmindful of an obedient child; if he numbers the hairs of the head Mat 10:30, he will not be regardless of the little boy that honors him by obeying a father and mother.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
That thou mayest live long and happily. This promise is still fulfilled to believers, either in the thing itself here promised, or in a better way, Gods giving them eternal life.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
3. long on the earthIn Ex20:12, “long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveththee,” which Paul adapts to Gospel times, by taking away thelocal and limited reference peculiar to the Jews in Canaan. The godlyare equally blessed in every land, as the Jews were in the land whichGod gave them. This promise is always fulfilled, either literally, orby the substitution of a higher blessing, namely, one spiritual andeternal (Job 5:26; Pro 10:27).The substance and essence of the law are eternally in force: itsaccidents alone (applying to Israel of old) are abolished (Ro6:15).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
That it may be well with thee,…. In this world, and that which is to come; see De 5:16. The Jews z say,
“there are four things, which if a man does, he eats the fruit of them in this world, and the capital part remains for him in the world to come; and they are these,
; “honouring father and mother”, doing acts of beneficence, making peace between a man and his neighbour, and learning of the law, which answers to them all.”
And thou mayest live long on the earth: length of days is in itself a blessing; and though men’s days cannot be lengthened beyond God’s purpose and decree; and though obedient children do not always live long; yet disobedience to parents often brings the judgments of God on children, so that they die not a common death, 2Sa 18:14. On those words in De 32:47, the Jews a have this paraphrase;
“because it is your life, , “this is honouring father and mother; and through this thing ye shall prolong your days”, this is beneficence.”
It may be observed, that the words in this promissory part are not the same as in the decalogue, where they stand thus, “that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee”,
Ex 20:12, referring to the land of Canaan; for the law in the form of it, in which it was delivered by Moses, only concerned the people of the Jews; wherefore to suit this law, and the promise of it, to others, the apostle alters the language of it.
z Misna Peah, c. 1. sect. 1. T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 127. 1, & Kiddushin, fol. 40. 1. a T. Hieros. Peah, fol. 15. 4.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
That it may be well with thee ( ). From Ex 20:12, “that it may happen to thee well.”
And thou mayest live long on the earth ( ). Here (second person singular future middle) takes the place of in the LXX (second person singular second aorist middle subjunctive). is a late and rare compound adjective, here only in N.T. (from LXX, Ex 20:12).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Thou mayest live long [ ] . Lit., mayest be long – lived. The adjective occurs only here.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “That it may be well with thee” (hina eu soi genetai) In order that it may be well with thee; a provision and expectancy of general temporal good is hereby asserted to the child that honors and obeys his father and mother, Exo 20:5-6; Exo 34:7.
2) “And thou mayest live long on the earth” (kai ese makrochronios epi tes ges) “And in order that thou may be a chronological long time upon the habitable earth,” or land; Jer 35:16; Jer 35:18-19.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
3. That it may be well with thee. The promise is — a long life; from which we are led to understand that the present life is not to be overlooked among the gifts of God. On this and other kindred subjects I must refer my reader to the Institutes of the Christian Religion; (168) satisfying myself at present with saying, in a few words, that the reward promised to the obedience of children is highly appropriate. Those who shew kindness to their parents from whom they derived life, are assured by God, that in this life it will be well with them.
And that thou mayest live long on the earth. Moses expressly mentions the land of Canaan,
“
that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” (Exo 20:12.)
Beyond this the Jews could not conceive of any life more happy or desirable. But as the same divine blessing is extended to the whole world, Paul has properly left out the mention of a place, the peculiar distinction of which lasted only till the coming of Christ.
(168) See volume 1 page 468.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(3) That it may be well with thee . . .The quotation is but slightly varied from Exo. 20:12; Deu. 5:16. But by the omission of the limiting words, which the Lord thy God hath given thee, St. Paul at once generalises the application and determines it to the earth, and not to the good land of heaven. The words so interpreted are, therefore, a promise that obedience in the Lord to the great natural law on which society rests, shall bring with it reward on earth; just as our Lord tells us of meekness that it shall inherit the earth (Mat. 5:5), and St. Paul of godliness that it has the promise of the life that now is, as well as of that which is to come (1Ti. 4:8). The visible exemplification of this law is, indeed, as in all other cases, obscured by the disorder brought in by sin, and, moreover, is affected by the consideration that this life, being a discipline for heaven, must present, in the true sense of the word, imperfection or incompleteness, if viewed alone. But it is still a natural law, and is still accordingly fulfilled in actual experience. The promise is not to us so important as to them of old; but it is ours still.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
(3, 4) Eph. 6:21-24 form the conclusion of the Epistle, in commendation of Tychicus salutation and blessing. The extreme brevity and generality of this section herein contrast with St. Pauls practice in every other Epistle, except the Second Epistle to the Corinthians and the Epistle to the Galatians (both of which have the abruptness of indignation) and especially with the parallel Epistle to the Colossiansseem to bear on the question of the encyclical character of this Epistle.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
3. Well with thee For conduct early well regulated by home law, is likely to he followed by that well regulated conduct which will secure the well -being through life. The child and the youth that obeys and honours his parents in the spirit of the command that is, in the Lord, and as obeying Christ is a true Christian. And as the promise is given to him in that spirit and character, never, but as he apostatizes from that spirit and character, can it be otherwise than well with him. Misfortune cannot ruin him, death cannot destroy him, eternity will set its perpetual seal upon his well -being.
Live long on the earth He to whom God’s law, commencing with parental law, is a regulator in life, keeps apart from violent counsels and violent men. Temperance, regular industry, and upright behaviour, are great prolongers of life. This is just as clear as the reverse fact that violence, intemperance, debauchery, war, or wild excitements of any kind, are the real murderers of three fourths of mankind, even in civilized Christendom. The average of human life would be lengthened by a purification, commencing in home law, of human character. So pointedly does the decalogue look to the right sort of parentage for the right sort of an age, a nation, or a race.
Meyer well refutes the notion that the promise of the fifth commandment was addressed to the people as a whole, by noting that them and thee show that it was a promise to each individual. Yet the long life of each would be the long enjoyment of Canaan to the whole.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Eph 6:3. Thatthou mayest live long, &c. It has been observed, that the Apostle does not say, upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, that he might not encourage a vain hope in the Jews of continuing in the land of Canaan. And if it were considered that those to whom he was writing were chiefly Gentile converts, the clause would very properly be omitted in this view, as it must better suit the case of the whole church to express the promise in a general way.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Eph 6:3 . After Paul has just said: “ the first commandment with promise ,” he now adduces the definite promise, on account of which this predicate pertains to that commandment, and that according to the LXX. of Exo 20:12 , Deu 5:16 , with immaterial variation (LXX.: . . .), and with omission of the more precise designation of Palestine, which in the LXX. follows after . This omission, however, was not occasioned by the circumstance that the promise was to bear upon long life in general (Calvin, Koppe, Rckert, Matthies, Schenkel, and many), in which case, indeed, might also have been left out; but Paul could so fully presuppose acquaintance with the complete words of the promise, that with the mere enough was said to preclude any misunderstanding which should depart from the original sense: in the land , i.e. Palestine. So, namely, in accordance with the sense of the original text well known to the readers, is to be understood, not as “ upon earth ;” for the promise is here adduced historically . Hence its original sense is not at all to be altered or spiritualized, or to be taken conditionally, as e.g. was done by Zanchius: if the promise is not fulfilled simpliciter , yet it is fulfilled commutations in majus ; or by Calovius: “Promissiones temporales cum conditions intelligendae, quantum sc. temporalia illa nobis salutaria fore Deus censuerit;” comp. also Estius, who at the same time remarks (so again typically Olshausen, comp. Baumgarten-Crusius) that the land of Canaan prefigures the kingdom of heaven (comp. Mat 5:5 ), and the long life everlasting blessedness. Nor is it to be said, with Bengel, Morus, Stolz, Rosenmller, Flatt, and Harless, that the earthly blessing is promised not to the individual , but to the people . For in the summons “ thou shalt ” in the Decalogue, although the latter on the whole (as a whole) is directed to the people , the individual is withal addressed, as is evident from the very commandments in which the neighbour is mentioned, and as is the view underlying all the N.T. citations from the Decalogue-law, Mat 15:4 ; Mat 5:21 ; Mat 5:27 ; Rom 7:7 ; Rom 13:9 .
] Comp. Gen 2:13 ; Deu 4:40 ; Sir 1:13 . A Greek would employ , , or the like, or even .
. . .] is regarded by Winer, p. 258 [E. T. 361], and de Wette (comp. already Erasmus), not as dependent upon , but as a direct continuation of the discourse. But this expedient is unnecessary, inasmuch as with the future actually occurs in the case of Paul (see on 1Co 9:18 ; Gal 2:4 ); and is, moreover, here out of place, since there is not any direct continuation of the discourse in those passages of the O. T., the sense of which Paul reproduces. At Rev 22:14 also the future and subjunctive are interchanged after , as also in classical writers the same variation after is well known (see on the erroneous canon Dawesianus , Bremi, in Schaef. Appar. ad Dem. I. p. 277; Ellendt, Lex. Soph. II. p. 335 f.; Buttmann, Neutest. Gramm . p. 184 [E. T. 213]). And how aptly do the two modes of construction here suit the sense, so that expresses the pure becoming realized , and . the certain emergence and continued subsistence (Khner, II. p. 491). The change is a logical climax.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
3 That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.
Ver. 3. And thou mayest live long ] Good children help to lengthen their parents’ days, as Joseph did Jacob’s. God therefore lengthens theirs in red-hostimentum, as it were. Or if he take from them this long lease, he gives them a freehold of better value.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Eph 6:3 . : that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the land . The quotation of the commandment is continued according to the LXX, but with some variations, viz. , for , and the omission of (Exo 20:12 , or alone as in Deu 5:16 ) . This clause is omitted perhaps as less suitable to those addressed (Abb.); or it may be with a view to generalise the statement and relieve it of all restrictions but those which necessarily condition the promises of temporal blessings (Ell.). Meyer strangely supposes that the quotation is left unfinished simply because the readers could easily complete it for themselves. In that case it might have been even shorter. The first clause promises temporal good generally; the second the particular blessing, so associated in the OT with the idea of the Divine favour, of length of days. The is explained by not a few (Erasm., De Wette, Win., etc.; cf. Win.-Moult., p. 361) as a case of oratio variata , a transition from the construction to direct narrative, = “and thou shalt be,” as the RV margin puts it. But there is no necessity for supposing such a change in the construction, as with the fut. indic, though strange to Attic Greek (which yet uses with that tense and mood), is found in the NT (1Co 9:18 ; Rev 22:14 ). In Attic Greek the idea would have been expressed not by , but by , or similar form (Mey.). In the OT original, refers of course to the land of Canaan . Meyer thinks it must retain its historical sense here. But that, in its literal completeness, would be something inapplicable to Paul’s Christian readers. The fact that the quotation is broken off at this point, and that the more restricted, national terms of the OT promise are omitted, might warrant us in giving the phrase the larger sense of “on the earth” (with RV text). But it is best to take the phrase as far as possible in its historical sense, and translate it “on the land” (RV marg.), i.e. , the land on which your Christian lot is cast.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
That = In order that. Greek. hina.
earth. App-129.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Eph 6:3. , well with thee) Let young persons attend to this statement.- , and thou mayest [shalt] be) The LXX., in both passages, viz. that in Exodus, and that in Deuteronomy, where the Decalogue is recounted, have it, that thou mayest become long-lived, , but Deu 22:7, that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest have many days- , from the cod. Al., where the ed. Rom. has : , in the future of the subjunctive, is rare. He, who lives well for a long time, long experiences the favour or God, even in his children rendering him honour, and he has a long season of sowing the seed of an eternal harvest.-, long-lived) The more tender age of childhood, according to its capacity of apprehension, is allured by the promise of long life; the exception of the cross is more expressly added to those that are grown up, and are of mature age. But length of days is promised, not only to single persons who honour their parents, but to their whole stock.- , upon the earth [the land]) Moses, writing to Israel, says, in the good land, , which the Lord thy God giveth thee. At present godly men live equally well in every land, as Israel did in that which God gave them.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Eph 6:3
Eph 6:3
that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.-The blessings come as the result of the character that loves and honors the parent, and then God, and preserves from the fatal ruin of the stubborn and rebellious son. [This blessing is the heritage of dutiful children in every land. The obedience of childhood and youth rendered to a wise Christian rule forms in the young the habit of self-control, self-respect, diligence, promptitude, faithfulness, and kindness of heart, which are the best guarantees for happiness and success in life.]
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Deu 4:40, Deu 5:16, Deu 6:3, Deu 6:18, Deu 12:25, Deu 12:28, Deu 22:7, Rth 3:1, Psa 128:1, Psa 128:2, Isa 3:10, Jer 42:6
Reciprocal: Gen 28:7 – General Deu 5:29 – that it might Deu 25:15 – that thy days Rth 1:8 – the dead Jer 35:6 – Ye shall Rom 13:7 – honour to
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
(Eph 6:3.) -That it may be well with thee, and that thou be long-lived on the earth. The quotation is from the Septuagint version of Exo 20:12, but somewhat varied- the words omitted being- . Such is the promise. The phrase that it may be well with thee-as in Gen 12:13, Deu 4:40 -seems to have been a common mode of expressing interest in another’s welfare. In the second clause, the apostle changes the construction of the Septuagint, which reads- . It had been affirmed by Erasmus, and has been reasserted by Winer ( 41, b, b, 1) and de Wette, that the apostle drops the construction with and uses in the simple future. We agree with Meyer, that there is no genuine grammatical ground for separating from , since the apostle has in some instances connected with the future (1Co 9:18), and there is a change of construction similar to that which this verse presents, in the Apocalypse, Rev 22:14. Klotz-Devarius, vol. 2.630. The future stands here in its proper significance, but still connected with ; and such a use of the future tense may in a climactic form indicate the direct and certain result of the previous subjunctive. Obedience secures well-being, and this being the case, thou shalt live long on the earth. The longevity is the result and development of its being well with thee.
is long-lived or long-timed, and belongs to the later Greek. What then is the nature of this promise annexed to the fifth commandment? In its original form it had reference to the peculiar constitution of the theocracy, which both promised and secured temporal blessings to the people. The words are, that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. The promise in its first application has been supposed to mean, that filial obedience being the test and exponent of national religion and morality, would preserve the Hebrew nation from those aberrations and crimes which led to their deportation and their ultimate expulsion. Or if the command be supposed to possess an individualizing directness, then it may mean, that under Jehovah’s special guardianship the coveted blessing of longevity would be the sure fruit and noble reward of filial piety. But what is the force of the promise now? The apostle gives it a present meaning and reality, and omits as if on purpose the clause which of old restricted it to the theocracy. It is out of the question on the part of Olshausen, Schrader, and Gauthey, preceded by Estius, to spiritualize the promise, and to suppose that as Canaan was a type of heaven, so the blessing here promised is happiness in a better world. Hints of this view are found in Jerome and Thomas Aquinas. The epithet can never denote immortal duration, and the apostle omits the very words which placed the earthly Canaan in its peculiar position and meaning as a type. On the other hand, Meyer regards this omission as unessential, and pronounces that the words in the earth or land refer historically and only to the land of Canaan. Our question then is, Why did the apostle make the quotation? Does it merely record an ancient fact which no longer has any existence? or does that fact suggest lessons to present times? If the former alternative, that of Meyer and Baumgarten-Crusius, be adopted, then the language of the apostle loses its significance and applicability to Christian children. Meyer says that the apostle dropt the last clause of the commandment because he presumed that his readers were well acquainted with it-a presumption we can scarcely admit in reference to the Gentile portion of the church. Rather, as we have said, do we believe, with Calvin, Rckert, and Matthies, that the apostle omitted the last clause just to make the promise bear upon regions out of Palestine, and periods distant from those of the Hebrew commonwealth. Bengel, Rosenmller, Morus, Flatt, Harless, and Baumgarten-Crusius regard the original promise as applicable not to individuals, but to the mass of the Jewish society. The meaning, says Morus, as applied to our times is simply, patriam florere diu, ubi liberorum sit erga parentes reverentia. This comment is certainly better, though it is in a similar strain: as if blessings were promised to the mass, in which the individual shares if he remain a part of it. But such views dilute the apostle’s meaning, and proceed in their basis upon a misconception of the Hebrew statute. The command is addressed to individuals, and so is the promise. The language plainly implies it-that thy days may be long. Our Lord so understands it (Mat 15:4-6), and thus in the sermon on the mount He expounds the other statutes. Is it so, then, that long life is promised to obedient children? The special providence of the theocracy could easily secure it in ancient times; nay, disobedient children were by law punished with death. Nor is the hand of the Lord slackened in these days. Under Eph 1:3 the reader will find a reference to the place which temporal blessings occupy under the Christian economy. Godliness has the promise of the life which now is. Mat 6:25, etc.; Mar 10:29, etc. Obedient children sometimes die, as ripe fruit falls first. But the promise of longevity is held out-it is a principle of the Divine administration and the usual course of providence. Not that we can say with Grotius, that man therefore has it somewhat in his power to prolong his days; or with Stier, that the life would be long, quoad sufficientiam-for obtaining salvation; or as in the maxim, sat vixit diu, quem nec pudet vixisse, nec piget mori. We understand the command, as modified by its Christian and extra-Palestinian aspect, to involve a great principle, and that is, that filial obedience, under God’s blessing, prolongs life, for it implies the possession of principles of restraint, sobriety, and industry, which secure a lengthened existence. It is said in Pro 10:27, The fear of the Lord prolongeth days, but the years of the wicked shall be shortened; and in Psa 9:11, By me thy days shall be multiplied, and the years of thy life shall be increased; and again in Psa 55:23, Bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days. Not that God shortens their days by an express and formal judgment from heaven, or that all of them without exception drop into a premature grave; but the principle of the Divine government does secure that sin is its own penalty, and that vicious or criminal courses either ruin the constitution, or expose their victim to the punishment of civil law, as in the case of men whose existence is early and suddenly broken off by intemperance, imprisonment, or exile, by the scourge or the gallows. The Greeks had apothegms similar to this of the apostle. Obedient children are guided and guarded by their very veneration for their parents, and prevented from these fatal excesses; whereas the children of disobedience are of necessity exposed to all the juvenile temptations which lead to vice and crime. God does not bribe the child to obedience, but holds out this special and blessed result to tender und erstandings as a motive which they can appreciate and enjoy. OEcumenius says- ?
Fuente: Commentary on the Greek Text of Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians and Phillipians
Eph 6:3. This is the promise referred to in the preceding verse. It pertains to a temporal reward consisting of long life on the earth, particularly that part given to the Lord’s ancient people. The promise is not literally extended to Christians, but it is mentioned to indicate the importance of the command. If children obey this command (together with all others given to Christians), they have the promise of sharing in the new earth promised the righteous. (Mat 5:5; 2Pe 3:13.)
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Eph 6:3. That (in order that) it may be well with thee, etc. The Apostle here follows Deu 5:16, rather than Exo 20:12; the two passages differing slightly from each other. He, however, omits which the Lord thy God giveth thee, This omission gives the promise a wider reference to all lands, since land (here rendered earth) meant in the Old Testament promise the land of Canaan. It is hardly safe to affirm that the original commandment necessarily implied the wider reference; and that Paul omitted the last clause because his readers were not only familiar with the passage but understood it in this wider sense. To give the promise an exclusively spiritual meaning is altogether unwarranted. It is to be applied simply and plainly to individuals, subject of course to the conditions which always belong to such temporal promises (Ellicott). The last clause is future in the Greek, but depends on that; suggesting a further result
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.
Note that God is asking for good behavior on the part of the child and to encourage it He gives a positive reward to bring the child to desire to behave well. This is actually a Biblical principle that these child experts of today are encouraging us to use. If you do this, then you will gain this reward. However, notice that the reward is way far off in the future, not something that the child will gain immediately. This encourages one of the growth developments that children should learn – putting off gratification. We teach our kids today that they should get everything that they want – NOW – not in the future when they can afford it, or when they have done some work to earn it.
Now is the key to the now generation and believe me we have done a good job of training this present generation of kids in the NOW. They want it all NOW, not when they are fifty and have earned the money to pay for it ALL.
This is part of the problem with government, it is run by a bunch of spoiled elected officials that got it all RIGHT NOW when they WANTED it and are not willing to wait for anything. The national debt is on the increase due to their unbridled spending to get it ALL for EVERYONE that WANTS it ALL!
“Live long” is of interest in three ways. First, that it is a reward for a proper lifestyle as a child, and secondly it is not wrong to want to live long. Thirdly, to not want to die must be somewhat normal if we want to live long here.
Let’s expand on those for a moment.
a. Reward for living correctly. What an encouragement to the child to have a reward from God for living as they ought. It is also a reward to the parent because they child will not precede them in death most likely and the grand children will most likely be forthcoming.
b. Wanting to live longer. It is natural to want to live in this life as long as possible. Very few find a desire to check out early, and most of them do so because of some mental condition that puts them into depression.
To want to live longer is not abnormal for the believer, for even Paul seemed to plan and have desires toward the future.
c. Not wanting to die. Some have criticized believers that were terminal for wanting to live. To fear death might be something to be considered, but to want to live is most natural. Death is the last ENEMY, according to Paul the apostle so why would we want to throw ourselves into the enemy’s arms?
Fuente: Mr. D’s Notes on Selected New Testament Books by Stanley Derickson
When he restated the promise connected with obeying the fifth commandment, Paul changed it. God promised obedient Jewish children who lived under the Mosaic Law long life in the Promised Land (Exo 20:12; Deu 5:16). Since He has not promised Christians a particular piece of land, Paul stated the more general promise that lay behind the specific promise, namely, longer physical life on earth. Normally children who obey their parents end up avoiding many perils that would shorten their lives.