19:26
This proverb describes a son who mistreats his parents, causing terrible disgrace. The son’s actions in the first line are parallel to each other.
26a He who assaults his father or evicts his mother
26b is a son who brings shame and disgrace.
19:26a
He who assaults his father or evicts his mother: The word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as assaults means “mistreats,” or “acts violently against.” It could refer to a violent physical attack. But it probably indicates here that the son forcibly deprived his elderly father of the property that belonged to the family. He may have done this by prematurely taking over the property that he normally would have inherited from his father. In doing this, he forced both his father and mother out of their house.
Some other ways to translate 19:26a are:
He who ill-treats his father and drives out his mother (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
A son who takes his father’s property and forces his mother and father to leave their home
19:26b
is a son who brings shame and disgrace: A son who mistreats his parents causes shame and disgrace to them and possibly also to himself. The words shame and disgrace mean almost the same thing. They are probably used together here for emphasis.
In some languages, the same word is used for both “shame” and “disgrace.” If that is true in your language, you may be able to express the emphasis in a different way. For example:
causes great/terrible shame
Some other ways to translate this line are:
is a shameful and disgraceful son (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
[Children who…] are an embarrassment and a public disgrace (New Living Translation (2004))
See the note on 13:5b. The same terms also occur there.
General Comment on 19:26a–b
In some languages, it may be more natural to reorder the parts of this verse. For example:
How utterly disgraceful it is for a son to take his father’s property by force and send his parents out of their own home!
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