Reference: Father
American
Is often synonymous with ancestor, founder, or originator, as Ge 4:20-21; Joh 8:56; Ro 4:16. Joseph was a father to Pharoah, Ge 45:8, as his counselor and provider. God is the FATHER of men, as their Creator, De 32:6; Isa 63:16; 64:8; Lu 3:38. But as we have forfeited the rights of children by our sins, it is only through Christ that we can call God by that endearing name, "our Father," Joh 20:17; Ro 8:15-17.
In patriarchal times, a father was master and judge in his own household, and exercised and authority almost unlimited over his family. Filial disobedience or disrespect was a high offence. Under the law, certain acts of children were capital crimes, Ex 21:15,17; Le 20:9; and the father was required to bring his son to the public tribunal, De 21:18-21. See MOTHER.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have cattle and purchase possessions. His brother's name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe.
So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
Whoever strikes his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.
Whoever curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.
Everyone who curses his father or mother shall surely be put to death; he has cursed his father or mother; his bloodguilt is upon him.
If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or his mother and though they chasten him will not listen to them, Then his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gate of the place where he lives, read more. And they shall say to the elders of his city, This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey our voice. He is a glutton and a drunkard. Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death; so you shall cleanse out the evil from your midst, and all Israel shall hear and [reverently] fear.
Do you thus repay the Lord, you foolish and senseless people? Is not He your Father Who acquired you for His own, Who made and established you [as a nation]?
For [surely] You are our Father, even though Abraham [our ancestor] does not know us and Israel (Jacob) does not acknowledge us; You, O Lord, are [still] our Father, our Redeemer from everlasting is Your name.
Yet, O Lord, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You our Potter, and we all are the work of Your hand.
Your forefather Abraham was extremely happy at the hope and prospect of seeing My day (My incarnation); and he did see it and was delighted.
Jesus said to her, Do not cling to Me [do not hold Me], for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to My brethren and tell them, I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.
Therefore, [inheriting] the promise is the outcome of faith and depends [entirely] on faith, in order that it might be given as an act of grace (unmerited favor), to make it stable and valid and guaranteed to all his descendants -- "not only to the devotees and adherents of the Law, but also to those who share the faith of Abraham, who is [thus] the father of us all.
For [the Spirit which] you have now received [is] not a spirit of slavery to put you once more in bondage to fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption [the Spirit producing sonship] in [the bliss of] which we cry, Abba (Father)! Father! The Spirit Himself [thus] testifies together with our own spirit, [assuring us] that we are children of God. read more. And if we are [His] children, then we are [His] heirs also: heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ [sharing His inheritance with Him]; only we must share His suffering if we are to share His glory.
Easton
a name applied (1) to any ancestor (De 1:11; 1Ki 15:11; Mt 3:9; 23:30, etc.); and (2) as a title of respect to a chief, ruler, or elder, etc. (Jg 17:10; 18:19; 1Sa 10:12; 2Ki 2:12; Mt 23:9, etc.). (3) The author or beginner of anything is also so called; e.g., Jabal and Jubal (Ge 4:20-21; comp. Job 38:28).
Applied to God (Ex 4:22; De 32:6; 2Sa 7:14; Ps 89:27-28, etc.). (1.) As denoting his covenant relation to the Jews (Jer 31:9; Isa 63:16; 64:8; Joh 8:41, etc.).
(2.) Believers are called God's "sons" (Joh 1:12; Ro 8:16; Mt 6:4,8,15,18; 10:20,29). They also call him "Father" (Ro 1:7; 1Co 1:3; 2Co 1:2; Ga 1:4)
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have cattle and purchase possessions. His brother's name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe.
And you shall say to Pharaoh, Thus says the Lord, Israel is My son, even My firstborn.
May the Lord, the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times as many as you are and bless you as He has promised you!
Do you thus repay the Lord, you foolish and senseless people? Is not He your Father Who acquired you for His own, Who made and established you [as a nation]?
And Micah said to him, Dwell with me and be to me a father and a priest, and I will give you ten pieces of silver each year, a suit of clothes, and your living. So the Levite went in.
And they said to him, Be still, put your hand over your mouth, and come with us, and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for you to be a priest to the house of one man, or that you be a priest to a tribe and family in Israel?
Also I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth. My mercy and loving-kindness will I keep for him forevermore, and My covenant shall stand fast and be faithful with him.
For [surely] You are our Father, even though Abraham [our ancestor] does not know us and Israel (Jacob) does not acknowledge us; You, O Lord, are [still] our Father, our Redeemer from everlasting is Your name.
Yet, O Lord, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You our Potter, and we all are the work of Your hand.
They will come with weeping [in penitence and for joy], pouring out prayers [for the future]. I will lead them back; I will cause them to walk by streams of water and bring them in a straight way in which they will not stumble, for I am a Father to Israel, and Ephraim [Israel] is My firstborn.
And do not presume to say to yourselves, We have Abraham for our forefather; for I tell you, God is able to raise up descendants for Abraham from these stones!
So that your deeds of charity may be in secret; and your Father Who sees in secret will reward you openly.
Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.
But if you do not forgive others their trespasses [their reckless and willful sins, leaving them, letting them go, and giving up resentment], neither will your Father forgive you your trespasses.
So that your fasting may not be noticed by men but by your Father, Who sees in secret; and your Father, Who sees in secret, will reward you in the open.
For it is not you who are speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
Are not two little sparrows sold for a penny? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father's leave (consent) and notice.
And do not call anyone [in the church] on earth father, for you have one Father, Who is in heaven.
Saying, If we had lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not have aided them in shedding the blood of the prophets.
But to as many as did receive and welcome Him, He gave the authority (power, privilege, right) to become the children of God, that is, to those who believe in (adhere to, trust in, and rely on) His name -- "
You are doing the works of your [own] father. They said to Him, We are not illegitimate children and born out of fornication; we have one Father, even God.
To [you then] all God's beloved ones in Rome, called to be saints and designated for a consecrated life: Grace and spiritual blessing and peace be yours from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Spirit Himself [thus] testifies together with our own spirit, [assuring us] that we are children of God.
Who gave (yielded) Himself up [ to atone] for our sins [and to save and sanctify us], in order to rescue and deliver us from this present wicked age and world order, in accordance with the will and purpose and plan of our God and Father -- "
To the saints (the consecrated people of God) and believing and faithful brethren in Christ who are at Colossae: Grace (spiritual favor and blessing) to you and [heart] peace from God our Father. We continually give thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah), as we are praying for you,
Fausets
Chaldaic 'abba. Christ's endearing filial mode of addressing God; so believers (Mr 14:36; Ro 8:15); from 'aabah, "to show kindness." God's fatherhood is the ground and pattern for human fatherhood. Abraham was "father of nations," both by natural descent from him and by spiritual fellowship in his faith (Ge 18:18-19; Ro 4:17). The godly father's blessing brought great good, his curse great evil (Ge 9:25-27); the undutifulness of Ham entailing a curse on his race, the dutifulness of Shem and Japhet a blessing on their races (Ge 27:27-40; 48:15-20,22). The fifth commandment, "honor thy father and mother," is the first with special promise (Eph 6:2).
Love descends rather than ascends; hence this commandment is more needed than one concerning parents' duties to children, but this is added (Eph 6:4; Col 3:21). Dishonoring parents is one of the worst sins (Ex 21:15-17; 1Ti 1:9; Mal 1:6; Isa 45:10). Still the parent was not to inflict death, but to bring the refractory child before the city elders in the gate or place of justice (De 21:18-21). Any ancestor is called "father" or "mother" (Isa 51:2; Jer 35:16-18, the sons of Jonadab son of Rechab, a striking instance of the blessing on obedience to parents; Da 5:2; 2Ch 15:16 margin). "Father" is used also for protector, patron (Job 29:16; Ps 68:5; De 32:6). "Fathers" mean elders (Ac 7:2; 22:1). The pupils of a spiritual master are called "sons" (2Ki 2:3; 4:1).
Father expresses one worshipped or reverenced (Jer 2:27; 2Ki 2:12; 5:13; 6:21). The inventor of any art is called "father" of it or of its practicers (Ge 4:20-21; Joh 8:44; Job 38:28; 17:14). So the source (2Co 1:3) or instrument of spiritual blessings, as "mercy," regeneration. 1Co 4:15; "though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel." The father's great duty was to teach God's laws continually to his children; "speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up ... that your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children ... as the days of heaven upon the earth" (De 11:18-21).
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have cattle and purchase possessions. His brother's name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe.
He exclaimed, Cursed be Canaan! He shall be the servant of servants to his brethren! He also said, Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem! And blessed by the Lord my God be Shem! And let Canaan be his servant. read more. May God enlarge Japheth; and let him dwell in the tents of Shem, and let Canaan be his servant.
Since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed through him and shall bless themselves by him? For I have known (chosen, acknowledged) him [as My own], so that he may teach and command his children and the sons of his house after him to keep the way of the Lord and to do what is just and righteous, so that the Lord may bring Abraham what He has promised him.
So he came near and kissed him; and [Isaac] smelled his clothing and blessed him and said, The scent of my son is as the odor of a field which the Lord has blessed. And may God give you of the dew of the heavens and of the fatness of the earth and abundance of grain and [new] wine; read more. Let peoples serve you and nations bow down to you; be master over your brothers, and let your mother's sons bow down to you. Let everyone be cursed who curses you and favored with blessings who blesses you. As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob and Jacob was scarcely gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, Esau his brother came in from his hunting. Esau had also prepared savory food and brought it to his father and said to him, Let my father arise and eat of his son's game, that you may bless me. And Isaac his father said to him, Who are you? And he replied, I am your son, your firstborn, Esau. Then Isaac trembled and shook violently, and he said, Who? Where is he who has hunted game and brought it to me, and I ate of it all before you came and I have blessed him? Yes, and he shall be blessed. When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with a great and bitter cry and said to his father, Bless me, even me also, O my father! [Isaac] said, Your brother came with crafty cunning and treacherous deceit and has taken your blessing. [Esau] replied, Is he not rightly named Jacob [the supplanter]? For he has supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright, and now he has taken away my blessing! Have you not still a blessing reserved for me? And Isaac answered Esau, Behold, I have made [Jacob] your lord and master; I have given all his brethren to him for servants, and with corn and [new] wine have I sustained him. What then can I do for you, my son? Esau said to his father, Have you only one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father! And Esau lifted up [could not control] his voice and wept aloud. Then Isaac his father answered, Your [blessing and] dwelling shall all come from the fruitfulness of the earth and from the dew of the heavens above; By your sword you shall live and serve your brother. But [the time shall come] when you will grow restive and break loose, and you shall tear his yoke from off your neck.
Then [Jacob] blessed Joseph and said, God [Himself], before Whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac lived and walked habitually, God [Himself], Who has [been my Shepherd and has led and] fed me from the time I came into being until this day, The redeeming Angel [that is, the Angel the Redeemer -- "not a created being but the Lord Himself] Who has redeemed me continually from every evil, bless the lads! And let my name be perpetuated in them [may they be worthy of having their names coupled with mine], and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them become a multitude in the midst of the earth. read more. When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on Ephraim's head, it displeased him; and he held up his father's hand to move it to Manasseh's head. And Joseph said, Not so, my father, for this is the firstborn; put your right hand upon his head. But his father refused and said, I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people and shall be great; but his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations. And he blessed them that day, saying, By you shall Israel bless [one another], saying, May God make you like Ephraim and like Manasseh. And he set Ephraim before Manasseh.
Moreover, I have given to you [Joseph] one portion [Shechem, one mountain slope] more than any of your brethren, which I took [reclaiming it] out of the hand of the Amorites with my sword and with my bow.
Whoever strikes his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. Whoever kidnaps a man, whether he sells him or is found with him in his possession, shall surely be put to death. read more. Whoever curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.
Therefore you shall lay up these My words in your [minds and] hearts and in your [entire] being, and bind them for a sign upon your hands and as forehead bands between your eyes. And you shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you rise up. read more. And you shall write them upon the doorposts of your house and on your gates, That your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth.
If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or his mother and though they chasten him will not listen to them, Then his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gate of the place where he lives, read more. And they shall say to the elders of his city, This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey our voice. He is a glutton and a drunkard. Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death; so you shall cleanse out the evil from your midst, and all Israel shall hear and [reverently] fear.
Do you thus repay the Lord, you foolish and senseless people? Is not He your Father Who acquired you for His own, Who made and established you [as a nation]?
The prophets' sons who were at Bethel came to Elisha and said, Do you know that the Lord will take your master away from you today? He said, Yes, I know it; hold your peace.
Now the wife of a son of the prophets cried to Elisha, Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord. But the creditor has come to take my two sons to be his slaves.
If I say to the grave and corruption, You are my father, and to the worm [that feeds on decay], You are my mother and my sister [because I will soon be closest to you],
I was a father to the poor and needy; the cause of him I did not know I searched out.
A father of the fatherless and a judge and protector of the widows is God in His holy habitation.
Woe to him [who complains against his parents that they have begotten him] who says to a father, What are you begetting? or to a woman, With what are you in travail?
Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you; for I called him when he was but one, and I blessed him and made him many.
[Inasmuch as] they say to a tree, You are my father, and to a stone, You gave me birth. For they have turned their backs to Me and not their faces; but in the time of their trouble, they say, Arise [O Lord] and save us!
Since the sons of Jonadab son of Rechab have fulfilled and established the command of their father which he commanded them, but these people have not listened to and obeyed Me, Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing upon Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them, because I have spoken to them, but they have not listened, and I have called to them, but they have not answered. read more. And Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Because you have obeyed the command of Jonadab your father and have kept all his precepts and have done according to all that he commanded you,
Belshazzar, while he was tasting the wine, commanded that the gold and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple [out of the sacred area -- "the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies] which was in Jerusalem be brought, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them.
A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a Father, where is My honor? And if I am a Master, where is the [reverent] fear due Me? says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests, who despise My name. You say, How and in what way have we despised Your name?
And He was saying, Abba, [which means] Father, everything is possible for You. Take away this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You [will].
You are of your father, the devil, and it is your will to practice the lusts and gratify the desires [which are characteristic] of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a falsehood, he speaks what is natural to him, for he is a liar [himself] and the father of lies and of all that is false.
And he answered, Brethren and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our forefather Abraham when he was still in Mesopotamia, before he [went to] live in Haran,
As it is written, I have made you the father of many nations. [He was appointed our father] in the sight of God in Whom he believed, Who gives life to the dead and speaks of the nonexistent things that [He has foretold and promised] as if they [already] existed.
For [the Spirit which] you have now received [is] not a spirit of slavery to put you once more in bondage to fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption [the Spirit producing sonship] in [the bliss of] which we cry, Abba (Father)! Father!
After all, though you should have ten thousand teachers (guides to direct you) in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the glad tidings (the Gospel).
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of sympathy (pity and mercy) and the God [Who is the Source] of every comfort (consolation and encouragement),
Honor (esteem and value as precious) your father and your mother -- "this is the first commandment with a promise -- "
Fathers, do not irritate and provoke your children to anger [do not exasperate them to resentment], but rear them [tenderly] in the training and discipline and the counsel and admonition of the Lord.
Fathers, do not provoke or irritate or fret your children [do not be hard on them or harass them], lest they become discouraged and sullen and morose and feel inferior and frustrated. [Do not break their spirit.]
He must hold fast to the sure and trustworthy Word of God as he was taught it, so that he may be able both to give stimulating instruction and encouragement in sound (wholesome) doctrine and to refute and convict those who contradict and oppose it [showing the wayward their error].
Hastings
Morish
Except as creator and preserver of all, God is not revealed as Father in the O.T. "Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us?" Mal 2:10. The Lord Jesus is also prophesied of as 'the everlasting Father' or 'Father of the everlasting age.' Isa 9:6. It was reserved for the N.T. times that God should be made known as Father; and this was done only by the Lord Jesus while upon earth, who constantly spoke to His disciples of God as their Father in heaven. Mt 5:16,45,48-6:1; 6:8,14-15, etc. He could, as the Son, while on earth thus make Him known to them. After the resurrection the Lord was able to send this message to His disciples, whom He now calls His 'brethren:' "I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God." Joh 20:17. The will of the Father and the work of His Son, the source of eternal life to them, had brought the disciples in this respect into the same heavenly position as the risen Christ Himself before the Father. The term 'father' is used symbolically when there is a moral likeness between a leader and his followers. Joh 8:38-44.
In the O.T. the word ab is at times used as 'founder:' thus in 1Ch 4:4 one is mentioned as the 'father' of Bethlehem.
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And Penuel was the father of Gedor, and Ezer the father of Hushah. These were the sons of Hur, the eldest of Ephrathah (Ephrath), the father of Bethlehem.
For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father [of Eternity], Prince of Peace.
Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why then do we deal faithlessly and treacherously each against his brother, profaning the covenant of [God with] our fathers?
Let your light so shine before men that they may see your moral excellence and your praiseworthy, noble, and good deeds and recognize and honor and praise and glorify your Father Who is in heaven.
To show that you are the children of your Father Who is in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the wicked and on the good, and makes the rain fall upon the upright and the wrongdoers [alike].
Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.
For if you forgive people their trespasses [their reckless and willful sins, leaving them, letting them go, and giving up resentment], your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their trespasses [their reckless and willful sins, leaving them, letting them go, and giving up resentment], neither will your Father forgive you your trespasses.
I tell the things which I have seen and learned at My Father's side, and your actions also reflect what you have heard and learned from your father. They retorted, Abraham is our father. Jesus said, If you were [truly] Abraham's children, then you would do the works of Abraham [follow his example, do as Abraham did]. read more. But now [instead] you are wanting and seeking to kill Me, a Man Who has told you the truth which I have heard from God. This is not the way Abraham acted. You are doing the works of your [own] father. They said to Him, We are not illegitimate children and born out of fornication; we have one Father, even God. Jesus said to them, If God were your Father, you would love Me and respect Me and welcome Me gladly, for I proceeded (came forth) from God [out of His very presence]. I did not even come on My own authority or of My own accord (as self-appointed); but He sent Me. Why do you misunderstand what I say? It is because you are unable to hear what I am saying. [You cannot bear to listen to My message; your ears are shut to My teaching.] You are of your father, the devil, and it is your will to practice the lusts and gratify the desires [which are characteristic] of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a falsehood, he speaks what is natural to him, for he is a liar [himself] and the father of lies and of all that is false.
Jesus said to her, Do not cling to Me [do not hold Me], for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to My brethren and tell them, I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.
Smith
The position and authority of the father as the head of the family are expressly assumed and sanctioned in Scripture, as a likeness of that of the Almighty over his creatures. It lies of course at the root of that so-called patriarchal government,
which was introductory to the more definite systems which followed, and which in part, but not wholly, superseded it. The father's blessing was regarded as conferring special benefit, but his malediction special injury, on those on whom it fell,
Ge 9:25,27; 27:27-40; 48:15,20; 49:1
... and so also the sin of a parent was held to affect, in certain cases, the welfare of his descendants.
The command to honor parents is noticed by St. Paul as the only one of the Decalogue which bore a distinct promise,
and disrespect towards them was condemned by the law as one of the worst crimes.
It is to this well-recognized theory of parental authority and supremacy that the very various uses of the term "father" in Scripture are due. "Fathers" is used in the sense of seniors,
and of parents in general, or ancestors.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
To the woman He said, I will greatly multiply your grief and your suffering in pregnancy and the pangs of childbearing; with spasms of distress you will bring forth children. Yet your desire and craving will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.
He exclaimed, Cursed be Canaan! He shall be the servant of servants to his brethren!
May God enlarge Japheth; and let him dwell in the tents of Shem, and let Canaan be his servant.
So he came near and kissed him; and [Isaac] smelled his clothing and blessed him and said, The scent of my son is as the odor of a field which the Lord has blessed. And may God give you of the dew of the heavens and of the fatness of the earth and abundance of grain and [new] wine; read more. Let peoples serve you and nations bow down to you; be master over your brothers, and let your mother's sons bow down to you. Let everyone be cursed who curses you and favored with blessings who blesses you. As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob and Jacob was scarcely gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, Esau his brother came in from his hunting. Esau had also prepared savory food and brought it to his father and said to him, Let my father arise and eat of his son's game, that you may bless me. And Isaac his father said to him, Who are you? And he replied, I am your son, your firstborn, Esau. Then Isaac trembled and shook violently, and he said, Who? Where is he who has hunted game and brought it to me, and I ate of it all before you came and I have blessed him? Yes, and he shall be blessed. When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with a great and bitter cry and said to his father, Bless me, even me also, O my father! [Isaac] said, Your brother came with crafty cunning and treacherous deceit and has taken your blessing. [Esau] replied, Is he not rightly named Jacob [the supplanter]? For he has supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright, and now he has taken away my blessing! Have you not still a blessing reserved for me? And Isaac answered Esau, Behold, I have made [Jacob] your lord and master; I have given all his brethren to him for servants, and with corn and [new] wine have I sustained him. What then can I do for you, my son? Esau said to his father, Have you only one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father! And Esau lifted up [could not control] his voice and wept aloud. Then Isaac his father answered, Your [blessing and] dwelling shall all come from the fruitfulness of the earth and from the dew of the heavens above; By your sword you shall live and serve your brother. But [the time shall come] when you will grow restive and break loose, and you shall tear his yoke from off your neck.
Then [Jacob] blessed Joseph and said, God [Himself], before Whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac lived and walked habitually, God [Himself], Who has [been my Shepherd and has led and] fed me from the time I came into being until this day,
And he blessed them that day, saying, By you shall Israel bless [one another], saying, May God make you like Ephraim and like Manasseh. And he set Ephraim before Manasseh.
And Jacob called for his sons and said, Gather yourselves together [around me], that I may tell you what shall befall you in the latter or last days.
Regard (treat with honor, due obedience, and courtesy) your father and mother, that your days may be long in the land the Lord your God gives you.
Whoever strikes his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.
Whoever curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.
Therefore the leprosy of Naaman shall cleave to you and to your offspring forever. And Gehazi went from his presence a leper as white as snow.
And all nations shall serve him and his son and his grandson until the [God-appointed] time [of punishment] of his own land comes; and then many nations and great kings shall make him their slave.
Belshazzar, while he was tasting the wine, commanded that the gold and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple [out of the sacred area -- "the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies] which was in Jerusalem be brought, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them.
Saying, If we had lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not have aided them in shedding the blood of the prophets.
Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers' sins to the brim [so that nothing may be wanting to a full measure].
And he answered, Brethren and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our forefather Abraham when he was still in Mesopotamia, before he [went to] live in Haran,
Honor (esteem and value as precious) your father and your mother -- "this is the first commandment with a promise -- "
He must hold fast to the sure and trustworthy Word of God as he was taught it, so that he may be able both to give stimulating instruction and encouragement in sound (wholesome) doctrine and to refute and convict those who contradict and oppose it [showing the wayward their error].
Watsons
FATHER. This word, beside its common acceptation, is taken in Scripture for grandfather, great-grandfather, or the founder of a family, how remote soever. So the Jews in our Saviour's time called Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, their fathers. Jesus Christ is called the Son of David, though David was many generations distant from him. By father is likewise understood the institutor of a certain profession. Jabal "was father of such as dwell in tents, and such as have cattle." Jubal "was father of all such as handle the harp and organ," or flute, &c, Ge 4:20-21. Huram is called father of the king of Tyre, 2Ch 2:13; and, 2Ch 4:16, even of Solomon, because he was the principal workman, and chief director of their undertakings. The principal prophets were considered as fathers of the younger, who were their disciples, and are called sons of the prophets, 2Ki 2:12. Father is a term of respect given by inferiors to superiors. "My father," said Naaman's attendants to him, "if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing," 2Ki 5:13; and so the king of Israel addresses the prophet Elisha, 2Ki 6:21. Rechab, the founder of the Rechabites, is called their father, Jer 35:6. A man is said to be a father to the poor and orphans, when he supplies their necessities, and sympathizes with their miseries, as a father would do toward them: "I was a father to the poor," says Job 29:16. God declares himself to be the "Father of the fatherless, and Judge of the widow," Ps 68:5. God is frequently called our heavenly Father, and simply our Father; eminently the Father, Preserver, and Protector of all, especially of those who invoke him, and serve him: "Is he not thy Father that bought thee?" says Moses, De 32:6. Since the coming of Jesus Christ, we have a new right to call God our Father, by reason of the adoption which our Saviour has merited for us, by clothing himself in our humanity, and purchasing us by his death: "Ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God," Ro 8:15. Job entitles God "the Father of rain," Job 38:28; he produces it, and causes it to fall. The devil is called the father of the wicked and the father of lies, Joh 8:44. He deceived Eve and Adam; he introduced sin and falsehood; he inspires his followers with his spirit and sentiments. The father of Sichem, the father of Tekoah, the father of Bethlehem, &c, signify the chief persons who inhabited these cities; he who built or rebuilt them. Adam is the first father, the father of the living; Abraham is the father of the faithful, the father of the circumcision; called also the "father of many nations," because many people sprung from him; as the Jews, Ishmaelites, Arabs, &c. God is called "the Father of spirits," Heb 12:9. He not only creates them, but he justifies, sanctifies, and glorifies them, and thus confers upon them eternal happiness.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have cattle and purchase possessions. His brother's name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe.
Do you thus repay the Lord, you foolish and senseless people? Is not He your Father Who acquired you for His own, Who made and established you [as a nation]?
And Elisha saw it and he cried, My father, my father! The chariot of Israel and its horsemen! And he saw him no more. And he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.
And his servants came near and said to him, My father, if the prophet had bid you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much rather, then, when he says to you, Wash and be clean?
When the king of Israel saw them, he said to Elisha, My father, shall I slay them? Shall I slay them?
Now I have sent a skilled man, endued with understanding, even Huram-abi, my trusted counselor,
The pots, shovels, and fleshhooks, and all their equipment Huram his trusted counselor made of burnished bronze for King Solomon for the house of the Lord.
I was a father to the poor and needy; the cause of him I did not know I searched out.
A father of the fatherless and a judge and protector of the widows is God in His holy habitation.
But they said, We will drink no wine, for Jonadab son of Rechab, our father, commanded us: You shall not drink wine, neither you nor your sons, forever.
You are of your father, the devil, and it is your will to practice the lusts and gratify the desires [which are characteristic] of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a falsehood, he speaks what is natural to him, for he is a liar [himself] and the father of lies and of all that is false.
For [the Spirit which] you have now received [is] not a spirit of slavery to put you once more in bondage to fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption [the Spirit producing sonship] in [the bliss of] which we cry, Abba (Father)! Father!
Moreover, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we yielded [to them] and respected [them for training us]. Shall we not much more cheerfully submit to the Father of spirits and so [truly] live?