Adult Children and Elderly Parents: The Worlds of the New Testament

Abstract

One of the points of continuity between the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament concerns care and respect for the elderly. The New Testament evidences this concern in diverse ways. Our focus will center on care for aging parents by adult children. In requiring that adult children care for their aging parents, there is little doubt that the early Christian communities were influenced by the fifth commandment. New Testament writers quote the commandment ‘‘Honor your father and mother’’ in its Septuagint wording (Eph 6:2-3; cf. Exod 20:12; Deut 5:16). They cite it along with other commandments from the Decalogue (Mk 10:19) and refer to it as a commandment of Moses (Mk 7:10). In our time, the fifth commandment is frequently understood as exhorting younger children to obey their parents. A number of scholars have recognized, however, that in both ancient Israel and in the early Christian Communities, this commandment addressed adult Children in multi-generational households.1 It required from them a life-long obedience to and care for aging parents. This understanding of the fifth commandment as requiring adult ‘‘children’’ to care for their aged parents is evident in several first-cen-