Translations
F.O.G.MPrimary
F.O.G MessageHe said of his father and mother, 'I do not know them'; he disowned his brothers and was a stranger to his own children — because they kept Your word and guarded Your covenant.
F.O.GSecondary
The F.O.GHe said of his father and mother, 'I regard them not'; his brothers he did not acknowledge, and his own children he did not know — for they kept Your word and guarded Your covenant.
KJV
King James VersionWho said unto his father and to his mother, I have not seen him; neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor knew his own children: for they have observed thy word, and kept thy covenant.
BSB
Berean Standard BibleHe said of his father and mother, ‘I do not consider them.’ He disregarded his brothers and did not know his own sons, for he kept Your word and maintained Your covenant.
Footnotes
This verse commemorates the Levites' action at the golden calf, when the tribe rallied to Moshe's call and drew the sword against their own kin (Exod. 32:26–29). The language is deliberately stark: Levi's priestly calling required a loyalty that transcended blood ties, and the Torah honours that choice as the foundation of their vocation. Yeshua echoes this principle precisely in Luke 14:26: "If anyone comes to Me and does not forsake father and mother... he cannot be My disciple." The covenant demand creates a new and deeper kinship. FOG preserves the terse, confrontational rhythm of the Hebrew; FOG Message adds "was a stranger to" to make the estrangement viscerally felt.
