John Gill Commentary Proverbs 15:20

"A wise son maketh a glad father; But a foolish man despiseth his mother." — Proverbs 15:20 (ASV)

A wise son makes a glad father
(See Gill on Proverbs 10:1); but a foolish man despises his mother ;
that bore him and brought him up, and perhaps was too indulgent to him; which aggravates his sin and her sorrow; (See Gill on Proverbs 10:1); or causes her to be despised by others, as Jarchi interprets it; such a man's sin, which is great folly, and shows him to be a foolish man, is highly resented by the Lord, and will be severely punished; see (Proverbs 30:17) . The Targum is,

``a foolish son despises his mother;'' and so the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions, which makes the antithesis more clear; and the Hebrew text designs one grown up to man's estate.