Genesis 15:15

15:15 But as for you, ¹  you will go to your ancestors ²  in peace and be buried at a good old age. ³ 

Genesis 25:8

25:8 Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man who had lived a full life. ⁴  He joined his ancestors. ⁵ 

Genesis 42:38

42:38 But Jacob ⁶  replied, “My son will not go down there with you, for his brother is dead and he alone is left. ⁷  If an accident happens to him on the journey you have to make, then you will bring down my gray hair ⁸  in sorrow to the grave.” ⁹ 

Proverbs 16:31

16:31 Gray hair is like ¹⁰  a crown of glory; ¹¹ 

it is attained ¹²  in the path of righteousness. ¹³ 

Proverbs 20:29

20:29 The glory ¹⁴  of young men is their strength,

and the splendor ¹⁵  of old men is gray hair. ¹⁶ 

[15:15]  ¹ tn The vav with the pronoun before the verb calls special attention to the subject in contrast to the preceding subject.

[15:15]  ² sn You will go to your ancestors. This is a euphemistic expression for death.

[15:15]  ³ tn Heb “in a good old age.”

[25:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “old and full.”

[25:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “And he was gathered to his people.” In the ancient Israelite view he joined his deceased ancestors in Sheol, the land of the dead.

[42:38]  ⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[42:38]  ⁷ sn The expression he alone is left meant that (so far as Jacob knew) Benjamin was the only surviving child of his mother Rachel.

[42:38]  ⁸ sn The expression bring down my gray hair is figurative, using a part for the whole – they would put Jacob in the grave. But the gray head signifies a long life of worry and trouble.

[42:38]  ⁹ tn Heb “to Sheol,” the dwelling place of the dead.

[16:31]  ¹⁰ tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied for the sake of clarity.

[16:31]  ¹¹ sn The proverb presents the ideal, for it is not concerned with old people who may be evil. The KJV tried to qualify the interpretation by making the second half of the verse a conditional clause (“if it be found in the way of righteousness”). This is acceptable but unnecessary. The book of Proverbs is simply laying out the equity of longevity for righteousness and premature death for wicked people. In this line “gray hair” is a metonymy of adjunct/effect, representing old age; and the “glorious crown” (taking the genitive as attributive) provides a fitting metaphor to compare the hair on the head with a crown.

[16:31]  ¹² tn Heb “it is found” (so NASB) or “it will be found.”

[16:31]  ¹³ sn While the proverb presents a general observation, there is a commendable lesson about old people who can look back on a long walk with God through life and can anticipate unbroken fellowship with him in glory.

[20:29]  ¹⁴ tn The Hebrew term תִּפְאֶרֶת (tif’eret) means “beauty; glory”; in a context like this it means “honor” in the sense of glorying or boasting (BDB 802 s.v. 3.b).

[20:29]  ¹⁵ tn The Hebrew term הֲדַר (hadar), the noun in construct, means “splendor; honor; ornament.” The latter sense is used here, since grey hair is like a crown on the head.

[20:29]  ¹⁶ sn “Grey hair” is a metonymy of adjunct; it represents everything valuable about old age – dignity, wisdom, honor, experience, as well as worry and suffering of life. At the very least, since they survived, they must know something. At the most, they were the sages and elders of the people.