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. ¹  He joined his ancestors. ² 

Genesis 35:29

35:29 Then Isaac breathed his last and joined his ancestors. ³  He died an old man who had lived a full life. ⁴  His sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

Genesis 35:1

The Return to Bethel

35:1 Then God said to Jacob, “Go up at once ⁵  to Bethel ⁶  and live there. Make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” ⁷ 

Genesis 23:1

The Death of Sarah

23:1 Sarah lived 127 years. ⁸ 

Job 5:26

5:26 You will come to your grave in a full age, ⁹ 

As stacks of grain are harvested in their season.

Job 42:17

42:17 And so Job died, old and full of days.

Psalms 55:23

55:23 But you, O God, will bring them ¹⁰  down to the deep Pit. ¹¹ 

Violent and deceitful people ¹²  will not live even half a normal lifespan. ¹³ 

But as for me, I trust in you.

Psalms 90:10

90:10 The days of our lives add up to seventy years, ¹⁴ 

or eighty, if one is especially strong. ¹⁵ 

But even one’s best years are marred by trouble and oppression. ¹⁶ 

Yes, ¹⁷  they pass quickly ¹⁸  and we fly away. ¹⁹ 

Isaiah 65:20

65:20 Never again will one of her infants live just a few days ²⁰ 

or an old man die before his time. ²¹ 

Indeed, no one will die before the age of a hundred, ²² 

anyone who fails to reach ²³  the age of a hundred will be considered cursed.

[25:8]  ¹ tn Heb “old and full.”

[25:8]  ² 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.

[35:29]  ³ tn Heb “and Isaac expired and died and he was gathered to his people.” In the ancient Israelite view he joined his deceased ancestors in Sheol, the land of the dead.

[35:29]  ⁴ tn Heb “old and full of years.”

[35:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “arise, go up.” The first imperative gives the command a sense of urgency.

[35:1]  ⁶ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[35:1]  ⁷ sn God is calling on Jacob to fulfill his vow he made when he fled from…Esau (see Gen 28:20-22).

[23:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “And the years of Sarah were one hundred years and twenty years and seven years, the years of the life of Sarah.”

[5:26]  ⁹ tn The word translated “in a full age” has been given an array of meanings: “health; integrity”; “like a new blade of corn”; “in your strength [or vigor].” The numerical value of the letters in the word בְכֶלָח (bÿkhelakh, “in old age”) was 2, 20, 30, and 8, or 60. This led some of the commentators to say that at 60 one would enter the ripe old age (E. Dhorme, Job, 73).

[55:23]  ¹⁰ tn The pronominal suffix refers to the psalmist’s enemies (see v. 19).

[55:23]  ¹¹ tn Heb “well of the pit.” The Hebrew term שַׁחַת (shakhat, “pit”) is often used as a title for Sheol (see Pss 16:10; 30:9; 49:9; 103:4).

[55:23]  ¹² tn Heb “men of bloodshed and deceit.”

[55:23]  ¹³ tn Heb “will not divide in half their days.”

[90:10]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the days of our years, in them [are] seventy years.”

[90:10]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “or if [there is] strength, eighty years.”

[90:10]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and their pride [is] destruction and wickedness.” The Hebrew noun רֹהַב (rohav) occurs only here. BDB 923 s.v. assigns the meaning “pride,” deriving the noun from the verbal root רהב (“to act stormily [boisterously, arrogantly]”). Here the “pride” of one’s days (see v. 9) probably refers to one’s most productive years in the prime of life. The words translated “destruction and wickedness” are also paired in Ps 10:7. They also appear in proximity in Pss 7:14 and 55:10. The oppressive and abusive actions of evil men are probably in view (see Job 4:8; 5:6; 15:35; Isa 10:1; 59:4).

[90:10]  ¹⁷ tn or “for.”

[90:10]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “it passes quickly.” The subject of the verb is probably “their pride” (see the preceding line). The verb גּוּז (guz) means “to pass” here; it occurs only here and in Num 11:31.

[90:10]  ¹⁹ sn We fly away. The psalmist compares life to a bird that quickly flies off (see Job 20:8).

[65:20]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and there will not be from there again a nursing infant of days,” i.e., one that lives just a few days.

[65:20]  ²¹ tn Heb “or an old [man] who does not fill out his days.”

[65:20]  ²² tn Heb “for the child as a son of one hundred years will die.” The point seems to be that those who die at the age of a hundred will be considered children, for the average life span will be much longer than that. The category “child” will be redefined in light of the expanded life spans that will characterize this new era.

[65:20]  ²³ tn Heb “the one who misses.” חָטָא (khata’) is used here in its basic sense of “miss the mark.” See HALOT 305 s.v. חטא. Another option is to translate, “and the sinner who reaches the age of a hundred will be cursed.”