Proverbs 20:29

The glory of young men is their strength: and the beauty of old men is the grey head.

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
glory	תִּפְאֶ֣רֶת tif.'E.ret	H8597	ornament (abstractly or concretely · noun, common feminine singular construct
men	בַּחוּרִ֣ים ba.chu.Rim	H970	properly · noun, common masculine plural absolute
strength	כֹּחָ֑ם ko.Cham	H3581	vigor · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
beauty	וַהֲדַ֖ר va.ha.Dar	H1926	magnificence · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular construct
men	זְקֵנִ֣ים ze.ke.Nim	H2205	old · adjective, masculine plural absolute
head	שֵׂיבָֽה sei.Vah	H7872	old age · noun, common feminine singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

1 John 2:14 I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are s…
Proverbs 16:31 The hoary head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness.
Leviticus 19:32 Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the LORD.
Jeremiah 9:23-24 Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 20:29

This shows that both young and old have their advantages, and therefore must each of them be, according to their capacities, serviceable to the public, and neither of them despise nor envy the other. 1. Let not old people despise the young, for they are strong and fit for action, able to go through business and break through difficulties, which the aged and weak cannot grapple with. The glory of young men is their strength, provided they use it well (in the service of God and their country, not of their lusts), and that they be not proud of it nor trust to it. 2. Let not young people despise the old, for they are grave, and fit for counsel, and, though they have not the strength that young m…

Read the whole note in the console

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 20:29

The glory of young men . . . the beauty of old men--Each age has its peculiar excellence (Pro 16:31).

John Gill on Proverbs 20:29

The glory of young men is their strength,.... That is the excellent thing in them, and it is to their honour when it is employed in the service of their king and country, and especially in the service of God and religion; though it does not become them to glory in it, Jeremiah 9:23; and the beauty of old men is the gray head; an index of wisdom and prudence; see Job 12:12. The design of the proverb is to show that both have their excellencies and usefulness, young men and old men, and should not despise one another; nor either of them be despised in a commonwealth, both being useful in it, the one for strength, the other for counsel; and so in the church of Christ; see 1 John 2:13.

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 20:29

29 The ornament of young men is their strength; And the honour of the old is grey hairs. Youth has the name בּחוּר (different from בּחוּר, chosen), of the maturity (R. בחר, cogn. בכר, בגר, whence Mishn. בּגרוּת, manhood, in contradistinction to נערוּת) into which he enters from the bloom of boyhood; and the old man is called זקן (Arab. dhikn, as Schultens says, a mento pendulo, from the hanging chin זקן, (Arab.) dhakan, chin, beard on the chin). To stand in the fulness of fresh unwasted strength is to youth, as such, an ornament (תּפארת, cf. פּארוּר, blooming colour of the countenance); on the contrary, to the old man who has spent his strength in the duties of his office, or as it is said a…

The Church Fathers

The exultation of young men is their strength, etc. He calls gray hair wisdom. Then indeed the cities of each are well-ordered, then the affairs of the holy Church are rightly conducted, when the stronger men apply themselves to the necessary works with their powers: and the elders, endowed with greater prudence, wisely advise on what is to be done.
— Bede, Commentary on Proverbs

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Age, Old — The aged occupied a prominent place in the social and political system of the Jews. In private life they were looked up to as the depositaries of knowledge, (Job 15:10) the young were ordered to rise…
Young Men · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Proverbs 20:29

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 20:29

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 20:29

John Gill on Proverbs 20:29

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 20:29

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Proverbs 20:29

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 20:29

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 20:29

John Gill on Proverbs 20:29

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 20:29

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Proverbs 20:28

Rashi on Proverbs 20:29