20:29
This proverb contrasts characteristics that people admire in men who are young and those who are old.
29a
The glory of young men is their strength,
29b and gray hair is the splendor of the old.
The Berean Standard Bible has used a chiasm to emphasize the contrast between the different characteristics. In Hebrew, the parallel parts occur in the same order, as in the English Standard Version:
29a
The glory of young men is their strength,
29b but the splendor of the old is their gray hair. (English Standard Version)
Notice that the English Standard Version has used the conjunction “but” to introduce the contrast. The Berean Standard Bible uses “and.” The New International Version does not use a conjunction. Connect the two lines of this verse in a way that expresses this kind of contrast effectively and naturally.
20:29a–b
The glory…the splendor: These parallel terms have almost the same meaning here. For glory, see 4:9a–b, where the Berean Standard Bible translates the word as “beauty.” For splendor, see 14:28a, where the Berean Standard Bible translates the word as “splendor.” In this context, both terms refer to a characteristic in which a person takes pride or which other people admire. Some other ways that English versions translate these terms are:
pride…ornament (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
glory…dignity (Revised English Bible)
-or-
We admire…respect (Good News Translation)
young men…the old: In Hebrew, the singular form of young men refers to a young man in the prime of life. The masculine plural form used here can refer to young women as well as young men. In the context of Proverbs, this verse refers primarily to young men and old men, as in the English Standard Version (quoted above).
If your language has gender-neutral terms for young people and old people, you may use those terms. Some languages use different terms for “young men” and “young women.” They also use different terms for “old men” and “old women.” If that is true in your language, it is probably better to use the set of terms that refers to men.
20:29a
The glory of young men is their strength: The word strength refers here to physical strength and energy. Some other ways to translate 20:29a are:
Young people take pride in their strength (New Century Version)
-or-
We admire the strength of youth (Good News Translation)
20:29b
gray hair: In Hebrew, gray hair is a single word. It is used here as a figure of speech (metonymy). It represents both old age and the wisdom and experience that accompany old age. Some ways to translate this figure of speech are:
• Use a similar figure of speech. For example:
their silver hair (God’s Word)
• Make the meaning explicit along with the figure of speech. For example:
the gray hair of experience (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
the gray hairs of wisdom (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
the gray hair of age (Good News Translation)
• Translate the meaning without using a figure of speech. For example:
their old age
-or-
their wisdom/experience
Some other ways to translate 20:29b are:
and old men are honored for their gray hair (New Century Version)
-or-
and we respect old people for their age and experience
Compare this translation advice with the notes on 16:31a. The words used there are slightly different, and the context is also different.
© 2012, 2016, 2020 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.