Douglas A. Knight

Perspectives on Aging and the Elderly in the Hebrew Bible

The texts in the Hebrew Bible dealing with old age and the elderly should be understood in light of multiple contexts—the socioeconomic settings of real life in ancient Israel; the material indications that life expectancy must have hovered around age 40, which was probably considered elderly and suffering the ailments of old age; and the literature from surrounding cultures that depicts the afflictions of old age.