Old age is generally held in honour and the aged in society are to be respected. Because of the wisdom associated with their advancing years elders had an important role of authority and guidance in Israelite society and the NT speaks of the leadership of elders within the church. Passages gathered in the Dictionary of Bible Themes © 1999 Martin H. Manser, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Relevance Score
10%
You are to rise in the presence of the elderly, honor the aged, and fear your God. I am the LORD.
Young men, in the same way, submit yourselves to your elders. And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble."
The glory of young men is their strength, and gray hair is the splendor of the old.
Do not rebuke an older man, but appeal to him as to a father. Treat younger men as brothers,
Each of you must respect his mother and father, and you must keep My Sabbaths. I am the LORD your God.
Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.
Honor your father and mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
If anyone curses his father or mother, he must be put to death. He has cursed his father or mother; his blood shall be upon him.
'Cursed is he who dishonors his father or mother.' And let all the people say, 'Amen!'
As for the eye that mocks a father and scorns obedience to a mother, may the ravens of the valley pluck it out and young vultures devour it.
For God said, 'Honor your father and mother' and 'Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.'
For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother' and 'Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.'
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. "Honor your father and mother" (which is the first commandment with a promise), "that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life on the earth."
So Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite declared: "I am young in years, while you are old; that is why I was timid and afraid to tell you what I know. I thought that age should speak, and many years should teach wisdom.
Then King Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. "How do you advise me to respond to these people?" he asked. They replied, "If you will be a servant to these people and serve them this day, and if you will respond by speaking kind words to them, they will be your servants forever." But Rehoboam rejected the advice of the elders; instead, he consulted the young men who had grown up with him and served him.
Then King Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. "How do you advise me to respond to these people?" he asked. They replied, "If you will be kind to these people and please them by speaking kind words to them, they will be your servants forever." But Rehoboam rejected the advice of the elders; instead, he consulted the young men who had grown up with him and served him.
I prefer to appeal on the basis of love. For I, Paul, am now aged, and a prisoner of Christ Jesus as well.
Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, until I proclaim Your power to the next generation, Your might to all who are to come.
I once was young and now am old, yet never have I seen the righteous abandoned or their children begging for bread. They are ever generous and quick to lend, and their children are a blessing.
Better is a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer knows how to take a warning.
The people will oppress one another, man against man, neighbor against neighbor; the young will rise up against the old, and the base against the honorable.
"But now they mock me, men younger than I am, whose fathers I would have refused to entrust with my sheep dogs.
I was angry with My people; I profaned My heritage, and I placed them under your control. You showed them no mercy; even on the elderly you laid a most heavy yoke.
Then Joseph went to bury his father, and all the servants of Pharaoh accompanied him—the elders of Pharaoh's household and all the elders of the land of Egypt—
The elders of Moab and Midian departed with the fees for divination in hand. They came to Balaam and relayed to him the words of Balak.
Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—has appeared to me and said: I have surely attended to you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt. And I have promised to bring you up out of your affliction in Egypt, into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey.' The elders of Israel will listen to what you say, and you must go with them to the king of Egypt and tell him, 'The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now please let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness, so that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.'
Then Moses and Aaron went and assembled all the elders of the Israelites, and Aaron relayed everything the LORD had said to Moses. And Moses performed the signs before the people, and they believed. And when they heard that the LORD had attended to the Israelites and had seen their affliction, they bowed down and worshiped.
So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the LORD had commanded him.
Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and He took some of the Spirit that was on Moses and placed that Spirit on the seventy elders. As the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied—but they never did so again.
If, however, a man hates his neighbor and lies in wait, attacks him and kills him, and then flees to one of these cities, the elders of his city must send for him, bring him back, and hand him over to the avenger of blood to die.
Then the young woman's father and mother shall bring the proof of her virginity to the city elders at the gate and say to the elders, "I gave my daughter in marriage to this man, but he has come to hate her. And now he has accused her of shameful conduct, saying, 'I discovered that your daughter was not a virgin.' But here is the proof of her virginity." And they shall spread out the cloth before the city elders. Then the elders of that city shall take the man and punish him.
But if the man does not want to marry his brother's widow, she is to go to the elders at the city gate and say, "My husband's brother refuses to preserve his brother's name in Israel. He is not willing to perform the duty of a brother-in-law for me."
So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, where King David made with them a covenant before the LORD. And they anointed him king over Israel.
Those who had arrested Jesus led Him away to the house of Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and elders had gathered.
They led Jesus away to the high priest, and all the chief priests, elders, and scribes assembled.
Elders who lead effectively are worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.
This is a trustworthy saying: If anyone aspires to be an overseer, he desires a noble task. An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not dependent on wine, not violent but gentle, peaceable, and free of the love of money. An overseer must manage his own household well and keep his children under control, with complete dignity. For if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how can he care for the church of God? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same condemnation as the devil. Furthermore, he must have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the snare of the devil.
The reason I left you in Crete was that you would set in order what was unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you. An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, having children who are believers and who are not open to accusation of indiscretion or insubordination. As God's steward, an overseer must be above reproach—not self-absorbed, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not greedy for money. Instead, he must be hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. He must hold firmly to the faithful word as it was taught, so that he can encourage others by sound teaching and refute those who contradict it.
Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.
As a fellow elder, a witness of Christ's sufferings, and a partaker of the glory to be revealed, I appeal to the elders among you: Be shepherds of God's flock that is among you, watching over them not out of compulsion, but because it is God's will; not out of greed, but out of eagerness;
As I continued to watch, thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took His seat. His clothing was white as snow, and the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze.
In my vision in the night I continued to watch, and I saw One like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into His presence.
until the Ancient of Days arrived and pronounced judgment in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for them to possess the kingdom.
The hair of His head was white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes were like a blazing fire.
Before the mountains were born or You brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting You are God.
Who has performed this and carried it out, calling forth the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD—the first and the last— I am He."
Thus says the LORD, the King and Redeemer of Israel, the LORD of Hosts: "I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God but Me.