---
title: זָקֵן — be old · The Tanakh dictionary
description: זָקֵן (2204), a word of Biblical Hebrew, used 27 times: be old. BDB 1906: vb. be become old. With 2 verses in Hebrew, word for word and JPS 1917.
---

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# זָקֵן

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«זָקֵן» in the Tanakh dictionary: **be old** — how often it is used, MACULA's glosses, its meanings in the printed dictionaries and why they were chosen, and 2 verses in layers.

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**Used:** 27 times · **Key:** 2204 · **BDB:** זָקֵן

### Glosses

he.was.old (12); I.am.old (5); he.is.old (3)

### Meaning (OSHB)

be old [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1494/2204/#m1)

### Meaning (BDB 1906)

vb. be become old [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1494/2204/#m2)

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**The whole BDB entry:** vb. be or become old (cf., according to Thes, Arabic ذَقُونٌa she-camal that lets her lower lip hang down, 3, v. Lane 968; ذِقْنٌ decrepit man)— Pf. 3 ms. זָקֵן Gn 18:12 + 14 times (often hard to disting. from pred. adj. זָקֵן q.v.); 3 fs. זָֽקְנָה Pr 23:22; 2 ms. זָקַנְתָּ 1 S 8:5; זָקַ֫נְתָּה Jos 13:1; 1 s. זָקַנְתִּי Jos 23:2 + 3 times; זָקַ֑נְתִּי Gn 18:13; 27:2; Impf. וַיִּזְקַן 2 Ch 24:15;—be (or become) old Gn 18:12, 13; 19:31; 27:1, 2 (all J), 1 S 2:22; 4:18; 8:1, 5; 12:2; 17:12 2 S 19:33 1 K 1:1, 15 2 K 4:14; also Gn 24:1 (‖ בא בימים), so Jos 13:1(×2); 23:1, 2 (‖ here בָּאתִי בימים), 1 Ch 23:1 (‖ שָׂבַע ימים), 2 Ch 24:15 (‖ id.); Pr 23:22 ψ 37:25 (opp. היה נער); note especially זָקַנְתִּי מִהְיוֹת לאישׁ Ru 1:12 I am too old to belong to a man (husband). only Impf. 3 ms. יַזְקִין inchoat. shew age, grow old = senescere Ew.§ 122c, cf. Di; of youth Pr 22:6; of tree-root Jb 14:8.

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Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech agrees, 26 of its verses cited, 2 words shared with the glosses, lists its Strong's number (5 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech agrees, 1 words shared with the BDB entry, 1 with the glosses (4 candidates)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every English meaning of «זָקֵן» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1494/2204/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.

### In the verses

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[Genesis 27:2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/GEN.27.2/)

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וַיֹּ֕אמֶר הִנֵּה־נָ֖א זָקַ֑נְתִּי לֹ֥א יָדַ֖עְתִּי י֥וֹם מוֹתִֽי׃

*Word for word:* and he.said here! please I.am.old not I.know the.day my.death my

*JPS 1917:* And he said: 'Behold now, I am old, I know not the day of my death.

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[1 Samuel 8:1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/1SA.8.1/)

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וַיְהִ֕י כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר זָקֵ֖ן שְׁמוּאֵ֑ל וַיָּ֧שֶׂם אֶת־בָּנָ֛יו שֹׁפְטִ֖ים לְיִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃

*Word for word:* and it.was when he.was.old Samuel and he.made (et) sons his judges for Israel

*JPS 1917:* And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel.

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