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Greek

To grow old

γηράσκωStrong’s G1095

gēraskō

Appears in 2 verses of the New Testament

In short

Gēraskō is the Greek word usually translated “may be old” and “aging”. It appears in 2 verses of the New Testament.

“Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.”
John 21:18 KJV
Meaning

Usually translated “may be old” and “aging”. Open the dictionary entry below for the full range of meaning, with the verses it cites.

How it's translated
  • you may be old 1
  • aging 1

Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.

Where it's used most
  • John 1
  • Hebrews 1

2 books in all.

Explore in Scripture
Greek dictionary

γηράσκω gēraskō · to grow old

γηράσκω (also γηράω; γῆρας), [in LXX chiefly for זקן ;] to grow old: Jhn.21:18, Heb.8:13.† SYN.: παλαιοῦμαι. (AS)

From STEPBible’s Greek lexicon (based on Abbott-Smith).

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

How the English word “age” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.

AGE, noun

[Latin aetas, or aevum. But these are undoubtedly contracted words.]

  1. The whole duration of a being, whether animal, vegetable, or other kind; as, the usual age of man is seventy years; the age of a horse may be twenty or thirty years; the age of a tree may be four hundred years.
  2. That part of the duration of a being, which is between its beginning and any given time; as, what is the present age of a man, or of the earth?“Jesus began to be about thirty years of age” Luke 3:23
  3. The latter part of life, or long continued duration; oldness.“The eyes of Israel were dim for age” Genesis 48:10
  4. A certain period of human life, marked by a difference of state; as, life is divided into four stages or ages, infancy, youth, manhood, and old age; the age of youth; the age of manhood.
All definitions
  1. The period when a person is enabled by law to do certain acts for himself, or when he ceases to be controlled by parents or guardians; as, in our country, both males and females are of age in twenty-one years old.
  2. Mature years; ripeness of strength or discretion.
  3. The time of life for conceiving children, or perhaps the usual time of such an event.“Sarah was delivered of a son when she was past age” Hebrews 11:11
  4. A particular period of time, as distinguished from others; as, the golden age the age of iron, the age of heroes or of chivalry.
  5. The people who live at a particular period; hence, a generation and a succession of generations; as, ages yet unborn.“The mystery hid from ages” Colossians 1:26
  6. A century; the period of one hundred years.

Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). Verse references are checked against the KJV. Read the full entry.

Verses are from the King James Version. Word meanings come from the original Greek, not from any one translation.