Leviticus 19:32 (DBY)

Passage

Before the hoary head thou shalt rise up, and shalt honour the face of an old man; and thou shalt fear thy God: I am Jehovah.

Nearby Context

Leviticus 19:30 My sabbaths shall ye keep, and my sanctuary shall ye reverence: I am Jehovah.

Leviticus 19:31 Turn not unto necromancers and unto soothsayers; seek not after them to make yourselves unclean: I am Jehovah your God.

Leviticus 19:32 Before the hoary head thou shalt rise up, and shalt honour the face of an old man; and thou shalt fear thy God: I am Jehovah.

Leviticus 19:33 And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not molest him.

Leviticus 19:34 As one born among you shall the stranger who sojourneth with you be unto you; and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am Jehovah your God.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "before", "hoary", "head", "thou", "shalt", "rise", and "honour". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "before" and "hoary", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 31's "Turn not unto necromancers and unto soothsayers..." into verse 33's "And if a stranger sojourn with thee...", so "before" and "hoary" belong inside that flow. In Leviticus context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "before" and "hoary" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.