Proverbs 16:31 (WEB)

Passage

Gray hair is a crown of glory. It is attained by a life of righteousness.

Nearby Context

Proverbs 16:29 A man of violence entices his neighbor, and leads him in a way that is not good.

Proverbs 16:30 One who winks his eyes to plot perversities, one who compresses his lips, is bent on evil.

Proverbs 16:31 Gray hair is a crown of glory. It is attained by a life of righteousness.

Proverbs 16:32 One who is slow to anger is better than the mighty; one who rules his spirit, than he who takes a city.

Proverbs 16:33 The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from Yahweh.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "gray", "hair", "crown", "glory", "attained", "life", and "righteousness". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "gray" and "hair", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 30's "One who winks his eyes to plot..." into verse 32's "One who is slow to anger is...", so "gray" and "hair" belong inside that flow. In Proverbs context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

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