Tanakhתנ״ך

Gevurah and the Age of Eighty

Sources connecting the age of eighty to gevurah (strength), drawing primarily from Psalms and rabbinic interpretations. The sources explore how eighty years represents an extended lifespan achieved through strength, contrasted with the standard seventy-year human span.

וְאִם בִּגְבוּרֹת שְׁמוֹנִים שָׁנָה

5 sources · all verified

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What the sources say

The foundational pasuk is Tehillim 90:10, which states that while the standard span of life is seventy years, "if by reason of strength (בִּגְבוּרֹת), eighty years" — embedding the word gevurah directly in the description of the eightieth year.

The Gemara in Moed Katan 28a makes this connection explicit, ruling that one who dies at eighty "dies in strength (גְּבוּרוֹת)," and citing that same pasuk in Tehillim as its proof-text.

Pirkei Avot 5:21 enshrines the association in its famous developmental ladder, listing "at eighty — the age of gevurah (לַגְּבוּרָה)," giving the concept its most memorable formulation.

Rashi on Tehillim 90:10 reads the phrase as meaning simply that if one's days have greatly multiplied beyond the norm, they reach eighty years — grounding the word בִּגְבוּרוֹת in the idea of days that have powerfully prevailed.

Source 1 · Tanach

Verified

Psalms 90:10-12

תהילים צ׳:י׳-י״ב

Psalms 90:10-12

The passage states that the span of human life is seventy years, or eighty years if one possesses gevurot (strength/might), though their best years are filled with trouble and sorrow before they pass quickly into darkness.

יְמֵֽי־שְׁנוֹתֵ֨ינוּ בָהֶ֥ם שִׁבְעִ֪ים שָׁנָ֡ה וְאִ֤ם בִּגְבוּרֹ֨ת ׀ שְׁמ֘וֹנִ֤ים שָׁנָ֗ה וְ֭רׇהְבָּם עָמָ֣ל וָאָ֑וֶן כִּי־גָ֥ז חִ֝֗ישׁ וַנָּעֻֽפָה׃

The span of our life is seventy years, or, given the strength, eighty years; but the best of them are trouble and sorrow. They pass by speedily, and we are in darkness.

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Source 2 · Tanach

Verified

Psalms 90:10

תהילים צ׳:י׳

Psalms 90:10

Moses describes the human lifespan as seventy years, or eighty years for the strong ('im gevurah'), with the rest being labor and sorrow. This is the most direct biblical source connecting age 80 with gevurah/strength.

The span of our life is seventy years, or, given the strength, eighty years; but the best of them are trouble and sorrow. They pass by speedily, and we are in darkness.

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Source 3 · Chazal

Verified

Pirkei Avot 5:21

משנה אבות ה׳:כ״א

Pirkei Avot 5:21

The Mishnah lists life stages, saying that at eighty one achieves 'gevurah,' strength. This is the classic Chazal formulation that explicitly ties the age of eighty to gevurah.

הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר, בֶּן חָמֵשׁ שָׁנִים לַמִּקְרָא, בֶּן עֶשֶׂר לַמִּשְׁנָה, בֶּן שְׁלשׁ עֶשְׂרֵה לַמִּצְוֹת, בֶּן חֲמֵשׁ עֶשְׂרֵה לַתַּלְמוּד, בֶּן שְׁמֹנֶה עֶשְׂרֵה לַחֻפָּה, בֶּן עֶשְׂרִים לִרְדֹּף, בֶּן שְׁלשִׁים לַכֹּחַ, בֶּן אַרְבָּעִים לַבִּינָה, בֶּן חֲמִשִּׁים לָעֵצָה, בֶּן שִׁשִּׁים לַזִּקְנָה, בֶּן שִׁבְעִים לַשֵּׂיבָה, בֶּן שְׁמֹנִים לַגְּבוּרָה, בֶּן תִּשְׁעִים לָשׁוּחַ, בֶּן מֵאָה כְּאִלּוּ מֵת וְעָבַר וּבָטֵל מִן הָעוֹלָם:

He used to say: At five years of age the study of Scripture; At ten the study of Mishnah; At thirteen subject to the commandments; At fifteen the study of Talmud; At eighteen the bridal canopy; At twenty for pursuit [of livelihood]; At thirty the peak of strength; At forty wisdom; At fifty able to give counsel; At sixty old age; At seventy fullness of years; At eighty the age of “strength”; At ninety a bent body; At one hundred, as good as dead and gone completely out of the world.

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Source 4 · Chazal

Verified

Moed Katan 28a

מועד קטן כ״ח א — ד"ה שִׁבְעִים — שֵׂיבָה

Moed Katan 28a:10

Death at age eighty is described as occurring in gevurot (strength), cited from Psalms 90:10 which contrasts seventy years as the standard lifespan with eighty years achieved "by reason of strength.

שִׁבְעִים — שֵׂיבָה. שְׁמוֹנִים — גְּבוּרוֹת, דִּכְתִיב: ״יְמֵי שְׁנוֹתֵינוּ בָהֶם שִׁבְעִים שָׁנָה וְאִם בִּגְבוּרוֹת שְׁמוֹנִים שָׁנָה״. אָמַר רַבָּה: מֵחֲמִשִּׁים וְעַד שִׁשִּׁים שָׁנָה — זוֹ הִיא מִיתַת כָּרֵת. וְהַאי דְּלָא חָשֵׁיב לְהוּ — מִשּׁוּם כְּבוֹדוֹ שֶׁל שְׁמוּאֵל הָרָמָתִי.

One who dies at the age of seventy has reached old age. One who dies at the age of eighty dies in strength, as it is written: “The days of our years are seventy, or if by reason of strength, eighty years” (Psalms 90:10). Rabba said: Not only is death at the age of fifty a sign of karet, but even death from fifty to sixty years of age is death by karet. And the reason that all of these years were not counted in connection with karet is due to the honor of Samuel from Ramah, who died at the age of fifty-two.

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Source 5 · Rishonim

Verified

Rashi on Psalms 90:10

רש"י על תהילים צ׳:י׳

Rashi on Psalms 90:10

The passage states that if one's days are greatly increased (gevurot), they are eighty years.

וְאִם בִּגְבוּרוֹת. וְאִם הַרְבֵּה גָּבְרוּ יָמָיו, שְׁמוֹנִים שָׁנָה הֵם:

and if with increase And if his days are much increased, they are eighty years.

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