Greek word · G3822

παλαιόω

palaioō

to make old

Active: make old, declare old or obsolete. Passive: grow old, become worn out, become antiquated or obsolete. It is related to palaios, 'old', which often means old in the sense of 'past its time'.

Appears 4 times in 3 verses of the Greek New Testament.

What it means

παλαιόω, -ῶ

(παλαιός), [in LXX chiefly for בָּלָה, pi., in pass. for בִּי qal. ;]

to make or declare old: Hebrews 8:13; pass., to become old: of things worn out by time and use (cf. John 9:13, Isaiah 50:9, al., and see: παλαιός), Luke 12:33, Hebrews 1:11" (LXX) ; τὸ παλαιούμενον, Hebrews 8:13 (where this and the act., see supr., may have the sense of abrogate, see LS, Zorell, see word).†

SYN.: γηράσκω (AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Hebrews 1:11

Range of meaning

Active: make old, declare old or obsolete. Passive: grow old, become worn out, become antiquated or obsolete. It is related to palaios, 'old', which often means old in the sense of 'past its time'.

Against the English

BSB, NIV and ESV say 'wear out', which gives the physical picture. NASB, WEB and YLT say 'grow/become old', which is closer to the word's form. KJV 'wax old' is archaic: 'wax' means 'grow'. No single English rendering carries both the physical wearing-out and the 'obsolete, ready to be replaced' idea.

How it drifted

The KJV's 'wax' (from Old English weaxan, 'to grow') survives today mainly in 'wax and wane', so some readers no longer recognise it.

Used elsewhere in the period

In LXX Psalm 101:27 it translates Hebrew yiblû, 'they wear out, become worn' (from bālâ). It appears in Deuteronomy 8:4 and 29:5 (LXX), where Israel's clothes did not 'wear out' in the wilderness. In the NT: Luke 12:33 (purses that do not 'grow old'). In Hebrews 8:13 it is used twice: God 'has made the first [covenant] obsolete (pepalaiōken), and what is becoming obsolete (palaioumenon) and growing old is near to vanishing'.

From the study of Hebrews 8:13

Range of meaning

Active: to make old, to treat or declare something as old or antiquated. Passive: to become old, to wear out, especially of clothes, buildings and bodies. The root palaios ("old") can mean simply "ancient" in a positive sense, but the verb mostly describes the wear of time.

Against the English

KJV "made… old" and YLT "made… old" keep the plain sense and the wordplay with "new". BSB, WEB, NIV, ESV, NASB and NLT say "obsolete", a word from the language of technology and law (out of use, superseded). It catches the force but loses the picture of something aging and wearing thin.

How it drifted

"Obsolete" now suggests something useless, irrelevant or embarrassing (an obsolete phone). The Greek pictures something aged and worn out, near the end of its life, but it does not mock what it describes or deny that it once had real value. Hebrews itself says the first covenant had God-given regulations (9:1) and was a God-ordained "shadow" of the reality to come (8:5; 10:1).

Used elsewhere in the period

In the Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint), Psalm 102:26 (101:27 in its numbering) says "they will all wear out (palaiōthēsontai) like a garment". Hebrews 1:11 quotes this of the created order. Deuteronomy 8:4 and 29:5 use it of clothes that did not wear out in the wilderness. Luke 12:33 speaks of purses that do not "grow old". Lexicons (BDAG) give "make old, declare obsolete" for the active verb.

Similar words

Where it appears

Luke · 1

  1. Luke 12:33 παλαιούμενα, growing old,

    Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide yourselves with purses that will not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.

    Here: Present participle: 'becoming old'. The picture is leather cracking and seams fraying until the money is lost.

Hebrews · 3

  1. Hebrews 1:11 παλαιωθήσονται, will grow old,

    They will perish, but You remain; they will all wear out like a garment.

    Here: Future passive: 'they will be made old' or 'will wear out'. The word means ageing to the point of uselessness, so that something is ready to be replaced. Hebrews uses the same verb for the first covenant 'becoming obsolete' (8:13).

  2. Hebrews 8:13 πεπαλαίωκεν παλαιούμενον He has made obsolete, growing old

    By speaking of a new covenant, He has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.

    Here: The perfect tense, meaning a finished act whose result still stands: by calling one covenant "new", God has turned the other into the "old" one, and it stays that way. That happened when the words were spoken, centuries before Hebrews.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.