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.(Pirkei
Avot 5.21; cf. 2 Tim 3:15 “And that from a child [βρεφος] thou hast known
the holy scriptures . . .”)
