Many young men die before the old/"many foals died whose hides became saddles on their dams' backs
Question: Many young people died before the old, and many old people lived longer than the young. In the context of the coming, as opposed to the boasting of a young man, as opposed to the life of an old man (in the original, the words were said as against Esau who planned to kill Jacob after the death of Isaac, and as against Nadab and Abihu who wanted to lead the people after the deaths of Moses and Aaron. See also: "The camels of old men loaded with skins "Firstborn").
("The days of mourning for my father are drawing near, and I will kill my brother Jacob...Rabbi Nehemiah said, "The rabbis will mourn for him and make their wounds flat on the backs of their hands" - in the beginning of Rava's (Theodor-Albeck) Parashah Toldot, Parashah 66, and so: "It is taught that Moses and Aaron were walking at the beginning, and Nadab and his father were walking behind them, and they said, "Two elders said, They die and we walk in the flesh on the heap beneath them... The Holy One, the Blessed One, said to them: Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day will bring forth (Proverbs 27), many of the righteous will die and their wounds will become flat on the backs of their mothers" - Pesikta Darv Kahana (Mendelboim) Piscah (After Death)
Translation
Expression (Hebrew)
הַרְבֵּה סְיָחִים מֵתוּ וְנַעֲשׂוּ עוֹרוֹתֵיהֶם שְׁטִיחִים עַל גַּבֵּי אִמּוֹתֵיהֶן
Definition (Hebrew)
בְּהַשְׁאָלָה: הַרְבֵּה צְעִירִים מֵתוּ לִפְנֵי הַזְּקֵנִים וְהַרְבֵּה זְקֵנִים הֶאֱרִיכוּ יָמִים אַחֲרֵי הַצְּעִירִים. בִּטּוּי הַבָּא כְּנֶגֶד דִּבְרֵי הִתְרַבְרְבוּת שֶׁל צָעִיר כְּנֶגֶד חַיֵּי זָקֵן (בַּמָּקוֹר נֶאֶמְרוּ הַדְּבָרִים כְּנֶגֶד עֵשָׂו שֶׁתִּכְנֵן לַהֲרֹג אֶת יַעֲקֹב אַחֲרֵי מוֹת יִצְחָק, וְכֵן כְּנֶגֶד נָדָב וְאָבִיהוּ שֶׁרָצוּ לְהַנְהִיג אֶת הַצִּבּוּר אַחֲרֵי מוֹת מֹשֶׁה וְאַהֲרֹן. רְאֵה גַּם:"הַרְבֵּה גְּמַלִּים זְקֵנִים טְעוּנִים בְּעוֹרוֹת בַּכָּרִים").
("יִקְרְבוּ יְמֵי אֵבֶל אָבִי וְאַהַרְגָה אֶת יַעֲקֹב אָחִי ...ר' נְחֶמְיָה אָמַר הַרְבֵּה סְיָחִים מֵתוּ וְנַעֲשׂוּ עוֹרוֹתֵיהֶם שְׁטִיחִין עַל גַּבֵּי אַמּוֹתֵיהֶם"- בְּרֵאשִׁית רַבָּה (תֵּאוֹדוֹר-אַלְבֵּק) פָּרָשַׁת תּוֹלְדוֹת פָּרָשָׁה סז, וְכֵן:"מְלַמֵּד שֶׁהָיָה מֹשֶׁה וְאַהֲרֹן מַהְלְכִין תְּחִלָּה וְנָדָב וְאָבִיהוּ הוֹלְכִים אַחֲרֵיהֶן וְאָמְרוּ עוֹד שְׁנֵי זְקֵנִים הַלָּלוּ מֵתוּ וְאָנוּ נוֹהֲגִים בִּשְׂרָרָה עַל הַצִּבּוּר תַּחְתֵּיהֶן... אָמַר לָהֶם הקב"ה: אַל תִּתְהַלֵּל בְּיוֹם מָחָר כִּי לֹא תֵדַע מַה יֵּלֶד יוֹם (מִשְׁלֵי כז), הַרְבֵּה סְיָחִים מֵתוּ וְנַעֲשׂוּ עוֹרוֹתֵיהֶם שְׁטִיחִים עַל גַּבֵּי אִמּוּתֵיהֶן"-פְּסִיקְתָּא דְּרַב כָּהֲנָא (מֶנְדֶּלְבּוֹיְם) פִּיסְקָא כו- אַחֲרֵי מוֹת)