Before the1 difficult days come,
And the years draw near bwhen you say,
“I have no pleasure in them”:
The moon and the stars,
Are not darkened,
And the clouds do not return after the rain;
And the strong men bow down;
When the grinders cease because they are few,
And those that look through the windows grow dim;
And the sound of grinding is low;
When one rises up at the sound of a bird,
And all athe daughters of music are brought low.
And of terrors in the way;
When the almond tree blossoms,
The grasshopper is a burden,
And desire fails.
For man goes to ahis eternal home,
And bthe mourners go about the streets.
Or the golden bowl is broken,
Or the pitcher shattered at the fountain,
Or the wheel broken at the well.
bAnd the spirit will return to God cwho gave it.
“All is vanity.”
The Whole Duty of Man
| << Ecclesiastes 12:2 | Ecclesiastes 12:4 >> |
What Does Ecclesiastes 12:3 Mean?
Ecclesiastes 12:3-5
Solomon employs interesting metaphors in this passage. The "keepers of the house" in verse 3 are a person's arms. We work with our hands and arms, and they keep the house. In time, they begin to tremble—he is referring to the progression of old age.
"The strong men bow down"—the legs, the knees, begin to get weary, to bow from the weight of the body on top of them.
"When the grinders cease"—a person's teeth—"because they are few"—they are falling out. "And those that look through the windows"—are the eyes, which are growing dim.
"When the doors are shut"—when the older person tends to stay inside because he feels more comfortable and safe being closed up in the house. He does not worry about having a heart attack out on the street. Many older people become reclusive as they age.
"And the sound of grinding is low"—he refers to work cycles, using the grinding of grain as a representation of work in general. Apparently, in those days, the whole community ground grain together. The town would have one mill, and everyone would come and have a lot of fun, laughing and enjoying the friendship, companionship, and fellowship with others at the mill. But as a person gets old, he does not have the strength to go to the mill and enjoy the pleasures of that work.
"When the almond tree blossoms"—it turns white. Solomon is talking about the hair turning gray and then white.
"And the grasshopper is a burden" is an interesting picture. Everybody knows how light a grasshopper is, but even the lightest thing becomes a burden to an older person because he is losing his strength.
"For man goes to his eternal home"—the grave—"and the mourners go about the streets." Death is seen as the climax of a process that began with birth and the strength of youth.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Ecclesiastes and the Feast of Tabernacles (Part 2)
| << Ecclesiastes 12:2 | Ecclesiastes 12:4 >> |
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