Ecclesiastes 12:5

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3 In the day when the keepers of the house tremble,
And the strong men bow down;
When the grinders cease because they are few,
And those that look through the windows grow dim;

4 When the doors are shut in the streets,
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.

5 Also they are afraid of height,
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.

6 Remember your Creator before the silver cord is¹ loosed,
Or the golden bowl is broken,
Or the pitcher shattered at the fountain,
Or the wheel broken at the well.

7 ^aThen the dust will return to the earth as it was,
^bAnd the spirit will return to God ^cwho gave it.

8 “Vanity^a of vanities,” says the Preacher,
“All is vanity.”

The Whole Duty of Man

9 And moreover, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yes, he pondered and sought out and ^aset in order many proverbs.

Commentaries:

Barnes' Notes

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Ecclesiastes 12:5

High - The powerful and the proud, such persons as an old man in his timidity might shrink from opposing or meeting: or, high ground which old men would avoid ascending.

Fears ... in the way - Compare Proverbs 26:13.

The almond tree - The type of old age. Many modern critics translate "The almond shall be despised," i. e., pleasant food shall no longer be relished.

The grasshopper - Rather: "the locust." The clause means, heaviness and stiffness shall take the place of that active motion for which the locust is conspicuous.

Desire - literally, the caper-berry; which, eaten as a provocative to appetite, shall fail to take effect on a man whose powers are exhausted.

Long home - literally, "eternal (see Ecclesiastes 1:4 note) house;" man' s place in the next world. Without attributing to the author of Ecclesiastes that deep insight into the future life which is shown by the writer of the Epistles to the Corinthians, we may observe that He by whom both writers were inspired sanctions in both books (see II Corinthians 5:1-6) the use of the same expression "eternal house." In II Corinthians it means that spiritual body which shall be hereafter; and it is placed, as it is here (see Ecclesiastes 12:3), in contrast with that earthly dissolving house which clothes the spirit of man in this world.

Mourners - The singing women who attend funerals for hire (see Matthew 9:23).

**Other Barnes' Notes entries containing Ecclesiastes 12:5:**

Psalms 71:9
Isaiah 53:4
Zechariah 7:5

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Ecclesiastes 12:6 >>

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