Ecclesiastes 12:6

Ecclesiastes 12:6

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:

Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown

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Ecclesiastes 12:7 >>

A double image to represent death, as in Ecclesiastes 12:1-5, old age: (1) A lamp of frail material, but gilded over, often in the East hung from roofs by a cord of silk and silver interwoven; as the lamp is dashed down and broken, when the cord breaks, so man at death; the golden bowl of the lamp answers to the skull, which, from the vital preciousness of its contents, may be called "golden"; "the silver cord" is the spinal marrow, which is white and precious as silver, and is attached to the brain. (2) A fountain, from which water is drawn by a pitcher let down by a rope wound round a wheel; as, when the pitcher and wheel are broken, water can no more be drawn, so life ceases when the vital energies are gone. The "fountain" may mean the right ventricle of the heart; the "cistern," the left; the pitcher, the veins; the wheel, the aorta, or great artery [SMITH]. The circulation of the blood, whether known or not to Solomon, seems to be implied in the language put by the Holy Ghost into his mouth. This gloomy picture of old age applies to those who have not "remembered their Creator in youth." They have none of the consolations of God, which they might have obtained in youth; it is now too late to seek them. A good old age is a blessing to the godly (Genesis 15:15; Job 5:26; Proverbs 16:31; Proverbs 20:29).

**Other Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown entries containing Ecclesiastes 12:6:**

Ecclesiastes 12:1

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Ecclesiastes 12:7 >>

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