Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Ecclesiastes 12:5

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Ecclesiastes 12:5. When they shall be afraid of that which is high —

10. Being so feeble, they are afraid to trust themselves to ascend steps, stairs, c., without help. And when they look upwards, their heads turn giddy, and they are ready to fall.

11. Fears shall be in the way — They dare not walk out, lest they should meet some danger, which they have not strength to repel, nor agility to escape. A second childishness has taken place-apprehensions, fears, terrors, and weakness.

12. The almond tree shall flourish — ינאץ yenaets, not flourish, but fall off. The hair begins to change, first gray, then white it having no longer that supply of nutritive juices which it once had, this animal vegetable withers and falls off. The almond tree, having white flowers, is a fit emblem of a hoary head; or as Hasselquist says, who observed the tree in full flower in Judea, "like an old man with his white locks."

13. The grasshopper shall be a burden — Even such an inconsiderable thing as a locust, or a very small insect, shall be deemed burdensome, their strength is so exceedingly diminished. In cases of the gout, especially in old men, the shadow of a person passing by puts them to acute pain! How much less can they bear the smallest pressure! But probably the words refer to the man himself, who, bent at the loins, and his arms hanging down, exhibits some caricature of the animal in question. The poor grasshopper has become a burden to himself. Another interpretation has been given of the grasshopper; but I pass it by as impertinent and contemptible; such commentators appear as if they wished to render the text ridiculous.

14. Desire shall fail — Both relish and appetite for food, even the most delicate, that to which they were formerly so much attached, now fails. The teeth are no longer able to masticate the food, or have all dropped out; the stomach no longer able to digest any thing; and, as the body is no longer capable of receiving nourishment, appetite and relish necessarily fail.

15. Because man goeth to his long home — אל בית עולמו el beith olamo, "to the house of his age;" the place destined to receive him, when the whole race or course of life shall be finished; for עולם olam takes in the whole course or duration of a thing; if applied to a dispensation, such as the LAW, it takes in its whole duration; to the life of man, it takes in the whole life; to time, it includes its whole compass; to eternity, it expresses its infinite duration. So old age terminates the olam, the complete duration of human life; and when life is no longer desired, and nutrition ceases, the olam of man is terminated. My old MS. Bible translates it, The hous of his everlastingness.

16. He is just departing into the invisible world; and this is known by the mourners going about the streets, the long hollow groans and throat rattlings which proceed from him; the sure prognostications of the extreme debility and speedy cessation of those essential animal functions next mentioned.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Advice to young people (11:9-12:8)

God’s will is that people enjoy life. In fact, they have a responsibility to do so. The writer urges young people especially to take note of this and not to misuse their mental or physical powers through developing wrong attitudes to life. However, their enjoyment of life must be according to a proper understanding of God and his character. They, like all others, are answerable to him for their behaviour (9-10).
Young people should remember that God is the Creator, the giver of life and all that goes with it. They should accept life from his hand and enjoy it as he intended. The opportunity will have passed by the time old age comes (12:1).
The writer pictures old age as a run-down house in a cold dark winter. The old person, now at the end of his life, is shaky, bent, half blind, half deaf, unable to sleep well, fearful of heights and afraid to walk along the street. He has lost all desire for life’s pleasures (2-5). Finally, death overtakes him. He is (to use another picture) like a broken bowl or a smashed water jar. God who first gave him life now takes it back. Life has run its course and has led, in the end, to nothing (6-8).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

"Before the sun, and the light, and the moon, and the stars are darkened, and the clouds return after the rain; in the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows shall be darkened, and the doors shall be shut in the street; when the sound of the grinding is low, and one shall rise up at the voice of a bird, and all the daughters of music shall be brought low; yea, they shall be afraid of that which is high, and terrors shall be in the way; and the almond tree shall blossom, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail; because man goeth to his everlasting home, and the mourners go about the streets: before the silver cord is loosed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, and the dust returneth to the earth as it was, and the spirit returneth to God who gave it. Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher; all is vanity."

"This passage (Ecclesiastes 12:2-8) has one of the most striking and beautiful allegories in the literature of mankind. Every phrase describes with a vivid metaphor, a symptom of the infirmities of old age."Ibid.

There have been many efforts to literalize what is meant by the beautiful metaphors here. Barton cited no less than seven systems of interpreting all these;International Critical Commentary, Vol. 18, p. 286 but one of the most beautiful of the renditions we have seen is this:From the Good News Bible.

Ecclesiastes 12:2-5 a "That is when the light of the sun, the moon, and the stars shall grow dim for you, and the rain clouds will never pass away. Then your arms, that have protected you, will tremble, and your legs, now strong, will grow weak. Your teeth will be too few to chew your food, and your eyes too dim to see clearly. Your ears will be deaf to the noise of the street. You will barely be able to hear the mill as it grinds or music when it plays, but even the song of a bird shall wake you from sleep. You will be afraid of high places, and walking will be dangerous. Your hair will turn white; you will hardly be able to drag yourself along, and all desire will be gone."

"Nevertheless, this remarkable passage is best taken in its entirety, not broken down into teeth, legs, arms, etc., which doubtless are intended."The Bible Speaks Today, p. 100. This amazing passage, as a whole, without being broken down reveals a picture of us in our old age that is plain enough, much plainer than any itemized inventory of our infirmities could possibly be.

"The grinders cease" "This no doubt refers to arms, legs, teeth, and eyes."Barnes' Notes on the Old Testament, op. cit., p.111.

In spite of the emphasis upon old age and death in this chapter, Solomon shows his real conviction in the very first verse. "He does not say, `Remember you must die,' but, `Remember thy Creator.' In this Solomon clearly distinguishes himself from all skeptics, cynics and Epicureans. with whom he has often been confused."The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 577.

"All the daughters of music shall be brought low" "He has not only lost his ability to sing, but the loss of hearing means he cannot even appreciate music"!The New Layman's Bible Commentary, p. 749.

"And one shall rise up at the voice of a bird" Despite the beauty of the @@GNP rendition, we cannot agree that the song of a bird would awaken an old man who could barely hear the sound of a mill or the street noises. Birds sing quite early in the morning, at the break of day; and what is meant is that old people wake up early. However, this writer (who is an old man) would like to go on record with the testimony that the song of a bird never wakes up anybody who is wearing a hearing aid!

"Afraid of that which is high" Here is the reason why old men do not like to climb ladders.

"Terrors shall be in the way" For example, when the Doctor says of the cancer test, "Yes, it's positive," one will know about those "terrors… in the way."

"The almond tree shall blossom" Cook rendered this, "The almond tree shall be despised,"Barnes' Notes on the Old Testament, op. cit., p. 112. and interpreted it to mean that pleasant food would be despised by the aged. However, most scholars take it as an emblem of gray hair. "The blooms of the almond tree are a brilliant pink; but in time turn snow white; it is a fit metaphor of the gray headed old man."The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 9b, p. 300.

"The grasshopper shall be a burden" "The point here is that the lightest load is a burden to the aged."The Bible Speaks Today, p. 101. It means what we would say if we remarked, "Why, that old man couldn't even carry a grasshopper."

"And desire shall fail" The Septuagint renders this, "The caper berry shall fail."The Greek Septuagint (LXX). "This berry was widely used in the East as an aphrodisiac (sexual stimulant),"James Waddey, p. 71. or, "As a provocative of the appetite."The Pulpit Commentary, op. cit., p. 300 In this light, we may say that the old man's desire shall fail, all of it, whether for sex or for food.

"Man goeth to his everlasting home" Without a doubt the best rendition of this is, "Man goeth to his eternal home."From the Revised Standard Version. What a glorious pronouncement is this! An eternal home? That most certainly teaches immortality, otherwise man would have no use whatever for an eternal home. It also teaches the doctrine of the resurrection, because, by no other means than that of a resurrection, would the dying sons of Adam ever enter such a home.

"And the mourners go about the streets" This is a reference to the paid mourners employed in ancient times to bewail the departed. The New Testament mentions these in connection with the raising of the daughter of Jairus. Here, their going about the streets was explained by Deane: "These were getting ready to ply their trade, expecting the death of the old man hourly."The Pulpit Commentary, op. cit., p. 301.

"Before the silver cord is loosed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern" We cannot pretend to know with dogmatic certainty what is meant here. There are two ways of explaining it, (1) after the manner of the 19th century commentators, and (2) after the opinion of recent writers. Here are the two views:

(1)    "The silver cord is the spinal cord, so called from the spinal nerve's likeness to a cord. Just as the previous verses have described the external evidences of old age, these explain the internal changes that bring death to the body itself. The golden bowl (so called from its priceless value) is the container for the brain itself. When the one is loosed and the other broken, death ensues."Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible, op. cit., p. 836.

(2)    "The golden bowl and the silver cord here are a lamp. The silver cord held the bowl. When the cord broke, the bowl fell putting out the light. Light is, of course, a Biblical symbol of life."Broadman Bible Commentary (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1972), Vol. 5, p. 127.

Both of these explanations mean the same thing. They both refer to death. The second explanation fails to explain why the cord that held the lamp was "the silver cord."

"Or the pitcher is broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern" "In the Bible, both light and water symbolize life;"Ibid. and in the metaphor here, either a broken pitcher at the fountain or a broken wheel at the cistern would cut off the supply of water. Thus all four of the things in this verse are metaphorical references to death.

"And the dust returneth to the earth as it was, and the spirit returneth to God who gave it" This verse indicates a phenomenal change in Solomon, exactly as does the statement in. Ecclesiastes 12:5, that, "Man goeth to his eternal home." See comment above.

"And the dust returneth to the earth as it was" This clear reference to the Creation of man (Genesis) is not the only allusion to the fall of man that soon followed, `You are dust, etc' (Genesis 3:21). In Ecclesiastes 7:29, he contrasted man's uprightness (as God created him) with what followed in the invention of human devices for evil."The Bible Speaks Today, p. 104

"Solomon at this point had found his spiritual footing. While estranged from God and depending upon human wisdom, he asked, `Who knoweth the spirit of man, whether it goeth upward, or the spirit of a beast, whether it goeth downward'? (Ecclesiastes 3:21). Here he confidently affirmed that man's spirit returns to God who gave it. Faith had won the victory over doubt."James Waddey, p. 73. Murphy, and others, deny what the sacred text clearly says here, asserting that, "Solomon had no knowledge of a blessed immortality."The Jerome Bible Commentary, p. 540. Such false opinions are effectively refuted by what is said here and in Ecclesiastes 12:5.

"This verse says that man's spirit is immortal; it does not die nor sleep in the grave. The New Testament tells us clearly that there is consciousness after death (Luke 16:19-31)."James Waddey, p. 73. In this verse the writer (Solomon) rises above the doubt expressed in Ecclesiastes 3:21. He did not contradict himself in the two passages, as some suppose, and on that false supposition call Ecclesiastes 12:7 an interpolation. No. Solomon here is saying that after examining all the doubts and perplexities, "He has now reached the firm conclusion that there is indeed a future for the individual soul."The Pulpit Commentary, op. cit., p. 302.

Barton also agreed that it is totally unnecessary to view this and Ecclesiastes 3:21 as contradictions. "It is possible for any man to have pessimistic doubts in which he questions whether a man's spirit differs from that of a beast, while still holding belief in God."International Critical Commentary, p. 192.

"Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher; all is vanity" Why does this statement appear just here? This is somewhat of a signature, indicating that Solomon himself is the author of these final verses just as he was the author of the rest of Ecclesiastes. No other person could possibly have inserted this here. The words stand, not only as a signature, but also, "As an introduction to the final verses."The Preacher's Homiletic Commentary, Vol. 14, p. 172,

"Saith the Preacher" Radical critics, ever eager to find fault, suppose that the introduction of the third person at this point indicates a different writer. Ridiculous. Paul often lapsed into the third person, as did many other ancient writers. Cook pointed out that, "This epilogue makes the author to be (Solomon) the same as the author of Proverbs."Barnes' Notes on the Old Testament, op. cit., p. 112.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

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 2 Corinthians 5:1-6) the use of the same expression “eternal house.” In 2 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).

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 12

Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth ( Ecclesiastes 12:1 ),

It is interesting that most conversions are made during the teenage years. Seven-eighths of every decision for Jesus Christ is made while in your teenage years. That's why it's an important injunction, "Remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth."

while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when you shall say, I have no pleasure in them ( Ecclesiastes 12:1 );

Don't wait until you get old to serve the Lord, to give your life to Jesus Christ. Commit your life while you're young, before those evil days come and you say, "Oh man, life has no more pleasure." And so we have now an interesting sort of graphic description of the aged person.

While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain ( Ecclesiastes 12:2 ):

As you get older you start putting stronger light bulbs in the socket. My first awareness of my need for glasses is when the light wasn't bright enough and I had to get a brighter light in order to read. And somehow the lights go dimmer as you get older. The muscles of your eyes don't contract as they should in the adjustment of the pupil and all. And so you need more light in order to read. So remember. You see, I'm in the other end of the stick now when the years draw nigh.

In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble ( Ecclesiastes 12:3 ),

That's when you begin to get the palsied shakes of the old age; your knees and your legs begin to shake. You walk sort of shakily. It's hard to have a smooth script as you're writing, you know, you can. "Keepers of the house are trembling."

and the strong men shall bow themselves ( Ecclesiastes 12:3 ),

You begin to hunch over your back. The grinders are your teeth.

and the grinders cease because they are few ( Ecclesiastes 12:3 ),

Of course, in those days they didn't have the spare sets.

and those that look out of the windows be darkened ( Ecclesiastes 12:3 ),

Again, the reference to the eyes, the windows of your body, the eye, and you begin to become blind.

And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of music shall be brought low ( Ecclesiastes 12:4 );

Your hearing gets bad, and the singing, "Yeah, what?" It's a great life to look forward to, isn't it? You start waking up early in the morning, the first song of the bird. You don't sleep so long anymore. You don't need so much sleep.

And when they shall be afraid of that which is high ( Ecclesiastes 12:5 ),

You start getting these fears.

and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper will be a burden ( Ecclesiastes 12:5 ),

Oh, there's a grasshopper, what shall I do?

I was visiting a while back in one of the retirement homes, one of our members, and as I was going to leave, as I got to the elevator, I was on the seventeenth floor, and when I got to the elevator this little old lady came running up to me. She says, "Help, help, help!" And I said, "What's the matter, Ma'am?" And she said, "There's a man; he came right into my room. I didn't invite him; he came right into my room. And he's still there in my room and I can't get him out." And I said, "Well, I'll get him out for you, Ma'am, you know." She was a little old lady so I figured it must be a little old man, you know. I could have handled that. So I went back to her room with her and we went into her room and here I was ready to assume my authority and order the guy out. What are you doing in this room uninvited? And looked around I said, "Well, Ma'am, I don't see anybody here." She said, "Well, he came flying right in that window there. And he landed right there in the sink. And was just staring at me for a while, you know."

Even a grasshopper can become a burden. Or a fly.

your desire shall fail: because man goes to his long home, and the mourners will be in the streets: Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel be broken at the cistern. Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher; all is vanity ( Ecclesiastes 12:5-8 ).

You've come to the end of the road, man. This is it. The mourners are out in the street. The pitcher's been broken at the fountain. It's all over. And what is life? Vanity, vanity. Your body is gone back to dust. Spirit's gone back to God who gave it. And it was just one vast emptiness.

That's life apart from God. And if you live apart from God, you will experience the same thing. You can't escape it. There is no real meaning in life apart from God, apart from serving God. There is nothing worthwhile. Vanity, vanity, all is emptiness.

And moreover, because the [assembler] Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs. The [assembler or] Preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even the words of truth. The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of the assemblies, which are given from one shepherd. And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making of many books there is no end; and much study is weariness of the flesh ( Ecclesiastes 12:9-12 ).

I used to have that in my room when I was in school.

Now let's hear the conclusion of the whole matter ( Ecclesiastes 12:13 ):

This is it.

Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it is good, or whether it is evil ( Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 ).

This is it. The best way to live is just to fear God, keep His commandments. Because one day God is going to bring every work into judgment, even the secret things whether good or evil.

Shall we stand.

I pray that the Lord will give you a closer walk with Him. That you begin to understand life from the divine perspective. That you'll experience much more than the emptiness of life after the flesh under the sun but will begin to experience the rich fulfillment of life in the Son after the Spirit. And so may God lead you by His Spirit into that full, rich life that He wants you to know and to experience in Jesus Christ. And may you begin to experience that which Jesus said was life more abundantly that He had come to bring to you. So may the hand of the Lord be upon your life this week. And may you walk with Him in love. In Jesus' name. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

2. Responsible living 12:1-7

This pericope expands the ideas Solomon introduced in Ecclesiastes 11:9-10, by focusing on advancing old age and death. [Note: See Barry C. Davis, "Ecclesiastes 12:1-8-Death, an Impetus for Life," Bibliotheca Sacra 148:591 (July-September 1991):298-318.] These ideas are the ultimate frustration and the epitome of impermanence that we can experience.

The basic imperative 12:1

Again, Solomon began with a clear statement of his point, and then proceeded to prove and illustrate its truth in the verses that follow. "Remember" means to live your life with what you know about God clearly in view, not just to remember that there is a God (cf. Ecclesiastes 11:9-10; Ecclesiastes 12:13; Deuteronomy 8:18; Psalms 119:55). "Creator" connotes God as the One to whom we are responsible because we are His creatures (cf. Ecclesiastes 12:7; Genesis 2:7; Genesis 3:19). The "evil days" are the days of old age and death (cf. Ecclesiastes 11:10; Ecclesiastes 12:2-5). [Note: For a study of Qoheleth’s view of youth and old age, see James L. Crenshaw, "Youth and Old Age in Qoheleth," Hebrew Annual Review 10 (1986):1-12.]

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

The coming of old age 12:2-5

Ecclesiastes 12:2-7 are full of figures of speech that picture old age and death. [Note: See G. A. Barton, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Ecclesiastes, pp. 186-91; Harry Torcszyner, "The Riddle in the Bible," Hebrew Union College Annual 1 (1924):125-49; Michael Leahy, "The Meaning of Ecclesiastes 12:1-5," Irish Theological Quarterly 19 (1952):297-300, reprinted in Zuck, ed., Reflecting with . . ., pp. 375-79; and Michael V. Fox, "Aging and Death in Qoheleth 12," Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 42 (1988):55-77, reprinted in Zuck, ed., Reflecting with . . ., pp. 381-99.] Some interpreters believed the writer was describing the aging process, [Note: E.g., Creshaw, "Youth and . . ."; Eaton; et al.] and others believed death is the emphasis. [Note: E.g., Hubbard, Ogden, et al.] Perhaps old age leading to death is the best option.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Aged individuals become more fearful of heights, traffic, and travel. The "almond tree" blossoms white like the hair of an old person. An elderly person is less sprightly in his or her movements. The "caperberry," apparently an appetite stimulant, not an aphrodisiac, [Note: Delitzsch, p. 417.] is a poor translation that the Septuagint introduced. The text should read "and desire fails," which gives the same meaning. Man’s "dark house" (rather than "eternal home") is a reference to the grave-Sheol. [Note: For reasons why "dark house" is the preferable translation of the Hebrew bet olam, see Ronald F. Youngblood, "Qoheleth’s ’Dark House’ (Ecclesiastes 12:5)," in A Tribute to Gleason Archer, pp. 211-27, also reprinted in Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 29:4 (December 1986), pp. 397-410.]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Also when they shall be afraid of [that which is] high,.... Not of the most high God, before whose tribunal they must shortly appear, as some; but rather of high places, as high hills, mountains, towers, c. which aged persons are afraid to go up, because of the feebleness and weakness of their limbs, their difficulty of breathing, and the dizziness of their heads

and fears [shall be] in the way; they do not care: to go abroad, being afraid of every little stone that lies in the way, lest they should stumble at it, and fall: some understand this of their fears of spirits, good or bad; but the former sense is best;

and the almond tree shall flourish; which most interpret of the hoary head, which looks like an almond tree in blossom; and which, as it comes soon in the spring, whence it has its name of haste in the Hebrew language; see Jeremiah 1:11; and is a sure sign of its near approach; so gray hairs, or the hoary head, sometimes appear very soon and unexpected, and are a sure indication of the approach of old age; which Cicero h calls "aetas praecipitata",

"age that comes hastily on;''

though the hoary head, like the almond tree, looks very beautiful, and is venerable, especially if found in the way of righteousness,

Leviticus 19:32;

and the grasshopper shall be a burden; meaning either, should a grasshopper, which is very light, leap upon an aged person, it would give him pain, the least burden being uneasy to him; or, should he eat one of these creatures, the locusts being a sort of food in Judea, it would not sit well, on his stomach: or the grasshopper, being a crumpled and lean creature, may describe an old man; his legs and arms emaciated, and his shoulders, back, and lips, crumpled up and bunching out; and the locust of this name has a bunch on its backbone, like a camel i: Bochart k says, that the head of the thigh, or the hip bone, by the Arabians, is called "chagaba", the word here used for a locust or grasshopper; which part of the body is of principal use in walking, and found very troublesome and difficult to move in old men; and Aben Ezra interprets it of the thigh: the almond tree, by the Rabbins, as Jarchi says, is interpreted of the hip bone, which stands out in old age: and the Targum, of this and the preceding clause, is,

"and the top of thy backbone shall bunch out, through leanness, like the almond; and the ankles of thy feet shall be swelled.''

Some, as Ben Melech observes, understand it of the genital member, and of coitus, slighted and rejected, because of the weakness of the body; all desires of that kind being gone, as follows;

and desire shall fail; the appetite, for food, for bodily pleasures, and carnal delights; and particularly for venery, all the parts of the body for such uses being weakened, The Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions, render it, "the caper tree shall be dissipated", or "vanish", or "[its fruit] shall shrink"; so Dr. Smith, who understands it of the decrease of the fluids, as he does the former clause of the solid parts of the body; and the berries of this tree are said to excite both appetite and lust l: and so Munster m interprets the word of the berries of the caper tree;

because man goeth to his long home; the grave, as the Targum, the house appointed for living, where he must lie till the resurrection morn; his eternal house, as Cicero calls it n; and so it may be rendered here, "the house of the world", common to all the world, where all mankind go: or, "to the house of his world" o; whether of bliss or woe, according as his state and character be, good or bad: Theognis p calls it the dark house of "hades", or the invisible state; and then this must be understood with respect to his separate soul, and the mansion of it; and Alshech says, every righteous man has a mansion to himself; see John 14:2;

and the mourners go about the streets; the relations of the deceased; or those that go to their houses to comfort them; or the mourning men and women, hired for that purpose.

h Fam. Epist. l. 11. Ep. 58. i R. Sol. Urbin. Ohel Moed, fol. 83. 1. k Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 4. c. 8. col. 494. l Avicenna spud Schindler. Lexic. col. 10. m Dictionar. Chaldaic. p. 13. n Tusculan. Quaest. l. 2. prope finem. o אל בית עלמו "ad domum seculi sui", Pagninus. Montanus, Vatablus, Mercerus. p γνωμαι v. 1008. vid. v. 244.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      1 Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;   2 While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain:   3 In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened,   4 And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of music shall be brought low;   5 Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets:   6 Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern.   7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

      Here is, I. A call to young people to think of God, and mind their duty to him, when they are young: Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth. This is, 1. The royal preacher's application of his sermon concerning the vanity of the world and every thing in it. "You that are young flatter yourselves with expectations of great things from it, but believe those that have tried it; it yields no solid satisfaction to a soul; therefore, that you may not be deceived by this vanity, nor too much disturbed by it, remember your Creator, and so guard yourselves against the mischiefs that arise from the vanity of the creature." 2. It is the royal physician's antidote against the particular diseases of youth, the love of mirth, and the indulgence of sensual pleasures, the vanity which childhood and youth are subject to; to prevent and cure this, remember thy Creator. Here is, (1.) A great duty pressed upon us, to remember God as our creator, not only to remember that God is our Creator, that he made us and not we ourselves, and is therefore our rightful Lord and owner, but we must engage ourselves to him with the considerations which his being our Creator lay us under, and pay him the honour and duty which we owe him as our Creator. Remember thy Creators; the word is plural, as it is Job 35:10, Where is God my Makers? For God said, Let us make man, us, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. (2.) The proper season for this duty--in the days of thy youth, the days of thy choice (so some), thy choice days, thy choosing days. "Begin in the beginning of thy days to remember him from whom thou hadst thy being, and go on according to that good beginning. Call him to mind when thou art young, and keep him in mind throughout all the days of thy youth, and never forget him. Guard thus against the temptations of youth, and thus improve the advantages of it."

      II. A reason to enforce this command: While the evil days come not, and the years of which thou shalt say I have no pleasure in them.

      1. Do it quickly, (1.) "Before sickness and death come. Do it while thou livest, for it will be too late to do it when death has removed thee from this state of trial and probation to that of recompence and retribution." The days of sickness and death are the days of evil, terrible to nature, evil days indeed to those that have forgotten their Creator. These evil days will come sooner or later; as yet they come not, for God is long-suffering to us-ward, and gives us space to repent; the continuing of life is but the deferring of death, and, while life is continued and death deferred, it concerns us to prepare, and get the property of death altered, that we may die comfortably. (2.) Before old age comes, which, if death prevent not, will come, and they will be years of which we shall say, We have no pleasure in them,--when we shall not relish the delights of sense, as Barzillai (2 Samuel 19:35), --when we shall be loaded with bodily infirmities, old and blind, or old and lame,--when we shall be taken off from our usefulness, and our strength shall be labour and sorrow,--when we shall either have parted with our relations, and all our old friends, or be afflicted in them and see them weary of us,--when we shall feel ourselves die by inches. These years draw nigh, when all that comes will be vanity, the remaining months all months of vanity, and there will be no pleasure but in the reflection of a good life on earth and the expectation of a better life in heaven.

      2. These two arguments he enlarges upon in the following verses, only inverting the order, and shows,

      (1.) How many are the calamities of old age, and that if we should live to be old, our days will be such as we shall have no pleasure in, which is a good reason why we should return to God, and make our peace with him, in the days of our youth, and not put it off till we come to be old; for it will be no thanks to us to leave the pleasures of sin when they have left us, nor to return to God when need forces us. It is the greatest absurdity and ingratitude imaginable to give the cream and flower of our days to the devil, and reserve the bran, and refuse, and dregs of them for God; this is offering the torn, and the lame, and the sick for sacrifice; and, besides, old age being thus clogged with infirmities, it is the greatest folly imaginable to put off that needful work till then, which requires the best of our strength, when our faculties are in their prime, and especially to make the work more difficult by a longer continuance in sin, and, laying up treasures of guilt in the conscience, to add to the burdens of age and make them much heavier. If the calamities of age will be such as are here represented, we shall have need of something to support and comfort us then, and nothing will be more effectual to do that than the testimony of our consciences for us that we begin betimes to remember our Creator and have not since laid aside the remembrance of him. How can we expect God should help us when we are old, if we will not serve him when we are young? See Psalms 71:17; Psalms 71:18.

      [1.] The decays and infirmities of old age are here elegantly described in figurative expressions, which have some difficulty in them to us now, who are not acquainted with the common phrases and metaphors used in Solomon's age and language; but the general scope is plain--to show how uncomfortable, generally, the days of old age are. First, Then the sun and the light of it, the moon and the stars, and the light which they borrow from it, will be darkened. They look dim to old people, in consequence of the decay of their sight; their countenance is clouded, and the beauty and lustre of it are eclipsed; their intellectual powers and faculties, which are as lights in the soul, are weakened; their understanding and memory fail them, and their apprehension is not so quick nor their fancy so lively as it has been; the days of their mirth are over (light is often put for joy and prosperity) and they have not the pleasure either of the converse of the day or the repose of the night, for both the sun and the moon are darkened to them. Secondly, Then the clouds return after the rain; as, when the weather is disposed to wet, no sooner has one cloud blown over than another succeeds it, so it is with old people, when they have got free from one pain or ailment, they are seized with another, so that their distempers are like a continual dropping in a very rainy day. The end of one trouble is, in this world, but the beginning of another, and deep calls unto deep. Old people are often afflicted with defluxions of rheum, like soaking rain, after which still more clouds return, feeding the humour, so that it is continually grievous, and therein the body, as it were, melts away. Thirdly, Then the keepers of the house tremble. The head, which is as the watch-tower, shakes, and the arms and hands, which are ready for the preservation of the body, shake too, and grow feeble, upon every sudden approach and attack of danger. That vigour of the animal spirits which used to be exerted for self-defence fails and cannot do its office; old people are easily dispirited and discouraged. Fourthly, Then the strong men shall bow themselves; the legs and thighs, which used to support the body, and bear its weight, bend, and cannot serve for travelling as they have done, but are soon tired. Old men that have been in their time strong men become weak and stoop for age,Zechariah 8:4. God takes no pleasure in the legs of a man (Psalms 147:10), for their strength will soon fail; but in the Lord Jehovah there is everlasting strength; he has everlasting arms. Fifthly, Then the grinders cease because they are few; the teeth, with which we grind our meat and prepare it for concoction, cease to do their part, because they are few. They are rotted and broken, and perhaps have been drawn because they ached. Some old people have lost all their teeth, and others have but few left; and this infirmity is the more considerable because the meat, not being well chewed, for want of teeth, is not well digested, which has as much influence as any thing upon the other decays of age. Sixthly, Those that look out of the windows are darkened; the eyes wax dim, as Isaac's (Genesis 27:1), and Ahijah's, 1 Kings 14:4. Moses was a rare instance of one who, when 120 years old, had good eye-sight, but ordinarily the sight decays in old people as soon as any thing, and it is a mercy to them that art helps nature with spectacles. We have need to improve our sight well while we have it, because the light of the eyes may be gone before the light of life. Seventhly, The doors are shut in the streets. Old people keep within doors, and care not for going abroad to entertainments. The lips, the doors of the mouth, are shut in eating, because the teeth are gone and the sound of the grinding with them is low, so that they have not that command of their meat in their mouths which they used to have; they cannot digest their meat, and therefore little grist is brought to the mill. Eightly, Old people rise up at the voice of the bird. They have no sound sleep as young people have, but a little thing disturbs them, even the chirping of a bird; they cannot rest for coughing, and therefore rise up at cock-crowing, as soon as any body is stirring; or they are apt to be jealous, and timorous, and full of care, which breaks their sleep and makes them rise early; or they are apt to be superstitious, and rise up as in a fright, at those voices of birds, as of ravens, or screech-owls, which soothsayers call ominous. Ninthly, With them all the daughters of music are brought low. They have neither voice nor ear, can neither sing themselves nor take any pleasure, as Solomon had done in the days of his youth, in singing men, and singing women, and musical instruments,Ecclesiastes 2:8; Ecclesiastes 2:8. Old people grow hard of hearing, and unapt to distinguish sounds and voices. Tenthly, They are afraid of that which is high, afraid to go to the top of any high place, either because, for want of breath, they cannot reach it, or, their heads being giddy or their legs failing them, they dare not venture to it, or they frighten themselves with fancying that that which is high will fall upon them. Fear is in the way; they can neither ride nor walk with their former boldness, but are afraid of every thing that lies in their way, lest it throw them down. Eleventhly, The almond-tree flourishes. The old man's hair has grown white, so that his head looks like an almond-tree in the blossom. The almond-tree blossoms before any other tree, and therefore fitly shows what haste old age makes in seizing upon men; it prevents their expectations and comes faster upon them than they thought of. Gray hairs are here and there upon them, and they perceive it not. Twelfthly, The grasshopper is a burden and desire fails. Old men can bear nothing; the lightest thing sits heavily upon them, both on their bodies and on their minds, a little thing sinks and breaks them. Perhaps the grasshopper was some food that was looked upon to be very light of digestion (John Baptist's meat was locusts), but even that lies heavily upon an old man's stomach, and therefore desire fails, he has no appetite to his meat, neither shall he regard the desire of woman, as that king, Daniel 11:37. Old men become mindless and listless, and the pleasures of sense are to them tasteless and sapless.

      [2.] It is probable that Solomon wrote this when he was himself old, and could speak feelingly of the infirmities of age, which perhaps grew the faster upon him for the indulgence he had given himself in sensual pleasures. Some old people bear up better than others under the decays of age, but, more or less, the days of old age are and will be evil days and of little pleasure. Great care therefore should be taken to pay respect and honour to old people, that they may have something to balance these grievances and nothing may be done to add to them. And all this, put together, makes up a good reason why we should remember our Creator in the days of our youth, that he may remember us with favour when these evil days come, and his comforts may delight our souls when the delights of sense are in a manner worn off.

      (2.) He shows how great a change death will make with us, which will be either the prevention or the period of the miseries of old age. Nothing else will keep them off, nor any thing else cure them. "Therefore remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth, because death is certainly before thee, perhaps it is very near thee, and it is a serious thing to die, and thou shouldst feel concerned with the utmost care and diligence to prepare for it." [1.] Death will fix us in an unchangeable state: Man shall then go to his long home, and all these infirmities and decays of age are harbingers of and advances towards that awful remove. At death man goes from this world and all the employments and enjoyments of it. He has gone for good and all, as to his present state. He has gone home, for here he was a stranger and pilgrim; both soul and body go to the place whence they came, Ecclesiastes 12:7; Ecclesiastes 12:7. He has gone to his rest, to the place where he is to fix. He has gone to his home, to the house of his world (so some), for this world is not his. He has gone to his long home, for the days of his lying in the grave will be many. He has gone to his house of eternity, not only to his house whence he shall never return to this world, but to the house where he must be for ever. This should make us willing to die, that, at death, we must go home; and why should we not long to go to our Father's house? And this should quicken us to get ready to die, that we must then go to our long home, to an everlasting habitation. [2.] Death will be an occasion of sorrow to our friends that love us. When man goes to his long home the mourners go about the streets--the real mourners, and those, as now with us, distinguished by their habits as they go along the streets,--the mourners for ceremony, that were hired to weep for the dead, both to express and to excite the real mourning. When we die we not only remove to a melancholy house before us, but we leave a melancholy house behind us. Tears are a tribute due to the dead, and this, among other circumstances, makes it a serious thing to die. But in vain do we go to the house of mourning, and see the mourners go about the streets, if it do not help to make us serious and pious mourners in the closet. [3.] Death will dissolve the frame of nature and take down the earthly house of this tabernacle, which is elegantly described, Ecclesiastes 12:6; Ecclesiastes 12:6. Then shall the silver cord, by which soul and body were wonderfully fastened together, be loosed, that sacred knot untied, and those old friends be forced to part; then shall the golden bowl, which held the waters of life for us, be broken; then shall the pitcher with which we used to fetch up water, for the constant support of life and the repair of its decays, be broken, even at the fountain, so that it can fetch up no more; and the wheel (all those organs that serve for the collecting and distributing of nourishment) shall be broken, and disabled to do their office any more. The body shall become like a watch when the spring is broken, the motion of all the wheels is stopped and they all stand still; the machine is taken to pieces; the heart beats no more, nor does the blood circulate. Some apply this to the ornaments and utensils of life; rich people must, at death, leave behind them their clothing and furniture of silver and gold, and poor people their earthen pitchers, and the drawers of water will have their wheel broken. [4.] Death will resolve us into our first principles, Ecclesiastes 12:7; Ecclesiastes 12:7. Man is a strange sort of creature, a ray of heaven united to a clod of earth; at death these are separated, and each goes to the place whence it came. First, The body, that clod of clay, returns to its own earth. It is made of the earth; Adam's body was so, and we are of the same mould; it is a house of clay. At death it is laid in the earth, and in a little time will be resolved into earth, not to be distinguished from common earth, according to the sentence (Genesis 3:19), Dust thou art and therefore to dust thou shalt return. Let us not therefore indulge the appetites of the body, nor pamper it (it will be worms' meat shortly), nor let sin reign in our mortal bodies, for they are mortal, Romans 6:12. Secondly, The soul, that beam of light, returns to that God who, when he made man of the dust of the ground, breathed into him the breath of life, to make him a living soul (Genesis 2:7), and forms the spirit of every man within him. When the fire consumes the wood the flame ascends, and the ashes return to the earth out of which the wood grew. The soul does not die with the body; it is redeemed from the power of the grave (Psalms 49:15); it can subsist without it and will in a state of separation from it, as the candle burns, and burns brighter, when it is taken out of the dark lantern. It removes to the world of spirits, to which it is allied. It goes to God as a Judge, to give account of itself, and to be lodged either with the spirits in prison (1 Peter 3:19) or with the spirits in paradise (Luke 23:43), according to what was done in the body. This makes death terrible to the wicked, whose souls go to God as an avenger, and comfortable to the godly, whose souls go to God as a Father, into whose hands they cheerfully commit them, through a Mediator, out of whom sinners may justly dread to think of going to God.