Ecclesiastes 12:5

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Ecclesiastes 12:5

5. that which is high—The old are afraid of ascending a hill. fears . . . in the way—Even on the level highway they are full of fears of falling, c. almond . . . flourish—In the East the hair is mostly dark. The white head of the old among the dark-haired is like an almond tree, with its white blossoms, among the dark trees around [HOLDEN]. The almond tree flowers on a leafless stock in winter (answering to old age, in which all the powers are dormant), while the other trees are flowerless.... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Ecclesiastes 12:1-7

2. Responsible living 12:1-7This 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 12:1Again, Solomon began with a clear statement of his point, and then proceeded to prove and... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Ecclesiastes 12:2-5

The coming of old age 12:2-5Ecclesiastes 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... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Ecclesiastes 12:5

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... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Ecclesiastes 12:1-14

In Life Remember Death and Judgment1. The Creator is to be remembered in youth. When the powers of mind and body are failing, it will be too late.1-7. Commentators have differed much as to the interpretation of this passage. It has been taken by many as a description of the gradual failing of one bodily organ after another till death supervenes. In that case we may explain Ecclesiastes 12:2. thus: The light grows dim to the aged sense, and reason is dulled and ceases to illuminate. The old man... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Ecclesiastes 12:5

(5) The old man is beset with terrors; terrors from on high, terrors on the way: all in which he had taken delight before, has charms for him no longer; the almond causes loathing (for so may be translated the word rendered “flourished” in our version); the locust, in the East a favourite article of food, is now burdensome; the caper berry (translated “desire” in our version) fails; for man is going to his everlasting house, &c read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - Ecclesiastes 12:1-14

Ecclesiastes 12:1 Samuel Rutherford, in some letters addressed to young Scotchmen, often enlarges on this idea. 'A young man is often a dressed lodging for the devil to dwell in.' 'I know that missive letters go between the devil and young blood. Satan hath a friend at court in the heart of youth; and there pride, luxury, lust, revenge, forgetfulness of God, are hired agents.' 'Youth ordinarily is a fast and ready servant for Satan to run errands.' 'Believe it, my lord,' this in a letter to a... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 12:1-7

0Combined with a steadfast Faith in the Life to come. Ecclesiastes 10:9 - Ecclesiastes 12:7But, soft; is not our man of men becoming a mere man of pleasure? No; for he recognises the claims of duty and of charity. These keep his pleasures sweet and wholesome, prevent them from usurping the whole man, and landing him in the satiety and weariness of dissipation. But lest even these safeguards should prove insufficient, he has also this: he knows that "God will bring him into judgment"; that all... read more

Arno Clemens Gaebelein

Arno Gaebelein's Annotated Bible - Ecclesiastes 12:1-14

CHAPTER 12 1. Youth and old age (Ecclesiastes 12:1-8 ) 2. The concluding epilogue (Ecclesiastes 12:9-14 ) Ecclesiastes 12:1-8 . Childhood and youth are vanity! That is the concluding sentence of the previous chapter. The vanities of life, the doom and darkness of the grave are uppermost in his mind, and the final word he speaks, ere he closeth with his epilogue, is the same with which he began his search, the search which brought out so many things, yet nothing in reality--as in the... read more

John Calvin

Geneva Study Bible - Ecclesiastes 12:5

12:5 Also [when] they shall be afraid of [that which is] {k} high, and fears [shall be] in the {l} way, and the almond tree shall {m} flourish, and the {n} grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets:(k) To climb high because of their weakness, or they stoop down as though they were afraid lest anything should hide them.(l) They will tremble as they go, as though they were afraid.(m) Their head will be as white... read more

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