Ecclesiastes 12:5-8

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 12:5

Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high . There is no "when" in the original, which runs, "Also, or yea, they fear on high." "They" are old men, or, like the French on , "people" indefinitely; and the clause says that they find difficulty in mounting an ascent, as the Vulgate renders, Excelsa quoque timebant . Shortness of breath, asthmatic tendencies, failure of muscular power, make such an exertion arduous and burdensome, just as in the previous verse a similar cause... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 12:6

Or ever ; i.e. before, ere ( ad asher lo ). The words recall us to Ecclesiastes 12:1 and Ecclesiastes 12:2 , bidding the youth make the best use of his time ere old age cuts him off. In the present paragraph the final dissolution is described under two figures. The silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken. This is evidently one figure, which would be made plainer by reading "and" instead of "or," the idea being that the lamp is shattered by the snapping of the cord that... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 12:7

Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was ; rather, and the dust return, etc.—the sentence begun above being still carried on to the end of the verse. Here we are told what becomes of the complex man at death, and are thus led to the explanation of the allegorical language used throughout. Without metaphor now it is stated that the material body, when life is extinct, returns to that matter out of which it was originally made ( Genesis 2:7 ; Genesis 3:19 ; comp. Job 34:15 ; ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 12:8

It has been much questioned whether this verse is the conclusion of the treatise or the commencement of the epilogue. For the latter conclusion it is contended that it is only natural that the beginning of the final summing-up should start with the same words as the opening of the book ( Ecclesiastes 1:2 ); and that thus the conjunction "and," with which Ecclesiastes 12:9 begins, is readily explained. But the treatise is more artistically completed by regarding this solemn utterance as the... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 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... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Ecclesiastes 12:6

Be loosed - The termination of life is signified generally by the snapping of the silver cord by which the lamp hangs from the ceiling; by the dashing in pieces of the cup or reservoir of oil; by the shattering of the pitcher used to bring water from the spring; and by the breaking of the wheel by which a bucket is let down into the well. Others discern in the silver cord, the soul which holds the body in life; in the bowl, the body; and in the golden oil (compare Zechariah 4:12) within it, the... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Ecclesiastes 12:7

The spirit - i. e., The spirit separated unto God from the body at death. No more is said here of its future destiny. To return to God, who is the fountain Psalms 36:9 of Life, certainly means to continue to live. The doctrine of life after death is implied here as in Exodus 3:6 (compare Mark 12:26), Psalms 17:15 (see the note), and in many other passages of Scripture earlier than the age of Solomon. The inference that the soul loses its personality and is absorbed into something else has no... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Ecclesiastes 12:8-14

This passage is properly regarded as the Epilogue of the whole book; a kind of apology for the obscurity of many of its sayings. The passage serves therefore to make the book more intelligible and more acceptable.Here, as in the beginning of the book Ecclesiastes 1:1-2, the Preacher speaks of himself Ecclesiastes 12:8-10 in the third person. He first repeats Ecclesiastes 12:8 the mournful, perplexing theme with which his musings began Ecclesiastes 1:2; and then states the encouraging practical... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Ecclesiastes 12:5

Ecclesiastes 12:5. When they shall be afraid, &c. The passion of fear is observed to be most incident to old men, of which divers reasons may be given. Of that which is high Of high things, lest they should fall upon them; or of high places, as of going up hills or stairs, which is very irksome to them, because of their weakness, weariness, giddiness, and danger, or dread of falling. And fears shall be in the way Lest, as they are walking, they should stumble, or fall, or be thrust... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Ecclesiastes 12:6

Ecclesiastes 12:6. Or ever the silver cord be loosed By the silver cord he seems to understand the spinal marrow, which comes from the brain, and goes down to the lowest end of the back-bone. And this is aptly compared to a cord, both for its figure, which is long and round, and for its use, which is to draw and move the parts of the body; and to silver, both for its excellence and colour, which is white and bright, in a dead, much more in a living body. This may properly be said to... read more

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