Ecclesiastes 12:8. Vanity of vanities This sentence, wherewith he began this book, he here repeats in the end of it, as that which he had proved in all the foregoing discourse, and that which naturally followed from both the branches of the assertion laid down, Ecclesiastes 12:7. read more
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... read more
afraid: i.e. of ascending heights. high = lofty, elevated. fears shall be in the way: i.e. apprehensions of danger in journeying. almond tree shall flourish: i.e. grey hairs shall grow scanty, or drop off, not "almond nuts be rejected"; for the teeth and eating have already been dealt with in Ecclesiastes 12:3 . grasshopper , or locust. shall be a burden = shall become burdensome: i.e. as to weight. desire shall fail. "Desire" = Hebrew = the caperberry. Here the Authorized Version... read more
Or, &c. New figures now (in Ecclesiastes 12:6 ) introduced, referring to the arrival (Structure, above) of death itself. the silver cord: i.e. the spinal cord. the golden bowl: i.e. the head, or skull. pitcher: the failure of the heart. the wheel. On which the bucket is brought up by a rope from the cistern, or well. read more
dust. Figure of speech Metonymy (of Cause), App-6 , put for the body which is made of dust (Genesis 2:7 ; Genesis 3:19 . Psalms 104:29 . Job 34:15 , Job 34:16 ). as it was. Note the reference to Adam's creation. spirit. Hebrew. ruach. App-9 . Not nephesh, soul ( App-13 ). return unto God. Hence He is said to be the God of the spirits of all flesh (Numbers 16:22 ; Numbers 27:16 . Compare Luke 23:46 . Acts 7:59 ); "the Father of spirits" (Hebrews 12:9 ). God. Hebrew. Elohim. (with Art.)... read more
THE PICTURE OF OLD AGE, From Ecclesiastes 12:1-7 according to the common Translation. The royal preacher, in the first seven verses of this chapter, enforces the duty of early religion, by arguments principally drawn from the decay of the intellectual and corporeal powers in an advanced age. The evils induced upon the mental system are little more than cursorily spoken of. The inconveniences resulting to the bodily structure from a long series of years, are more particularly expatiated upon.... read more
Ecclesiastes 12:5. Also when they shall be afraid, &c.— They shall be afraid even of distant objects, nay, of the scare-crow, set on the way-side; the sex shall be neglected, and the grasshopper shall become a burden, and desire shall fail; for the man is going to his everlasting home, and the mourners are walking about the court, ready for his burial. These alterations of the version are from Mr. Desvoeux; who observes, that though interpreters are divided concerning the application of... read more
Ecclesiastes 12:6. Or ever the silver cord be loosed.— Remember thy Creator, I say, before the silver cord be removed, and the golden pully hasteneth its motion, and the jar be dashed to pieces upon the well, and the conduit be broken, through which the water used to run into the cistern. See the note on Ecclesiastes 12:2-3. It is on all hands allowed, that the picture-part of the emblem in this verse is a well once richly furnished with whatever is necessary both to draw water and to convey it... read more
Ecclesiastes 12:7. Then shall the dust return to the earth.— Desvoeux connects this with the preceding verse; at the end of which he places a semicolon only, and reads thus, And the dust return into the earth as it was, and the spirit return unto God who gave it. From the 7th verse of the preceding chapter we have the third precept, which, on account of its importance, is more enlarged upon than the two former, and has some retrospect to the three propositions considered jointly, but a more... read more
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Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Ecclesiastes 12:7
Ecclesiastes 12:7. Then shall the dust The body, called dust, both on account of its original, which was from the dust, and to signify its vile and corruptible nature. As it was Whence it was first taken. He alludes to Genesis 3:19. And the spirit The soul of man, so called, because of its spiritual or immaterial nature; shall return unto God Into his presence, and before his tribunal, that it may there be sentenced to its everlasting habitation, either to abide with God forever, if... read more