Ecclesiastes 12:2

"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."[11]

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;[12] but one of the most beautiful of the renditions we have seen is this:[13]

Ecclesiastes 12:2-5a "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."[14] 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 ..." (Ecclesiastes 12:3). "This no doubt refers to arms, legs, teeth, and eyes."[15]

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."[16]

"All the daughters of music shall be brought low" (Ecclesiastes 12:4). "He has not only lost his ability to sing, but the loss of hearing means he cannot even appreciate music"![17]

"And one shall rise up at the voice of a bird" (Ecclesiastes 12:4). 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" (Ecclesiastes 12:5). Here is the reason why old men do not like to climb ladders.

"Terrors shall be in the way" (Ecclesiastes 12:5). 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" (Ecclesiastes 12:5). Cook rendered this, "The almond tree shall be despised,"[18] 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."[19]

"The grasshopper shall be a burden" (Ecclesiastes 12:5). "The point here is that the lightest load is a burden to the aged."[20] It means what we would say if we remarked, "Why, that old man couldn't even carry a grasshopper."

"And desire shall fail" (Ecclesiastes 12:5). The Septuagint renders this, "The caper berry shall fail."[21] "This berry was widely used in the East as an aphrodisiac (sexual stimulant),"[22] or, "As a provocative of the appetite."[23] 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" (Ecclesiastes 12:5). Without a doubt the best rendition of this is, "Man goeth to his eternal home."[24] 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" (Ecclesiastes 12:5). 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."[25]

"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" (Ecclesiastes 12:6) 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."[26]

(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."[27]

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" (Ecclesiastes 12:6). "In the Bible, both light and water symbolize life;"[28] 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" (Ecclesiastes 12:7). 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" (Ecclesiastes 12:7). 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."[29]

"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."[30] Murphy, and others, deny what the sacred text clearly says here, asserting that, "Solomon had no knowledge of a blessed immortality."[31] 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)."[32] 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."[33]

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."[34]

"Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher; all is vanity" (Ecclesiastes 12:8). 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."[35]

"Saith the Preacher ..." (Ecclesiastes 12:8). 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."[36]