Ecclesiastes 12:3-13

3 in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the grinders cease because they are few, and ¹those who look through the windows are dimmed,

4 and ²the doors on the street are shut--when ³the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all ⁴the daughters of song are brought low--

5 they are afraid also of what is high, and ⁵terrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along,^[a] and desire fails, because man is going to his ⁶eternal ⁷home, and the ⁸mourners go about the streets--

6 before the silver cord is snapped, or ⁹the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is ¹⁰shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern,

7 and ¹¹the dust returns to the earth as it was, and ¹²the spirit returns to God ¹³who gave it.

8 ¹⁴Vanity of vanities, says ¹⁵the Preacher; all is vanity.

Fear God and Keep His Commandments

9 Besides being wise, ¹⁶the Preacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging ¹⁷many proverbs with great care.

10 ¹⁸The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth.

11 ¹⁹The words of the wise are like goads, and like ²⁰nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are ²¹given by ²²one Shepherd.

12 My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making ²³many books there is no end, and ²⁴much study is a weariness of the flesh.

13 The end of the matter; all has been heard. ²⁵Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.^[b]

Ecclesiastes 12:3-13 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ECCLESIASTES 12

This chapter begins with advice to young men, which is continued from the preceding; and particularly to remember their Creator in the days of their youth; enforced from the consideration of the troubles and inconveniences of old age, Ec 12:1; which, in an allegorical way, is beautifully described, Ec 12:2-6; and from the certainty of death, when it would be too late, Ec 12:7. And then the wise man returns to his first proposition, and which he kept in view all along, that all is vanity in youth or old age, Ec 12:8; and recommends the reading of this book, from the diligence, pains and labour, he used in composing it; from the sententious matter in it; from the agreeable, acceptable, and well chosen words, in which he had expressed it; and from the wisdom, uprightness, truth, efficacy, and authority of the doctrines of it, Ec 12:9-11; and from its preference to other books, which were wearisome both to author and reader, Ec 12:12. And it is concluded with the scope and design, the sum and substance of the whole of it, reducible to these two heads; the fear of God, and obedience to him, Ec 12:13; and which are urged from the consideration of a future judgment, into which all things shall be brought, Ec 12:14.

Cross References

• 1. [Genesis 27:1; Genesis 48:10; 1 Samuel 3:2]
• 2. [Psalms 141:3]
• 3. [Jeremiah 25:10; Revelation 18:22]
• 4. [Ecclesiastes 2:8]
• 5. [Proverbs 26:13]
• 6. [Psalms 143:3]
• 7. [Job 17:13; Job 30:23; Isaiah 14:18]
• 8. [2 Chronicles 35:25; Jeremiah 9:17; Matthew 9:23]
• 9. [Zechariah 4:2, 3]
• 10. [Isaiah 30:14]
• 11. Psalms 90:3; Psalms 103:14; See Ecclesiastes 3:20; Job 34:15
• 12. [Ecclesiastes 3:21]
• 13. [Job 34:14; Isaiah 57:16; Zechariah 12:1]; See Genesis 2:7
• 14. Ecclesiastes 1:2
• 15. See Ecclesiastes 1:1
• 16. [See ver. 8 above]
• 17. See Proverbs 1:1
• 18. [See ver. 8 above]
• 19. Proverbs 22:17
• 20. Ezra 9:8; Isaiah 22:23
• 21. Proverbs 1:6; Proverbs 2:6
• 22. Psalms 80:1; Ezekiel 34:23; John 10:11, 16
• 23. [1 Kings 4:32, 33]
• 24. [Ecclesiastes 1:18]
• 25. Ecclesiastes 5:7; Deuteronomy 6:2; Deuteronomy 10:12

Footnotes

• [a]. Or is a burden
• [b]. Or the duty of all mankind