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Ecclesiastes 12:5
Settings
5
when people are afraid of heights and of dangers in the streets; when the almond tree blossoms and the grasshopper drags itself along and desire no longer is stirred. Then people go to their eternal home and mourners go about the streets.
Ecclesiastes 12:5 in Other Translations
KJV
5
Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets:
ESV
5
they are afraid also of what is high, and terrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along, and desire fails, because man is going to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets--
NLT
5
Remember him before you become fearful of falling and worry about danger in the streets; before your hair turns white like an almond tree in bloom, and you drag along without energy like a dying grasshopper, and the caperberry no longer inspires sexual desire. Remember him before you near the grave, your everlasting home, when the mourners will weep at your funeral.
MSG
5
Hikes to the mountains are a thing of the past. Even a stroll down the road has its terrors. Your hair turns apple-blossom white, Adorning a fragile and impotent matchstick body. Yes, you're well on your way to eternal rest, While your friends make plans for your funeral.
CSB
5
Also, they are afraid of heights and dangers on the road; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper loses its spring, and the caper berry has no effect; for man is headed to his eternal home, and mourners will walk around in the street;
Ecclesiastes 12:5 Meaning and Commentary
Ecclesiastes 12:5
meaning either, should a grasshopper, which is very light, leap upon an aged person, it would give him pain, the least burden being uneasy to him; or, should he eat one of these creatures, the locusts being a sort of food in Judea, it would not sit well, on his stomach: or the grasshopper, being a crumpled and lean creature, may describe an old man; his legs and arms emaciated, and his shoulders, back, and lips, crumpled up and bunching out; and the locust of this name has a bunch on its backbone, like a camel F9: Bochart F11 says, that the head of the thigh, or the hip bone, by the Arabians, is called "chagaba", the word here used for a locust or grasshopper; which part of the body is of principal use in walking, and found very troublesome and difficult to move in old men; and Aben Ezra interprets it of the thigh: the almond tree, by the Rabbins, as Jarchi says, is interpreted of the hip bone, which stands out in old age: and the Targum, of this and the preceding clause, is,
the appetite, for food, for bodily pleasures, and carnal delights; and particularly for venery, all the parts of the body for such uses being weakened, The Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions, render it, "the caper tree shall be dissipated", or "vanish", or "[its fruit] shall shrink"; so Dr. Smith, who understands it of the decrease of the fluids, as he does the former clause of the solid parts of the body; and the berries of this tree are said to excite both appetite and lust F12: and so Munster F13 interprets the word of the berries of the caper tree; because man goeth to his long home;
the grave, as the Targum, the house appointed for living, where he must lie till the resurrection morn; his eternal house, as Cicero calls it F14; and so it may be rendered here, "the house of the world", common to all the world, where all mankind go: or, "to the house of his world" F15; whether of bliss or woe, according as his state and character be, good or bad: Theognis F16 calls it the dark house of "hades", or the invisible state; and then this must be understood with respect to his separate soul, and the mansion of it; and Alshech says, every righteous man has a mansion to himself; see ( John 14:2 ) ; and the mourners go about the streets;
the relations of the deceased; or those that go to their houses to comfort them; or the mourning men and women, hired for that purpose.
FOOTNOTES:
F8 Fam. Epist. l. 11. Ep. 58.
F9 R. Sol. Urbin. Ohel Moed, fol. 83. 1.
F11 Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 4. c. 8. col. 494.
F12 Avicenna spud Schindler. Lexic. col. 10.
F13 Dictionar. Chaldaic. p. 13.
F14 Tusculan. Quaest. l. 2. prope finem.
F15 (wmle tyb la) "ad domum seculi sui", Pagninus. Montanus, Vatablus, Mercerus.
F16 (gnwmai) v. 1008. vid. v. 244.
Also when they shall be afraid of [that which is] high
Not of the most high God, before whose tribunal they must shortly appear, as some; but rather of high places, as high hills, mountains, towers which aged persons are afraid to go up, because of the feebleness and weakness of their limbs, their difficulty of breathing, and the dizziness of their heads; and fears [shall be] in the way;
they do not care: to go abroad, being afraid of every little stone that lies in the way, lest they should stumble at it, and fall: some understand this of their fears of spirits, good or bad; but the former sense is best; and the almond tree shall flourish;
which most interpret of the hoary head, which looks like an almond tree in blossom; and which, as it comes soon in the spring, whence it has its name of haste in the Hebrew language; see ( Jeremiah 1:11 Jeremiah 1:12 ) ; and is a sure sign of its near approach; so gray hairs, or the hoary head, sometimes appear very soon and unexpected, and are a sure indication of the approach of old age; which Cicero F8 calls "aetas praecipitata",
``age that comes hastily on;''though the hoary head, like the almond tree, looks very beautiful, and is venerable, especially if found in the way of righteousness, ( Leviticus 19:32 ) ( Proverbs 16:31 ) ; and the grasshopper shall be a burden;
meaning either, should a grasshopper, which is very light, leap upon an aged person, it would give him pain, the least burden being uneasy to him; or, should he eat one of these creatures, the locusts being a sort of food in Judea, it would not sit well, on his stomach: or the grasshopper, being a crumpled and lean creature, may describe an old man; his legs and arms emaciated, and his shoulders, back, and lips, crumpled up and bunching out; and the locust of this name has a bunch on its backbone, like a camel F9: Bochart F11 says, that the head of the thigh, or the hip bone, by the Arabians, is called "chagaba", the word here used for a locust or grasshopper; which part of the body is of principal use in walking, and found very troublesome and difficult to move in old men; and Aben Ezra interprets it of the thigh: the almond tree, by the Rabbins, as Jarchi says, is interpreted of the hip bone, which stands out in old age: and the Targum, of this and the preceding clause, is,
``and the top of thy backbone shall bunch out, through leanness, like the almond; and the ankles of thy feet shall be swelled.''Some, as Ben Melech observes, understand it of the genital member, and of coitus, slighted and rejected, because of the weakness of the body; all desires of that kind being gone, as follows; and desire shall fail;
the appetite, for food, for bodily pleasures, and carnal delights; and particularly for venery, all the parts of the body for such uses being weakened, The Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions, render it, "the caper tree shall be dissipated", or "vanish", or "[its fruit] shall shrink"; so Dr. Smith, who understands it of the decrease of the fluids, as he does the former clause of the solid parts of the body; and the berries of this tree are said to excite both appetite and lust F12: and so Munster F13 interprets the word of the berries of the caper tree; because man goeth to his long home;
the grave, as the Targum, the house appointed for living, where he must lie till the resurrection morn; his eternal house, as Cicero calls it F14; and so it may be rendered here, "the house of the world", common to all the world, where all mankind go: or, "to the house of his world" F15; whether of bliss or woe, according as his state and character be, good or bad: Theognis F16 calls it the dark house of "hades", or the invisible state; and then this must be understood with respect to his separate soul, and the mansion of it; and Alshech says, every righteous man has a mansion to himself; see ( John 14:2 ) ; and the mourners go about the streets;
the relations of the deceased; or those that go to their houses to comfort them; or the mourning men and women, hired for that purpose.
F8 Fam. Epist. l. 11. Ep. 58.
F9 R. Sol. Urbin. Ohel Moed, fol. 83. 1.
F11 Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 4. c. 8. col. 494.
F12 Avicenna spud Schindler. Lexic. col. 10.
F13 Dictionar. Chaldaic. p. 13.
F14 Tusculan. Quaest. l. 2. prope finem.
F15 (wmle tyb la) "ad domum seculi sui", Pagninus. Montanus, Vatablus, Mercerus.
F16 (gnwmai) v. 1008. vid. v. 244.
Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible
Ecclesiastes 12:5 In-Context
3
when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men stoop, when the grinders cease because they are few, and those looking through the windows grow dim;
4
when the doors to the street are closed and the sound of grinding fades; when people rise up at the sound of birds, but all their songs grow faint;
5
when people are afraid of heights and of dangers in the streets; when the almond tree blossoms and the grasshopper drags itself along and desire no longer is stirred. Then people go to their eternal home and mourners go about the streets.
6
Remember him—before the silver cord is severed, and the golden bowl is broken; before the pitcher is shattered at the spring, and the wheel broken at the well,
7
and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.
