Ecclesiasteschapter 12
14 verses · Solomon, by tradition · 10th century BC · Wisdom and poetry
“Futility of futilities,” says the Teacher. “Everything is futile!”
Introduction
Solomon, by tradition, Wisdom and poetry, Ecclesiastes Overview.
This last chapter closes the book of wisdom that tradition gives to Solomon, and it speaks first to the young. It was heard by people who knew old age at close range, in households where several generations lived together. A poem pictures a life drawing to its end in images from the house, the street and the well. Then a closing voice describes how the Teacher worked and states the book's conclusion. Listen for the call that opens the chapter and for the two sentences that close the book. Read it as the answer the whole search has been moving toward.
Context
- Who
- The young, urged to decide now, and every later reader of the finished scroll
- What
- A call to remember the Creator in youth, a poem on old age and death, and an epilogue on the Teacher's work and the whole duty of mankind.
- Where
- An aging household in Israel, the streets where mourners walked, and the scribe's desk where the book was finished.
- When
- Late in the reign of Solomon, about 940 BC, on the traditional reading; many date the book's Hebrew to the Persian period, so the date is held with less certainty than the setting.
- Why
- To move the reader to fear God and keep His commandments while there is still time, since God will judge every deed.
Historical context
The aging poem describes an old man as a great house falling into disrepair, and each part has a body behind it. The keepers of the house tremble, the arms and hands shake. The strong men bow, the legs give. The grinders cease because they are few, teeth. Those that look out of the windows are darkened, failing eyesight. The doors are shut in the streets and the sound of the grinding is low, hearing goes, and so does the ability to chew. He rises up at the voice of the bird, because old men sleep lightly and wake at dawn. The almond tree flourishes, almond blossom is white, like hair. The grasshopper is a burden, even something weightless is now too heavy. Desire fails.
Show the rest of the historical context, 3 more paragraphs
Then the household breaks entirely. "The silver cord be loosed, the golden bowl be broken" is a hanging lamp: a bowl of oil suspended on a chain, which falls and shatters when the chain parts. "The pitcher broken at the fountain, the wheel broken at the cistern" is the village water supply, a jar lowered on a rope over a wheel or pulley into the well. When the jar breaks and the wheel comes apart, the house has no water. The lamp is out and the water has stopped: the life is over.
"The mourners go about the streets" describes hired professional mourners, who wailed through the neighbourhood so that the whole town knew a death had occurred. It was a paid, recognised occupation.
The epilogue describes how the book itself was made: the Preacher "taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs", collecting, sifting, and arranging, which is exactly what Proverbs 25 says Hezekiah's men later did with Solomon's sayings. The words of the wise are compared to "goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies": a goad was the sharpened stick used to keep an ox moving, and a nail here is a fixed peg you can hang something on. Wisdom prods and it holds.
Significance
"Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth" is the point of the entire poem that follows it. The description of old age is not there to depress the old; it is there to move the young before the machinery starts failing.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
And the last two verses are the book's verdict after twelve chapters of vapour: "fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing." Everything the book could not settle under the sun is handed to a judgment above it.
This chapter in Jewish lifeWhat this chapter is in Jewish life and reading.
What is done
This chapter closes the one public reading the book receives in the year, at Sukkot on the Sabbath that falls in the festival week. The site's own table in src/lib/hebraic/readings.ts records that reading and sources it to Tractate Soferim 14:3; it printed parashot total 0 and haftarah uses total 0 for this book.
Rashi ties three standing practices to this chapter, each a fence around the Torah. At the ninth verse he says that Solomon made handles for the Torah. He instituted eruvin "as a safeguard for the observance of the Shabbos", and "the ritual washing of the hands as a safeguard for purity". He also instituted secondary forbidden marriages as a safeguard against incest (Rashi on Ecclesiastes 12:9:2). At the eleventh verse he gives the rule of the fence by example. Holy food may be eaten until dawn, but the Sages set its limit at midnight, and they did the same with the evening Shema (Rashi on Ecclesiastes 12:11:1). The corpus carries Eruvin 21b:10 on the twelfth verse and Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Eiruvin 2:8 on the ninth.
The first verse is also the text of a saying studied in the Mishnah. Rashi reports that Akavya son of Mahalalel taught reflection on three things and drew them from this verse. Rashi sets the three side by side: the Creator before whom a man gives account, the pit that is his grave, and the well from which he came (Rashi on Ecclesiastes 12:1:1).
How it is read
Rashi is the one commentator on this chapter whose English the corpus carries, quoted here from The Metsudah Five Megillot, Lakewood, N.J., 2001, which Sefaria reports as CC-BY. Every quotation is held to fifty words or fewer because the translation is modern, and the edition's own notes are never quoted as his.
The evil days are "The days of old age and feebleness" (Rashi on Ecclesiastes 12:1:2), and Rashi reads the poem that follows as the body growing old, part by part. "Our Rabbis said" that the sun is the forehead, which shines on a young man and wrinkles with age (Rashi on Ecclesiastes 12:2:1). The light is the nose (Rashi on Ecclesiastes 12:2:2). The keepers of the house are the ribs and flanks that guard the body's cavity (Rashi on Ecclesiastes 12:3:2). The doors shut are the body's openings, and the low sound of the grinding is the stomach (Rashi on Ecclesiastes 12:4:1 and 12:4:2). The fear of heights is the old man's fear of stumbling on the mounds in the street (Rashi on Ecclesiastes 12:5:1). The silver cord "refers to the spinal cord, which is as white as silver" (Rashi on Ecclesiastes 12:6:1).
The seventh verse he reads twice over, of Israel. The dust that returns is the people who "came from Bavel and they returned to Bavel" (Rashi on Ecclesiastes 12:7:1). The spirit that returns "is the Holy Spirit, for as soon as the Holy Spirit departed, they were exiled" (Rashi on Ecclesiastes 12:7:2).
The close of the book he reads as the Torah and its guard. The words of delight Koheles sought are "The law [as it was given] to Moshe at Sinai" (Rashi on Ecclesiastes 12:10:2). The last counsel is "Do what you can, and let your heart be [directed] toward Heaven" (Rashi on Ecclesiastes 12:13:1). The final verse draws a note on the vowels and the accents: the word for every deed is marked to stand apart from the word for God that follows it (Rashi on Ecclesiastes 12:14:1).
The corpus carries one further entry on this chapter without an English text. Rashi on Ecclesiastes 12:9:1 is marked linked because the text fetch returned nothing, and it is cited by ref alone.
What the rabbis say
The corpus carries forty rabbinic locators on this chapter and the text of none, so each is cited and linked here rather than quoted. On the first verse, remember your Creator, it holds Bereshit Rabbah 59:6, Eikhah Rabbah, Petichta 23 and Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Shabbat 23:4. On the second, the darkening of the sun, it holds Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Khagigah 1:4, Ein Yaakov, Shabbat 23:9 and Kohelet Rabbah 12:2:1. On the third it holds Kohelet Rabbah 12:3:1, Midrash Lekach Tov on Ecclesiastes 12:3:1 and Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Chayei Sara 7:6. On the fourth it holds Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Shabbat 23:7, Ein Yaakov, Shabbat 23:10 and Kohelet Rabbah 12:4:1. On the fifth it holds Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Shabbat 23:9 with Ein Yaakov, Shabbat 23:11 and 23:12.
The silver cord and the returning dust carry the next run. On the sixth verse the corpus holds Bereshit Rabbah 100:7, Kohelet Rabbah 12:6:1 and Midrash Lekach Tov on Ecclesiastes 12:6:1. On the seventh it holds Aggadat Bereshit 35:1, Bereshit Rabbati, Parashat Bereshit 39 and Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Shabbat 23:10. On the eighth, vanity of vanities once more, it holds Kohelet Rabbah 12:9:1 and 7:27:1 with Midrash Lekach Tov on Ecclesiastes 12:8:1.
The close of the book carries the rest. On the ninth verse, the proverbs set in order, the corpus holds Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition) at Eiruvin 2:8 and Yevamot 2:2, with Ein Yaakov, Eiruvin 2:11. On the tenth it holds Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Rosh Hashanah 1:24, Ein Yaakov, Rosh Hashanah 1:28 and Kohelet Rabbah 12:10:1. On the eleventh, the words of the wise as goads, it holds Avot DeRabbi Natan 18:2 with Bamidbar Rabbah 14:4 and 15:22. On the twelfth, the making of many books, it holds Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Eiruvin 2:5, Ein Yaakov, Eiruvin 2:8 and Eruvin 21b:10. On the thirteenth, fear God, it holds Aggadat Bereshit 33:1 and Berakhot 6b:34. On the fourteenth, every deed brought to judgment, it holds Chagigah 5a:10 and 5a:12. What each of them teaches is a saying of the rabbis, and is reported as theirs wherever this site quotes one. The quotations wait on a fetch that carries the text.
Sources: Rashi, Rashi on Ecclesiastes 12:1:1 to 12:14:1, The Metsudah Five Megillot, Lakewood, N.J., 2001, reported CC-BY, and Rashi on Ecclesiastes 12:9:1, cited by ref because the text fetch returned nothing; The Sefaria corpus, scripts/data/sources/sefaria/ecclesiastes/12.json, the 40 Talmud and Midrash locators of this chapter; The site's own files, src/lib/hebraic/readings.ts, probed for this book and printing parashot total 0, haftarah uses total 0, and the festival reading at Sukkot on the Sabbath that falls in the festival week, sourced there to Tractate Soferim 14:3.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
Remember Thy Creator Before the Silver Cord Is Loosed
Ecclesiastes 12:1-2
Remember your Creator in the days of your youth: The book's last counsel is aimed at its youngest reader: Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of adversity come. In the poem of old age, the clouds return after the rain: as Delitzsch puts it, one trouble follows another like rain returning on rain.
Ecclesiastes 12:1
“Remember now - Rather, And remember. The connection between this verse and the preceding one is unfortunately interrupted by our division of chapters. Creator - Gratitude to God as Creator is here inculcated, as just previously Ecc 11:9 fear of God as Judge. Godliness, acquired as a habit in youth, is recommended as the proper compensation for that natural cessation of youthful happiness which makes the days of old age more or less evil; more evil in proportion since there is less of godliness in the heart, and less evil where there is more godliness.”
the clouds return after the rain: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that after rain a man looks for sunshine, and old age gives a brief glimpse before the clouds return. Wesley records the Chaldee paraphrase, which read the sun, moon and stars as beauty of the face and brightness of the eyes. Clarke calls it winter.
Ecclesiastes 12:2
“Illustrating "the evil days" (Jer 13:16). "Light," "sun," &c., express prosperity; "darkness," pain and calamity (Isa 13:10; 30:26). clouds . . . after . . . rain--After rain sunshine (comfort) might be looked for, but only a brief glimpse of it is given, and the gloomy clouds (pains) return.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 more voice on this verse
Ecclesiastes 12:2
“And those expressions may be understood of the outward parts of the body, and especially of the face, the beauty of the countenance, the pleasant complexion of the cheeks, the liveliness of the eyes, which are compared to the sun, and moon, and stars, and which are obscured in old age, as the Chaldee paraphrast understands it.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Ecclesiastes 12:3-5
the keepers of the house tremble: The failing body is drawn as an estate, read since the Targum: the keepers of the house tremble as the hands. The dim windows are the eyes and the almond tree blossoms the white head. The destination is plain: man goes to his eternal home and mourners walk the streets.
Ecclesiastes 12:3
" In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves; "The keepers of the house can be interpreted as either the sun and the moon, and the remaining choir of stars, or the angels who keep watch over this world. The men of great strength though, or the brave, as Symmachus has interpreted it, are those who die, or as Aquila has translated it, those who err, and are felt to be demons, for they are called those chosen by the powerful devil.
Jerome · written before 420 · Commentary on Ecclesiastespatristic
1 more voice on this verse
Ecclesiastes 12:3
“The body in old age and death is here described under the figure of a decaying house with its inmates and furniture. This verse is best understood as referring to the change which old age brings to four parts of the body, the arms (“the keepers”), the legs (“the strong men”), the teeth (“the grinders”), and the eyes.”
doors to the street are shut: Barnes views the house from outside: the doors are shut and little sound escapes to tell of life within, as the old man's contact declines. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown hear the fading mill as chewing with few teeth. The bird is the cock at dawn.
Ecclesiastes 12:4
“And the doors shall be shut in the streets - 5. The doors - the lips, which are the doors by which the mouth is closed. 6. Be shut in the streets - The cavities of the cheeks and jaws, through which the food may be said to travel before it is fitted by mastication or chewing to go down the aesophagus into the stomach. The doors or lips are shut to hinder the food in chewing from dropping out; as the teeth, which prevented that before, are now lost.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Ecclesiastes 12:4
“Ninthly, With them all the daughters of music are brought low. They have neither voice nor ear, can neither sing themselves nor take any pleasure, as Solomon had done in the days of his youth, in singing men, and singing women, and musical instruments, ch. ii.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
men fear the heights: Jerome read the fear of heights as old knees afraid of every step. Maurer, cited by Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, sees the grasshopper as a locust ready for flight, like an old man about to leave the body. Wesley calls the eternal home a state that never changes.
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 Pro 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 the locust is conspicuous.”
1 more voice on this verse
Ecclesiastes 12:5
“Hence arose the fable, that Tithonus in very old age was changed into a grasshopper [PARKHURST]. "The locust raises itself to fly"; the old man about to leave the body is like a locust when it is assuming its winged form, and is about to fly [MAURER]. a burden--namely, to himself. desire shall fail--satisfaction shall be abolished.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Ecclesiastes 12:6-8
Remember Him before the silver cord is snapped: Death comes in four images, light and water cut off at the source. Verse 7 answers Genesis: the dust returns to the ground (Genesis 3:19) and the spirit returns to God who gave it (Genesis 2:7). The cry of verse 8 closes the frame opened at 1:2.
Ecclesiastes 12:6
“Or ever the silver cord be loosed - We have already had all the external evidences of old age, with all its attendant infirmities; next follow what takes place in the body, in order to produce what is called death, or the separation of body and soul. 1. The silver cord - The medulla oblongata or spinal marrow, from which all the nerves proceed, as itself does from the brain. This is termed a cord, from its exact similitude to one; and a silver cord, from its color, as it strikingly exhibits the silver gray; and from its preciousness.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
the spirit returns to God: Jerome and John Cassian read the verse as creationism, the teaching that God himself gives every spirit: the spirit came from God. Augustine granted that it could be pressed for traducianism, every spirit passed down from the one God gave Adam. The verse entered that debate early.
Ecclesiastes 12:7
"Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it." He goes on more clearly: "the dust will return to the earth, whence it was taken, and the spirit is returned to God, who gave it". From which there is enough to smile at in those who think that spirits are produced with bodies, not from God, but are made from the parent's body.
Jerome · written before 420 · Commentary on Ecclesiastespatristic
1 more voice on this verse
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 Psa 36:9 of Life, certainly means to continue to live. The doctrine of life after death is implied here as in Exo 3:6 (compare Mar 12:26), Psa 17:15 (see the note), and in many other passages of Scripture earlier than the age of Solomon.”
The Teacher ends where he began at 1:2, and hevel, the Hebrew word rendered futile, means vapor or breath. Jerome notes that the words return straight after the dust returns to the ground and the spirit to God. Barnes marks the verse as the start of the epilogue.
Ecclesiastes 12:8
“This affecting and minute description of old age and death is concluded by the author with the same exclamation by which he began this book: O vanity of vanities, saith Koheleth, all is vanity. Now that man, the masterpiece of God’s creation, the delegated sovereign of this lower world, is turned to dust, what is there stable or worthy of contemplation besides? All - All is Vanity!”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
ConnectionsEcclesiastes 1:2
The End of the Matter: Fear God and Keep His Commandments
Ecclesiastes 12:9-12
Not only was the Teacher wise: The epilogue steps back to commend the Teacher: he searched to find delightful sayings. The words of the wise are like goads, prodding, and like firmly embedded nails driven by a single Shepherd, holding. There is no end to the making of many books, and much study wearies the body.
Ecclesiastes 12:9
“Because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge - And in order to do this he took good heed - considered what would be most useful. He set in order - collected and arranged, many parables, probably alluding to the book over which we have already passed.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Ecclesiastes 12:9
“There must then have been auditories assembled to hear the inspired wisdom of the Preacher. See the explanation of Koheleth in the Introduction, and chapter 1 (1Ki 4:34). that which is written, &c.--rather, (he sought) "to write down uprightly (or, 'aright') words of truth" [HOLDEN and WEISS].”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
delightful sayings: Clarke gives the Hebrew for delightful sayings as dibrey chephets, words of desire, the words the people could best understand. Henry adds that the record is upright, words of truth that show things as they are. Delight and truth stand together.
Ecclesiastes 12:10
“He sought to find out acceptable words - דברי חפץ dibrey chephets, words of desire, words of will; the best, the most suitable words; those which the people could best understand. But these words were not such as might merely please the people; they were words of truth; such as came from God, and might lead them to him.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
a single Shepherd: Origen read the single Shepherd as the Word, who gives all the words of the wise and keeps them in agreement. Gregory the Dialogist heard the embedded nails in the sharp rebukes of preachers, words driven in to pierce sin. John the Baptist spoke them.
Ecclesiastes 12:11
“The words of the wise - Doctrines of faith, illustrated by suitable language, are as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, בעלי אספות baaley asuphoth, the masters of collections, those who had made the best collections of this kind, the matter of which was of the most excellent nature; every saying sinking as deeply into the mind, by the force of the truth contained in it, as a nail well pointed does into a board, when impelled by the hammer’s force.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
3 more voices on this verse
Ecclesiastes 12:11
“Let your discourses then be flowing, let them be clear and lucid; pour the sweetness of your moral arguments into the ears of the people, and sooth them with the charm of your words, that so they may willingly follow your guidance. But if there be any contumacy or transgression in the people or individuals, let your sermons be of such a character as shall move your audience, and prick the evil conscience, for the words of the wise are as goads. The Lord Jesus too pricked Saul, when he was a persecutor.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Letter II, To Constantiuspatristic
Ecclesiastes 12:11
“The words of the wise are as goads,.... As the goad teacheth the ox; so the Targum.”
Ecclesiastes 12:11
“However, the mention of "goads" favors the English Version, "masters of assemblies," namely, under-shepherds, inspired by the Chief Shepherd (1Pe 5:2-4). SCHMIDT translates, "The masters of assemblies are fastened (made sure) as nails," so Isa 22:23.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
the making of many books: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown set these words of the wise, given by the one Shepherd, against the many books men write. Origen, writing on John, feared that his own many books broke what the Teacher warned against. Clarke counts millions more since.
Ecclesiastes 12:12
"And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh. "If you remove the words which are given by the one shepherd, related by the advice and agreement of the wise, do nothing and nothing will be reproved you; follow in the footsteps of the multitude and do not diverge from their command. Then too for him who seeks to know many things there is a great number of books that will lead him to wickedness and make the reader toil in vain.
Jerome · written before 420 · Commentary on Ecclesiastespatristic
3 more voices on this verse
Ecclesiastes 12:12
“And farther, by these, my son, be admonished - Hear such teachers, and receive their admonitions; and do not receive the grace of God in vain. Of making many books there is no end - Two thousand years have elapsed since this was written; and since that time some millions of treatises have been added, on all kinds of subjects, to those which have gone before. The press is still groaning under and teeming with books, books innumerable; and no one subject is yet exhausted, notwithstanding all that has been written on it.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Ecclesiastes 12:12
“13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. The great enquiry which Solomon prosecutes in this book is, What is that good which the sons of men should do? ch. ii.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Ecclesiastes 12:12
“I, for my part, am inclined to shrink from toil and to avoid that danger which threatens from God those who give themselves to writing on divinity; thus I would take shelter in Scripture in refraining from making many books. For Solomon says in Ecclesiastes, "My son, beware of making many books; there is no end of it, and much study is a weariness of the flesh." For we, except that text have some hidden meaning which we do not yet perceive, have directly transgressed the injunction; we have not guarded ourselves against making many books.”
Origen of Alexandria · written before 253 · Commentary on the Gospel of John 5, Prefacepatristic
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14
When all has been heard: Fear God and keep His commandments, because this is the whole duty of man, where the Hebrew reads simply this is the whole of man. The last verse answers the common fate, God will bring every deed into judgment, along with every hidden thing, the day Romans 2:16 also names.
Ecclesiastes 12:13
“After all, the sum of the great business of human life is comprised in this short sentence, on which some millions of books have been already written! Fear God, and Keep His Commandments 1. Know that He Is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. 2. Reverence him; pay him adoration. 3. Love him, that you may be happy.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
every deed into judgment: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown make the judgment the test of the whole book, deciding what is futile and the chief good. The Apostolic Constitutions cite it for a resurrection of all. Athanasius turned it against the Arians: if the Son were a work, the Judge would be brought into judgment.
Ecclesiastes 12:14
“Consider how grave an error it is to call God's Word a work. Solomon says in one place in Ecclesiastes that "God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil." If then the Word is a work, do you mean that he as well as others will be brought into judgment? And what room is there for judgment, when the Judge is on trial?”
Athanasius of Alexandria · written before 373 · Discourses Against the Arians 2.14.6patristic
2 more voices on this verse
Ecclesiastes 12:14
“For God shall bring every work into judgment - This is the reason why we should “fear God and keep his commandments.” 1. Because there will be a day of judgment. 2. Every soul of man shall stand at that bar. 3. God, the infinitely wise, the heart-searching God, will be judge. 4. He will bring to light every secret thing - all that has been done since the creation, by all men; whether forgotten or registered; whether done in secret or in public.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Ecclesiastes 12:14
“For God shall bring every work into judgment--The future judgment is the test of what is "vanity," what solid, as regards the chief good, the grand subject of the book.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
How this psalm is built
The form: A call to remember the Creator, a poem of old age pictured as a decaying house, and an epilogue on the Teacher's work, as Barnes classes it.
The patterns in this chapter
| Device | What it does | Where to see it |
|---|---|---|
| The house of the body | Verses 3 and 4 picture old age as a house whose household fails one member at a time. Albert Barnes reads the keepers, the strong men, the grinders and those at the windows as the arms, the legs, the teeth and the eyes. Adam Clarke reads the same pictures member by member, and Bonaventure counts six kinds of members in the passage.Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments, on Ecclesiastes 12:3. | Ecclesiastes 12:3, Ecclesiastes 12:4 |
| The frame of the book | Verse 8 repeats the cry of futility that opened the book at 1:2. Jerome and Adam Clarke both read it as the author going back to the words with which he began. Barnes adds that in both places the Teacher is spoken of in the third person.Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible, 1832, on Ecclesiastes 12:8. | Ecclesiastes 1:2, Ecclesiastes 12:8 |
How this chapter is built
1 more paragraph on the patterns
The chapter opens with the call to remember the Creator and then pictures the years of decline as a great house shutting down, one member of its household at a time. Albert Barnes and Adam Clarke read the keepers, strong men, grinders and watchers as the parts of an aging body. Verse 8 returns to the cry that opened the book at 1:2, which closes the frame around the whole search. The last six verses speak of the Teacher in the third person and give the book's conclusion.
Keep studying
Studies5
Words12
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The context
Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs and Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Job.
The form and classifications
Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments, on Ecclesiastes 12:3 and 12:8 and Bonaventure, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 12, on Ecclesiastes 12:8.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Apostolic Constitutions, CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES; Athanasius of Alexandria, Discourses Against the Arians 2.14.6; Augustine of Hippo, LETTER 143; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Ecclesiastes; Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book 24; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ecclesiastes; John Cassian, CONFERENCE 8:25; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Origen of Alexandria.