Ecclesiastes 12:3
in Ecclesiastes 12on the day the keepers of the house tremble and the strong men stoop, when those grinding cease because they are few and those watching through windows see dimly,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
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,
KJV
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 be darkened,
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This verse in Ecclesiastes 12
Commentary
9 notes on this verse" 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.
This site's exposition
the keepers of the house tremble
on Ecclesiastes 12:3-5
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.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
BonaventureCommentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 12 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
He shows the future weakening in old age with respect to six kinds of members. First, with respect to the shaking of the bones, which are ordered to protecting the body, when he says: "When the keepers of the house shall tremble." The house is …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
The conclusion, All is vanity, ver. 8. The preacher's end in this book, ver. 9-12. The sum of all, to fear God and keep his commandments, in consideration of the judgment to come, ver. 13, 14.
quarantine:anchor (2026-07-29) — cites-ver-13-anchored-1-7
The house - Of the body: whose keepers are the hands and arms, which are man's best instruments to defend his body; and which in a special manner are subject to his trembling.
In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble,.... By the "house" is meant the human body; which is a house of clay, the earthly house of our tabernacle, in which the soul dwells, Job 4:19, 2Co 5:
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
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.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
keepers of the house--namely, the hands and arms which protected the body, as guards do a palace (Ge 49:24; 2Co 5:1), are now palsied. strong men . . . bow-- (Jud 16:25, 30).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
In the day when the keepers of the house - The Body of man is here compared to a House: - mark the metaphors and their propriety. 1. The keepers shall tremble - the hands become paralytic, as is constantly the case, less or more, in old age. 2. The strong men shall bow - The legs become feeble, and unable to support the weight of the body. 3. The grinders cease because they are few - The teeth decayed and mostly lost; the few that remain being incapable of properly masticating hard substances or animal food. And so they cease; for soft or pulpy substances, which are requisite then, require little or no mastication; and these aliments become their ordinary food. 4. Those that look out of the windows - The optic nerves, which receive impressions, through the medium of the different humours of the eye, from surrounding objects - they are darkened; the humours becoming thick, flat, and turbid, they are no longer capable of transmitting those images in that clear, distinct manner, as formerly. There may be an allusion here to the pupil of the eye. Look into it, and you will see your own image in extreme minature looking out upon you; and hence it has its name pupillus, a little child, from pupus, a baby, a doll; because the image in the eye resembles such. The optic nerve being seated at the bottom of the eye, has the images of surrounding objects painted upon it; it looks out through the different humors. The different membranes and humours which compose the eye, and serve for vision, are, the tunica conjunctiva, the tunica sclerotica, the cornea, the iris, the pupil, the choroides, and the retina. The iris is perforated to admit the rays of light, and is called the pupil; the retina is a diffusion of the optic nerve in the bottom of the eye, on which the images are painted or impressed that give us the sensation we term sight or vision. […]
The words behind it
14 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בַּיּ֗וֹם | baiyom | in the day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| שֶׁיָּזֻ֙עוּ֙ | sheiyazuu | when they will tremble | H2111 → | |
| שֹׁמְרֵ֣י | shomerei | [the] keepers of | H8104 → | 468 times |
| הַבַּ֔יִת | habayit | the house | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| וְהִֽתְעַוְּת֖וּ | vehitavetu | and they will bend themselves | H5791 → | 11 times |
| אַנְשֵׁ֣י | ʾanshei | [the] people of | H582 → | |
| הֶחָ֑יִל | hechayil | <the> strength | H2428 → | |
| וּבָטְל֤וּ | uvatelu | and they will cease | H988 → | |
| הַטֹּֽחֲנוֹת֙ | hatochanot | the [female] grinders | H2912 → | |
| כִּ֣י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| מִעֵ֔טוּ | mietu | they have become few | H4591 → | |
| וְחָשְׁכ֥וּ | vechashekhu | and they will grow dim | H2821 → | |
| הָרֹא֖וֹת | haroot | the [women who] look | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| בָּאֲרֻבּֽוֹת׃ | baarubot | in the windows | H699 → |
בַּיּ֗וֹםin the day
baiyomH3117 →2304 times
שֶׁיָּזֻ֙עוּ֙when they will tremble
sheiyazuuH2111 →
שֹׁמְרֵ֣י[the] keepers of
shomereiH8104 →468 times
הַבַּ֔יִתthe house
habayitH1004 →2046 times
וְהִֽתְעַוְּת֖וּand they will bend themselves
vehitavetuH5791 →11 times
אַנְשֵׁ֣י[the] people of
ʾansheiH582 →
הֶחָ֑יִל<the> strength
hechayilH2428 →
וּבָטְל֤וּand they will cease
uvateluH988 →
הַטֹּֽחֲנוֹת֙the [female] grinders
hatochanotH2912 →
כִּ֣יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
מִעֵ֔טוּthey have become few
mietuH4591 →
וְחָשְׁכ֥וּand they will grow dim
vechashekhuH2821 →
הָרֹא֖וֹתthe [women who] look
harootH7200 →1300 times
בָּאֲרֻבּֽוֹת׃in the windows
baarubotH699 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Samuel 3:2And at that time Eli, whose eyesight had grown so dim that he could not see, was lying in his room.
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 4:15
Now Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his gaze was fixed because he could not see.
- Genesis 27:1
When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called his older son Esau and said to him, “My son.” “Here I am,” Esau replied.
- Psalms 90:10
The length of our days is seventy years— or eighty if we are strong— yet their pride is but labor and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.
- Genesis 48:10
Now Israel’s eyesight was poor because of old age; he could hardly see. Joseph brought his sons to him, and his father kissed them and embraced them.
- 1 Samuel 4:15
Through
Zechariah 8:4This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Old men and old women will again sit along the streets of Jerusalem, each with a staff in hand because of great age.
it leads to
- Isaiah 65:20–22
No longer will a nursing infant live but a few days, or an old man fail to live out his years. For the youth will die at a hundred years, and he who fails…
- Job 42:17
And so Job died, old and full of years.
- Isaiah 65:20–22
Through
Psalms 102:23He has broken my strength on the way; He has cut short my days.
it leads to
- 2 Thessalonians 2:3–12
Let no one deceive you in any way, for it will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness—the son of destruction—is revealed.
- Job 21:21
For what does he care about his household after him, when the number of his months has run out?
- 2 Thessalonians 2:3–12
Where this verse is studied
About Ecclesiastes
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bonaventure, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 12; Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ecclesiastes; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament.