Ecclesiastes 12:3 BSB

Ecclesiastes 12:3

on 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

Parallel translations (2) ▾

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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Commentary

2 voices

Jerome

Commentary on Ecclesiastes (420)

" 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.

The record, by era

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Albert Barnes

1798–1870

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.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

14 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
בַּיּ֗וֹם	bai.Yom	in the day	H3117 →
שֶׁיָּזֻ֙עוּ֙	shei.ya.Zu.'u	when they will tremble	H2111 →
שֹׁמְרֵ֣י	sho.me.Rei	[the] keepers of	H8104 →
הַבַּ֔יִת	ha.Ba.yit	the house	H1004 →
וְהִֽתְעַוְּת֖וּ	ve.hit.'a.ve.Tu	and they will bend themselves	H5791 →
אַנְשֵׁ֣י	'an.Shei	[the] people of	H582 →
הֶחָ֑יִל	he.Cha.yil	<the> strength	H2428 →
וּבָטְל֤וּ	u.va.te.Lu	and they will cease	H988 →
הַטֹּֽחֲנוֹת֙	ha.to.cha.nOt	the [female] grinders	H2912 →
כִּ֣י	ki	for	H3588 →
מִעֵ֔טוּ	mi.'E.tu	they have become few	H4591 →
וְחָשְׁכ֥וּ	ve.cha.she.Khu	and they will grow dim	H2821 →
הָרֹא֖וֹת	ha.ro.'ot	the [women who] look	H7200 →
בָּאֲרֻבּֽוֹת׃	ba.'a.ru.Bot	in the windows	H699 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

H5791vehitavetuand they will bend themselves11×

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
1 Samuel 3:2
And at that time Eli, whose eyesight had grown so dim that he could not see, was lying in his room.
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.
Through
Zechariah 8:4
This 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.
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.
Through
Psalms 102:23
He has broken my strength on the way; He has cut short my days.
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?

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About Ecclesiastes

King Solomon in Old Age — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

Ecclesiastes: the study guide →Read chapter 12 →The featured study →

Continue: Ecclesiastes 12 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

05Featured studies on this passage

06About Ecclesiastes

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

Featured studies on this passage

About Ecclesiastes