Ecclesiastes 12:4
in Ecclesiastes 12when the doors to the street are shut and the sound of the mill fades away, when one rises at the sound of a bird and all the daughters of song grow faint,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and the doors shall be shut in the street; when the sound of the grinding is low, and one shall rise up at the voice of a bird, and all the daughters of music shall be brought low;
KJV
And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of musick shall be brought low;
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This verse in Ecclesiastes 12
Commentary
13 notes on this verseAnd 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.
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.
This site's exposition
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.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
"The daughters of song" are false teachers, the daughters only of the voice but not of the spirit, not of wisdom, not of knowledge, not of light. Because of their unmanliness and their feminization in the treatment of the perishable they are called daughters.They will …
"And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of music shall be brought low. "When the voice of the grinder is weak and the teaching of a tutor has stopped, then in turn all things will stop. Even the doors are closed in the streets, as according to the unwieldy virgins of the Gospel [Cfr. Matth.
"Bird" can here mean the Savior in his human nature.…But also the message of truth itself can be called "bird" for this time. It can be compared for this time with a bird that comes from on high, from where truth came to the listeners. …
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
BonaventureCommentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 12 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
Fifth, with respect to the immobilization of the lips for speaking, when he says: "And the doors shall be shut in the street": the doors are the lips, by which the gate of the mouth is closed. These doors are shut in the street when …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
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.
5 more voices on this verse
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
And these are said to be shut, not absolutely, but comparatively, because men in old age grow dull and listless, having little appetite to eat, and are very frequently indisposed for discourse. When the sound - When the teeth are loose and few, whereby both his speech is low, and the noise which he makes in eating is but small.
And the doors shall be shut in the streets,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Mic 7:5). in the streets--that is, toward the street, "the outer doors" [MAURER and WEISS]. sound of . . . grinding--The teeth being almost gone, and the lips "shut" in eating, the sound of mastication is scarcely heard. the bird--the cock.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And the doors ... is low - The house is viewed from without. The way of entry and exit is stopped: little or no sound issues forth to tell of life stirring within. The old man, as he grows older, has less in common with the rising generation; mutual interest and social contact decline. Some take the doors and the sound of the mill as figures of the lips and ears and of the speech. He shall rise ... - Here the metaphor of the house passes out of sight. The verb may either be taken impersonally ( “they shall rise,” compare the next verse): or as definitely referring to an old man, who as the master of the house rises out of sleep at the first sound in the morning. All the daughters of musick - i. e., Singing women Ecc 2:8. Be brought low - i. e., Sound faintly in the ears of old age.
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְסֻגְּר֤וּ | vesugeru | and they will be shut up | H5462 → | |
| דְלָתַ֙יִם֙ | delatayim | [the] doors | H1817 → | |
| בַּשּׁ֔וּק | bashuk | on the street | H7784 → | |
| בִּשְׁפַ֖ל | bishfal | when becomes low | H8213 → | |
| ק֣וֹל | kol | [the] sound of | H6963 → | 506 times |
| הַֽטַּחֲנָ֑ה | hatachanah | the grinding mill | H2913 → | |
| וְיָקוּם֙ | veyakum | for someone may arise | H6965 → | 628 times |
| לְק֣וֹל | lekol | to [the] sound of | H6963 → | 506 times |
| הַצִּפּ֔וֹר | hatzipor | <the> bird | H6833 → | |
| וְיִשַּׁ֖חוּ | veyishachu | and they may be reduced | H7817 → | |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| בְּנ֥וֹת | benot | [the] daughters of | H1323 → | |
| הַשִּֽׁיר׃ | hashir | <the> song | H7892 → |
וְסֻגְּר֤וּand they will be shut up
vesugeruH5462 →
דְלָתַ֙יִם֙[the] doors
delatayimH1817 →
בַּשּׁ֔וּקon the street
bashukH7784 →
בִּשְׁפַ֖לwhen becomes low
bishfalH8213 →
ק֣וֹל[the] sound of
kolH6963 →506 times
הַֽטַּחֲנָ֑הthe grinding mill
hatachanahH2913 →
וְיָקוּם֙for someone may arise
veyakumH6965 →628 times
לְק֣וֹלto [the] sound of
lekolH6963 →506 times
הַצִּפּ֔וֹר<the> bird
hatziporH6833 →
וְיִשַּׁ֖חוּand they may be reduced
veyishachuH7817 →
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
בְּנ֥וֹת[the] daughters of
benotH1323 →
הַשִּֽׁיר׃<the> song
hashirH7892 →
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
Revelation 18:22And the sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters, will never ring out in you again. Nor will any craftsmen of any trade be found in you again, nor the sound…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 26:13
So I will silence the sound of your songs, and the music of your lyres will no longer be heard.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 25:10
Moreover, I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of the bride and bridegroom, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the lamp.
- Isaiah 24:8–9
The joyful tambourines have ceased; the noise of revelers has stopped; the joyful harp is silent.
- Ezekiel 26:13
Through
Jeremiah 25:10Moreover, I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of the bride and bridegroom, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the lamp.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 7:34
I will remove from the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem the sounds of joy and gladness and the voices of the bride and bridegroom, for the land will become a wasteland.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 16:9
For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I am going to remove from this place, before your very eyes and in your days, the sounds of joy and…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Revelation 18:22–23
And the sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters, will never ring out in you again. Nor will any craftsmen of any trade be found in you again, nor the sound…
- Jeremiah 7:34
Through
2 Samuel 19:35I am now eighty years old. Can I discern what is good and what is not? Can your servant taste what he eats or drinks? Can I still hear the voice of singing men…
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 15:33
David said to him, “If you go on with me, you will be a burden to me.
- Ezra 2:65
in addition to their 7,337 menservants and maidservants, as well as their 200 male and female singers.
- 2 Samuel 15:33
Where this verse is studied
About Ecclesiastes
This page draws on 12 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; Didymus the Blind, COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES 353:26; Didymus the Blind, COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES 352:12; 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); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.