Ecclesiastes 12:3 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Ecclesiastes 12:3
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,
a day (as the warm hours) · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
keepers
שֹׁמְרֵ֣יsho.me.Rei
H8104
properly · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural construct
house
הַבַּ֔יִתha.Ba.yit
H1004
a house (in the greatest variation of applications · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
tremble
שֶׁיָּזֻ֙עוּ֙shei.ya.Zu.'u
H2111
properly · relative particle + verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
strong
הֶחָ֑יִלhe.Cha.yil
H2428
probably a force · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
men
אַנְשֵׁ֣י'an.Shei
H582
a man in general (singly or collectively) · noun, common masculine plural construct
bow
וְהִֽתְעַוְּת֖וּve.hit.'a.ve.Tu
H5791
to wrest · conjunction + verb, hithpael sequential perfect, 3rd person common plural
grinders
הַטֹּֽחֲנוֹת֙ha.to.cha.nOt
H2912
to grind meal · definite article + noun, common feminine plural absolute
cease
וּבָטְל֤וּu.va.te.Lu
H988
to desist from labor · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person common plural
few
מִעֵ֔טוּmi.'E.tu
H4591
properly · verb, piel perfect, 3rd person common plural
out
הָרֹא֖וֹתha.ro.'ot
H7200
to see · definite article + verb, qal active participle, feminine plural absolute
windows
בָּאֲרֻבּֽוֹתba.'a.ru.Bot
H699
a lattice · preposition with the article + noun, common feminine plural absolute
darkened
וְחָשְׁכ֥וּve.cha.she.Khu
H2821
to be dark (as withholding light) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person common plural
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Psalms 90:9-10 For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told.
Psalms 102:23 He weakened my strength in the way; he shortened my days.
Genesis 27:1 And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his eldest son, and said unto…
Genesis 48:10 Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he could not see. And he brought them near unto him; and he kissed them, and embraced them.
1 Samuel 3:2 And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see;
2 Samuel 21:15-17 Moreover the Philistines had yet war again with Israel; and David went down, and his servants with him, and fought against the Philistines:…
Zechariah 8:4 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his h…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 12:1-7
Here is, I. A call to young people to think of God, and mind their duty to him, when they are young: Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth. This is, 1. The royal preacher's application of his sermon concerning the vanity of the world and every thing in it. "You that are young flatter yourselves with expectations of great things from it, but believe those that have tried it; it yields no solid satisfaction to a soul; therefore, that you may not be deceived by this vanity, nor too much disturbed by it, remember your Creator, and so guard yourselves against the mischiefs that arise from the vanity of the creature." 2. It is the royal physician's antidote against the particular disea…
keepers of the house--namely, the hands and arms which protected the body, as guards do a palace (Gen 49:24; Job 4:19; Co2 5:1), are now palsied.
strong men . . . bow-- (Jdg 16:25, Jdg 16:30). Like supporting pillars, the feet and knees (Sol 5:15); the strongest members (Psa 147:10).
grinders--the molar teeth.
cease--are idle.
those that look out of the windows--the eyes; the powers of vision, looking out from beneath the eyelids, which open and shut like the casement of a window.
John Gill on Ecclesiastes 12:3
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, 2 Corinthians 5:1. The Targum interprets the keepers of the house, of the knees and the trembling of them; but the Midrash and Jarchi, much better, of the ribs; man being fenced with bones and sinews, as Job says, Job 10:11; though trembling cannot be well ascribed to them, they being so fixed to the backbone: rather therefore, as Aben Ezra, the hands and arms are meant; which work for the maintenance of the body, and feed it with food, got and prepared by them; and which protect and defend it fr…
" 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 Lord overpowered him, and joining him, according to the parable of the Gospel [Luc. 11, 14-26.], destroys his house. Differently: the keepers of the house, who relate all things, which are written to the body of man, think that it means ribs, because the intestines are hemmed in by them, and all of the fleshy parts of the stomach are protected in this way. They think that the strong men are to be interpreted as legs; the sun and moon and stars therefore pertain to the eyes, nose and ears, and receive all the sensations of the head. But they do not interpret this to such an extent, because they are forced deeper by necessity, not by demons, or the sun, moon, or stars, but to understand what follows according to the limbs of man. "And the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened. "In the beginning of the world when the charity of most was cold and the spirits of teachers were few, who were able to offer the food of heaven to believers, and they were carried to the heaves; then those who in part see the light of knowledge in this world began to be darkened. For it is said to Moses: "sit yourself in this hole in the rock, and you will see me pass" [Ex. 33, 22.]. Oh how much more one spirit saw the truth through that opening and those dark caves! Differently: there are two grinders, from whom one is taken, the other is left, the Gospel is not silent in this matter [Cfr. Matth. 24, 41.]. And when they are few, and have ceased, it is necessary that every light of knowledge is removed from our eyes. Differently: they think the grinders have ceased because they are few, and that it is talking about teeth. And when at last old-age comes even teeth are worn away, or they fall out, which usually grind down food to be sent to the stomach. But seeing it grow dark in the caves, they think it means eyes because sight darkens with old-age, and…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Allegory — Used only in Gal. 4:24, where the apostle refers to the history of Isaac the free-born, and Ishmael the slave-born, and makes use of it allegorically. Every parable is an allegory. Nathan (2 Sam.…
Grind — (Ex. 32:20; Deut. 9:21; Judg. 16:21), to crush small (Heb. tahan); to oppress the poor (Isa. 3:5). The hand-mill was early used by the Hebrews (Num. 11:8). It consisted of two stones, the upper…
Window — Properly only an opening in a house for the admission of light and air, covered with lattice-work, which might be opened or closed (2 Kings 1:2; Acts 20:9). The spies in Jericho and Paul at Damascus…
Old Age · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Readings, Select · OLD AGE — OLD AGE
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Keil & Delitzsch on Ecclesiastes 12:3
To the thought: Ere the mind and the senses begin to be darkened, and the winter of life with its clouds and storms approaches, the further details here following stand in a subordinate relation: "That day when the watchers of the house tremble, and the strong men bow themselves, and the grinders rest, because they have become few, and the women looking out of the windows are darkened." Regarding בּיּום with art.: eo (illo) tempore, vid., under Sol 8:8. What follows is regarded by Winzer, with Mich., Spohr, and partly Nachtigal, as a further description of the night to which old age, Ecc 12:2, is compared: Watchers then guard the house; labourers are wearied with the labours and cares of the…
The NLT translates the Hebrew metaphors (guards . . . strong men . . . servants . . . women) and also provides an interpretation of these poetic elements (legs . . . shoulders . . . teeth . . . eyes).
Rashi on Ecclesiastes 12:3
Trembling. Trembling.
The preservers of the house. These refer to the ribs and flanks, that protect the entire body’s cavity.6Alternatively, these refer to the hands and arms. (Metsudas Dovid)
Will be bent. Will be seized by cramps עִוּוּת, called crampe [in O.F.]. Will be seized with cramps [=וְהִתְעַוְּתוּ is encranpiront in O.F.
The strong men. These refer to the legs, upon which the entire body is supported.
And the grinders cease. These refer to the teeth.
Because they are few. In old age, most of his teeth fall out.
And the starers in the windows. These refer to the eyes.
