{"id":9721,"date":"2026-03-28T13:09:31","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T19:09:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/?p=9721"},"modified":"2026-03-28T13:09:32","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T19:09:32","slug":"ecclesiastes-121-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/?p=9721","title":{"rendered":"Ecclesiastes 12:1-8"},"content":{"rendered":"
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12\u00a0<\/span>Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, b<\/span><\/span>efore the difficult days come, a<\/span>nd the years draw near when you say, <\/span>\u201cI have no pleasure in them\u201d:<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n

2\u00a0<\/sup>While the sun and the light, t<\/span>he moon and the stars, a<\/span>re not darkened, a<\/span>nd the clouds do not return after the rain;<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n

3\u00a0<\/sup>In the day when the keepers of the house tremble, a<\/span>nd the strong men bow down; w<\/span>hen the grinders cease because they are few, a<\/span>nd those that look through the windows grow dim;<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n

4\u00a0<\/sup>When the doors are shut in the streets, a<\/span>nd the sound of grinding is low; w<\/span>hen one rises up at the sound of a bird, a<\/span>nd all the daughters of music are brought low.<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n

5 <\/sup>Also they are afraid of height, a<\/span>nd of terrors in the way; w<\/span>hen the almond tree blossoms, t<\/span>he grasshopper is a burden, a<\/span>nd desire fails. <\/span>For man goes to his eternal home, a<\/span>nd the mourners go about the streets.<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n

6\u00a0<\/sup>Remember your Creator before the silver cord is loosed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the well.<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n

7\u00a0<\/sup>Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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8\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cVanity of vanities,\u201d says the Preacher, <\/span>\u201cAll\u00a0is\u00a0vanity.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n

Verses 2-5 describe old age; verses 6-7, death. Verse 2 pictures the depression and gloom which accompany old age. In youth life appears all brightness; and if there is rain, sunshine follows it. But not so in old age, clouds then return after rain, i.e., the mind loses its power of recovery and cheerfulness. \u201cThe keepers of the house\u201d are the arms, the \u201cstrong men,\u201d the legs, the \u201cgrinders,\u201d the teeth, \u201cthe windows, the eyes (v.3). \u201cThe house,\u201d more than once in the Bible, figures the human body. \u2014 Williams, page 448.<\/span><\/h3>\n

Verse 2 contrasts the light of youth with the darkness of old age.<\/h3>\n

keepers of the house tremble (v.3) \u2014 the hands shake<\/h3>\n

strong men bow down (v.3) \u2014 the legs become weak<\/h3>\n

Grinders cease because they are few (v.3) \u2014 the teeth fall out<\/h3>\n

windows grow dim (v.3) \u2014 eyesight gets worse<\/h3>\n

the sound of grinding is low (v.4) \u2014 loss of appetite<\/h3>\n

rises up at the sound of a bird (v.4) \u2014 sleeplessness<\/h3>\n

daughters of music are brought low (v.4) \u2014 loss of hearing<\/h3>\n

afraid of height, and of terrors in the way (v.5) \u2014 afraid of falling and afraid of traveling<\/h3>\n

almond tree blossoms (v.5) \u2014 hair turns white<\/h3>\n

the grasshopper is a burden (v.5) \u2014 feebleness<\/h3>\n

the silver cord is\u00a0loosed, or the golden bowl is broken (v.6) \u2014 probably the nervous system<\/h3>\n

the pitcher shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the well (v.6) \u2014 probably the circulatory system<\/h3>\n

dust (v.7) \u2014 the physical body (Genesis 3:19<\/span><\/a>;\u00a0Psalms 104:29<\/a><\/span>)<\/h3>\n

Verse 7 describes the reverse, as it were, of the creation process. The \u201cspirit\u201d in this specific context of life \u201cunder the sun,\u201d refers simply to the breath of life that God places into all living creatures, and not to the soul of man. \u2014 Grace, page 1182.<\/span><\/h3>\n
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In verse 8, Solomon repeats the point he made in\u00a0Ecclesiastes 1:2<\/span><\/a>.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

12\u00a0Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, before the difficult days come, and the years draw near when you say, \u201cI have no pleasure in them\u201d: 2\u00a0While the sun and the light, the moon and the stars, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ecclesiastes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9721","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9721"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9721\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9722,"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9721\/revisions\/9722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}