Ecclesiastes 12

Remember your Creator while you are still young. Do this before the hard days come, and before the years arrive when you will say, "I find no pleasure in them."

1Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;

2Remember him before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars grow dark, and before the clouds come back again after the rain.

2While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain:

NoteThe darkening of sun, moon and stars is standard ancient poetry for catastrophe or the end of a life. "The clouds return after the rain" reverses the usual hope: instead of the sky clearing after a storm, another bank of cloud rolls in, gloom with no break in it.

3That is the day when the guards of the house tremble, and the strong men bend over, and the women grinding grain stop because only a few are left, and those looking out of the windows can no longer see clearly.

3In 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,

NoteAncient and modern readers have taken these four figures two ways at once, and the Hebrew supports both: a great house sliding into decay (guards, strong servants, grinding women, watchers at the windows), and an aging body (hands trembling, legs bending, teeth grown few, eyes dimming). The poem never says which it means. Grinding grain by hand between two stones was daily household labor, normally done by women.

4It is when the doors to the street are shut and the sound of the grinding mill fades away. A person wakes at the sound of a bird, and yet every singing voice grows faint.

4And 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;

NoteThe doors are the ones opening from a house onto the street; shut doors mean a household withdrawn from ordinary life. Waking at a bird's first call is the light, early sleep of the old. "Daughters of music" is a Hebrew idiom, "daughter of" simply marks belonging to a class, and can mean singing women, or the songs themselves; some take it of the ears growing deaf.

5It is when people are afraid of high places, and afraid of dangers along the road. The almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along, and desire fails. For a person is going to his everlasting home, and the mourners walk up and down the streets.

5Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets:

NoteSeveral details here are disputed. The almond blossoms white in late winter, before anything else, and readers have long heard white hair in it. The grasshopper "is a burden" translates a verb that may mean it drags itself along, losing its spring, or that even so light a thing feels heavy. "Desire shall fail" renders a Hebrew word that is the name of the caper berry, eaten to sharpen the appetite, so either the caper loses its effect or appetite and desire simply fail. "Long home" is literally "his everlasting house," the grave. Funerals employed professional mourners, who walked the streets wailing aloud.

6Remember him before the silver cord snaps, before the golden bowl is crushed, before the jar is broken at the spring, and before the wheel is broken at the well.

6Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern.

NoteTwo pictures of ordinary equipment ruined past repair. The first is a lamp hanging by a cord: cut the cord and the bowl of oil falls and smashes. The second is the gear for drawing water, a jar let down into a spring, and a wheel or pulley set over a well. When these break, the household's water stops.

7Then the dust goes back to the ground it came from, and the spirit goes back to God, who gave it.

7Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

NoteThis echoes the opening chapters of Genesis, where a human being is formed from the dust of the ground and God breathes breath into him. The word rendered "spirit" is Hebrew *ruach*, which means breath, wind, and spirit all at once.

8"Meaningless, completely meaningless," says the Teacher. "It is all meaningless."

8Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity.

Note"Vanity" in the King James translates Hebrew *hebel*, literally a vapor or puff of breath: fleeting, weightless, impossible to get hold of. It does not mean conceit or self-admiration. "Preacher" translates *Qoheleth*, roughly "one who gathers or addresses an assembly", a teacher speaking to a gathered audience, not a preacher in a church.

9Besides being wise himself, the Teacher also kept teaching the people what he knew. He thought things over carefully, searched them out, and arranged many proverbs in order.

9And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs.

NoteProverbs are short, pointed sayings. Collecting, editing and arranging such sayings into ordered collections was the recognized work of a wisdom teacher in Israel and across the ancient Near East.

10The Teacher searched for the right words to say, and what he wrote down was honest, and it was words of truth.

10The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth.

Note"Acceptable words" means pleasing, well-turned ones. The verse claims two things about the writing at once: that it was crafted to be a pleasure to hear, and that it was accurate.

11The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails driven in firmly. They are the collections of the masters of the assemblies, and they are given by one shepherd.

11The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.

NoteA goad is a long pole tipped with a sharp point, used to prod oxen forward, words that sting you into moving. The phrase behind "masters of assemblies" is unclear in Hebrew: it may mean collected sets of sayings, or the leaders of gatherings of scholars. "One shepherd" is equally open: shepherd was a common title for a king, a teacher, or God, and the text does not say which is meant.

12Beyond all this, my son, take warning. There is no end to the making of many books, and too much study wears out the body.

12And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.

Note"My son" was the standard way a wisdom teacher addressed a pupil; it need not mean his own child. Books at this date were hand-copied scrolls, so making them was slow, costly work.

13Now let us hear how the whole matter ends, since everything has been said: fear God and keep his commands, because this is the whole duty of every person.

13Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

Note"Fear God" in Hebrew usage means reverence and awe before God, not being frightened of him. "The whole duty of man" is an interpretation: the Hebrew says only "this is the whole of man," and "duty" is a word the translators supplied. Others render it "this applies to everyone."

14For God will bring every deed into judgment, along with every hidden thing, whether it is good or whether it is evil.

14For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

NoteThe language is that of a law court: God sitting as judge and weighing what each person has done, including what nobody else saw.