Ecclesiastes 12
Before it stinks to get old
Enjoy being young, old age come fast
1Remember your CreatorWhen you’re young and life’s fun,
Before the bad days come and you say,
“I hate to get sick and it stinks to grow old;”
2And before the lights go out,
Sun and moon and stars,
Shrouded in black clouds and rain;
3When guardians of the family tremble,
Those strong men curl with age,
When the women stop grinding grain,
Because so few of their friends remain,
And because those who are left
See the world through a dark pane; [1]
4When they lock their front doors,
And the grinding mill grows fainter,
When they barely hear birds singing,
And the music begins to die;
5When they’re afraid they might fall
And don’t take walks anymore.
It’s like this,
Almond trees come back in blossoms.
Locusts just keep coming back. [2]
Caperberries pop up a new year of buds.
But for humans, it’s time to die,
And time for their loved ones to cry.
6The silver cord [3] snaps and everything shatters,
The golden bowl drops and the pitcher breaks.
At the well there’s no way to get water,
Even the pulley for the cord is broken.
7Our bodies of dust return to the earth.
Our breath [4] returns to God.
8None of this makes a bit of sense, says the Scholar. It’s all such a tragic waste.
A final word
9This wise man, the Scholar, kept studying and evaluating and teaching. He wrote a lot of proverbs along the way. 10He looked for helpful insights to pass along, and he taught the truth in simple words.11Wise sayings are like prods the herders use
To gently nudge animals along.
These are the words of one Shepherd
And they stick like they’re nailed to our bones.
12And one word of warning to my people. Avoid any teachings but those you find here. This is the reason why:
There are too many books,
Yet people keep writing,
And if you study too much
It can knock you out.
Respect God, obey his laws.
That’s all you need to do.
Everything we’ve done:
Good, bad, or secret.
Footnotes
The Hebrew language here is vague, as it is elsewhere in this chapter. It’s not clear what the reference to the darkened window means. The guess here is that it has to do with aging eyesight.
This, too, is a guess. Scholars say they aren’t sure what these grasshopper locusts are doing in this verse. The more literal, vague Hebrew reads, “the grasshopper drags itself along,” or perhaps “the locust is heavy.” Those are two other guesses.
Who knows what the “silver cord” means? Maybe it’s the rope to the well. Or a cord holding the bowl and water pitcher. Or it’s a link to the “thread of life” in Greek mythology. There, the Fates would weave a thread of life representing the life of a soul. When one of the three Sisters of Fate, Athropos, cut the thread, the person died. Their soul went to the Underworld place of the dead for judgment.
The writer may have meant, “our spirit returns to God.” The Hebrew word is ruah, which can mean “wind” or “breath” or “spirit.” It’s the same word used to describe God’s work in creation: “God’s Spirit cruised through the darkness, above the water” (Genesis 1:2). It’s the word used to describe the death of people and animals during the Flood: “If it lived on land and drew a breath it died” (Genesis 7:22). Even in New Testament times, wind and breath symbolized life. “Jesus breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’ (John 20:22). This writer of Ecclesiastes, however, is more often the pessimist. And he doesn’t sound like he’s jumping for joy about life after death in heaven. Most scholars seem to say the writer probably isn’t aware of heaven. For him, it’s heaven on earth, the kingdom of God. Only later do people begin to realize how much broader the kingdom of God really is. Yet many scholars today might agree we still have little more clue to the extent of God’s kingdom than Solomon did.
Discussion Questions
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