English Standard Version
Ecclesiastes 12:4
4and the doors on the street are shut—when the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low—
Ecclesiastes 12:4 in other versions
- King James Version (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;
- New International Version (NIV)when the doors to the street are closed and the sound of grinding fades; when people rise up at the sound of birds, but all their songs grow faint;
- New King James Version (NKJV)When the doors are shut in the streets, And the sound of grinding is low; When one rises up at the sound of a bird, And all the daughters of music are brought low.
- New Living Translation (NLT)Remember him before the door to life’s opportunities is closed and the sound of work fades. Now you rise at the first chirping of the birds, but then all their sounds will grow faint.
Context of Ecclesiastes 12:4
2before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain, 3in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those who look through the windows are dimmed, and the doors on the street are shut—when the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low— 5they are afraid also of what is high, and terrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along, and desire fails, because man is going to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets— 6before the silver cord is snapped, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern,
Read all of Ecclesiastes 12Ecclesiastes 12:4 word by word
וְסֻגְּר֤וּ דְלָתַ֙יִם֙ בַּשּׁ֔וּק בִּשְׁפַ֖ל ק֣וֹל הַֽטַּחֲנָ֑ה וְיָקוּם֙ לְק֣וֹל הַצִּפּ֔וֹר וְיִשַּׁ֖חוּ כָּל־בְּנ֥וֹת הַשִּֽׁיר׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And the doorsדֶּ֫לֶתdeleth · doorH1817
- shall be shutסָגַרsâgar · to shutH5462
- in the streetsשׁוּקshûq · streetH7784
- when the soundקוֹלqôl qôl · voice: soundH6963
- of the grindingטַחֲנָהţachănâh · millH2913
- is lowשָׁפָלshâphâl · lowH8217
- and he shall rise upקוּםqûm · to arise: riseH6965
- of the birdצִפּוֹרtsippôr tsippôr · birdH6833
- and all the daughtersבַּתbath · daughterH1323
- of musickשִׁירshîyr shîyrâh · songH7892
- shall be brought lowשָׁחַחshâchach · to bowH7817
Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 12:4
Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 12:4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4And 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. 7. The…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4And 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…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-7This beautiful prose poem, rich with Hebrew metaphors, describes the painful decline that comes with aging. It continues from Ecclesiastes 11:7–10.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. doors--the lips, which are closely shut together as doors, by old men in eating, for, if they did not do so, the food would drop out (Job 41:14; Psa 141:3; Mi 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. In the East all mostly rise with the dawn. But the old are…Read the comment
Topics related to Ecclesiastes 12:4
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 12
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries