Ecclesiastes 12:4

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;
• English Standard Version (ESV)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—
• 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.

Context of Ecclesiastes 12:4

2Remember your Creator before the sun, the light, the moon, and the stars turn dark, ⌞and⌟ the clouds come back with rain. 3Remember your Creator when those who guard the house tremble, strong men are stooped over, the women at the mill stop grinding because there are so few of them, ⌞and⌟ those who look out of the windows see a dim light. Remember your Creator when the doors to the street are closed, the sound of the mill is muffled, you are startled at the sound of a bird, ⌞and⌟ those who sing songs become quiet. 5Remember your Creator when someone is afraid of heights and of dangers along the road, the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along, ⌞and⌟ the caper bush has ⌞no⌟ fruit. Mortals go to their eternal rest, and mourners go out in the streets. 6Remember your Creator before the silver cord is snapped, the golden bowl is broken, the pitcher is smashed near the spring, and the water wheel is broken at the cistern.

Ecclesiastes 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

• 2 Samuel 19:35I’m 80 years old now. How can I tell what is pleasant and what is not? Can I taste what I eat or drink? Can I still hear the singing of men and women? Why should I now become a burden to you, Your Majesty?

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

• Birds
• Old Age
• Readings, Select

In the dictionaries

• Allegory
• Bird
• Conclusion
• Creator
• Daughter
• Heed
• Judgment
• Remember
• Whole
• Dead

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