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 him before the light of the sun, moon, and stars is dim to your old eyes, and rain clouds continually darken your sky. 3Remember him before your legs—the guards of your house—start to tremble; and before your shoulders—the strong men—stoop. Remember him before your teeth—your few remaining servants—stop grinding; and before your eyes—the women looking through the windows—see dimly. 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. 5Remember him before you become fearful of falling and worry about danger in the streets; before your hair turns white like an almond tree in bloom, and you drag along without energy like a dying grasshopper, and the caperberry no longer inspires sexual desire. Remember him before you near the grave, your everlasting home, when the mourners will weep at your funeral. 6Yes, remember your Creator now while you are young, before the silver cord of life snaps and the golden bowl is broken. Don’t wait until the water jar is smashed at the spring and the pulley is broken at the well.

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 am eighty years old today, and I can no longer enjoy anything. Food and wine are no longer tasty, and I cannot hear the singers as they sing. I would only be a burden to my lord the king.

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