in 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 who look out of the windows are darkened,
Parallel Translations
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in 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 who look out of the windows are darkened,
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In 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,
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In 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 shall be darkened in the windows,
Cross-references (7)
Passages linked to Ecclesiastes 12:3 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 90:9-10 For all our days have passed away in your wrath. We bring our years to an end as a sigh. The days of our years are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty years; yet their pride is but labor and sorrow, for it passes quickly, and we fly away.
- Psalms 102:23 He weakened my strength along the course. He shortened my days.
- Genesis 27:1 When Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his elder son, and said to him, “My son?” He said to him, “Here I am.”
- Genesis 48:10 Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he couldn’t see well. Joseph brought them near to him; and he kissed them, and embraced them.
- 1 Samuel 3:2 At that time, when Eli was laid down in his place (now his eyes had begun to grow dim, so that he could not see),
- 2 Samuel 21:15-17 The Philistines had war again with Israel; and David went down, and his servants with him, and fought against the Philistines. David grew faint; and Ishbibenob, who was of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose spear was three hundred shekels of bronze in weight, he being armed with a new sword, thought he would kill David. But Abishai the son of Zeruiah helped him, and struck the Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David swore to him, saying, “Don’t go out with us to battle any more, so that you don’t quench the lamp of Israel.”
- Zechariah 8:4 Yahweh of Armies says: “Old men and old women will again dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, every man with his staff in his hand for very age.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain The legs.
The legs.
The eyes.
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The hands, which keep the body.
The teeth.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Ecc 12:3 In the day when the keepers of…
Ecc 12:3 In 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,
Ver. 3. In the day when the keepers of the house, &c., ] i.e., The hands and arms, wherewith we defend the head and whole body - called a house also by St Paul - from harm and danger, and maintain our lives; which are therefore called the "lives of our hands," because upheld with the labour of our hands. {Isa 57:10} These are fitly called keepers or guardians for their usefulness, and for their faithfulness too. Numa Pompilius consecrated the hands to faith; his successor, Tallus Hostilius, being a profane, perfidious person, and a condemner of all religion, as that which did but emasculate men’s minds, and make them idle, brought in and worshipped two new gods, viz., Paver and Pallor - Fear and Paleness. {a} Like another Cain, "Sighing and trembling he was upon the earth," so the Septuagint renders that,. {Gen 4:12} Not his hands only trembled, which is thought to be Cain’s mark, {Gen 4:15} but his heart too. {Isa 7:2} Not with old age either, as here, but with the terrors of an evil conscience. But to return to the text. Old men are full of the palsy for the most part, and many other infirmities, which here are most elegantly described by a continued allegory. Men draw forth as lively as they can the pictures of their young age, that in old age they may see their youth before their eyes. This is but a vanity, yet may good use be made thereof. So contrarily the Preacher here draws out to the life the picture of old age, {b} that young men may see and consider it together with death that follows it, and "after death, judgment."
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And the strong men shall bow themselves.] Nutabunt: the legs and thighs shall stagger and falter, cripple and crinkle under them, as not able to bear the body’s burden. The thigh in Latin is called femur, a ferendo, because it beareth and holdeth up the creature, and hath the longest and strongest bone in the whole body. The leg hath a shinbone and a shankbone, aptly fitted for the better moving. The foot is the base, the ground and pedestal which sustaineth the whole building. These are Solomen’s "strong men"; but as strong as they are, yet in old age they buckle under their burden, {c} and are ready to overthrow themselves and the whole body. Hence old men are glad to betake them to their third leg, a staff or crutch; Membra levant baculis tardique senilibus annis. Hence Hesiod calls them τριποδας. Let them learn to lean upon the Lord, as the spouse did "upon her beloved," {Son 8:5} and he will stir up some good Job to be "eyes to them when blind, and feet to them when lame,." {Job 29:15} Let them also pray with David, "Cast me not off in the time of old age, forsake me not when my strength faileth." {Psa 71:9}
And the grinders cease, because they are few.] The teeth, through age, fall out, or rot out, or are drawn out, or hang loose in the gums, and so cannot grind and masticate the meat that is to be transmitted into the stomach, for the preservation of the whole. Now the teeth are the hardest of the bones, if that they be bones, {d} whereof Aristotle makes question. They are as hard as stones, in the edges of them especially, and are here fitly compared to millstones, from their chewing office. The seat of the teeth are the jaws, where they have their several sockets, into which they are mortised. But in old men they stand wetshod in slimy humonr, or are hollow and stumpy, falling out one after another, as the cogs of a mill, so that
“ Fragendus misero gingiva panis inermi. ” - Juvenal.
And those that look out at the windows.] The eyes are dim, as they were in old Isaac and Jacob, A heavy affliction surely, but especially to those that have had "eyes full of adultery," {2Pe 2:14} "evil eyes," windows of wickedness, for the conscience of this puts a sting into the affliction, is a thorn to their blind eyes, and becomes a greater torment than ever Regulus the Roman was put to, {e} when his eyelids were cut off, and he set full opposite to the sun shining in his strength; {f} or than that Greek prince that had his eyes put out with hot burning basins, held near unto them. {g}
{a} Plutarch. Lactantius.
{b} Ecquem vero mihi dabis rhetorem tam magnifice et exquisite disserentem, et in non obscura sententia tot lumina, imo flumina orationis exserentem!
{c} Genua labant. - Virg.
{d} Lactant., De Opif. Dei.
{e} Plut.
{f} Oculus ab occulendo.
{g} Turkish History.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain The keepers of the house, i.e. of the body,…
The keepers of the house, i.e. of the body, which is oft and fitly compared to a house, as Job 4:19; Psa 119:54; 2Co 5:1; whose keepers here are either,
1. The ribs and bones into which they are fastened, which are the guardians of the inward and vital parts, which also are much weakened and shaken by old age. Or rather,
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2. The hands and arms, which are man’s best instruments to defend his body from the assaults of men or beasts, and which in a special manner are subject to this trembling, by paralytical or other like distempers, that are most incident to old men.
The strong men; either the back, or the thighs and legs, in which the main strength of the body doth consist, which in old men are very feeble, and unable both for the support of the body and for motion.
The grinders; the teeth, those especially which are commonly so called, because they grind the meat which we eat.
Cease, to wit, to perform their office,
because they are few, Heb. because they are diminished, either,
1. In strength. Or,
2. In number; being here one, and there another, and not united together, and one directly against another, and consequently unfit for their work.
Those that look out of the windows; the eyes. By windows he understands either,
1. The holes in which the eyes are fixed, Zec 14:12. Or,
2. The eye-lids, which, like windows, are either opened or shut. Or,
3. Those humours and coats of the eyes noted by anatomists, which are the chief instruments by which the eye sees.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain In the day when the keepers of the house…
In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble,.... By the "house" is meant the human body; which is a house of clay, the earthly house of our tabernacle, in which the soul dwells, Job 4:19, Co2 5:1. The Targum interprets the keepers of the house, of the knees and the trembling of them; but the Midrash and Jarchi, much better, of the ribs; man being fenced with bones and sinews, as Job says, Job 10:11; though trembling cannot be well ascribed to them, they being so fixed to the backbone: rather therefore, as Aben Ezra, the hands and arms are meant; which work for the maintenance of the body, and feed it with food, got and prepared by them; and which protect and defend it from injuries; for all which they are fitted, and made strong by the God of nature. The Arabic version renders it, "both keepers"; and, doubtless, respects both hands and arms; and which, in old age, are not only wrinkled, contracted, and stiff, but attended with numbness, pains, and tremor. Some, not amiss, take in the head; which is placed as a watchtower over the body, the seat of the senses; which overlooks, guards, and keeps it, and which often through paralytic disorders, and even the weakness of old age, is attended with a shaking;
and the strong men shall bow themselves; it is strange the Targum and Midrash should interpret this of the arms, designed in the former clause; Jarchi and Aben Ezra, more rightly, of the thighs; it takes in thighs, legs, and feet, which are the basis and support of the human body; and are strengthened for this purpose, having stronger muscles and tendons than any other parts of the body; but these, as old age comes on, are weakened and distorted, and bend under the weight of the body, not being able, without assistance, to sustain it;
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and the grinders cease because they are few; the Targum is,
"the teeth of the mouth:''
all agree the teeth are meant; only the Midrash takes in the stomach also, which, like a mill, grinds the food. There are three sorts of teeth; the fore teeth, which bite the food, and are called "incisores": the eye teeth, called "canini", which bruise and break the food; and the double teeth, the hindermost, which are called "dentes molares", the grinding teeth; and which being placed in the upper and nether jaw, are like to millstones, broad and rough, and rub against each other and grind the food, and prepare it for the stomach: these, in old age, rot and drop out, and become few and straggling, one here and another there; and, not being over against each other, are of no use, but rather troublesome;
and those that look out of the windows be darkened; the eyes, as the Targum and Ben Melech; and all agree that those that look out are the eyes, or the visive rays: the "windows" they look through are not spectacles; for it is questionable whether they were in use in Solomon's time, and, however, they are not parts of the house; but either the holes in which the eyes are, and so the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions render it, to which the Targum agrees, paraphrasing it, the strong bounds of the head; and which are no other than what oculists call the orbits of the eye: or else the eyelids, which open and shut like the casement of a window, and through which, being opened, the eyes look; or the humours of the eye, the watery, crystalline, and glassy, which are transparent, and through which the visive rays pass; or the tunics, or coats of the eye, particularly the "tunica aranea" and "cornea"; as also the optic nerves, and especially the "pupilla", or apple of the eye, which is perforated or bored for this purpose: now these, in old age, become weak, or dim, or thick, or contracted, or obstructed by some means or another by which the sight is greatly hindered, and is a very uncomfortable circumstance; this was Isaac's case, Gen 27:1; but Moses is an exception to the common case of old men, Deu 34:7.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain The house - Of the body: whose keepers are…
The house - Of the body: whose keepers are the hands and arms, which are man's best instruments to defend his body; and which in a special manner are subject to his trembling. The strong men - The thighs and legs, in which the main strength of the body consists. Grinders - The teeth, those especially which are commonly so called, because they grind the meat. Cease - To perform their office. And those, &c. - The eyes. By windows he understands either the eye-lids, which like windows, are either opened or shut: or, those humours and coats of the eyes, which are the chief instruments by which we see.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 3. In the day when the keepers of…
Verse 3. In the day when the keepers of the house] The BODY of man is here compared to a HOUSE: - mark the metaphors and their propriety.
1. The keepers shall tremble - the hands become paralytic, as is constantly the case, less or more, in old age.
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2. The strong men shall bow] The legs become feeble, and unable to support the weight of the body.
3. The grinders cease because they are few] The teeth decayed and mostly lost; the few that remain being incapable of properly masticating hard substances or animal food. And so they cease; for soft or pulpy substances, which are requisite then, require little or no mastication; and these aliments become their ordinary food.
4. Those that look out of the windows] The optic nerves, which receive impressions, through the medium of the different humours of the eye, from surrounding objects - they are darkened; the humours becoming thick, flat, and turbid, they are no longer capable of transmitting those images in that clear, distinct manner, as formerly. There may be an allusion here to the pupil of the eye. Look into it, and you will see your own image in extreme minature looking out upon you; and hence it has its name pupillus, a little child, from pupus, a baby, a doll; because the image in the eye resembles such. The optic nerve being seated at the bottom of the eye, has the images of surrounding objects painted upon it; it looks out through the different humors. The different membranes and humours which compose the eye, and serve for vision, are, the tunica conjunctiva, the tunica sclerotica, the cornea, the iris, the pupil, the choroides, and the retina. The iris is perforated to admit the rays of light, and is called the pupil; the retina is a diffusion of the optic nerve in the bottom of the eye, on which the images are painted or impressed that give us the sensation we term sight or vision. All these membranes, humours, and nerves, are more or less impaired, thickened, or rendered opaque, by old age, expressed by the metaphor, "Those that look out of the windows are darkened."
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Ecc 12:3. When the keepers of the house —…
Ecc 12:3. When the keepers of the house — The body, which is often and fitly compared to a house; whose keepers are the hands and arms, which are man’s best instruments to defend his body from the assaults of men or beasts, and which, in a special manner, are subject to this trembling. And the strong men shall bow themselves — Either the back, or the thighs and legs, in which the main strength of the body consists, and which, in old men, are very feeble. And the grinders — The teeth, those especially which are commonly so called, because they grind the meat which we eat; cease — To perform their office; because they are few — Hebrew, כי מעשׂו, because they are diminished, either in strength, or in number, being only here one, and there another, and neither united together, nor one directly opposite to another, and consequently unfit for their work. And those that look out of the windows be darkened — The eyes. By windows he understands, either the eye-lids, which, like windows, are either opened or shut: or, those humours and coats of the eyes, which are the chief instruments by which we see.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain The body in old age and death is here…
The body in old age and death is here described under the figure of a decaying house with its inmates and furniture.
This verse is best understood as referring to the change which old age brings to four parts of the body, the arms (“the keepers”), the legs (“the strong men”), the teeth (“the grinders”), and the eyes.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain House. The sides, (St. Jerome) or rather the arms.…
House. The sides, (St. Jerome) or rather the arms. (Calmet) --- Some understand prelates, or angels. (Thaumat.) --- And the powers that are in heaven shall be moved. (Mark xiii. 25.) (Haydock) --- Men. The arms, (Chaldean) or thighs, (Smith) or those who were formerly the most robust. --- Number. The rest have been lost, and what remain are of little service for chewing meat. (Calmet) --- Holes. Spectacles, (Geier) as if they had been already in use. (Calmet) --- Hebrew, "windows." (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain keepers of the house--namely, the hands and arms which…
keepers of the house--namely, the hands and arms which protected the body, as guards do a palace (Gen 49:24; Job 4:19; Co2 5:1), are now palsied.
strong men . . . bow-- (Jdg 16:25, Jdg 16:30). Like supporting pillars, the feet and knees (Sol 5:15); the strongest members (Psa 147:10).
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grinders--the molar teeth.
cease--are idle.
those that look out of the windows--the eyes; the powers of vision, looking out from beneath the eyelids, which open and shut like the casement of a window.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 3. House — The aged body is compared to…
3. House — The aged body is compared to a “house,” or rather to a mill structure, in which the vital functions and operations are a grinding, and which is defended by keepers, and upheld by strong men, with windows through which the inmates look out upon the world. These “keepers,” that defend, are the arms; these supporters are the legs; and the “windows” are the eyes. Of old age the arm and hand are tremulous, the legs bent and tottering, the teeth, or grinders, cease to masticate by becoming too few, and the eyes grow dim.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 3. in the day when the keepers of the…
3. in the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble] Here, as before, there is a vivid picture which is also an allegory. The words represent (1) the effect of terror, such as that produced by tempest, or by earthquake, in the population of the city; and (2) the fact which corresponds to these in the breaking up of life. As in the previous verse the phenomena of the firmament answered to those of the higher region of man’s nature, so these represent the changes that pass over the parts of his bodily structure. Here accordingly the mode of interpretation which was rejected before becomes admissible. The error of the allegorizers was that they had not the discernment to see that the decay of mental powers would naturally take precedence of that of the bodily organs and that they would as naturally be symbolized by sun, moon and stars. The “keepers” or “watchers” of the houses are in the picture those who stand at the gate as sentinels or go round about the house to see that there are none approaching with the intention to attack. In the allegory they represent the legs which support the frame at rest or give it the power of movement. The trembling is that of the unsteady gait of age, perhaps even of paralysis. Not a few features in the picture seem to indicate experience rather than observation, and this fits in with the thought, suggested in the Ideal Biography (Introduction, ch. iii)., of a form of creeping paralysis depriving one organ after another of its functional activity yet leaving the brain free to note the gradual decay of the whole organism.
and the strong men shall bow themselves] As the previous clause painted the effect of terror on the slave sentinels of the house, so this represents its action on the men of might, the wealthy and the noble. They too cower in their panic before the advancing storm. Interpreting the parable, they are the symbol of the arms as man’s great instrument of action. They too, once strong to wield sword, or axe, to drive plough, or pen, become flaccid and feeble. The “hands that hang down” (Job_4:3-4; Isa_35:3; Heb_12:12) become the proverbial type of weakness as well as the “feeble knees.” It should be added that the allegorizing commentators for the most part invert the order of interpretation which has been here adopted, finding the arms in the “keepers” and the legs in the “strong man.” Something may, of course, be said for this view, but the balance of probabilities turns in favour of that here adopted.
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and the grinders cease because they are few] Both this noun and “they that look out” are in the feminine, and this determines their position in the picture. As we found slaves and nobles in the first half of the verse, so here we have women at the opposite extremes of social ranks. To “grind at the mill” was the type of the humblest form of female slave labour (Jdg_16:21; Isa_47:2; Exo_11:5; Job_31:10; Mat_24:41; Homer, Od. xx. 105–8). To “look out of the windows” (i.e. the latticed openings, glazed windows being as yet unknown) was as naturally the occupation of the wealthy and luxurious women of the upper class. So the ladies of Sisera (Jdg_5:28), and Michal, Saul’s daughter (2Sa_6:16), and the observing sage, or probably, Wisdom personified (Pro_7:6), and Jezebel (2Ki_9:30), and the kingly lover of the Shulamite (Song Son_2:9) are all represented in this attitude.
The interpretation of the parable is here not far to seek. The grinders (as the very term “molar” suggests) can be none other than the teeth, doing, as it were, their menial work of masticating food. They that look out of the windows can be none other than the eyes with their nobler function as organs of perception. So Cicero describes the eyes as “tanquam in arce collocati … tanquam speculatores altissimum locum obtinent.” “Placed as in a citadel, like watchmen, they hold the highest places” (de Nat. Deor. ii. 140). The symbolism which thus draws, as it were, distinctions of dignity and honour between different parts of the body will remind a thoughtful student of the analogy on which St Paul lays stress in 1Co_12:12-26. Each member of that analogy may, of course, thus be used as a symbol of the other. Here the gradations of society represent the organs of the body, and the Apostle inverts the comparison.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (3) In this verse we have a description of…
(3) In this verse we have a description of an afflicted and affrighted house: the servants below (keepers of the house; comp. 2Sa_20:3) in consternation [the word for “tremble” occurs twice more in Biblical Hebrew (Est_5:9; Hab_2:7), but is common in Aramæan]; the masters (men of might, translated “able men “Exo_18:21; Exo_18:25; comp. “mighty in power,” Job_21:7) in equal distress; so also the grinding maids below, discontinuing their work (Exo_11:5; Isa_47:1-2); the ladies, who look out at the lattices (Jdg_5:8; 2Sa_5:16; Pro_7:6; 2Ki_9:30), forced to withdraw. (For the four classes, comp. Isa_24:2; Psa_132:2.)
Expositors have generally understood the house here described as denoting the decaying body of the old man. To the English reader the “grinders” of our version suggest “teeth” in a way that the “grinding maidens” of the Hebrew does not; and the ladies looking out of the lattices can easily be understood of “the eyes.” But when it is attempted to carry out the figure, and to find anatomical explanations of all the other images employed, the interpretation becomes so forced that some have preferred to understand Ecc_12:3 as only a general description of the consternation produced by such a tempest as is spoken of in Ecc_12:2. I cannot but think that the “house” does denote the bodily frame; but I regard as unsuccessful the attempts which have been made to carry out this idea into its details.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain The gradual decay which creeps over the body, the…
The gradual decay which creeps over the body, the habitation of the spirit, is depicted under the figure of a house and its parts. (comp. Job_4:19; 2Co_5:1; 2Pe_1:13, 2Pe_1:14) In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble; i.e. this is the case when, etc. The hands and arms are appropriately called the keepers of the house, for with them (as Volek quotes from Galen) man oJplizei kai frourei towv ("arms and guards his body in various ways"). The shaking and palsy of old men"s limbs are thus graphically described. This would be one of the first symptoms discerned by an observer. Taking the alternative interpretation, we should see in these "keepers" the menservants who keep watch before the house. These menials are appalled by the approach of the tempest, and quake. And the strong men shall bow themselves. The "men of power" are the legs, or the bones generally, which in the young are "as pillars of marble", (Son_5:15) but in the old become feeble, slack, and bent. Delitzsch quotes RAPC 3Ma 4:5, where we read of a multitude of old men being driven mercilessly, "stooping from age, and dragging their feet heavily along." In this clause it is this stooping and bending of the body that is noticed, when men are no longer upright in stature, "swifter than eagles," "stronger than lions" (2Sa_1:23; 1Ch_12:8) fit for war and active employment. It is therefore less appropriate to see in the "keepers" the legs, and in the "strong men" the arms. Otherwise, the latter are the masters, the wealthy and noble, in contradistinction to the menials before mentioned: both lords and servants are equally terrified at the approach of the tempest, or, as Wright would say, at the touch of the sickly season (see on ver. 2). And the grinders cease because they are few. The word for "grinders" is feminine (aiJ ajlhqousai, "the grinding-women," Septuagint), doubtless because grinding was especially women"s business. (Mat_24:41) By them are meant the teeth, as we speak of molars, though, of course, the term here applies to all the teeth; so the Greeks used the term mulai for the denies molares. These, becoming few in number and no longer continuous, cannot perform their office. Otherwise, the grinding-women leave their work or pause in their labors at the approach of the storm, though one does not quite see why they should be fewer than usual, unless the sickly season has prostrated most of their companions, or that many are too frightened to ply their task. Having, therefore, harder work than usual, they stop at times to recruit themselves. But the analogy rather breaks down here; one would be inclined to suppose that their decreased numbers would make them apply themselves more assiduously to their necessary occupation. As the "keepers" in the former part of the verse were slaves, so these grinders are slaves, such occupation being the lowest form of service. (see Exo_11:5; Jud_1:16:21; Job_31:10) Those that look out of the windows be darkened. These are the eyes that look forth from the cavities in which they are sunk; they are regarded as the windows of the bodily structure, the eyelashes or eyelids possibly being deemed the lattice of the same. Plumptre cites Cicero, "De Nat. Deer.," 2:140: "Sensus interpretes ac nuntii return, in capite, tamquam in arce, mirifice ad usus necessaries et facti et collocati sunt. Nam oculi, tamquam speculatores, altissimum locum obtinent; ex quo plurima conspicientes, fungantur sue munere." The dimness in the eye and the failing in the powers of sight are well expressed by the terms of the text. It is noted of Moses, as something altogether abnormal, that at a hundred and twenty years of age "his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated". (Deu_34:7) Taking the alternative interpretation, we must regard those that look out of the windows as the ladies of the house, who have no menial work to do, and employ their time in gazing idly from the lattices. (comp. Jud_1:5:28; 2Sa_6:16; Pro_7:6) These "are darkened," they are terror-stricken, their faces gather blackness, (Joe_2:6) or they retire into corners in terror of the storm. These women are parallel to "the strong men" mentioned above; so that the weather affects all of every class men-servants and maidservants, lords and ladies.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Those that look out of the windows be darkened.
Ecc_12:3
Those that look out of the windows be darkened.
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Windows
In the description of the infirmities of old age, the window doubtless stands for the eyes, with lashes like lattice-work of an Oriental house, and the fringe of the iris regulating the light as a curtain. Observe that it is said, not that the windows, but those that look out of them are darkened: the reference, therefore, being not to the failing eyesight, as many have supposed, but rather to the growing dullness of the inner person, the mind, which takes less and less interest in the world as one advances towards senility. A person may be blind in years, yet young in heart, if he only keeps alert to the life about him. Think of Ranke beginning his Universal History at eighty-three years of age, and finishing his seventh volume at ninety-one! The venerable Kaiser Wilhelm not long before his death was asked by his daughter if he had not better rest a little. No, he replied, I will have plenty of time to rest by and by. In a call upon George Bancroft, at eighty-eight years of age, I found him as full of questions about men and things that he thought I knew of as if I were the representative of old times and he the interviewer. The eyes of such men may be dim, but the spirits that look out of them are not darkened. They are the really senile people who pull down the curtains of selfishness on amiable curiosity, on generous solicitude for the evils of society, and on delight in the good of the world, though they have not yet come to wear glasses. Let us keep at the windows until God closes them by dropping over them the curtain of the last night. And then, when the dusk of lifes eventide has fallen around us, when secular things do turn dim, we may look up through the window at the infinite sky, and see the stars of a better world coming out. (J. M. Ludlow, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
The writer describes a house in which various activities stop. This appears to be a metaphor for the human body as it becomes old. (See: Metaphor)
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strong men are bent over
"strong men become weak"
the women who grind cease because they are few
"the women who grind grain stop grinding grain because there are few of them"
translationWords
time
palace
tremble
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 12:3 The NLT translates the Hebrew metaphors (guards .…
12:3 The NLT translates the Hebrew metaphors (guards . . . strong men . . . servants . . . women) and also provides an interpretation of these poetic elements (legs . . . shoulders . . . teeth . . . eyes).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.