INTRODUCTION TO ECCLESIASTES 12 This chapter begins with advice to young men, which is continued from the preceding; and particularly to remember their Creator in the days of their youth; enforced from the consideration of the troubles and inconveniences of old age, Ecclesiastes 12:1; which, in an... [ Continue Reading ]
REMEMBER NOW THY CREATOR IN THE DAYS OF THY YOUTH,.... Or "Creators" b; as "Makers", Job 35:10; for more than one were concerned, as in the creation of all things in general, so of man in particular, Genesis 1:26; and these are neither more nor fewer than three; and are Father, Son, Spirit; the one... [ Continue Reading ]
WHILE THE SUN, OR THE LIGHT, OR THE MOON, OR THE STARS, BE NOT DARKENED,.... The wise man proceeds to describe the infirmities of old age, and the troubles that attend it; in order to engage young men to regard God and religion, before these come upon them, which greatly unfit for his service. This... [ Continue Reading ]
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 2 Corinthians 5:1. The Targum interprets the keepers of the house, of the knees and the trembling of t... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE DOORS SHALL BE SHUT IN THE STREETS,.... The Midrash and Jarchi interpret these of the holes of the body; in which they are followed by our learned and ingenuous countryman, Dr. Smith; who, by them, understands the inlets and outlets of the body; and, by the "streets", the ways and passages t... [ Continue Reading ]
ALSO WHEN THEY SHALL BE AFRAID OF [THAT WHICH IS] HIGH,.... Not of the most high God, before whose tribunal they must shortly appear, as some; but rather of high places, as high hills, mountains, towers, c. which aged persons are afraid to go up, because of the feebleness and weakness of their limbs... [ Continue Reading ]
OR EVER THE SILVER CORD BE LOOSED,.... As the above are the symptoms and infirmities of old age; these in this verse are the immediate symptoms of death, or what attend it, or certainly issue in it. Some by "the silver cord" understand the string of the tongue; and to this purpose is the Targum, "b... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN SHALL THE DUST RETURN TO THE EARTH AS IT WAS,.... The body, which is made of dust, and is no other in its present state than dust refined and enlivened; and when the above things take place, mentioned in Ecclesiastes 12:6, or at death, it returns to its original earth; it becomes immediately a... [ Continue Reading ]
VANITY OF VANITIES, SAITH THE PREACHER,.... The wise man, or preacher, set out in the beginning of the book with this doctrine, or proposition, which he undertook to prove; and now having proved it by an induction of particulars, instanced in the wisdom, wealth, honours, pleasures, and profit of men... [ Continue Reading ]
AND MOREOVER,.... Or "besides" z what has been said; or "as to what remains" a; or "but what is better", or "more excellent" b, is to "hear the conclusion of the whole matter", the sum and substance of the whole book in a few words, Ecclesiastes 12:13; to which Ecclesiastes 12:9; are a preface; and... [ Continue Reading ]
THE PREACHER SOUGHT TO FIND OUT ACCEPTABLE WORDS,.... Not mere words, fine and florid ones, the words which man's wisdom teacheth, an elegant style, or eloquent language; not but that it is proper for a preacher to seek out and use words suitable and apt to convey right ideas to the minds of men of... [ Continue Reading ]
THE WORDS OF THE WISE [ARE] AS GOADS,.... As the goad teacheth the ox; so the Targum. Not the words of the wise philosophers of that age, or of ages before, or since; but of the inspired penmen of the Scriptures, as Moses, David, Solomon, and of others since; and of all good men, whose doctrines are... [ Continue Reading ]
AND FURTHER, BY THESE, MY SON, BE ADMONISHED,.... Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, may be intended, for whose sake, more especially, this book might be written; though it may take in every hearer of this divine preacher, every disciple of this teacher, every subject of his kingdom, as well as every rea... [ Continue Reading ]
LET US HEAR THE CONCLUSION OF THE WHOLE MATTER,.... Or "the end" o of it. The sum and substance of it, what it all tends to and issues in; even the whole of what is contained in this book, and in all offer divinely inspired writings of Solomon or others; of all that were now written, or before, or s... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR GOD SHALL BRING EVERY WORK INTO JUDGMENT,.... Not in this life, but in the day of the great judgment, as the Targum explains it; that is, whatever has been done by men, from the beginning of the world, or will be to the end; all being observed and taken notice of by the omniscient God, who has r... [ Continue Reading ]