Ecclesiastes 12:5

"and the doors shall be shut in the street; when the sound of the grinding is low, and one shall rise up at the voice of a bird, and all the daughters of music shall be brought low;"

Key Reflection

Ecclesiastes 12:5 paints a picture of life's decline, symbolized by closed doors and reduced activity. The quieting sounds and the awakening to the voice of nature hint at the fading away of youthful vigor and joy as one ages.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

High -The powerful and the proud, such persons as an old man in his timidity might shrink from opposing or meeting: or, high ground which old men would avoid ascending. Fears ... in the way -CompareProverbs 26:13. The almond tree -The type of old age. Many modern critics translate “The almond shall be despised,” i. e., pleasant food shall no longer be relished. The grasshopper -Rather: “the locust.” The clause means, heaviness and stiffness shall take the place of that active motion for which the locust is conspicuous. Desire -literally, the caper-berry; which, eaten as a provocative to appetite, shall fail to take effect on a man whose powers are exhausted.

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