Ecclesiastes 12 · Verse 5

Ecclesiastes 12:5

Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets:

Ecclesiastes 12:5, King James Version

Ecclesiastes 12:5 in other translations

BSB	when men fear the heights and dangers of the road, when the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper loses its spring, and the caper berry shrivels— for then man goes to his eternal home and mourners walk the streets.
WEB	yes, they shall be afraid of heights, and terrors will be on the way; and the almond tree shall blossom, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail; because man goes to his everlasting home, and the mourners go about the streets;
ASV	yea, they shall be afraid of that which is high, and terrors shall be in the way; and the almond-tree shall blossom, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail; because man goeth to his everlasting home, and the mourners go about the streets:
YLT	Also of that which is high they are afraid, And of the low places in the way, And the almond-tree is despised, And the grasshopper is become a burden, And want is increased, For man is going unto his home age-during, And the mourners have gone round through the street.
DARBY	they are also afraid of what is high, and terrors are in the way, and the almond is despised, and the grasshopper is a burden, and the caper-berry is without effect; (for man goeth to his age-long home, and the mourners go about the streets;)
BBE	And he is in fear of that which is high, and danger is in the road, and the tree is white with flower, and the least thing is a weight, and desire is at an end, because man goes to his last resting-place, and those who are sorrowing are in the streets;
Webster	Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets:

What does Ecclesiastes 12:5 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

5. that which is high--The old are afraid of ascending a hill. fears ... in the way--Even on the level highway they are full of fears of falling, &c. almond ... flourish--In the East the hair is mostly dark. The white head of the old among the dark-haired is like an almond tree, with its white blossoms, among the dark trees around [Holden]. The almond tree flowers on a leafless stock in winter (answering to old age, in which all the powers are dormant), while the other trees are flowerless. Gesenius takes the Hebrew for flourishes from a different root, casts off; when the old man loses his gray hairs, as the almond tree casts its white flowers. grasshoppers--the dry, shrivelled, old man, his backbone sticking out, his knees projecting forwards, his arms backwards, his head down, and the apophyses enlarged, is like that insect. Hence arose the fable, that Tithonus in very old age was changed into a grasshopper [Parkhurst]. "The locust raises itself to fly"; the old man about to leave the body is like a locust when it is assuming its winged form, and is about to fly [Maurer]. a burden--namely, to himself. desire shall fail--satisfaction shall be abolished. For "desire," Vulgate has "the caper tree," provocative of lust; not so well. long home--(Job 16:22; 17:13). mourners--(Jr 9:17-20), hired for the occasion (Mt 9:23).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 5 When they shall be afraid of that which is high - 10. Being so feeble, they are afraid to trust themselves to ascend steps, stairs, etc., without help. And when they look upwards, their heads turn giddy, and they are ready to fall. 11. Fears shall be in the way - They dare not walk out, lest they should meet some danger, which they have not strength to repel, nor agility to escape. A second childishness has taken place - apprehensions, fears, terrors, and weakness. 12. The almond tree shall flourish - ינאץ yenaets, not flourish, but fall off. The hair begins to change, first gray, then white; it having no longer that supply of nutritive juices which it once had, this animal vegetable withers and falls off. The almond tree, having white flowers, is a fit emblem of a hoary head; or as Hasselquist says, who observed the tree in full flower in Judea, "like an old man with his white locks." 13. The grasshopper shall be a burden - Even such an inconsiderable thing as a locust, or a very small insect, shall be deemed burdensome, their strength is so exceedingly diminished. In cases of the gout, especially in old men, the shadow of a person passing by puts them to acute pain! How much less can they bear the smallest pressure! But probably the words refer to the man himself, who, bent at the loins, and his arms hanging down, exhibits some caricature of the animal in question. The poor grasshopper has become a burden to himself. Another interpretation has been given of the grasshopper; but I pass it by as impertinent and contemptible; such commentators appear as if they wished to render the text ridiculous. 14. Desire shall fail - Both relish and appetite for food, even the most delicate, that to which they were formerly so much attached, now fails. The teeth are no longer able to masticate the food, or have all dropped out; the stomach no longer able to digest any thing; and, as the body is no longer capable of receiving nourishment, appetite and relish necessarily fail. 15. Because man goeth to his long home - אל בית עולמו el beith olamo, "to the house of his age;" the place destined to receive him, when the whole race or course of life shall be finished; for עולם olam takes in the whole course or duration of a thing; if applied to a dispensation, such as the Law, it takes in its whole duration; to the life of man, it takes in the whole life; to time, it includes its whole compass; to eternity, it expresses its infinite duration. So old age terminates the olam, the complete duration of human life; and when life is no longer desired, and nutrition ceases, the olam of man is terminated. My old MS. Bible translates it, The hous of his everlastingness. 16. He is just departing into the invisible world; and this is known by the mourners going abount the streets, the long hollow groans and throat rattlings which proceed from him; the sure prognostications of the extreme debility and speedy cessation of those essential animal functions next mentioned.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Ecclesiastes 12:1-7

A description of the infirmities of age. (Eccl. 12:1-7) All is vanity: also a warning of the judgment to come. (Eccl. 12:8-14) Verses 1-7 We should remember our sins against our Creator, repent, and seek forgiveness. We should remember our duties, and set about them, looking to him for grace and strength. This should be done early, while the body is strong, and the spirits active. When a man has the pain of…

Read the full comment on Ecclesiastes 12:1-7 →

Ecclesiastes 12:5 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

גַּ֣םgamalsoH1571

מִגָּבֹ֤הַּmi.ga.Vo.ahfrom a high [place]H1364

יִרָ֙אוּ֙yi.Ra.'upeople will be afraidH3372

וְחַתְחַתִּ֣יםve.chat.cha.Timand terrorsH2849

בַּדֶּ֔רֶךְba.De.rekh[are] in the wayH1870

וְיָנֵ֤אץve.ya.Netzand it may blossomH5006

הַשָּׁקֵד֙ha.sha.Kedthe almond treeH8247

וְיִסְתַּבֵּ֣לve.yis.ta.Belso it may drag itself alongH5445

הֶֽחָגָ֔בhe.cha.Gavthe grasshopperH2284

וְתָפֵ֖רve.ta.Ferand it may failH6565

הָֽאֲבִיּוֹנָ֑הha.'a.vi.yo.Nahthe caper-berryH35

כִּֽי\־ki-forH3588

הֹלֵ֤ךְho.Lekh[is] goingH1980

הָאָדָם֙ha.'a.Dam<the> humankindH120

אֶל\־'el-toH413

בֵּ֣יתbeit[the] house ofH1004

עוֹלָמ֔וֹo.la.Moperpetuity itsH5769

וְסָבְב֥וּve.sa.ve.Vuand they will go aboutH5437

בָשּׁ֖וּקva.Shukin the streetH7784

הַסֹּפְדִֽים\׃ha.so.fe.Dimthe mournersH5594

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Ecclesiastes 12:5

Job 17:13
If I wait, the grave is mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness.
Jeremiah 9:17-20
Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Consider ye, and call for the mourning women, that they may come; and send for cunning women, that they may come: And let them make haste, and take up a wailing for us, that our eyes may run down with tears, and our eyelids gush out with waters. For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion, How are we spoiled! we are greatly confounded, because we have forsaken the land, because our dwellings have cast us out. Yet hear the word of the Lord, O ye women, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth, and teach your daughters wailing, and every one her neighbour lamentation.
Job 30:23
For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living.
Proverbs 16:31
The hoary head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness.
Psalms 71:18
Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come.
Genesis 50:3-10
And forty days were fulfilled for him; for so are fulfilled the days of those which are embalmed: and the Egyptians mourned for him threescore and ten days. And when the days of his mourning were past, Joseph spake unto the house of Pharaoh, saying, If now I have found grace in your eyes, speak, I pray you, in the ears of Pharaoh, saying, My father made me swear, saying, Lo, I die: in my grave which I have digged for me in the land of Canaan, there shalt thou bury me. Now therefore let me go up, I pray thee, and bury my father, and I will come again. And Pharaoh said, Go up, and bury thy father, according as he made thee swear. …
Leviticus 19:32
Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the Lord.
Job 15:10
With us are both the grayheaded and very aged men, much elder than thy father.
Psalms 49:10-14
For he seeth that wise men die, likewise the fool and the brutish person perish, and leave their wealth to others. Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue for ever, and their dwelling places to all generations; they call their lands after their own names. Nevertheless man being in honour abideth not: he is like the beasts that perish. This their way is their folly: yet their posterity approve their sayings. Selah. …
Genesis 42:38
And he said, My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he is left alone: if mischief befall him by the way in the which ye go, then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.
Ecclesiastes 9:10
Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.
Genesis 44:31
It shall come to pass, when he seeth that the lad is not with us, that he will die: and thy servants shall bring down the gray hairs of thy servant our father with sorrow to the grave.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

the almond.
Ge 42:38; 44:29,31; Le 19:32; Job 15:10; Ps 71:18; Pr 16:31; 20:29
Isa 46:4; Jer 1:11
because.
9:10; Job 17:13; 30:23; Ps 49:10-14; Heb 9:27
the mourners.
Ge 50:3-10; Jer 9:17-20; Mr 5:38,39

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Ecclesiastes 12:4
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;
Ecclesiastes 12:5
Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets:
Ecclesiastes 12:6
Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern.

Read all of Ecclesiastes 12

Ecclesiastes 12:5 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Cuando también temerán de lo alto, y los tropezones en el camino; y florecerá el almendro, y se agravará la langosta, y perderáse el apetito: porque el hombre va á la casa de su siglo, y los endechadores andarán en derredor por la plaza:
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	quand aussi on craint ce qui est haut, et qu’on a peur sur le chemin, et quand l’amandier fleurit, et que la sauterelle devient pesante, et que la câpre est sans effet; (car l’homme s’en va dans sa demeure des siècles, et ceux qui mènent deuil parcourent les rues;)
German Elberfelder 1871	Auch fürchten sie sich vor der Höhe, und Schrecknisse sind auf dem Wege; und der Mandelbaum steht in Blüte, und die Heuschrecke schleppt sich hin, und die Kaper ist wirkungslos. Denn der Mensch geht hin zu seinem ewigen Hause, und die Klagenden ziehen umher auf der Straße;
Latin Clementine Vulgate	excelsa quoque timebunt, et formidabunt in via. Florebit amygdalus, impinguabitur locusta, et dissipabitur capparis, quoniam ibit homo in domum æternitatis suæ, et circuibunt in platea plangentes.