Enjoy Youth and Remember Your Creator: The Approach of Old Age
Ecclesiastes 11:7-12:8
Ecc.11.7 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ומתוק: CONJ+ADJ,m,sg,abs
- האור: NOUN,m,sg,def
- וטוב: CONJ+ADJ,m,sg
- לעינים: PREP+NOUN,f,pl,abs
- לראות: VERB,qal,inf
- את: PRT,acc
- השמש: NOUN,f,sg,def
Parallels
- Ecclesiastes 2:24 (thematic): Same book theme of enjoying simple present goods (eating, drinking, and finding pleasure in one’s work); similarly affirms the goodness of simple sensory enjoyment like light and the sun.
- Ecclesiastes 8:15 (thematic): Qoheleth’s recurring counsel to ‘eat, drink, and be merry’ while alive under the sun—echoes the encouragement here to enjoy the pleasantness of light and the sun.
- Job 11:17–19 (verbal): Speaks of life shining and being brighter than noonday and one shining forth—language of brightness and light that parallels the positive valuing of light/sun in Eccl. 11:7.
- Psalm 19:4–6 (thematic): The psalm celebrates the sun’s course and its rejoicing as part of creation’s glory; parallels Eccles. 11:7’s positive depiction of sunlight as a good and delightful aspect of the created order.
- Psalm 27:1 (thematic): ‘The LORD is my light’ frames light as a source of goodness, safety, and blessing; thematically related to Eccles. 11:7’s affirmation of light (and the sun) as agreeable and good for the eyes.
Alternative generated candidates
- Sweet is the light, and pleasant to the eyes to behold the sun.
- The light is sweet, and pleasant to the eyes to behold the sun.
Ecc.11.8 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- כי: CONJ
- אם: CONJ
- שנים: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- הרבה: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- יחיה: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- האדם: NOUN,m,sg,def
- בכלם: PREP+PRON,3,m,pl
- ישמח: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- ויזכר: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- ימי: NOUN,m,pl,cs
- החשך: NOUN,m,sg,def
- כי: CONJ
- הרבה: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- יהיו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- כל: DET
- שבא: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- הבל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Ecclesiastes 11:9 (structural): Immediate continuation/parallel: both verses pair enjoyment in youth with the warning to remember the coming days of darkness and vanity.
- Ecclesiastes 12:1 (thematic): Same pastoral impulse—an exhortation about youth and memory: 'remember your Creator in the days of your youth' echoes the call to be mindful of future dark days.
- Psalm 90:12 (thematic): Calls to 'number our days' so as to gain wisdom parallel the Ecclesiastes concern with life's brevity and the need to remember mortality while enjoying life.
- Job 14:1-2 (thematic): Reflection on the shortness and trouble of human life ('man born of woman is of few days') resonates with Ecclesiastes' emphasis on the transience and vanity of life.
- Psalm 39:4-6 (thematic): Meditation on the transitory nature of human life ('my days are but a handbreadth...man is a mere breath') parallels the warning to recall days of darkness and the fleeting character of existence.
Alternative generated candidates
- But if a man live many years, let him rejoice in them all; yet remember the days of darkness, for they will be many — all that comes is vanity.
- If a person lives many years, let him rejoice in them all; yet remember the days of darkness, for they will be many. Everything that comes is vanity.
Ecc.11.9 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- שמח: ADJ,m,sg
- בחור: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בילדותיך: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs+PRON,2,m,sg
- ויטיבך: CONJ+VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg+PRON,2,m,sg
- לבך: NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,2,m,sg
- בימי: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,cons
- בחורותך: PREP+NOUN,f,pl,abs+PRON,2,m,sg
- והלך: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- בדרכי: PREP+NOUN,f,pl,cstr+1s
- לבך: NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,2,m,sg
- ובמראי: CONJ+PREP+NOUN,f,pl,const
- עיניך: NOUN,f,pl,abs+2ms
- ודע: VERB,qal,impv,2,m,sg
- כי: CONJ
- על: PREP
- כל: DET
- אלה: DEM,pl,abs
- יביאך: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- האלהים: NOUN,m,sg,def
- במשפט: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Ecclesiastes 12:1 (thematic): Same book—both admonish the young to attend to God in youth (12:1's 'Remember your Creator in the days of your youth' echoes the call to rejoice in youth while bearing divine accountability).
- Ecclesiastes 12:14 (verbal): Direct parallel in theme and wording: 11:9's warning that God will bring you into judgment corresponds to 12:14's statement that God will bring every deed into judgment (both stress divine appraisal of actions).
- Romans 14:12 (thematic): New Testament parallel about personal account before God—'each of us will give an account of himself to God' echoes Ecclesiastes' warning of being brought into judgment for one's ways.
- Galatians 6:7 (thematic): Principle of moral consequence—'God is not mocked... for whatever one sows, that will he also reap' complements Ecclesiastes' admonition that God will judge conduct.
- Proverbs 5:21 (verbal): Shared motif of divine observation—'For your ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and he ponders all your paths' undergirds the Ecclesiastes warning that God will judge the pursuits of heart and eyes.
Alternative generated candidates
- Rejoice, young man, in your youth; let your heart make you glad in the days of your youth, walk in the ways of your heart and follow the sight of your eyes; yet know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.
- Rejoice, O young man, in your youth; let your heart make you glad in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes; yet know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.
Ecc.11.10 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- והסר: CONJ+VERB,qal,impv,2,m,sg
- כעס: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מלבך: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs+SUFF,2,m,sg
- והעבר: CONJ+VERB,qal,impv,2,m,sg
- רעה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- מבשרך: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs+SUFF,2,m,sg
- כי: CONJ
- הילדות: NOUN,f,pl,def
- והשחרות: CONJ+NOUN,f,pl,def
- הבל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Psalm 37:8 (verbal): Both verses command cessation of anger and forsaking wrath (Heb. 'הסר כעס' / 'הסר־מאדם כעס'), giving similar ethical admonition to relinquish anger.
- Proverbs 16:32 (thematic): Emphasizes self-control over anger—'better to be slow to anger'—resonating with the injunction to remove anger from the heart.
- Ecclesiastes 12:1 (structural): Within the same book the reader is urged to 'remember your Creator in the days of your youth,' dialoguing with 11:10’s observation that childhood and youth are vanity and the need to orient one’s life accordingly.
- James 4:14 (allusion): 'You do not know what tomorrow will bring...you are a mist' echoes Ecclesiastes’ theme of the brevity and transience (vanity/hevel) of life, including youth.
- Ecclesiastes 2:11 (verbal): Uses the same key term 'hevel' (vanity) to describe all human pursuits—paralleling 11:10’s verdict that childhood and youth are vanity.
Alternative generated candidates
- Put away anger from your heart, and remove wrong from your flesh; for childhood and youth are vanity.
- Put away anger from your heart and remove pain from your flesh, for youth and the dawn are vanity.
Ecc.12.1 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- וזכר: VERB,qal,imp,2,m,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- בוראיך: NOUN,m,sg,abs+2ms
- בימי: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,cons
- בחורתיך: PREP+NOUN,f,pl,abs+2ms
- עד: PREP
- אשר: PRON,rel
- לא: PART_NEG
- יבאו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- ימי: NOUN,m,pl,cs
- הרעה: NOUN,f,sg,def
- והגיעו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- שנים: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- אשר: PRON,rel
- תאמר: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- אין: PART,neg
- לי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- בהם: PREP+PRON,3,m,pl
- חפץ: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Eccl.11:9 (structural): Close intra-book parallel: a call to rejoice in youth balanced by the warning to 'remember' God because of coming judgment and the brevity/changes of life.
- Deut.32:7 (verbal): Uses the imperative 'remember' and 'days/ancient times'—both passages call for recollection of foundational realities across generations as guidance for life.
- Ps.90:12 (thematic): Both link awareness of life's brevity ('number our days') with gaining wisdom and proper orientation toward God—an exhortation to live wisely in light of mortality.
- Prov.3:1-2 (thematic): An exhortation to retain instruction in youth with the promise of long life and favor—parallels the appeal to remember the Creator in one's youthful days to secure blessing and wisdom.
Alternative generated candidates
- Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years draw near in which you will say, 'I have no pleasure in them.'
- Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years draw near when you will say, "I have no pleasure in them."
Ecc.12.2 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- עד: PREP
- אשר: PRON,rel
- לא: PART_NEG
- תחשך: VERB,qal,juss,2,m,sg
- השמש: NOUN,f,sg,def
- והאור: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,def
- והירח: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,def
- והכוכבים: CONJ+NOUN,m,pl,def
- ושבו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- העבים: NOUN,m,pl,def
- אחר: PREP
- הגשם: NOUN,m,sg,def
Parallels
- Isaiah 34:4 (verbal): Uses nearly identical cosmic-darkening language — ‘the stars of heaven... shall not give their light; the sun shall be darkened and the moon shall not cause its light’ echoing Ecclesiastes’ sun, moon and stars being darkened.
- Isaiah 13:10 (verbal): Speaks of celestial bodies losing their light (‘the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light’), a close verbal parallel to Ecclesiastes’ imagery of sun, moon and stars going dark.
- Joel 2:10 (Hebrew 3:15 in some vers.) (thematic): Describes cosmic disturbance with sun and moon darkened and stars losing light — same apocalyptic motif of heavens growing dim found in Ecclesiastes 12:2.
- Matthew 24:29 (allusion): New Testament echo of the same cosmic signs (‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall’) used to describe end-time tribulation, reflecting Ecclesiastes’ imagery.
- Revelation 6:12 (thematic): Apocalyptic depiction of heavenly bodies darkened (sun blackened, moon like blood) parallels Ecclesiastes’ motif of celestial lights failing as a sign of cataclysmic change.
Alternative generated candidates
- Before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened, and the clouds return after the rain.
- Before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened, and the clouds return after the rain;
Ecc.12.3 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ביום: PREP
- שיזעו: VERB,qal,imf,3,m,pl
- שמרי: VERB,qal,ptc,3,m,pl
- הבית: NOUN,m,sg,def
- והתעותו: VERB,hitpael,imf,3,m,pl
- אנשי: NOUN,m,pl,cons
- החיל: NOUN,m,sg,def
- ובטלו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- הטחנות: NOUN,f,pl,def
- כי: CONJ
- מעטו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- וחשכו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- הראות: NOUN,f,pl,def
- בארבות: PREP+NOUN,f,pl,abs
Parallels
- Job 14:1–2 (verbal): Speaks of human frailty and transience—'man born of woman is of few days... comes forth like a flower and fades'—parallel to images of aging, stumbling strength, and failing household functions.
- Psalm 71:9 (verbal): Prayer against being cast off in old age: 'Do not cast me off when my strength is spent'—echoes the theme of strength failing and caretakers trembling in old age.
- Isaiah 40:6–8 (thematic): The 'all flesh is grass' motif and the contrast between transient human life and enduring word parallel Ecclesiastes' depiction of decline and mortality.
- Revelation 18:22 (verbal): The cessation of the sound of millstones ('no more shall the sound of millstones be heard') echoes Ecclesiastes' image of the grinders ceasing when few remain—a signal of societal/household breakdown.
- Psalm 102:11–12 (thematic): Laments comparing life to withering grass and fading days—similarly portrays dimming vision and diminishing activity associated with old age.
Alternative generated candidates
- When the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men stoop; when the grinders cease because they are few, and those who look through the windows grow dim.
- when the keepers of the house tremble and the strong men stoop, when the grinders cease because they are few, and those who peer through the windows grow dim;
Ecc.12.4 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- וסגרו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- דלתים: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- בשוק: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בשפל: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- קול: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- הטחנה: NOUN,f,sg,def
- ויקום: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- לקול: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- הצפור: NOUN,f,sg,def
- וישחו: VERB,qal,imperfect,3,m,pl
- כל: DET
- בנות: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- השיר: NOUN,m,sg,def
Parallels
- Psalm 102:9-11 (thematic): Uses bird imagery and describes the weakening and loneliness of old age ('I am like a lonely bird on the housetop'), paralleling 'rise at the sound of a bird' and the motif of senescence.
- Psalm 90:10 (thematic): Speaks of the brevity and toil of human life ('the days of our years are threescore years and ten'), echoing Ecclesiastes' depiction of decline and the end of vitality.
- Job 14:1-2 (thematic): Portrays human life as short and full of trouble ('Man that is born of a woman is of few days'), thematically aligned with the chapter's images of aging and loss.
- Ecclesiastes 12:1 (structural): Immediate literary context: the call to 'remember your Creator before' the bodily and social breakdowns (including the images of 12:4), framing those images as signs urging timely devotion.
- Amos 5:23 (thematic): Speaks of the cessation/rejection of music ('Take away from me the noise of your songs'), which parallels the image of 'all the daughters of song' being silenced—both convey the end or failure of music/joy.
Alternative generated candidates
- When the doors are shut in the streets, when the sound of the mill grows low; when one rises at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low.
- when the doors are shut in the streets, when the sound of the mill is low, when one rises at the voice of a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low;
Ecc.12.5 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- גם: ADV
- מגבה: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- יראו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- וחתחתים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- בדרך: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- וינאץ: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- השקד: NOUN,m,sg,def
- ויסתבל: VERB,qal,imperf,3,m,sg
- החגב: NOUN,m,sg,def
- ותפר: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- האביונה: NOUN,f,sg,def
- כי: CONJ
- הלך: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- האדם: NOUN,m,sg,def
- אל: NEG
- בית: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- עולמו: NOUN,m,sg,poss
- וסבבו: VERB,qal,imperf,3,m,pl
- בשוק: PREP
- הספדים: NOUN,m,pl,def
Parallels
- Job 14:1-2 (thematic): Both passages reflect human transience and frailty—man is born to trouble and like a flower that fades, paralleling the image of fading strength and final departure to his house of eternity.
- Psalm 90:10-12 (thematic): Psalm 90 meditates on the brevity and toil of human life and the need for wisdom about our short days—echoing Qoheleth’s scenes of aging and the approach of death.
- Isaiah 40:6-8 (thematic): Isaiah’s ‘all flesh is grass’ imagery about mortality and fading glory parallels the picture of withered vitality (grasshopper a burden, failing caper-bush) and human frailty in Ecclesiastes 12:5.
- Genesis 3:19 (allusion): Genesis’ declaration that humans will return to dust underpins Qoheleth’s statement that ‘man goes to his eternal home,’ linking human death here to the primal curse and return to the earth.
- Jeremiah 9:17-18 (thematic): Jeremiah’s call for mourning women and public lamentation resembles Ecclesiastes’ final image of mourners going about the streets—both evoke communal expressions of grief at death and calamity.
Alternative generated candidates
- They will fear heights, and terrors will be on the road; the almond tree will blossom, the grasshopper become a burden, and desire will fail; for man goes to his eternal home, and mourners walk about the market.
- when they are afraid of heights and of terrors on the road, when the almond tree blossoms and the grasshopper is a burden and desire fails; for man goes to his eternal home, and mourners go about the streets.
Ecc.12.6 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- עד: PREP
- אשר: PRON,rel
- לא: PART_NEG
- ירתק: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- חבל: NOUN,m,sg,cstr
- הכסף: NOUN,m,sg,def
- ותרץ: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,f,sg
- גלת: NOUN,f,sg,const
- הזהב: NOUN,m,sg,def
- ותשבר: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- כד: CONJ
- על: PREP
- המבוע: NOUN,m,sg,def
- ונרץ: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- הגלגל: NOUN,m,sg,def
- אל: NEG
- הבור: NOUN,m,sg,def
Parallels
- Job 14:10-12 (thematic): Both passages treat human life as transient and subject to a decisive end—Job uses the image of waters failing and lifelessness (death) to express the cessation of life, paralleling Ecclesiastes’ imagery of cords and vessels breaking at death.
- Isaiah 38:12-14 (allusion): Isaiah laments life being 'folded up' like a tent and strength being broken—imagery of unraveling and collapse closely parallels the 'silver cord' snapped and the 'golden bowl' broken in Ecclesiastes as metaphors for death and the loss of bodily integrity.
- Psalm 102:11-12 (thematic): The psalmist depicts life as fading away ('my days are like a shadow') and bodily decline—echoing Ecclesiastes’ focus on aging, fragility, and the ultimate breaking of life's bonds and vessels.
- James 4:14 (thematic): The New Testament echoes Ecclesiastes’ theme of human transience: life is brief and uncertain ('you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes'), comparable to the sudden snapping and breaking images in Ecclesiastes 12:6.
Alternative generated candidates
- Before the silver cord is loosed and the golden bowl is broken, the pitcher shattered at the spring and the wheel broken at the cistern.
- When the silver cord is snapped and the golden bowl is broken, when the pitcher is shattered at the fountain and the wheel is dashed to pieces at the cistern;
Ecc.12.7 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- וישב: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- העפר: NOUN,m,sg,def
- על: PREP
- הארץ: NOUN,f,sg,def
- כשהיה: CONJ
- והרוח: NOUN,f,sg,def
- תשוב: VERB,qal,imperfect,3,f,sg
- אל: NEG
- האלהים: NOUN,m,sg,def
- אשר: PRON,rel
- נתנה: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
Parallels
- Genesis 2:7 (verbal): Man formed from dust and God breathed life into his nostrils — parallels the language of dust/earth and the giving of spirit/breath by God.
- Genesis 3:19 (verbal): "For you are dust, and to dust you shall return" — echoes Ecclesiastes' theme of the body returning to the earth.
- Psalm 104:29-30 (verbal): When you take away their breath they die and return to dust; when you send out your Spirit you renew life — closely parallels the paired image of dust returning to earth and spirit returning to God.
- Job 34:14-15 (thematic): If God were to take back his spirit/breath all flesh would perish — connects the idea that life (spirit/breath) is held by God and can be returned to him.
- Ecclesiastes 3:20 (structural): All go to one place; all come from dust and all return to dust — an intra-Ecclesiastes parallel reinforcing the mortality theme.
Alternative generated candidates
- And the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
- then the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
Ecc.12.8 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- הבל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- הבלים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- אמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- הקוהלת: NOUN,prop,m,sg,def
- הכל: PRON,m,sg,abs
- הבל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Ecclesiastes 1:2 (verbal): Uses the identical refrain 'vanity of vanities' (hebel havalim) — the opening statement of the book echoed here.
- Ecclesiastes 2:11 (verbal): After surveying his works the Preacher declares 'all was vanity' (hebel), repeating the book’s central verdict on human endeavor.
- Psalm 39:6 (thematic): Portrays human life as fleeting and insubstantial ('man walks about as a shadow'), resonating with Ecclesiastes' theme that life is vain/transitory.
- James 4:14 (thematic): Describes life as a mist that appears briefly and vanishes — a New Testament articulation of the same transience and futility motif found in Ecclesiastes.
Alternative generated candidates
- Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher — all is vanity.
- Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity.
The light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to behold the sun.
If a man lives many years, let him rejoice in them all; yet remember the days of darkness, for they shall be many—everything that comes is vanity.
Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth; walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes—yet know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.
Put away anger from your heart and put off evil from your flesh, for childhood and youth are vanity.
Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years draw near when you will say, “I have no pleasure in them.”
Before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened, and the clouds return after the rain;
When the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men are bowed, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those who peer through the windows grow dim;
When the doors are shut in the street, while the sound of the mill is low, and one rises at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of song are silenced;
When those who look from heights are afraid, and terrors are in the road; when the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper becomes a burden, and desire fails—because man goes to his eternal home, and mourners go about in the streets;
Until the silver cord is severed, and the golden bowl is broken, and the pitcher is shattered at the fountain, and the wheel at the cistern is crushed;
Then the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
“Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher; all is vanity.