Old Age
Ecclesiastes 12:1–7
Persian–Hellenistic Period, 6th–3rd Century BCE
1So appreciate your vigora in the days of your youth, before those days of sorrow come and those years arrive of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”; 2before sun and light and moon and stars grow dark, and the clouds come back again after the rain:
3When the guards of the houseb become shaky,
And the men of valorc are bent,
And the maids that grind,d grown few, are idle,
And the ladies that peer through the windowse grow dim,
4And the doors to the streetf are shut—
With the noise of the hand mill growing fainter,
And the song of the bird growing feebler,
And all the strains of music dying down;
5When one is afraid of heights
And there is terror on the road.—
For the almond tree may blossom,
The grasshopper be burdened,
And the caper bush may bud again;g
But man sets out for his eternal abode,
With mourners all around in the street.—
6Before the silver cord snaps
And the golden bowl crashes,
The jar is shattered at the spring,
7And the dust returns to the ground
As it was,
And the lifebreath returns to God
Who bestowed it.
Notes
Others “Remember thy Creator.”
I.e., the arms.
I.e., the legs.
I.e., the teeth.
I.e., the eyes.
I.e., the ears.
These plants, after seeming dead for part of the year, revive, unlike man; cf. Job 14:7–10.
Others “wheel.”
Poetic figure for the end of life.
Credits
Reprinted from Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures by permission of the University of Nebraska Press. Copyright 1985 by the Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia.
Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 1.
You may also like
Organic Thinking: A Study in Rabbinic Thought
Chapter I. IntroductoryI. The Problem of Coherence“There is (thus) a zone of insecurity in human affairs,” remarks William James in his essay on The Importance of Individuals, “in which all the…
Adultery Kills
My son, keep your father’s commandment;
Do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
Tie them over your heart always;
Bind them around your throat.
When you walk it will lead you;
When you lie down…
Aunt Joya
On rare occasions Aunt Joya di Pinso would come over, and whenever she came, the house would be full of good spirits. The minute she set foot on our threshold, pausing for a moment, as was…
You may also like
Organic Thinking: A Study in Rabbinic Thought
Chapter I. IntroductoryI. The Problem of Coherence“There is (thus) a zone of insecurity in human affairs,” remarks William James in his essay on The Importance of Individuals, “in which all the…
Adultery Kills
My son, keep your father’s commandment;
Do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
Tie them over your heart always;
Bind them around your throat.
When you walk it will lead you;
When you lie down…
Aunt Joya
On rare occasions Aunt Joya di Pinso would come over, and whenever she came, the house would be full of good spirits. The minute she set foot on our threshold, pausing for a moment, as was…