Series: Ecclesiastes
Sermon #41: Someday the Silver Cord Will Break
Ecclesiastes
12:2-7
[Audio file from Internet Archive at https://archive.org/details/Ecclesiastes122-7.]
2 While the sun, or the light,
or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the
rain: 3 In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and
the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are
few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened, 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; 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: 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. 7 Then shall
the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God
who gave it.
Introduction:
What woman’s voice was the first to be heard publicly in
the Senate?
“While teaching at the institution she met Presidents Yan
Buren and Tyler, Hon. Henry Clay, Governor Wm. H. Seward, General Winfield
Scott, and other distinguished characters of American history. Concerning Mr.
Clay, she gives the following: "When Mr. Clay came to the institution
during his last visit to New York, I was selected to welcome him with a poem.
Six months before he had lost a son at the battle of Monterey, and I had sent
him some verses. In my address I carefully avoided any allusion to them, in order
not to wound him. When I had finished he drew my arm in his, and, addressing
the audience, said through his tears: 'This is not the first poem for which I
am indebted to this lady. Six months ago she sent me some lines on the death of
my dear son.' Both of us were overcome for a few moments. Soon, by a splendid
effort, Mr. Clay recovered himself, but I could not control my tears." In connection with her meeting
these notable men, we might add that Miss Fanny Crosby had the honor of being
the first woman whose voice was heard publicly in the Senate Chamber at
Washington. She read a poem there on one occasion.”
— Hymnary at http://www.hymnary.org/person/Crosby_Fanny
[accessed 27 AUG 2016].
The title for this sermon comes from verse 6 that was
included in a poem written by Fanny J. Crosby which later was put to music.
Outline:
I. The Bright Times Before the Winter of Life (12:2)
II. The Advance of Age and the Day of the Lord (12:3-4)
III. The Metaphors of Aging (12:5)
IV. The Metaphors of Death (12:6)
V. The Fulfillment of the Curse in Death (12:7)
Transition:
Matt Chandler, “Youth” (Ecclesiastes 11:9-12:8), an
address presented to the plenary session of The Gospel Coalition 2011 national
conference in Chicago, IL; in The
Scriptures Testify About Me: Jesus and the Gospel in the Old Testament, ed.
D. A. Carson (Wheaton: Crossway, 2013), pp. 103-125.
Barry C. Davis, “Ecclesiastes 12:1-8—Death, an Impetus
for Life,” Bibliotheca Sacra 148:591
(JUL 1991), pp. 298-318.
See especially William D. Barrick, Ecclesiastes:
The Philippians of the Old Testament, Focus on the Bible series
(Fearn, Ross-Shire, Scotland: Christian Focus, 2012), pg. 198 for
cautions in studying this passage!
I. The Bright Times Before the Winter of Life (12:2)
While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or
the stars, be not darkened,
nor the clouds return after the rain:
Job 3:9 — Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark;
let it look for light, but have none; neither let it see the dawning of the
day:
Is. 5: 30 — And in that day they shall roar against them
like the roaring of the sea: and if one look unto the land, behold darkness and
sorrow, and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof.
Is. 13:10 — For the stars of heaven and the
constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in
his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
Ezek. 32:7-8 — 7 And when I shall put thee
out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the
sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light. 8 All the
bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy
land, saith the Lord GOD.
Joel 3:15 — The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and
the stars shall withdraw their shining.
Job 2:31 — The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the
moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
Mt. 24:29 — Immediately after the tribulation of those
days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the
stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
2 While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars,
be not darkened,
nor
the clouds return after the rain:
3 In
the day when the keepers of the house
shall tremble,
and the strong men shall bow themselves,
and the grinders cease because they are few,
and those that look out of the windows
be darkened,
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;
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:
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.
II. The Advance of Age and the Day of the Lord (12:3-4)
3 In the day when the keepers of
the house shall tremble,
and the strong men shall bow themselves,
and the grinders cease because they are few,
and those that look out of the windows be
darkened,
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;
See William D. Barrick, Ecclesiastes:
The Philippians of the Old Testament, Focus on the Bible series
(Fearn, Ross-Shire, Scotland: Christian Focus, 2012), pg. 199, “Provan
admits that even an apocalyptic interpretation of these verses can be applied to
aging and dying: ‘The end times for the individual human being are here pictured,
then, in terms of the end of the world.’”
Barrick cites Iain Provan, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, NIV Application Commentary, gen. ed. Terry
Muck (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001), pg. 217.
“Familiar examples of Semitic allegories can be seen in the description of
senility and death in Ecclesiastes (12:3ff.), the vintage-cup from which all
nations would drink (Jer. 25:15ff.), the eagles and the vine (Ezek. 27:3ff.),
the lioness and her cubs (Ezek. 19:2ff.), the boiling pot (Ezek. 24:3ff.), and
the shepherd and his two staffs (Zech. 11:4ff.). Not only are these allegories
rather brief, unlike Jonah, but as Aalders has indicated, they contain
unmistakable indications of their allegorical nature.[1] Thus the
meaning of the Ecclesiastes allegory is given in Ecclesiastes 12:5, where the
man has died and the mourners are present in the streets.”
— R. K. Harrison, Introduction
to the Old Testament with a comprehensive review of Old Testament Studies and a
special supplement on the Apocrypha (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans
Publishing Co., 1969), pg. 911. [highlighting mine]
“The ills of old age are summed up in a unique allegory in
Eccles. 12.1-7, which is now introduced as an admonition to the young to
rejoice over their youth in remembrance of their creator, and to be mindful of
the process of growing old. The allegory was probably originally composed in the
form of a riddle.
Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth,
before
the evil days come,
and
the years draw nigh, when you will say,
‘I
have no pleasure in them’;
2 before the sun and the light
and
the moon and the stars are darkened
and
only the clouds return after the rain;16
3 in the days when the keepers of the house tremble,17
and
the strong men are bent,18
and
the grinders cease because they are few,19
and
those that look through the windows are dimmed,20
4 and the doors on the street are shut;21
the
sound of the grinding is low,22
and
the voice of a bird ‘grows still’23
and
every song is quenched.24
5 They are afraid also of what is high,
and
terrors are in the way;
then
the almond tree blossoms,25
the
grasshopper drags itself along,26
and
the caper burst asunder.27
Yea,
man goes to his secluded house,
and
the mourners go about the streets;
6 Before the silver cord is snapped,28
and
the golden bowl is broken,29
and
pitcher is broken at the fountain,
and
the wheel broken at the cistern,
7 and the dust returns30 to the earth as it was,
and
the breath returns to God, who gave it.
This is a sober analysis of how
with increasing age the powers, the senses and all the manifestations of life
become weaker and weaker.”
— Hans Walter Wolff, Anthropology
of the Old Testament, trans. Margaret Kohl (Philadelphia: Fortress Press,
1974; from Anthropologie des Alten
Testaments, Munich: Chr. Kaiser Verlag, 1973), pp. 123-125, s.v. 4. Characteristics of age.
“Translator’s Note: The biblical quotations have been
taken from the Revised Standard Version; but its wording has been modified
where this was necessary for a correct rendering of the author’s text.” Op. cit., pg. x. [highlighting mine]
Wolff’s footnotes 16-30 on the translation follow [op. cit., pp. 243-244; highlighting mine]:
“16. As in the Palestinian winter; cf. W. Zimmerli, Prediger, p. 246.
17. The arms.
18. The legs (so W. Zimmerli, ibid.). K. Galling,
“Prediger’, p. 122, thinks of bent backs.
19. The teeth.
20. the eyes.
21. The ears become deaf.
22. The voice.
23. Cf. K. Galling, op. cit., on this passage.
24. The singing falls silent.
25. The hair becomes grey.
26. Walking becomes difficult, there is no more running
and jumping.
27. No stimulus and no aphrodisiac helps the old man any
more.
28. Cf. K. Galling, op. cit., on this passage.
29. Cf. K. Galling, ibid., on this passage.
30. See BHK (so also RSV).” BHK is Biblia Hebraica,3
ed. R. Kittel.”
Wolff’s translation with the pertinent footnotes inserted
in parentheses [highlighting mine]:
“Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth,
before
the evil days come,
and
the years draw nigh, when you will say,
‘I
have no pleasure in them’;
2 before the sun and the light
and
the moon and the stars are darkened
and
only the clouds return after the rain; (as in the Palestinian winter)
3 in the days when the keepers of the house tremble, (the arms)
and
the strong men are bent, (the
legs…bent backs)
and
the grinders cease because they are few, (the teeth)
and
those that look through the windows are dimmed, (the eyes)
4 and
the doors on the street are shut; (the ears become deaf)
the
sound of the grinding is low, (the voice)
and
the voice of a bird ‘grows still’
and
every song is quenched. (the
singing falls silent)
5 They are afraid also of what is high,
and
terrors are in the way;
then
the almond tree blossoms, (the
hair becomes grey)
the
grasshopper drags itself along, (walking becomes difficult, there is no more running and jumping)
and
the caper burst asunder. (No
stimulus and no aphrodisiac helps the old man any more)
Yea,
man goes to his secluded house,
and
the mourners go about the streets;
6 Before the silver cord is snapped,
and
the golden bowl is broken,
and
pitcher is broken at the fountain,
and
the wheel broken at the cistern,
7 and the dust returns30 to the earth as it was,
and
the breath returns to God, who gave it.”
“Verses 3–7 give us one of the most imaginative descriptions of old age and
death found anywhere in literature.”
“The meaning may be as follows: keepers of the house—Your
arms and hands tremble. strong men—Your legs, knees, and shoulders weaken and
you walk bent over. grinders—You start to lose your teeth. windows—Your vision
begins to deteriorate. doors—Either your hearing starts to fail, or you close
your mouth because you’ve lost your teeth. grinding—You can’t chew your food,
or your ears can’t pick up the sounds outdoors. rise up—You wake up with the
birds early each morning, and wish you could sleep longer. music—Your voice
starts to quaver and weaken. afraid—You are terrified of heights and afraid of
falling while you walk down the street. almond tree—If you have any hair left,
it turns white, like almond blossoms. grasshopper—You just drag yourself along,
like a grasshopper at the close of the summer season. desire—You lose your
appetite, or perhaps your sexual desire. long home—You go to your eternal
[long] home and people mourn your death.”
— Warren W. Wiersbe, Be
Satisfied (Ecclesiastes): Looking for the Answer to the Meaning of Life, 2nd
ed. (Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook, 1990, 1995), s.v. “(3) Remember (12:1-8).”
3 In the day when the keepers of
the house shall tremble,
and the strong men shall bow themselves,
and the grinders cease because they are few,
and those that look out of the windows be
darkened,
Ps. 35:14 — I behaved myself as though he had been my
friend or brother: I bowed down heavily, as one that mourneth for his mother.
Ps. 38:6 — I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go
mourning all the day long.
Gen. 27:1 — And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old,
and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his eldest son,
and said unto him, My son: and he said unto him, Behold, here am I.
Gen. 48:10 — Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so
that he could not see. And he brought
them near unto him; and he kissed them, and embraced them.
1 Sam. 3:2 — And it came to pass at that time, when Eli
was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not
see;
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;
Ps. 141:3 — Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep
the door of my lips.
Jer. 25:10 — Moreover I will take from them the voice of
mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of
the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle.
Rev. 18:22-23 — 22 And the voice of harpers,
and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in
thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in
thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee; 23
And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the
voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee:
for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were
all nations deceived.
2 Sam. 19:31-35 — 31 And Barzillai the
Gileadite came down from Rogelim, and went over Jordan with the king, to
conduct him over Jordan. 32 Now Barzillai was a very aged man, even
fourscore years old: and he had provided the king of sustenance while he lay at
Mahanaim; for he was a very great man. 33 And the king said unto
Barzillai, Come thou over with me, and I will feed thee with me in Jerusalem. 34
And Barzillai said unto the king, How long have I to live, that I should go up
with the king unto Jerusalem? 35 I am this day fourscore years old:
and can I discern between good and evil?
can thy servant taste what I eat or what I drink? can I hear any more the voice of singing men
and singing women? wherefore then should
thy servant be yet a burden unto my lord the king?
Eccl. 2:8 — I gathered me also silver and gold, and the
peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I gat me men singers and women
singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that
of all sorts.
III. The Metaphors of Aging (12:5)
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:
1. The Fears of Life
Also when they shall be afraid of that which
is high,
and fears shall be in the way,
2. The Fall of Life
and the almond tree shall flourish,
and the grasshopper shall be a burden,
3. The Fading of Life
and desire shall fail:
This is translated differently in some modern versions:
NASB: “and the caperberry is
ineffective”
HCSB:
“and the caper berry has no effect”
NLT:
“and the caperberry no longer inspires sexual desire”
See G. E. Post, “Caper-berry,” in A Dictionary of the Bible Dealing with its
Language, Literature, and Contents Including Biblical Theology, ed. James
Hasting, 5 vols. (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, n.d.; 1988 reprint from 1898 ed. by
T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh), I:350; on Christian
Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) at http://www.ccel.org/ccel/hastings/dictv1.i.vii.html
[accessed 28 AUG 2016]; and E. W. G. Masterman, “Caper-berry,” Dictionary of the Bible, 1 vol. ed. (New
York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1909), pg. 117; on Study Light at http://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/hdb/view.cgi?n=1175
[accessed 28 AUG 2016].
4. The End of Life
because man goeth to his long home,
and the mourners go about the streets:
On “long home” see the following:
“Eternity is endlessness; and this idea
is only qualified by the nature of the object to which it is applied, or by the
direct word of God. When applied to things physical, it is used in accordance
with the revealed truth that the heaven and earth shall pass away, and it is
limited by this truth. When applied to God, it is used in harmony with the
truth that He is essentially and absolutely existent, and that as He is the causa causarum and without beginning, so
in the very nature of things it must be held that no cause can ever put an end
to His existence. When the word is applied to man’s future destiny after the
resurrection, we naturally give it the sense of endlessness without any limitation, except such as the
post-resurrection state shall involve; and this is not revealed.”
—Robert Baker Girdlestone, Synonyms of the Old Testament: Their Bearing
on Christian Doctrine, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Co., n.d., 1976 reprint of 1897 ed.), pp. 316-317, s.v. Ch. XXVIII. Eternal, Age To Come. § 2. The Word ʾOlam.
For an interesting contrary viewpoint see Youngblood’s
“Summary and Conclusions” (pp. 409-410):
“It is here argued that conceptual
and philological antecedents for Qoheleth and his world should be sought in a
Mesopotamian/Ugaritic/Phoenician orbit rather than from Egypt or some other
horizon; that “light” and “darkness” frequently serve as metaphors for life and
death respectively in Ecclesiastes as well as in other OT books; that
“darkness” is often a poetic name for Sheol in Ecclesiastes, as elsewhere; that
the obvious relationship between “eternity” and “darkness” can easily lead to
confusion and/or differences of opinion when the reader encounters the Hebrew
root ʾlm, which can point to either; that in Ecclesiastes the five occurrences
of ʾlm preceded by lĕ- (1:4, 10; 2:16; 3:14; 9:6) bear the meaning “long
duration, eternity,” whereas the other three occurrences (3:11; 12:5, 14) are
to be interpreted in the sense of “concealment, darkness”; that the former
derive from an original ʾlm and the latter from an original ʾlm, as
differentiated also in Ugaritic; and that the near and remote contexts of Eccl 12:5 prefer “dark
house” rather than “eternal home” for bêt ‘ôlām, especially in the light of
Akkadian parallels.”
— Ronald Youngblood, “Qoheleth’s
“Dark House” (Eccl 12:5),” Journal of the
Evangelical Theological Society 29:4 (DEC 1986), pp. 397-410; from Ch. 13
in A Tribute to Gleason Archer: Essays on
the Old Testament, eds. W. C. Kaiser, Jr., and R. F. Youngblood (Chicago:
Moody, 1986).
Youngblood acknowledges scholarly opposition to what he
is proposing:
“Hans Walter Wolff, on the other
hand, renders hāʾôlām in a closely related way (“the most distant time”) and
vigorously defends his translation.”
In a footnote at that point (op. cit., pg. 405, note 48)
Youngblood documents this: “H. W. Wolff, “The Concept of Time in the Old
Testament,” CTM 45 (January 1974) 41–42.” In that same footnote he mentions
another chapter in the same volume by his co-editor that balances the approach
he is arguing for:
“W. C. Kaiser, Jr., gives an
equally vigorous defense of “eternity” in A
Tribute to Gleason Archer: Essays on the Old Testament (ed. Kaiser and R.
F. Youngblood; Chicago: Moody, 1986) 204-205.”
The chapter indicated is Walter C. Kaiser, Jr.,
“Integrating Wisdom Theology into Old Testament Theology,” in A Tribute to Gleason Archer: Essays on the
Old Testament, eds. W. C. Kaiser, Jr., and R. F. Youngblood (Chicago:
Moody, 1986), pp. 197-209.
Pr. 26:13 — The slothful man saith, There is a lion in
the way; a lion is in the streets.
Ps. 143:3 — For the enemy hath persecuted my soul; he
hath smitten my life down to the ground; he hath made me to dwell in darkness,
as those that have been long dead.
Job 17:13 — If I wait, the grave is mine house: I have
made my bed in the darkness.
Job 30:23 — For I know that thou wilt bring me to death,
and to the house appointed for all living.
Is. 14:18 — All the kings of the nations, even all of
them, lie in glory, every one in his own house.
2 Chr. 35:25 — And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all
the singing men and the singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to
this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel: and, behold, they are written
in the lamentations.
Gen. 50:10 — And they came to the threshingfloor of Atad,
which is beyond Jordan, and there they mourned with a great and very sore
lamentation: and he made a mourning for his father seven days.
Jer. 9:17 — 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: (cp. 9:1-26)
Mt. 9:23-24 — 23 And when Jesus came into the
ruler's house, and saw the minstrels and the people making a noise, 24
He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they
laughed him to scorn. (cp. 9:18-26)
IV. The Metaphors of Death (12:6)
Or ever the silver cord be loosed,[2]
or the golden bowl be broken,
or the pitcher be broken at the fountain,
or the wheel broken at the cistern.
Text and translation issues with this verse: verb in 1st
line (text), verb in 3rd line (translation) different from verbs in 2nd and 4th
lines
How many metaphors are in this verse? Four, or two? Connect
1st and 2nd lines, and 3rd and 4th lines - suggested by identical verbs at ends
of 2nd and 4th lines, and recognized by many.
V. The Fulfillment of the Curse in Death (12:7)
Then shall the dust return to the earth as it
was:
and the spirit shall return unto God who gave
it.
Then shall the dust return to the earth as it
was:
“That
Yahweh made man of the dust of the earth (Gen. 2:7; cf. Job 8:19; Eccl. 3:20
reflects not only God’s sovereign power but indicates also that human nature is
not to be comprehended in and through the prior animal creation. Man is clay
that the sovereign Potter has fashioned (Job 33:6; Isa. 64:7; Jer. 16:8). If
God withdraws the breath of life, man reverts not into animality but into dust;
man is dust preserved by Yahweh that at death (Gen. 3:19; Eccl. 12:7) awaits
the coming resurrection.”
— Carl F. H. Henry, God,
Revelation and Authority, 6 vols. (Waco, TX: Word Books, 1976-1983), 6:223,
s.v. Ch. 9: “The Origin and Nature of
Man.”
Eccl. 3:20 — All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and
all turn to dust again.
Gen. 2:7 — And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the
ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a
living soul.
Gen. 3:19 — In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread,
till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou
art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
Job 34:15 — All flesh shall perish together, and man shall
turn again unto dust.
Ps. 103:14 — For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are
dust.
Ps. 104:29 — Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou
takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust.
and the spirit shall return unto God who gave
it.
Eccl. 3:21 — Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth
upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?
Job 34:14 — If he set his heart upon man, if he gather unto
himself his spirit and his breath;
Num. 16:22 — And they fell upon their faces, and said, O
God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be
wroth with all the congregation?
Num. 27:16 — Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all
flesh, set a man over the congregation,
Is. 57:16 — For I will not contend for ever, neither will I
be always wroth: for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I
have made.
Zech. 12:1 — The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel,
saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation
of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.
Lk. 23:46 — And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he
said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave
up the ghost.
Acts 7:59 — And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and
saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
See also:
John Calvin, Institutes
of the Christian Religion, 2 vols., ed. John T. McNeill, trans. Ford Lewis
Battles, in The Library of Christian Classics, gen. eds. John Baillie, John T.
McNeill, and Henry P. Van Dusen (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1960),
I:184-186; s.v. 1.15.2, Diversity
of body and soul; I:190-192; s.v.
1.15.5, Manichaean
error of the soul’s emanation.
Robert L. Reymond, A
New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith, 2nd rev. ed. (Nashville:
Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1998), pp. 422-424, s.v. Ch. 12, “The Biblical View
of Man,” on Dichotomy, and “The
Origin of the Soul.”
Conclusion:
1 Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth,
while the evil days come not,
nor the years draw nigh,
when thou shalt say,
I have no pleasure in them;
2 While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars,
be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain:
3 In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble,
and the strong men shall bow themselves,
and the grinders cease because they are few,
and those that look out of the windows be darkened,
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;
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:
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.
7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was:
and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
Fanny J. Crosby (1820-1915), “Saved By Grace” (1891)
“The hymn…was called into being through…a sermon
preached by Dr. Howard Crosby who was a distant relative and dear friend
of mine. He said that no Christian should fear death, for if each of us was
faithful to the grace given us by Christ, the same grace that teaches us how
to live would also teach us how to die. His remarks were afterward published
in a newspaper, and they were read to me by Mr. Biglow. Not many hours after
I heard them I began to write the hymn.”
However, these
words almost didn’t see light of day. They came to public notice by accident,
during a conference Fanny attended at Northfield, Massachusetts. During
the meeting, the great evangelist, Dwight Moody, asked if Fanny—like so
many others—would give a personal testimony to the audience. Not wanting
to draw attention to herself, she almost declined, but finally got up to
speak, and said:
There is one hymn I have written which has never been published. I
call it my soul’s poem. Sometimes when I am troubled, I repeat it to myself,
for it brings comfort to my heart.”
— CyberHymnal
at http://cyberhymnal.org/htm/s/b/sbygrace.htm
[accessed 26 AUG 2016].
“Ira
D. Sankey, D. L. Moody’s song leader, lists this hymn as one of his five
favorites to sing as solos.”
The
summer conference referred to was “conducted by Dr. Adoniram Judson Gordon in
1894. An English reporter was present and requested a copy to take to London,
where it was published in his paper. Sankey discovered the poem in the English
paper and requested George C. Stebbins, famed gospel tunesmith, to compose
music for it.”
— Helen
Salem Rizk, Stories of the Christian Hymns,
rev. ed. (n.p.: Abingdon, 1964, 1986), pg. 35.
See also Kenneth W. Osbeck, 101 More Hymn Stories (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1985), pp. 236-241.
Al Smith’s facts about this hymn conflict with those
related by others. He has Crosby composing it in 1890 (not 1891), at a camp
meeting in Poughkeepsie, NY where L. W. Munhall was speaking. Smith does not
mention anything about Howard Crosby’s influence. Smith also has her reciting
it “two summers later” at Northfield which would be 1892 rather than 1894.
Smith does not mention A. J. Gordon conducting the conference, but relates that
“Dr. A. T. Pierson was in charge of the afternoon meetings and he asked Fanny
to take part.” He does not mention Moody as being at the conference, or being
the one who asked Fanny to give her testimony as others tell it. There are
discrepancies also about the name of the London paper where it was first
published. According to Smith it was Fanny’s idea to have Stebbins compose the
tune for her poem when Sankey asked her if he could. Some of Smith’s
information was gathered in conversations with George C. Stebbins during “the
last six of his one hundred years.”
— Alfred B. Smith, Al
Smith’s Treasury of Hymn Histories (n.p.: Dickinson, 1981, 1982, 1985), pp.
130-132.
[Sermon preached 28 AUG 2016 by Pastor John T. “Jack”
Jeffery at Wayside Gospel Chapel, Greentown, PA.]
Complete Outline:
I. The Bright Times Before the Winter of Life (12:2)
II. The Advance of Age and the Day of the Lord (12:3-4)
III. The Metaphors of Aging (12:5)
IV. The Metaphors of Death (12:6)
V. The Fulfillment of the Curse in Death (12:7)
Select Sources on Ecclesiastes
J. Sidlow Baxter, Explore The Book: A Basic and Broadly
Interpretive Course of Bible Study from Genesis to Revelation, 6 vols. in 1
ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, n.d., 1960 printing).
William D. Barrick, Ecclesiastes:
The Philippians of the Old Testament, Focus on the Bible series
(Fearn, Ross-Shire, Scotland: Christian Focus, 2012). Barrick’s lecture notes (PDF files) and audio (mp3) are
on Dr Barrick
at http://drbarrick.org/teaching/ecclesiastes/ [accessed 3 FEB 2016].
Thorleif Boman, Hebrew Thought Compared With Greek, 2nd
ed. rev., trans. Jules L. Moreau (New York: W. W. Norton. 1960; from Das hebrӓische Denken im Vergleich mit dem
Griechischen, Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1954).
Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Ecclesiastes
(New York: Robert Carter & Brothers, 1860); on Internet Archive at https://archive.org/details/expositionofbook00bridrich [accessed 11 MAY 2015]; on Google Books at http://books.google.com/books?id=e4kOAQAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false [accessed 11 MAY 2015]; and linked on Precept Austin at http://preceptaustin.org/proverbs_commentaries.htm#cb [accessed 11 MAY 2015].
C. Hassell Bullock, An
Introduction to the Old Testament Poetic Books: The Wisdom and Songs of Israel
(Chicago: Moody Press, 1979).
Franz Delitzsch, “Commentary on The Song of Songs and
Ecclesiastes,” trans. M. G. Easton, in Commentary
on the Old Testament in Ten Volumes, C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, Vol. VI: Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon:
Three Volumes in One (Grand Rapids:
William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., n.d., 1975 reprint), III:179-442.
Michael A. Eaton, Ecclesiastes:
An Introduction and Commentary, Vol.
16, Tyndale Old
Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity, 1983).
ESV Study Bible
(Wheaton: Crossway, 2008).
Sinclair B.
Ferguson. The Pundit's Folly: Chronicles
of an Empty Life (Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1995).
Duane A. Garrett, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Vol. 14, New American Commentary
(Nashville: Broadman, 1993).
Robert
Baker Girdlestone, Synonyms of the Old
Testament: Their Bearing on Christian Doctrine, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Wm.
B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., n.d., 1976 reprint of 1897 ed.); on Study Light at http://www.studylight.org/lexicons/gos/ [accessed 13 JUL 2016]; and on NTS Library at http://www.ntslibrary.com/PDF%20Books%20II/Girdlestone%20-%20Synomyns%20of%20the%20OT.pdf [accessed 13 JUL 2016]; in an
earlier edition, Robert Baker Girdlestone, Synonyms
of the Old Testament: Their Bearing on Christian Faith and Practice
(London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1871); on Internet Archive at https://archive.org/details/synonymsofoldtes00gird [accessed 13 JUL 2016]; and on Google Books at https://books.google.com/books?id=D3YcA72rnqQC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false [accessed 13 JUL 2016]. Note: The
Hebrew characters did not make it intact into the digital edition on NTS Library.
Donald R. Glenn,
“Ecclesiastes,” in The Bible Knowledge
Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, eds. J. F. Walvoord, and R. B.
Zuck (Wheaton, IL: Victor, 1985).
William Henry
Green, “Scope and Plan of the Book of Ecclesiastes,” Biblical Reparatory and Princeton Review 29 (1857), pp. 419-40; on Gordon Faculty Online at http://faculty.gordon.edu/hu/bi/Ted_Hildebrandt/OTeSources/21-Ecclesiastes/Text/Articles/Green-ScopeofEccl-1857.pdf [accessed 7 NOV 2015].[3]
R. K. Harrison, Introduction to the Old Testament with a comprehensive review of Old
Testament Studies and a special supplement on the Apocrypha (Grand Rapids:
Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1969).
Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., Coping With Change: Ecclesiastes (Fearn,
Roth-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus, 2013).[4]
Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., Ecclesiastes:
Total Life, in Everyman’s
Bible Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1979).
Derek Kidner, The Message of
Ecclesiastes: A Time to Mourn, and a Time to Dance, in The Bible Speaks Today, Old Testament series ed. J. A. Motyer (Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity
Press, 1976).
H. C. Leupold, Exposition of Ecclesiastes (Grand
Rapids: Baker, 1952).
Tremper Longman III, The Book of Ecclesiastes, New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997).
John MacArthur, MacArthur Study Bible, rev. ed.
(Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1997).
Tim Mackie, “The book of Ecclesiastes explained with illustrations,”
on The Bible Project at http://www.jointhebibleproject.com
[accessed 18 JUN 2016]; includes downloadable full resolution video (700+ mb), and
poster; for the video see also “Read Scripture Ecclesiastes” (10 JUN 2016), on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrsQ1tc-2wk
[accessed 18 JUN 2016].[5]
D. B. Miller, Ecclesiastes, Believers Church Bible Commentary (Scottdale, PA;
Waterloo, ON: Herald Press, 2010).
Roland Edmund
Murphy, Ecclesiastes, Vol. 23A, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas:
Word, 1992).
New Geneva Study Bible
(Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995).
John G. Reisinger, Studies in
Ecclesiastes (Frederick, MD: New Covenant Media, 2008).
Philip Graham Ryken, Ecclesiastes:
Why Everything Matters, in Preaching the Word, gen. ed. R. Kent Hughes
(Wheaton: Crossway, 2010).
Philip
G. Ryken, Why Everything Matters: The
Gospel in Ecclesiastes (Fearn, Ross-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus
Publications, Ltd., 2015).
Benjamin Shaw,
“On Reading Ecclesiastes,” in The Hope
Fulfilled: Essays in Honor of O. Palmer Robertson, ed. Robert L. Penny
(Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2008), pp. 47-58.
Peter B. Steese,
ed., Ecclesiastes, gen. ed. Leonard
F. Dean (Boston: Allyn and Bacon, Inc., 1966).
Tom V. Taylor, Studies in
Ecclesiastes (Port Colborne, Ontario, CA: Gospel Folio Press, 2013). See also the “Thomas V. Taylor Library” on the Interdisciplinary Biblical Research Institute
at http://www.taylorlib.ibri.org/ [accessed 27 NOV 2013].
Warren W. Wiersbe, Be
Satisfied (Ecclesiastes): Looking for the Answer to the Meaning of Life, 2nd
ed. (Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook, 1990, 1995).
Hans
Walter Wolff, Anthropology of the Old
Testament, trans. Margaret Kohl (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1974; from Anthropologie des Alten Testaments,
Munich: Chr. Kaiser Verlag, 1973).
Addison G. Wright, “The Riddle of the Sphinx: The
Structure of the Book of Qoheleth,” in Reflecting
with Solomon: Selected Studies on the Book of Ecclesiastes, ed. Roy B. Zuck
(Grand Rapids: Baker, 1994), pp. 45-66; originally published in Catholic Biblical Quarterly 30 (1968),
pp. 313-334.
J. Stafford
Wright, “Ecclesiastes,” in Psalms-Song of Songs, Vol. 5, Expositor's Bible Commentary, ed.
Frank E. Gaebelein (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1991).
J. Stafford Wright, “The Interpretation of Ecclesiastes”, in Classical Evangelical Essays in Old
Testament Interpretation, ed. Walter C. Kaiser Jr. (Grand Rapids: Baker,
1972), pp. 135-150; from J. Stafford Wright, “The Interpretation of
Ecclesiastes,” Evangelical Quarterly
18 (1946), pp. 18-34; on Rediscovering
the Bible at http://rediscoveringthebible.com/InterpretationOfEcclesiastes.html
[accessed 7 MAY 2015].
Ronald F. Youngblood, “Qoheleth's 'Dark House' (Eccl.
12:5),” in A Tribute to
Gleason Archer, eds. Walter C. Kaiser and
Ronald F. Youngblood (Chicago: Moody Press, 1986), pp.211-228; also published
in Journal of the Evangelical Theological
Society 29:4 (DEC 1986), pp. 397-410; on Biblical Studies at http://www.etsjets.org/files/JETS-PDFs/29/29-4/29-4-pp397-410_JETS.pdf
[accessed 4 APR 2016].
Notes:
[1]
Harrison’s footnote 36 here documents “The
Problem of the Book of Jonah, p. 16.” This source is: G. Ch. Aalders, The Problem of the Book of Jonah
(London: Tyndale, 1948), pp. 17-18; on Biblical
Studies at http://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/tp/jonah_aalders.pdf
[accessed 27 AUG 2016]. Comparison reveals that Harrison is very dependent on
Aalders in this paragraph, and Aalders’ specific statement that Harrison
footnotes is actually on pg. 18, not 16.
[2]
NKJV note: “So with Qr., Tg.; Kt. removed;
LXX, Vg. broken.” Qr. = “Qere
(literally, in Aramaic, “read”)— certain words read aloud, differing from the
written words, in the Masoretic tradition fo the Hebrew Old Testament.” Tg. =
“Targum—an Aramaic paraphrase of the Old Testament.” Kt. = “Kethib (literally,
in Aramaic, “written”)—the written words of the Hebrew Old Testament preserved
by the Masoretes.” LXX = Septuagint—an ancient translation of the Old Testament
into Greek.” Vg. = “Vulgate—an ancient translation of the Bible into Latin,
translated and edited by Jerome.”
Source: New
Geneva Study Bible, New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982,
1995), pg. xiv, s.v. “Special
Abbreviations.”
[3] Walter C. Kaiser, Jr. inexplicably refers to this as
an “unsigned article” on at least two occasions in his commentary despite the
facts that: 1) William Henry Green is clearly indicated as the author under the
title on the first page of the article (pg. 419), and 2) one of his own faculty
members (Ted Hildebrandt) has posted the article on the school’s web site where
Kaiser served as both faculty member and President. Walter
C. Kaiser, Jr., Ecclesiastes: Total Life,
in Everyman’s Bible Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1979); and Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., Coping
With Change: Ecclesiastes (Fearn, Roth-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus,
2013).
[4] Although not indicated on the copyright page, this
appears in all respects to be a revised edition (2nd ed.) of the Moody Press
1979 original. The relationship to the original is referenced in the “Preface,”
where the author mentions the inclusion of his own translation of Ecclesiastes
in this revision as one significant change. “Dale Ralph Davis compares the two
and says, “the ‘bones’ are much the same but the whole has been updated and
expanded.” Source: Tim Challies, “Best Commentaries on Ecclesiastes” (18 NOV
2013), on Challies at http://www.challies.com/resources/best-commentaries-on-ecclesiastes [accessed 7 NOV 2015].
[5] “This video explores the main ideas and flow of
thought of the book of Ecclesiastes.
The Bible Project is a
non-profit creating animated videos that explain the narrative of the Bible.
These videos are free to use for personal and educational purposes. Download a
full resolution version of this video along with a study guide at
www.jointhebibleproject.com.”
“About the author: Tim
Mackie is a Pastor of Door of Hope church and a Professor at Western Seminary -
timmackie.com”
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