Ecclesiastes 12:11

Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity. A summary of the first part. VANITY OF VANITIES. Resumption of the sentiment with which the book began (Ecclesiastes 1:2; 1 John 2:17). Verse 9. BECAUSE THE PREACHER WAS WISE ... YEA, HE GAVE GOOD HEED - Hebrew, 'izeen (H238); literally, he weighed, or else 'listened,' namely, to the voice of the Spirit, which spake by him (Psalms 49:4). PROVERBS - `parables' (1 Kings 4:32). The preacher does not praise...

8-14 Solomon repeats his text, VANITY OF VANITIES, ALL IS VANITY. These are the words of one that could speak by dear-bought experience of the vanity of the world, which can do nothing to ease men of the burden of sin. As he considered the worth of souls, he gave good heed to what he spake and wrote; words of truth will always be acceptable words. The truths of God are as goads to such as are dull and draw back, and nails to such as are wandering and draw aside; means to establish the heart, that we may never sit loose to our duty, nor be taken from it. The Shepherd of Israel is the Giver of inspired wisdom. Teachers and guides all receive their communications from him. The title is applied in Scripture to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The prophets sought diligently, what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferi...

Verse Ecclesiastes 12:11. _THE WORDS OF THE WISE_] Doctrines of faith, illustrated by suitable language, are _as nails fastened_ by the _masters of_ _assemblies_, בעלי אספות baaley asuphoth, the _masters of_ _collections_, those who had made the best collections of this kind, the _matter_ of which was of the most excellent nature; every saying sinking as deeply into the mind, by the _force_ of the _truth_ contained in it, as a _nail_ well _pointed_ does into a _board_, when _impelled by the hammer's force_. These _masters of collections_ have been supposed to be public persons appointed by the _prince_ himself, the _sole shepherd_, to see that nothing was put into the people's hands but what would be profitable for them to read; and that, when any wise man gave public instructions, a good scribe...

This passage is properly regarded as the Epilogue of the whole book; a kind of apology for the obscurity of many of its sayings. The passage serves therefore to make the book more intelligible and more acceptable. Here, as in the beginning of the book Ecclesiastes 1:1, the Preacher speaks of himself Ecclesiastes 12:8 in the third person. He first repeats Ecclesiastes 12:8 the mournful, perplexing theme with which his musings began Ecclesiastes 1:2; and then states the encouraging practical conclusion...

EXPOSITION ECCLESIASTES 12:1 The division into chapters is unfortunate here, as this verse is closely connected with Ecclesiastes 12:10 of the preceding chapter. REMEMBER NOW THY CREATOR IN THE DAYS OF THY YOUTH. Set God always before thine eyes from thy earliest days; think who made thee, and what thou wast made for, not for self-pleasing only, not to gratify thy passions which now are strong; but that thou mightest use thy powers and energy in accordance with the laws of thy being as a creature of God's hands, responsible to him for the use of the faculties and capacities with which he has endowed thee. The word for "Creator" is the participle of the Verb _bara, _which is that used in...

THE WORDS OF THE WISE [ARE] AS GOADS,.... As the goad teacheth the ox; so the Targum. Not the words of the wise philosophers of that age, or of ages before, or since; but of the inspired penmen of the Scriptures, as Moses, David, Solomon, and of others since; and of all good men, whose doctrines are agreeably to them; these are like "goads" or "pricks", sharp pointed sticks or staves, with which men push and prick their cattle, when driving them from place to place, or ploughing with them: and of a similar use are the doctrines of the word, when attended with a divine efficacy; these are a means of pricking sinners to the heart; and of laying open their vileness and sinfulness to them; and of repentance and contrition; and of awakening them from a sleep in sin to a sense of their danger; and even of killing them, as to their own sense and apprehension of things, and, with respect to thei...

Ecclesiastes 12:1. _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;_ Do not give God the dregs of life. Do not offer in sacrifice to him anything that is worn out. Remember that, among the first fruits which the Jews were to bring to the priest to be offered on God's altar, there were to be «green ears of corn, dried by the fire, even corn beaten out of full ears.» The Lord delights to have the hearts of his people while they are yet children. The Lord says, through Hosea the prophet, «I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms;» as if, while they were but little, God had taught them to take their first steps in walking. There is also that passage in the prophecy of Jeremiah, «I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when

CHAPTER 12 _ 1. Youth and old age (Ecclesiastes 12:1)_ 2. The concluding epilogue (Ecclesiastes 12:9) Ecclesiastes 12:1. Childhood and youth are vanity! That is the concluding sentence of the previous chapter. The vanities of life, the doom and darkness of the grave are uppermost in his mind, and the final word he speaks, ere he closeth with his epilogue, is the same with which he began his search, the search which brought out so many things, yet nothing in reality--as in the beginning of the book, so now he cries out, “Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher, all is vanity” (verse 8). He has come back in all his reasoning to the place from which he started. On

EPILOGUE. Ecclesiastes 12:9 is an editor's praise of Qoheleth, who is identified with Solomon, the sage compiler of proverbial wisdom, who wrote words of truth in a pleasing and elegant (acceptable) style; uprightly may also refer to correctness of form. Ecclesiastes 12:11_ a_ reminds us of the stimulus of a good teacher; Socrates called himself the gadfly of Athens, and the words of Pericles were said to have a sting in them. Ecclesiastes 12:11_ b_ may be rendered Like nails driven home are collections of sayings made by one master; the only difficulty is that Shepherd in OT usually refers to God. As to what lies beyond these (_cf. mg._) th

THE WORDS OF THE WISE. See notes on p. 864, and App-7. NAILS. These were built into. wall, because Eastern walls were too hard or too soft for them to be hammered in. fastened. planted. Masculine, while "nails" is feminine: but the Accent unite the two words. The verb _nata'_ is found again only in Ecclesiastes 3:2, where it is singular. BY THE MASTERS. [are] the lords, or rulers. _ba'al._ ONE SHEPHERD. The Inspirer. See Genesis 48:15; Genesis 49:24.Psalms 23:1....