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Selected Verse: Ecclesiates 12:2 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
Ec 12:2	Strong Concordance	While the sun [08121], or the light [0216], or the moon [03394], or the stars [03556], be not darkened [02821], nor the clouds [05645] return [07725] after [0310] the rain [01653]:
	King James	While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain:

Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
Illustrating "the evil days" (Jer 13:16). "Light," "sun," &c., express prosperity; "darkness," pain and calamity (Isa 13:10; Isa 30:26). clouds . . . after . . . rain--After rain sunshine (comfort) might be looked for, but only a brief glimpse of it is given, and the gloomy clouds (pains) return.

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

Illustrating "the evil days" (Jer 13:16). "Light," "sun," &c., express prosperity; "darkness," pain and calamity (Isa 13:10; Isa 30:26).

clouds . . . after . . . rain--After rain sunshine (comfort) might be looked for, but only a brief glimpse of it is given, and the gloomy clouds (pains) return.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
While ... not - Or, Before. The darkening of the lights of heaven denotes a time of affliction and sadness. Compare Eze 32:7-8; Job 3:9; Isa 5:30. Contrast this representation of old age with Sa2 23:4-5.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
"Ere the sun becomes dark, and the light, and the moon, and the stars, and the clouds return after the rain." Umbreit, Elster, and Ginsburg find here the thought: ere death overtakes thee; the figure under which the approach of death is described being that of a gathering storm. But apart from other objections (vid., Gurlitt, "zur Erlk. d. B. Koheleth," in Sutd. u. Krit. 1865), this idea is opposed by the consideration that the author seeks to describe how man, having become old, goes forth (חלך, Ecc 12:5) to death, and that not till Ecc 12:7 does he reach it. Also Taylor's view, that what precedes Ecc 12:5 is as a dirge expressing the feelings experienced on the day of a person's death, is untenable; it is discredited already by this, that it confuses together the days of evil, Ecc 12:1, and the many days of darkness, i.e., the long night of Hades, Ecc 11:8; and besides, it leaves unanswered the question, what is the meaning of the clouds returning after the rain. Hahn replies: The rain is death, and the return is the entrance again into the nothingness which went before the entrance into this life. Knobel, as already Luther and also Winzer (who had made the exposition of the Book of Koheleth one of the labours of his life), sees in the darkening of the sun, etc., a figure of the decay of hitherto joyful prosperity; and in the clouds after the rain a figure of the cloudy days of sorrow which always anew visit those who are worn out by old age. Hitz., Ewald, Vaih., Zckl., and Tyler, proceeding from thence, find the unity of the separate features of the figure in the comparison of advanced old age, as the winter of life to the rainy winter of the (Palestinian) year. That is right. But since in the sequel obviously the marasmus senilis of the separate parts of the body is set forth in allegorical enigmatic figures, it is asked whether this allegorical figurative discourse does not probably commence in Ecc 12:2. Certainly the sun, moon, and stars occur also in such pictures of the night of judgment, obscuring all the lights of the heavens, as at Isa 13:10; but that here, where the author thus ranks together in immediate sequence והךּ ... השּׁ, and as he joins the stars with the moon, so the light with the sun, he has not connected the idea of certain corresponding things in the nature and life of man with these four emblems of light, is yet very improbable. Even though it might be impossible to find out that which is represented, yet this would be no decisive argument against the significance of the figures; the canzones in Dante's Convito, which he there himself interprets, are an example that the allegorical meaning which a poet attaches to his poetry may be present even where it cannot be easily understood or can only be conjectured. The attempts at interpreting these figures have certainly been wholly or for the most part unfortunate. We satisfy ourselves by registering only the oldest: their glosses are in matter tasteless, but they are at least of linguistic interest. A Barajtha, Shabbath 151-152a, seeking to interpret this closing picture of the Book of Koheleth, says of the sun and the light: "this is the brow and the nose;" of the moon: "this is the soul;" of the stars: "this the cheeks." Similarly, but varying a little, the Midrash to Lev. c. 18 and to Koheleth: the sun = the brightness of the countenance; light = the brow; the moon = the nose; the stars = the upper part of the cheeks (which in an old man fall in). Otherwise, but following the Midrash more than the Talmud, the Targum: the sun = the stately brightness of thy countenance; light = the light of thine eyes; the moon = the ornament of thy cheeks; the stars = the apple of thine eye. All the three understand the rain of wine (Talm. בכי), and the clouds of the veil of the eyes (Targ.: "thy eye-lashes"), but without doing justice to אחר שׁוב; only one repulsive interpretation in the Midrash takes these words into account. In all these interpretations there is only one grain of truth, this, viz., that the moon in the Talm. is interpreted of the נשׁמה, anima, for which the more correct word would have been נפשׁ; but it has been shown, Psychol. p. 154, that the Jewish, like the Arab. psychology, reverses terminologically the relation between רוח (נשׁמה), spirit, and נפשׁ, soul. The older Christian interpretations are also on the right track. Glassius (as also v. Meyer and Smith in "The portraiture of old age") sees in the sun, light, etc., emblems of the interna microcosmi lumina mentis; and yet better, Chr. Friedr. Bauer (1732) sees in Ecc 12:2 a representation of the thought: "ere understanding and sense fail thee." We have elsewhere shown that חיים רוח (נשׁמת) and חיּה נפשׁ (from which nowhere חיים נפשׁ) are related to each other as the principium principians and principium principatum of life (Psychol. p. 79), and as the root distinctions of the male and female, of the predominantly active and the receptive (Psychol. p. 103). Thus the figurative language of Ecc 12:3 is interpreted in the following manner. The sun is the male spirit רוח (which, like שׁמשׁ, is used in both genders) or נשׁמה, after Pro 20:27, a light of Jahve which penetrates with its light of self-examination and self-knowledge the innermost being of man, called by the Lord, Mat 6:23 (cf. Co1 2:11), "the light that is in thee." The light, viz., the clear light of day proceeding from the sun, is the activity of the spirit in its unweakened intensity: sharp apprehension, clear thought, faithful and serviceable memory. The moon is the soul; for, according to the Heb. idea, the moon, whether it is called ירח or לבנה is also in relation to the sun a figure of the female (cf. Gen 37:9., where the sun in Joseph's dream = Jacob-Israel, the moon = Rachel); and that the soul, viz., the animal soul, by means of which the spirit becomes the principle of the life of the body (Gen 2:7), is related to the spirit as female σκεῦος ἀστηενέστερον, is evident from passages such as Psa 42:6, where the spirit supports the soul (animus animam) with its consolation. And the stars? We are permitted to suppose in the author of the book of Koheleth a knowledge, as Schrader (Note: Vid., "Sterne" in Schenkel's Bibl Lex. and Stud. u. Krit. 1874.) has shown, of the old Babyl.-Assyr. seven astral gods, which consisted of the sun, moon, and the five planets; and thus it will not be too much to understand the stars, as representing the five planets, of the five senses (Mish. הרגּשׁות, (Note: Thus the five senses are called, e.g., Bamidbar rabba, c. 14.) later הוּשׁים, cf. the verb, Ecc 2:25) which mediate the receptive relation of the soul to the outer world (Psychol. p. 233). But we cannot see our way further to explain Ecc 12:2 patholo.-anatom., as Geier is disposed to do: Nonnulli haec accommodant ad crassos illos ac pituosos senum vapores ex debili ventriculo in cerebrum adscendentes continuo, ubi itidem imbres (נשׁם) h.e. destillationes creberrimae per oculos lippientes, per nares guttatim fluentes, per os subinde excreans cet., quae sane defluxiones, tussis ac catharri in juvenibus non ita sunt frequentia, quippe ubi calor multo adhuc fortior, consumens dissipansque humores. It is enough to understand עבים of cases of sickness and attacks of weakness which disturb the power of thought, obscure the consciousness, darken the mind, and which ahhar haggěshěm, after they have once overtaken him and then have ceased, quickly again return without permitting him long to experience health. A cloudy day is = a day of misfortune, Joe 2:2; Zep 1:15; an overflowing rain is a scourge of God, Eze 13:13; Eze 38:22; and one visited by misfortune after misfortune complains, Psa 42:7 : "Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me."

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

"Ere the sun becomes dark, and the light, and the moon, and the stars, and the clouds return after the rain." Umbreit, Elster, and Ginsburg find here the thought: ere death overtakes thee; the figure under which the approach of death is described being that of a gathering storm. But apart from other objections (vid., Gurlitt, "zur Erlk. d. B. Koheleth," in Sutd. u. Krit. 1865), this idea is opposed by the consideration that the author seeks to describe how man, having become old, goes forth (חלך, Ecc 12:5) to death, and that not till Ecc 12:7 does he reach it. Also Taylor's view, that what precedes Ecc 12:5 is as a dirge expressing the feelings experienced on the day of a person's death, is untenable; it is discredited already by this, that it confuses together the days of evil, Ecc 12:1, and the many days of darkness, i.e., the long night of Hades, Ecc 11:8; and besides, it leaves unanswered the question, what is the meaning of the clouds returning after the rain. Hahn replies: The rain is death, and the return is the entrance again into the nothingness which went before the entrance into this life. Knobel, as already Luther and also Winzer (who had made the exposition of the Book of Koheleth one of the labours of his life), sees in the darkening of the sun, etc., a figure of the decay of hitherto joyful prosperity; and in the clouds after the rain a figure of the cloudy days of sorrow which always anew visit those who are worn out by old age. Hitz., Ewald, Vaih., Zckl., and Tyler, proceeding from thence, find the unity of the separate features of the figure in the comparison of advanced old age, as the winter of life to the rainy winter of the (Palestinian) year. That is right. But since in the sequel obviously the marasmus senilis of the separate parts of the body is set forth in allegorical enigmatic figures, it is asked whether this allegorical figurative discourse does not probably commence in Ecc 12:2. Certainly the sun, moon, and stars occur also in such pictures of the night of judgment, obscuring all the lights of the heavens, as at Isa 13:10; but that here, where the author thus ranks together in immediate sequence והךּ ... השּׁ, and as he joins the stars with the moon, so the light with the sun, he has not connected the idea of certain corresponding things in the nature and life of man with these four emblems of light, is yet very improbable. Even though it might be impossible to find out that which is represented, yet this would be no decisive argument against the significance of the figures; the canzones in Dante's Convito, which he there himself interprets, are an example that the allegorical meaning which a poet attaches to his poetry may be present even where it cannot be easily understood or can only be conjectured.

The attempts at interpreting these figures have certainly been wholly or for the most part unfortunate. We satisfy ourselves by registering only the oldest: their glosses are in matter tasteless, but they are at least of linguistic interest. A Barajtha, Shabbath 151-152a, seeking to interpret this closing picture of the Book of Koheleth, says of the sun and the light: "this is the brow and the nose;" of the moon: "this is the soul;" of the stars: "this the cheeks." Similarly, but varying a little, the Midrash to Lev. c. 18 and to Koheleth: the sun = the brightness of the countenance; light = the brow; the moon = the nose; the stars = the upper part of the cheeks (which in an old man fall in). Otherwise, but following the Midrash more than the Talmud, the Targum: the sun = the stately brightness of thy countenance; light = the light of thine eyes; the moon = the ornament of thy cheeks; the stars = the apple of thine eye. All the three understand the rain of wine (Talm. בכי), and the clouds of the veil of the eyes (Targ.: "thy eye-lashes"), but without doing justice to אחר שׁוב; only one repulsive interpretation in the Midrash takes these words into account. In all these interpretations there is only one grain of truth, this, viz., that the moon in the Talm. is interpreted of the נשׁמה, anima, for which the more correct word would have been נפשׁ; but it has been shown, Psychol. p. 154, that the Jewish, like the Arab. psychology, reverses terminologically the relation between רוח (נשׁמה), spirit, and נפשׁ, soul.

The older Christian interpretations are also on the right track. Glassius (as also v. Meyer and Smith in "The portraiture of old age") sees in the sun, light, etc., emblems of the interna microcosmi lumina mentis; and yet better, Chr. Friedr. Bauer (1732) sees in Ecc 12:2 a representation of the thought: "ere understanding and sense fail thee." We have elsewhere shown that חיים רוח (נשׁמת) and חיּה נפשׁ (from which nowhere חיים נפשׁ) are related to each other as the principium principians and principium principatum of life (Psychol. p. 79), and as the root distinctions of the male and female, of the predominantly active and the receptive (Psychol. p. 103). Thus the figurative language of Ecc 12:3 is interpreted in the following manner. The sun is the male spirit רוח (which, like שׁמשׁ, is used in both genders) or נשׁמה, after Pro 20:27, a light of Jahve which penetrates with its light of self-examination and self-knowledge the innermost being of man, called by the Lord, Mat 6:23 (cf. Co1 2:11), "the light that is in thee." The light, viz., the clear light of day proceeding from the sun, is the activity of the spirit in its unweakened intensity: sharp apprehension, clear thought, faithful and serviceable memory. The moon is the soul; for, according to the Heb. idea, the moon, whether it is called ירח or לבנה is also in relation to the sun a figure of the female (cf. Gen 37:9., where the sun in Joseph's dream = Jacob-Israel, the moon = Rachel); and that the soul, viz., the animal soul, by means of which the spirit becomes the principle of the life of the body (Gen 2:7), is related to the spirit as female σκεῦος ἀστηενέστερον, is evident from passages such as Psa 42:6, where the spirit supports the soul (animus animam) with its consolation. And the stars? We are permitted to suppose in the author of the book of Koheleth a knowledge, as Schrader

(Note: Vid., "Sterne" in Schenkel's Bibl Lex. and Stud. u. Krit. 1874.)

has shown, of the old Babyl.-Assyr. seven astral gods, which consisted of the sun, moon, and the five planets; and thus it will not be too much to understand the stars, as representing the five planets, of the five senses (Mish. הרגּשׁות,

(Note: Thus the five senses are called, e.g., Bamidbar rabba, c. 14.)

later הוּשׁים, cf. the verb, Ecc 2:25) which mediate the receptive relation of the soul to the outer world (Psychol. p. 233). But we cannot see our way further to explain Ecc 12:2 patholo.-anatom., as Geier is disposed to do: Nonnulli haec accommodant ad crassos illos ac pituosos senum vapores ex debili ventriculo in cerebrum adscendentes continuo, ubi itidem imbres (נשׁם) h.e. destillationes creberrimae per oculos lippientes, per nares guttatim fluentes, per os subinde excreans cet., quae sane defluxiones, tussis ac catharri in juvenibus non ita sunt frequentia, quippe ubi calor multo adhuc fortior, consumens dissipansque humores. It is enough to understand עבים of cases of sickness and attacks of weakness which disturb the power of thought, obscure the consciousness, darken the mind, and which ahhar haggěshěm, after they have once overtaken him and then have ceased, quickly again return without permitting him long to experience health. A cloudy day is = a day of misfortune, Joe 2:2; Zep 1:15; an overflowing rain is a scourge of God, Eze 13:13; Eze 38:22; and one visited by misfortune after misfortune complains, Psa 42:7 : "Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me."

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
Which - Heb. While the sun, and the light, and the moon, &c. That clause, and the light, seems to be added to signify that he speaks of the darkening of the sun, and moon, and stars; not in themselves, but only in respect of that light which they afford to men. And therefore the same clause which is expressed after the sun, is to be understood after the moon and stars. And those expressions may be understood of the outward parts of the body, and especially of the face, the beauty of the countenance, the pleasant complexion of the cheeks, the liveliness of the eyes, which are compared to the sun, and moon, and stars, and which are obscured in old age, as the Chaldee paraphrast understands it. Or of external things, of the change of their joy, which they had in their youth, into sorrow, and manifold calamities, which are usually the companions of old age. This interpretation agrees both with the foregoing verse, in which he describes the miseries of old age, and with the following clause, which is added to explain those otherwise ambiguous expressions; and with the scripture use of this phrase; for a state of comfort and happiness is often described by the light of the sun, and a state of trouble is set forth, by the darkening of the light of the sun. Nor the clouds - This phrase denotes a perpetual succession of rain, and clouds bringing rain, and then rain and clouds again. Whereby he expresses either the rheums or destructions which incessantly flow in old men; or the continual vicissitude of infirmities, diseases, and griefs; one deep calling upon another.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened - i.e., in the Spring, prime, and prosperity of life. Nor the clouds return - The infirmities of old age of which Winter is a proper emblem, as spring is of youth, in the former clause of this verse.

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²⁶ Moreover the light [0216] of the moon [03842] shall be as the light [0216] of the sun [02535], and the light [0216] of the sun [02535] shall be sevenfold [07659], as the light [0216] of seven [07651] days [03117], in the day [03117] that the LORD [03068] bindeth up [02280] the breach [07667] of his people [05971], and healeth [07495] the stroke [04273] of their wound [04347].

¹⁰ For the stars [03556] of heaven [08064] and the constellations [03685] thereof shall not give [01984] their light [0216]: the sun [08121] shall be darkened [02821] in his going forth [03318], and the moon [03394] shall not cause her light [0216] to shine [05050].

¹⁶ Give [05414] glory [03519] to the LORD [03068] your God [0430], before he cause darkness [02821], and before your feet [07272] stumble [05062] upon the dark [05399] mountains [02022], and, while ye look [06960] for light [0216], he turn [07760] it into the shadow of death [06757], and make [07896] [07896] it gross darkness [06205].

⁴ And he shall be as the light [0216] of the morning [01242], when the sun [08121] riseth [02224], even a morning [01242] without [03808] clouds [05645]; as the tender grass [01877] springing out of the earth [0776] by clear shining [05051] after rain [04306].
⁵ Although my house [01004] be not so with God [0410]; yet he hath made [07760] with me an everlasting [05769] covenant [01285], ordered [06186] in all things, and sure [08104]: for this is all my salvation [03468], and all my desire [02656], although he make it not to grow [06779].

³⁰ And in that day [03117] they shall roar [05098] against them like the roaring [05100] of the sea [03220]: and if one look [05027] unto the land [0776], behold darkness [02822] and sorrow [06862], and the light [0216] is darkened [02821] in the heavens [06183] thereof.

⁹ Let the stars [03556] of the twilight [05399] thereof be dark [02821]; let it look [06960] for light [0216], but have none; neither let it see [07200] the dawning [06079] of the day [07837]:

⁷ And when I shall put thee out [03518], I will cover [03680] the heaven [08064], and make [06937] the stars [03556] thereof dark [06937]; I will cover [03680] the sun [08121] with a cloud [06051], and the moon [03394] shall not give [0215] her light [0216].
⁸ All the bright [03974] lights [0216] of heaven [08064] will I make dark [06937] over thee, and set [05414] darkness [02822] upon thy land [0776], saith [05002] the Lord [0136] GOD [03069].

⁷ Deep [08415] calleth [07121] unto deep [08415] at the noise [06963] of thy waterspouts [06794]: all thy waves [04867] and thy billows [01530] are gone [05674] over me.

²² And I will plead [08199] against him with pestilence [01698] and with blood [01818]; and I will rain [04305] upon him, and upon his bands [0102], and upon the many [07227] people [05971] that are with him, an overflowing [07857] rain [01653], and great hailstones [0417] [068], fire [0784], and brimstone [01614].

¹³ Therefore thus saith [0559] the Lord [0136] GOD [03069]; I will even rend [01234] it with a stormy [05591] wind [07307] in my fury [02534]; and there shall be an overflowing [07857] shower [01653] in mine anger [0639], and great hailstones [0417] [068] in my fury [02534] to consume [03617] it.

¹⁵ That day [03117] is a day [03117] of wrath [05678], a day [03117] of trouble [06869] and distress [04691], a day [03117] of wasteness [07722] and desolation [04875], a day [03117] of darkness [02822] and gloominess [0653], a day [03117] of clouds [06051] and thick darkness [06205],

² A day [03117] of darkness [02822] and of gloominess [0653], a day [03117] of clouds [06051] and of thick darkness [06205], as the morning [07837] spread [06566] upon the mountains [02022]: a great [07227] people [05971] and a strong [06099]; there hath not been [01961] ever [05769] the like, neither shall be any more [03254] after [0310] it, even to the years [08141] of many [01755] generations [01755].

² While the sun [08121], or the light [0216], or the moon [03394], or the stars [03556], be not darkened [02821], nor the clouds [05645] return [07725] after [0310] the rain [01653]:

²⁵ For who can eat [0398], or who else can hasten [02363] hereunto, more [02351] than I?

⁶ O my God [0430], my soul [05315] is cast down [07817] within me: therefore will I remember [02142] thee from the land [0776] of Jordan [03383], and of the Hermonites [02769], from the hill [02022] Mizar [04706].

⁷ And the LORD [03068] God [0430] formed [03335] man [0120] of the dust [06083] of [04480] the ground [0127], and breathed [05301] into his nostrils [0639] the breath [05397] of life [02416]; and man [0120] became a living [02416] soul [05315].

⁹ And he dreamed [02492] yet another [0312] dream [02472], and told [05608] it his brethren [0251], and said [0559], Behold, I have dreamed [02492] a dream [02472] more; and, behold, the sun [08121] and the moon [03394] and the eleven [06240] [0259] stars [03556] made obeisance [07812] to me.

¹¹ For [1063] what [5101] man [444] knoweth [1492] the things [3588] of a man [444], save [1508] the spirit [4151] of man [444] which [3588] is in [1722] him [846]? even [2532] so [3779] the things [3588] of God [2316] knoweth [1492] no man [3762], but [1508] the Spirit [4151] of God [2316].

²³ But [1161] if [1437] thine [4675] eye [3788] be [5600] evil [4190], thy [4675] whole [3650] body [4983] shall be [2071] full of darkness [4652]. If [1487] therefore [3767] the light [5457] that is [2076] in [1722] thee [4671] be darkness [4655], how great [4214] is that darkness [4655]!

²⁷ The spirit [05397] of man [0120] is the candle [05216] of the LORD [03068], searching [02664] all the inward parts [02315] of the belly [0990].

³ In the day [03117] when the keepers [08104] of the house [01004] shall tremble [02111], and the strong [02428] men [0582] shall bow [05791] themselves, and the grinders [02912] cease [0988] because they are few [04591], and those that look out [07200] of the windows [0699] be darkened [02821],

² While the sun [08121], or the light [0216], or the moon [03394], or the stars [03556], be not darkened [02821], nor the clouds [05645] return [07725] after [0310] the rain [01653]:

⁸ But if a man [0120] live [02421] many [07235] years [08141], and rejoice [08055] in them all; yet let him remember [02142] the days [03117] of darkness [02822]; for they shall be many [07235]. All that cometh [0935] is vanity [01892].

¹ Remember [02142] now thy Creator [01254] in the days [03117] of thy youth [0979], while the evil [07451] days [03117] come [0935] not, nor the years [08141] draw nigh [05060], when thou shalt say [0559], I have no pleasure [02656] in them;

⁵ Also when they shall be afraid [03372] of that which is high [01364], and fears [02849] shall be in the way [01870], and the almond tree [08247] shall flourish [05006], and the grasshopper [02284] shall be a burden [05445], and desire [035] shall fail [06565]: because man [0120] goeth [01980] to his long [05769] home [01004], and the mourners [05594] go about [05437] the streets [07784]:

⁷ Then shall the dust [06083] return [07725] to the earth [0776] as it was: and the spirit [07307] shall return [07725] unto God [0430] who gave [05414] it.