Ecclesiastes 12:4

when the doors to the street are shut and the sound of the mill fades away, when one rises at the sound of a bird and all the daughters of song grow faint,

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The Teacher addresses humanity in a poetic catalog of aging, describing the physical decline that precedes death. He speaks to all readers as he lists the progressive failure of the body's faculties.

The words — `סֻגְּר֤וּ (su.ge.Ru)` translates literally to "they will be shut up," and `הַֽ/טַּחֲנָ֑ה (ha./ta.cha.Nah)` means "the grinding mill." These terms anchor the verse in the concrete imagery of a household falling silent.

The thread — The motif of shut doors and fading domestic sounds appears in Jeremiah 25:10 and Revelation 18:22 as markers of desolation. In 2 Samuel 19:35, a speaker similarly notes the loss of sensory discernment in advanced age.

Why it lands — The text demands recognition that physical decay inevitably halts daily labor and communal noise. It requires the reader to confront the cessation of bodily function without offering comfort beyond the observation itself.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וְסֻגְּר֤וּve./su.ge.Ruand/ they will be shut up דְלָתַ֙יִם֙de.la.Ta.yim[the] doors בַּשּׁ֔וּקba./Shukon the/ street בִּשְׁפַ֖לbi/sh.Falwhen/ becomes low ק֣וֹלKol[the] sound of הַֽטַּחֲנָ֑הha./ta.cha.Nahthe/ grinding mill וְיָקוּם֙ve./ya.Kumfor/ someone may arise לְק֣וֹלle./Kolto/ [the] sound of הַצִּפּ֔וֹרha./tzi.Por<the>/ bird וְיִשַּׁ֖חוּve./yi.Sha.chuand/ they may be reduced כָּל־kol-all בְּנ֥וֹתbe.Not[the] daughters of הַשִּֽׁיר׃ha./Shir<the>/ song

King James Version

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;

Cross-references

Jeremiah 25:10 Moreover, I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of the bride and bridegroom, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the lamp.
2 Samuel 19:35 I am now eighty years old. Can I discern what is good and what is not? Can your servant taste what he eats or drinks? Can I still hear the voice of singing men and women? Why should your servant be an added burden to my lord the king?
Revelation 18:22 And the sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters, will never ring out in you again. Nor will any craftsmen of any trade be found in you again, nor the sound of a millstone be heard in you again.