--- title: "Ecclesiastes 12 - Study King James Bible with clarkes commentary" description: "Read Ecclesiastes 12 with clarkes commentary commentary. 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 the" image: "/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg" url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/ecclesiastes/12" --- [ Read](/kjv/ecclesiastes/12)[ Commentary](/study/ecclesiastes/12)[ Interlinear](/interlinear/ecclesiastes/12) Audio 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. 8 ¶ Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all *is* vanity. 9 And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, *and* set in order many proverbs.* 10 The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and *that which was* written *was* upright, *even* words of truth.* 11 The words of the wise *are* as goads, and as nails fastened *by* the masters of assemblies, *which* are given from one shepherd. 12 And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books *there is* no end; and much study *is* a weariness of the flesh.* 13 ¶ Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this *is* the whole *duty* of man.* 14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether *it be* good, or whether *it be* evil. [Ecclesiastes 11](/study/ecclesiastes/11) [Song of Solomon 1](/study/song-of-solomon/1) ## Commentary To verse 1 Verse [Ecclesiastes 12:1](/kjv/ecclesiastes/12/1). ***Remember thy Creator*** — בוראיך *Boreeycha*, thy CREATORS. The word is most certainly in the *plural* number in all our common Hebrew Bibles; but it is in the *singular* number, בוראך *Borecha*, in *one hundred and seventy-six* of Dr. *Kennicott's* MSS., and *ninety-six* of *De Rossi's*; in many *ancient editions*; and in all the ancient *versions*. There is no dependence on the *plural* form in most of the modern editions; though there are some editions of great worth which exhibit the word in this form, and among them the *Complutensian, Antwerp, Paris*, and *London* polyglots. The evidence, therefore, that this text is supposed to give to the doctrine of the *ever blessed Trinity*, is but precarious, and on it little stress can be laid; and no man who loves truth would wish to support it by dubious witnesses. Injudicious men, by laying stress on texts dubious in themselves, and which may be interpreted a different way, greatly injure the true faith. Though such in their hearts may be friends to the orthodox faith, they are in fact its *worst friends*, and their assistance is such as helps their *adversaries*. But what does the text say? It addresses the *youth* of both sexes throughout the creation; and says in effect: - I. You are not your own, you have no right to yourselves. God made you; he is your *Creator*: he made you that you might be happy; but you can be happy only *in him*. And as he *created* you, so he *preserves* you; he *feeds, clothes, upholds* you. He has *made* you capable of *knowing, loving*, and *serving* him in this world, and of *enjoying* him in his own glory for ever. And when you had *undone* *yourselves* by *sin*, he sent his Son to *redeem* you by his blood; and he sends his *Spirit* to *enlighten, convince*, and *draw you* away from childishness, from vain and trifling, as well as from sinful, pursuits. II. *Remember* him; consider that he is your *Creator*, your *loving* and affectionate *Father*. In youth *memory* is strong and tenacious; but, through the *perversion of the heart* by *sin*, young people can *remember any thing* better than GOD. If you get a kindness from a friend, you can *remember* that, and *feel gratitude* for it; and the *person* is therefore *endeared* to you. Have any ever given you such *benefits* as your *Creator*? Your *body* and *soul* came from him; he gave you your *eyes, ears, tongue, hands, feet*, c. What blessings are these! how *excellent*! how *useful*! how *necessary* and will you *forget* HIM? III. *Remember him in thy* YOUTH, in order that you may have a *long* and *blessed life*, that you may be saved from the corruption and misery into which young people in general run and the evils they entail upon themselves by giving way to the sinful propensities of their own hearts. As in youth all the powers are more active and vigorous, so they are capable of superior enjoyments. *Faith, hope*, and *love*, will be in their best *tenor*, their greatest *vigour*, and in their *least encumbered state*. And it will be *easier* for you to *believe, hope, pray, love, obey*, and *bear your cross*, than it can be in old age and decrepitude. IV. *Remember him* NOW, in *this part* of your *youth*-you have no certainty of life; *now* is yours, to-morrow may not be. You *are* young; but you may *never* be old. *Now* he waits to be gracious; *tomorrow* may be too late. God *now* calls; his *Spirit* now strives; his *ministers* now exhort. You have now *health*; sin has not now *so* *much dominion over you* as it will have, increasing by every future moment, if you do not give up your hearts to your Maker. V. There is another consideration which should weigh with you: should you live to *old age*, it is a very disadvantageous time to begin to serve the Lord in. *Infirmities* press down both body and mind, and the oppressed nature has enough to do to bear its own infirmities; and as there is *little time*, so there is generally *less inclination*, to call upon the Lord. *Evil habits* are strengthened by long continuance; and every desire and appetite in the soul is a strong hold for Satan. There is little time for repentance, little for faith, *none* for obedience. The *evil days* are *come*, and the *years* in which you will feelingly be obliged to say, Alas! "we have no pleasure in them;" and, what is worse, the heart is hardened through the *deceitfulness of sin*. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com","name":"Real Bible Believers","description":"RBB","publisher":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/search?q={search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/ecclesiastes/12#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","width":672,"height":448,"caption":"Real Bible Believers"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/ecclesiastes/12#webpage","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/ecclesiastes/12","name":"Ecclesiastes 12 - Study King James Bible with clarkes commentary","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/ecclesiastes/12#primaryimage"},"author":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"description":"Read Ecclesiastes 12 with clarkes commentary commentary. 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 the","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/ecclesiastes/12#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/ecclesiastes/12"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/ecclesiastes/12#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","name":"Study Bible"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary","name":"clarkes commentary"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/ecclesiastes","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/ecclesiastes","name":"Ecclesiastes"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/ecclesiastes/12","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/ecclesiastes/12","name":"12"}}]},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","width":512,"height":512},"logo":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo"},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/RBiblebeliever","https://www.facebook.com/RBibleBelievers"]}]} ```