King James Version

Ecclesiastes 12:5

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:

Study

Hebrew

Tap a word to see its meaning. Words run left to right in English reading order.

גַּ֣םgamalsoגַּםparticle, affirmation — “also”H1571properly, assemblage; used only adverbially also, even, yea, though; often repeated as correl. both...andagain, alike, also, (so much) as (soon), both (so)...and, but, either...or, even, for all, (in) likewise (manner), moreover, nay...neither, one, then(-refore), though, what, with, yea.מִגָּבֹ֤הַּmigavohafrom haughtyגָּבֹהַּpreposition, adjective, adjective, masculine, singular, absolute — “from haughty”, the ordinary formH1364elevated (or elated), powerful, arroganthaughty, height, high(-er), lofty, proud, [idiom] exceeding proudly.יִרָ֨אוּ֙yiravfearיָרֵאverb, qal, imperfect, 3rd person, masculine, plural — “fear”, an unfinished actionH3372to fear; morally, to revere; caus. to frightenaffright, be (make) afraid, dread(-ful), (put in) fear(-ful, -fully, -ing), (be had in) reverence(-end), [idiom] see, terrible (act, -ness, thing).וְחַתְחַתִּ֣יםvechatchatimand fearחַתְחַתconjunction, noun, common, masculine, plural, absolute — “and fear”, the ordinary formH2849terrorfear.בַּדֶּ֔רֶךְbaderekhin alongדֶּרֶךְpreposition, with the article, noun, common, both genders, singular, absolute — “in along”, the ordinary formH1870a road (as trodden); figuratively, a course of life or mode of action, often adverbalong, away, because of, [phrase] by, conversation, custom, (east-) ward, journey, manner, passenger, through, toward, (high-) (path-) way(-side), whither(-soever).וְיָנֵ֤אץveyanetsand abhorנָאַץconjunction, verb, hiphil, imperfect, 3rd person, masculine, singular — “and abhor”, an unfinished actionH5006to scorn;abhor, (give occasion to) blaspheme, contemn, despise, flourish, [idiom] great, provoke.הַשָּׁקֵד֙hashaqedthe almondשָׁקֵדdefinite article, noun, common, masculine, singular, absolute — “the almond”, the ordinary formH8247the almond (tree or nut; as being the earliest in bloom)almond (tree).וְיִסְתַּבֵּ֣לveyistabeland be a burdenסָבַלconjunction, verb, hithpael, imperfect, 3rd person, masculine, singular — “and be a burden”, an unfinished actionH5445to carry (literally or figuratively), or (reflexively) be burdensome; specifically, to be gravidbear, be a burden, carry, strong to labour.הֶֽחָגָ֔בhechagavthe locustחָגָבdefinite article, noun, common, masculine, singular, absolute — “the locust”, the ordinary formH2284a locustlocust.וְתָפֵ֖רvetaferand breakפָּרַרconjunction, verb, hiphil, imperfect, 3rd person, feminine, singular — “and break”, an unfinished actionH6565to break up (usually figuratively), i.e. to violate, frustrate[idiom] any ways, break (asunder), cast off, cause to cease, [idiom] clean, defeat, disannul, disappoint, dissolve, divide, make of none effect, fail, frustrate, bring (come) to nought, [idiom] utterly, make void.הָֽאֲבִיּוֹנָ֑הhaavionahthe desireאֲבִיּוֹנָהdefinite article, noun, common, feminine, singular, absolute — “the desire”, the ordinary formH35provocative of desire; the caper berry (from its stimulative taste)desire.כִּֽיkiassuredכִּיconjunction — “assured”H3588(by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below); often largely modified by other particles annexedand, + (forasmuch, inasmuch, where-) as, assured(-ly), + but, certainly, doubtless, + else, even, + except, for, how, (because, in, so, than) that, + nevertheless, now, rightly, seeing, since, surely, then, therefore, + (al-) though, + til…הֹלֵ֤ךְholekhewalkהָלַךְverb, qal, participle, absolute — “walk”, a verb used as a describing wordH1980to walk (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively)(all) along, apace, behave (self), come, (on) continually, be conversant, depart, [phrase] be eased, enter, exercise (self), [phrase] follow, forth, forward, get, go (about, abroad, along, away, forward, on, out, up and down), [phrase] gre…הָאָדָם֙haadamthe personאָדָםdefinite article, noun, common, masculine, singular, absolute — “the person”, the ordinary formH120ruddy i.e. a human being (an individual or the species, mankind, etc.)[idiom] another, [phrase] hypocrite, [phrase] common sort, [idiom] low, man (mean, of low degree), person.אֶלelamongאֵלpreposition — “among”H413near, with or among; often in general, toabout, according to, after, against, among, as for, at, because(-fore, -side), both...and, by, concerning, for, from, [idiom] hath, in(-to), near, (out) of, over, through, to(-ward), under, unto, upon, whether, with(-in).בֵּ֣יתbeytfamilyבַּיִתnoun, common, masculine, singular, construct — “family”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH1004a house (in the greatest variation of applications, especially family, etc.)court, daughter, door, [phrase] dungeon, family, [phrase] forth of, [idiom] great as would contain, hangings, home(born), (winter) house(-hold), inside(-ward), palace, place, [phrase] prison, [phrase] steward, [phrase] tablet, temple, web,…עוֹלָמ֔וֹolamvoalwayעוֹלָםnoun, common, masculine, singular, construct, suffix, pronominal, 3rd person, masculine, singular — “alway”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH5769properly, concealed, i.e. the vanishing point; generally, time out of mind (past or future), i.e. (practically) eternity; frequentatively, adverbial (especially with prepositional prefix) alwaysalway(-s), ancient (time), any more, continuance, eternal, (for, (n-)) ever(-lasting, -more, of old), lasting, long (time), (of) old (time), perpetual, at any time, (beginning of the) world ([phrase] without end). Compare H5331 (נֶצַח), H5…וְסָבְב֥וּvesavevvand bringסָבַבconjunction, verb, qal, sequential perfect, 3rd person, common, plural — “and bring”, a completed action in a sequenceH5437to revolve, surround, or border; used in various applications, literally and figurativelybring, cast, fetch, lead, make, walk, [idiom] whirl, [idiom] round about, be about on every side, apply, avoid, beset (about), besiege, bring again, carry (about), change, cause to come about, [idiom] circuit, (fetch a) compass (about, rou…בָשּׁ֖וּקvashuqin streetשׁוּקpreposition, with the article, noun, common, masculine, singular, absolute — “in street”, the ordinary formH7784a street (as run over)street.הַסֹּפְדִֽיםhasofedimthe lamentסָפַדdefinite article, verb, qal, participle, absolute — “the lament”, a verb used as a describing wordH5594properly, to tear the hair and beat the breasts (as Orientals do in grief); generally to lament; by implication, to waillament, mourn(-er), wail.

Jewish translation (JPS 1917)

Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and terrors shall be in the way; and the almond-tree shall blossom, and the grasshopper shall drag itself along, and the caperberry shall fail; because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets;

Compare Public-Domain Translations

The King James Version remains the text of this page and the canonical URL.

American Standard Version (1901)

yea, they shall be afraid of that which is high, and terrors shall be in the way; and the almond-tree shall blossom, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail; because man goeth to his everlasting home, and the mourners go about the streets:

Young’s Literal Translation

Also of that which is high they are afraid, And of the low places in the way, And the almond-tree is despised, And the grasshopper is become a burden, And want is increased, For man is going unto his home age-during, And the mourners have gone round through the street.

World English Bible

yes, they shall be afraid of heights, and terrors will be on the way; and the almond tree shall blossom, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail; because man goes to his everlasting home, and the mourners go about the streets;

Darby Translation

they are also afraid of what is high, and terrors are in the way, and the almond is despised, and the grasshopper is a burden, and the caper-berry is without effect; (for man goeth to his age-long home, and the mourners go about the streets;)

Douay-Rheims

And they shall fear high things, and they shall be afraid in the way, the almond tree shall flourish, the locust shall be made fat, and the caper tree shall be destroyed: because man shall go into the house of his eternity, and the mourners shall go round about in the street.

Jewish Publication Society (1917)

Brenton’s Septuagint (1851), English

and they shall look up, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall blossom, and the locust shall increase, and the caper shall be scattered: because man has gone to his eternal home, and the mourners have gone about the market:

Septuagint (Brenton’s Greek, 1851)

Καὶ εἰς τὸ ὕψος ὄψονται, καὶ θάμβοι ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ, καὶ ἀνθήσῃ τὸ ἀμύγδαλον, καὶ παχυνθῇ ἡ ἀκρὶς, καὶ διασκεδασθῇ ἡ κάππαρις, ὅτι ἐπορεύθη ὁ ἄνθρωπος εἰς οἶκον αἰῶνος αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐκύκλωσαν ἐν ἀγορᾷ οἱ κοπτόμενοι.