5
Remember your Creator before you become afraid of places that are too high. You will also be terrified because of danger in the streets. Remember your Creator before the almond trees have buds on them. That's when grasshoppers will drag themselves along. Old men will not want to make love anymore. Man will go to his dark home in the grave. And those who sob over the dead will walk around in the streets.
Reference
Greek: κτίστης (ktístēs)
a founder, i.e. God (as author of all things)
Greek: πρῶτον (prōton)
firstly (in time, place, order, or importance)
Hebrew: ṭᵉrôwm
not yet
Greek: πρέπω (prépō)
to tower up (be conspicuous), i.e. (by implication) to be suitable or proper (third person singular present indicative, often used impersonally, it is fit or right)
Hebrew: chârêd
fearful; also reverential
Hebrew: zôw
this or that
Greek: ἐστί (estí)
he (she or it) is; also (with neuter plural) they are
Hebrew: gâbâhh
lofty (literally or figuratively)
Greek: θέλησις (thélēsis)
determination (properly, the act), i.e. option
Hebrew: tsᵉbâʼ
to please
Greek: δή (dḗ)
a particle of emphasis or explicitness; now, then, etc.
Hebrew: ʼôw
desire (and so probably in Proverbs 31:4); hence (by way of alternative) or, also if
Greek: ἤμην (ḗmēn)
I was
Hebrew: hâvâʼ
to be (in the sense of existence)
Hebrew: gâlâl
a circumstance (as rolled around); only used adverbially, on account of
Greek: ὁ (ho)
the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)
Hebrew: ʼillêyn
these
Greek: κτίστης (ktístēs)
a founder, i.e. God (as author of all things)
Greek: πρῶτον (prōton)
firstly (in time, place, order, or importance)
Hebrew: ṭᵉrôwm
not yet
Greek: ὁ (ho)
the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)
Hebrew: ʼillêyn
these
Hebrew: ʻêtsâh
timber
Greek: κατέχω (katéchō)
to hold down (fast), in various applications (literally or figuratively)
Hebrew: ʼÔwn
On, an Israelite
Hebrew: zôw
this or that
Greek: ἐπάν (epán)
a particle of indefinite contemporaneousness; whenever, as soon as
Greek: θέλησις (thélēsis)
determination (properly, the act), i.e. option
Hebrew: tsᵉbâʼ
to please
Greek: σύρω (sýrō)
to trail
Hebrew: mikmereth
a (fisher's) net
Hebrew: derek
a road (as trodden); figuratively, a course of life or mode of action, often adverb
Greek: γέρων (gérōn)
aged
Hebrew: bâleh
worn out
Greek: θέλησις (thélēsis)
determination (properly, the act), i.e. option
Hebrew: tsᵉbâʼ
to please
Greek: οὐδαμῶς (oudamōs)
by no means
Hebrew: ʼîyn
is it not?
Greek: ὑστέρησις (hystérēsis)
a falling short, i.e. (specially), penury
Hebrew: pâlaç
properly, to roll flat, i.e. prepare (a road); also to revolve, i.e. weigh (mentally)
Hebrew: ʼahab
affection (in a good or a bad sense)
Hebrew: ʼĕnâsh
a man
Greek: θέλησις (thélēsis)
determination (properly, the act), i.e. option
Hebrew: tsᵉbâʼ
to please
Greek: ἄγε (áge)
properly, lead, i.e. come on
Greek: τοῦ (toû)
sometimes used for G5127 (τούτου); of this person
Greek: σκοτεινός (skoteinós)
opaque, i.e. (figuratively) benighted
Hebrew: ʼăphêlâh
duskiness, figuratively, misfortune; concrete, concealment
Greek: οἶκος (oîkos)
a dwelling (more or less extensive, literal or figurative); by implication, a family (more or less related, literally or figuratively)
Greek: ὁ (ho)
the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)
Hebrew: ʼillêyn
these
Greek: σεμνός (semnós)
venerable, i.e. honorable
Hebrew: bᵉʻîy
a prayer
Greek: καίγε (kaíge)
and at least (or even, indeed)
Hebrew: kîy
(by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below); often largely modified by other particles annexed
Hebrew: ʻêllâʼ
above
Greek: ὁ (ho)
the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)
Hebrew: ʼillêyn
these
Greek: νεκρός (nekrós)
dead (literally or figuratively; also as noun)
Hebrew: râphâʼ
properly, lax, i.e. (figuratively) a ghost (as dead; in plural only)
Greek: θέλησις (thélēsis)
determination (properly, the act), i.e. option
Hebrew: tsᵉbâʼ
to please
Hebrew: hălak
to walk
Greek: ὁ (ho)
the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)
Hebrew: ʼillêyn
these
Verse Explanation
Old age brings fear of heights and dangers along the road, while physical strength decreases and ordinary movement becomes more difficult. The blossoming almond tree, the dragging grasshopper, and the fading appetite have traditionally been understood as images of physical decline, while the verse points toward the approaching end of life.
History
Ancient agricultural imagery: almond trees and grasshoppers were familiar parts of the landscape and agricultural environment of the ancient Levant during the Iron Age and later periods.