Ecclesiastes 12:3 (DBY)

Passage

in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows are darkened,

Nearby Context

Ecclesiastes 12:1 And remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth, before the evil days come, and the years draw nigh, of which thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;

Ecclesiastes 12:2 before the sun, and the light, and the moon, and the stars, be darkened, and the clouds return after the rain;

Ecclesiastes 12:3 in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows are darkened,

Ecclesiastes 12:4 and the doors are shut toward the street; when the sound of the grinding is subdued, and they rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low;

Ecclesiastes 12:5 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;)

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "keepers", "house", "tremble", "strong", "themselves", "grinders", "cease", and "look". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "keepers" and "house", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 2's "before the sun and the light and..." into verse 4's "and the doors are shut toward the...", so "keepers" and "house" belong inside that flow. In Ecclesiastes context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "keepers" and "house" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.