Ecclesiastes 12:6 (DRB)

Passage

Before the silver cord be broken, and the golden fillet shrink back, and the pitcher be crushed at the fountain, and the wheel be broken upon the cistern,

Nearby Context

Ecclesiastes 12:4 And they shall shut the doors in the street, when the grinder's voice shall be low, and they shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of music shall grow deaf.

Ecclesiastes 12:5 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.

Ecclesiastes 12:6 Before the silver cord be broken, and the golden fillet shrink back, and the pitcher be crushed at the fountain, and the wheel be broken upon the cistern,

Ecclesiastes 12:7 And the dust return into its earth, from whence it was, and the spirit return to God, who gave it.

Ecclesiastes 12:8 Vanity of vanities, said Ecclesiastes, and all things are vanity.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "before", "silver", "cord", "broken", "golden", "fillet", "shrink", and "back". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "before" and "silver", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 5's "And they shall fear high things and..." into verse 7's "And the dust return into its earth...", so "before" and "silver" 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 "before" and "silver" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.