Ecclesiastes 12:2 (YLT)

Passage

While that the sun is not darkened, and the light, And the moon, and the stars, And the thick clouds returned after the rain.

Nearby Context

Ecclesiastes 12:1 Remember also thy Creators in days of thy youth, While that the evil days come not, Nor the years have arrived, that thou sayest, `I have no pleasure in them.'

Ecclesiastes 12:2 While that the sun is not darkened, and the light, And the moon, and the stars, And the thick clouds returned after the rain.

Ecclesiastes 12:3 In the day that keepers of the house tremble, And men of strength have bowed themselves, And grinders have ceased, because they have become few. And those looking out at the windows have become dim,

Ecclesiastes 12:4 And doors have been shut in the street. When the noise of the grinding is low, And <FI>one<Fi> riseth at the voice of the bird, And all daughters of song are bowed down.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "light", "darkened", "moon", "stars", "thick", "clouds", "returned", and "after". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "light" and "darkened", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 1's "Remember also thy Creators in days of..." into verse 3's "In the day that keepers of the...", so "light" and "darkened" 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 "light" and "darkened" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.