Ecclesiastes 12:6

Silver cord. The “cord” is a large, stout cord or rope (see the same Hebrew word as translated in 2 Sam. 17:13; 1 Kings 20:32). Silver may, perhaps, be figurative of that which a man values. Here it may refer to life itself, man’s greatest treasure. Interpretations that apply the “silver cord” and the “golden bowl” to the spinal cord and the brain, while appealing from a literary point of view, and possibly what Solomon had in mind when he wrote, lack a clear Scriptural basis (see on Eccl. 12:2).

Be loosed. Or, “be snapped asunder.” The picture here may be of a large hanging lamp suspended on a cord of silver strands. The cord snaps, the lamp crashes to the floor. The first part of v. 6 reads literally, “Until when not shall be snapped asunder the cord of silver.”

The pitcher. For centuries Eastern women have gone to the village well with earthenware pots (see Gen. 24:14, 15; John 4:7, 28; etc.). The picture here is of an earthenware waterpot being smashed into fragments (see Lev. 6:28; 15:12). In the East the village well generally has a wooden wheel or a wooden fork. Each villager brings his own rope and waterpot. Constant use and climatic conditions finally cause the wheel to disintegrate and collapse. Here the fountain, or well, no doubt is a figure of life (see Ps. 36:9; cf. John 4:10; 7:37). The various figures of v. 6 all represent death.