Bede : "The wheel of our life": The ceaseless advance of our earthly life by which we are continuously moved from the day of our birth right up to death as if by the always turning wheel of a carriage. [Thus] Solomon, when he said well, "Remember your Creator in the days of your youth before the time of affliction comes," a little further on added, "And the wheel above the cistern is broken, and the dust returns to the earth it came from." — Commentary on the Catholic Epistles, James 3:6 Cyril of Jerusalem : Ecclesiastes knew of the Lord's coming at the end of the world when he said, "Rejoice, O young man, while you are young." Subsequently [he said], "Ward off grief from your heart, and put away trouble from your presence. Remember your Creator, before the evil days come, before the sun is darkened, and the light, and the moon, and the stars; and they who look through the windows go blind" (this signifies the power of sight). [Remember] "before the silver cord is snapped" (he means the cluster of the stars, silvery in appearance). [Remember before] "the golden fillet shrinks back" (here is indicated the sun with its golden aspect, for the fillet-like flower is a well-known plant, with ray-like shoots of foliage circling it), "and they shall rise up at the voice of the sparrow, and they shall see from the height, and terrors shall be in the way." What shall they see? "Then they will see the Son of man coming upon clouds of heaven," and they will mourn, tribe by tribe. What happens when the Lord comes? "The almond tree will bloom, and the locust will grow sluggish, and the caper berry will be scattered abroad." According to the interpreters the blooming of the almond tree signifies the passing of winter; our bodies, after the winter, then, are to flourish with a heavenly bloom. — Catechetical Lecture 15:20 Didymus the Blind : When the punishing evil comes, the years arrive in which you have no pleasure. Nobody has pleasure in being punished. When the years of promise arrive, the good have pleasure in them. They have pleasure in enjoying the promises, since they have acted exactly in accordance with the promises. In a similar way, those who are prone to amusement and only recognize what can be experienced with the senses have not pleasure in the time of hunger, but only in the time of excess. The righteous have pleasure even in the times of retribution. — COMMENTARY ON Ecclesiastes 340:9 Gregory of Neocaesarea : Moreover, it is fight that you should fear God while you are yet young, before you give yourself over to evil things, and before the great and terrible day of God comes, when the sun shall no longer shine, neither the moon, nor the rest of the stars, but when in that storm and commotion of all things, the powers above shall be moved, that is, the angels who guard the world; so that the mighty men shall fail, and the women shall cease their labours, and shall flee into the dark places of their dwellings, and shall have all the doors shut. And a woman shall be restrained from grinding by fear, and shall speak with the weakest voice, like the tiniest bird; and all the impure women shall sink into the earth; and cities and their blood-stained governments shall wait for the vengeance that comes from above, while the most bitter and bloody of all times hangs over them like a blossoming almond, and continuous punishments impend like a multitude of flying locusts, and the transgressors are cast out of the way like a black and despicable caper-plant. And the good man shall depart with rejoicing to his own everlasting habitation; but the vile shall fill all their places with wailing, and neither silver laid up in store, nor proved gold, shall be of use any more. For a mighty stroke shall fall upon all things, even to the pitcher that stands by the well, and the wheel of the vessel which may chance to have been left in the hollow, when the course of time comes to its end and the ablution-bearing period of a life that is like water has passed away. And for men who lie on earth there is but one salvation, that their souls acknowledge and wing their way to Him by whom they have been made. I say, then, again what I have said already, that man's estate is altogether vain, and that nothing can exceed the utter vanity which attaches to the objects of man's inventions. And superfluous is my labour in preaching discreetly, inasmuch as I am attempting to instruct a people here, so indisposed to receive either teaching or healing. And truly the noble man is needed for the understanding of the words of wisdom. Moreover, I, though already aged, and having passed a long life, laboured to find out those things which are well-pleasing to God, by means of the mysteries of the truth. And I know that the mind is no less quickened and stimulated by the precepts of the wise, than the body is wont to be when the goad is applied, or a nail is fastened in it. And some will render again those wise lessons which they have received from one good pastor and teacher, as if all with one mouth and in mutual concord set forth in larger detail the truths committed to them. But in many words there is no profit. Neither do I counsel you, my friend, to write down vain things about what is fitting, from which there in nothing to be gained but weary labour. But, in fine, I shall require to use some such conclusion as this: O men, behold, I charge you now expressly and shortly, that you fear God, who is at once the Lord and the Overseer of all, and that you keep also His commandments; and that you believe that all shall be judged severally in the future, and that every man shall receive the just recompense for his deeds, whether they be good or whether they be evil. — A Metaphrase of the Book of Ecclesiastes Jerome : "Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when you shall say, I have no pleasure in them; "In this chapter there were many explanations of all things and almost as many opinions as men themselves. It would take too long however to recount all the opinions of everyone and their arguments in which they want to prove their opinions, the matter would require a volume to itself. But it is enough for wise men to have shown what they feel, and like in a small picture, to have depicted the thirst of the earth, the waste of the whole earth, and the belt of the ocean, and to have shown them in such a small collection. The Hebrews believe the imperative here refers to Israel, to whom it is taught that she should enjoy her riches, and before the time of bondage comes should change youth to old-age. She should enjoy whatever is pleasant or fun, just as it seems to the heart so it seems to the eyes; at that time while she still has them to hand. She knows however that she will be judged in all things that she has done. And just as from bad thoughts she flees from desires, knowing that foolishness is joined to youth, and will remember always her Creator, and before the days of Babylonian and Roman captivity come, in which she will no longer be free. And all of this passage from the point which says, "before the sun, moon, and stars become dark" [Eccl. 12, 2.], until the place where the Scripture reminds us, "and dust will be swirled on earth just as it used to be and the soul returned to God who gave it" [Eccl. 12, 7.], they explain their condition. And since as I have said above these things are tiresome and favourable, they should be touched by us but briefly and superficially. Therefore enjoy your youth O Israel, and do this or that, that has already been mentioned before your time of bondage comes; and your glory will leave you and pride, and judges, and your holy men who want to be interpreted as the sun, moon, and stars, and are taken away. Before Nebuchadnezzar comes, or Titus, Vespasian's son, before the call of the prophets and their prophecies are fulfilled. In that day when the angels that protect the temple leave, and the strongest men in your army are thrown in confusion, and the speeches of the judges will be slow to come, and the prophets, who are accustomed to receiving the light of their visions from heaven, they all will become dark. When the doors of the temple are closed Jerusalem will be made humble and the Chaldeans will come as if by the song of a bird, called thus in the words of Jeremiah, and the singing girls with the lute in the temple choir will become silent [Cfr Ier. 9.]. At that time, when they will come to Jerusalem, the enemies too will fear the greatness of God, and in the way of doubt, they will fear the death of Sennacherib. For they also believe the saying, "and from up high they will fear and tremble in the road" [Cfr Is. 37.]. In those days "the almond tree will flourish", that stick and staff which Jeremiah saw in his prophecy in the beginning, "and the grasshopper will be a burden" [Cfr Ier. 1, 11.]. Nebuchadnezzar with his army, "and desire shall fail ", the friendship between Israel and God. But what desire wants for itself, although we have begun to speak about them individually will be explained more fully. But all this will happen to Israel, because man will go out into the house of his eternity, and having returned from the protection of God to the heavens, going to his tabernacle, the weeping and crying will wander in the street and will be hemmed in by the enemy's siege. Be happy therefore Israel in your youth, before the silver cord is broken, (this is until your glory is with you), before the golden ribbon breaks off, (that is before the arc of the tabernacle is taken away); before the pitcher is worn away to the fountain, and the wheel is turned around over the pool. That is until you read the most sacred teachings, for the spirit of a holy man is grace, and before you return to Babylon, from whence you left the loins of Abraham, and you will begin to be worn away in Mesopotamia, which once breathed life into you, and all is returned to He who gave it. The Jews have always taught these things and have understood this chapter to pertain to themselves. But I prefer to return to the previous argument, and try to explain each thing individually: "rejoice O youth, in your adolescence, and let your heart be good in the days of your youth, and walk in the way of your heart and in the sight of your eyes; and know above all these things, since God will lead you into judgement". He has said that the light of this world is the sweetest and that man ought to rejoice in the days of his life, and grasp desire with all enthusiasm. For the eternal night of death will fall when it's not permitted to enjoy ones amassed wealth and like a shadow, all things that we possess, will die. Now therefore he encourages man and says, "O youth, before old-age and death fall upon you, enjoy your youth, and whatever you feel is good, and seems joyful to see, take it and enjoy as it please you the things of this world." Again so that he does not think these things say to provoke men to indulgence, and thus fall into the doctrines of Epicurus, he takes this suspicion, saying, "and know, since above all these God will lead you to judgement". Thus, he says, take advantage of the things of the world, so that you know you will be judged in the end. "And force anger from your heart and take wickedness from your flesh, since youth and foolishness are vanity". In anger he sees all the problems of the spirit. In the wickedness of the flesh he sees every desire of the body. In this way therefore, he says, enjoy the goodness of this world, lest you leave pleasure or flesh. Leave off your former vices, which you did in your youth of vanity and foolishness, since youth is joined to foolishness. "And remember in the day of your youth Him, who created you, before the days of wickedness come and the years approach, in which you will say, 'I have no will'". Always remember your Creator and walk the route of your youth, so that you remember your end is death, before your time comes, in which sad things will happen. — Commentary on Ecclesiastes