Before the silver cord is loosed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern.
All Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 12:6 Go To Ecclesiastes 12
Didymus the Blind
AD 398
One can understand the “cistern” accordingly: Inasmuch as it is possible to scoop water from a fountain with a pitcher, it is also possible to pull up water from a cistern with a water wheel. When there is no need any more to pull up water in this way, then the “[water] wheel will break at the cistern.”
