Charles Ellicott Commentary Ecclesiastes 12:5

"yea, they shall be afraid of [that which is] high, and terrors [shall be] in the way; and the almond-tree shall blossom, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail; because man goeth to his everlasting home, and the mourners go about the streets:" — Ecclesiastes 12:5 (ASV)

The old man is surrounded by terrors; terrors from above, terrors on his path: everything he previously delighted in no longer has charm for him; the almond causes loathing (for the word rendered “flourished” in our version may also be translated this way); the locust, a favorite food in the East, is now a burden; the caper berry (translated “desire” in our version) fails; for man is going to his eternal home, etc.