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Ecclesiastes 9

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The Uncertainty of Life and Death 1–6

1
For all this I laid to my heart, even to explore all this: that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God; whether it be love or hatred, man knoweth it not; all is before them. ​
2
All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth and to him that sacrificeth not; as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath. ​
3
This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea also, the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead. ​
4
For to him that is joined with all the living there is hope; for a living dog is better than a dead lion. ​
5
For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. ​
6
As well their love, as their hatred and their envy, is perished long ago; neither have they any more a portion for ever in anything that is done under the sun.

Embracing Joy in a Fleeting Life 7–10

7
Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God hath already accepted thy works. ​
8
Let thy garments be always white; and let not thy head lack oil. ​
9
Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of thy life of vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all thy days of vanity: for that is thy portion in life, and in thy labor wherein thou laborest under the sun. ​
10
Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Sheol, whither thou goest. ​

The Role of Chance and Time 11–12

11
I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all. ​
12
For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare, even so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them. ​

The Parable of the Poor Wise Man 13–16

13
I have also seen wisdom under the sun on this wise, and it seemed great unto me: ​
14
There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it.
15
Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man. ​
16
Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard. ​

The Power of Quiet Wisdom 17–18

17
The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the cry of him that ruleth among fools. ​
18
Wisdom is better than weapons of war; but one sinner destroyeth much good. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Ecclesiastes 9

Verse 1

in the hand of God — 'Declare' is bur, to examine closely, so the matter is sifted before it is stated. The righteous and wise are in God's hand as 'all his saints are in thy hand' (Deut 33:3), and Christ says of his sheep, 'no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand' (John 10:29). What cannot be read from what happens to them is 'love or hatred'.

Verse 2

one event — Miqreh, what befalls, is the word of 2:14–15 and 3:19. The pairs run through the law's own divisions: 'the clean, and… the unclean', 'him that sacrificeth, and… him that sacrificeth not', 'he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath' (cf. 5:2–6). Death comes to all alike: 'it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment' (Heb 9:27).

Verse 3

madness is in their heart — 'Full' is male, the verb of 8:11, 'fully set in them to do evil'. 'Madness' is holelot, the word of 1:17 and 7:25. Scripture describes the same heart elsewhere: 'every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually' (Gen 6:5), and 'The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked' (Jer 17:9).

Verse 4

a living dog is better than a dead lion — The dog is the despised animal, 'Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves?' (1 Sam 17:43), and the lion is 'strongest among beasts' (Prov 30:30). Life has 'hope' (bittachon, ground of trust) that death removes: 'they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth' (Isa 38:18).

Verse 5

the dead know not any thing — The verse is bounded by v.6: the dead have no more 'portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun'. 'Reward' (sakar) is the wage of 4:9. Job 14:21 says likewise of what a dead father knows of his sons: 'he knoweth it not'. The spirit's own course is told in 12:7, and Paul speaks of departing 'to be with Christ' (Phil 1:23).

Verse 7

God now accepteth thy works — 'Accepteth' is ratsah, to be pleased with, the word for the offering that 'shall be accepted for him' (Lev 1:4). 'Now' is kevar, 'already', the word of 6:10, 'named already'. 'Merry heart' is literally 'good heart' (lev tov). Deut 12:7 gives the setting: 'there ye shall eat before the LORD your God, and ye shall rejoice'.

Verse 8

garments be always white — 'Always' is et, 'at all times', the word of 3:1, and 'ointment' is shemen, the oil of 7:1. Scripture uses oil for gladness: 'the oil of joy for mourning' (Isa 61:3). White raiment is promised in Rev 3:5: 'He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment'.

Verse 9

the wife whom thou lovest — Literally 'see life with the wife whom thou lovest', the verb ra'ah of 'enjoy the good' in 5:18. 'Portion' (cheleq) is also the word of 5:18, and 'all the days of thy vanity' stands twice. Prov 5:18 says, 'rejoice with the wife of thy youth', and Mal 2:15, 'let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth'.

Verse 10

do it with thy might — 'Findeth' is matsa, what comes to hand, and 'might' is koach, the 'power' of the oppressors in 4:1. 'Device' is cheshbon, the 'reason' of 7:25, and the 'grave' is sheol: 'in the grave who shall give thee thanks?' (Ps 6:5). Paul gives the worker another ground: 'whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men' (Col 3:23).

Verse 11

time and chance — 'Chance' is pega, a meeting or encounter, from paga'; it stands elsewhere only in 1 Kgs 5:4, 'neither adversary nor evil occurrent'. The verse does not remove God's rule: 'The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the LORD' (Prov 21:31), and 'Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom' (Jer 9:23).

Verse 12

knoweth not his time — 'Time' is et, the word of 3:1–8, and its fixing is God's: 'My times are in thy hand' (Ps 31:15). 'Net' is metsodah, the word rendered 'snares' in 7:26 and 'bulwarks' in v.14. Luke 21:35 says of the last day that 'as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth'.

Verse 13

it seemed great unto me — 'Great' is gadol, the word the next verse repeats in 'a great king' and 'great bulwarks' against 'a little city', so the wisdom is set against great force. It is the wisdom of 7:19, which 'strengtheneth the wise more than ten mighty men which are in the city'.

Verse 15

a poor wise man — Miskeen occurs only here, in v.16, and in 4:13, where 'a poor and a wise child' is also set above a king. 'No man remembered' answers 2:16, 'no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever'. Joseph was so forgotten: 'Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgat him' (Gen 40:23).

Verse 16

the poor man's wisdom is despised — 'Despised' is bazah, the verb of Isa 53:3, 'He is despised and rejected of men'. At Nazareth Christ's wisdom met this: 'what wisdom is this which is given unto him?… Is not this the carpenter?' (Mark 6:2–3). 'Better than strength' (gevurah) carries on 7:19, where wisdom 'strengtheneth the wise more than ten mighty men'.

Verse 17

heard in quiet — Nachath is the 'quietness' of 4:6 and the 'rest' of 6:5. The 'cry' (za'aqah) is a shout raised by one who 'ruleth' (mashal) among fools. Isaiah says of the Servant, 'He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street' (Isa 42:2), and James says of wisdom from above, 'first pure, then peaceable' (James 3:17).

Verse 18

one sinner destroyeth much good — 'Destroyeth' is abad, the verb of 7:7 and 7:15. The instance in Joshua is Achan: 'the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing: for Achan… took of the accursed thing' (Josh 7:1), and Israel 'could not stand before their enemies' (Josh 7:12). 'Weapons of war' are literally 'instruments of war' (kelim).