There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and make his soul enjoy good in his labor. This also I saw, that it is from the hand of God. For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment, more than I? For to the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner he gives travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him who pleases God. This also is vanity and a chasing after wind.
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Ecclesiastes 2:24-26 sits inside this longer paragraph.
Therefore I began to cause my heart to despair concerning all the labor in which I had labored under the sun. For there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, with knowledge, and with skillfulness; yet he shall leave it for his portion to a man who has not labored for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. For what does a man have of all his labor and of the striving of his heart, in which he labors under the sun? For all his days are sorrows, and his travail is grief; yes, even in the night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity. There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and make his soul enjoy good in his labor. This also I saw, that it is from the hand of God. For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment, more than I? For to the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner he gives travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him who pleases God. This also is vanity and a chasing after wind.
Parallel Translations
-
There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and make his soul enjoy good in his labor. This also I saw, that it is from the hand of God.
For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment, more than I?
For to the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner he gives travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him who pleases God. This also is vanity and a chasing after wind.
-
There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God.
For who can eat, or who else can hasten hereunto, more than I?
For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit.
Show all 3 translations
-
There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and make his soul enjoy pleasure for his labour. This also I saw, that it is from the hand of God.
For who will eat, or who will enjoy, if not I?
For to the man that is good in His sight He giveth wisdom, and knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner He giveth the task, to gather and to heap up, that he may leave to him that is good in the sight of God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.
Cross-references (34)
- Proverbs 13:22 (v26) A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, but the wealth of the sinner is stored for the righteous.
- Job 27:16-17 (v26) Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare clothing as the clay; he may prepare it, but the just will put it on, and the innocent…
- Proverbs 28:8 (v26) He who increases his wealth by excessive interest gathers it for one who has pity on the poor.
- Isaiah 3:10-11 (v26) Tell the righteous “Good!” For they shall eat the fruit of their deeds. Woe to the wicked! Disaster is upon them; for the deeds of his…
- John 16:24 (v26) Until now, you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be made full.
Show all 34 cross-references
- 2 Chronicles 31:20-21 (v26) Hezekiah did so throughout all Judah; and he did that which was good, right, and faithful before Yahweh his God. In every work that he…
- Proverbs 3:13-18 (v26) Happy is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gets understanding. For her good profit is better than getting silver, and her return is…
- Colossians 3:16-17 (v26) Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs,…
- Ecclesiastes 3:22 (v24) Therefore I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his works; for that is his portion: for who can bring him to…
- Colossians 1:9-12 (v26) For this cause, we also, since the day we heard this, don’t cease praying and making requests for you, that you may be filled with the…
- Job 32:8 (v26) But there is a spirit in man, and the Spirit of the Almighty gives them understanding.
- Luke 1:6 (v26) They were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord.
- Genesis 7:1 (v26) Yahweh said to Noah, “Come with all of your household into the ship, for I have seen your righteousness before me in this generation.
- James 3:17 (v26) But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceful, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and…
- Ecclesiastes 8:15 (v24) Then I commended mirth, because a man has no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be joyful: for that will…
- Romans 14:17-18 (v26) for God’s Kingdom is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he who serves Christ in these…
- 1 Corinthians 1:30-31 (v26) Because of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who was made to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption: that, as…
- Galatians 5:22-23 (v26) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things…
- 1 Timothy 6:17 (v24) Charge those who are rich in this present world that they not be arrogant, nor have their hope set on the uncertainty of riches, but on the…
- Ecclesiastes 3:12-13 (v24) I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice, and to do good as long as they live. Also that every man should eat and…
- Ecclesiastes 5:18-19 (v24) Behold, that which I have seen to be good and proper is for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy good in all his labor, in which he labors…
- Ecclesiastes 1:14 (v26) I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and behold, all is vanity and a chasing after wind.
- Ecclesiastes 9:7-9 (v24) Go your way—eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart; for God has already accepted your works. Let your garments be…
- 1 Corinthians 15:32 (v24) If I fought with animals at Ephesus for human purposes, what does it profit me? If the dead are not raised, then “let’s eat and drink, for…
- Deuteronomy 12:18 (v24) but you shall eat them before Yahweh your God in the place which Yahweh your God shall choose: you, your son, your daughter, your male…
- Deuteronomy 12:12 (v24) You shall rejoice before Yahweh your God—you, and your sons, your daughters, your male servants, your female servants, and the Levite who…
- Ecclesiastes 2:1-12 (v25) I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with mirth: therefore enjoy pleasure;” and behold, this also was vanity. I said of laughter,…
- Ecclesiastes 6:2 (v24) a man to whom God gives riches, wealth, and honor, so that he lacks nothing for his soul of all that he desires, yet God gives him no power…
- Ecclesiastes 11:9-10 (v24) Rejoice, young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth, and walk in the ways of your heart, and in the…
- Malachi 2:2 (v24) If you will not listen, and if you will not take it to heart, to give glory to my name,” says Yahweh of Armies, “then I will send the curse…
- Acts 14:17 (v24) Yet he didn’t leave himself without witness, in that he did good and gave you rains from the sky and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts…
- Nehemiah 8:10 (v24) Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to him for whom nothing is prepared, for today is holy…
- Luke 12:19-20 (v24) I will tell my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years. Take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry.” ’ “But God said to him,…
- 1 Kings 4:21-24 (v25) Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the River to the land of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt. They brought tribute and…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (17 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv24–25 When man hath all labored, he can get no…
When man hath all labored, he can get no more than food and refreshing, yet he confesseth also that this cometh of God’s blessing, as Eccl. 3:13.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv24–26 Ecc 2:24 [There is] nothing better for a man,…
Ecc 2:24 [There is] nothing better for a man, [than] that he should eat and drink, and [that] he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it [was] from the hand of God.
Ver. 24. There is nothing better for a man, &c.] This may seem to savour of epicurism, as may also some following passages of this book. For which cause some of the old Jewish doctors were once in a mind to hide this whole book out of the way, and not allow the common sort to see it any more. But this they needed never to have done, for the Preacher expressly calls carnal mirth "madness" in this very chapter, and shows that the happiness of a man stands in fearing God and keeping his commandments; {Ecc 12:13-14} all which is point blank against atheism and epicurism. And whereas here and elsewhere the liberal use of the creatures is commended and commanded; this is done in opposition to, and detestation of, such parsimonious penny fathers as deny themselves that necessary and honest affluence that God hath permitted and afforded them; living sordidly, that they may grow rich suddenly, although they know not how soon they may leave all, nor yet to whom.
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This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God.] It is he that "fills our hearts, as with food, so with gladness." {Act 14:17} He can curse our blessings, make our table a snare, sauce that we eat, spice that we drink, with his fierce wrath, as he did the quails to those Israelites. He can dissweeten our delicates either with sickness, {Job 33:20} or sorrow, {Psa 107:17-18} or sudden terror. {1Sa 30:16-17 1Ki 1:41} Adoniah’s feast ended in horror; astonishment was served up for their last dish. Let God, therefore, be sought for a comfortable use of the creature, and then be merry at thy meat, and put sorrow from thy heart. {Ecc 9:7} "Eat the fat, and drink the sweet, &c., for the joy of the Lord is your strength." {Neh 8:10}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv24–26 There is nothing better for a man; or, Is…
There is nothing better for a man; or, Is there any thing better for a man? which implies that there is nothing better, to wit, for man’s present comfort and satisfaction; this is the chief, and indeed the only, considerable benefit of his labours.
That he should make his soul enjoy good; that he should thankfully take, and freely and cheerfully enjoy, the comforts which God gives him.
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That it was from the hand of God; that this also is a singular gift of God, and not to be procured by a man’s own wisdom or diligence.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv24–26 There is nothing better for a man than that…
There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink,.... Not in an immoderate and voluptuous manner, like the epicure and the atheist, that disbelieve a future state and the resurrection of the dead, and give up themselves to all sinful and sensual gratifications; but in a moderate way, enjoying in a cheerful and comfortable manner the good creatures of God, which he has given; being contented with them, thankful for them, and looking upon them as the blessings of divine goodness, and as flowing from the love of God to him; and thus freely using, and yet not abusing them. Some render it, "it is not good for a man to eat" (a), &c. immoderately and to excess, and to place his happiness in it: or, "there is no good with man" (b); it is not in the power of man to use the creatures aright. Jarchi renders it by way of interrogation, "is it not good?" which comes to the same sense with ours, and so the Vulgate Latin version;
and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour; not leave off labouring; nor eat and drink what he has not laboured for, or what is the fruit of other men's labour; but what is the effect of his own, and in which he continues; and this is the way to go on in it with cheerfulness, when he enjoys the good, and reaps the benefit and advantage of it; which is certainly preferable to a laying up his substance, and leaving it to he knows not who.
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This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God; not only the riches a man possesses, but the enjoyment of them, or a heart to make use of them; see Ecc 5:18. The Midrash interprets this eating and drinking, of the law and good works: and the Targum explains it, causing the soul to enjoy the good of doing the commandments, and walking in right ways; and observes, that a man that prospers in this world, it is from the hand of the Lord, and is what is decreed to be concerning him.
(a) "non est igitur bonum", Vatablus. (b) "Non est bonum penes hominem", Junius & Tremellius, Gejerus, Gussetius.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv24–26 Enjoy - That he should thankfully take, and freely…
Enjoy - That he should thankfully take, and freely and cheerfully enjoy the comforts which God gives him. It was - A singular gift of God.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv24–26 Verse 24. There is nothing better for a man]…
Verse 24. There is nothing better for a man] The sense of this passage is well expressed in the following lines: -
"For these disorders wouldst thou find a cure,
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Such cure as human frailty would admit?
Drive from thee anxious cares; let reason curb
Thy passions; and with cheerful heart enjoy
That little which the world affords; for here,
Though vain the hopes of perfect happiness,
Yet still the road of life, rugged at best,
Is not without its comforts.---------
Wouldst thou their sweetness taste, look up to heaven,
And praise the all-bounteous Donor, who bestows
The power to use aright."
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv24–26 Ecc 2:24. There is nothing better — Or, Is…
Ecc 2:24. There is nothing better — Or, Is there any thing better for a man? — Which implies that there is nothing better, namely, for man’s present comfort and satisfaction; than that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour — That, studying first to free his mind from overmuch care and anxiety, he should, instead of heaping up perpetually for his heirs, allow himself a moderate and decent use of all the good things that he hath gotten by his honest labours; praising God for them, and cheerfully communicating them with his friends and neighbours, and to the relief of the necessitous poor and afflicted. This also — Namely, that a man should thankfully take, and freely and cheerfully enjoy and communicate with others, the comforts which God gives him; I saw — was from the hand of God — Was a singular gift of God, and not to be procured by a man’s own wisdom and diligence.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv24, 26 Drink, using with moderation the things which we have…
Drink, using with moderation the things which we have acquired, rather than to be solicitous for more, (Worthington) --- which may fall into the hands of an idle heir, who is appointed by God, ver. 26. This may also be the plea of libertines, (Calmet) who would use freely what he has given. (St. Augustine, contra Jul. iv. 3.)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv24–26 English Version gives a seemingly Epicurean sense, contrary to…
English Version gives a seemingly Epicurean sense, contrary to the general scope. The Hebrew, literally is, "It is not good for man that he should eat," &c., "and should make his soul see good" (or "show his soul, that is, himself, happy"), &c. [WEISS]. According to HOLDEN and WEISS, Ecc 3:12, Ecc 3:22 differ from this verse in the text and meaning; here he means, "It is not good that a man should feast himself, and falsely make as though his soul were happy"; he thus refers to a false pretending of happiness acquired by and for one's self; in Ecc 3:12, Ecc 3:22; Ecc 5:18-19, to real seeing, or finding pleasure when God gives it. There it is said to be good for a man to enjoy with satisfaction and thankfulness the blessings which God gives; here it is said not to be good to take an unreal pleasure to one's self by feasting, &c.
This also I saw--I perceived by experience that good (real pleasure) is not to be taken at will, but comes only from the hand of God [WEISS] (Psa 4:6; Isa 57:19-21). Or as HOLDEN, "It is the appointment from the hand of God, that the sensualist has no solid satisfaction" (good).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv24–26 24. Nothing better — We now have the inference…
24. Nothing better — We now have the inference drawn from the investigations here recorded, as a conclusion to the first section of the book. The best way, seeing that neither wisdom nor pleasure can appease the craving soul, is to mingle moderate and cheerful self-indulgence with the reasonable business of life, pushing neither study nor pleasure to excess, but acknowledging the good hand of God as balancing the gifts it confers.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv24–26 24. There is nothing better for a man] The…
24. There is nothing better for a man] The Hebrew, as it stands, gives a meaning which is partly represented by the LXX., “There is no good for a man which he shall eat and drink,” as though the simplest form of bodily pleasure were condemned. Almost all interpreters however are agreed in adopting a conjectural emendation, which again in its turn has given rise to two different renderings: (1) “Is it not better (or “Is it not good”) for a man to eat and drink …?” or (2) “there is nothing good for a man but to eat and drink.…” The two last are of course substantially the same in their teaching, and both express what we may call the higher type of Epicureanism which forms one element of the book. The pursuit of riches, state, luxury, is abandoned for the simple joys that lie within every man’s reach, the “fallentis semita vitae” of one who has learnt the lesson of regulating his desires. The words “to eat and drink” are closely connected with “enjoying good in his labour.” What is praised is not the life of slothful self-indulgence or æsthetic refinement, but that of a man who, though with higher culture, is content to live as simply as the ploughman, or the vinedresser, or artificer. Λάθε βιώσας, “live in the shade,” was the Epicurean rule of wisdom. Pleasure was not found in feasts and sensual excess but in sobriety of mind, and the conquest of prejudice and superstition (Diog. Laert. x. 1. 132). The real wants of such a life are few, and there is a joy in working for them. Here again the thought finds multiform echoes in the utterances of men who have found the cares and pleasures and pursuits of a more ambitious life unsatisfying. It is significant that the very words “eat and drink” had been used by Jeremiah in describing the pattern life of a righteous king (Jer_22:15). The type of life described is altogether different from that of the lower Epicureans who said “Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die” (1Co_15:32).
So we have one Epicurean poet singing
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“Si non aurea sunt iuvenum simulacra per aedes
Lampadas igniferas manibus retinentia dextris,
Lumina nocturnis epulis ut suppeditentur,
Nec domus argento fulget auroque renidet
Nec citharae reboant laqueata aurataque templa,
Cum tamen inter se prostrati in gramine molli
Propter aquae rivum sub ramis arboris altae
Non magnis opibus iucunde corpora curant,
Praesertim cum tempestas adridet et anni
Tempora conspergunt viridantis floribus herbas.”
“What though no golden statues of fair boys
With lamp in hand illumine all the house
And cast their lustre on the nightly feast;
Nor does their home with silver or with gold
Dazzle the eye; nor through the ceilèd roof,
Bedecked with gold, the harps re-echo loud.
Yet, while reclining on the soft sweet grass
They lie in groups along the river’s bank,
Beneath the branches of some lofty tree,
And at small cost find sweet refreshment there,
What time the season smiles, and spring-tide weeks
Re-gem the herbage green with many a flower.”
Lucret. De Rer. Nat. ii. 24–33.
So Virgil sang:
“O fortunatos nimium, sua si bona norint,
Agricolas,”
and of these good things dwelt chiefly on
“At secura quies et nescia fallere vita.
Dives opum variarum, at latis otia fundis,
Speluncae, vivique lacus, et frigida Tempe,
Mugitusque boum, mollesque sub arbore somni
Non absunt; illic saltus ac lustra ferarum,
Et patiens operum exiguoque adsueta juventus,
Sacra deum, sanctique patres; extrema per illos
Justitia excedens terris vestigia fecit.”
“Ah! but too happy, did they know their bliss
The tillers of the soil!…
Their’s the calm peace, and life that knows no fraud,
Rich in its varied wealth; and leisure their’s
In the broad meadows; caves and living lakes
And Tempe cool, and lowing of the kine;
Nor want they slumber sweet beneath the trees;
There are the thickets and the wild beasts’ haunts,
And youth enduring toil and trained to thrift;
There Gods are worshipped, fathers held in awe,
And Justice, when she parted from the earth
Left there her latest foot-prints.”
Georg. ii. 467–474.
So Horace, in the same strain:
“Beatus ille qui procul negotiis,
Ut prisca gens mortalium,
Paterna rura bubus exercet suis,
Solutus omni foenore.”
“Thrice blest is he who free from care
Lives now, as lived our fathers old,
And free from weight of honoured gold,
With his own oxen drives the share
O’er fields he owns as rightful heir.”
Horace, Epod. ii. 1.
So Shakespeare once more makes a king echo the teaching of Ecclesiastes:
“And to conclude: the shepherd’s homely curds,
His cold thin drink out of his leather bottle,
His wonted sleep under a fresh tree’s shade,
All which secure and sweetly he enjoys,
Is far beyond a prince’s delicates,
His viands sparkling in a golden cup,
His body couched in a curious bed,
When care, mistrust, and treason wait on him.”
Henry VI., Part III. Act ii. 5.
This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God] In the thought which is thus expressed, we find, however, something more than an echo of Greek Epicureanism. The Debater recognises a Divine Will in this apportionment of happiness, just as he had before recognised that Will in the toil and travail with which the sons of man were exercised (ch. Ecc_1:13). The apparent inequalities are thus, in part at least, redressed, and it is shewn as the teaching of experience no less than of the Divine Master, that “a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of things which he possesseth” (Luk_12:15).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv24–26 (24) Nothing better.—“Not good” is the sense of the…
(24) Nothing better.—“Not good” is the sense of the Hebrew as it stands, for it will be observed that the word “than” is in italics. But as this word might easily have dropped out by a transcriber’s error, interpreters, taking in connection Ecc_3:12; Ecc_3:22; Ecc_5:18; Ecc_8:15, generally agree to modify the text so as to give it the meaning of our version, according to which the sense is: “Seeing the uncertainty of the future, the only good a man can get from his labour is that present pleasure which he can make it yield to himself; and whether he can even enjoy so much as this depends on God.” If the text be not altered, the sense is: “It is not good for a man to eat, &c, seeing it depends on God whether or not that is possible.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv24–26 Vers. 24-26. From what has been said, Koheleth concludes…
Vers. 24-26. From what has been said, Koheleth concludes that man may indeed enjoy the good things which he has provided, and find a certain happiness therein, but only according to God"s will and permission; and to expect to win pleasure at one"s own caprice is vain.
There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink. The Vulgate makes the sentence interrogative, which the Hebrew does not sanction, Nonne melius est comedere et bibere? Septuagint Oujk estin ajgaqopw o fagetai kaietai, "There is naught good to a man to eat or drink;" St. Jerome and others insert misi, "except for a man to eat," etc. This and the Authorized Version, which are more or less approved by most critics, make the writer enunciate a kind of modified Epicureanism, quotations in confirmation of which will be found set forth by Plumptre. It is not pretended that the present Hebrew text admits this exposition, and critics have agreed to modify the original in order to express the sense which they give to the passage. As it stands, the sentence runs, "It is not good in (B;) man that he should eat," etc. This is supposed to clash with later statements; e.g. Ecc_3:12, 13 8:15; and to condemn all bodily pleasure even in its simplest form. Hence commentators insert m ("than") before lkaOYv, supposing that the initial mere has dropped out after the terminal of the preceding word, adam (comp. Ecc_3:22) This solution of a difficulty might be allowed were the Hebrew otherwise incapable of explanation without doing violence to the sentiments elsewhere expressed. But this is not the case. As Metals has seen, the great point lies in the preposition b, and what is stated is that it does not depend on man, it is not in his power, he is not at liberty to eat and drink and enjoy himself simply at his own will; his power and ability proceed wholly from God. A higher authority than his decides the matter. The phrase, "to eat and drink," is merely a periphrasis for living in comfort, peace, and affluence. St. Gregory, who holds that here and in other places Koheleth seems to contradict himself, makes a remark which is of general application, "He who looks to the text, and does not acquaint himself with the sense of the Holy Word, is not so much furnishing himself with instruction as bewildering himself in uncertainty, in that the literal words sometimes contradict themselves; but whilst by their oppositeness they stand at variance with themselves, they direct the reader to a truth that is to be understood" ("Moral.," 4:1). They who read Epicureanism into the text fall into the error here denounced. They take the expression, "eat and drink," in the narrowest sense of bodily pleasure, whereas it was by no means so confined in the mind of a Hebrew. To eat bread in the kingdom of God, to take a place at the heavenly banquet, represents the highest bliss of glorified man. (Luk_14:15 Rev_19:9, etc.) In a lower degree it signifies earthly prosperity, as in Jer_22:15, "Did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice? then it was well with him." So in our passage we find only the humiliating truth that man in himself is powerless to make his life happy or his labors successful. There is no Epicurean-ism, even in a modified form, in the Hebrew text as it has come down to us. With other supposed traces of this philosophy we shall have to deal subsequently (see on. (Ecc_3:12 Ecc_6:2) And that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labor; i.e. taste the enjoyment of his labor, get pleasure as the reward of all his exertions, or find it in the actual pursuit. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God. This is the point the power of enjoyment depends on the will of God. The next verse substantiates this assertion.
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All good is from God.
Revelation ever presents to man a standard of conduct equally removed from selfish gratification and from proud asceticism. It condemns the habit, too common with the prosperous and fortunate, of seeking all saris-faction in the pleasures and luxuries of the world, in the enjoyments of sense; and it at the same time condemns the tendency to despise the body and the things of time and sense, as if such independence of earth were of necessity the means to spiritual enrichment and blessing. On the one hand, we are invited to partake freely and gladly of the gifts of Divine providence; on the other hand, we are admonished to receive all things as "from the hand of God.
I GOD"S BOUNTY PROVIDES THE FAVORS BY WHICH MAN"S EARTHLY LIFE IS ENRICHED. Food and drink are mentioned here as examples of the good gifts of the Eternal Father, who "openeth his hand, and supplieth the wants of every living thing." Manifold is the provision of the Divine beneficence. The whole material world is an apparatus by which the bounty of the Creator ministers to the wants of his creatures. And all God"s gifts have a meaning and value beyond themselves; they reveal the Divine character, they symbolize the Divine goodness. To despise them is to despise the Giver.
II GOD"S KINDNESS BESTOWS FACULTIES ADAPTED TO THE ENJOYMENT OF HIS GIFTS. The adaptation is obvious and instructive between the bounties of God"s providence, and the bodily constitution in virtue of which man is able to appropriate and enjoy what God bestows. Food and drink presuppose the power to partake of them, and to use them for the continued life, health, and vigor of the body. The correspondence may be traced throughout the whole of our physical nature; between the eye and light, between hearing and sound, between the lungs and the atmosphere in fact, between the organism and the environment.
III GOD EXPECTS THAT WE SHOULD USE HIS GIFTS AS HE COMMANDS, AND FOR HIS GLORY. All Divine bestowments are a kind of test and trial for man, who does not of necessity follow appetite, but who can exercise his reason and his will in dealing with the circumstances of his being, with the provisions of God"s bounty. All are susceptible of use and of abuse. The Preacher gives us the key to a right use of providential bounties, when he reminds us that all is "from the hand of God." The man who sees the Giver in the gift, who partakes with gratitude of that which is bestowed, recognizing its spiritual significance, and using it as the means to spiritual improvement, such a man fulfils his probation aright, and does not live the earthly life in vain.
IV UPON COMPLIANCE WITH OR NEGLECT OF THE DIVINE REQUIREMENT DEPENDS THE EFFECT OF GOD"S GIFTS UPON US, WHETHER THEY SHALL BE A BLESSING OR A CURSE. It would be very easy to read amiss the teaching of this Book of Ecclesiastes. Let a man read it when under the influence of a hedonistic and optimistic temper of mind, and he may be encouraged to abandon himself to the pleasures of life, to the joys of sense, to seek his welfare and satisfaction in what this world can give. Let a man read the book when passing through bitter experience of the ills and woes and disappointments of life, in a pessimistic mood, and he may be encouraged to dejection, despondency, and cynicism. But the true lesson of the book is this: Life is a Divine discipline, and its purpose should never be lost sight of; the gifts of Providence are intended for our enjoyment, our grateful appropriation, but not for the satisfaction of the spiritual nature; Divine wisdom summons us to the reverential service of the Eternal himself; we should then receive with joy what God bestows, and give up without undue mourning what God takes away, for all of life is "from the hand of God. T.
Ver. 24. (See homily on Ecc_3:12, Ecc_3:13, Ecc_3:22) C.
Vers. 24-26.
The condition of pure enjoyment.
Up to this point the thoughts of our author have been gloomy and despairing. Wisdom is better, he declares, than folly, but death sweeps away both the wise and the foolish. The learning of the sage, the fortune accumulated by the successful worker, represent the labors of a lifetime; but at the end, what are they worth? The results are twofold, partly internal and partly external. The student or worker acquires skill in the use of his faculties, he develops his strength, he becomes, as his life goes on, more proficient in his profession or craft; but death quenches.all these attainments. He leaves to those who are perhaps unworthy of them all the external results of his labors, and perhaps in a very little time it will be difficult to find anything to remind one of him. We who have the light of Christian truth may have much to console us and give us strength, even when we are brought face to face with the dark and dreary facts upon which our author dwells. We may think of this life as a preparation for a new and higher existence in the world to come, and believe that every effort we make to use rightly the faculties God has given us will tend to equip us better for service of him in another state of being. But to our author"s mind the thought of a future life is not vivid enough to be the source of consolation and strength. What then? Does he find no escape from the gloomy labyrinth of withering doubt, and decide that happiness is a boon for which one may sigh in vain? No; strangely enough, at the very moment when the depression is deepest, light breaks upon him from an unexpected quarter. Simple joys, moderate hopes, contentment with one"s lot, thankful acceptance of the gifts of God, may yield a peace and satisfaction unknown to those who are consumed by ambition, who make riches, state, luxury, the object of their desires. The darkness of night will soon close upon our live. Our tenure of our possessions is precarious in the extreme, but some measure of joy is within the reach of us all. In few but suggestive words the Preacher describes
I THE NATURE OF A HAPPY LIFE. (Ver. 24,) "There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labor." At first one might think the judgment here expressed somewhat poor and gross, and unworthy of the reputation of the wise king to whom it is ascribed, not to say of the Word of God in which we find it. But when we look more closely into is, these impressions disappear. It is not an idle, useless life of self-enjoyment that is here commended to us, but one in which useful labor is seasoned by healthy pleasures. The man eats and drinks, and makes his soul enjoy good in his labor. The enjoyment is not such as to waste and exhaust the energies of the soul, otherwise it would be very short-lived. The risk of abusing the counsel in the first part of the sentence is avoided by attending to the safeguard implied in the concluding words. It is not the decision of the Sensualist, "Let us eat and drink; for to-morrow we die", (1Co_15:32) but the admonition of one who perceives that a thankful participation of the good things of life is compatible with the sincerest piety. Eating and drinking mean satisfying the natural appetites, and not ministering to artificial and self-created cravings; and overindulgence in so doing is tacitly forbidden. The words suggest to us the simple healthy life and habits of the industrious peasant or workman, who takes pleasure in his daily employment, and finds in the innocent joys which sweeten his lot a happiness which. mere wealth cannot buy.
The shepherd"s homely curds, His cold thin drink out of his leather bottle, His wonted sleep under a fresh tree"s shade, All which secure and sweetly he enjoys, Is far beyond a prince"s delicates, His viands sparkling in a golden cup, His body couched in a curious bed, When care, mistrust, and treason wait on him. ("Henry VI," Part III, act it. so. 5.)
II In the second place, our author tells us THE SOURCE OF THIS HAPPINESS IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD. (Ver. 24b.) This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God. For who can eat or who can have enjoyment apart from him?" (Revised Version margin). These words are quite sufficient to convince us that a low Epicureanism is far from the writer"s thoughts when he speaks of there being nothing better for a man than to eat and drink, and make his soul enjoy good in his labor." One thing is necessary for the accomplishment of this end, and that is the Divine blessing. Saris-faction in work and in pleasure is a gift bestowed by him upon those who deserve it. "What we get here is the recognition of what we have learnt to call the moral government of God in the distribution of happiness. It is found to depend, not on outward but inward condition, and the chief inward condition is the character that God approves. The Preacher practically confesses that the life of the pleasure-seeker, or the ambitious, or the philosopher, seeking wisdom as an end, was not good before God, and therefore failed to bring contentment" (Plumptre). The source, then, of happiness in life is in obedience to the Divine will. To the gifts of his providence God adds the temper in which to enjoy them; from his hand both must be sought. Those who seek to be independent of him find that all they may acquire is insufficient to satisfy them; those who place all their confidence in him are contented with even the hardest lot. (Php_4:11-13) "Wisdom, knowledge, and joy" are the portion of the good, whether they be poor or non m tins world s wealth; but the sinner has only the fruitless labor from which he can derive no satisfaction (ver. 21). And over again the Preacher writes the dreary sentence, "This also is vanity and vexation of spirit," upon the life in which God is not. J.W.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv24, 26 There is nothing better for a man, than that…
Ecc_2:24-26
There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour.
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The simple joys of Godly industry
We are not to regard these words as at all akin to the utterance of the baser Epieureanism, Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die! We are not to suppose that the Jewish philosopher, looking around him, and finding all to be vanity and feeding on wind, concludes that the best thing a man can do, under the circumstances, is to give himself up to a life of sensuous enjoyment. This cannot possibly be his meaning here; for he has already shown the emptiness of a life of sensuous gratification, and he has also recorded it as his conviction that wisdom is better than folly. Moreover, the words themselves do not point to mere idle self-indulgence; for they speak of a mans enjoying good in his labour. Ecclesiastes seems to have before his mind a life in which hearty and honest toil is blended with a contented enjoyment of the fruits of toil. In the maxim, Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die, eating and drinking stand for all kinds of sensuous gratification, and even of sensual excess. But here, to eat and drink seems to stand rather for the simpler forms of living, as contrasted with luxurious and excessive self-indulgence. That this is the meaning of Ecclesiastes here is further evident from the manner in which he goes on to speak of the conditions of this contented and cheerful enjoyment of life. This also I saw, that it is from the hand of God. This introduction of the thought of God is itself sufficient to show that Ecclesiastes is not here speaking as a sensualist, or as a mere pleasure-seeker. Amidst the many anomalies of life, Ecclesiastes clings to the assurance that there is a moral government of God in this world. There are indeed perplexing problems in relation to this moral government, which he felt he could not solve, and which led him to look forward to a world beyond death where the dealings of God with men would be completed and vindicated. But still, looking at the broad facts of human life, and excluding cases apparently exceptional and perplexing, he saw that God does make a distinction, even here and now, between the sinner and the man who pleaseth Him. The virtuous and godly man has an advantage, even in this world, over the wicked. He receives from God a wisdom and knowledge which are associated with joy. He finds a pleasure in his work, and is contented to eat the simple fruits of his toil. He may be a poor man, labouring for daily bread; and yet he may receive from God this gift of thankful enjoyment. Whereas, on the other hand, Ecclesiastes saw that the sinner--the man who has no thought of Gods commandments--may gather together and heap up riches, and yet have no heart to enjoy his own wealth. Now, the lesson which Ecclesiastes here sets before us is one of which we all need to be continually reminded. Patent as the fact may be to us that the higher happiness of life is far more closely associated with unanxious labour, simple habits, and cheerful contentment, than with wealth or luxury, we are all more or less apt to live in forgetfulness of it. The social atmosphere which we breathe is too feverish and restless. We are apt to lose the blessings of to-day through over-anxiety about the morrow. We are apt to miss the enjoyment which God has put for us into the simple, common blessings of life, through our eager pursuit of something more which may not really be anything better. It might be a desirable thing for some men who are spoiling their lives through selfish ambition or sordid Mammonism, to sit for a little while even at the feet of Epicurus! But far better for all of us to sit at the feet of Christ. All that was really true and valuable in the higher Epieureanism is to be found, in a more exalted form, in Christianity. It does not bid us proudly trample on either pleasure or pain; but it bids us cultivate an inner peace and strength which shall prevent us from becoming the mere victims and slaves of circumstance. Without despising any creature of God, it nevertheless teaches us to estimate things according to their relative importance. And if only our hearts were set more steadfastly on higher things, if only we were more bent on pleasing God, we would be the better able to eat and drink and enjoy good in our labour--to enjoy with a more serene and contented spirit the simple, ordinary blessings which are common to humanity. (T. C. Finlaysen.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v24 Ecc_2:24. There is nothing better for a man than…
CRITICAL NOTES.—
Ecc_2:24. There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink] Not in the Epicurean sense, worshipping the triad of sensual life—eat, drink, and be merry; but in the sense of a rational and righteous enjoyment. In his labour. Thus it was not the luxurious enjoyment of the idle.
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MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Ecc_2:24-26
THE WISEST USE OF THE PRESENT WORLD
I. A proper enjoyment of the blessings of life. The good things of this world can never bring us true and lasting happiness if we live for them alone. But we must not despair of finding external happiness even in these, if we use them aright. There must be some lawful means of enjoying the world’s good. The Creator, in His works, has provided both for ornament and delight. We must not be as sulky children, refusing to enjoy ourselves when He invites us. To condemn all that the world offers to cheer the spirit of man, without showing how it may be properly enjoyed, or substituting some other pleasures, would either drive the soul to despair, or plunge it more deeply into unlawful pleasures. The state of our souls determines what is good or bad in pleasure. We project our nature upon the external world. “To the pure, all things are pure.” How are we to enjoy the blessings of this life?
1. They should be subordinated to our higher wants. As long as we remember that they only minister to our lower wants, we preserve the true dignity of our soul. He who has the highest good can rightly and well enjoy the lowest. When pleasure is made the end of life, the soul becomes debased, and unfit for the vision of God. The pure light of heaven in the soul can transfigure all things in life. Christ used the world, but He had superior meat, drink, and joy than He could find here. To Him, the world was a place of duty and trial; but He tasted the world’s pleasures as a “Brook by the way.”
2. They should be used with moderation of desire. “Enjoy good in his labour.” There is a happiness naturally arising out of the things of life. What we force out of them beyond their natural yield will only prove a bitter portion. The path of the wise is ever traced between dangerous extremes.
3. Superior power and facility of enjoyment must not tempt us to abuse them. (Ecc_2:25.) Solomon had riches and position—means to procure enjoyments. He had the skill to devise exquisite pleasures, and to secure an agreeable variety. But he found that all must be under the control of some exalted purpose. The best gifts of heaven may be abused; but while reason and conscience govern, we are safe.
II. A recognition of the Divine source of the blessings of life. (Ecc_2:24.)
1. The blessings of this life are the gift of God. They are His provisions for the creature whom He has made. A remembrance of the great source of all our good makes life sacred. To abuse this present world is to take an unfair advantage of infinite kindness. To worship God’s gifts instead of Himself is idolatry. We must use God’s creatures for the same end for which He made them—His glory.
2. The power to enjoy them comes from God. If we can enjoy His gifts with contentment and cheerfulness, this power comes from Him. How soon God may destroy our happiness, by either removing His gifts, or depriving us of the power of enjoying them!
3. Their true value and use can only be known by Divine teaching. If we can taste with grateful cheerfulness what is provided for us here on our way to our superior home, the idea is divinely imparted to us. When we realize the true idea of life, we can best enjoy the world. The repose of mind, and peace of conscience thence arising, are favourable to the truest enjoyment.
III. A conviction that there are Divine provisions for the good. There is an apparent indifference on the part of God to moral distinctious in the human character. Yet there are, even in this life, indications of retributive justice. God will make abundant provision for the man who is “good in His sight.”
1. He will be supplied with the true guiding principle of life. “Wisdom and knowledge.” For lack of these, many leave the best pleasures of life untasted. They are the dupes of imagination and fancy. When our earthly enjoyments are not held in check by a superior guiding power, they turn to vexation and misery. A careful observance of the facts of life, and the wisdom to employ them for the highest ends, will secure for us the purest enjoyments.
2. He will have the rational comforts of life. To him “joy” shall be given; and this depends upon the state of the heart. “A man’s life” (not the sustenance of his life, but the life by which he lives) “consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.” Existence is the gift of God’s goodness to all men, but the life of life, the joy and real soul of it, is a mark of His favour.
IV. A conviction that the impious use of the Creator’s gifts is rainous. (Ecc_2:26.) The sinner, as he riots in pleasure, may appear to have the best of the world, but he is only laying up a store of misery. The justice of heaven is not a wild passion of revenge, but is caim and dignified; and though the sword of God is not in haste to smite, yet, if not averted by repentance, it will descend with fearful destruction upon the sinner. A wrong use of this world must end in utter ruin.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Ecc_2:24. True piety is opposed to asceticism. Revealed Religion does not destroy the plain truths and duties of nature.
Piety obliges no man to be dull [South].
The common actions of life may be sanctified by a general purpose of consecration to God.
The Creator not only sends us gifts which minister to our use and delight, but even the power to enjoy is also His gift.
Christianity has ennobled many words which once served the uses of superstition by making them the representatives of nobler thoughts. In like manner, the worldly man’s triad—to eat, drink, and be merry—may be ennobled by an abiding intention of pleasing God in all that we do.
Christians may have earthly joy. Let there be no half-remorseful sensations as though they were stolen joys. Christ had no sympathy with that tone of mind which scowls on human happiness. His first manifestation of power was at a marriage feast. Who would check the swallows’ flight, or silence the gush of happy melody which the thrush pours forth in spring? [Robertson.]
Ecc_2:25. He can best lay down the law of life who is qualified by experience.
I take the original word here used to signify to call or cry aloud, and so should render the verse according to this sense: “Who can call for more freely, who can enjoy more speedily, the good of this life than I can?” And, therefore, who should also be believed rather than I, who deny the enjoying of the good of this life to be the good of man? From hence we may take this lesson, that no one do promise to himself, or take upon himself, those things which those who have been far more able than himself have not been able to perform. And for an instance: let not those promise to themselves heaven who live carelessly in religion, when it is hard for them who are very careful to attain thither [Jermin].
Ecc_2:26. True goodness is that which can endure in the sight of God.
Here we have:
1. A satisfaction for the intellect—“Wisdom and knowledge.”
2. A satisfaction for the affections—“Joy.”
3. A satisfaction for the conscience—“Good in His sight.”
Man, in the present world, is under the moral government of God, even in his pleasures. No part of his conduct is indifferent, for it has some relation to the formation of character, and therefore to our future destiny.
All the vanity, all the toilings of men after wisdom, happiness and rest, which in so many ways lead men to the grave, where ceases all the distinction which they strive to obtain on earth, are not allotted to the pious man by God; they are a curse which sin has laid upon man, but which God will make a blessing to His chosen ones. For these busy, restless creatures gather and heap up for those who are good in God’s eyes. And these latter shall gratuitously receive by the sinner’s labour what he seeks and finds not, what he labours for and cannot enjoy: wisdom, knowledge, joy. What is the Divine word, and whence are taken this wisdom, knowledge, and joy that in it exist? Are they not honey made by bees in the slain beasts? What are the stories that they tell us but examples of sinner’s toil, of the vanity and folly into which men have fallen? [Hamann.]
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv24, 26 God's hand
God's hand
Here God is represented by his "hand" to emphasize how he provides for people. AT: "from God" (See: Metonymy)
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For who can eat or who can have any kind of pleasure apart from God?
The author uses this rhetorical question to emphasize that no pleasure can be had without God's provision. This question can be written as a statement. AT: "For no one can eat or have any kind of pleasure apart from God." (See: Rhetorical Question)
translationWords
good
true
God
hand
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv24, 26 2:24-26 Though life “under the sun” (1:3) is like…
2:24-26 Though life “under the sun” (1:3) is like a vapor (2:23, “meaningless”), we should enjoy God’s good gifts of food, work, and wisdom.
2:24 pleasures are from . . . God: No one should discount God’s gifts, including the basic enjoyment of food and work. If God did not give them, they would not be available. We can be thankful and satisfied.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.