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 is love or hatred, man doesn’t know it; all is before them.
Parallel Translations
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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 is love or hatred, man doesn’t know it; all is before them.
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For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God: no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them.
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For all this I laid to my heart, even to make clear 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.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (6)
Passages linked to Ecclesiastes 9:1 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Deuteronomy 33:3 Yes, he loves the people. All his saints are in your hand. They sat down at your feet. Each receives your words.
- John 10:27-30 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give eternal life to them. They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father who has given them to me is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”
- Job 12:10 in whose hand is the life of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind?
- Ecclesiastes 7:15 All this I have seen in my days of vanity: there is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who lives long in his evildoing.
- Ecclesiastes 8:14 There is a vanity which is done on the earth, that there are righteous men to whom it happens according to the work of the wicked. Again, there are wicked men to whom it happens according to the work of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity.
- 1 Peter 1:5 who by the power of God are guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (22 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Meaning, what things he ought to choose or refuse:…
Meaning, what things he ought to choose or refuse: or man knoweth not by these outward things, that is, by prosperity or adversity, whom God doth favor or hate, for he sendeth them as well to the wicked as to the godly.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Ecc 9:1 For all this I considered in my…
Ecc 9:1 For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, [are] in the hand of God: no man knoweth either love or hatred [by] all [that is] before them.
Ver. 1. For all this I considered in mine heart.] He that will rightly consider of anything, had need to consider of many things; all that do concern it, all that do give light unto it, had need to be looked into, or else we fail too short.
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“ Sis ideo in partes circumspectissimus omnes. ”
Even to declare all this.] Or, To clear up all this to myself. Symmachus rendered it, Ut ventilarem haec universa, that I might sift and search out all these things by much tossing and turning of the thoughts. Truth lies low and close, and must with much industry be drawn into the open light.
That the righteous and the wise.] These are terms convertible. The world’s wizards shall one day cry out, Nos insensati, We fools counted their lives madness, &c.
And their works.] Or, Their services, actions, employments, all which together with themselves are "in the hand of God," who knows them by name, and exerciseth a singular providence over them, so that they are "kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation." "The enemy shall not exact upon him, nor the son of wickedness afflict him." {Psa 89:22} What a sweet providence was it, that when all the males of Israel appeared thrice in the year before the Lord at Jerusalem, none of their neighbour nations, though professed enemies to Israel, should so much as desire their land. {Exo 34:24} And again, that after the slaughter of Gedaliah, so pleasant a country - left utterly destitute of inhabitants, and compassed about with such warlike nations, as the Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites, Philistines, &c. - was not invaded nor replanted by foreigners for seventy years’ time, but the room kept empty till the return of the naturals.
No man knows either love or hatred, &c.] That is, The thing he either loves or hates, say some interpreters, by reason of the fickleness of his easily alterable affections. How soon was Amnon’s heart estranged from his Tamar, and Ahasuerus from his minion Haman, the Jews from John Baptist, the Galatians from Paul, &c.! But I rather approve of those that refer this love and hatred unto God - understanding them, θεοπρεπως, in a divine manner - and make the meaning to be, that by the things of this life, "which come alike to all," as the next verse hath it, no man can make judgment of God’s love or hatred towards him. The sun of prosperity shines as well upon brambles of the wilderness, as fruit trees of the orchard; the snow and hail of adversity lights upon the best gardens, as well as upon the wild waste. Ahab’s and Josiah’s ends concur in the very circumstances. Saul and Jonathan, though different in their deportments, yet "in their deaths they were not divided." {2Sa 1:23} How far wide then is the Church of Rome, that borrows her marks from the market, plenty or cheapness, &c. And what an odd kind of reasoning was that of her champions with Marsh the martyr, {a} whom they would have persuaded to leave his opinions, because all the bringers up and favourers of that religion, as the Dukes of Northumberland and Suffolk for instance, had bad luck, and were either put to death, or in prison, and in danger of life. Again, the favourers of the religion then used had wondrous good luck and prosperity in all things, &c.
{a} Acts and Mon., fol. 14, 21.
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 For; or, therefore, as the seventy interpreters render it.
For; or, therefore, as the seventy interpreters render it.
All this; all that I have said concerning the methods of Divine Providence towards good and bad men.
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To declare all this; to make this evident, first to myself, and then to others, as occasion required.
The righteous and the wise; whom he mentions not exclusively, as if wicked men were not in God’s hand, for the next clause relates both to good and bad men; but eminently, because by the course of God’s providence towards them they might seem to be quite neglected and forsaken by God.
Their works; either efficiently, all their actions and employments; or objectively, all things done to them, all events which befall them.
Are in the hand of God; are subject to his power, and governed by his providence, as this phrase is used Pro 21:1; Joh 3:35, compared with Mat 28:18. And therefore although we cannot fully understand the reasons of all God’s works, as he now said, Ecc 8:17, yet because they are done by his unerring hand, we may be assured that they are done both righteously and justly, and that no man hath cause to murmur at the prosperity of the wicked, or at the calamities of good men.
No man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them; no man can judge by their present and outward conditions or dispensations of God’s providence whether God loves or hates them, for whom he loves he chastens, and permitteth those whom he hates to prosper in the world. And this translation and interpretation agreeth well with the following verse. But I must confess it differs from almost all other, both ancient and modern, translations. And these words with the foregoing clause are translated otherwise, and that word for word according to the Hebrew, the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God; also love and hatred (understand out of the foregoing clause, are in God’s hand. And this may be meant either,
1. Of God’s love and hatred, which he disposeth when, and to whom, and in what manner he pleaseth. Or,
2. Of, men’s love and hatred, also their love and their hatred, the pronoun their being repeated out of the former clause, as is frequent in Scripture. And so the sense is, that not only men’s works, as he now said, but even their inward passions or affections, which seem to be most in their own power, are as much in God’s disposal as their outward actions. Then follows the last clause in the same order in which the words lie in the Hebrew text): no man knoweth all, or any thing, which is before him. Which I thus understand, whereas all men, and all their affections, and actions, and the events of them, are perfectly known to God, and disposed by him, men know nothing, no, not such things as are most plain, and easy, and familiar to them, and can neither foresee the plainest things, nor dispose of the smallest things as they please; but all things are wholly ordered and overruled by God’s providence, not as men imagine or desire, but as he sees fit.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain It has been observed concerning those who have pretended…
It has been observed concerning those who have pretended to search for the philosophers' stone that, though they could never find what they sought for, yet in the search they have hit upon many other useful discoveries and experiments. Thus Solomon, when, in the close of the foregoing chapter, he applied his heart to know the work of God, and took a great deal of pains to search into it, though he despaired of finding it out, yet he found out that which abundantly recompensed him for the search, and gave him some satisfaction, which he here gives us; for therefore he considered all this in his heart, and weighed it deliberately, that he might declare it for the good of others. Note, What we are to declare we should first consider; think twice before we speak once; and what we have considered we should then declare. I believed, therefore have I spoken.
The great difficulty which Solomon met with in studying the book of providence was the little difference that is made between good men and bad in the distribution of comforts and crosses, and the disposal of events. This has perplexed the minds of many wise and contemplative men. Solomon discourses of it in these verses, and, though he does not undertake to find out this work of God, yet he says that which may prevent its being a stumbling-block to us.
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I. Before he describes the temptation in its strength he lays down a great and unquestionable truth, which he resolves to adhere to, and which, if firmly believed, will be sufficient to break the force of the temptation. This has been the way of God's people in grappling with this difficulty. Job, before he discourses of this matter, lays down the doctrine of God's omniscience (Job 24:1), Jeremiah the doctrine of his righteousness (Jer 12:1), another prophet that of his holiness (Hab 1:13), the psalmist that of his goodness and peculiar favour to his own people (Psa 73:1), and that is it which Solomon here fastens upon and resolves to abide by, that, though good and evil seem to be dispensed promiscuously, yet God has a particular care of and concern for his own people: The righteous and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God, under his special protection and guidance; all their affairs are managed by him for their good; all their wise and righteous actions are in his hand, to be recompensed in the other world, though not in this. They seem as if they were given up into the hand of their enemies, but it is not so. Men have no power against them but what is given them from above. The events that affect them do not come to pass by chance, but all according to the will and counsel of God, which will turn that to be for them which seemed to be most against them. Let this make us easy, whatever happens, that all God's saints are in his hand, Deu 33:3; Joh 10:29; Psa 31:15.
II. He lays this down for a rule, that the love and hatred of God are not to be measured and judged of by men's outward condition. If prosperity were a certain sign of God's love, and affliction of his hatred, then it might justly be an offence to us to see the wicked and godly fare alike. But the matter is not so: No man knows either love or hatred by all that is before him in this world, by those things that are the objects of sense. These we may know by that which is within us; if we love God with all our heart, thereby we may know that he loves us, as we may know likewise that we are under his wrath if we be governed by that carnal mind which is enmity to him. These will be known by that which shall be hereafter, by men's everlasting state; it is certain that men are happy or miserable according as they are under the love or hatred of God, but not according as they are under the smiles or frowns of the world; and therefore if God loves a righteous man (as certainly he does) he is happy, though the world frown upon him; and if he hates a wicked man (as certainly he does) he is miserable, though the world smile upon him. Then the offence of this promiscuous distribution of events has ceased.
III. Having laid down these principles, he acknowledges that all things come alike to all; so it has been formerly, and therefore we are not to think it strange if it be so now, if it be so with us and our families. Some make this, and all that follows to Psa 31:13, to be the perverse reasoning of the atheists against the doctrine of God's providence; but I rather take it to be Solomon's concession, which he might the more freely make when he had fixed those truths which are sufficient to guard against any ill use that may be made of what he grants. Observe here (Ecc 9:2),
1. The great difference that there is between the characters of the righteous and the wicked, which, in several instances, are set the one over-against the other, to show that, though all things come alike to all, yet that does not in the least confound the eternal distinction between moral good and evil, but that remains immutable. (1.) The righteous are clean, have clean hands and pure hearts; the wicked are unclean, under the dominion of unclean lusts, pure perhaps in their own eyes, but not cleansed from their filthiness, God will certainly put a difference between the clean and the unclean, the precious and the vile, in the other world, though he does not seem to do so in this. (2.) The righteous sacrifice, that is, they make conscience of worshipping God according to his will, both with inward and outward worship; the wicked sacrifice not, that is, they live in the neglect of God's worship and grudge to part with any thing for his honour. What is the Almighty, that they should serve him? (3.) The righteous are good, good in God's sight, they do good in the world; the wicked are sinners, violating the laws of God and man, and provoking to both. (4.) The wicked man swears, has no veneration for the name of God, but profanes it by swearing rashly and falsely; but the righteous man fears an oath, swears not, but is sworn, and then with great reverence; he fears to take an oath, because it is a solemn appeal to God as a witness and judge; he fears, when he has taken a oath, to break it, because God is righteous who takes vengeance.
2. The little difference there is between the conditions of the righteous and the wicked in this world: There is one event to both. Is David rich? So is Nabal. Is Joseph favoured by his prince? So is Haman. Is Ahab killed in a battle? So is Josiah. Are the bad figs carried to Babylon? So are the good, Jer 24:1. There is a vast difference between the original, the design, and the nature, of the same event to the one and to the other; the effects and issues of it are likewise vastly different; the same providence to the one is a savour of life unto life, to the other of death unto death, though, to outward appearance, it is the same.
IV. He owns this to be a very great grievance to those that are wise and good: "This is an evil, the greatest perplexity, among all things that are done under the sun (Ecc 9:3); nothing has given me more disturbance than this, that there is one event unto all." It hardens atheists, and strengthens the hands of evil-doers; for therefore it is that the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil and fully set in them to do evil, Ecc 8:11. When they see that there is one event to the righteous and the wicked they wickedly infer thence that it is all one to God whether they are righteous or wicked, and therefore they stick at nothing to gratify their lusts.
V. For the further clearing of this great difficulty, as he began this discourse with the doctrine of the happiness of the righteous (whatever they may suffer, they and their works are in the hands of God, and therefore in good hands, they could not be in better), so he concludes with the doctrine of the misery of the wicked; however they may prosper, madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead. Envy not the prosperity of evil-doers, for, 1. They are now madmen, and all the delights they seem to be blessed with are but like the pleasant dreams and fancies of a distracted man. They are mad upon their idols (Jer 50:38), are mad against God's people, Act 26:11. When the prodigal repented, it is said, He came to himself (Luk 15:17), which intimates that he had been beside himself before. 2. They will shortly be dead men. They make a mighty noise and bustle while they live, but after awhile, they go to the dead, and there is an end of all their pomp and power; they will then be reckoned with for all their madness and outrage in sin. Though, on this side death, the righteous and the wicked seem alike, on the other side death there will be a vast difference between them.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain For all this I considered in mine heart,.... What…
For all this I considered in mine heart,.... What goes before, in the latter end of the preceding chapter, concerning the various providences of God, the difficulty of finding out the reasons of them, and the fruitlessness of attempting it; and also what follows, the work of Providence: Solomon gave his mind unto, attended it with great application, and strictly considered and examined it, in order to find it out, but could not; and if he could not, no other man could. And he had a good intention in all; his views were,
even to declare all this; for the end of search and inquiry should be, to make known what is found for the good of others, Job 5:27; and as the wise man had done before, Ecc 7:25; or "to purge", or "purify", as the word (p) signifies; to make dark providences clear, and consistent with the perfections and promises of God; to free and vindicate them from all charges of unrighteousness and partiality, and to set them in a clear light to others: now though he failed in his attempt, yet having made some discoveries, he imparted them, as follows: and the observations he made were,
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that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God; that those who are truly "righteous" in the sight of God; are so, in an evangelical sense, made so by the obedience of Christ; and who believe in him for righteousness, and live soberly, righteously, and godly: and who are "wise", not for the things of this world but another, who are wise unto salvation; and are concerned for the truth of grace, as well as an outward profession, and walk wisely in the world; these, their persons, are under the special care of divine Providence; they receive from the hand of God what is needful and proper for them, and they are preserved and protected by him, Ti1 4:8; and their "works", or affairs; all events relating to them, are all appointed, ordered, and directed by the hand of God, and all for their good. In a more evangelic sense, their persons are in the hands of God, Father, Son, and Spirit; in the hands of the Father of Christ, being engraven there: he looks at them, and upon them; with delight and pleasure, and never forgets them; he has a high and honourable esteem of them, they are a crown of glory, and a royal diadem in his hand; he directs and guides them, holds them, and upholds them with his right hand; and keeps them, by his power, through faith unto salvation, Joh 10:29. They are in the hands of Christ; put there by his Father, as the effect of his love, care, and wisdom; where they are in his possession, the objects of his delight; and are under his guidance and direction, his care and protection, Deu 33:3. And they are in the hands of the Spirit, who begins and carries on his own work in them; leads them to Christ, and into all truth, and guides them safe to glory, Joh 16:8. And so their "works" also are in the hands of God; the work of grace upon the soul is in the hand of the Spirit, to carry it on and finish it; good works done by them are done by the assistance of divine grace, the strength of Christ, and the aid of the blessed Spirit; are received and accepted with God through Christ; and will not be forgotten, but are retained, and will be remembered another day; see Ecc 9:7;
no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them; no man knows his own love and hatred, his passions are so fickle and inconstant; what he loves now, he presently hates, as may be seen in the instances of Ammon, Ahasuerus, and others: or he knows not that what he loves and hates shall befall him, all depending on divine Providence; or he does not know the love and hatred of others, who are his friends or his foes, there is such deceitfulness in men: or rather, he does not know the love and hatred of God, with respect to himself or others, by the outward conduct of Providence; since the same things happen to one as to another; as health and strength, wealth and riches, honour and fame, wisdom and learning, long life, and the like: good men may know that they are loved of God, by his love being shed abroad in them, by the blessings of grace bestowed on them, and the witnessings of the Spirit to them; and know that sin is abominable to God, and wicked men are hated by him; and living and dying in sin, will be eternally damned; but who is an elect person, and who a reprobate, is not to be known by the outward estate of men, as to the things of life. Some render it, "even love and hatred" (q), in connection with the preceding clause; that is, these are in the hands of God also; his love to his people is purely sovereign, according to his own will; not through any motives in them, as their love, loveliness, or good works; and his hatred of others, or the punishment of them for sin, and appointment of them to it; for the same is also as he pleases; see Rom 9:11; or the love and hatred of men; for God has the hearts and passions of all men in his hand, and at his command, and can raise or restrain them at his pleasure, Pro 21:1; the love and hatred of good men; he works in them love to himself and all divine things, and hatred of that which is evil; and also of bad men, he can make them love his people, and he can restrain their wrath when he pleases, Pro 16:7; and then the last clause is rendered, "no man knoweth all that is before them" (r); either before Elohim, the three divine Persons, to whom all things are manifest, or that were before decreed, as Aben Ezra; the purposes and decrees of God, which are the secret and deep things of God, and cannot be known but by his promises or providences: or man is so short sighted, that he cannot discern the things that are plain and manifest before him; and much less things future, that are yet to come. But the words, according to the accents, may be better rendered, as by Munster, "neither love nor hatred man knows"; whether the love professed to him is sincere, and what secret hatred is bore to him: "but all things are before him"; Elohim, the three divine Persons.
(p) "purgare", Gejerus, Gouge. (q) "etiam amor, etiam odium", i.e. "in manu Dei", De Dieu, Gouge, Gussetius, p. 150, 873. (r) "non norunt homines quicquam corum quaea ante se sunt", De Dieu; "non est homo quisquam qui cognoscat omnes qui sunt coram ipsi", Gussetius, p. 873.
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 Outward things come to good and bad men alike,…
Outward things come to good and bad men alike, ver. 1-3. Death puts an end to all, ver. 4-6. Therefore enjoy the comforts and mind the business of life while it lasts, ver. 7-10. God's providence dispenses all things, ver. 11, 12. Wisdom often makes men very useful, and yet gains them little respect, ver. 13-18.
Their works - All events which befall them are governed by his providence, and therefore although we cannot fully understand the reasons of all, yet we may be assured they are done righteously. No man - No man can judge by their present outward condition, whether God loves or hates them; for whom he loves he chastens, and permits those whom he hates to prosper in the world.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain No men knows, by any present sign, what is…
CHAPTER IX
No men knows, by any present sign, what is before him, 1.
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All things happen alike to all, 2, 3.
Comparison of the state of the dead and the living, 4-6.
Enjoy God's mercies, and live to his glory, 7-10.
The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, 11.
Man is ignorant of futurity, 12, 13.
The account of the little city, and the poor wise man, 14-18.
NOTES ON CHAP. IX
Verse 1. The righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God] This is a continuation of the preceding subject; and here the wise man draws a conclusion from what he had seen, and from the well-known character of God, that the righteous, the wise, and their conduct, were all in the hand of God, protected by his power, and safe in his approbation: but we cannot judge from the occurrences which take place in life who are the objects of God's love or displeasure.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Ecc 9:1. For, or therefore, as the LXX. render…
Ecc 9:1. For, or therefore, as the LXX. render it, all this I considered in my heart — All that I have said concerning the methods of divine providence, toward good and bad men; to declare all this — To make this evident, first to myself, and then to others; that the righteous — Whom he mentions, not exclusively, as if wicked men were not also in God’s hand, for the next clause relates both to the good and bad; but eminently, because, by the course of God’s providence toward them, they might seem to be quite neglected by God; and their works are in the hand of God — All their actions and employments; all events which befall them are governed by his providence, and therefore, although we cannot fully understand the reasons of all, yet we may be assured they are done righteously. No man knoweth either love or hatred — No man can judge by their present outward condition, whether God loves or hates them; for whom he loves he chastens, and permits those whom he hates to prosper in the world.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain A good man’s trust in God is set forth…
A good man’s trust in God is set forth as a counterpoise to our Ignorance of the ways of Providence.
In the hand of God - Under His special protection (Deu 33:3 ff) as righteous, and under His direction Pro 21:1 as people.
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No man ... - literally, both love and also hatred man knoweth not: all are before them. Love and hatred here mean the ordinary outward tokens of God’s favor or displeasure, i. e., prosperity and adversity. “Man knoweth not” probably means: “man knows not whether to expect prosperity or adversity from God; all his earthly future is in obscurity.”
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Of God. He seems to treat both alike, so…
Of God. He seems to treat both alike, so that the just themselves cannot say whether their sufferings be a punishment or a trial. (St. Jerome) (Calmet) --- Knoweth not certainly, and in an ordinary manner. (Worthington) --- Hatred. Hebrew and Septuagint, "yet love and hatred man knoweth not." (Haydock) --- Prosperity or adversity proves nothing. (Calmet) --- Mortals cannot tell whether their afflictions tend to their greater improvement, like Job’s, or they are in punishment of sin, like those of Pharao, and of the Egyptians. This they shall know after death. (Worthington) --- Yet the wicked know already that they are displeasing to God. (Salmeron in 2 Corinthians xii.) "The just and....their works are in the hand of God, even love and hatred; men know not," &c. (De Dieu; Amama)
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).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 1. For introduces this verse as a reason for…
1. For introduces this verse as a reason for the statement which concludes the previous chapter. To declare, means to prove. The righteous and wise cannot discern love or hatred — which of the two will be their next experience.
By all that is before them — The simple Hebrew is, both are before them: love and hate, good and ill.
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 For all this I considered in my heart] More…
For all this I considered in my heart] More literally, For to all this I gave my heart to dig through, i.e. to explain and penetrate to the secret of the great enigma of life.
that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God] The words hover, as it were, between the thought of Destiny and Providence, the latter, perhaps, slightly predominating. The wise and good need not despair, though they remain in ignorance of the working of the Divine Will. It is enough for them to know that they are in Its power, under Its care, and that It is in its essence as righteous as It is almighty.
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no man knoweth either love or hatred] The words have been differently interpreted according as the “love” and “hatred” are referred to God or man. In the former case, the thought would be, that as things are, no man knows by the outward events of his life whether he is the object of God’s favour or displeasure, in the latter that no man knows who, as he passes through life, will be the objects of his love or hate. Both interpretations are tenable, but the former seems more in harmony with what follows. The latter has the interest of finding a parallel in the thought of Sophocles as to the mutability of human life:
φθίνει μὲν ἰσχὺς γῆς, φθίνει δὲ σώματος,
θνήσκει δὲ πίστις, βλαστάνει δʼ ἀπιστία,
καὶ πνεῦμα ταὐτὸν οὔ ποτʼ οὔτʼ ἐν ἀνδράσιν
φίλοις βέβηκεν, οὔτε πρὸς πόλιν πόλει.
τοῖς μέν γὰρ ἤδη, τοῖς δʼ ἐν ὑστέρῳ χρόνῳ
τὰ τερπνὰ πικρὰ γίγνεται καὖθις φίλα.
“Earth’s strength doth wither, withers strength of limb,
And trust dies out, and mistrust grows apace,
And the same spirit lasts not among them
Who once were friends, nor joineth state with state.
To these at once, to those in after years,
Sweet things grow bitter, then turn sweet again.”
Œd. Col. 610–615.
by all that is before them] Better, all is before them. i. e. as in what follows: all chances and changes of life coming from love or wrath, are possible in the future.
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 (1) No man knoweth.—If this verse stood by itself…
IX.
(1) No man knoweth.—If this verse stood by itself we should understand, “Man cannot know whether he will experience marks of the Divine favour, or the reverse;” but taking Ecc_9:6 into account, we understand of a man’s own love or hatred the objects of which he cannot tell beforehand.
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By all.—Rather, all is before them.
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 Vers. 1-6. One fate happens to all, and the…
Vers. 1-6. One fate happens to all, and the dead are cut off from all the feelings and interests of life in the upper world.
This continues the subject treated above, confirming the conclusion arrived at in Ecc_8:17, viz. that God"s government of the world is unfathomable. For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this; literally, for all this laid up in my heart, and all this I have been about (equivalent to I sought) to clear up. The reference is both to what has been said and to what is coming. The ki, "for" (which the Vulgate omits), at the beginning gives the reason for the truth of what is advanced; the writer has omitted no means of arriving at a conclusion. One great result of his consideration he proceeds to state. The Septuagint connects this clause closely with the last verse of the preceding chapter, "For I applied all this to my heart, and my heart saw all this." The righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God; (Pro_21:1) i.e. in his power, under his direction. Man is not independent. Even the good and wise, who might be supposed to afford the plainest evidence of the favorable side of God"s moral government, are subject to the same unsearchable law. The very incomprehensibility of this principle proves that it comes from God, and men may well be content to submit themselves to it, knowing that he is as just as he is almighty. No man knoweth either love or hatred. God"s favor or displeasure are meant. Vulgate, Et tamen nescit homo, utrum amore an odio dignus sit. We cannot judge from the events that befall a man what is the view which God takes of his character. We must not, like Job"s friends, decide that a man is a great sinner because calamity falls upon him, nor again suppose that outward prosperity is a proof of a life righteous and well-pleasing to God. Outward circumstances are no criterion of inward disposition or of final judgment. From the troubles or the comforts which we ourselves experience or witness in others we have no right to argue God"s favor or displeasure. He disposes matters as seems best to him, and we must not expect to see every one in this world treated according to what we should deem his deserts. (comp. Pro_1:5 with Heb_12:6) Delitzsch and others think that the expressions "love" and "hatred" are too general to admit of being interpreted as above, and they determine the sense to be that no one can tell beforehand who will be the objects of, his love or hate, or how entirely his feelings may change in regard of persons with whom he is brought in contact. The circumstances which give rise to these sentiments are entirely beyond his control and foresight. This is true enough, but it does not seem to me to be intended. The author is concerned, not with inward sentiments, but with prosperity and adversity considered popularly as indications of God"s view of things. It would be but a meager assertion to state that you cannot know whether you are to love or hate, because God ordains all such contingencies; whereas to warn against hasty and infidel judgments on the ground of our ignorance of God"s mysterious ways, is sound and weighty advice, and in due harmony with what follows in the next verses. The interpretation, "No man knows whether he shall meet with the love or hatred of his fellows," has commended itself to some critics, but is as inadmissible as the one just mentioned. By all that is before them. The Hebrew is simply, "all lies before them." All that shall happen, all that shall shape their destiny in the future, is obscure and unknown, and beyond their control. Septuagint, Tanta propou aujtwn. The Vulgate mixes this clause with the following verse, But all things are kept uncertain for the future. St. Gregory, "As thou knowest not who are converted from sin to goodness, nor who turn back from goodness to sin; so also thou dost not understand what is doing towards thyself as thy merits deserve. And as thou dost not at all comprehend another"s end, so art thou also unable to foresee thine own. For thou knowest now what progress thou hast made thyself, but what I God still think of thee in secret thou knowest not. Thou now thinkest on thy deeds of righteousness; but thou knowest not how strictly they are weighed by me. Woe even to the praiseworthy life of men if it be judged without mercy, because when strictly examined it is overwhelmed in the presence of the Judge by the very conduct with which it imagines that it pleases him" ("Moral.," 29:34, Oxford transl.).
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Vers. 1-6.
All things alike to all.
I ALL MEN EQUALLY IN THE HANDS OF GOD.
1. Their persons. The righteous and the wise (ver. 1), but not less certainly the unrighteous and the foolish. God"s breath sustains all; God"s providence watches over all; God"s power encircles all; God"s mercy encompasses all.
2. Their works. Their actions, whether good or bad, in the sense explained in the last homily, "are conditioned by God, the Governor of the world and the Former of history" (Delitzsch).
3. Their experiences. "All lies before them;" i.e. all possible experiences lie before men; which shall happen to them being reserved by God in his own power.
II ALL MEN EQUALLY IGNORANT OF THE FUTURE. "No man knoweth either love or hatred," or "whether it be love or hatred, no man knoweth;" which may signify either that no man can tell whether "providences of a happy nature proceeding from the love of God, or of an unhappy nature proceeding from the hatred of God," are to befall him (J.W). Michaelis, Knobel, Hengstenberg, Plumptre); or that no man can predict whether he will love or hate (Hitzig, Ewald, Delitzsch). In either case the meaning is that no man can certainly predict what a day may bring forth. In so far as the future is in God"s hand, man can only learn what it contains by waiting the evolution of events; in so far as it is molded by man"s free determinations, no man can predict what these will be until the moment arrives for their formation.
III ALL MEN EQUALLY SUBJECT TO DEATH. "All things come alike to all: there is one event" (ver. 2).
1. To the righteous and to the wicked; i.e. to the inwardly and morally good and to the inwardly and morally evil.
2. To the clean and to the unclean; i.e. to the ceremonially pure and to the ceremonially defiled.
3. To him that sacrificeth and to him that sacrificeth not; i.e. to him who observes the outward forms of religion and to him who observes them not.
4. To him that sweareth and to him that feareth an oath; i.e. to the openly sinful and to the outwardly reverent and devout. "All alike go to the dead" (ver. 3).
IV ALL MEN EQUALLY DEFILED BY SIN. "The heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live" (ver. 3). From which may be learnt:
1. That sin is a kind of madness. This will not be doubted by those who consider that sin is the rebellion of a creature against the Creator, and that sinners generally hope both to escape punishment on account of their sin, and to attain felicity through their sin.
2. That the seat of this madness is in the soul. It may affect the whole personality of the man, but the perennial fountain whence it springs is the heart, in its alienation from God. "The carnal mind is enmity against God". (Rom_8:7)
3. That the heart is not merely tainted with this madness, but is fall of it. In other words, it is, in its natural condition, wholly under the power of sin. The total corruption of human nature, besides being taught in Scripture (Gen_6:5 Gen_8:21; Job_15:14; Psa_14:2, Psa_14:3; Isa_53:6; Mat_15:19; Rom_3:23; Eph_2:1-3) is abundantly confirmed by experience.
4. That, apart from Divine grace, this madness continues unchanged throughout life. There is nothing in human nature itself or in its surroundings that has power to subdue and far less to eradicate this madness. A new birth alone can rescue the soul from its dominion. (Joh_3:3)
V ALL MEN EQUALLY THE SUBJECTS OF HOPE.
1. Hope a universal possession. "To him that is joined to all the living there is hope" (ver. 4); i.e. while man lives he hopes. Dum spirat, sperat (Latin proverb). "Hope springs eternal in the human breast" (Pope). Even the most abject are never, or only seldom, abandoned by this passion. On the contrary, "the miserable hath no other medicine, but only hope" (Shakespeare). When hope expires, life dies.
2. Hope a potent inspiration. In ordinary life "we are kept alive by hope". (Rom_8:24) The pleasing expectation of future good enables the heart to endure present ills, and nerves the resolution to attempt further efforts. Though sometimes, when ill-grounded, "kings it makes gods, and meaner creatures kings" (Shakespeare), yet when soundly based it
Like a cordial, innocent though strong, Man"s heart at once inspirits and serenes. (Young. )
Especially is this the case with that good hope through grace (2Th_2:16) which pertains to the Christian (Rom_5:5; 2Co_3:12; Php_1:20 1Pe_1:13)
VI ALL MEN EQUALLY POSSESSED OF INTELLIGENCE. Not of equal intelligence, but equally intelligent. In particular:
1. All know themselves to be mortal. "The living know that they shall die" (ver. 5). They may frequently ignore this fact, and deliberately shut their eyes upon it, but of the fact itself they are not ignorant.
2. In this knowledge they are superior to the dead, who "know not anything, neither have they any more a reward, for the memory of them is forgotten;" who in fact, having dropped out of life, have for ever ceased to take an interest in anything that is done under the sun.
Learn:
1. The essential equality of all men.
2. The inherent dignity of life.
3. The value of the present.
HOMILIES BY D. THOMAS
Vers. 1-3.
The antidote to despondency.
It was said by a famous man of the world, "Life is a comedy to those who think, a tragedy to those who feel." The epigram is more sparkling than true; reflecting men in every age have been oppressed by the solemnity of life"s facts, and the insolubility of life"s problems. Some men are roused to inquiry and are beset by perplexities when trouble and adversity befall themselves; and others experience doubts and distress at the contemplation of the broad and obvious facts of human life as it unfolds before their observation. Few men who both think and feel have escaped the probation of doubt; most have striven, and many have striven in vain, to vindicate eternal Providence, and justify the ways of God to men.
I THE FACT THAT IN THIS EARTHLY STATE THERE IS AN ABSENCE OF COMPLETE RETRIBUTION. "All things come alike to all;" "There is one event unto all." The righteous, the good, and the wise do not seem to meet with more prosperity and greater happiness than the wicked and the foolish. The man who offers due religious observance, and who reveres his oath, is subject to misfortune and calamity equally with the negligent, the impious, the false swearer. No thunderbolt of vengeance smites the sinner, no miraculous protection is round about the upright and obedient. Nay, the righteous is sometimes cut off in the prime of his manhood; the sinner"s days are sometimes lengthened, and he dies in a delusive peace.
II THE DIFFICULTY, DOUBT, AND PERPLEXITY OCCASIONED BY THE OBSERVATION OF THIS FACT. The writer of Ecclesiastes laid to heart and explored the mysteries of Providence; and in this he was not peculiar. Every observant and thoughtful person is sometimes compelled to ask himself whether or not there is a meaning in the events of life, and, if there be a meaning, what it is. Can our reason reconcile these events, as a whole, with belief in the existence, in the government, of a God at once almighty and benevolent? Are there considerations which can pacify the perturbed breast? Beneath the laws of nature is there a Divine heart? or is man alone sensitive to the inequalities of human fate, to the moral contradictions which seem to thrust themselves upon the attention?
III THE TRUE SOLUTION OF THESE DOUBTS TO BE FOUND IN THE CONVICTION THAT ALL ARE IN THE HAND OF GOD. It is to be observed that faith in God can do what the human understanding cannot effect. Men and their affairs are not in the hand of chance or in the hand of fate, but in the hand of God. And by God is meant not merely the supreme Power of the universe, but the personal Power which is characterized by the attributes Holy Scripture assigns to the Eternal. Wisdom, righteousness, and benevolence belong to God. And by benevolence we are not to understand an intention to secure the enjoyment of men, to ward off from them every pain, all weakness, want, and woe. The purpose of the Divine mind is far higher than this even the promotion of men"s spiritual well-being, the discipline of human character, and especially the perfecting of obedience and submission. Sorrow and disappointment may be, and in the case of the pious will be, the means of bringing men into harmony with the will and character of God himself. T.
HOMILIES BY J. WILLCOCK
Vers. 1-6.
Inexorable destiny.
The teaching in this section of the book is very similar to that in Ecc_6:10-12. The Preacher lays stress upon the powerlessness and short-sightedness of man with regard to the future. A higher power controls all the events of human life, and fixes the conditions in which each individual is to live conditions which powerfully affect his character and destiny. Such a thought has been to many a source of consolation and strength. "My times," said the psalmist, "are in thy hand". (Psa_31:15) "Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things," said Jesus, (Mat_6:32) when he counseled his disciples against undue anxiety for the future. But no such comfort is drawn by the Preacher from the consideration that "the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God" (ver. 1). It suggests to him rather an iron destiny, a cage against the bars of which the soul may beat its wings in vain, than a gracious Providence. The loss of freedom implied in it afflicts him the thought that not even the feelings and emotions of the heart are under man"s control. They are excited by persons and things with whom or with which he is brought in contact. A slight change of circumstances would make his love hatred, and his hatred love; and these circumstances he cannot change or modify. Events of all kinds are before us, and God arranges what is to happen to us. "Whether it be love or hatred, man knoweth it not; all is before them" (ver. lb, Revised Version). "The river of life, along which his course lies, is wrapped in mist. Man"s destiny is wholly dark, and is out of his own control. But it is not man"s ignorance that cuts him to the heart; it is that the injustice of earthly tribunals seems to have its counterpart in g higher region. No goodness, no righteousness, will avail against the persistent injustice of the laws by which the world seems ruled. What a half-blasphemous indictment, what passionate recalcitration against the God whose fear is in his mouth, is embodied in the cold and calm despair of the words which follow in the next verse (ver. 2)!" (Bradley). He names five classes or" persons, embracing all the various types el righteousness and wickedness, and affirms that one event comes to them all, that no discrimination on the part of the Divine Ruler between them appears in their earthly lot. The first group is perhaps that of those whose conduct towards their neighbors is righteous or wicked; the second that of those who are pure or impure in heart; the third that of the religious and the irreligious; the fourth perhaps that of those whose characters are in all these relations good or evil; the fifth that of the profane swearer and the man who reverences the solemn oath. (Isa_65:16) "There is no mark at all of a moral government in this world. The providence of God is as indiscriminating as the falling tree, or the hungry tiger, or the desolating famine. If the fittest survive for a time, that fitness has nothing in common with goodness or righteousness." And one of the evil consequences of this state of matters is, as already referred to in Ecc_8:11, that those evilly disposed are subject to less restraint than they would be if Divine Providence in all cases meted out reward and punishment immediately to the righteous and the wicked. "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" (ver. 3). The gloomy thoughts concerning death and the world beyond it which filled his mind, made the "one event" that comes to all seem all the more unjust. For some, doubtless, it is a deliverance from misery, but to others it is an escape from merited punishment. Even life with all its inequalities and wrongs is better than death, and yet the righteous are swept away from the earth indiscriminately with the wicked.
Streams will not turn aside The just man not to entomb, Nor lightnings go aside To give his virtues room; Nor is that wind less rough which blows a good man"s barge.
That a strong faith in Divine Providence in spite of all outward appearances, and a firm grasp of the truth of immortality, were denied to the Preacher, need not surprise us, when we remember that the confidence we have in God"s fatherly love, and in the eternal happiness of those who are faithful to him, is derived from the teaching of Christ, and his triumphant resurrection from the dead. The Preacher had not the consolations which the gospel affords us. To him the world beyond the grave was dreary and uncertain. He was one of those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage". (Heb_2:15) The meanest form of life was superior to the condition of even the noblest who had passed within the grim portals of the grave. The living dog, loathed and despised, feeding on the refuse of the streets, was better than the dead lion (ver. 4). Hope survives while life remains, even though it may be illusive; but with death all possible amelioration of one"s lot is cut off. The bitterness of the thought is displayed in the touch of sarcasm which marks his words. "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" (ver. 5). The very consciousness of the coming doom gives a distinction to the living which is denied to the dead. The very memory of those who have passed away soon perishes. Others take their place, and carry on the business of the world. A new generation springs up, with interests and concerns and passions with which the dead have nothing to do. The strongest passions of love, hatred, and envy are quenched by the cold hand of death (ver. 6), and those who may in life have been bosom friends, or mortal enemies, or jealous rivals, lie side by side in the grave, in silence and oblivion. Nothing that is done in the earth concerns them any more (cf. Isa_38:9-20) The view here given us of the state of the dead is gloomy in the extreme. The darkness is more intense and palpable than that with which the same subject is invested in the Book of Job, and even in some of the psalms. But we must remember that though the world beyond the grave is represented by him as dim and shadowy, he affirms at the same time that "God will bring every secret thing into judgment" in "his own time and season." "Consequently, the dead, even though regarded by him as existing in a semi-conscious state in Hades, are supposed to be still in existence, and destined at some future period to be awakened out of this dreary slumber, and. rewarded according to the merit or demerit of their actions on earth. He does not, it is true, speak of this awakening out of sleep, still less does he allude to the resurrection of the body. His book is mainly occupied with the search after man"s highest good on earth, and it is only incidentally that he refers at all to the state of the dead" (Wright). The doctrine of a future judgment, in which every man will appear and receive the reward or punishment due to him, is repeatedly dwelt upon by our author; and. this of itself implies a conscious existence after death in the case of all. So far, however, as this life is concerned, the grave puts a period to all activity, extinguishes all the passions which animate the children of men. They pass into another state of existence, and. have no further concern with that which is done here on earth. 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 The righteous, and the wise, and their works, are…
Ecc_9:1
The righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God.
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In the hand of God
This is the sober second thought of a wise man who has been sorely troubled in his mind by dwelling on the mysteries of Providence. But the darkness begins to disappear as soon as he allows his mind to rest on the thought of God and of His work in eternity, the end of which no man can see. The first thought suggested is the negative one that the righteous and the wise and their works are in the hands of God, and, therefore, withdrawn from the sight of men. It is of great importance for our peace of mind firmly to grasp the thought that we cannot at all infer what God thinks or intends concerning any person or his works from the outward circumstances we observe. Is this man prosperous in the world? It does not by any means follow from this that God regards him with special favour (Luk_13:1-5). But there is a positive truth also in the words of the text--The righteous and the wise and their works are in the hand of God--not only in the sense that they are withdrawn from the sight of men, but in this far better sense, that they are safe. Being in the hand of God they are in the best hand. It is not with the onlookers here that the righteous and the wise have to do. It is with Him who looks on from the side of eternity, and who makes all things work together for good to them that love Him. Are you and your works in the hand of God? First, and most important, are you yourselves in His hand? Are you dwelling in the secret place of the Most High, abiding under the shadow of the Almighty? And you, who yourselves are in the hand of God, see that your works are there also. We know on the best authority that a man may belong to the righteous and not to the wise; he may himself be saved and yet his work be lost. Our work, as well as ourselves, must be built on Christ. (J. M. Gibson, D. D.)
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 Ecc_9:2. One event.] An equal chance or happening—the wisest…
CRITICAL NOTES.—
Ecc_9:2. One event.] An equal chance or happening—the wisest and best having no special destiny (chap. Ecc_2:14-15, and Ecc_3:19). Chance, in this use of the word, is not opposed to Providence, but is a term employed to signify the impotence of all human effort to secure any certain result. He that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.] The profane and frivolous swearer as well as he who respects the sacredness of an oath.
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Ecc_9:6. Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy is now perished.] The author keeps before him, for his present purpose, those gloomy views of the state of the dead belonging to the earlier revelation. The souls that are detained in the prison-house of death are regarded as having but a quasi existence, in which all thought and feeling have become so inert as to be scarcely perceptible. A loftier conception of the destiny of the human spirit after death is given in chap Ecc_12:7.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Ecc_9:1-6
THE SEEMING IMPERFECTION OF GOD’S MORAL GOVERNMENT
By imperfection, as applied to God’s Moral Government, we may understand either that it has some fault or fatal defect; or else that it lacks completeness, and is still but rudimentary. It is only in this latter sense that the system of God’s dealings with men can be charged with imperfection. This view, however, is not insisted upon here. The writer sets aside, for the moment, the future world. Viewed merely from this life, the action of Providence over human affairs seems to be defective. How does such an idea arise?
I. It is suggested by the fact that the Righteous and the Wicked are Subjected to an Equal Fate. (Ecc_9:2-3.)
1. In regard to the events and experiences of life. Some appear to be the favourites of fortune. But in this distribution of the world’s goods we fail to discern, in every case, the rewards of virtue. The richest gifts the world can afford often fall to the lot of the most unworthy. The righteous are sometimes prosperous, but so are the wicked. The pure and holy share the same earthly lot with the defiled. The despisers of religion have quite as good a portion in this life as those who revere God’s holy law. The profane are not frowned upon by Providence: those who reverence God are not outwardly distinguished by any special regard. Take the whole variety of human experience—joys and sorrows, prosperity and adversity, success, disappointment, and failure, health and sickness—they come alike to all. The righteous are not distinguished by any special fate. It would seem as if the fortunes of men were assigned to them by a blind chance, or by some reckless Power.
2. In regard to the expectation from life. No man can have any ground to expect that his portion in the time that remains to him will compensate for the evils of the past. Time brings no power to adjust the unequal distribution of good and evil. “No man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them.” No man can assure himself of a prosperous future on the ground of his moral excellence. He does not know in advance whether God will grant him love or hatred; whether his life will be cheered by the one, or vexed and tormented by the other.
3. In regard to the necessity of death. Righteousness does not deliver from death. The quickening of the soul by the infusion of spiritual life does not preserve the body from decay, or purchase exemption from the dishonour of the grave. “The body is dead because of sin” is a stern decree which even the closest union with Christ cannot set aside. There are times when the shadow of this terrible necessity darkens and troubles lives in which immortal hope is strong. The wisest and purest must pay the debt of nature alike with the ungodly and the fool. Death to our human eye, uninformed by a better light, seems to level all moral distinctions and to destroy the hope of righteous reward.
II. This has a Morally Injurious Effect upon Some. (Verse
Ecc_9:3.) The apparent disregard of Providence to moral distinctions of character causes some to rush upon courses of evil. This may arise,
1. From the loss of faith in God’s rectitude. Those who stumble against appearances in the moral world easily resign themselves to the belief, either that God is altogether absent from this scene of man, or quite indifferent to the conduct of His creatures. A man may brood over the moral difficulties of our present state until God vanishes from his view. Even where the truth of God’s existence cannot be wholly erased from the mind, the consciousness of his rectitude is so faintly marked that men indulge in sin without restraint. Goodness can stand any test so long as it retains the conviction that “the Judge of all the earth will do right.” When this conviction is gone, what is there left to make virtue worth a sacrifice?
2. From the weakening of the motives of moral conduct. There are some who admit a Providence, and that there is a tendency discoverable in the present state of things towards perfection. This belief, however, is so feeble that it has scarcely any perceptible influence upon the conduct. Practically, they are without faith in God. They hold no belief that is effective as a restraint in the ways of wickedness. The strange folly of their lives is so manifest that it may be charged with madness. The end of this scene is as melancholy as its course was sad and unprofitable. “After that, they go to the dead.”
III. In spite of this Imperfection, Men prefer the Present Life to the seeming Extinction of Existence in the Grave. (Ecc_9:4-6.) The dead appear to be at rest. In poetic moods, men may long for the quiet of the grave. But in the calm deliberation of thought they shrink from the idea of oblivion rushing upon their souls. They prefer life with all its disadvantages to that vague uncertainty which belongs to the state of the dead.
1. Life always affords room for hope. (Ecc_9:4.) While life remains, men may always look for a better state of things. They derive some satisfaction from resigning the rectification of their fortunes into the hands of time. The sick man hopes for recovery, though hard against the warrant of appearances, and stays himself upon that hope until the end. Mankind have felt that the light of life, even when but glimmering in the socket, lends a ray to hope. This has passed into a proverb. The meanest thing that lives is better than the noblest when dead. The poorest and most forlorn living man has no cause to envy the most wealthy and renowned when he is laid in the grave.
2. The present life has the advantage of certainty. That which is remote from us in space or future time makes but a languid impression. We may contemplate the darkness that rests upon the state of man beyond the grave until the mind is overshadowed with gloom and belief dies. Even the Royal Preacher, for the moment, resigns himself to the dreariest view of the destiny of man. Life has many advantages.
(1.) There is the fact of consciousness. “The living know that they shall die.” This is but a melancholy knowledge, yet the consciousness of possessing it yields some satisfaction. Man shrinks from the very idea of his thought and feeling being quenched in eternal midnight. To all outward appearance, the dead are for ever still—stripped of all that distinguishes and adorns life. They know nothing. The consciousness of knowing the facts of life, though some of them are painful, we cherish as a pure enjoyment; and the thought of letting it go disturbs us. While we are alive, it is possible to feel and know that we are dealt with by some Superior Power; but the dead appear to have completely done with a retributive Providence.
(2.) There is the fact of possessing a recognised place among the living. While we are numbered with the inhabitants of this world we have our circle of influence, be it great or small. The most insignificant must occupy some place in the thoughts and feelings of others, and act, and be acted upon, in turns. But the presence of the dead is removed from us, they soon cease to affect us, and at length slip entirely from the remembrance of the living.
(3.) There is the conscious play of the passions and emotions. (Ecc_9:6.) Love, hatred, and envy, with the mixture of joy and pain they involve, afford evidence of conscious life. Whether for good or baneful influence, they minister to the luxury of feeling. But, to all appearance, no emotion heaves the bosom of the dead. They seem powerless to awaken any response to love, they are conscious of no affront to stir the rage of hatred, or of rivalry to kindle the fires of envy. They are deaf alike to the voice of censure and of fame.
“Can honour’s voice provoke the silent dust,
Or flattery soothe the dull cold ear of death!”
IV. This Imperfection should not be an Insurmountable Obstacle to Faith. (Ecc_9:1.) It may be admitted that, in the scheme of Providence, there is much to try our faith. There are times in the lives of most believers when the darkest doubts take possession of the soul. Witness John the Baptist in prison, who after the clearest evidence of the Messiah’s claims, was yet disturbed by doubt, and sent two of his disciples for fresh and surer evidence. (Mat_11:2-6.) Still, though the darkness that lies over the future, and the oppression of life’s mystery, try faith severely, yet God granted to men, even in times of imperfect revelation, firm supports for faith to lean upon. “The righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hands of God.” Therefore they can afford calmly to wait. He will not disappoint their hope, nor quench in the long silence of the grave their yearnings for eternal life. The strong faith that we are in the hands of God can clear the barriers of the tomb, and find beyond them a sure place whereon to rest for ever. We have our truest refuge in the character of God. If we cherish the belief in His goodness; no difficulties, no evils, nor even the shadow of death, can affright us.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Ecc_9:1. The hand of God is not the symbol of mere power, but of power subdued and controlled by infinite wisdom and goodness. It is a hand that will gather the righteous to the bosom of their Father. When God holds us by His right hand, we may well cherish the blessed confidence that he will “afterwards receive us to glory.” (Psa_73:24.)
Not only the works of the righteous, but themselves, are in the hands of God. Much of their work may perish, as being valueless and not able to endure the final test, but they themselves shall abide for ever.
The solemn committal of the spirit into the hands of God is the last pious duty alive.
The fact that we are in the hands of God, as controlled by the Supreme Power, is one thing, but the felt conviction of it is another. When we awake to the consciousness that we have a living Director, we can pass through the most troubled darkness without fear.
Though His Providence does present a mystery to our limited faculties, yet He is not forgetful of those who fear Him. They and their works are neither unknown, nor unregarded: and He will one day make it fully manifest that His whole procedure has perfectly accorded with His character [Wardlaw].
They are kept safe in the hand of God; and that hand which now keepeth them, will at last reach forth a glorious reward unto them [Jermin].
The highest moral excellence cannot assure its possessor of human regard and love. Even the flower of humanity was constrained to say, “They hated me without a cause.”
Ecc_9:2. The true moral worth of men must not be estimated by the light of their outward fate.
Righteousness can deliver no one from the necessity of enduring the sad variety of human experience.
This life is not the last act in the great drama of human history. It is not here and now that men are receiving the due reward of their deeds. After that curtain shall have fallen that is destined to cover up and close the latest of the shifting scenes of time, it will rise once more to bring into view a vaster, grander, and more awful stage than time ever displayed [Buchanan].
Ecc_9:3. Those stern outward conditions in which all men are bound, irrespective of character, furnish a proof of some present disorder, and raise in pious souls the expectation of Divine interference to restore to goodness true place and reward.
A wise man does not hesitate to recognise obvious evils. He feels the oppression of life’s strange mystery, as the same has been felt by such saints as Job and Asaph. He is not driven to melancholy and despair, for he is sustained by a better hope. He is not driven to mad rebellion, for he fears God.
The moral mystery of our present life is a trial which God has appointed for man. If we endure it wisely and well, He rewards our faith with plentiful consolation, giving us peace in the depths of our soul. If we fail herein, we are either driven to despair or to the wildest courses of sin.
The heart distributes the power of sin within us, by which it corrupts the life and fills the world with evils.
The moral madness of sinners shows itself in foolish and impossible thoughts of God and His ways, and in foolish contrivances for their own deliverance.
Every act of sin, being an act of rebellion against the infinite God, is an act of madness; of infatuated, and impotent, and self-destroying frenzy. All worldliness of spirit, being a preference in affection and pursuit of temporal to eternal things, is madness; far beyond the derangement of the maniac who throws away gold for stones, and prefers straw to pearls and jewels [Wardlaw].
Repining against God and his Providence, because they cannot longer enjoy their sinful pleasures, they carry their sins with them to the very gates of death [Nisbet].
Ecc_9:4. While life remains, for the sinner there is the hope of amendment and restoration—for the exiles of fortunes, the hope of returning. To living man there is no gloom so oppressive but that some ray of hope may struggle through.
Life suggests the idea of liberty, of some large space to move and work in. While it is continued, the range of possibilities for us is wide. We think of death as putting an arrest upon our liberty—in some sense a prison for man.
The meanest living man possesses a superiority over the mightiest dead, in having life itself, and power, and consciousness, and feeling, and enjoyment; which with regard to the dead, viewed in their relation to this world, are all at an end; and equally at an end, whatever their power and eminence while they lived [Wardlaw].
The superior value and importance of life may be regarded either as the justification of a course of self-indulgence and pleasurable sin, or as a motive for diligence in that work which can only be done in this world. There is a mean and also a noble view of man’s existence; and as we take one or the other, so the significance of this proverb may be determined.
Ecc_9:5. The consciousness of existence is a necessary truth—the surest and most intimate knowledge we possess. This one fact gives importance and value to all others.
Existence, though it implies the knowledge of the saddest facts, is yet a positive good when compared with the total loss of conscious being.
To the eye of sense the dead seem bereft of all thought, feeling, and motion. There are appearances enough—for those who are under the tyranny of them—to justify the darkest scepticism and boldest defiance of future retribution.
As far as the opportunities, duties, and experiences of this life are concerned, the dead are completely severed from us. Even the poetical existence which memory gives them at length fades away.
Limited as is the view here given of the change death makes in the condition of those who have lived and died without God—for it is of them, as the context plainly implies, that Solomon is speaking—it is sufficiently humbling and awful. From the moment they die, their connection with this world is at an end. This world was their all, and they have lost it. They know nothing of it now. Its rewards cannot reach them in the grave. Their very name and memory soon pass away out of the world altogether [Buchanan].
Ecc_9:6. They are utterly impotent; they have no power whatever remaining, either to profit or to hurt, and are neither courted for the one, nor feared for the other. Their power to benefit and to injure is alike gone. The objects of their love can derive from it no advantage, nor can the victims of their hatred and envy sustain from them any damage. While they lived, their favour might be courted, and its effects desired; their displeasure deprecated, their hatred and envy dreaded, and the consequences of them anxiously shunned. But their mere names have no charm, either of blessing or of curse. The ashes of the grave can do neither evil nor good.… Their portion of enjoyment is gone for ever. Death is not a temporary absence, but an eternal adieu [Wardlaw].
How little have we to fear from the rage of human passions which, so far as they can affect us, are totally extinguished in the grave.
Man is destined to a continuity of existence, but in his progress through it, as one door is opened before him, another closes behind. Whatever awaits man in the future world, the severance from this world is most complete.
These gloomy views of the state of the dead are modified by the later Revelation—their sadness relieved by Christian hope; yet death, in some sense, does reign over all until the resurrection. When “this mortal puts on immortality,” only then is the victory of man over the grave complete.
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.
The Sermon Bible 1900 · Public Domain This is the sober second thought of a wise…
Ecc 9:1
This is the sober second thought of a wise man who has been sorely troubled in his mind by dwelling on the mysteries of Providence. His first hasty conclusion is one which is too often drawn from such observations; viz., that, inasmuch as Providence shows no special favour to the works of the righteous, it is scarcely worth one’s while to trouble one’s self about them. What is the use of flying so high and missing everything, when one might at least take life easy while it lasts, and enjoy its pleasures while he may? But though a doubter and sorely perplexed for the moment, he is no infidel. So long as he believes in God there is hope for him. The dark thoughts he has been thinking have all been connected with man and his work in time, the very best of which seems so often to come to such a lamentable end. But the darkness begins to disappear as soon as he allows his mind to rest on the thought of God and of His work in eternity, the end of which no man can see. Thus is the way prepared for that calm confidence expressed in the words before us.
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I. The first thought suggested is the negative one that "the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God," and therefore withdrawn from the sight of men. It is of great importance for our peace of mind firmly to grasp the thought that we cannot at all infer what God thinks or intends concerning any person or his works from the outward circumstances we observe.
II. But there is a positive truth also in the words of the text—"The righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God"—not only in the sense that they are withdrawn from the sight of men, but in this far better sense: that they are safe. Being in the hand of God, they are in the best hand. The Lord knoweth them that are His; and is not that enough, though the onlooker from this side knoweth not?
III. Are you and your works in the hand of God? We know on the best authority that a man may belong to the righteous and not to the wise; he may himself be saved and yet his work be lost. Our work, as well as ourselves, must be built on Christ.
J. Monro Gibson, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xx., p. 211
References: Ecc 9:1-10.—R. Buchanan, Ecclesiastes: its Meaning and Lessons, p. 322; T. C. Finlayson, A Practical Exposition of Ecclesiastes, p. 199. Ecc 9:3.—G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 64.
Ecc 9:4
The lesson of the Preacher is an old one. While there is life there is hope, and only while there is life. Let us be up and doing, for the night cometh, in which no man can work. Our actual opportunities, small and trifling though they may seem, are, simply because they are still in our power, infinitely more valuable than even the greatest and noblest when once these have slipped from our grasp for ever. Consider the truth that in all things admitting of the distinction, things that can be said to be living and to be dead, it is life which gives the value, it is the earnestness and truth which underlie all real vital power that alone give significance and redeem from worthlessness; and that unless the angel be there to stir the waters, even the pool of Bethesda is but a stagnant pool, powerless and disappointing. It is thus both in nature and also in man, in the outer world which attracts and engages the senses and in the inner world of soul and spirit. It is the fresh life in both that we value, and justly.
I. The acquisition of knowledge—who that has not learnt it by experience can conceive its seductive charm for the student? Those misers of knowledge who have so devoted themselves to acquire that they have never learnt how to impart, nor even to arrange their own treasures for use, are but as children in comparison with those who in the cultivation of their intellect have never forgotten that, as living men, they must cultivate also the power of communicating their living thought to others. The fresh life is there, and men acknowledge its value.
II. Even so is it with preaching. If a man will speak to my heart, he must not content himself with old forms of thought, however sacred, and the repetition of familiar, uncontested truths, however solemn. Let the preacher bring forth from his treasure-house things new as well as old.
III. So, too, is it, remarkably, with prayer. What the stricken heart requires is not merely the general prayer, however noble and solemn in itself, but that the soul of him that prays shall come forth to meet its own, shall throw itself into its feelings, and with fresh prayer—prayer fresh from the living fountain of the heart—shall ascend in few but earnest words to the throne of all grace.
IV. Is it not thus also in the world of thought and of opinion? If the tree of knowledge is to live, must we not expect that in time what is dead must be pushed off by living growth? Let us cling to that which is living and true, though only so long as its life and truth continue.
T. H. Steel, Sermons in Harrow Chapel, p. 144.
References: Ecc 9:4.—A. J. Bray, Christian World Pulpit, vol. iv., p. 17; F. Hastings, Ibid., vol. xxx., p. 107. Ecc 9:7.—Contemporary Pulpit, vol. v., p. 312.
Ecc 9:7-8
I. This is one of those passages, so remarkable in the writings of Solomon, in which the words of sinful men in the world are taken up by the Holy Ghost, to be applied in a Christian sense. As they stand in Ecclesiastes, it seems very plain that they are intended to represent the sayings and thoughts of sensual, careless people, indulging themselves in their profane ways, their utter neglect of God and goodness, with the notion that this world is all. But see the ever-watchful goodness and mercy of God. The words which the dissolute, wild-hearted sinner uses to encourage himself in his evil, inconsiderate ways He teaches us to take up, and use them in a very different sense: to express the inward joy and comfort which God’s people may find in obeying Him. They are God’s gracious word of permission to those who fear Him, encouraging them to enjoy with innocence, moderation, and thankfulness the daily comforts and reliefs with which He so plentifully supplies them even in this imperfect world.
II. If Christians were at all such as they ought to be, these words might be well and profitably understood with a particular reference to this sacred season of Whitsuntide. This time is the last of the holy seasons; it represents to us the full completion of God’s unspeakable plan for the salvation of the world. Supposing, then, any humble, faithful Christian to have rightly kept the former holy seasons, may we not without presumption imagine him to hear the voice of his approving conscience, the certain yet silent whispers of the Holy Comforter in his heart, "Go thy way now; receive the fulness of the blessing of these sacred days, which thou hast so dutifully tried to observe "?
III. "Let thy garments be always white, and let thy head lack no ointment." (1) This would be felt by the Christians of ancient times as peculiarly suitable to the holy season of Whitsuntide. For that was one of the solemn times of baptizing, and the newly-baptized were always clothed in white. To say, therefore, to Christians at Whitsuntide, "Let thy garments be always white," was the same as saying, "Take care that at no time you stain or sully the bright and clear robe of your Saviour’s righteousness." (2) Oil is in Scripture the constant token of the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit. Therefore to say, "Let thy head lack no ointment," would mean, "Take care that thou stir up, cherish, and improve the unspeakable gift of which thou art now made partaker. Use diligently all the means of grace which Christ has provided for thee in His kingdom, whereof thou art now come to be an inheritor."
Plain Sermons by Contributors to "Tracts for the Times," vol. vi., p. 117.
References: Ecc 9:7, Ecc 9:8.—J. Keble, Sermons from Ascension Day to Trinity Sunday, p. 315. Ecc 9:8.—Outline Sermons to Children, p. 85.
Ecc 9:10
What, then, is the work which we are placed here to do? Our work is to prepare for eternity. This brief, busy, passing life is the time of our probation, our trial whether we will be God’s or not, and consequently whether we are to dwell with Him or be separated from Him for ever. The great work we have to do is to serve God, which is, at the same time, to obtain the most real and stable enjoyment of which we are capable here and secure everlasting happiness hereafter. In one word, our great work is religion—our duty to God and man.
I. Take the duty of prayer, without which the life of religion droops and dies. Every day we have this to do. Do we do it with our might? Let us remember how important the duty is, and that they who are going to the grave, where there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, cannot afford to waste one day—it may be their last—the privilege of seeking the pardon and the grace without which their soul must die.
II. And so, too, of reading and hearing God’s word. What a listless, spiritless thing is the study of the Bible to many of us! We open it unwillingly, as a task, not a privilege; we would rather read other books. Let us read and hear the Scriptures as the voice of God speaking to us and teaching us His will and the way of our salvation. The Bible can never be a dull book to those who, whatever their hand findeth to do, do it with their might.
III. Consider the life within—the contest that is going on in every Christian’s breast with the remains of his corrupt nature. How have you been waging this contest? We must fight the good fight, or we cannot receive the crown. We must take up the daily cross of the inner man, or we cannot be Christ’s disciples. And therefore let us do it with our might.
IV. Let us ask whether we have done good to others as we ought. How very few ever take any trouble, make any sacrifice, use any personal exertion, for the temporal or spiritual good of others! "Whatsoever our hand findeth to do, let us do it with our might."
J. Jackson, Penny Pulpit, No. 692.
What the text bids us carry into life is, in one word, animation. Do all things with animation. As the old poet sang, "Let not your own kingdoms drowse in leaden dulness."
I. We hear it said sometimes that even wrong things done with energy give more hope of a character than goodness pursued without interest. This is of course not true; we can do no harm, however slight, without corrupting ourselves more than by the feeblest goodness. But that the thought should ever be expressed, and occur to one, as it sometimes will, when we pity the wretchedness of life without passion, is a witness of the unbounded power of animation within us and in the sphere of our action.
II. If ever you see the spirit of the world incarnate in one man, that man will tell you enthusiasm is a mistake. He would sum up for you the experiences of his life by telling you to dismiss zeal. It is the way to reach unscrupulous eminence for the individual, and it is the way to lay society in ashes. Not the evildoer himself does so much to destroy the relief, and the relative value, and the natural colouring of truth and of knowledge.
III. It you own the power of animation in other things, carry it energetically into the highest of all human acts: endeavour to be earnest and animated in your prayers to God. Let us try to be animated in prayer, and we shall be animated in life, and other lives will be the better for it. We cannot tell how, we cannot see the mystery, but we know that the life of God would flow down into us, and then from us, and would inspire and fill the life of man.
Archbishop Benson, Boy Life: Sundays in Wellington College, p. 103.
I. Consider in what the danger consists against which we are here put on our guard. It appears upon the calmest consideration that the business of this world, even that which is most important and most necessary, considered only in itself and as belonging to this world, is in fact of small consequence, perhaps one might say, of none at all. Why, then, it may be asked, do people trouble themselves so much as they do about this world’s goods, of which they must be of necessity soon deprived? The answer must be, Because, however sure it may be that they must be so soon deprived of these things, yet they do not think it sure; the hour of death, always uncertain, may be distant: and because it may be distant, we take for granted it must be. The best of us surely will confess that they have by no means done their duty "with all their might," but faintly, imperfectly, and indolently, as if they should have an opportunity for work, and device, and knowledge, and wisdom in the grave, whither they are going.
II. "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.’ Does not this plainly imply that we are expected to be very exact and particular about our behaviour hour after hour; in other words, that we are to be careful not merely to be doing right, but to be doing it with zeal, heartiness, and sincerity, and not as if we thought that God cared not how we served Him?
III. In the control and management of our tempers, especially under trying circumstances, the sacred word is addressed to us.
IV. Carelessness about religious truth is a sign of want of love for God. No person can be indifferent about such a subject without great danger. To this also the heavenly warning seems to be especially applicable. Think no labour or cost too great by which you may find out where the truth lies, and by what means you may be preserved in it steadfast to the end.
Plain Sermons by Contributors to the "Tracts for the Times," vol. i, p. 53.
The text divides itself into three heads:—
I. What we are to do. The Preacher says, "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it." No one will be excused for remaining idle through life, for there are some things which our hand "findeth to do" in every stage of life. Unity of purpose and design is a great secret of success. Another, scarcely of less importance, is patience. If we are to imitate our Lord in His activity when once entered upon His ministry, we are bound no less to imitate Him in His repose, in that calm attitude which belongs to conscious strength, and to avoid that restless, bustling activity which seeks to do work which our hand does not find, which labours at the wrong time, and therefore without effect. There is no true greatness in man where this patience is wanting.
II. How we are to do it. The text says, "Do it with thy might." Whatever may be our powers, be they great or small, they are to be exerted to the full. All labour is useless wherein the hand alone works. Every work needs attention. It may call for the exercise of very few faculties of the mind, but these cannot be dispensed with.
III. Consider the reason. Why are we to do it? "For there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest." Succeeding periods are the graves of the past. You use your time or you waste it; you come out of a trial stronger or feebler; habits of industry or indolence are strengthened according as you do the work your hand finds to do or neglect it.
G. Butler, Sermons in Cheltenham College Chapel, p. 103.
Ecc 9:10
(with Col 3:23)
Today I would speak of our daily business; and I have chosen two texts because in them we see, compared and contrasted, the teachings on this subject, first, of the philosophy which, for the moment at any rate, is confined to this life, and, next, of the Gospel of Him who holds the keys of this world and of the next. How infinite is the contrast between the cheerful and hopeful spirit of the second text and the earnest sadness of the book of Ecclesiastes.
I. The business of life is not regarded as that which our hand simply "finds to do" by chance or by choice. It is that in which we "serve the Lord"—that which He has set us to do, and for which He will give us the reward. St. Paul elsewhere speaks of men as being "fellow-workers with God" in carrying out the eternal law of that dispensation which He has been pleased to ordain in relation to His creatures. All of us, whether we know it or not, in some sense whether we will or not, "serve the Lord."
II. When we speak of the Lord here, we evidently mean the Lord Jesus Christ, not merely God, but God made man, Himself at once the Lord of lords and the chief of servants. The Lord whom we serve is not One who says simply, "Believe in Me and obey Me," but One who says, "Follow Me." There is a peculiar instructiveness and beauty in the very fact that for many years of His earthly life, in humble preparation for His higher ministry, our Lord Himself was pleased to have an occupation or business, and help, we must suppose, to win the bread of the carpenter’s home in Nazareth.
III. Christianity neither forbids nor discourages business. But what it must do is to give to it greater purity, greater energy, greater peace, greater harmony with the growth in us of a true humanity.
Bishop Barry, Sermons at Westminster Abbey, p. 35.
I. "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do." The warning is not addressed to utter idlers, to that "sluggard" who is so often the object of the wise king’s almost contemptuous admonition. It assumes that men have found something to do, some real interest. It urges them to carry out this in good earnest, to throw themselves into it, to put their heart into it.
II. The temptation for us all, young or old, is not to throw our heart into our work, not to do it "with our might." (1) There is the temptation to think that it does not after all very much matter; that, do what we will, all will be much the same as it has hitherto continued. Solomon felt these benumbing influences with a force which a smaller nature could not have felt, and yet he could deliberately urge as the result of his experience, "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might." (2) We think that we are not well fitted for that work which our hand has been compelled to find to do. All that God requires is that we should do our best. He does not need our works; but He does need—let us reverently say it—that we should do our best in every work with which our hands are busied. (3) If we ask ourselves why it is that we are in general so little in earnest in our work, conscience at once replies that it is because we allow some trifle to distract our thoughts.
III. Think what would be the case if we did with our might whatever our hand found to do. The might of the weakest is so marvellously strong. It is the sustained, hearty effort which leads to great results.
IV. The maxim of Solomon is based upon a melancholy motive. The Christian has a happier motive for exertion; but from one motive or another, exertion, sustained and hearty, must be forthcoming. (1) With thy might, because the time is short, because the night cometh, when no man can work. (2) With thy might, because the Lord Jesus is looking on, and smiling approval on, every earnest, humble effort. (3) With thy might, because the harvest is infinite, and the labourers are miserably few. (4) With thy might, because the Lord of the harvest condescends to expect much even from thee.
H. M. Butler, Harrow Sermons, p. 398.
The substance of these texts is the duty of earnest and hearty working, the duty of doing with all our might and with all our heart whatever work God lays to our hand. It has to do with:—
I. School-work. There is no way of being a scholar but by working for it. It is harder for some than for others, but in every case it is work. In the case of young people it is peculiarly the work which "their hand findeth to do"—the work which God gives them, as His work as well as theirs. Regarding this school-work, the command is, "Do it with thy might."
II. Home-work. This runs alongside of the other. The home-work is an important part of the training for after-life. Here, too, the right-hearted will recognise the duty, "Do it heartily, as unto the Lord."
III. Business-work. When school-days are over, we are in the habit of speaking of "beginning to work." Whatever is worth doing is worth doing well; and however humble the work is, it is each one’s duty to do it as well as it can be done. It is often when people are busy at their work that the Lord comes to them in the way of blessing.
IV. Soul-work. This is rather a work to be wrought for us than by us. But then we must be in earnest about it. Here again the Lord says, "Do it with thy might."
V. Christian work. What is required of us is just that we should do what we can. The question whether that be little or much need not concern us.
J. H. Wilson, The Gospel and its Fruits, p. 289.
References: Ecc 9:10.—Plain Sermons by Contributors to "Tracts for the Times" vol. i., p. 62, and vol. v., p. 1; Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. v., No. 259, and vol. xix., No. 1119; Ibid., Morning by Morning, p. 331; J. H. Newman, Parochial and Plain Sermons, vol. vii., p. 1; H. Thompson, Concionalia: Outlines of Sermons for Parochial Use, 2nd series, p. 192; H. W. Beecher, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xi., p. 5, and vol. xxiii., p. 4; J. Kelly, Ibid., vol. xviii., p. 6; J. B. Heard, Ibid., vol. xix., p. 120; Canon Barry, Ibid., vol. xx., p. 216.
Ecc 9:11
I. Life reigns in all the worlds, however powerful the hindrances to life at times may be. The real work of the world is not done by the swift or the strong, but by the multitudinous, universal push of humble, irrepressible life. Light and sunbeams, and rain and dews, call gently to the hidden life; and life, shy and tender, peeps forth at the call, and comes out conquering and irresistible, clothing with grass a thousand hills, making hill and plain alike to live. "The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong."
II. And is this truth less true in the world of men? That world also has its armies, its philosophies, its powers that shake and destroy, great to hear and great to see. But the violent passions, the famous outbreaks, the upheavals—what do they do? They shatter the nations; they break in fragments, it may be, half a world; a fear comes on mankind, and many fall down and worship. But wait a little, wait, and all is still: and ruined homes, and graves, and barren lands are all that is left of the glory and the noise, till by degrees life comes back, now here, now there, a little tentative shoot, as it were, a stir, a movement; a delicate tendril of loving work revives; a patch begins to be cultivated; and by degrees a new creation rises, a subtle web of woven life veils and covers the rents, and ruins, and sharpnesses, and sorrows, and crimes that witness to destroying force, and life is lord of all again, for "the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong."
III. This parable leads us step by step to Him the King of life, Christ Jesus. His life alone was the one only almightiness which by living and being sacrificed re-created a lost world. For "the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong." In the midst of conquering armies, imperial pomp, wealth, majesty, kings, and throngs of men, a little Infant in a manger is life. Life, conquering, supreme, Divine, was on earth as a Babe, as a Child, as a lonely Man. And we have a sure faith that nothing living, truly living, ever dies. We know in Christ that there is a life here which is of Christ and will not die.
E. Thring, Uppingham Sermons, vol. i., p. 138:
References: Ecc 9:11-18.—R. Buchanan, Ecclesiastes: its Meaning and Lessons, p. 344; T. C. Finlayson, A Practical Exposition of Ecclesiastes, p. 213.
Ecc 9:12
I. There are many cases in which to our weak eyes the love of God is apparently most questionable, in which men and women seem absolutely abandoned to tyrannous circumstances, to the wicked wills of others, to their own weakness, without a grain of help being afforded them. This is one of the torturing religious problems; and though I believe there is an answer to it, I do not say that we have found it yet. Some light may be thrown on the matter when we think of a Divine Father of men, revealed as the Redeemer in Jesus Christ of the whole race from evil. Only we must add to the ordinary theological conception the assertion that the fate of no one is decided in this world, that our short space of thirty or sixty years is but a moment in the long education which God is giving to every soul, and that the end of that education is inevitable good, never inevitable evil. If that be true, we can look with some hope upon the problem of these victims.
II. But on the whole the cases in which we can clearly say men and women are victims are exceptional ones, and the wisest thing to do is never in practical life to assume that any are victims. That they exist is plain; but we have no right to say to any one till his death that he cannot get rid of weakness, much less to assume that we cannot do so ourselves. Our tendency, indeed, is to give way, to throw the reins on the neck of our fancies, our passions, and our appetites, and let them carry us where they will; but the very definition of a man is one who is born to subdue the tendency to give way to every impulse, and to make his qualities tend towards right and noble things. Not to strive to fulfil this is to cease to be a man. Our true life is found in resistance in its pain, and afterwards in its sublime and victorious joy.
S. A. Brooke, Sermons, 2nd series, p. 178.
Reference: Ecc 9:13-18.—J. Hamilton, The Royal Preacher, p. 181.
Ecc 9:14-18
I. The little city. At first sight it may seem rather paradoxical to compare this great world of ours, with its almost innumerable inhabitants, its vast area, its enormous resources, to the little city with few men within it. But do we not, comparatively speaking, take too exalted a view of this little world? For relatively little it is after all, but an insignificant fraction of God’s great universe. We know nothing of the circumstances to which the little city owed its danger—it may or may not have been its own fault—but we do know the cause of the peril in which the human family has been involved, and that the blame lies entirely with ourselves. We have forced God into the position of a foe, although He is in His heart our best and truest Friend.
II. The great king. Whom are we to see represented by the great king—an angry God about to inflict judgment or a malignant spirit of evil assailing the human heart with his temptations? The sad and terrible truth is that we need not be at any pains to answer this question, for in one point God and Satan are at one, and that is in the recognition of the demands of justice against the sinner. Satan, from this point of view, is but the executioner of the Divine decree, and obtains his power over us in virtue of the sanctions of the broken Law. Satan is only to be feared when his assaults are backed by the law of God.
III. The poor wise man. Our Wise Man, Himself the innocent, offered Himself, with a wisdom which was the child of love, that the guilt of our city might first be imputed to Him the innocent, and that His innocence might be imputed to our city, so that by His voluntary self-sacrifice one man might die for the city, and the city itself might be safe.
W. Hay Aitken, Newness of Life, p. 72.
References: Ecc 9:14, Ecc 9:15.—S. Baring-Gould, One Hundred Sermon Sketches, p. 95. Ecc 9:18.—Homiletic Quarterly, vol. ii., p. 538; New Manual of Sunday-school Addresses, p. 47. 9—C. Bridges, An Exposition of Ecclesiastes, p. 211. Ecc 10:1.—S. Baring-Gould, One Hundred Sermon Sketches, p. 10; J. Hamilton, The Royal Preacher, p. 169. Ecc 10:1-20.—R. Buchanan, Ecclesiastes: its Meaning and Lessons, p. 363. Ecc 10:7.—Spurgeon, Morning by Morning, p. 140. Ecc 10:8.—G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 345; H. Wonnacott, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxvii., p. 90. Ecc 10:9.—Spurgeon, Evening by Evening, p. 324.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain Live Worthily While You May
Live Worthily While You May
1-3. The future is in God's hands. Good and bad alike must die.
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1. Considered in] RV 'laid to.' Declare] RV 'explore.' No man.. before them] RV 'whether it be love or hatred, man knoweth it not; all is before them.' Whether God's dealings with them shall be such as to suggest His favour or displeasure is unknown, because the part of life not yet traversed cannot be penetrated.
2. There seems no discrimination in the lot of men.
4. A living dog] Life has at any rate one advantage over death. The miserable hope that either positive happiness, or at least better fortune than in the past, may lie before them. The saying receives its point from the contempt with which a dog is regarded in the East.
5. The living know] A conscious recognition of the inevitable is better than the oblivion which belongs to death.
7-10. Couple enjoyment and work.
8. White] as symbolical of cheerfulness (2Ch_5:12), and perhaps here, as later (e.g. Rev_3:4.), of purity. White was constantly worn at feasts. Ointment] Sweet fragrant unguents for perfuming the person.
10. Be not half-hearted in any duty. The present alone is yours: cp. 'in diligence not slothful' (Rom_12:11 RV). In St. Paul's day the darkness had been lighted up, and this precept consequently transformed in the words which close the great Resurrection chapter (1Co_15:58).
11-18. Results must be left to God. Wisdom is better than strength, yet it is despised.
17. Are heard in quiet] RV'spoken in quiet are heard.' There are times when men's voices are hushed to listen to wise counsel.
18. One sinner, etc.] One man's evil deed may bring to nought wide-reaching purposes of good.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain 1. The common fate (Ecc 9:1-6)
CHAPTER 9
1. The common fate (Ecc 9:1-6)
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2. Make the best of life (Ecc 9:7-10)
3. The great uncertainty (Ecc 9:11-12)
Ecc 9:1-6. Here is another conclusion. The righteous and the wise with their works are in the hands of God. One event is in store for all, for the righteous, the wicked, the good, the clean, the unclean, the one who sacrificeth and the one who sacrificeth not--the grave is the one common goal. In that goal there is the end of all human toil and ambition. But even with this knowledge that all go one way, and the certainty of it, man does not reckon with it at all; “the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live.” They live on with madness in the heart; then comes death. Surely reason, dark reason, says “a living dog is better than a dead lion”; the dead lion has nothing left of all his majestic awe, but if man is alive, though he be as a dog, it is the better thing. Surely everything here is pessimism gone to seed. And what in this darkening perplexity does the searcher have to say about the dead? “The dead know not anything, neither have they any more reward; for the memory of them is forgotten” (Ecc 9:5). And again, “There is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave (Sheol) whither thou goest.” But is this the truth? Is this a doctrine of the faith delivered unto the saints? Is this the revelation of God? A thousand times, No! It is the verdict which the natural man, pagan or infidel philosopher, pronounceth. But revelation, the life and immortality brought to light by the gospel, tells us something entirely different. Yet these sentences penned when the searcher finds himself in the most despairing condition, are used by men and women, who claim to be Christians, to prove the abominable doctrines of “soul-sleep,” that after death the soul plunges into a state of unconsciousness, and that the wicked are annihilated. Christian doctrine? NO! but paganism, and a denial of the revelation from above the sun.
Ecc 9:7-10. Therefore, because “death ends it all,” that unbelievable conclusion of the natural man, make the best of life. Feast well and enjoy your wine, be sure and let the wine of earthly joys make your heart merry. Dress spotlessly in the heights of fashion; be well groomed; put ointment on your head. Have a good time with your wife; enter into everything energetically--for a little while longer and you reach the common fate. Is this also “revelation” for faith to follow, or is there something better from above the sun? The New Testament answers blessedly this question.
Ecc 9:11-12. He returns-to speak another word. Even this is not satisfying. A man knoweth not his time, “As the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare, so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.”
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain Concerning Human Destiny
Concerning Human Destiny
v. 1. For all this I considered in my heart, in applying himself to learn true wisdom, even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, their fate or destiny, are in the hand of God, that human effort with all its results depends entirely upon God; no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them, that is, he cannot tell whether happiness or unhappiness will be his lot, for his future is hidden by a veil which he cannot penetrate.
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v. 2. All things come alike to all, the destiny of all men is decided by the Lord; there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked, the same Providence governing the lives of both; to the good, and to the clean, and to the unclean, in the moral sense; to him that sacrificeth, fulfilling the outward obligations of divine worship, and to him that sacrificeth not; as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth as he that feareth an oath, the one who is rash and frivolous with his oath and he who holds it sacred.
v. 3. This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all, that they are all subject to the same destiny, as it seems to the observer; yea, also the heart of the sons of men it full of evil, since they all apparently are in the power of death in the same manner, and madness is in their heart while they live, since they have their inevitable lot before their eyes, and after that they go to the dead, which seems to be the aim of existence and the end of all men, their ultimate fate.
v. 4. For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope, and so the condition of the living is still to be preferred, one should not give way to a sinful hopelessness; for a living dog is better than a dead lion, that is, no matter how lowly is a person’s position in life, his condition is preferable to that of even the most honored person who has been claimed by death and can therefore no longer labor nor enjoy the fruits of his labor.
v. 5. For the living know that they shall die, the consciousness of their inevitable fate gives them at least so much superiority over the dead; but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward, their fate is decided for the present, they are beyond reward; for the memory of them is forgotten, in most cases their very name becoming a hollow, meaningless mound in a few years.
v. 6. Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, all the sentiments which actuated them in life, is now perished, the activities connected with these attributes have ceased; neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun, their bodies are in the grave, and all communication with the world of the living has ceased. Note that both the doctrine of purgatory and the vagaries of spiritism are here denied.
v. 7. Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart, this being the conclusion which the author reaches on the basis of his contemplations; for God now, at the present time, here in this world, accepteth thy works. Note that the text presupposes food gained by each person by his own efforts.
v. 8. Let thy garments be always white, in token of joy; and let thy head lack no ointment, for its absence would have been considered a sign of grief.
v. 9. Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest, the lawfully wedded spouse, all the days of the life of thy vanity, which He hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity, Pro 5:15-19; Pro 18:22; for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labor which thou takest under the sun, that is, a proper enjoyment of God’s blessings will compensate the believer for the toil and labor which is the inevitable lot of men in life.
v. 10. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, whatever task falls to man’s lot in life, whether in daily labor or in any other undertaking begun in the name of the Lord, do it with thy might, with vigor and energy; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave, whither thou goest. It is necessary for the believers to work the works of their heavenly Father while it is day; the night cometh when no man can work, Joh 9:4.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 I thought about all this in my mind
I thought about all this in my mind
"I thought very deeply about all this"
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They are all in God's hands
Here the word "they" refers to "the righteous and wise people" as well as "their deeds."
in God's hands
Here the word "hands" refers to power and authority. AT: "under God's control" (See: Metonymy)
whether love or hate will come to someone
This speaks of "love" and "hate" as if they are people that may come to visit someone else. AT: "whether someone will experience love or hate" (See: Personification)
translationWords
mind
understand
righteous
wise
works
God
hand
know
love
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 9:1 No one knows whether God will show them…
9:1 No one knows whether God will show them favor: There is no guarantee that righteousness will be rewarded in this life (cp. 3:17-22; 8:10-15; 12:14).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.