Chapter Seven

1–23. Moral instructions of the Preacher. 24–29. The depravity of woman.

Ecclesiastes 7:1. A good name is better than fine ointment, and the day of death is better than the day of one’s birth. Ecclesiastes 7:2. It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting; for that is the end of all men, and the living will take it to heart. Ecclesiastes 7:3. Sorrow is better than laughter; for by sadness of the face the heart becomes better. Ecclesiastes 7:4. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; the heart of fools is in the house of merriment. Ecclesiastes 7:5. It is better to hear the rebuke of a wise man than to hear the song of fools; Ecclesiastes 7:6. for the laughter of fools is like the crackle of thorns under a pot. And this is vanity! Up to chapter 7, the relation to life which the Preacher had taught, the “best” he had found in life, was indicated by him briefly and generally. Due to this, his teachings might give rise to too one-sided an understanding. It might have seemed (and indeed has often seemed so) that the Preacher invites to epicurean enjoyment of life, to extracting from it all possible pleasures and especially sensual ones. His “eat, drink, and be merry” might be understood as an invitation to unbridled revelry at the feast of life, as an invitation to take as much pleasure as possible from life, not troubled by the thought of an unknown future. Chapter 7 eliminates any possibility of such a misunderstanding and establishes the true meaning of the Preacher’s teachings. In exhorting to “be merry,” he had in view not that frivolous, vulgar merriment amid worldly amusements and diversions which leaves behind a feeling of emptiness and moral dissatisfaction, but a bright, festive mood which sees in everything that happens a manifestation of divine reason and, therefore, knows how to extract moments of pure, serene joy even from suffering, whether of others or one’s own. Internal experience has taught the Preacher that the contemplation of human suffering and even death awakens in the soul that special fullness of moral feeling which creates a more lasting happiness than all vulgar entertainments, as fleeting as the crackle of thorns (v. 6). Man learns then to understand the true meaning of life, to reconcile himself with evil, not to fear death, to remain serenely joyful in all circumstances of life. In view of this, the Preacher advises to prefer the day of death to the day of birth, the house of mourning to the house of feasting, sorrow to laughter, the rebukes of the wise to the songs of fools. “By sadness of the face the heart becomes better,” more accurately from the Hebrew: becomes more cheerful, happier (cf. Eccl 11:9; Judg 19:9; Ruth 3:7).

Ecclesiastes 7:7. By oppressing others, a wise man becomes a fool, and gifts corrupt the heart. “And gifts corrupt the heart.” This refers mainly to gifts to public officials.

Ecclesiastes 7:8. The end of a thing is better than its beginning; the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. Ecclesiastes 7:9. Do not be quick to anger in your spirit, for anger rests in the heart of fools. Ecclesiastes 7:10. Do not say: “Why were the former days better than these?” for it is not from wisdom that you ask this. The Preacher warns against that dark and impatient discontent which strives to find something bad in everything.

Ecclesiastes 7:11. Wisdom is good with an inheritance, and beneficial for those who see the sun: “Wisdom is good with an inheritance, and beneficial for those who see the sun.” The particle here has, as in Eccl 2:16, the sense “just as,” “like.” Consequently, it can be rendered: wisdom is good like an inheritance, and more advantageous (than inheritance) for those who see the sun, that is, for men.

Ecclesiastes 7:12. for to live in the shadow of wisdom is like to live in the shadow of silver; but the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it. The advantage of wisdom lies in the fact that it gives life – life not only truly moral but also physical, inasmuch as it turns man away from passions that destroy the body.

Ecclesiastes 7:13. Consider the work of God: for who can straighten what He has made crooked? Ecclesiastes 7:14. In the days of prosperity enjoy good, and in the days of adversity consider: God has made both one and the other so that man might not say anything against Him. “Not say anything against Him.” ויכצא (as in Eccl 3:22) means: after him. It should be rendered: not say anything after him. God sends man both prosperity and adversity so that he might not know the future and might feel constant dependence on God.

Ecclesiastes 7:15. All my vain days I have seen: a righteous man perishes in his righteousness; a wicked man lives long in his wickedness. Ecclesiastes 7:16. Do not be too righteous, and do not make yourself too wise; why should you destroy yourself? “Do not be too righteous,” literally: do not be excessively righteous. In these words some have seen an expression of the Stoic principle to live according to nature and the Stoic concept of virtue as the art of μεσος ἔχειν – holding to a middle way. But in reality, in continuing to develop his former thought about wise enjoyment of life, the Preacher cautions here only against excessive pedantry and narrow rigorism, which strives on account of mistaken moral views to drive out of life all innocent joys, entirely permissible pleasures.

Ecclesiastes 7:17. Do not be wicked, and do not be a fool: why die before your time? However, in his striving for happiness, man should not overstep the bounds of what is permitted, for every sin hastens not only moral but also physical death.

Ecclesiastes 7:18. It is good for you to grasp the one and also not to let go of the other; for whoever fears God will succeed in both. A wise man will find a middle way and avoid the extremes of soulless rigorism and moral depravity, wisely enjoying life while remaining righteous. Some commentators see here hints at Pharisaic rigorism and Sadducean depravity.

Ecclesiastes 7:19. Wisdom makes a wise man stronger than ten rulers who are in a city. Ecclesiastes 7:20. There is no righteous man on earth who does good and does not sin; Ecclesiastes 7:21. therefore do not give heed to all the words that are spoken, so that you may not hear your servant cursing you; Ecclesiastes 7:22. for in your heart you know many times when you yourself have cursed others. Ecclesiastes 7:23. All this I tested with wisdom; I said: “I will be wise”; but wisdom was far from me. Solomon expressed this same thought in his prayer – namely in the words: “for there is no man who does not sin” (1 Sam 8:46). This thought is easily connected with the following verses, in which kindness to men is taught; but its connection with what precedes is not clear. And yet verse 20 begins with the particle יכ (ki), which indicates that this verse contains the ground for the preceding thought. The course of thought is probably this: we need to strive for wisdom that preserves man from both excessive rigorism and moral depravity, for there is no man on earth who acts and does not sin.

Ecclesiastes 7:24. Far is that which exists, and deep-deep: who can grasp it? Ecclesiastes 7:25. I turned my heart to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and reason, and to know the wickedness of folly, ignorance and madness, – The opening of the verse is better translated: “Far is that which is, and deep-deep,” that is, far and deeply removed from human knowledge are all things that exist, “the deeds which God does” (Eccl 3:11). Cf. Job 28:12-22.

Ecclesiastes 7:26. and I found that more bitter than death is woman, because she is a snare, and her heart is a trap, her hands are fetters; the good man before God will escape from her, but the sinner will be captured by her. In seeking deeper into the cause of sin, misery, and folly, the Preacher finds that it lies partly in woman. Woman is a snare and a trap for the weak man.

Ecclesiastes 7:27. Behold, this I have found, said the Preacher, examining one thing after another. Ecclesiastes 7:28. What more does my soul seek? – One man out of a thousand I have found, but a woman among all of them I have not found. From this the Preacher concludes that woman in general is in a moral sense more corrupt and depraved than man. The condemnation of woman in the Preacher is not absolute. In another place (Eccl 9:9) he considers life with a wife as one of the goods accessible to man.

Ecclesiastes 7:29. Only this have I found: God made man upright, but they have gone after many schemes. 2 Chronicles 26:15. The Preacher prevents a possible wrong conclusion from his foregoing reasoning. God, who created man upright, is not the author of the moral corruption of men in general and women in particular. God created man upright, that is, morally healthy, able to walk the right path and not to sin. “But they have gone after many schemes,” literally: inventions, imaginations (Cf. 2 Chron 26:15: “and he made skillfully devised machines in Jerusalem.”).