Chapter Nine

1–6. Death is the lot of all. 7–10. The right use of life. 11–12. The power of chance. 13–18. The power of wisdom.

Looking more closely at the fate of the righteous, the Preacher finds new evidence of the vanity of human life and the necessity of being content with those few joys accessible to people.

Ecclesiastes 9:1. I have applied my heart to all this for examination, that the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God, and that man does not know either love or hatred in all that is before him. The righteous and the wise are in complete dependence upon God. Even their actions and feelings are not wholly determined by their free will, but are subjected to time and chance. Man cannot foresee where and when love or hatred will be born in him, and is unable to turn love into hatred or hatred into love. “In all that is before him,” that is, in all that is set before him, that will happen to him.

Ecclesiastes 9:2. All is the same for all: one lot befalls the righteous and the wicked, the good and the evil, the clean and the unclean, those who sacrifice and those who do not sacrifice; as the righteous, so the sinner; as he who swears, so he who fears an oath. “All is the same for all.” More literally from the Hebrew: “everything is as for all” (the LXX and Slavonic incorrectly translated: “vanity in all”), that is, everything happens to the righteous as to all men. One lot—death—for both the righteous and sinners. After the word “good” the LXX, Vulgate, and Syrian translation add “evil” (see Slav.—“One chance befalls the righteous and wicked, the good and evil, the clean and unclean... as he who swears, so he who fears an oath”). It is possible that such was the original reading in the text. “He who swears.” One should understand not simply one who pronounces an oath, for the Preacher, as is evident from Eccl 8:2, does not consider it sinful, but one who invokes the name of God in vain (Exod 20:7), needlessly, thoughtlessly, and even falsely. Such an oath in the prophet Zechariah is placed alongside theft (Eccl 5:3). Some exegetes understand by those who fear an oath and those who do not sacrifice the Essenes, who denied oaths and sacrifices. But we know nothing from historical documents about such early origins of the Essene sect.

Ecclesiastes 9:3. This is the evil in all that is done under the sun, that one lot befalls all, and the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart during their life; and after that they depart to the dead. It is a great evil that the lot of both the righteous and the wicked is one. Both alike die and depart to Sheol.

Ecclesiastes 9:4. (Eccl.9:4.) He who is alive among the living has hope yet, for a living dog is better than a dead lion. Ecclesiastes 9:5. (Eccl.9:5.) The living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and there is no more reward for them, for the memory of them is forgotten, Ecclesiastes 9:6. (Eccl.9:6.) and their love and their hatred and their envy have already perished, and they have no more portion forever in anything that is done under the sun. In Sheol all are equal, all equally insignificant, so insignificant that the life of the most ordinary man is of greater value than the existence in Sheol of a great man, for the dead know neither hope nor reward, nor love, nor hatred, and in general have no part in anything that is done under the sun. All manifestations of man’s spiritual life—love, hatred, knowledge, wisdom, reflection (verse 10)—the Preacher places in an inseparable connection with the conditions of earthly existence as phenomena possible only “under the sun,” in union with the body. With the destruction of the body, the manifestations of life cease, a state of deep sleep ensues, a state of half-life. With such a conception of the afterlife, of course, there could be no question of a difference in the fate of the righteous and the wicked, of retribution beyond the grave; while asserting in general the existence of God’s judgment, the Preacher nowhere extends it to the life beyond; moreover, he describes it in features that exclude any thought of retribution.

Ecclesiastes 9:7. Therefore go, eat your bread with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, when God is pleased with your works. Ecclesiastes 9:8. Let your garments be white at all times, and let oil not be lacking on your head. Ecclesiastes 9:9. Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vanity, whom God has given you under the sun all your vanity days; for this is your portion in life and in your labors with which you toil under the sun. Ecclesiastes 9:10. All that your hand is able to do, do with all your might; because in the grave, where you are going, there is no work, no reflection, no knowledge, nor wisdom. The Preacher concludes his sad reflections, as usual, with a call to enjoy life. The darker the future of man, the more he should value the joys of earthly existence.

Ecclesiastes 9:11. And I turned and saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the mighty, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to the skilled; but time and chance come to all of them. Ecclesiastes 9:12. For man does not know his time. As fish are caught in a destructive net, and as birds are trapped in snares, so the sons of men are caught in a time of calamity when it suddenly falls upon them. But while looking at life with joyful eyes, man should not for a moment forget his dependence on time and chance; he should prepare himself for every contingency, for it usually happens that external success does not correspond to a man’s inner worth. Because of complete ignorance of the future, man is unable to prevent sad circumstances from befalling him.

Ecclesiastes 9:13. I saw another wisdom under the sun, and it seemed important to me: Ecclesiastes 9:14. a small city, and few people in it; to it came a great king and besieged it and built great siege works against it; Ecclesiastes 9:15. and in it was found a poor wise man, and he saved the city by his wisdom; yet no one remembered this poor man. Ecclesiastes 9:16. And I said: wisdom is better than strength, yet the wisdom of the poor man is despised, and his words are not heeded. Ecclesiastes 9:17. The words of the wise, spoken quietly, are heard better than the shout of a ruler among fools. Ecclesiastes 9:18. Wisdom is better than weapons of war; but one sinner destroys much good. But even here wisdom saves man from many evils and sometimes knows how to direct the course of events to the good of men. Although wisdom is often an object of contempt, yet it is stronger than the shout of a ruler, stronger than weapons of war. “Yet no one remembered this poor man.” Some interpreters see in this an indication of the prior obscurity of the poor man before saving the city, others—his speedy forgetfulness of his merits by his contemporaries. The context and grammatical construction allow both understandings. It is hard to say whether the Preacher took a possible case or used a specific historical fact to illustrate his thought. Some commentators saw in the poor and wise man an image of despised Israel.