Ecclesiastes 7:1-4,Ecclesiastes 7:2

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 7:1-29

; Ecclesiastes 8:1-17The Quest in the Golden Mean.Ecclesiastes 7:1-29; Ecclesiastes 8:1-15There be many that say, "Who will show us any gold?" mistaking gold for their god or good. For though there can be few in any age to whom great wealth is possible, there are many who crave it and believe that to have it is to possess the supreme felicity. It is not only the rich who "trust in riches." As a rule, perhaps, they trust in them less than the poor, since they have tried them, and know pretty... read more

Arno Clemens Gaebelein

Arno Gaebelein's Annotated Bible - Ecclesiastes 7:1-29

PART II. CHAPTERS 7-12 1. The Good Advice of the Natural Man, Discouragement and Failure CHAPTER 7 1. The better things (Ecclesiastes 7:1-14 ) 2. The anomalies (Ecclesiastes 7:15-18 ) 3. The strength of wisdom, yet none perfect (Ecclesiastes 7:19-22 ) 4. The worst thing he found (Ecclesiastes 7:23-29 ) Ecclesiastes 7:1-14 . All had been tested by the royal searcher; all was found out to be vanity and vexation of spirit. Darkness, discouragement, uncertainty and despair were the... read more

John Calvin

Geneva Study Bible - Ecclesiastes 7:1

7:1 A good name [is] better than precious ointment; and the day of {b} death than the day of one’s birth.(b) He speaks thus after the judgment of the flesh, which thinks death is the end of all evils, or else because this corporal death is the entering into everlasting life. read more

John Calvin

Geneva Study Bible - Ecclesiastes 7:2

7:2 [It is] better to go to the house of {c} mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that [is] the end of all men; and the living will lay [it] to his heart.(c) Where we may see the hand of God and learn to examine our lives. read more

James Gray

James Gray's Concise Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 7:1-29

The interval between this chapter and the preceding represents a pause in the writer’s thought, and now he seems to set out on a new quest for the chief good in life. He will seek it in wise conduct. He will renounce feasting and trying the opposite (Ecclesiastes 7:1-6 ); he will avoid extremes (Ecclesiastes 7:15-18 ); no one is perfectly righteous (Ecclesiastes 7:19-22 ); the worst thing he has found is woman (Ecclesiastes 7:23-26 ); and the conclusion is that man is indeed a fallen creature... read more

Joseph Parker

The People's Bible by Joseph Parker - Ecclesiastes 7:1-29

Some Striking Views of Human Nature Ecclesiastes 7-8 We are still in Coheleth's memorandum-book. There is little or no connection between these scattered sentences. To read them is like stepping upon stones that have been laid in a brook, rather than crossing a well-built bridge. There is a mournful tone in this seventh chapter. It is full of dyspeptic and disagreeable remarks. Cypress shadows lie over it, with hardly a breeze to disturb them and to let the light twinkle and sparkle between... read more

Robert Hawker

Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary - Ecclesiastes 7:1

CONTENTS In this chapter the Preacher is proposing several good things, as means, in the divine hand, for a remedy against the vanities of life. He showeth the blessedness of gracious sorrow, and the superiority it hath to carnal mirth. In these, and the like observations, this Chapter abounds. Ecclesiastes 7:1 A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one's birth. The name of Jesus is as ointment poured forth, Solomon hath said elsewhere, Song of... read more

Robert Hawker

Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary - Ecclesiastes 7:2-6

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 lay it to his heart. (3) Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better. (4) The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. (5) It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools. (6) For as the crackling of thorns under a pot,... read more

George Haydock

George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 7:1

Above him. We are intent on things which regard us not, while we neglect the important concerns of heaven. Hebrew may be joined with the preceding. (Calmet) --- Protestants, ( 11. ) "seeing there are many thing which increase vanity, what is man the better? ( 12. ) for who knoweth?" &c. (Haydock) --- Some strive to obtain riches or honours, which will prove fatal to them. (Calmet) --- None can perfectly know the nature of things either present or future. (Worthington) read more