Ecclesiastes 9:1-6

C. Man’s Ignorance of the Future 9:1-11:6

The emphasis in this section (Ecclesiastes 9:1 to Ecclesiastes 11:6) is on what man does not know because God has not revealed many things. Solomon also emphasized, however, that the remaining mystery in this subject (Ecclesiastes 8:16-17) must not diminish human joy (Ecclesiastes 9:1-9) or prevent us from working with all our might (Ecclesiastes 9:10 to Ecclesiastes 11:6). [Note: Kaiser, Ecclesiastes . . ., p. 92.] The subsections that follow begin "no one knows" or the equivalent (Ecclesiastes 9:1; Ecclesiastes 9:12; Ecclesiastes 11:2; cf. Ecclesiastes 9:5; Ecclesiastes 10:14-15; Ecclesiastes 11:5 twice, 6).

"Before the positive emphasis of the final three chapters can emerge, we have to make sure that we shall be building on nothing short of hard reality. In case we should be cherishing some comforting illusions, chapter 9 confronts us with the little that we know, then with the vast extent of what we cannot handle: in particular, with death, the ups and downs of fortune, and the erratic favours of the crowd." [Note: Kidner, p. 80.]