Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Ecclesiastes 5:8 - 5:20
(Show All Books | Show All Chapters)
This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
Abstaining from Vices and Fostering Virtues
v. 8. If thou seest the oppression of the poor, 4:1, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, 3:16, marvel not at the matter, for such things are to be expected in this wicked world, 1Pe_4:12, wherefore the believers should also not be worried about the eventual trend of justice; for He that is higher than the highest regardeth, and there be higher than they, above all the rulers of this world is the great Sovereign of them all, who will finally adjudicate all matters which now often seem mingled in a hopeless muddle.
v. 9. Moreover, the profit of the earth, the increase or produce of the land, is for all; the king himself is served by the field, and therefore the great Lord of all will finally punish all those who abused their authority and robbed the poor of their share in this world's goods.
v. 10. He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver, for the covetous is never satisfied, never happy; nor he that loveth abundance with increase, having his heart set on a multitude of possessions, for the more he has, the more he wants; this is also vanity, for it cannot yield true happiness.
v. 11. When goods increase, they are increased that eat them, for with in. creasing wealth comes the demand for more servants, and they and other dependents are consumers rather than producers; and what good is there to the owners thereof, what benefit have they of all their possessions, saving the beholding of them with their eyes? a feeling of pleasure which cannot permanently satisfy.
v. 12. The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, sound and healthful, whether he eat little or much, whether he has a generous supply of food or must be satisfied with nourishment just sufficient to sustain life; but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep, rich foods together with worry over his possessions drive the sleep from the eyes of the wealthy.
v. 13. There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt, carefully taken care of by guardians, but later a snare to the possessors, plunging them into many evil and hurtful lusts.
v. 14. But those riches perish by evil travail, they are lost by the various misfortunes attending wealth; and he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand, he is an heir of poverty.
v. 15. As he came forth of his mother's womb, naked shall be return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labor, which he may carry away in his hand, whatever treasures be has gained he must leave behind. Cf Job_1:21; Psa_49:17; 1Ti_6:7.
v. 16. And this also is a sore evil, not only the fact that the rich must leave all his wealth behind, but that he is subject to death, as are all human beings, that in all points as he came, so shall he go, departing without a cent; and what profit hath he that hath labored for the wind? for he stored up his wealth without use and benefit, since he must leave all behind.
v. 17. All his days also he eateth in darkness, always under a gloomy cloud, never sure of the continuance of his wealth, and he hath much sorrow and wrath with his sickness, nothing but annoyance and dissatisfaction on account of the anxiety connected with the acquiring and maintaining of his riches.
v. 18. Behold that which I have seen, the conclusion which he reaches also in this chapter: It is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labor that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him, without avarice on the one hand, and without care and worry on the other; for it is his portion, which he should use properly while living in this world.
v. 19. Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, as a blessing bestowed by God's loving-kindness, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, in a lawful use of his wealth, and to rejoice in his labor, enjoying the fruit thereof according to God's will; this is the gift of God, to be accepted and used in that sense only, and not after the manner of the avaricious fool who hoards his riches and spoils his chances for happiness.
v. 20. For he shall not much remember the days of his life, for the memory of any earthly enjoyment is brief; because God answereth him in the joy of his heart, vouchsafing to him such happiness in this life as will enable him to sojourn amidst the disappointments of this earth with a heart resting in trust in the heavenly Father, that being the ideal which the believer should keep before his eyes always.