Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Ecclesiastes 9:1 - 9:10

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Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Ecclesiastes 9:1 - 9:10


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Concerning Human Destiny

v. 1. For all this I considered in my heart, in applying himself to learn true wisdom, even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, their fate or destiny, are in the hand of God, that human effort with all its results depends entirely upon God; no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them, that is, he cannot tell whether happiness or unhappiness will be his lot, for his future is hidden by a veil which he cannot penetrate.

v. 2. All things come alike to all,
the destiny of all men is decided by the Lord; there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked, the same Providence governing the lives of both; to the good, and to the clean, and to the unclean, in the moral sense; to him that sacrificeth, fulfilling the outward obligations of divine worship, and to him that sacrificeth not; as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth as he that feareth an oath, the one who is rash and frivolous with his oath and he who holds it sacred.

v. 3. This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all,
that they are all subject to the same destiny, as it seems to the observer; yea, also the heart of the sons of men it full of evil, since they all apparently are in the power of death in the same manner, and madness is in their heart while they live, since they have their inevitable lot before their eyes, and after that they go to the dead, which seems to be the aim of existence and the end of all men, their ultimate fate.

v. 4. For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope,
and so the condition of the living is still to be preferred, one should not give way to a sinful hopelessness; for a living dog is better than a dead lion, that is, no matter how lowly is a person's position in life, his condition is preferable to that of even the most honored person who has been claimed by death and can therefore no longer labor nor enjoy the fruits of his labor.

v. 5. For the living know that they shall die,
the consciousness of their inevitable fate gives them at least so much superiority over the dead; but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward, their fate is decided for the present, they are beyond reward; for the memory of them is forgotten, in most cases their very name becoming a hollow, meaningless mound in a few years.

v. 6. Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy,
all the sentiments which actuated them in life, is now perished, the activities connected with these attributes have ceased; neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun, their bodies are in the grave, and all communication with the world of the living has ceased. Note that both the doctrine of purgatory and the vagaries of spiritism are here denied.

v. 7. Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart,
this being the conclusion which the author reaches on the basis of his contemplations; for God now, at the present time, here in this world, accepteth thy works. Note that the text presupposes food gained by each person by his own efforts.

v. 8. Let thy garments be always white,
in token of joy; and let thy head lack no ointment, for its absence would have been considered a sign of grief.

v. 9. Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest,
the lawfully wedded spouse, all the days of the life of thy vanity, which He hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity, Pro_5:15-19; Pro_18:22; for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labor which thou takest under the sun, that is, a proper enjoyment of God's blessings will compensate the believer for the toil and labor which is the inevitable lot of men in life.

v. 10. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do,
whatever task falls to man's lot in life, whether in daily labor or in any other undertaking begun in the name of the Lord, do it with thy might, with vigor and energy; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave, whither thou goest. It is necessary for the believers to work the works of their heavenly Father while it is day; the night cometh when no man can work, Joh_9:4.