Ecclesiastes 7:1-22

Wisdom is better than wealth

1 A good name is better than fine oil, and the day of death better than the birthday.

2 It is better to go to a house in mourning than to a house party, because that is everyone's destiny; and the living should take it to heart.

3 Aggravation is better than merriment because a sad face may lead to a glad heart.

4 The wise heart is in the house that mourns, but the foolish heart is in the house that rejoices.

5 It is better to obey the reprimand of the wise than to listen to the song of fools,

6 because the fool's merriment is like nettles crackling under a kettle. That too is pointless.

7 Oppression turns the wise into fools; a bribe corrupts the heart.

8 The end of something is better than its beginning. Patience is better than arrogance.

9 Don't be too quick to get angry because anger lives in the fool's heart.

10 Don't ask, "How is it that the former days were better than these?" because it isn't wise to ask this.

11 Wisdom is as good as an inheritance— an advantage for those who see the sun.

12 Wisdom's protection is like the protection of money; the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the lives of its possessors.

Good times and bad

13 Consider God's work! Who can straighten what God has made crooked?

14 When times are good, enjoy the good; when times are bad, consider: God has made the former as well as the latter so that people can't discover anything that will come to be after them.

15 I have seen everything in my pointless lifetime: the righteous person may die in spite of their righteousness; then again, the wicked may live long in spite of their wickedness.

16 Don't be too righteous or too wise, or you may be dumbfounded.

17 Don't be too wicked and don't be a fool, or you may die before your time.

18 It's good that you take hold of one of these without letting go of the other because the one who fears God will go forth with both.

19 Wisdom makes a wise person stronger than ten rulers who are in a city.

20 Remember: there's no one on earth so righteous as to do good only and never make a mistake.

21 Don't worry about all the things people say, so you don't hear your servant cursing you.

22 After all, you know that you've often cursed others yourself!

Ecclesiastes 7:1-22 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ECCLESIASTES 7

The wise man having exposed the many vanities to which men are subject in this life, and showed that there is no real happiness in all outward enjoyments under the sun; proceeds to observe what are remedies against them, of which he had interspersed some few hints before, as the fear and worship of God, and the free and, moderate use of the creatures; and here suggests more, and such as will protect from them, or support under them, or teach and instruct how to behave while attended with them, and to direct to what are proper and necessary in the pursuit of true and real happiness; such as care of a good name and reputation, Ec 7:1; frequent meditation on mortality, Ec 7:2-4; listening to the rebukes of the wise, which are preferable to the songs and mirth of fools, Ec 7:5,6; avoiding oppression and bribery, which are very pernicious, Ec 7:7; patience under provocations, and present bad times, as thought to be, Ec 7:8-10; a pursuit of that wisdom and knowledge which has life annexed to it, Ec 7:11,12; submission to the will of God, and contentment in every state, Ec 7:13,14; shunning extremes in righteousness and sin, the best antidote against which is the fear of God, Ec 7:15-18; such wisdom as not to be offended with everything that is done, or word that is spoken, considering the imperfection of the best of men, the weakness of others, and our own, Ec 7:19-22; and then the wise man acknowledges the imperfection of his own wisdom and knowledge, notwithstanding the pains he had taken, Ec 7:23-25; and laments his sin and folly in being drawn aside by women, Ec 7:26-28; and opens the cause of the depravity of human nature, removes it from God, who made man upright, and ascribes it to man, the inventor of evil things, Ec 7:29.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or Wisdom is good with
• [b]. Or destroyed
• [c]. Or and never sin