Ecclesiastes 7:3-13

3 Better [is] sorrow than laughter, For by the sadness of the face the heart becometh better.

4 The heart of the wise [is] in a house of mourning, And the heart of fools in a house of mirth.

5 Better to hear a rebuke of a wise man, Than [for] a man to hear a song of fools,

6 For as the noise of thorns under the pot, So [is] the laughter of a fool, even this [is] vanity.

7 Surely oppression maketh the wise mad, And a gift destroyeth the heart.

8 Better [is] the latter end of a thing than its beginning, Better [is] the patient of spirit, than the haughty of spirit.

9 Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry, For anger in the bosom of fools resteth.

10 Say not thou, `What was it, That the former days were better than these?' For thou hast not asked wisely of this.

11 Wisdom [is] good with an inheritance, And an advantage [it is] to those beholding the sun.

12 For wisdom [is] a defense, money [is] a defence, And the advantage of the knowledge of wisdom [is], She reviveth her possessors.

13 See the work of God, For who is able to make straight that which He made crooked?

Ecclesiastes 7:3-13 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.