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Wisdom & Poetry · Old Testament

Ecclesiastes 9

Ecclesiastes 9: one event for all, joy in one's portion and a poor man's forgotten wisdom

General context

The Preacher declares that the righteous, the wise and their works are in the hand of God, and that no one knows love or hatred by what lies before them. All things come alike to all: one event to the righteous and the wicked, the clean and the unclean, the one who sacrifices and the one who does not, the good and the sinner. He calls this an evil, adds that men's hearts are full of evil and madness, and then they go to the dead. Whoever is joined to the living has hope; a living dog is better than a dead lion. The living know they will die, but the dead know nothing, have no reward, and are forgotten; their love, hatred and envy have perished, and they have no portion under the sun. The hearer is told to eat bread with joy and drink wine with a merry heart, since God now accepts his works, to live joyfully with the wife he loves, his portion, and to do with his might whatever his hand finds, since there is no work, device, knowledge or wisdom in the grave. Turning again, the Preacher sees that the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong, nor bread, riches or favour to the wise and skilful, but time and chance happen to all, and men are snared like fish and birds in an evil time. He tells of a little city with few men, besieged by a great king; a poor wise man in it delivered the city by his wisdom, yet no one remembered him. Wisdom is better than strength, though the poor man's wisdom is despised; the wise are heard in quiet more than a ruler crying among fools, and wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.

Cited passages: Ecclesiastes 9:1, Ecclesiastes 9:2, Ecclesiastes 9:3, Ecclesiastes 9:4, Ecclesiastes 9:5, Ecclesiastes 9:6, Ecclesiastes 9:7, Ecclesiastes 9:8, Ecclesiastes 9:9, Ecclesiastes 9:10, Ecclesiastes 9:11, Ecclesiastes 9:12, Ecclesiastes 9:14, Ecclesiastes 9:15, Ecclesiastes 9:16, Ecclesiastes 9:17, Ecclesiastes 9:18

Ecclesiastes 9 (KJV)

1For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God: no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them.

2All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.

3This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.

4For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion.

5For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.

6Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.

7Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works.

8Let thy garments be always white; and let thy head lack no ointment.

9Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun.

10Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.

11I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

12For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.

13This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed great unto me:

14There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it:

15Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.

16Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.

17The words of wise men are heard in quiet more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools.

18Wisdom is better than weapons of war: but one sinner destroyeth much good.

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Historical context

The little city, the great king who besieged it and the poor wise man who delivered it are all unnamed; the text does not say where the city was, when the siege happened or how the man's wisdom delivered it, only that it did and that no man remembered him. The Preacher introduces the story as wisdom he has seen under the sun, which seemed great to him, so it is presented as his observation rather than as a dated event. The direct address in verses 7 to 10 is to a masculine hearer who is told to live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest; no wife or hearer is named. The statements that the dead know nothing, have no reward and no portion under the sun are the Preacher's statements about the dead, and the grave is described as a place without work, device, knowledge or wisdom; the chapter says nothing further about what lies beyond it. The phrase for God now accepteth thy works is given as the reason for eating with joy, without saying how that acceptance is known, and the chapter's first verse says that no one knows love or hatred from what is before them. The opening for all this ties the chapter to the end of chapter 8, where the work of God could not be found out.

Cited passages: Ecclesiastes 9:14, Ecclesiastes 9:15, Ecclesiastes 9:13, Ecclesiastes 9:9, Ecclesiastes 9:5, Ecclesiastes 9:10, Ecclesiastes 9:7, Ecclesiastes 9:1, Ecclesiastes 8:17

Literary context

The chapter moves through four forms. First a catalogue of pairs, righteous and wicked, clean and unclean, the one who sacrifices and the one who does not, each collapsed into one event, a phrase repeated in verses 2 and 3, and capped by the proverb of the living dog and the dead lion. Second, from verse 7, a string of imperatives addressed to thou: go, eat, drink, let thy garments be white, live joyfully, do it with thy might, with the grave as the reason for urgency. Third, the Preacher's turning to look again yields a five-part denial, not to the swift, not to the strong, not bread to the wise, not riches, not favour, closed by time and chance, and two similes of sudden capture. Fourth, a short story of siege and deliverance, followed by three sayings on wisdom, two of which grant its worth and then take something back with nevertheless or but. The word portion is used twice in opposite directions: the dead have no more portion, and joy with one's wife is thy portion. The forgotten poor man repeats the book's earlier concern with remembrance, where the wise are no more remembered than the fool.

Cited passages: Ecclesiastes 9:2, Ecclesiastes 9:3, Ecclesiastes 9:4, Ecclesiastes 9:7, Ecclesiastes 9:10, Ecclesiastes 9:11, Ecclesiastes 9:12, Ecclesiastes 9:16, Ecclesiastes 9:18, Ecclesiastes 9:6, Ecclesiastes 9:9, Ecclesiastes 9:15, Ecclesiastes 2:16

Key moments

  1. One event to all (Ecclesiastes 9:2). The Preacher lists righteous and wicked, clean and unclean, and says one event comes to them all.
  2. A living dog, a dead lion (Ecclesiastes 9:4). Whoever is joined to the living has hope, since a living dog is better than a dead lion.
  3. Eat thy bread with joy (Ecclesiastes 9:7). The hearer is told to eat and drink with a merry heart because God accepts his works.
  4. Live with the wife thou lovest (Ecclesiastes 9:9). Joy with the wife he loves is called the hearer's portion in his vain life.
  5. Time and chance (Ecclesiastes 9:11). The race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong, but time and chance happen to all.
  6. The poor wise man saves the city (Ecclesiastes 9:15). A poor wise man delivers a besieged city by his wisdom, and no one remembers him.
  7. One sinner destroys much good (Ecclesiastes 9:18). Wisdom is better than weapons of war, yet one sinner undoes much good.

For reflection

The chapter opens by saying no man knows love or hatred from what is before him, then tells the hearer to eat with joy because God now accepts his works. On what does the hearer rest that acceptance, if not on anything he can see?