Charles Ellicott Commentary Ecclesiastes 9
Charles Ellicott Commentary
Ecclesiastes 9
Charles Ellicott Commentary
Ecclesiastes 9
"For all this I laid to my heart, even to explore all this: that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God; whether it be love or hatred, man knoweth it not; all is before them." — Ecclesiastes 9:1 (ASV)
No man knoweth.— If this verse stood by itself, we would understand, “Man cannot know whether he will experience marks of divine favor, or the reverse;” but taking Ecclesiastes 9:6 into account, we understand it to refer to a man’s own love or hatred, the objects of which he cannot tell beforehand.
By all.— Rather, all is before them.
"All 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." — Ecclesiastes 9:2 (ASV)
He that sweareth.—Zechariah 5:3.
"This is an evil in all that is 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." — Ecclesiastes 9:3 (ASV)
We have again the sentiments expressed in Ecclesiastes 2:14-16; Ecclesiastes 3:19; Ecclesiastes 5:15; Ecclesiastes 6:12.
"For to him that is joined with all the living there is hope; for a living dog is better than a dead lion." — Ecclesiastes 9:4 (ASV)
There is a variant reading here in the Hebrew. Our translators, following the older translators, adopt the reading of the margin. The textual reading, instead of 'joined,' offers a word meaning 'chosen.' The best way to understand this is to translate it as, For who is excepted? This translation would connect it with the previous verse, and the current verse would then begin, To all the living... etc.
Regarding the statement of the following verses, compare Psalm 6:3 and the marginal references given there. The shepherd’s dog is mentioned in Job 30:1, and watchdogs in Isaiah 56:10. Elsewhere in the Old Testament, the dog is an unclean animal, whether living or dead.
"As well their love, as their hatred and their envy, is perished long ago; neither have they any more a portion for ever in anything that is done under the sun. Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God hath already accepted thy works." — Ecclesiastes 9:6-7 (ASV)
Now. —Rather, long ago.
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