Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ecclesiastes 9:9

Live 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 labor which thou takest under the sun.

9. Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest ] The absence of the article from the Hebrew noun for “woman” has been wrongly pressed by interpreters who see in the Debater the advocate of sensuality, as indicating indifference to the marriage union (“live joyfully with a woman whom thou lovest, whether wife or not”), and is simply the indefinite form natural to a general maxim. So we should say naturally “live with a wife whom you love.” The conclusion in which the writer for the present rests is that while sensual indulgence in excess leads to misery and shame, and brings men into contact with the most hateful form of womanhood (chs. Ecc 2:11, Ecc 7:26), there is a calm peacefulness in the life of a happy home, which, though it cannot remove the sense of the “vanity” and transitoriness of life, at least makes it endurable. If there is, as some have thought, an undertone of irony, it is one which springs from a sympathy with the joy as well as the sorrow of life, and not that of a morose cynicism, saying, “enjoy if you can.”

all the days of thy vanity ] The iteration emphasizes the wisdom of making the most of the few days of life. The thought is essentially the same as that expressed in the Carpe diem of Hor. Od. i. 11.

that is thy portion in this life ] This, the calm regulated enjoyment of the wiser Epicureans.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Verse 9. Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest] Marry prudently, keep faithfully attached to the wife thou hast chosen, and rejoice in the labour of thy hands.

Some understand this as the words of the libertine objector: “Live joyfully with the woman whom thou lovest best.” But this does not comport so well with the scope of the place.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest; so he limits him to lawful delights; whereby it is evident that Solomon doth not speak this in the person of an epicure, as some understand it.

Of the life of thy vanity; of this vain and frail life; which expression he industriously useth to moderate mens affections even towards lawful pleasures, and to mind them of their duty and interest in making sure of a better life, and more solid comforts.

Thy portion, allowed to thee by God, and the best part of worldly enjoyments, in this life; by which addition he is again admonishing him of seeking another portion in the future life.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

9. wife . . . lovestgodly andtrue love, opposed to the “snares” of the “thousand”concubines (Ecc 7:26; Ecc 7:28),”among” whom Solomon could not find the true love whichjoins one man to one woman (Pro 5:15;Pro 5:18; Pro 5:19;Pro 18:22; Pro 19:14).

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest,…. Or “see”, or “enjoy life” d: this is one of the ways of enjoying life comfortably, and one of the principal ones; that if a man has a wife whom he ought to love as himself as his own flesh, to take delight in her company, be pleasant with her, and rejoice in her, Pr 5:18; and this here may be put for all that pleasure and satisfaction which may be lawfully had in the enjoyment of all other relations and friends; which adds no small part to the comfort of a man’s life;

all the days of the life of thy vanity; a wife is for life, and not after a while to be divorced; and to be lived joyfully with, not for a short time only, but all the days of life;

which he hath given thee under the sun; that is, either which wife God has given thee; for a wife is the gift of God, Ge 3:12; and which is a gift under the sun; for above it, or in heaven, and in a future state, there is no marrying nor giving in marriage, Lu 20:35; or which days he hath given thee, so the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Arabic versions. It is added,

all the days of thy vanity; which is repeated, that it might be observed that the life of man is but a vain life, a vapour that soon vanishes away, and man in it, at his best estate, is vanity; and that notwithstanding all the enjoyments of life in the most comfortable manner here directed to, yet still the doctrine he set out with must be remembered, that all is vanity, Ec 1:2;

for that [is] thy portion in [this] life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun; this is all the outward happiness of a man in this life, and all the use, profit, and advantage of his labours, to eat and drink cheerfully, to clothe decently, to debar himself of nothing of lawful pleasure, particularly to live joyfully with his wife, and enjoy his friends; this is the utmost of outward felicity he can partake of, and this he should not deny himself. Ben Melech restrains this portion to a wife, and joyful living with her; but it is best to include all that goes before.

d “vide vitam”, Pagninus, Vatablus, Drusius, Mercerus, Cocceius; “vel vitas”, Montanus; “perfruere vita”, V. L. “fracre vita”, Junius Tremellius, Piscator, Gejerus, Rambachius so Broughton.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

9. Live joyfully Assuming the inability of man to secure abiding good, which his researches have now shown, Koheleth enforces the enjoyment of the present in all its varied resources.

All the days of thy vanity Better, All thy transient days. Counsel to a life of pleasure, though no real good be in it, is in perfect harmony with the stage now reached in this wonderful discussion, which fearlessly presents the philosophy of life from every point of view which it assumes. On the theory which seems to have so much solidity, that death is what the Hindoos call “Nirvana” an absorption into eternal repose and upon which Koheleth for the nonce is standing, this advice to make the most of the good of the hour is wise and salutary.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Ecc 9:9. For that is thy portion For she is thy portion, &c. From the 7th to this verse we have the first inference. We must not reject the use of what God has given us for our portion in this world. The usefulness of earthly things would not cease with this short life, if it had not been our bounteous Maker’s will that we should use them while they are within our reach. Their being given in common to the good and to the wicked, must not make us imagine that we should become less acceptable to him by using them. A due sense of God’s always approving our conduct: when it is agreeable to Scripture and reason, must be a sufficient preservative against such notions.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Ecc 9:9 Live 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.

Ver. 9. Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest. ] As Isaac, the most loving husband in Scripture, did with his Rebecca, whom he loved Gen 24:67 not only as his country woman, kinswoman, a good woman, &c., but as his woman; not with an ordinary or Christian love only, but with a conjugal love, which indeed is that which will make marriage a merry age, sweeten all crosses, season all comforts. She is called the wife of a man’s bosom because she should be loved as well as the heart in his bosom. God took one of man’s ribs, and, having built it into a wife, laid it again in his bosom, so that she is flesh of his flesh, yea, she is himself, as the apostle argues, and therehence enforceth this duty of love. Eph 5:28-31 Neither doth he satisfy himself in this argument, but adds there blow to blow, so to drive this nail up to the head, the better to beat this duty into the heads and hearts of husbands.

All the days of the life of thy vanity. ] Love and live comfortably together, as well in age as in youth, as well in the fading as in the freshness of beauty.

Which he hath given thee, ] i.e., The wife (not the life) which he hath given thee; for marriages are made in heaven, as the heathens also held. God, as he brought Eve to Adam at first, so still he is the paranymph that makes the match and unites their affections. “A prudent wife is of the Lord,” Pro 18:22 for a comfort, as a froward is for a scourge.

All the days of thy vanity, ] i.e., Of thy vain, vexatious life, the miseries whereof to mitigate God hath given thee a suitable mate to compassionate and communicate with thee, and to be a principal remedy, for Optimum solarium sodalitiara, no comfort in misery can be comparable to good company, that will sympathise and share with us.

For that is thy portion. ] And a very good one too, if she prove good, as, if otherwise, Aristotle a saith right: He that is unhappy in a wife hath lost the one half, at least, of his happiness on earth.

And in thy labour which thou takest, &c. ] They that will marry shall have trouble in the flesh. 1Co 7:28 Let them look for it, and labour to make a virtue of necessity. As there is rejoicing in marriage, so there is a deal of labour – i.e., of care, cost, and cumber. Is it not good therefore to have a partner, such a one as Sarah was to Abraham – a piece so just cut for him as answered him right in every joint?

a Arist. in Rhetor.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)