Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ecclesiastes 12:10
The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and [that which was] written [was] upright, [even] words of truth.
10. The Preacher sought to find out acceptable words ] Literally, words of delight, or pleasure, as in chs. Ecc 5:4, Ecc 12:1. The phrase reminds us of “the words of grace” (Luk 4:22) which came from the lips of Him, who, as the Incarnate Wisdom of God, was, in very deed, greater than Solomon. The fact is stated as by way of apologia for the character of the book. The object of the teacher was to attract men by meeting, or seeming to meet, their inclinations, by falling in with the results of their own experience. We are reminded so far of the words of Lucretius:
“Nam veluti pueris absinthia tetra medentes,
Cum dare conantur, prius oras pocula circum
Contingunt mellis dulci, flavoque liquore,
Ut puerorum tas improvida ludificetur
Labrorum tenus, interea perpotet amarum
Absinth laticem, deceptaque non capiatur,
Sed potius tali pacto recreata valescat.”
“As those who heal the body, when they seek
To give to children wormwood’s nauseous juice,
First smear the cup’s rim with sweet golden honey,
That infant’s thoughtless age may be beguiled
Just to the margin’s edge, and so may drink
The wormwood’s bitter draught, beguiled, not tricked,
But rather gain thereby in strength and health.”
De Rer. Nat. iv. 11 17.
and that which was written was upright ] The italics shew that the sentence is somewhat elliptical, and it is better to take the two sets of phrases in apposition with the “acceptable words” that precede them, even a writing of uprightness ( i.e. of subjective sincerity), words of truth (in its objective sense). The words are, thus understood, a full testimony to the character of the book thus commended to the reader’s attention.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 10. He sought to find out acceptable words] dibrey chephets, words of desire, words of will; the best, the most suitable words; those which the people could best understand. But these words were not such as might merely please the people; they were words of truth; such as came from God, and might lead them to him.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Acceptable words, Heb. desirable or delightful, worthy of all acceptation, such as would minister comfort and profit so the hearers or readers.
Written by the preacher in this and his other books.
Upright, Heb. right or straight, agreeable to the mind or will of God, which is the rule of right, not crooked or perverse.
Words of truth; not fables cunningly devised to deceive the simple, but true and certain doctrines, which commend themselves to mens own consciences or reasons; wholesome and edifying counsels.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
8-12. A summary of the firstpart.
Vanity, c.Resumptionof the sentiment with which the book began (Ecc 1:21Jn 2:17).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
The preacher sought to find out acceptable words,…. Not mere words, fine and florid ones, the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, an elegant style, or eloquent language; not but that it is proper for a preacher to seek out and use words suitable and apt to convey right ideas to the minds of men of what he says; but doctrines are rather here meant, “words of desire”, “delight”, and “pleasure” d, as the phrase may be rendered; even of God’s good will and pleasure, so Alshech; for the same word is sometimes used of God in this book and elsewhere: see Ec 3:1; and so may take in the doctrine of God’s everlasting love to his people, and his delight and pleasure in them; of his good will towards them in sending Christ to suffer and die for them, and save them; in pardoning their sins through his blood, in which he delights; in regenerating and calling them by his grace, and revealing the things of the Gospel to them, when he hides them from others, which is all of his own will and pleasure, and as it seems good in his sight: or words and doctrines, which are desirable, pleasing, and acceptable unto men; not that Solomon did, or preachers should, seek to please men, or seek to say things merely for the sake of pleasing men, for then they would not be the servants of Christ; nor are the doctrines of the Gospel pleasing to carnal men, but the reverse: they gnash their teeth at them, as Christ’s hearers did at him; the preaching of a crucified Christ is foolishness, and the things of the Spirit of God are insipid things, to natural men; they are enemies to the Gospel: but to sensible sinners they are very delightful, such as peace, pardon, righteousness, and salvation, by Christ, 1Ti 1:15; for the worth of them, they are more desirable to them than gold and silver, and are more delightful to the ear than the best of music, and more acceptable to the taste than honey or the honeycomb, Ps 19:10;
and [that which was] written [was] upright; meaning what was written in this book, or in any other parts of Scripture, which the preacher sought out and inculcated; it was according to the mind and will of God, and to the rest of the sacred word; it was sincere, unmixed, and unadulterated with the doctrines and inventions of men; it showed that man had lost his uprightness, had none of himself, and where it was to be had, even in Christ; and was a means of making men sound, sincere, and upright at heart; and of directing them to walk uprightly, and to live soberly, righteously, and godly, in the world;
[even] words of truth; which come from the God of truth, that cannot lie, as all Scripture does; of which Christ, who is the truth, is the sum and substance; and which are inspired by the Spirit of truth, and led into by him, and made effectual to saving purposes; and which holds good of the whole Scripture, called the Scripture of truth, Da 10:1; and of the Gospel, which is the word of truth, and of every doctrine of it, Joh 17:17.
d “verba complacentiae vel beneplaciti”, Vatablus; “verba desiderii”, Amama, Rambachius; “verba delectabilia”, Junius Tremellius, Piscator, Drusius, Mercerus, Gejerus so Broughton; “verba voluptatis”, Cocceius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
It is further said of Koheleth, that he put forth efforts not only to find words of a pleasant form, but, above all, of exact truth: “Koheleth strove to find words of pleasantness, and, written in sincerity, words of truth.” The unconnected beginning biqqesh Koheleth is like dibbarti ani , Ecc 1:16, etc., in the book itself. Three objects follow limtso. But Hitz. reads the inf. absol. instead of , and translates: to find pleasing words, and correctly to write words of truth. Such a continuance of the inf. const. by the inf. absol. is possible; 1Sa 25:26, 1Sa 25:31. But why should not be the continuance of the finite (Aq., Syr.), as e.g., at Ecc 8:9, and that in the nearest adverbial sense: et scribendo quidem sincere verba veritatis , i.e., he strove, according to his best knowledge and conscience, to write true words, at the same time also to find out pleasing words; thus sought to connect truth as to the matter with beauty as to the manner? Vechathuv needs no modification in its form. But it is not to be translated: and that which was right was written by him; for the ellipsis is inadmissible, and is not correct Heb. Rightly the lxx, . signifies “written,” and may also, as the name of the Hagiographa shows, signify “a writing;” kakathuvah , 2Ch 30:5, is = “in accordance with the writing;” and belo kakathuv , 2Ch 30:18, “contrary to the writing;” in the post-bibl. the phrase = , is used. The objection made by Ginsburg, that kathuv never means, as kethav does, “a writing,” is thus nugatory. However, we do not at all here need this subst. meaning, is neut. particip., and certainly not the genit., as the lxx renders (reading ), but also not the nom. of the subj. (Hoelem.), but, since is the designation of a mode of thought and of a relation, the accus. of manner, like veyashar , Psa 119:18; emeth , Psa 132:11; emunah , Psa 119:75. Regarding the common use of such an accus. of the nearer definition in the passive part., vid., Ewald, 284 c. The asyndeton vechathuv yosher divre emeth is like that at Ecc 10:1, mehhochmah michvod . That which follows limtso we interpret as its threefold object. Thus it is said that Koheleth directed his effort towards an attractive form (cf. avne – hephets , Isa 54:12); but, before all, towards the truth, both subjectively ( ) and objectively ( ), of that which was formulated and expressed in writing.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
10. Acceptable words Hebrew, Words of consolation. Feeling deeply for the sorrows of his kind, he found that the words that gave them relief were the frank utterances of sincerity and truth. Such are the words of this essay, which states with fearless accuracy, like that of Shakspeare, the aspects of life as actually seen from many and various positions.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Ecc 12:10 The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and [that which was] written [was] upright, [even] words of truth.
Ver. 10. The Preacher sought, &c. ] He sought and sought, by pains and prayer. He knew the rule, Bene orasse, est bene studuisse, a To have prayed well is to have studied well. By prayer and tears St John got the book opened. Rev 5:4 Luther got much of his insight into God’s matters by the same means.
To find out acceptable words.
And that which was written was upright.
a Luther.
b Intonabat. fulgurabat Cicero. – Plutarch.
c De Doct. Christ., lib. iv. cap. 14.
d Zanch. Miscell., Ep. Dedic.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Ecc 12:10
Ecc 12:10
“The Preacher sought to find out acceptable words, and that which was written uprightly, even words of truth.”
We reject all notions that the third person used in these verses is any indication whatever of “another writer,” as suggested by Fleming. “There is no change in the style and vocabulary of Ecclesiastes as we come to this epilogue, which would most certainly have been the case if any other writer had taken over here. Besides that, as pointed out above, the words “Vanity of vanities” virtually amount to a signature. Delitzsch accepted this viewpoint, declaring that, “We regard this epilogue as a postscript by the author of the book himself.
Ecc 12:10 Solomons words are delightful words in that he never turned to obscene language, but spoke discretely and guardedly. He had written: Like apples of gold in settings of silver is a word spoken in right circumstances (Pro 25:11). Also, Listen, for I shall speak noble things; and the opening of my lips will produce right things. For my mouth will utter truth; and wickedness is an abomination to my lips. All the utterances of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing crooked or perverted in them. They are all straight-forward to him who understands, and right to those who find knowledge (Pro 8:6-9). The Preachers words are framed for the spiritual minded and in them they will find their delight.
In addition to skilfully arranging his words, he gave diligence to write words of truth correctly. Most commentators see in this verse a twofold intention: (1) he wants to write sincerely-that is he spoke from the heart as honestly as he could; (2) he also spoke objectively-that is he presented factual knowledge apart from a bias. He intended for his words to be well received, but he was not willing to sacrifice truth in order to retain his readers.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Preacher: Ecc 1:1, Ecc 1:12
acceptable words: Heb. words of delight, Pro 15:23, Pro 15:26, Pro 16:21-24, Pro 25:11, Pro 25:12, 1Ti 1:15
written: Pro 1:1-6, Pro 8:6-10, Pro 22:17-21, Luk 1:1-4, Joh 3:11, Col 1:5
Reciprocal: 1Sa 12:23 – I will teach 1Ki 17:24 – the word 2Ch 17:7 – he sent 2Ch 34:30 – he read Job 6:25 – forcible Job 32:11 – whilst Pro 10:21 – feed Pro 10:32 – know Pro 15:7 – lips Ecc 9:1 – considered in my heart Luk 4:22 – the gracious