Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ecclesiastes 2:24
[There is] nothing better for a man, [than] that he should eat and drink, and [that] he should make his soul good in his labor. This also I saw, that it [was] from the hand of God.
24. There is nothing better for a man ] The Hebrew, as it stands, gives a meaning which is partly represented by the LXX., “There is no good for a man which he shall eat and drink,” as though the simplest form of bodily pleasure were condemned. Almost all interpreters however are agreed in adopting a conjectural emendation, which again in its turn has given rise to two different renderings: (1) “Is it not better (or “Is it not good”) for a man to eat and drink ?” or (2) “there is nothing good for a man but to eat and drink.” The two last are of course substantially the same in their teaching, and both express what we may call the higher type of Epicureanism which forms one element of the book. The pursuit of riches, state, luxury, is abandoned for the simple joys that lie within every man’s reach, the “ fallentis semita vitae ” of one who has learnt the lesson of regulating his desires. The words “to eat and drink” are closely connected with “enjoying good in his labour.” What is praised is not the life of slothful self-indulgence or sthetic refinement, but that of a man who, though with higher culture, is content to live as simply as the ploughman, or the vinedresser, or artificer. , “live in the shade,” was the Epicurean rule of wisdom. Pleasure was not found in feasts and sensual excess but in sobriety of mind, and the conquest of prejudice and superstition (Diog. Laert. x. 1. 132). The real wants of such a life are few, and there is a joy in working for them. Here again the thought finds multiform echoes in the utterances of men who have found the cares and pleasures and pursuits of a more ambitious life unsatisfying. It is significant that the very words “eat and drink” had been used by Jeremiah in describing the pattern life of a righteous king (Jer 22:15). The type of life described is altogether different from that of the lower Epicureans who said “Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die” (1Co 15:32).
So we have one Epicurean poet singing
“Si non aurea sunt iuvenum simulacra per aedes
Lampadas igniferas manibus retinentia dextris,
Lumina nocturnis epulis ut suppeditentur,
Nec domus argento fulget auroque renidet
Nec citharae reboant laqueata aurataque templa,
Cum tamen inter se prostrati in gramine molli
Propter aquae rivum sub ramis arboris altae
Non magnis opibus iucunde corpora curant,
Praesertim cum tempestas adridet et anni
Tempora conspergunt viridantis floribus herbas.”
“What though no golden statues of fair boys
With lamp in hand illumine all the house
And cast their lustre on the nightly feast;
Nor does their home with silver or with gold
Dazzle the eye; nor through the ceild roof,
Bedecked with gold, the harps re-echo loud.
Yet, while reclining on the soft sweet grass
They lie in groups along the river’s bank,
Beneath the branches of some lofty tree,
And at small cost find sweet refreshment there,
What time the season smiles, and spring-tide weeks
Re-gem the herbage green with many a flower.”
Lucret. De Rer. Nat. ii. 24 33.
So Virgil sang:
“O fortunatos nimium, sua si bona norint,
Agricolas,”
and of these good things dwelt chiefly on
“At secura quies et nescia fallere vita.
Dives opum variarum, at latis otia fundis,
Speluncae, vivique lacus, et frigida Tempe,
Mugitusque boum, mollesque sub arbore somni
Non absunt; illic saltus ac lustra ferarum,
Et patiens operum exiguoque adsueta juventus,
Sacra deum, sanctique patres; extrema per illos
Justitia excedens terris vestigia fecit.”
“Ah! but too happy, did they know their bliss
The tillers of the soil!
Their’s the calm peace, and life that knows no fraud,
Rich in its varied wealth; and leisure their’s
In the broad meadows; caves and living lakes
And Tempe cool, and lowing of the kine;
Nor want they slumber sweet beneath the trees;
There are the thickets and the wild beasts’ haunts,
And youth enduring toil and trained to thrift;
There Gods are worshipped, fathers held in awe,
And Justice, when she parted from the earth
Left there her latest foot-prints.”
Georg. ii. 467 474.
So Horace, in the same strain:
“Beatus ille qui procul negotiis,
Ut prisca gens mortalium,
Paterna rura bubus exercet suis,
Solutus omni foenore.”
“Thrice blest is he who free from care
Lives now, as lived our fathers old,
And free from weight of honoured gold,
With his own oxen drives the share
O’er fields he owns as rightful heir.”
Horace, Epod. ii. 1.
So Shakespeare once more makes a king echo the teaching of Ecclesiastes:
“And to conclude: the shepherd’s homely curds,
His cold thin drink out of his leather bottle,
His wonted sleep under a fresh tree’s shade,
All which secure and sweetly he enjoys,
Is far beyond a prince’s delicates,
His viands sparkling in a golden cup,
His body couched in a curious bed,
When care, mistrust, and treason wait on him.”
Henry VI., Part III. Act ii. 5.
This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God ] In the thought which is thus expressed, we find, however, something more than an echo of Greek Epicureanism. The Debater recognises a Divine Will in this apportionment of happiness, just as he had before recognised that Will in the toil and travail with which the sons of man were exercised (ch. Ecc 1:13). The apparent inequalities are thus, in part at least, redressed, and it is shewn as the teaching of experience no less than of the Divine Master, that “a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of things which he possesseth” (Luk 12:15).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Ecc 2:24-26
There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour.
The simple joys of Godly industry
We are not to regard these words as at all akin to the utterance of the baser Epieureanism, Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die! We are not to suppose that the Jewish philosopher, looking around him, and finding all to be vanity and feeding on wind, concludes that the best thing a man can do, under the circumstances, is to give himself up to a life of sensuous enjoyment. This cannot possibly be his meaning here; for he has already shown the emptiness of a life of sensuous gratification, and he has also recorded it as his conviction that wisdom is better than folly. Moreover, the words themselves do not point to mere idle self-indulgence; for they speak of a mans enjoying good in his labour. Ecclesiastes seems to have before his mind a life in which hearty and honest toil is blended with a contented enjoyment of the fruits of toil. In the maxim, Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die, eating and drinking stand for all kinds of sensuous gratification, and even of sensual excess. But here, to eat and drink seems to stand rather for the simpler forms of living, as contrasted with luxurious and excessive self-indulgence. That this is the meaning of Ecclesiastes here is further evident from the manner in which he goes on to speak of the conditions of this contented and cheerful enjoyment of life. This also I saw, that it is from the hand of God. This introduction of the thought of God is itself sufficient to show that Ecclesiastes is not here speaking as a sensualist, or as a mere pleasure-seeker. Amidst the many anomalies of life, Ecclesiastes clings to the assurance that there is a moral government of God in this world. There are indeed perplexing problems in relation to this moral government, which he felt he could not solve, and which led him to look forward to a world beyond death where the dealings of God with men would be completed and vindicated. But still, looking at the broad facts of human life, and excluding cases apparently exceptional and perplexing, he saw that God does make a distinction, even here and now, between the sinner and the man who pleaseth Him. The virtuous and godly man has an advantage, even in this world, over the wicked. He receives from God a wisdom and knowledge which are associated with joy. He finds a pleasure in his work, and is contented to eat the simple fruits of his toil. He may be a poor man, labouring for daily bread; and yet he may receive from God this gift of thankful enjoyment. Whereas, on the other hand, Ecclesiastes saw that the sinner–the man who has no thought of Gods commandments–may gather together and heap up riches, and yet have no heart to enjoy his own wealth. Now, the lesson which Ecclesiastes here sets before us is one of which we all need to be continually reminded. Patent as the fact may be to us that the higher happiness of life is far more closely associated with unanxious labour, simple habits, and cheerful contentment, than with wealth or luxury, we are all more or less apt to live in forgetfulness of it. The social atmosphere which we breathe is too feverish and restless. We are apt to lose the blessings of to-day through over-anxiety about the morrow. We are apt to miss the enjoyment which God has put for us into the simple, common blessings of life, through our eager pursuit of something more which may not really be anything better. It might be a desirable thing for some men who are spoiling their lives through selfish ambition or sordid Mammonism, to sit for a little while even at the feet of Epicurus! But far better for all of us to sit at the feet of Christ. All that was really true and valuable in the higher Epieureanism is to be found, in a more exalted form, in Christianity. It does not bid us proudly trample on either pleasure or pain; but it bids us cultivate an inner peace and strength which shall prevent us from becoming the mere victims and slaves of circumstance. Without despising any creature of God, it nevertheless teaches us to estimate things according to their relative importance. And if only our hearts were set more steadfastly on higher things, if only we were more bent on pleasing God, we would be the better able to eat and drink and enjoy good in our labour–to enjoy with a more serene and contented spirit the simple, ordinary blessings which are common to humanity. (T. C. Finlaysen.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 24. There is nothing better for a man] The sense of this passage is well expressed in the following lines: –
“For these disorders wouldst thou find a cure,
Such cure as human frailty would admit?
Drive from thee anxious cares; let reason curb
Thy passions; and with cheerful heart enjoy
That little which the world affords; for here,
Though vain the hopes of perfect happiness,
Yet still the road of life, rugged at best,
Is not without its comforts.———
Wouldst thou their sweetness taste, look up to heaven,
And praise the all-bounteous Donor, who bestows
The power to use aright.”
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
There is nothing better for a man; or, Is there any thing better for a man? which implies that there is nothing better, to wit, for mans present comfort and satisfaction; this is the chief, and indeed the only, considerable benefit of his labours.
That he should make his soul enjoy good; that he should thankfully take, and freely and cheerfully enjoy, the comforts which God gives him.
That it was from the hand of God; that this also is a singular gift of God, and not to be procured by a mans own wisdom or diligence.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
24. English Version givesa seemingly Epicurean sense, contrary to the general scope. TheHebrew, literally is, “It is not good for man thathe should eat,” c., “and should make his soul see good”(or “show his soul, that is, himself, happy”), &c.[WEISS]. According toHOLDEN and WEISS,Ecc 3:12 Ecc 3:22differ from this verse in the text and meaning; here he means, “Itis not good that a man should feast himself, and falsely make asthough his soul were happy”; he thus refers to a falsepretending of happiness acquired by and for one’s self;in Ecc 3:12; Ecc 3:22;Ecc 5:18; Ecc 5:19,to real seeing, or finding pleasure when God givesit. There it is said to be good for a man to enjoy withsatisfaction and thankfulness the blessings which God gives; here itis said not to be good to take an unreal pleasure toone’s self by feasting, c.
This also I sawIperceived by experience that good (real pleasure) is not to be takenat will, but comes only from the hand of God [WEISS](Psa 4:6 Isa 57:19-21).Or as HOLDEN, “It isthe appointment from the hand of God, that the sensualist has nosolid satisfaction” (good).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
[There is] nothing better for a man [than] that he should eat and drink,…. Not in an immoderate and voluptuous manner, like the epicure and the atheist, that disbelieve a future state and the resurrection of the dead, and give up themselves to all sinful and sensual gratifications; but in a moderate way, enjoying in a cheerful and comfortable manner the good creatures of God, which he has given; being contented with them, thankful for them, and looking upon them as the blessings of divine goodness, and as flowing from the love of God to him; and thus freely using, and yet not abusing them. Some render it, “it is not good for a man to eat” a, c. immoderately and to excess, and to place his happiness in it: or, “there is no good with man” b it is not in the power of man to use the creatures aright. Jarchi renders it by way of interrogation, “is it not good?” which comes to the same sense with ours, and so the Vulgate Latin version;
and [that] he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour; not leave off labouring; nor eat and drink what he has not laboured for, or what is the fruit of other men’s labour; but what is the effect of his own, and in which he continues; and this is the way to go on in it with cheerfulness, when he enjoys the good, and reaps the benefit and advantage of it; which is certainly preferable to a laying up his substance, and leaving it to he knows not who.
This also I saw, that it [was] from the hand of God; not only the riches a man possesses, but the enjoyment of them, or a heart to make use of them; see Ec 5:18. The Midrash interprets this eating and drinking, of the law and good works: and the Targum explains it, causing the soul to enjoy the good of doing the commandments, and walking in right ways; and observes, that a man that prospers in this world, it is from the hand of the Lord, and is what is decreed to be concerning him.
a “non est igitur bonum”, Vatablus. b “Non est bonum penes hominem”, Junius & Tremellius, Gejerus, Gussetius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
“There is nothing better among men, than that one eat and drink, and that he should pamper his soul by his labour: this also have I seen, that it is in the hand of God.” The lxx, as well as the other Greek transl., and Jerome, had before them the words . The former translates: “Man has not the good which he shall eat and drink,” i.e., also this that he eats … is for him no true good; but the direct contrary of this is what Koheleth says. Jerome seeks to bring the thought which the text presents into the right track, by using the form of a question: nonne melius est comedere … ; against this Ecc 3:12, Ecc 3:22; Ecc 8:15, are not to be cited where stands in the dependent sentence; the thought is not thus to be improved; its form is not this, for rof ,siht , beginning a sentence, is never interrog., but affirm.; thus is not = , but is a negative statement. It is above all doubt, that instead of we must read , after Ecc 3:12, Ecc 3:22; Ecc 8:15; for, as at Job 33:17, the initial letter mem after the terminal mem has dropped out. Codd. of the lxx have accordingly corrected into or (thus the Compl. Ald.), and the Syr. and Targ. render here by and unless that he eat; Jerome also has non est bonum homini nisi quod in his Comm.; only the Venet. seeks to accommodate itself to the traditional text. Besides, only is to be inserted, not ; for the phrase is used, but not . Instead of ba-a-da-m, the form la-a-da-m would be more agreeable, as at Ecc 6:12; Ecc 8:15. Hitzig remarks, without proof, that baadam is in accordance with later grammatical forms, which admit = “for” before the object. , Ecc 10:17, is neither prep. of the object, nor is , Sir. 3:7, the exponent of the dative ( vid., Grimm). baadam signifies, as at 2Sa 23:3, and as , Sir. 11:14, inter homines ; also Ecc 3:12 designates by what among them (men) has to be regarded as good.
It is interesting to see how here the ancient and the modern forms of the language run together, without the former wholly passing over into the latter; , quam ut edat , is followed by norm. perfects, in accordance with that comprehensive peculiarity of the old syntax which Ewald, by an excellent figure, calls the dissolution of that which is coloured into grey. … is equivalent to , Psa 49:19, the causative rendering of the phrase , Ecc 3:13, or , Ecc 5:17; Ecc 6:6. It is well to attend to by his labour, which forms an essential component part of that which is approved of as good. Not a useless sluggard-life, but a life which connects together enjoyment and labour, is that which Koheleth thinks the best in the world. But this enjoyment, lightening, embellishing, seasoning labour, has also its But: etiam hoc vidi e manu Dei esse ( pendere ). The order of the words harmonizes with this Lat.; it follows the scheme referred to at Gen 1:4; cf. on the contrary, Ecc 3:6. Instead of , neut. by attraction, there is here the immediately neut. ; the book uniformly makes use of this fem. form instead of . This or that is “in the hand of God,” i.e., it is His gift, Ecc 3:13, Ecc 3:18, and it is thus conditioned by Him, since man cannot give it to himself; cf. minni , Isa 30:1; mimmenni , Hos 8:4; mimmennu , 1Ki 20:33.
This dependence of the enjoyment of life on God is established.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
GOD’S GIFTS TO MEN
Verses 24-26 contrast God’s gifts to the good (pleasing) in His sight and those who are sinners;
1) Verses 24 and 26 affirm, in contrast to the unrestrained indulgence in excesses, described in verses 1-23, that there is nothing better for man in life than grateful enjoyment of good things produced by his own labor and received with thankful recognition that God is the giver. This affirmation is emphasized by further repetition in Ecc 3:13; Ecc 5:18; Ecc 8:15; Ecc 9:17 and Jas 1:17.
2) Verse 26 also affirms that God gives to the man with whom He is pleased, wisdom and knowledge and joy; but to the sinner He gives the task of gathering and accumulating that he may leave such to him that pleases God, an effort that is vanity and vexation of spirit for the sinner, Pro 13:22; Mat 5:5; Job 27:16-17; Pro 28:8.
NOTE: In the light of Heb 11:6 which affirms that “without faith it is impossible to please God”, Verses 24 and 26 and the references listed under comment 1 above refers to persons physically under the sun, with faith in God above the sun, in contrast with sinners.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.
Ecc. 2:24. There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink] Not in the Epicurean sense, worshipping the triad of sensual lifeeat, drink, and be merry; but in the sense of a rational and righteous enjoyment. In his labour. Thus it was not the luxurious enjoyment of the idle.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Ecc. 2:24-26
THE WISEST USE OF THE PRESENT WORLD
I. A proper enjoyment of the blessings of life. The good things of this world can never bring us true and lasting happiness if we live for them alone. But we must not despair of finding external happiness even in these, if we use them aright. There must be some lawful means of enjoying the worlds good. The Creator, in His works, has provided both for ornament and delight. We must not be as sulky children, refusing to enjoy ourselves when He invites us. To condemn all that the world offers to cheer the spirit of man, without showing how it may be properly enjoyed, or substituting some other pleasures, would either drive the soul to despair, or plunge it more deeply into unlawful pleasures. The state of our souls determines what is good or bad in pleasure. We project our nature upon the external world. To the pure, all things are pure. How are we to enjoy the blessings of this life?
1. They should be subordinated to our higher wants. As long as we remember that they only minister to our lower wants, we preserve the true dignity of our soul. He who has the highest good can rightly and well enjoy the lowest. When pleasure is made the end of life, the soul becomes debased, and unfit for the vision of God. The pure light of heaven in the soul can transfigure all things in life. Christ used the world, but He had superior meat, drink, and joy than He could find here. To Him, the world was a place of duty and trial; but He tasted the worlds pleasures as a Brook by the way.
2. They should be used with moderation of desire. Enjoy good in his labour. There is a happiness naturally arising out of the things of life. What we force out of them beyond their natural yield will only prove a bitter portion. The path of the wise is ever traced between dangerous extremes.
3. Superior power and facility of enjoyment must not tempt us to abuse them. (Ecc. 2:25.) Solomon had riches and positionmeans to procure enjoyments. He had the skill to devise exquisite pleasures, and to secure an agreeable variety. But he found that all must be under the control of some exalted purpose. The best gifts of heaven may be abused; but while reason and conscience govern, we are safe.
II. A recognition of the Divine source of the blessings of life. (Ecc. 2:24.)
1. The blessings of this life are the gift of God. They are His provisions for the creature whom He has made. A remembrance of the great source of all our good makes life sacred. To abuse this present world is to take an unfair advantage of infinite kindness. To worship Gods gifts instead of Himself is idolatry. We must use Gods creatures for the same end for which He made themHis glory.
2. The power to enjoy them comes from God. If we can enjoy His gifts with contentment and cheerfulness, this power comes from Him. How soon God may destroy our happiness, by either removing His gifts, or depriving us of the power of enjoying them!
3. Their true value and use can only be known by Divine teaching. If we can taste with grateful cheerfulness what is provided for us here on our way to our superior home, the idea is divinely imparted to us. When we realize the true idea of life, we can best enjoy the world. The repose of mind, and peace of conscience thence arising, are favourable to the truest enjoyment.
III. A conviction that there are Divine provisions for the good. There is an apparent indifference on the part of God to moral distinctious in the human character. Yet there are, even in this life, indications of retributive justice. God will make abundant provision for the man who is good in His sight.
1. He will be supplied with the true guiding principle of life. Wisdom and knowledge. For lack of these, many leave the best pleasures of life untasted. They are the dupes of imagination and fancy. When our earthly enjoyments are not held in check by a superior guiding power, they turn to vexation and misery. A careful observance of the facts of life, and the wisdom to employ them for the highest ends, will secure for us the purest enjoyments.
2. He will have the rational comforts of life. To him joy shall be given; and this depends upon the state of the heart. A mans life (not the sustenance of his life, but the life by which he lives) consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. Existence is the gift of Gods goodness to all men, but the life of life, the joy and real soul of it, is a mark of His favour.
IV. A conviction that the impious use of the Creators gifts is rainous. (Ecc. 2:26.) The sinner, as he riots in pleasure, may appear to have the best of the world, but he is only laying up a store of misery. The justice of heaven is not a wild passion of revenge, but is caim and dignified; and though the sword of God is not in haste to smite, yet, if not averted by repentance, it will descend with fearful destruction upon the sinner. A wrong use of this world must end in utter ruin.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Ecc. 2:24. True piety is opposed to asceticism. Revealed Religion does not destroy the plain truths and duties of nature.
Piety obliges no man to be dull [South].
The common actions of life may be sanctified by a general purpose of consecration to God.
The Creator not only sends us gifts which minister to our use and delight, but even the power to enjoy is also His gift.
Christianity has ennobled many words which once served the uses of superstition by making them the representatives of nobler thoughts. In like manner, the worldly mans triadto eat, drink, and be merrymay be ennobled by an abiding intention of pleasing God in all that we do.
Christians may have earthly joy. Let there be no half-remorseful sensations as though they were stolen joys. Christ had no sympathy with that tone of mind which scowls on human happiness. His first manifestation of power was at a marriage feast. Who would check the swallows flight, or silence the gush of happy melody which the thrush pours forth in spring? [Robertson.]
Ecc. 2:25. He can best lay down the law of life who is qualified by experience.
I take the original word here used to signify to call or cry aloud, and so should render the verse according to this sense: Who can call for more freely, who can enjoy more speedily, the good of this life than I can? And, therefore, who should also be believed rather than I, who deny the enjoying of the good of this life to be the good of man? From hence we may take this lesson, that no one do promise to himself, or take upon himself, those things which those who have been far more able than himself have not been able to perform. And for an instance: let not those promise to themselves heaven who live carelessly in religion, when it is hard for them who are very careful to attain thither [Jermin].
Ecc. 2:26. True goodness is that which can endure in the sight of God.
Here we have:
1. A satisfaction for the intellectWisdom and knowledge.
2. A satisfaction for the affectionsJoy.
3. A satisfaction for the conscienceGood in His sight.
Man, in the present world, is under the moral government of God, even in his pleasures. No part of his conduct is indifferent, for it has some relation to the formation of character, and therefore to our future destiny.
All the vanity, all the toilings of men after wisdom, happiness and rest, which in so many ways lead men to the grave, where ceases all the distinction which they strive to obtain on earth, are not allotted to the pious man by God; they are a curse which sin has laid upon man, but which God will make a blessing to His chosen ones. For these busy, restless creatures gather and heap up for those who are good in Gods eyes. And these latter shall gratuitously receive by the sinners labour what he seeks and finds not, what he labours for and cannot enjoy: wisdom, knowledge, joy. What is the Divine word, and whence are taken this wisdom, knowledge, and joy that in it exist? Are they not honey made by bees in the slain beasts? What are the stories that they tell us but examples of sinners toil, of the vanity and folly into which men have fallen? [Hamann.]
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
c. Labor is good only when it is acknowledged as from the hand of God. Ecc. 2:24-26
TEXT 2:2426
24
There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good. This also I have seen, that it is from the hand of God.
25
For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without Him?
26
For to a person who is good in His sight He has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, while to the sinner He has given the task of gathering and collecting so that He may give to one who is good in Gods sight. This too is vanity and striving after wind.
THOUGHT QUESTIONS 2:2426
57.
List the three simple things in life that one is instructed to recognize as coming from the hand of God.
58.
Who gives man enjoyment?
59.
What is the condition that one must meet to receive Gods blessings of wisdom, knowledge and joy (Ecc. 2:26)?
60.
What happens to the sinners legacy?
PARAPHRASE 2:2426
Man is not able of himself to find satisfaction in his work or in his pleasure such as eating and drinking. However, if a man finds a temporary satisfaction in his labor or his pleasure, he must recognize that it is entirely from the hand of God. For who can eat and who can find enjoyment apart from God? Let us consider what happens to the one whom God favors and also to the one who offends God. To the person who is good in Gods sight, God gives wisdom, knowledge and joy. To the sinner, however, God gives the vexing task of collecting and heaping up a fortune under the sun. Then the one who offends God must give it to the one who is good in Gods sight. My conclusion is that this too is as unfulfilling as feasting on the wind.
COMMENT 2:2426
This is the first time in Solomons book that he reaches above the sun and speaks of God. As previously noted, however, it is not in the sense of a warm, covenant relationship. Rather, he speaks of God as the Creator who is in complete control of His universe. Gods laws govern our world. There is enjoyment to be found in ones labor, but it is only when God blesses or permits. There are two classes of people who are identified. One is the good man who receives approval from God, and thus enjoys his labor. The other is the sinner who does not find this approval from God. Perhaps the intention here is to explain that a wise man, in this instance the good man, works in harmony with Gods laws as he interprets them through the revelation of God through nature. As a result he pleases God and finds favor. On the other hand, the sinner is literally one who offends God. He sets aside the rules he discovers in this world. As a result he runs contrary to what he knows to be the better way to live. When one does this, he does not discover wisdom, knowledge or joy.
Solomon employs the term joy in much the same way that it is understood today. It carries the idea of cheerfulness and satisfaction with life. It is used three other times in Ecclesiastes and in each case the NASV renders it differently. They are: pleasure, (Ecc. 2:10); joy, (Ecc. 2:26); gladness, (Ecc. 5:20); cheerful, (Ecc. 9:7). In each reference it speaks to the excitement of discovery and living life to its fullest each day. This kind of joy does not come to the man who is motivated by greed, or gathering wealth and possessions for his own use. The sinner has a grievous task because he gathers and collects with selfish intent. The good man is quite different. His wisdom does not bring grief. His knowledge does not bring sorrow. His joy comes to him because he finds satisfaction in the labor within a single day. This conclusion is clearly stated: Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat, to drink and enjoy oneself in all ones labor in which he toils under the sun during the few years of his life which God has given him; for this is his reward (Ecc. 5:18).
The sinner does not enjoy what he has gathered. This has been the basic premise of the book thus far. Not only has Solomon demonstrated this to be true, but what the sinner has gathered and collected for his own use will be inherited by one who is good in Gods sight. This principle of retribution is taught in Pro. 28:8 which reads: He who increases his wealth by interest and usury, gathers it for him who is gracious to the poor. Again he writes: The wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous (Pro. 13:22).
The vanity of striving after wind of verse twenty-six, does not refer to the activities of the good man. It has reference to the sinner who is collecting and gathering fruit of his labor, but will not enjoy it because it will soon belong to another. (Read carefully Ecc. 2:11; Ecc. 2:17-18.)
The fact that the good man recognizes that his enjoyment is from the hand of God, should not be interpreted in the context that God has given him a detailed rule book by which he works and lives to increase his joy. Rather, it is simply that the good man realizes that food and drink are gifts, which he acknowledges to be from God, and he finds genuine joy in the use of them. There is a definite moral involved. If avarice is the foe which keeps one from enjoying life, then setting oneself free from such a vain sin would result in the daily satisfaction with life that Solomon is discussing.
To try and discover happiness where God has not ordained that happiness can be found, has always been mans failing. Jesus redirects mens minds to those higher and nobler efforts which result in genuine happiness. Never has it been that joy results from the pursuit of joy. Our Lords beatitudes underscore the truth that when one seeks higher values such as purity, peace, and righteousness, that blessedness, in this case joy, overtakes him, and he discovers that he is experiencing real joy where God has ordained that it is to be found.
The division of chapter three at this particular verse is unfortunate. The same theme is under consideration in all twenty-two verses. In Ecc. 3:9 the basic question is asked once again: What profit is there to the worker from that in which he toils? The entire chapter is an amplification of chapter two. How can man discover a profit from his labor? First, by submitting to the fact that God does things appropriately in His own time. Second, eat, drink, work, and do good in ones lifetime. Third, do not be discouraged by the similar fate (death) of both man and beast as man does not have the knowledge to see his future, and thus he should be happy in his activities day-by-day. The profit is limited but it is there. Joy is his reward. Solomon states it clearly: Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat, to drink and enjoy one-self in all ones labor in which he toils under the sun during the few years of his life which God has given him; for this is his reward (Ecc. 5:18).
FACT QUESTIONS 2:2426
108.
What attitude does the good man have toward Gods control of the world?
109.
What attitude does the sinner have?
110.
Give the three synonyms used for joy in Ecclesiastes.
111.
Who cannot experience this joy?
112.
There is a limited profit (reward) that is available to one who labors under the sun. What is it? Cf. Ecc. 5:18
113.
What will happen to that which the sinner collects and gathers?
114.
Does joy result from pursuing joy?
115.
Jesus taught us that we will find joy if we pursue what?
116.
What subject comes under discussion in chapter three?
117.
What basic question is once again raised?
118.
Give three ways one can find a share of profit even under the sun.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(24) Nothing better.Not good is the sense of the Hebrew as it stands, for it will be observed that the word than is in italics. But as this word might easily have dropped out by a transcribers error, interpreters, taking in connection Ecc. 3:12; Ecc. 3:22; Ecc. 5:18; Ecc. 8:15, generally agree to modify the text so as to give it the meaning of our version, according to which the sense is: Seeing the uncertainty of the future, the only good a man can get from his labour is that present pleasure which he can make it yield to himself; and whether he can even enjoy so much as this depends on God. If the text be not altered, the sense is: It is not good for a man to eat, &c, seeing it depends on God whether or not that is possible.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
24. Nothing better We now have the inference drawn from the investigations here recorded, as a conclusion to the first section of the book. The best way, seeing that neither wisdom nor pleasure can appease the craving soul, is to mingle moderate and cheerful self-indulgence with the reasonable business of life, pushing neither study nor pleasure to excess, but acknowledging the good hand of God as balancing the gifts it confers.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
His Preliminary Conclusion ( Ecc 2:24-26 ).
Ecc 2:24-26
‘There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and make his soul enjoy good as a result of (in) his efforts. I also saw this, that it is from the hand of God. For who can eat and who can have enjoyment more than I? For to the man who pleases him (literally ‘is good before him’) God gives wisdom, knowledge and joy, but to the blameworthy one he gives constant struggle, to gather and to heap up, so that he may give to the one who pleases God.’
This partial conclusion, which he acknowledges is not fully satisfactory, brings God into the equation as a solution for the first time. Indeed it is noteworthy that up to this point he has ignored God so that his only previous mention of God has been in terms of what God ‘had given to man to be busy with’ (Ecc 1:13). Now he recognises that that is the problem. That man is so busy with the things that God has ‘given to men to be busy with’ that he has no time for God Himself. He has noticed that it is far better for a man to relax, and eat and drink, and work in order to enable him to enjoy ‘good things’ in life from the hand of God (that is, wisdom, knowledge and joy which cause him to please God), than it is for him to struggle to excess but fail to enjoy what God wants to give him. This was where the Preacher recognised that he himself had failed. After all no one had been able to eat and have enjoyment more than he had. And yet he had not found contentment in it because he had been too occupied with his thoughts to be open to receive the blessings of God. It is this benefit of open-heartedness towards Him that he concludes is what God supremely offers to a man. Thus he, as it were, envies the man who has not had to struggle within himself as he has done. He sees that such a life, which is lived by quiet faith open to God for His blessings, is from the hand of God. (Compare ‘Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness’ – Gen 15:6). And the consequence is that such a man ‘pleases God’, and continues quietly to learn from Him. A man like that is not too busy to receive God’s wisdom, knowledge and joy. This is the ‘good’ that he receives, and it is by not being so taken up with the stress of life that he has time for God. (It is in contrast with the wisdom, knowledge and pleasure that the king has sought – Ecc 1:12; Ecc 1:16; Ecc 2:1).
And a further consequence of this life of quiet trust is that he also benefits from the labours of others who are too busy to have any time for God. Such people are to be seen as blameworthy because they live to themselves and not to please God, and in the end their efforts, aimed at pleasing themselves, will not benefit themselves, but will rather benefit those who please God.
So he concludes that it is by pleasing God in this way that man reveals true wisdom, knowledge and joy, and not by his struggles to attain the unattainable. It is indeed in contrast with the one who exerts himself with great effort to gather possessions or knowledge of all kinds, but who thrusts God to one side, only to discover that what he does simply benefits these very ones who are pleasing God. There is a remarkable similarity between the Preacher’s ideas here and the words of Jesus Christ Himself when He also warned His disciples against being so anxious about obtaining the things of this life that we fail to trust God (Mat 6:25-34). Rather men were to receive from God’s hand what He gave and were to look for the blessing that is from above by ‘seeking first the Kingly Rule of God and His righteousness’ (Mat 6:33). Then ‘all these things will be added to them’. A similar idea is in mind here.
So the idea of ‘pleasing God’ here is on the basis of living a normal life before Him, without self-seeking but which is the result of an unstressed heart which is open to receive God’s wisdom, knowledge and joy, and seeks to please Him, while exerting sufficient honest effort into his toil to make it possible. To such a man, he says, God gives such wisdom, knowledge and joy, that is to say, the equivalent of what the writer had been looking for in all his exertions but had failed to find (Ecc 1:16; Ecc 2:1). The writer has observed this in practise, and acknowledges it to be so.
The wisdom, knowledge and joy given to the man with an open heart towards God is not, of course, the in-depth wisdom and knowledge that the writer had sought. They are the general wisdom and knowledge of a life sensibly lived before God, which experiences God without overexertion and is not overtaken with other things. But most importantly such wisdom and knowledge are accompanied by joy (something which is later very much stressed – Ecc 8:15; Ecc 9:7-9). His view may be seen as rather idealistic. He has probably only noticed those who were reasonably well-to-do, not those whose lives were lives of constant and excessive toil and struggle, with no means of enjoying life, who would not come to the attention of a king, although even such people can find joy in God. That is why the Psalmists indicated that it was the poor and needy who were most aware of God.
Such a man’s life is not complicated, it is lived before God. And he also receives benefit ( a result of fallout) which results from the labours of those who are self-seeking and strenuously exert themselves to become rich or knowledgeable, who provide work and trade and other benefits for godly people, which they gladly accept. Note that these self-seeking would-be rich people are, in contrast, not pleasing God. In His eyes they are blameworthy. Their exertions have thrust God out of their lives and have caused them to behave in non-ethical ways. Interestingly the ideas expressed have some affinity with Egyptian Wisdom teaching.
Ecc 2:26
‘This also is vanity and a striving after wind.’
This insight into the life of the godly man is seen as revealing. It shows that the Preacher has recognised that the one who puts God first (and receives wisdom, knowledge and joy) is more content than the one who struggles for pleasure, enjoyment and deep wisdom. But he recognises at the same time that there is still something missing in his definition. He acknowledges that he has not yet reached a fully satisfactory conclusion. For in a sense this also is vanity and a striving after wind, because it still leaves such a life without an ultimate purpose. It is still in its own way meaningless and empty. In a way this godly man, as he sees him here, is also falling short. His life is not achieving something sufficiently positive. And so he feels that his search must continue.
Alternately ‘this also is vanity and a striving after wind’ might be seen as applying only to the last phrase in the verse ‘but to the blameworthy one he gives constant struggle, to gather and to heap up, so that he may give to the one who pleases God’. The impression give, however is that it is a summary statement, summing up all that has been said.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Ecc 2:24. There is nothing better for a man, &c. This verse literally runs thus; No good in man that he eateth and drinketh, and maketh his soul to see good in his labour; that itself I perceived, that it cometh from the hand of God. That Solomon does not pretend to question the reality of pleasurable enjoyments has been observed by others, and is plain from many passages in this book; but it is plain likewise, that he does not assert it in this place, the meaning of which is so obvious from the context, that I wonder it has escaped the notice of commentators; for the opposition between baadam, in man, and miad, in the hand, is manifest: The advantage of enjoying life is not in man, or within the power of man: but it comes from the hand of the Almighty, &c. The sense is apparently the same with Job 21:16. Lo! their good is not in their hand. See the paraphrase on Ecc 2:26. Houbigant renders the present verse, Neither is there felicity in the man who eats and drinks, and refreshes himself with the good things gained by his labour. This also I considered to be from the hand of God; and he reads the next verse, For who eateth or drinketh, but through his gift?
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Ecc 2:24 [There is] nothing better for a man, [than] that he should eat and drink, and [that] he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it [was] from the hand of God.
Ver. 24. There is nothing better for a man, &c. ] This may seem to savour of epicurism, as may also some following passages of this book. For which cause some of the old Jewish doctors were once in a mind to hide this whole book out of the way, and not allow the common sort to see it any more. But this they needed never to have done, for the Preacher expressly calls carnal mirth “madness” in this very chapter, and shows that the happiness of a man stands in fearing God and keeping his commandments; Ecc 12:13-14 all which is point blank against atheism and epicurism. And whereas here and elsewhere the liberal use of the creatures is commended and commanded; this is done in opposition to, and detestation of, such parsimonious penny fathers as deny themselves that necessary and honest affluence that God hath permitted and afforded them; living sordidly, that they may grow rich suddenly, although they know not how soon they may leave all, nor yet to whom.
This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Ecc 2:24-26
24There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good. This also I have seen that it is from the hand of God. 25For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without Him? 26For to a person who is good in His sight He has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, while to the sinner He has given the task of gathering and collecting so that he may give to one who is good in God’s sight. This too is vanity and striving after wind.
Ecc 2:24-26 The Jewish Study Bible (p. 1608) asserts that these verses offer a new perspective on the author’s previous comments about the futility of life (i.e., enjoy the immediate). However, they seem to answer the question of Ecc 1:3. It is true there is no lasting benefit (cf. Ecc 2:11) apart from God, but Ecc 2:24-26 finally brings above the sun into focus. There is more to life than birth, life, and inevitable death. There is God, judgment, and an afterlife. Things will be set straight (cf. Ecc 1:15), but not here, not now. Unfairness, injustice, and vanity seem to reign (because of the Fall, cf. Genesis 3), but wait, God reigns! He and His will spend eternity together. For now, the righteous must trust in His revelation, this world-view and enjoy the simple daily pleasures that this world offers (when and while one can).
Qoheleth being an OT sage, did not know the whole picture (i.e., the new Covenant, cf. Jer 31:31-34; Eze 36:22-38 and the complete, ultimate revelation in Jesus Christ).
There is an interesting list concerning Qoheleth’s understanding of God’s actions in this fallen, temporal world (i.e., NIDOTTE, vol. 4, p. 553):
1. creator, Ecc 11:5; Ecc 12:1; Ecc 12:7 (like Psalms)
2. judge, Ecc 3:17-18; Ecc 11:9
3. benefactor, Ecc 2:24-26; Ecc 3:13; Ecc 5:18-20
4. one to be feared, Ecc 3:14; Ecc 5:1-7; Ecc 7:18 (like Proverbs)
5. one to be obeyed, Ecc 5:4; Ecc 7:26; Ecc 8:2; Eccl. 13:13-14 (like Proverbs)
6. one causality in the universe, Ecc 3:11; Ecc 5:18 to Ecc 6:2; Ecc 7:13-14 (like Psalms)
7. unknowable, Ecc 3:11; Ecc 8:16 to Ecc 9:1 (like Job)
8. fair, Ecc 8:12-13
Ecc 2:24 This also I have seen, that it is from the hand of God The simple pleasures of life are gifts from God (cf. Ecc 3:13; Ecc 5:19; Ecc 9:7; Pro 13:22; Job 27:16-17). See note at Ecc 2:1. In many ways this is one of just a few great truths in this book.
1. enjoy the simple pleasures of daily life (Ecc 2:1; Ecc 2:24; Ecc 3:12-13; Ecc 3:22; Ecc 5:18; Ecc 8:15; Ecc 9:7-9)
a. food (fellowship)
b. drink (although this can refer to revelry [cf. Exo 32:6; 1Sa 30:16; 1Ki 1:25] in this context it refers to daily family and social life)
c. sense of self-worth from life’s work
d. rejoicing in life (Ecc 9:8)
e. marriage and family (Ecc 9:9)
2. fear God, keep the commandments (Ecc 2:25; Ecc 12:13-14)
from the hand of God See Special Topic below.
SPECIAL TOPIC: GOD DESCRIBED AS A HUMAN (ANTHROPOMORPHIC LANGUAGE)
Ecc 2:25 have enjoyment This is a rare Hebrew term used only here in the OT. Most English translations take the meaning from the Arabic feel or perceive by the senses (BDB 301 II). However, the NJB has drink, following the Septuagint, which tried to make Ecc 2:24-25 parallel.
NASBwithout Him
NKJVmore than I
NRSV (NIV)apart from him
TEV———-
NJBcame from Him
JPSOAbut myself
A Hebrew textual variation (apart from Him) in some manuscripts is preserved in the Septuagint, Peshitta, and Jerome. Does this phrase reflect Qoheleth’s thinking or has a major theological insight been reached (i.e. gift from God) beginning in Ecc 2:24? I think Ecc 2:24-26 should be seen as a whole new thought.
Ecc 2:26 The question of this verse is how is a person good in His sight? This question must be related to Ecc 12:13-14. Notice the benefits:
1. wisdom (BDB 315)
2. knowledge (BDB 395)
3. joy (BDB 970)
All that fallen mankind seeks in self-effort will be a gift from God!
Notice the consequences for a selfish, godless life:
1. gathering and collecting
2. only to be given to another (person who is good in His sight)
Obviously Ecc 2:24-26 are contrasting Ecc 2:12-23! Exactly how they relate is uncertain.
Qoheleth is also challenging traditional wisdom about prosperity (cf. Job). The wicked rich are gathering for the righteous!
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
This is a study guide commentary which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.
These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought provoking, not definitive.
1. List the things in Ecclesiastes 2 that Qoheleth says proclaim vanity.
2. Why does he use Solomon as a backdrop in these two chapters?
3. Why does he seem to contradict himself about the advantages or disadvantages of wisdom and pleasure?
4. What great insight do Ecc 2:24-26 convey?
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
nothing better = no goodness.
better. Occurs in Ecc 2:24; Ecc 3:22; Ecc 4:3, Ecc 4:6, Ecc 4:9, Ecc 4:13, &c.
than. Ginsburg thinks this “than” should be in the text.
his soul = himself. Hebrew. nephesh. App-13.
it: i.e. true enjoyment. Omit the preceding italics.
God. Hebrew. ha-‘Elohim = the [true] God (App-4. with Art.) God (as Creator) is the subject which is continued through the next verse as the source and giver of all good. It is not therefore necessary to suppose that “another hand has been here at work”.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
nothing: Ecc 3:12, Ecc 3:13, Ecc 3:22, Ecc 5:18, Ecc 8:15, Ecc 9:7-9, Ecc 11:9, Ecc 11:10, Deu 12:12, Deu 12:18, Neh 8:10, Act 14:17, 1Ti 6:17
make his soul enjoy good: or, delight his senses
that it: Ecc 3:13, Ecc 5:19, Ecc 6:2, Mal 2:2, Luk 12:19, Luk 12:20
Reciprocal: Gen 48:15 – fed me Rth 3:7 – his heart 1Ki 4:20 – eating 1Ch 29:22 – eat and drink Ecc 6:9 – Better Ecc 9:9 – for Jer 22:15 – eat 1Co 7:31 – use 1Co 15:32 – let 1Ti 6:8 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
What Is Good in This Life
Ecc 2:24-26; Ecc 3:1-14
INTRODUCTORY WORDS
We come now to the second great question in the Book of Ecclesiastes. It is expressed in chapters 6 and 12: “Who knoweth what is good for man in this life?” The same question is asked in several other Scriptures. We have considered Solomon’s conclusions about the labors of this life, and now we are to consider more of his conclusions as to the pleasures of this life. Here is a theme that should grip every young man and every young woman with solemn attention.
By way of introduction we want to ask every Christian if he thinks that it pays to follow after the phantom of pleasure? Should not the Christian rather, with Moses, turn his back upon the wealth of Egypt, and its pleasures in order that he may suffer with the children of God? Not Moses alone made this wise choice. Saul of Tarsus threw everything of the world behind his back, and counted it but loss.
We trust that before this study shall have finished, every Christian will be able to say with the poet,
“Fade, fade each earthly joy, Jesus is mine!
Break ev’ry tender tie, Jesus is mine!
Dark is the wilderness,
Earth has no resting place,
Jesus alone can bless,
Jesus is mine!”
What do we care for the pleasures of earth? There are greater pleasures for us. The Apostle Paul found more joy in a Philippian jail, than the most ardent theatergoer can find in a show. With his feet bound in the stocks and his back beaten with many stripes, he was singing praises unto God.
The man of the world centers his joy on the things “under the sun.” His joy, therefore, comes or goes as he is prospered, or as he suffers loss in worldly things. The Christian may remain happy when everything on earth is fading around him. This is the way Habakkuk put it: If “the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls.”
He who lives above the sun can say: “Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.”
Madam Guyon in prison could write,
“A tittle bird I am
Shut from the fields of air.
Here in my cage I sit and sing
To Him who placed me there-
Well pleased a prisoner to be,
Because, my God, it pleaseth Thee.”
I. SHUT UP TO A WORLD OF PLEASURE (Ecc 2:24-25)
Our verse states definitely that there is nothing better for a man than that he should eat, drink, and have his soul enjoy his labor.
1. The pleasure of eating and drinking. The evangelist who says from the pulpit that there is no pleasure in eating and in drinking is missing the mark. There is much of pleasure around the table. There is the pleasure of friends; there is the pleasure of satisfying the appetite.
However, the man “under the sun” was certainly shut up to an earthly vision when he thought there was nothing better “under the sun” than to eat and drink. They are good so far as they go, but there are joys which so far exceed the pleasures around the feasting table that the latter seem to fade away in insignificance. There is something far better.
The fruit of the Spirit is joy. Christ said, “These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might remain in you.” Surely His joy did not center in eating and drinking. It centered in the smile of His Father’s face.
2. There is pleasure in one’s own labor. The man of the world, and even the Christian, finds great delight in successful undertakings. No matter to what we turn our hands, when the work of our hands proves to be good, we are happy. The work that we do for ourselves, and the successes which we attain, is nothing comparable to the joy which will be ours by and by, in the work we have done for Him. There is much that is better.
II. THE PORTION OF THE ONE “UNDER THE SUN” (Ecc 3:13; Ecc 3:22)
Ecc 3:13 says, “And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.” Verse 22says, “Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?”
Think of it! What is the portion of the man “under the sun”?
1. What is the longing of his body? It is to eat and to drink. It is physical satisfaction. Is this, however, the height of our ambition? Even Solomon himself acknowledges that the purpose of man is to glorify God, and to keep His commandments. There is something far better than the satisfying of the body.
2. What is the longing of the heart? To be merry? Why, certainly! Where is he who does not want to be happy and glad, filled with rejoicing?
A clown in a circus one day is reputed to have cried out, “I know what you all want: you want to be happy.” Then he began to crack his jokes and to cut up his antics to make the people laugh. Does not the heart have something better to seek than being merry?
3. What is the longing of the soul, or the mind? Solomon says that it is making the soul enjoy good in his labor. Certainly, this is true in part. Who is there who does not delight in walking over his estates? his gardens of flowers, his acres of fruit trees? Who is there who does not enjoy demonstrating some invention of his hands? But is there nothing beyond this? nothing better? Is this our portion?
We have already found that Solomon built houses, and planted vineyards. He had a paradise of his own. He had servants in his houses, and cattle in his fields. He had his own theatricals, and his own singers. Yet, with all of this, Solomon acknowledged that he hated life.
There is nothing else we can say than this: everything “under the sun” which lives without the spiritual and the Heavenly, is “vanity and vexation of spirit.”
III. SOME STRANGE CONCLUSIONS (Ecc 3:20-22)
We will now begin to understand some of the things which Solomon discovered “under the sun.” Ecc 3:22 says, “I perceive that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his own works.”
There is a reason for this conclusion. Let us bring it to you in this way.
1. The man “under the sun” has no knowledge of a future life. Ecc 3:20 reads, “All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.” The man, however, “under the sun” knows there is spirit indwelling the body of dust, therefore, he cries, as in Ecc 3:21, “Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?”
It is because of this warped vision of the future, this ignorance on man’s part in God, and Heaven, that Solomon through human wisdom confessed such strange conclusions.
2. The man “under the sun” discusses only the present life and what that life can give us. If he has any conception at all of a future life, he feels at least that “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” If he knows anything of the future it is expressed with a question mark. Who knoweth?
There is no new Jerusalem coming down from God out of Heaven, no streets of gold, no gates of pearl, no river of the water of life, no trees bearing twelve manner of fruits: there is nothing like these in the future to the man “under the sun.” There is nothing that is certain; nothing that is felt; nothing that is real or tangible. He knows nothing of the resurrection body, of the meeting with Christ in the air; nothing of the Marriage Supper, nothing of the Reign.
For this cause the man “under the sun” gives himself wholly to the life “under the sun.” He never expects to move above the sun. So far as he knows his spirit, and the spirit of the beast are the same, and he admits that man has no preeminence over the beast. Shall we wonder that he cries, “All is vanity”?
IV. SOME STRANGE CONTRADICTIONS (Ecc 5:16-18)
1. A man’s labor is all wind. This is the expression in Ecc 5:16. “What profit hath he that hath laboured for the wind?” Wind represents everything untangible, everything passing, everything ethereal. It represents nothing lasting, nothing material, or vital.
2. A man eats in sorrow and sickness. This is in Ecc 5:17. “All his days also he eateth in darkness, and he hath much sorrow and wrath with his sickness.” According to this the man “tinder the sun” may be sometimes up, but more frequently down. He may have something of song, but more of sorrow. He may know health, but he is soon to know sickness. He may eat in the light, but he oftener eats in darkness.
3. Ecc 5:18 acknowledges that it is good and comely for one to eat and drink, “and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it is his portion.”
Peculiar, is it not? That a wise man should put a question mark over a man’s labor and call it wind, and then tell him that he should enjoy it because it is his portion. It is not strange that the wise man should demonstrate that a man eats in darkness, in sorrow, in sickness, and yet tell him to eat and drink, and to enjoy it all, as his portion?
We agree that there is nothing good “under the sun” that makes a man permanently happy, rested, satisfied, and contented. We certainly agree. Then why this continued corroboration that there is nothing better? that this is the portion of man?
The reason for these statements, and this urge, is because God is compelling the wise man to show everything that the man “under the sun” (who has no Christ, and no covenant relationship with God) may have.
V. SOME STRANGE COMMENDATIONS (Ecc 8:15-17)
We grant that what we are saying seems repetition, and yet the Book of Ecclesiastes gives these repetitions. God is pressing Solomon to wisdom’s final conclusion concerning everything that there is for the man “under the sun.”
1. In the verses before us we are commended to eat, drink, and be merry, and yet we are reminded that the wise man wrote his own admission when he said that these things would vanish. He acknowledged that laughter was mad, and of mirth he said, “What doeth it?”
Still in the verses before us he continues to urge men “to eat, and to drink, and to be merry.”
2. Eat, drink, and be merry? and yet the verses before us acknowledge that the sleep left Solomon’s eyes. The verses acknowledge that even the wise cannot know the reason for the things “under the sun.” He may behold the works of God, yet he seeks to know them, and cannot.
3. Eat, drink, and be merry. Yet God plainly said to the rich man, who said (in Luk 12:1-59) that he would eat, drink, and be merry, that he was a fool. Yes, every man is a fool who is rich toward himself, and poor toward God. Every man is a fool who thinks that life must be builded around the things which we possess. Every man is a fool who thinks that the summum bonum of life is in the harvests which overflow his barns. We may lose all of wealth and worldly pleasures and yet be supremely happy.
Thinkest thou my joy is gone
Just because my wealth has flown?
I have treasures in the skies,
And great wealth in Paradise;
I have laid up coin on high
Where my riches never die.
Things of earth may round me fail,
Deep depression may prevail;
What care I, Christ is my store,
Having Him, what need I more:
He will all my needs supply,
And my heart will satisfy.
VI. THE FULL SCOPE OF PLEASURE’S REALM (Ecc 9:7-9)
God knows the full scope of pleasure and He tells you through Solomon. Hear Him!
“Eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; * * Let thy garments be always white; and let thy head lack no ointment. 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.”
What will you add to this? What more have you to say? You who know not God, you who are living after the flesh-what find you “under the sun”? Come, take your count. Cast forth the debits and the credits of your life. What is good for man? What is better? What is the very best?
The good, the better, and the best are all by wisdom’s acknowledgment included in this: in eating and drinking, in a man’s dress, in the wife of his love, and in his labor under the sun; yet, all of this, at the last, is “vanity.” Soon, full soon, the shadow may fall athwart your path, and you can eat and drink no more. Soon your garments will be folded and laid aside. Soon, alas, full soon, the dear one may be dead. Your labor, too, will fail. Life will be swept with winter’s storms. The leaves will fall and all will be “vanity.”
Who knoweth what a day will bring forth? Men are living with trembling hearts looking forward to the things that are coming to pass on the earth. Air castles will fall; fondest dreams will vanish in wakeful despair. O men and women, in the turmoil and the strife, in a world where all is “vanity and vexation of spirit,” we beseech you, get you under the sheltering arms of a once crucified, now living, and soon Returning Lord. Look to Him, and be ye saved.
VII. PLEASURE’S MESSAGE TO THE YOUNG MAN (Ecc 11:9)
“Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes.”
1. We ask why such advice was given to a young man? Is it safe to tell any young man who has a heart of sinful flesh, that he should walk in the ways of his heart? Is it safe to tell any young man whose heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, that he should walk in the ways of his heart? If out of the heart there comes fornication, lasciviousness, uncleanness, may men walk in its way? Is it right to tell a man to walk in the sight of his eyes when his eyes will naturally seek after those things which are carnal? Should we not rather tell him to let his eyes look straight before him, and that he should ponder the path of his feet?
Did not Adam and Eve fall because they walked in the sight of their eyes? Why then should the wise man have said to the young man: “Rejoice, * * in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth,” etc.?
It was because this is the usual advice given by the man “under the sun.” Solomon is not giving us God’s conclusion; he is giving us the conclusions of the man “under the sun,” and God is impelling him to write everything there is for a man “under the sun.”
Job made a covenant with his eyes. Jesus said, “If thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness.” John speaks of the “lust of the eyes.”
2. Solomon’s advice to the young man is both preceded and followed by warnings. Even the man “under the sun” would tell his son that he should enjoy himself, have a good time, and yet he would add, “Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth.”
We will understand all these things far better when we study the next Scripture: The Religion of the Man “Under the Sun.”
AN ILLUSTRATION
Did you ever hear the story of the great bell of Moscow, the largest bell in the world? It was cast more than two hundred years ago, and has never been raised, not because it is too heavy, but because it is cracked. All was going well at the foundry when a fire broke out in Moscow. Streams of water were washed in upon the houses and factories. A tiny stream found its way into the bell metal at the very moment when it was rushing in a state of fusion into the great bell mold, and so the big bell came out cracked and all its capacity for music was destroyed.
Many a young life has had a Divinely given impulse, like soft and molten metal, just flowing into a noble and steadfast decision, when the insidious love of this world’s goods has been allowed to trickle in at that vital moment, breaking the resolve and hushing the music of a life which should have been given out for others.-Expositor.
Fuente: Neighbour’s Wells of Living Water
Ecc 2:24. There is nothing better Or, Is there any thing better for a man? Which implies that there is nothing better, namely, for mans present comfort and satisfaction; than that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour That, studying first to free his mind from overmuch care and anxiety, he should, instead of heaping up perpetually for his heirs, allow himself a moderate and decent use of all the good things that he hath gotten by his honest labours; praising God for them, and cheerfully communicating them with his friends and neighbours, and to the relief of the necessitous poor and afflicted. This also Namely, that a man should thankfully take, and freely and cheerfully enjoy and communicate with others, the comforts which God gives him; I saw was from the hand of God Was a singular gift of God, and not to be procured by a mans own wisdom and diligence.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Ecc 2:24-26. The best thing for a man is to get what pleasure he can out of life. And after all this is the Divine scheme of life, the ordinance of God. No one can eat or be happy apart from Him (see mg.). Ecc 2:26 (except the detached sentence at the close which declares that even the conclusion reached in Ecc 2:24 is vanity), contradicts Qoheleths central contention, and must be regarded as the comment of a pious annotator. That the good man prospers while the sinner suffers, and even has to hand over his gains to the good man, is teaching found in many parts of OT, but certainly not in Ec. It did not square with the facts of life, as Qoheleth and the author of Job saw; but while the latter made a brave attempt to grapple with the problem the former was content to state it and dwell in the gloom which he could not dissipate.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
2:24 [There is] nothing better for a man, [than] that he should eat and drink, and [that] he should {p} make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it [was] from the hand of God.
(p) When man has all laboured, he can get no more than food and refreshing, yet he confesses also that this comes from God’s blessing, as in Ecc 3:13.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Since we cannot expect permanent changes to come out of our work, changes that will continue forever after, the best we can do is to enjoy its fruits and find some satisfaction in the work itself (cf. Ecc 3:12-13; Ecc 3:22; Ecc 5:18-19; Ecc 8:15; Ecc 9:7; Ecc 9:9). This is the first of seven passages in which the writer recommended the wholehearted pursuit of enjoyment (Ecc 2:24 a; Ecc 3:12; Ecc 3:22 a; Ecc 5:17; Ecc 8:15 a; Ecc 9:7-9 a; and Ecc 11:7 to Ecc 12:1 a), and they make the point with increasing intensity and solemnity. [Note: For a study of these passages, see R. N. Whybray, "Qoheleth, Preacher of Joy," Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 23 (1982):87-98, reprinted in Zuck, ed., Reflecting with . . ., pp. 203-12.] However, this is possible only with God’s help (Ecc 2:24-25).
"Solomon is not advocating ’Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die!’ That is the philosophy of fatalism not faith. Rather, he is saying, ’Thank God for what you do have, and enjoy it to the glory of God.’" [Note: Wiersbe, p. 491.]
Sometimes God channels the fruits of a wicked person’s work into a righteous person’s hands (Ecc 2:26). [Note: See J. Stafford Wright, "The Interpretation of Ecclesiastes," in Classical Evangelical Essays in Old Testament Interpretation, pp. 144-45.]
". . . in themselves, and rightly used, the basic things of life are sweet and good. Food, drink and work are samples of them, and Qoheleth will remind us of others [cf. Ecc 9:7-10; Ecc 11:7-10]. What spoils them is our hunger to get out of them more than they can give; a symptom of the longing which differentiates us from the beasts, but whose misdirection is the underlying theme of this book." [Note: Kidner, p. 35.]
In these verses, Solomon implied that God’s rewarding or punishing a person for his trust in God and his ethical behavior would take place before death. This is normally what happens (cf. Proverbs). Therefore, Solomon’s counsel is good advice. However, from later revelation we learn that final judgment will take place after this life, and that God’s rewards are not just temporal but eternal (cf. Job’s problem). Therefore, as believers, we can find greater satisfaction in our work itself than Solomon could. In short, later revelation has not invalidated Solomon’s views but enriched them.