Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ecclesiastes 9:4
For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion.
4. For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope ] A different and preferable punctuation gives the rendering: For who is specially chosen, i.e. who is excepted from the common lot of death. To all the living there is hope. The passage has, however, received many conflicting interpretations, of which this seems, on the whole, the best. It was quite after the tone of Greek thought to find in the inextinguishable hope which survives in most men even to the end, even though the hope does not stretch beyond the horizon of the grave, their one consolation, that which made life at least liveable, even if not worth living. So Hope was found at the bottom of Pandora’s treasure-chest of evils. So Sophocles:
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“For unto men comes many-wandering hope,
Bringing vain joy.”
Antig. 613.
a living dog is better than a dead lion ] The point of the proverb lies, of course, in the Eastern estimate of the dog as the vilest of all animals (1Sa 17:43; Psa 69:6 ; 2Ki 8:13; Mat 7:6; Mat 15:26; Rev 22:15, et al.), while the lion, with both Jew and Greek, was, as the king of beasts (Pro 30:30), the natural symbol of human sovereignty. A like proverb is found in Arabic.
The pessimist view of life, co-existing with the shrinking from death, finds a parallel in Euripides ( Hippol. 190 197):
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“Yea, every life of man is full of grief,
Nor is there any respite from his toils:
But whatsoe’er is dearer than our life,
Darkness comes o’er it, covering all with clouds;
And yet of this we seem all madly fond,
For this at least is bright upon the earth,
Through utter nescience of a life elsewhere,
And the ‘no-proof’ of all beneath the earth.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
For to him – Rather: Yet to him. Notwithstanding evils, life has its advantage, and especially when compared with death.
Dog – To the Hebrews a type of all that was contemptible 1Sa 17:43.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Ecc 9:4
A living dog is better than a dead lion.
Sinners, living and dead
I. Some sinners are more contemptible than others. There is as much difference between some and others as there is between the dog and the lion.
1. Some sinners are baser in nature than others. There are some who are constitutionally low, and mean, and sordid–like the dog.
2. Some sinners are in baser circumstances than others. Some tenant the hovels of pauperism, others dwell in palaces. Some wear the wretched appearance of starving curs, others the majestic bearing of lions.
II. The least contemptible of sinners must die. There is the dead lion. The sinner, however noble in nature or circumstances, must die. Death to the sinner is a terrible thing.
1. It detaches him from all good.
2. It connects him with all evil.
III. The most contemptible sinner, whilst living, has an advantage over the least contemptible who is dead. Why?
1. He is living in a world fitted for happiness. Everything in the natural world is intended and suited to minister pleasure to man.
2. He is living in the sphere of redemptive mercy. (Homilist.)
The delusion of common lily rebuked and corrected
Life is an immense advancement over death. Organization is greatly in advance of inorganized matter; life is an advancement over organization, for one may exist without the other. But a rational life is as superior to simple life in itself, as life is in advance of simple lifeless organization. Reason cannot exist without life, for it is its first and essential condition; but it is different from it, and superior to it; it is an addition to it, an adornment and completion of it, it makes life great, grand, powerful, and Divine-like. The distance and difference between life and death are the difference and extreme distance between principles, viewed in their moral character, relation, and result. As life is superior to death in the power of consciousness, action, and advancement, so are true principles and good character to the false and the bad. On this ground, a living dog is better than a dead lion.
I. Some of the principles the words of the text suggest.
1. Life is the period within which all is possible that is requisite and required. A dead lion is helpless and hopeless, a living dog is able and hopeful.
2. Little real goodness is better than much nominal and fanciful. A small living spark will produce a flame, which cannot be done by a large dead charcoal; a small mustard-seed will grow into a beautiful and useful tree, whereas a forest of dead roots cannot produce such results.
3. The small used rightly is better than the great unused. A small candle that gives light is better than a sun covered with darkness. A little water that can be used by the dying or thirsty is better than a river which cannot be so used. We constantly hear complaints and excuses of small possessions, of small means, of small opportunities, and of small powers, and these are made the causes of neglect and misery in the lips of those who make them. What we need, first of all, is not greater quantity, but the power of using faithfully what we have.
4. The past of life will not satisfy and meet the present demands of human need and Divine requirements. Every day creates its duties–every day brings its wants; the provision of the day covers the need of a day, as the work of the day covers the obligation of a day. The present will not cover the future, no more than the future can cover the present–every day must provide for itself; if it does not, it is a day of want, for the blessings of yesterday and to-morrow are partly dead things to us to-day.
5. The small, with evidence and security, is better than much with groundless hope and uncertainty. A little goodness done is better than much in vows and promises; a small portion of solid and real happiness is better than great superficial and uncertain pleasure; a little producing power is better than much that is unproductive; a little of actual reality possessed of truth, virtue, and religion is of far higher worth than much in boastful fancy.
6. The small with contentment is better than the great without. The value and importance of a thing to us is in the fitness of it to satisfy our heart and mind; it may be small and insufficient in its outward form or in the estimate of people relative to it, but it is better than the possession which people call, in outward appearance, grand and glorious. With contentment, which comprehends peace of conscience and tranquillity of mind, a humble position and a small possession are better than a lofty station and magnificent possession.
II. The application and the rebuke of the text to common life.
1. It rebukes that class who trust in fortuitous chances more than in the right conduct of life. It may indeed be, in many instances, that true conduct is often slow in bringing success and happiness, and that the contrary, in many cases in this life, leads to what many call success sooner and with greater certainty; because wrong, in a world of falsehood, has more means and ways at its disposal than truth and law have, for the means and ways of truth must be all true, or else it is no longer true itself. But the success and happiness got any way apart from a right conduct or the order of law, are neither true nor real, they are but things of wrong and misconception, and are neither to be desired nor enjoyed by the true, nor held long by the deluded wrong.
2. It rebukes another class in society, namely, those who trust more in appearance than in high principles of real life. When appearance is sought and loved for its own sake as an end, it is vanity; when it is made to conceal and deceive others, it is hypocrisy. These feelings are found everywhere in society, deforming its beauty and eating up its life and reality; they are the dead lions of society, beginning in vain appearance and ending in death.
3. It rebukes those who will not do the little they can, because they have no means or opportunities to do the great and illustrious. To bury the one talent because we are not possessors of five, or not to use the one until the other four will be possessed, is a vain delusion; and better is the man who uses his little faithfully, than he who thus vainly hopes until he possesses more: one is conscious of life and gives expression to it; the other is dead in heart and action, and notwithstanding his plans and promises, a living dog is better than his dead lion.
4. There is a rebuke here to those who neglect present duties until future time. The thing which should be done to-day, but left until the morrow, is undone, and is virtually never done. The probability is that it will never be actually done; but if it will, it will have lost some of its virtue and beauty, because it ought to have been done before. But everything in the form of a present duty, thus neglected until a future time, is virtually dead, for the future is uncertain; and if the time ever comes, our views and feelings instead of being more inclined to do the thing which thus was neglected in the past, will be more disinclined to do it, and will probably be inclined to throw it to a greater future still.
5. The words rebuke human folly that trusts in shadowy unreality rather than in reality. It is not seldom that people give away their present position and happiness because they fancy something greater and far better, and thus give up the real for the vain, and the certain for the things which too often prove unattainable. This is exemplified religiously in different forms, but is the same thing in character and result. One tries to make a good show to gain approval arid applause, or conceal some purpose which is not made known, which is hypocrisy. In such a case, inward principle is not sought, conscious enjoyment is not known; all is outward appearance, which is not life and reality, but a formal and hard affectation. There is another class, again, who make feeling all their aim. With these, knowledge is of no value, principle of truth and integrity is of no importance; unless a state of vague and excited moral intoxication absorbs all, everything is worthless. Others there are who make all their religious reality dependent upon some few points of belief, which may be nothing better than opinion, and when it comes to the test, there is neither life nor reality in them. There are others, again, who depend upon some secret purpose in Gods mind for all their salvation and heaven, exclusive of all goodness by and in themselves.
6. There is here a rebuke to those who desire their possession to consist in form and magnitude rather than in quality. How feeble and foolish are we! We allow sense to control our reason, and not reason our sense; we too frequently allow fancy to govern conscience rather than conscience fancy; we submit our best judgment to sentimental delusion, rather than be governed according to the laws of truth and equity. How long shall we and others be guilty of pursuing the dead lions of vain ambition and delusive blindness, and be rebuked and punished by justice for the folly of our conduct?
III. The lessons of instructions intended to common life.
1. One important lesson here intended is not to trust in the helpless. The earthly and material are helpless, for they are unfit for our moral and spiritual nature. The perishable cannot help us, for they die behind us, and are insufficient from their nature to satisfy our immortal hope and aspiration. The sinful, whatever it is, is helpless; for instead of improving, it deteriorates, and instead of adding to resources and happiness, it diminishes and destroys. The thing which is not in unity with Gods will and order, with the advancement; of truth and happiness, cannot help us, and must not be trusted in. No finite thing must have all the confidence of our soul, for everything and everybody are in-sufficient to meet the wants of the soul and all its relations and conditions. We must have a living God, a living Saviour, a living Comforter, a living faith, a living hope, a living love–these will comfort and be sufficient when everything else fails and dies.
2. Another lesson intended to teach us, is not to judge things from their forms, but from their character. If we judge from appearance, we go wrong in the most common matters of life. In childhood we should put the penny above the sovereign because it is larger; and judging from outward strength and swiftness we should put the horse above man. Outward appearance, when natural and true, is an index of tile inward character and meaning of things; but we must not take it alone as a final test, for it may not be genuine, and moreover, we may by something not right in us misinterpret it; it must be taken in connection with other things more safe and true as tests of quality and character.
3. We are taught to use faithfully the means and powers we possess, and not excuse our virtue upon the chance of things. What we need is not so much more power, but the use of what we possess more faithfully. In this God has given us useful lessons in the ant, the bee, and the bird; they use what they have, and they answer successfully the purpose of life.
4. There is another lesson of sacred importance taught us, namely, that God looks at the vitality of things in their nature, and not on their outward form of grandeur and greatness. God accepts of a humble publican, with his unassuming manner and confession, rather than the boastful prayer of the Pharisee. He looks at the vitality of the heart, and not at the gorgeous outward manifestation. He accepts the attitude of the inward spirit. He is a Spirit, and must be worshipped in spirit and in truth. What a comfort and encouragement is this to us all I What God thinks of us is the great thing belonging to us all alike. He demands a living thought, a living love, a living faith, and a living devotion; they are suitable in themselves, and accepted by God from all alike.
5. Another lesson of importance given us here is, that the secret of happiness is to enjoy the little we have. However small our blessings, we have more than we use to our own advancement and happiness; the reason of our misery is the non-application rightly of what we possess, and not deficiency in the quality and degree of our possession. This is often beautifully illustrated in life, you often see more happiness in the cottage than in the palace, in poverty than in wealth, in pain and affliction than in ease and health. How is this? It is because one applies and enjoys his little better than the other his greater and richer blessings.
6. I mention one more lesson taught us in the text, namely, that our goodness should be an active,, growing thing; our goodness must live to be active, and active to live. A little living seed is better than all the dead flowers in the country; so a little progressive goodness is more hopeful than all past life of virtue and religion. Growth is a preparation for the future, arising from present life and deep-rootedness. It is not the majesty and largeness of the lion that makes it undesirable, but its dead condition; as such, it is a condition of inactivity and decay rather than one of action and strength. It is not the smallness of the dog that makes it an object of desire, but its life. Under this condition it is competent of useful service, and of growth and activity. The lesson intended to be conveyed to us is, that life, action, and growth are united; and that it is needful to have life before the others can exist. The teaching of truth is, Grow in grace; let us go hence; let us not be weary in well-doing; and these things are incompatible with inactivity, stultification, and death.
IV. The encouragement and comfort intended to common life. Most things contain in them an element of comfort, if we are able to find it, and in a fit state to receive and apply it. All comforts are not of the same kind; they vary in form and diversity, in common with other things. When you assist a man in distress with your material means, it is a comfort, or soothe his bodily pain, or restore him from the verge of death into health and vigour, it is a high comfort. When you tell a friend the way to success, or restore a wanderer from a path of danger and wrong, and put and direct him on in safety, it is comforting. When you solve any difficult problem, or dissipate some doubt and fear, or soothe a heart depressed and cast down, it is no small comfort you impart to their subjects. When you show new light upon any dark picture, or give new means to conquer difficulties, or discover new hope to vanquish the common foes of life, these are no small comforts to those who need them. These are some of the various form of comforts, and they are all valuable and needed, and accepted with gratitude by those who are in such conditions. We have in the text an encouraging comfort for the true and humble ones who are depressed and dejected by reason of their state and condition, or from the smallness of their sacrifice, or the little they can do. They look at the lofty station, splendour, power, and great gifts of others, and are discouraged and ready to flag in the path of duty, and think they have neither a plea nor a hope to be accepted of God, and be among the successful competitors of religion and heaven. But He looks not as man looks, He accepts the small and unadorned sincerity before dead splendour and outward dignified grandeur. You humble dejected ones, be then comforted, that the Lofty One looks on the humble and true ones, and accepts the mean in outward appearance, if it be true, before the most illustrious grandeur and the greatest outward ornament which a combined universe could offer Him. (J. Hughes.)
Reality versus Show
In the estimation of an Oriental, the lion was the symbol of all that was brave and kingly–the dog, of all that was base and contemptible. Between the living dog and the living lion there could be no comparison, any more than you could compare a Christian philosopher with an African slave–there was only a contrast; but the lion dead changes the whole aspect of the thing. Its regal bearing, its voice of thunder, its courage, are gone, and nothing but the appearance is left behind. Than that, the wise man says, the living dog is better. It seems to me that the writer of Ecclesiastes has set before himself the purpose of scourging the people for their vain, pretentious, and foolish display. The great outstanding sin of the nation was a love of mere show. They set little store on the reality of the thing if they were only feasted with the appearance. There must be pomp, pageantry, glare, dazzle, grand outward show–never mind how hollow, never mind how unreal. Artificiality was ruining the nation. They had set up the dead lion, and spurned the living dog. A very foolish nation, certainly, that nation of Jews; and it does seem astonishing that grown-up men and women could have been so childish. But wait; let us ask if there is not something of this here, and now, among ourselves. Here in this Western world, among a people not poetic, not dreamy–now in an age that claims to be intensely practical–it seems to me that we are given over to appearances, and sham is lord of the ascendant. Is it difficult to prove that? I think net. Look at dress. Simple garments with simple lines, simple ornaments, plain but real; natures grand simplicity–where will you find it? Only here and there. It is built up with fold upon fold, gaudy extravagance, glaring tinsel, diamonds of pure carbon, or diamonds of cut-glass; ornaments of gold, or ornaments of aluminum; flowers from the garden, if not, then flowers from the toy shop; anything and everything for show. Rich and poor alike are rushing into this foolish extravagance of dress. Simplicity is gone–banished to the wilds of Siberia or elsewhere, and we are given over to the gaudy and the unreal. Then, again, take our social life and customs. In certain circles, party-going and party-giving fill up a large portion of the time. The day is but a wearisome waiting or toilsome preparation for the evenings festivities. Then there will be songs and laughter–for the most part foolish, sentimental songs, and the most forced and silly laughter. And the secret of much of this party-going and party-giving is the love of display. A weeks honest earnings wasted in a night; charities to the poor and deserving lessened or cut off; children defrauded of a part of their rightful inheritance: and all to show up a dead lion. Better the living dog, I am sure. See all this hard work about you; all this wear and tear of body and mind; all this straining and striving. What does it mean? It means money, money. Men make haste to be rich, that they may have more display, and in their blind eagerness fall into many snares and divers temptations. The hardy virtues are dying; the brave, simple, manly men–the heroes, the giants–are becoming extinct. Let there be some grand effort made to rescue society from this threatened danger; let us put forth our hands, and grasp again those simple, hardy virtues which were the foundation of Englands greatness. Our feasting is destroying us; our luxury is wasting our manhood. Better poverty than this; better the living dog than the dead lion. Take, again, our commercial world, and you will find much worship of the dead lion, and much contempt of the living dog there. It is a maxim that if a man would succeed, he must make a show. A small house in an unpretending place will gain little or no credit. There must be display, or it is nothing. And so you have it all around you–this dead lion worship–this appearance, this shameful and fraudulent display. Everywhere people are asking for brilliance, and care little for the reality. The dead lion is enthroned–that is king, that is priest, that is philosopher, that is statesman; while the living dog, the unostentatious reality, is passed by with contempt or thrust out of sight. But what about the Church–that representative of Gods kingdom on the earth–that grand and heaven-formed institution, which has nothing to do with condition, but everything to do with character? Has she protested against this love of show? Has she stood forth a reality in a world of unrealities, pure gold as compared with things of tinsel, a flower bright and fragrant, unfolding in divinest beauty under the rays of the central sun as against the cut and painted paper of mans invention? Or has she, too, drank in the spirit of the world and taken the dead lion to her arms? Splendid organizations, elaborate theologies, well-defined creeds, and a goodly array of dogmas, those are the things we have busied ourselves about. We have set too great store upon mere profession and orthodoxy, and too little store upon personal life. What a good man is Mr. Screw! what a great Christian! Mr. Screw never had a doubt about religion in his life, and never will. Orthodox! if he were to live through all the changes a thousand years will see, he would never have the charge of heresy preferred against him. Tell him the creed, and he will subscribe it. But he holds his money as dearer than his faith. He is devout on Sunday, and on Monday morning will pull a string and set in motion a whole organization of fraud, and then devour a widows house, and say grace after the meal. No matter, he is orthodox, and the Church will have him. Ah! better a living dog than that dead lion. Better a widows mite in the box and an honest, loving heart throbbing in the pew. The cry is raised in all our churches for a revival. But the revival will not come until there is more reality in our church life. We must take a pure religion into the streets. The shop, and the warehouse, and the mill, must be conducted upon principles of Christian integrity. (A. J. Bray.)
Lion or dog
I. In respect to the possession of life, We conclude, even under the greatest disadvantages, existence is better than non-existence. To live is to be conscious. To think, to know, to reason, to act is elevation. To possess powers of estimating even misery is a matter for thankfulness. The difficulties of life should be faced courageously. If we faint in the day of adversity our strength is small. We should always cherish hope; hope will give life. We should not yield to envy, for that is the foundation of despair. The rich have their annoyances, disappointments, trials, social ignorings and terrible losses; the poor can have their simple pleasures and healthful rest. Where there is the desire to make the best of circumstances it is wonderful how much of joy may be even found in positions that appear most pitiable. We are not wishing to imply that those under conditions of poverty should be content always to remain therein. On the contrary, we wish them ever to be seeking to improve their surroundings and their minds, but ever to remember that a living dog is better than a dead lion.
II. In respect to the decisions we may have to arrive at in various circumstances the truth of the text may guide us. If a man seeking employment should find a task that appears to be below his dignity, or the pay below his desert, it is better to accept such a position than to be workless and go perhaps starving, or subsisting on charity. The poor say, frequently, Half a loaf is better than none, and this is common sense. Further, in respect to some enterprise in which a man may be tempted to embark by the promise of great profits or interest, but for which he must sacrifice some steady, but less promising occupation, it would be well for him to remember the text. Better the certainty, though small, than the profits of alluring amount, but which are problematical. In bearing certain difficulties, misrepresentations, and evils we may remember that efforts to remove them may only increase them. It is better to bear the ills we have than to fly to others that we know not of.
III. In judging of certain systems the principle of the text is applicable. To-day we have to choose either rationalism, agnosticism, ultimate despair, universal suicide, or religion of some kind. We say better any form of religion than none, any vitality rather than death. Even if we have to decide between various forms of religion, we should seek that which promotes intellectual and spiritual life combined; but if we cannot find the spiritual advanced, and only cold formalism or intellectualism cultivated, then we must accept that which has life and warmth and love in it. Christianity is a system of doctrines concerning God and immortality. Anything that will keep alive the knowledge of the one and hope for the other is better than allowing it to die out.
IV. The principle of the text applies in respect to the possession of spiritual life. To have it in however low degree is better than to have to confess to its absence. Spiritual life is characterized by peace through faith in the one great sacrifice, effort after purity, love of the Word, and practice of prayer and charity toward all. Many of the poor and unlearned are rich in this possession. They have that which is a permanent possession, too–something which will not be destroyed at death or dissipated by ones heirs. Better be the poorest and most despised on earth, with this spiritual life, than the lion of society without it. He that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than the lordliest worldling. Lord Byron sent to a lady who once wrote to him, pressing upon him the necessity of religion, a reply which is in harmony with what we have been saying. He said: I thank you for your interest in me. I am bound to say that all who entertain a belief in God and religion have a tremendous advantage; for it not only affords consolations in this life, but even if there is no hereafter it smooths the downward course of life and takes from death its darkness and fear. Yet, knowing that the living dog was better than the dead lion, that erratic, that proud, that highly-talented genius turned away and lived for the world and for misery. Alas! many imitate him even now. (F. Hastings.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 4. For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope] While a man lives he hopes to amend, and he hopes to have a better lot; and thus life is spent, hoping to grow better, and hoping to get more. The Vulgate has, “There is none that shall live always, nor has any hope of such a thing.” Perhaps the best translation is the following: “What, therefore, is to be chosen? In him that is living there is hope.” Then choose that eternal life which thou hopest to possess.
A living dog is better than a dead lion.] I suppose this was a proverb. The smallest measure of animal existence is better than the largest of dead matter. The poorest living peasant is infinitely above Alexander the Great.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
That is joined to all the living; that continueth in the land and society of living men. Or, according to the reading of the Hebrew text,
that is chosen or allotted to life, whom God hath appointed yet to live in the world, when he hath appointed that many others shall die; or who are written among the living, as the phrase is, Isa 4:3, which is borrowed from the custom of cities, where men are first chosen, and then enrolled citizens.
There is hope; he hath not only some comfort for the present, but also hopes of further and greater happiness in this world, which men are very prone to entertain and cherish in themselves. Yea, they may have the hopes of a better life, if they improve their opportunities. But he seems to confine himself here to the present life.
Better, i.e. much happier, as to the comforts and privileges of this world, though in other respects death be better than life, as was said, Ecc 7:1.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
4. Forrather, “Nevertheless.”English Version rightly reads as the Margin, Hebrew,“that is joined,” instead of the text, “who is to bechosen?”
hopenot of meretemporal good (Job 14:7); butof yet repenting and being saved.
dogmetaphor for thevilest persons (1Sa 24:14).
lionthe noblest ofanimals (Pr 30:30).
betteras to hope ofsalvation; the noblest who die unconverted have no hope; the vilest,so long as they have life, have hope.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope,…. That is, who is among the living, is one of them, and, as long as he is, there is hope, if his circumstances are mean, and he is poor and afflicted, that it may be better with him in time; see Job 14:7; or of his being a good man, though now wicked; of his being called and converted, as some are at the eleventh hour, even on a death bed; and especially there is a hope of men, if they are under the means of grace, seeing persons have been made partakers of the grace of God after long waiting. There is here a “Keri” and a “Cetib”, a marginal reading and a textual writing; the former reads, “that is joined”, the latter, “that is chosen”; our version follows the marginal reading, as do the Targum, Jarchi, Aben Ezra, the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions: some, following the latter, render the words, “who is to be chosen” y, or preferred, a living, or a dead man? not a dead but a living man: “to all the living there is hope”; of their being better; and, as Jarchi observes, there is hope, while alive, even though he is a wicked man joined to the wicked; yea, there is hope of the wicked, that he may be good before he dies;
for a living dog is better than a dead lion; a proverbial speech, showing that life is to be preferred to death; and that a mean, abject, and contemptible person, living, who for his despicable condition may be compared to a dog, is to be preferred to the most generous man, or to the greatest potentate, dead; since the one may possibly be useful in some respects or another, the other cannot: though a living sinner, who is like to a dog for his uncleanness and vileness, is not better than a dead saint or righteous man, comparable to a lion, who has hope in his death, and dies in the Lord.
y “quisquis eligatur”, Montanus, so Gejerus.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
“For (to him) who shall be always joined to all the living, there is hope: for even a living dog is better than a dead lion.” The interrog. , quis est qui , acquires the force of a relative, quisquis ( quicunque ), and may be interpreted, Exo 32:33; 2Sa 20:12, just as here (cf. the simple mi, Ecc 5:9), in both ways; particularly the latter passage (2Sa 20:11) is also analogous to the one before us in the formation of the apodosis. The Chethb does not admit of any tenable meaning. In conformity with the usus loq., Elster reads , “who has a choice?” But this rendering has no connection with what follows; the sequence of thoughts fails. Most interpreters, in opposition to the usus loq., by pointing or , render: Who is (more correctly: will be) excepted? or also: Who is it that is to be preferred (the living or the dead)? The verb signifies to choose, to select; and the choice may be connected with an exception, a preference; but in itself the verb means neither excipere nor praeferre .
(Note: Luther translates, “for to all the living there is that which is desired, namely, hope,” as if the text were .)
All the old translators, with right, follow the Ker , and the Syr. renders it correctly, word for word: to every one who is joined ( , Aram. = Heb. ) to all the living there is hope; and this translation is more probable than that on which Symm. (“who shall always continue to live?”) and Jerome ( nemo est qui semper vivat et qui hujus rei habeat fiduciam ) proceed: Who is he that is joined to the whole? i.e., to the absolute life; or as Hitzig: Who is he who would join himself to all the living (like the saying, “The everlasting Jew”)? The expression does not connect itself so easily and directly with these two latter renderings as with that we have adopted, in which, as also in the other two, a different accentuation of the half-verse is to be adopted as follows:
The accentuation lying before us in the text, which gives a great disjunctive to as well as to , appears to warrant the Chethb (cf. Hitzig under Eze 22:24), by which it is possible to interpret … as in itself an interrog. clause. The Ker does not admit of this, for Dachselt’s quis associabit se ( sc.,, mortius ? = nemo socius mortuorum fieri vult ) is a linguistic impossibility; the reflex may be used for the pass., but not the pass. for the reflex., which is also an argument against Ewald’s translation: Who is joined to the living has hope. Also the Targ. and Rashi, although explaining according to the Midrash, cannot forbear connecting with , and thus dividing the verse at instead of at . It is not, however, to be supposed that the accentuation refers to the Chethb ; it proceeds on some interpretation, contrary to the connection, such as this: he who is received into God’s fellowship has to hope for the full life (in eternity). The true meaning, according to the connection, is this: that whoever ( quicunque ) is only always joined (whether by birth or the preservation of life) to all the living, i.e., to living beings, be they who they may, has full confidence, hope, and joy; for in respect to a living dog, this is even better than a dead lion. Symmachus translates: , which Rosenm., Herzf., and Grtz approve of. But apart from the obliquity of the comparison, that with a living dog it is better than with a dead lion, since with the latter is neither good nor evil ( vid., however, Ecc 6:5), for such a meaning the words ought to have been: chelev hai tov lo min ha’aryeh hammeth .
As the verifying clause stands before us, it is connected not with , but with , of that which is to be verified; the gives emphatic prominence (Ewald, 310 b) to the subject, to which the expression refers as at Psa 89:19; 2Ch 7:21 (cf. Jer 18:16), Isa 32:1: A living dog is better than a dead lion, i.e., it is better to be a dog which lives, than that lion which is dead. The dog, which occurs in the Holy Scriptures only in relation to a shepherd’s dog (Job 30:1), and as for the rest, appears as a voracious filthy beast, roaming about without a master, is the proverbial emblem of that which is common, or low, or contemptible, 1Sa 17:43; cf. “dog’s head,” 2Sa 3:8; “dead dog,” 1Sa 24:15; 2Sa 9:8; 2Sa 16:9. The lion, on the other hand, is the king, or, as Agur (Pro 30:30) calls it, the hero among beasts. But if it be dead, then all is over with its dignity and its strength; the existence of a living dog is to be preferred to that of the dead lion. The art. in ‘ is not that denoting species (Dale), which is excluded by hammeth , but it points to the carcase of a lion which is present. The author, who elsewhere prefers death and nonentity to life, Ecc 4:2., Ecc 7:1, appears to have fallen into contradiction with himself; but there he views life pessimistically in its, for the most part, unhappy experiences, while here he regards it in itself as a good affording the possibility of enjoyment. It lies, however, in the nature of his standpoint that he should not be able to find the right medium between the sorrow of the world and the pleasure of life. Although postulating a retribution in eternity, yet in his thoughts about the future he does not rise above the comfortless idea of Hades.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| The Consequences of Death; The Proper Enjoyment of Life. | |
4 For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion. 5 For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. 6 Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun. 7 Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works. 8 Let thy garments be always white; and let thy head lack no ointment. 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. 10 Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.
Solomon, in a fret, had praised the dead more than the living (ch. iv. 2); but here, considering the advantages of life to prepare for death and make sure the hope of a better life, he seems to be of another mind.
I. He shows the advantages which the living have above those that are dead, v. 4-6. 1. While there is life there is hope. Dum spiro, spero–While I breathe, I hope. It is the privilege of the living that they are joined to the living, in relation, commerce, and conversation, and, while they are so, there is hope. If a man’s condition be, upon any account, bad, there is hope it will be amended. If the heart be full of evil, and madness be in it, yet while there is life there is hope that by the grace of God there may be a blessed change wrought; but after men go to the dead (v. 3) it is too late then; he that is then filthy will be filthy still, for ever filthy. If men be thrown aside as useless, yet, while they are joined to the living, there is hope that they may yet again take root and bear fruit; he that is alive is, or may be, good for something, but he that is dead, as to this world, is not capable of being any further serviceable. Therefore a living dog is better than a dead lion; the meanest beggar alive has that comfort of this world and does that service to it which the greatest prince, when he is dead, is utterly incapable of. 2. While there is life there is an opportunity of preparing for death: The living know that which the dead have no knowledge of, particularly they know that they shall die, and are, or may be, thereby influenced to prepare for that great change which will come certainly, and may come suddenly. Note, The living cannot but know that they shall die, that they must needs die. They know they are under a sentence of death; they are already taken into custody by its messengers, and feel themselves declining. This is a needful useful knowledge; for what is our business, while we live, but to get ready to die: The living know they shall die; it is a thing yet to come, and therefore provision may be made for it. The dead know they are dead, and it is too late; they are on the other side the great gulf fixed. 3. When life is gone all this world is gone with it, as to us. (1.) There is an end of all our acquaintance with this world and the things of it: The dead know not any thing of that which, while they lived, they were intimately conversant with. It does not appear that they know any thing of what is done by those they leave behind. Abraham is ignorant of us; they are removed into darkness, Job x. 22. (2.) There is an end of all our enjoyments in this world: They have no more a reward for their toils about the world, but all they got must be left to others; they have a reward for their holy actions, but not for their worldly ones. The meats and the belly will be destroyed together, Joh 6:27; 1Co 6:13. It is explained v. 6. Neither have they any more a portion for ever, none of that which they imagined would be a portion for ever, of that which is done and got under the sun. The things of this world will not be a portion for the soul because they will not be a portion for ever; those that choose them, and have them for their good things, have only a portion in this life, Ps. xvii. 14. The world can only be an annuity for life, not a portion for ever. (3.) There is an end of their name. There are but few whose names survive them long; the grave is a land of forgetfulness, for the memory of those that are laid there is soon forgotten; their place knows them no more, nor the lands they called by their own names. (4.) There is an end of their affections, their friendships and enmities: Their love, and their hatred, and their envy have now perished; the good things they loved, the evil things they hated, the prosperity of others, which they envied, are now all at an end with them. Death parts those that loved one another, and puts an end to their friendship, and those that hated one another too, and puts an end to their quarrels. Actio moritur cum person–The person and his actions die together. There we shall be never the better for our friends (their love can do us no kindness), nor ever the worse for our enemies–their hatred and envy can do us no damage. There the wicked cease from troubling. Those things which now so affect us and fill us, which we are so concerned about and so jealous of, will there be at an end.
II. Hence he infers that it is our wisdom to make the best use of life that we can while it does last, and manage wisely what remains of it.
1. Let us relish the comforts of life while we live, and cheerfully take our share of the enjoyments of it. Solomon, having been himself ensnared by the abuse of sensitive delights, warns others of the danger, not by a total prohibition of them, but by directing to the sober and moderate use of them; we may use the world, but must not abuse it, take what is to be had out of it, and expect no more. Here we have,
(1.) The particular instances of this cheerfulness prescribed: “Thou art drooping and melancholy, go thy way, like a fool as thou art, and get into a better temper of mind.” [1.] “Let thy spirit be easy and pleasant; then let there be joy and a merry heart within,” a good heart (so the word is), which distinguishes this from carnal mirth and sensual pleasure, which are the evil of the heart, both a symptom and a cause of much evil there. We must enjoy ourselves, enjoy our friends, enjoy our God, and be careful to keep a good conscience, that nothing may disturb us in these enjoyments. We must serve God with gladness, in the use of what he gives us, and be liberal in communicating it to others, and not suffer ourselves to be oppressed with inordinate care and grief about the world. We must eat our bread as Israelites, not in our mourning (Deut. xxvi. 14), as Christians, with gladness and liberality of heart, Acts ii. 46. See Deut. xxviii. 47. [2.] “Make use of the comforts and enjoyments which God has given thee: Eat thy bread, drink thy wine, thine, not another’s, not the bread of deceit, nor the wine of violence, but that which is honestly got, else thou canst not eat it with any comfort nor expect a blessing upon it–thy bread and thy wine, such as are agreeable to thy place and station, not extravagantly above it nor sordidly below it; lay out what God has given thee for the ends for which thou art entrusted with it, as being but a steward.” [3.] “Evidence thy cheerfulness (v. 8): Let thy garments be always white. Observe a proportion in thy expenses; reduce not thy food in order to gratify thy pride, nor thy clothing in order to gratify thy voluptuousness. Be neat, wear clean linen, and be not slovenly.” Or, “Let thy garments be white in token of joy and cheerfulness,” which were expressed by white raiment (Rev. iii. 4); “and as a further token of joy, let thy head lack no ointment that is fit for it.” Our Saviour admitted this piece of pleasure at a feast (Matt. xxvi. 7), and David observes it among the gifts of God’s bounty to him. Ps. xxiii. 5, Thou anointest my head with oil. Not that we must place our happiness in any of the delights of sense, or set our hearts upon them, but what God has given us we must make as comfortable a use of as we can afford, under the limitations of sobriety and wisdom, and not forgetting the poor. [4.] “Make thyself agreeable to thy relations: Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest. Do not engross thy delights, making much of thyself only, and not caring what becomes of those about thee, but let them share with thee and make them easy too. Have a wife; for even in paradise it was not good for man to be alone. Keep to thy wife, to one, and do not multiply wives” (Solomon had found the mischief of that); “keep to her only, and have nothing to do with any other.” How can a man live joyfully with one with whom he does not live honestly? “Love thy wife; and the wife whom thou lovest thou wilt be likely to live joyfully with.” When we do the duty of relations we may expect the comfort of them. See Prov. v. 19. “Live with thy wife, and delight in her society. Live joyfully with her, and be most cheerful when thou art with her. Take pleasure in thy family, thy vine and thy olive plants.”
(2.) The qualifications necessary to this cheerfulness: “Rejoice and have a merry heart, if God now accepts thy works. If thou art reconciled to God, and recommended to him, then thou has reason to be cheerful, otherwise not.” Rejoice not, O Israel! for joy, as other people, for thou hast gone a whoring from thy God, Hos. ix. 1. Our first care must be to make our peace with God, and obtain his favour, to do that which he will accept of, and then, Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy. Note, Those whose works God has accepted have reason to be cheerful and ought to be so. ‘Now that thou eatest the bread of thy sacrifices with joy, and partakest of the wine of thy drink-offerings with a merry heart, now God accepts thy works. Thy religious services, when performed with holy joy, are pleasing to God; he loves to have his servants sing at their work, it proclaims him a good Master.
(3.) The reasons for it. “Live joyfully, for,” [1.] “It is all little enough to make thy passage through this world easy and comfortable: The days of thy life are the days of thy vanity; there is nothing here but trouble, and disappointment. Thou wilt have time enough for sorrow and grief when thou canst not help it, and therefore live joyfully while thou canst, and perplex not thyself with thoughts and cares about to-morrow; sufficient to the day is the evil thereof. Let a gracious serenity of mind be a powerful antidote against the vanity of the world.” [2.] “It is all thou canst get from this world: That is thy portion in the things of this life. In God, and another life, thou shalt have a better portion, and a better recompence for thy labours in religion; but for thy pains which thou takest about the things under the sun this is all thou canst expect, and therefore do not deny this to thyself.”
2. Let us apply ourselves to the business of life while life lasts, and so use the enjoyments of it as by them to be fitted for the employments: “Therefore eat with joy and a merry heart, not that thy soul may take its ease (as Luke xii. 19), but that thy soul may take the more pains and the joy of the Lord may be its strength and oil to its wheels,” v. 10. Whatsoever thy hand finds to do do it with thy might. Observe here, (1.) There is not only something to be had, but something to be done, in this life, and the chief good we are to enquire after is the good we should do, Eccl. ii. 3. This is the world of service; that to come is the world of recompence. This is the world of probation and preparation for eternity; we are here upon business, and upon our good behaviour. (2.) Opportunity is to direct and quicken duty. That is to be done which our hand finds to do, which occasion calls for; and an active hand will always find something to do that will turn to a good account. What must be done, of necessity, our hand will here find a price in it for the doing of, Prov. xvii. 16. (3.) What good we have an opportunity of doing we must do while we have the opportunity, and do it with our might, with care, vigour, and resolution, whatever difficulties and discouragements we may meet with in it. Harvest-days are busy days; and we must make hay while the sun shines. Serving God and working out our salvation must be done with all that is within us, and all little enough. (4.) There is good reason why we should work the works of him that sent us while it is day, because the night comes, wherein no man can work, John ix. 4. We must up and be doing now with all possible diligence, because our doing-time will be done shortly and we know not how soon. But this we know that, if the work of life be not done when our time is done, we are undone for ever: “There is no work to be done, nor device to do it, no knowledge for speculation, nor wisdom for practice, in the grave whither thou goest.” We are all going towards the grave; every day brings us a step nearer to it; when we are in the grave it will be too late to mend the errors of life, too late to repent and make our peace with God, too late to lay up any thing in store for eternal life; it must be done now or never. The grave is a land of darkness and silence, and therefore there is no doing any thing for our souls there; it must be done now or never, John xii. 35.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
HOPE IS FOR THE LIVING
Verse 4 declares there is hope for the living which does not exist after death. This is emphasized by the illustration that a living dog, although inferior to the highly regarded lion, has hope that does not exist for the dead lion.
Verses 5-6 suggest that the living consider the certainty of death while they live, recognizing that “earthly” experiences and relationships, including friendships, enmities, and business involvements, end at death (2Ki 20:1; Job 14:21), and even remembrance by acquaintances is soon forgotten, Job 7:8; Isa 26:14.
Verse 5 does not teach that the soul sleeps, or that death ends ail. That which Is visible, under the sun, the body of the dead, knows nothing; but the spirit is not unconscious (Ecc 3:21; Ecc 12:7), and there will be a resurrection and a judgment, Ecc 11:9; Ecc 12:14; Dan 12:2; Joh 5:28-29; Rev 20:11-13. See also references included in comment on Ecc 9:3.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(4) There is a various reading here in the Hebrew. Our translators, following the older translators, adopt the reading of the margin. That of the text gives, instead of joined, a word signifying chosen; the best sense that can be given to which is to translate, For who is excepted, joining it with the previous verse, beginning this one, To all the living, &c. With regard to the statement of the following verses, comp. Psa. 6:3 and the marginal references there given. The shepherds dog is spoken of Job. 30:1, and watchdogs Isa. 56:10. Elsewhere in the Old Testament the dog is an unclean animal living or dead.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
4. For to him that is joined This is a phrase variously translated. The strictest rendering is, For who is chosen out? that is, Who is exempted? It connects with the previous verse, and then begins the distinct statement, To
the living is hope
Living dog dead lion The contrast between the dog and the lion is most forcible in the East. The Jews banished dogs from their houses and left them to wander in the streets, especially at night, subsisting on matters of scavenge. Whenever “dog” occurs in Scripture it is a term of contempt. But the “lion,” the emblem of the royal tribe of Judah was regarded as the king of beasts.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘For to him who is joined with all the living there is hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion. For the living know that they will die, but the dead do not know anything, nor have they any more a reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. As well their love, as their hatred and their envy, is now perished. Nor have they any more for ever a portion in anything that is done under the sun.’
For it is while they are alive that men have hope, for life is still ahead, even if the quality of life expected is not what it could be. In contrast the dead have no hope. Thus a living dog with its pitiful life (the mangy dog scavengers who live wild in the towns and countryside, the lowest of beasts – 1Sa 24:14) is better than a dead lion, which while alive is the proudest and most fearsome of beasts, but once dead is just a corpse.
The living have knowledge. They know for example that they will die (I will die therefore I am?). But the dead do not know anything. They do not even have the reward of being remembered. Everything about them is forgotten, their love, their hatred, their envy, their good deeds, their bad deeds. All is forgotten. And they have no part or portion in anything that is under the sun. They have left it all behind. Death is the ultimate end.
So he tells men that it is better to be alive and looked down on (as a dog) rather than dead and being honoured (as a lion), because the living at least have consciousness.
Thus the conclusion is that God treats all alike while they live, and all die in the same way and finish up a blank. This is the philosopher’s view.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Ecc 9:4. For to him that is joined to all the living, there is hope And surely, whoever is in society, with all the living, hath hope. For a living dog hath a better chance than a dead lion. The last sentence may be literally rendered thus: Good shall rather happen to a living dog than to a dead lion; which is the foundation of hope expressed in the words immediately preceding. It is very evident, that Solomon speaks in these verses solely of a man’s state with respect to this world; not denying or affirming any thing concerning his state or expectations in the next.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Ecc 9:4 For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion.
Ver. 4. For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope. ] These are the words of those wicked ones, a whose lives and hopes end together, whose song is, Post mortem nulla voluptas, when life ends, there is an end of all. Is there not such language in some men’s hearts, Who knows whether there be any such thing as a life to come? &c. Now I shall know, said that dying pope, b whether the soul of man be immortal, yea or no; and whether that tale concerning Christ have any truth in it. Oh, wretch!
So a living dog is better than a dead lion.
“ Cur non ut plenus vitae conviva recedis? ” – Lucret.
a Ex primis per eorum sermones. – Lav. Job 24:1-25 .
b Sic Benedic. IX., Alexand. VI., Leo. X.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
For to him that is joined. Connect this with the end of preceding verse and render “For who is excepted? To all the living”, &c.
hope = confidence. Hebrew. bittahon (from batah). App-69. Occurs only here, 2Ki 18:19, and Isa 36:4.
a living dog, &c. Figure of speech Paroemia, App-6. Same proverb in Arabic.
living dog. Regarded by the Jews as the most unclean and despicable creature (1Sa 17:43; 1Sa 24:14. 2Sa 9:8; 2Sa 16:9. 2Ki 8:13. Mat 7:6; Mat 15:26. Rev 22:15). Hence Gentiles so called.
is = he [is]: i.e. even he.
better. See note on Ecc 2:24.
lion. Regarded as the noblest of animals (Gen 49:10. Job 10:16. Isa 38:13. Lam 3:10. Hos 13:7. Rev 5:5).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Job 14:7-12, Job 27:8, Isa 38:18, Lam 3:21, Lam 3:22, Luk 16:26-29
Reciprocal: Job 24:19 – so doth Ecc 4:2 – General Isa 57:18 – to his
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Ecc 9:4-6. For to him that is joined to all the living That continues with living men; there is hope He hath not only some comfort for the present, but also hopes of further and greater happiness in this world, which men are very prone to entertain and cherish in themselves. Yea, he may have the hopes of a better life, if he improve his opportunities. For a living dog is better than a dead lion Much happier as to the comforts of this world. The meanest and most contemptible person here, in this world, hath the advantage of the greatest king, when he is gone out of it. For the living know that they shall die Whereby they are taught to improve life while they have it. But the dead know not any thing Of the actions and events of this world, as this is limited in the next verse. Neither have they any more a reward In this world. The reward or fruit of their labours is utterly lost to them, and enjoyed by others. See Ecc 2:21. For otherwise, that there are future rewards after death, is asserted by Solomon elsewhere, as we have seen, and shall hereafter see. For the memory of them is forgotten Namely, among living men, and even in those places where they had lived in great power and glory. Also their love and hatred, &c., is now perished They neither love, nor hate, nor envy any thing in this world, but are unconcerned in what is done under the sun.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
9:4 For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a {c} living dog is better than a dead lion.
(c) He notes the Epicurean and carnal men, who made their body their god, and had no pleasure in this life, wishing rather to be an abased and vile person in this life, then a man of authority and so to die, which is meant by the dog and lion.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
However, the inequities in life and the certainty of death should not make us give up on living. Life is better than death. In the ancient Near East, people despised wild dogs and they honored lions. Solomon’s point was that it is better to be alive and have no honor, than dead and receive honor, because the living person also has consciousness and hope. The living can enjoy life, but the dead cannot.
"The dead do not know anything" does not mean they are insensible. Later revelation indicates that the dead are aware of their feelings, the past, other people, and other things (cf. Mat 25:46; Luk 16:19-31; et al.). In the context, this clause means the dead have no capacity to enjoy life as the living can.
Ecc 9:4-6 do not contradict Ecc 4:2-3, where Solomon said the dead are better off than the living. A person who is suffering oppression may feel it is preferable to be dead (Ecc 4:1), but when a person is dead his opportunities for earthly enjoyment do not exist (Ecc 9:4-6).