Advanced Commentary

Texts -- Ecclesiastes 3:9-11 (NET)

Context
Man is Ignorant of God’s Timing
3:9 What benefit can a worker gain from his toil ? 3:10 I have observed the burden that God has given to people to keep them occupied . 3:11 God has made everything fit beautifully in its appropriate time , but he has also placed ignorance in the human heart so that people cannot discover what God has ordained , from the beginning to the end of their lives.

Pericope

NET

Bible Dictionary

Arts

Resources/Books

Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • This book helps the reader develop a God-centered worldview and recognize the dangers of a self-centered worldview. It does not describe the life of faith or teach what the responsibilities of faith in God are. It also prescr...
  • I believe that the message of Ecclesiastes is essentially a positive one. This may seem strange since the vanity of various human endeavors is such a major theme of this book. Nevertheless the total statement that Solomon mad...
  • I. The introductory affirmation 1:1-11A. Title and theme 1:1-21. The title 1:12. The theme 1:2B. The futility of all human endeavor 1:3-111. The vanity of work 1:32. The illustrations from life 1:4-11II. The futility of work ...
  • Rather than saying, "All work is vanity,"Solomon made the same point by asking this rhetorical question that expects a negative response. He used this literary device often throughout the book (cf. 2:2; 3:9; 6:8, 11-12; et al...
  • Solomon had unique resources for investigating life. He was the king of Israel (v. 12), and he possessed superlative wisdom (v. 13; cf. v. 16; 1 Kings 4:26-34). He says he made a comprehensive study of all kinds of human acti...
  • Thus far Solomon had reflected on the futility of all human endeavor generally (1:3-11) and the futility of human achievement (1:12-15) and his own achievements in particular (2:1-17). Next he turned to an evaluation of labor...
  • In this section Solomon expressed his conviction that in view of God's incomprehensible workings all human toil is without permanent profit.3:1-8 As is customary in Ecclesiastes the writer began this section by stating a thes...
  • Again Solomon urged the enjoyment of life (v. 18; cf. 2:24-26; 3:12-13, 22), but he warned of some obstacles to that enjoyment. Solomon was not advocating hedonism but the simple enjoyment of life day by day (v. 18). In other...
  • In 6:10-12, Solomon returned to his theme of the immutability and inscrutability of divine providence (i.e., why God allows things to happen as they do; cf. 1:15, 19; 3:11, 14, 22). "Named"(v. 10) refers to the practice of ex...
  • In 1:12-6:9, Solomon demonstrated that all work is ultimately futile for two reasons. It does not yield anything really permanent under the sun. Moreover we can never be sure we will enjoy the fruits of our labor before we di...
  • In conclusion Solomon repeated his original thesis (v. 8; cf. 1:2) and his counsel in view of life's realities (vv. 13-14). In between these statements he set forth his source of authority for writing what we have in Ecclesia...
  • Archer, Gleason L., Jr. "The Linguistic Evidence for the Date of Ecclesiastes'."Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society12:3 (Summer 1969):167-81.Barton, G. A. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Ecclesi...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

  • He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also He hath set the world in their heart.'--Eccles. 3:11.THERE is considerable difficulty in understanding what precise meaning is to be attached to these words, and what preci...
Back to Commentary Page


created in 0.06 seconds
powered by
bible.org - YLSA