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Text -- Ecclesiastes 7:1-14 (NET)

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Context
Life is Brief and Death is Certain!
7:1 A good reputation is better than precious perfume; likewise, the day of one’s death is better than the day of one’s birth. 7:2 It is better to go to a funeral than a feast. For death is the destiny of every person, and the living should take this to heart. 7:3 Sorrow is better than laughter, because sober reflection is good for the heart. 7:4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of merrymaking.
Frivolous Living Versus Wisdom
7:5 It is better for a person to receive a rebuke from those who are wise than to listen to the song of fools. 7:6 For like the crackling of quick-burning thorns under a cooking pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This kind of folly also is useless.
Human Wisdom Overturned by Adversity
7:7 Surely oppression can turn a wise person into a fool; likewise, a bribe corrupts the heart. 7:8 The end of a matter is better than its beginning; likewise, patience is better than pride. 7:9 Do not let yourself be quickly provoked, for anger resides in the lap of fools. 7:10 Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these days?” for it is not wise to ask that.
Wisdom Can Lengthen One’s Life
7:11 Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing; it benefits those who see the light of day. 7:12 For wisdom provides protection, just as money provides protection. But the advantage of knowledge is this: Wisdom preserves the life of its owner.
Wisdom Acknowledges God’s Orchestration of Life
7:13 Consider the work of God: For who can make straight what he has bent? 7:14 In times of prosperity be joyful, but in times of adversity consider this: God has made one as well as the other, so that no one can discover what the future holds.
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Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics

Dictionary Themes and Topics: Instruction | Life | Philosophy | FOOL; FOLLY | Afflictions and Adversities | Wisdom | Bereavement | Patience | Amusements and Worldly Pleasures | FUEL | Death | SPIRIT | Oppression | Riches | END | Thorn | Meekness | Sympathy | Joy | Reputation | more
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Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes

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Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Ecc 7:1 There are two ways to understand this proverb: (1) Happy times (characterized by celebration and “fragrant perfume”) teach us less than ha...

NET Notes: Ecc 7:2 The word “this” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness.

NET Notes: Ecc 7:3 Or possibly “Though the face is sad, the heart may be glad.”

NET Notes: Ecc 7:4 The expression the house of merrymaking refers to a banquet where those who attend engage in self-indulgent feasting and riotous drinking.

NET Notes: Ecc 7:5 Or “praise.” The antithetical parallelism between “rebuke” (גַּעֲרַת, ga’...

NET Notes: Ecc 7:6 It is difficult to determine whether the Hebrew term הֶבֶל (hevel) means “fleeting” or “useless”...

NET Notes: Ecc 7:7 Or “and a bribe drives a person mad.” The noun לֵב (lev, “heart”) may be taken as a synecdoche of part (i.e....

NET Notes: Ecc 7:8 Heb “the proud of spirit.”

NET Notes: Ecc 7:9 Heb “bosom.”

NET Notes: Ecc 7:10 Heb “It is not from wisdom that you ask about this.”

NET Notes: Ecc 7:11 Heb “see the sun.”

NET Notes: Ecc 7:12 The verb חָיָה (khayah, “to live”) in the Piel denotes (1) “to let live; to keep alive; to preserve al...

NET Notes: Ecc 7:14 Heb “anything after him.” This line is misinterpreted by several versions: “that man may not find against him any just complaintR...

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