Ecclesiasteschapter 7
29 verses · BSBEcclesiastes book hub →
Speaks with:Proverbs 22×2Proverbs 14×21 Timothy 6×2Proverbs 8×2Proverbs 2×2Ecclesiastes 3×2
Summary
Chapter summary
The wisdom of the house of mourning: 'It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting… Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made good.' Better the end of a thing than its beginning. Be not righteous over much; be not wicked over much: 'he that feareth God shall come forth from them all.' 'There is not a righteous man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not' (7:20: behind Romans 3). One conclusion found: 'God made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.'
Context
Poetry · Solomon — Ecclesiastes overview
- A. 1–14 Better the House of Mourning Than the House of Feasting
- B. 15–22 Be Not Righteous Overmuch, Neither Overmuch Wicked
- C. 23–29 God Made Man Upright; They Have Sought Out Many Inventions
The outline
A.Better the House of Mourning Than the House of Feastingvv. 1 to 14
Read vv. 1 to 14 →B.Be Not Righteous Overmuch, Neither Overmuch Wickedvv. 15 to 22
Read vv. 15 to 22 →C.God Made Man Upright; They Have Sought Out Many Inventionsvv. 23 to 29
Read vv. 23 to 29 →
The world behind this chapter
Ecclesiastes 7The history
"It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting." Mourning in Israel lasted about a week, and the house filled with relatives and neighbours. The mourner sat on the ground, wore torn clothing, and did not cook; food was brought in by others. You went, you sat, and you were confronted with what would one day be true of you. The writer says that room teaches more than a wedding does.
"A good name is better than precious ointment" is a play on words in Hebrew — shem and shemen sound almost the same. Perfumed oil was a genuine luxury, imported and stored in sealed jars, poured on a guest's head at a feast. Reputation, says the proverb, outlasts the scent.
"As the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool." Ordinary cooking fuel in a treeless region was thornbush and dried dung. Thorns catch fast, roar, throw sparks, and are gone before the pot is warm.
"Surely oppression maketh a wise man mad; and a gift destroyeth the heart." Both halves describe pressure on a judge: intimidation from above and a bribe from the side.
What it meant to them
"Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these?" landed on hearers already telling each other that the old days under David, or under the judges, had been purer.
The chapter's final verdict — "God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions" — puts the blame exactly where Genesis puts it. The world is not broken because God built it crooked.
Sources cited
- Roland de Vaux, Ancient Israel: Its Life and Institutions
- John H. Walton, Victor H. Matthews, Mark W. Chavalas, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament
The text of this chapter
This page carries no textual note on Ecclesiastes 7. Where this site has examined a place the manuscripts differ, the examination is in the manuscripts room. Every place this site examines →
Connections from this chapter
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.