Ecclesiasteschapter 9
18 verses · Solomon, by tradition · 10th century BC · Wisdom and poetry
Whatever you find to do with your hands, do it with all your might, for in Sheol, where you are going, there is no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.
Introduction
Solomon, by tradition, Wisdom and poetry, Ecclesiastes Overview.
This chapter comes from the book of wisdom that tradition gives to Solomon, and it faces the fact that death comes to the good and the wicked alike. It was heard by people who wanted to know whether a good life buys a better outcome. The chapter answers from what can be seen under the sun, and then it turns to what a living person should do today. Listen for the ordinary pleasures of bread, wine, clean clothes and marriage. Listen also for the story of a small town saved by a man nobody remembered.
Context
- Who
- People who wanted to know whether a good life buys a better outcome
- What
- A reflection on the common fate of all people, a charge to enjoy life and work with full strength, and a story about forgotten wisdom.
- Where
- A feast table in an Israelite home, the fishing shore, and a small walled town under siege.
- When
- Late in the reign of Solomon, about 940 BC, on the traditional reading; many date the book's Hebrew to the Persian period, so the date is held with less certainty than the setting.
- Why
- To move the reader to receive the days God gives with gladness and diligence, since the time and the outcome are in God's hands.
Historical context
"Let thy garments be always white; and let thy head lack no ointment." Both are feast-day details. White or bleached linen was clean, cool, festival clothing rather than a labourer's work cloth, and a host poured scented olive oil on a guest's head at the start of a meal. The instruction is to live as if the feast is on.
Show the rest of the historical context, 3 more paragraphs
"Eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart… live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest." Bread, wine, and a marriage were the ordinary contents of an Israelite life, not luxuries. The chapter is not recommending indulgence; it is recommending attention to what is already on the table.
"As the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare, so are the sons of men snared in an evil time." Fishing was done with weighted dragnets hauled to shore; birds were taken with throw nets and spring traps baited with grain. In both cases the animal is going about a normal day when the moment arrives.
The closing story is siege warfare in miniature: a great king comes against a little city, builds "great bulwarks", the earth-and-timber ramps that let attackers reach the top of a wall, and a poor wise man inside delivers the town. Then nobody remembers him. Assyrian reliefs show exactly those ramps, and the towns they were built against.
Significance
"The living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing" is spoken from under the sun, describing what the living can observe. Israel's fuller hope of resurrection is elsewhere in Scripture; this book is deliberately reporting the view from ground level.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
The practical charge is the memorable one: "whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might." Since the time and the outcome are not yours, the work in front of you is.
This chapter in Jewish lifeWhat this chapter is in Jewish life and reading.
What is done
This chapter is heard aloud once a year, when the whole book is read at Sukkot on the Sabbath that falls in the festival week. The site's own table in src/lib/hebraic/readings.ts records that reading and sources it to Tractate Soferim 14:3; it printed parashot total 0 and haftarah uses total 0 for this book.
Rashi ties a Sabbath law to the fourth verse, the living dog and the dead lion. "Our Rabbis expounded upon this, that we may butcher a carcass for dogs on Shabbos". A human corpse lying in the sun, by the same teaching, "may not be moved unless one places a child or a loaf on it" (Rashi on Ecclesiastes 9:4:2). The corpus carries Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Shabbat 2:10 on that verse. At the eighth verse Rashi reports that the Rabbis expounded the white garments "in Maseches Shabbos" (Rashi on Ecclesiastes 9:8:1).
How it is read
Rashi is the one commentator on this chapter whose English the corpus carries, quoted here from The Metsudah Five Megillot, Lakewood, N.J., 2001, which Sefaria reports as CC-BY. Every quotation is held to fifty words or fewer because the translation is modern, and the edition's own notes are never quoted as his.
The one fate that comes to all Rashi reads as a fact the righteous know and choose against. All die, righteous and wicked, "but nevertheless, they choose for themselves the proper path, because they know that there is a distinction between them in the World to Come" (Rashi on Ecclesiastes 9:2:2). The heart of men is full of evil because they say there is no judgment and "Everything is attributed to chance" (Rashi on Ecclesiastes 9:3:1).
The hope of the living is repentance. As long as a man lives, even among the wicked, "there is hope that he will repent before his death" (Rashi on Ecclesiastes 9:4:1). The living dog and the dead lion are both wicked men. It was better for Nebuzaradan, a wicked slave who became a proselyte, that death did not take him before Nebuchadnezzar his master, called a lion. His master died in his wickedness (Rashi on Ecclesiastes 9:4:2). The dead no longer earn reward, for "whoever toils on the eve of Shabbos will [have what to] eat on Shabbos" (Rashi on Ecclesiastes 9:5:1).
The call to eat bread in joy Rashi addresses to one man only: "you, the righteous man", whose good deeds God has already accepted (Rashi on Ecclesiastes 9:7:1). The white garments are good deeds kept ready. Solomon likened it to a man whom the king invited to a feast without setting the day. "If he is wise or clever, he will immediately launder his garments, bathe, and anoint himself" (Rashi on Ecclesiastes 9:8:1). The life with the wife you love he reads as a trade learned beside the Torah (Rashi on Ecclesiastes 9:9:1).
The fish in the evil net are large fish caught by a small thing, "and our Rabbis explained: This is a fishhook" (Rashi on Ecclesiastes 9:12:1). The poor wise man of the small city whom no one remembered is the man to whom "No one attributed any importance" (Rashi on Ecclesiastes 9:15:1). The wisdom better than weapons of war is the wisdom of Serah, the wise woman who went to the people. Her wisdom availed them more than the weapons in their hands against Joab, and Rashi reads it through 2 Samuel 20:22 (Rashi on Ecclesiastes 9:18:1).
The corpus carries three further notes on this chapter without an English text, each marked linked because Sefaria holds no English version of the ref. They stand cited and unquoted at Ibn Ezra on Ecclesiastes 9:5:1, 9:13:1 and 9:14:1.
What the rabbis say
The corpus carries forty rabbinic locators on this chapter and the text of none, so each is cited and linked here rather than quoted. On the first verse it holds Kohelet Rabbah 9:1:1 and 9:1:2 with Midrash Lekach Tov on Ecclesiastes 9:1:1. On the second, one fate for the righteous and the wicked, it holds Aggadat Bereshit 23:5, Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Shabbat 5:4 and Ein Yaakov, Shabbat 5:8. On the third it holds Midrash Lekach Tov on Ecclesiastes 9:3:1 and Midrash Tanchuma, Emor 15:1. On the fourth, the living dog, it holds Avot DeRabbi Natan 12:9, Avot DeRabbi Natan, Recension B 27:3 and Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Shabbat 2:10. On the fifth, the living know that they will die, it holds Berakhot 18a:14 and 18b:3.
The feast and the garments carry the next run. On the sixth verse the corpus holds Bereshit Rabbah 28:9 and Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Horayot 3:6. On the seventh, bread eaten in joy, it holds Avot DeRabbi Natan 33:2 and Bamidbar Rabbah 10:8. On the eighth, the white garments, it holds Avot DeRabbi Natan, Recension B 29:9 and Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Shabbat 23:12. On the ninth it holds Bereshit Rabbah 17:2 and Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Kiddushin 1:12. On the tenth, whatever your hand finds to do, it holds Bamidbar Rabbah 8:9 and Kohelet Rabbah 9:10:1.
The race and the small city carry the rest. On the eleventh verse the corpus holds Aggadat Bereshit 38:3 and Bamidbar Rabbah 22:7. On the twelfth, the fish and the net, it holds Bereshit Rabbah 65:12 and Ein Yaakov, Sanhedrin 9:7. On the thirteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth it holds Kohelet Rabbah 9:13:1, 9:16:1 and 9:17:1 with Midrash Lekach Tov on Ecclesiastes 9:13:1, 9:16:1 and 9:17:1. On the fourteenth, the small city besieged, it holds Aggadat Bereshit 1:4 and 79:1. On the fifteenth, the poor wise man, it holds Kohelet Rabbah 9:15:1 and 9:15:2. On the eighteenth it holds Aggadat Bereshit 22:3 and Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Kiddushin 1:32. The corpus also files Midrash Lekach Tov on Lamentations 3:39:1 under a sixtieth verse, a number this chapter does not reach, and it is cited here as the corpus prints it. What each of them teaches is a saying of the rabbis, and is reported as theirs wherever this site quotes one. The quotations wait on a fetch that carries the text.
Sources: Rashi, Rashi on Ecclesiastes 9:1:1 to 9:18:1, The Metsudah Five Megillot, Lakewood, N.J., 2001, reported CC-BY; Ibn Ezra, Ibn Ezra on Ecclesiastes 9:5:1, 9:13:1 and 9:14:1, cited by ref because the corpus carries no English text; The Sefaria corpus, scripts/data/sources/sefaria/ecclesiastes/9.json, the 40 Talmud and Midrash locators of this chapter; The site's own files, src/lib/hebraic/readings.ts, probed for this book and printing parashot total 0, haftarah uses total 0, and the festival reading at Sukkot on the Sabbath that falls in the festival week, sourced there to Tractate Soferim 14:3.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
One Event to All: the Living Know That They Shall Die
So I took all this to heart: The Teacher places every person and deed under God's rule: the righteous and the wise, as well as their deeds, are in God’s hands. Yet Man does not know what lies ahead, whether love or hate, because what befalls a man is no reliable sign of God's favor.
Ecclesiastes 9:1
"For all this I noted and I sought to ascertain all this: that the righteous and the wise together with their actions are in the Hand of God; whether love or hate man does not know; all preceded them. "Symmachus also interprets this more clearly, saying: I kept all these things in my heart so that I could expound all things, since the righteous and the wise, along with their works are in the hand of God.
Jerome · written before 420 · Commentary on Ecclesiastespatristic
1 more voice on this verseWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
Ecclesiastes 9:1
“A good man’s trust in God is set forth as a counterpoise to our Ignorance of the ways of Providence. In the hand of God - Under His special protection (Deu 33:3 ff) as righteous, and under His direction Pro 21:1 as people. No man ... - literally, both love and also hatred man knoweth not: all are before them.”
Ecclesiastes 9:2-3
It is the same for all: There is a common fate for the righteous and the wicked, and for the one who sacrifices and the one who does not. Verse 3 calls this an evil and adds that the hearts of men are full of evil and madness while they are alive.
Ecclesiastes 9:2
“However, they may be explained as Solomon's language. He repeats the sentiment already implied in Ec 2:14; 8:14. one event--not eternally; but death is common to all. good--morally. clean--ceremonially. sacrificeth--alike to Josiah who sacrificed to God, and to Ahab who made sacrifice to Him cease. sweareth--rashly and falsely.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
one fate for everyone: The evil lies in what men draw from the one fate. Barnes compares 8:11: when events fall alike on all, the evil-disposed take courage in their folly. Henry says they conclude it is all one to God whether righteous or wicked, and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown call that persistence madness.
Ecclesiastes 9:3
“When they see that there is one event to the righteous and the wicked they wickedly infer thence that it is all one to God whether they are righteous or wicked, and therefore they stick at nothing to gratify their lusts.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
There is hope, however, for anyone who is among the living: The proverb even a live dog is better than a dead lion trades on the ancient contempt for dogs and honor for lions. Its ground is stated first: There is hope, however, for anyone who is among the living. The proverb weighs life's remaining possibility, action and choice.
Ecclesiastes 9:4
“Do not, I pray thee, in such a question trust to humility only or to gravity, which are often deceived. Better by far is a living dog in this problem than a dead lion. For a living saint may correct what had not been corrected by another who came before him.”
Gregory the Dialogist · written before 604 · Register of Epistles, Book 9patristic
1 more voice on this verse
Ecclesiastes 9:4
“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.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Ecclesiastes 9:5-6
For the living know that they will die: The line the dead know nothing is spoken from the vantage the whole book keeps, what is visible under the sun. Their love, their hate, and their envy have already vanished, and they will never again have a share in all that is done.
Ecclesiastes 9:5
“See Ecc 8:12, note; Ecc 8:14, note. The living are conscious that there is a future before them: but the dead are unconscious; they earn nothing, receive nothing, even the memory of them soon disappears; they are no longer excited by the passions which belong to people in this life; their share in its activity has ceased. Solomon here describes what he sees, not what he believes; there is no reference here to the fact or the mode of the existence of the soul in another world, which are matters of faith.”
have already vanished: Clarke limits the verse to this life: the Preacher says nothing of a share elsewhere. Henry calls the world an annuity for life. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown add that the fruits of love and hate remain, and what a man is at death he stays forever.
Ecclesiastes 9:6
“Also their love, and their hatred - It is evident that he speaks here of the ignorance, want of power, etc., of the dead, in reference only to this life. And though they have no more a portion under the sun, yet he does not intimate that they have none anywhere else. A man threatens to conquer kingdoms, etc. He dies; what are his threats?”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Ecclesiastes 9:6
Man's love and hatred can no longer be exercised for good or evil in the same way as here; but the fruits of them remain. What he is at death he remains for ever. "Envy," too, marks the wicked as referred to, since it was therewith that they assailed the righteous (see on Ec 9:1). portion--Their "portion" was "in this life" (Ps 17:14), that they now "cannot have any more."
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Eat Thy Bread With Joy; Time and Chance Happen to All
Ecclesiastes 9:7-8
Go, eat your bread with joy: , and drink your wine with a cheerful heart, for God has already approved your works. The ordinary meal is received as already approved rather than earned by a further test. White garments and oil for the head were marks of festivity, as Clarke notes.
Ecclesiastes 9:7
“Read these six verses connectedly, in order to arrive at the meaning of the writer; and compare Ecc 2:1-12. After the description Ecc 9:5-6 of the portionless condition of the dead, the next thought which occurs is that the man who is prosperous and active should simply enjoy his portion all through this life Ecc 9:7-10; and then Ecc 9:11-12 follows the correcting thought (see Ecc 3:1-15 note), introduced as usual Ecc 2:12; Ecc 4:1, Ecc 4:7 by “I returned,” namely, that the course of events is disposed and regulated by another will than that of man.”
Let your garments always be white: White garments and oil on the head marked days of joy, as Wesley says of the East. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown add that Solomon wore white, a picture of the righteousness of Christ that the redeemed will wear. Origen read the white garments as those washed clean in baptism.
Ecclesiastes 9:8
Let thy garments be always white - The Jews wore white garments on festal occasions, as emblems of joy and innocence. Be always pure, and always happy. The inhabitants of India are all dressed in clean white cotton, and to this is the allusion in the text. The Targum says: “At all times let thy garments be washed and pure from the stain of sin. Acquire a good name, which is likened to the oil of anointing, that blessings may be called down up thy head, and goodness not forsake thee.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Ecclesiastes 9:8
“White - The eastern people of the best sort, used white garments, especially in times of rejoicing. Ointment - Which upon joyful occasions was poured upon mens heads.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Enjoy life with your beloved wife: names marriage as a portion given under the sun, set beside bread and wine. The fleeting days keep the gift inside the book's larger verdict. The Teacher states it plainly: For this is your portion in life and in your labor under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 9:9
“Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest - Marry prudently, keep faithfully attached to the wife thou hast chosen, and rejoice in the labor of thy hands. Some understand this as the words of the libertine objector: “Live joyfully with the woman whom thou lovest best.” But this does not comport so well with the scope of the place.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Whatever you find to do with your hands: , do it with all your might draws its urgency from the grave. In the Teacher's words, in Sheol, where you are going, there is no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom. The shortness of opportunity is the reason to act now.
Ecclesiastes 9:10
“I FIND that these words, and those which precede them, have been considered by some to be a sarcastic address to those persons of an epicurean spirit who consider this world to be everything and will not believe that there is a world to come. They are bidden to eat the fat and drink the sweet, and enjoy life while they can—and if they have anything that they wish to do, to get it done as quickly as they can—because there is no work nor device in the grave.”
1 more voice on this verse
Ecclesiastes 9:10
“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.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
I saw something else under the sun: The line time and chance happen to all closes a list of expected outcomes denied: The race is not to the swift. Bread, wealth and favor are not sure to the wise, the intelligent or the skillful either. Something outside a man's control can intervene, the same limit 8:17 states.
Ecclesiastes 9:11
"Once more I saw under the sun that the race is not won by the swift; nor the battle by the strong, nor does bread come to the wise, riches to the intelligent, nor favour to the learned; but time and death will happen to them all. "He who is bound by manacles and by heavy lead chains is oppressed: "for wickedness sits upon a talent of lead" [Zach. 5, 7.], and in the Psalm it says, "they weigh on me like a heavy burden" [Ps. 37, 5.].
Jerome · written before 420 · Commentary on Ecclesiastespatristic
1 more voice on this verse
Ecclesiastes 9:11
“This verse qualifies the sentiment, Ec 9:7-9. Earthly "enjoyments," however lawful in their place (Ec 3:1), are to give way when any work to be done for God requires it.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
For surely no man knows his time: Like fish caught in a cruel net or birds trapped in a snare, men are ensnared in an evil time that suddenly falls upon them. Clarke notes that the net and the snare were the common hunting methods of the day, familiar to every reader.
Ecclesiastes 9:12
“Hence the danger of delay in doing the work of God, as one knows not when his opportunity will end (Ec 9:10). evil net--fatal to them. The unexpected suddenness of the capture is the point of comparison. So the second coming of Jesus Christ, "as a snare" (Lu 21:35). evil time--as an "evil net," fatal to them.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 more voice on this verse
Ecclesiastes 9:12
“Now as these things are written in the Scriptures, the case is clear, that the saints know that a certain time is measured to every person, but that no one knows the end of that time is plainly intimated by the words of David, "Declare unto me the shortness of my days." What he did not know, that he desired to be informed of.”
Athanasius of Alexandria · written before 373 · Defense of His Flight 15patristic
The Poor Wise Man Who Saved the City, and No One Remembered Him
I have also seen this wisdom under the sun: , and it was great to me introduces the chapter's closing illustration. The added words mark what follows as carrying weight for the Teacher himself. The verse heads the story of the little city, wisdom shown in one event.
Ecclesiastes 9:13
“Or, Also this have I seen - wisdom under the sun, and great it seemed to me. From this verse to the end of Eccl. 10, the writer inculcates, in a series of proverbs, wisdom in contrast to folly, as the best remedy in the present life to the evil of vanity.”
1 more voice on this verse
Ecclesiastes 9:13
“Rather, "I have seen wisdom of this kind also," that is, exhibited in the way which is described in what follows [MAURER]. (2Sa 20:16-22). bulwarks--military works of besiegers.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Ecclesiastes 9:14-16
There was a small city with few men: There was a small city besieged by a mighty king, and a poor wise man in it saved the city by his wisdom. Yet no one remembered that poor man. The Teacher concludes Wisdom is better than strength, and adds that the wisdom of the poor man is despised.
Ecclesiastes 9:14
“There was a little city, and few men within it - Here is another proof of the vanity of sublunary things; the ingratitude of men, and the little compensation that genuine merit receives. The little history mentioned here may have either been a fact, or intended as an instructive fable. A little city, with few to defend it, being besieged by a great king and a powerful army, was delivered by the cunning and address on a poor wise man; and afterwards his townsmen forgot their obligation to him.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
a poor wise man was found: Bonaventure reads the man's poverty as powerlessness, so the city is saved by wisdom where strength was lacking. Jerome saw the story repeat in besieged towns again and again, where one poor man proved wiser than all the rich and powerful inside. His reward was to be forgotten.
wisdom of the poor man: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown take the despised poor man as poor men in general, for the man of verse 15 must have been heard. Henry calls such men pearls lost in their shells. He adds that a day is coming when wisdom and goodness will be honored.
Ecclesiastes 9:16
“The poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard - I cannot help pursuing this illustration a little farther. The soldier who found Archimedes busily employed in drawing figures upon the sand, put to him some impertinent question, withal rudely obtruding himself on his operations. To whom this wonderful mathematician replied, “Stand off, soldier, and do not spoil my diagram;” on which the bloody savage struck him dead!”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Ecclesiastes 9:16
“A prudent mind, which is the honour of a man, is to be preferred before a robust body, in which many of the brute creatures excel man. A man may by his wisdom effect that which he could never compass by his strength, and may overcome those by out-witting them who are able to overpower him.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Ecclesiastes 9:16
“Resuming the sentiment (Ec 7:19; 24:5). poor man's wisdom is despised--not the poor man mentioned in Ec 9:15; for his wisdom could not have saved the city, had "his words not been heard"; but poor men in general.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Ecclesiastes 9:17-18
The calm words of the wise are heeded: over the shouts of a ruler among fools answers the poor man's neglect. Wisdom is better than weapons of war, yet the last clause refuses a tidy ending, one sinner destroys much good. Wisdom's advantage is real and open to undoing.
Ecclesiastes 9:17
"The gentle words of the wise are heard above the shouts of a king over fools. "Whosoever you see in the Church declaiming and arousing applause by whatever refinery or charm, he who shakes off his laughter and incites the crowd to feigned happiness, know that this is a sign of foolishness, equally of him who speaks, and of those who listen to him. For the words of the wise are heard in peace and respectful silence.
Jerome · written before 420 · Commentary on Ecclesiastespatristic
2 more voices on this verse
Ecclesiastes 9:17
“The words of wise, &c.--Though generally the poor wise man is not heard (Ec 9:16), yet "the words of wise men, when heard in quiet (when calmly given heed to, as in Ec 9:15), are more serviceable than," &c. ruleth--as the "great king" (Ec 9:14).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Ecclesiastes 9:17
“The words of wise men are heard in quiet - In the tumult of war the words of Archimedes were not heard; and his life was lost.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
one sinner destroys much good: The poor man's wisdom saved a whole city, and one sinner can undo as much. Barnes says the Hebrew word for sinner covers intellectual as well as moral error, and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown point to Achan in Joshua 7. Jerome gives a second reading: one sin loses much good.
Ecclesiastes 9:18
“Wisdom is better than weapons of war - So proved in the case of Archimedes. But one sinner - Such as the Roman butcher above mentioned. Destroyeth much good - Such as were the life and skill of the Syracusan mathematician. One sinner has often injured the work of God; one stumbling-block has sometimes destroyed a revival of religion. Sin acts like a ferment; whatever comes in contact with it, it assimilates to itself.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Ecclesiastes 9:18
"And wisdom is better than weapons, but a single rogue can ruin a great deal of good. "Now he also takes wisdom in preference to strength and says that it is worth more in battle than weapons. But if there is one fool, however small and worthless, he will repeatedly destroy riches and great wealth by his stupidity. But because the Hebrew can also be read as: 'and he who sins once, will lose much goodness', much righteousness will be lost in return and virtues will follow in turn, and he who has one, has all [Cfr. Cic de Offic.
Jerome · written before 420 · Commentary on Ecclesiastespatristic
Ecclesiastes 9:18
“Wisdom, that is, religion and piety (for the wise man is here opposed to a sinner), is better than all military endowments or accoutrements, for it will engage God for us, and then we are safe in the greatest perils and successful in the greatest enterprises.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Keep studying
Studies6
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bonaventure, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 9; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Ecclesiastes; Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ecclesiastes; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON EXODUS 11:7.