Ecclesiastes 7:2 BSB

Ecclesiastes 7:2

It is better to enter a house of mourning than a house of feasting, since death is the end of every man, and the living should take this to heart.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart.

KJV

It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart.

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Commentary

3 voices

Ambrose of Milan

FLIGHT FROM THE WORLD 1:3 (397)

If anyone wants to ascend, let him seek not the joys of the world or the pleasant things or the delights but whatever is filled with pain and weeping; for it is better to go into a house of sorrow than into a house of rejoicing. Indeed, Adam would not have come down from paradise unless he had been beguiled by pleasure.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

John Gill

1697–1771

Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)

It is better to go to the house of mourning,.... For deceased relations or friends, who either lie unburied, or have been lately inferred; for the Jews kept their mourning for their dead several days afterwards, when their friends visited them in order to comfort them, as the Jews did Martha and Mary, Joh 11:

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Proving that it is not a sensual enjoyment of earthly goods which is meant in Ec 3:13; A thankful use of these is right, but frequent feasting Solomon had found dangerous to piety in his own case.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

18 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
ט֞וֹב	Tov	[is] good	H2896 →
לָלֶ֣כֶת	la.Le.khet	to go	H1980 →
אֶל־	'el-	to	H413 →
בֵּֽית־	beit-	a house of	H1004 →
אֵ֗בֶל	'E.vel	mourning	H60 →
מִלֶּ֙כֶת֙	mi.Le.khet	more than to go	H1980 →
אֶל־	'el-	to	H413 →
בֵּ֣ית	beit	a house of	H1004 →
מִשְׁתֶּ֔ה	mish.Teh	a feast	H4960 →
בַּאֲשֶׁ֕ר	ba.'a.Sher	in that	H834 →
ה֖וּא	hu'	this	H1931 →
ס֣וֹף	Sof	[is] [the] end of	H5490 →
כָּל־	kol-	every	H3605 →
הָאָדָ֑ם	ha.'a.Dam	<the> person	H120 →
וְהַחַ֖י	ve.ha.Chai	and the living person	H2416 →
יִתֵּ֥ן	yi.Ten	he will give	H5414 →
אֶל־	'el-	to	H413 →
לִבּֽוֹ׃	li.Bo	heart his	H3820 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

H5490sof[is] [the] end of5×

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Psalms 90:12
So teach us to number our days, that we may present a heart of wisdom.
leads to
- Ephesians 5:16–17
  redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
- Psalms 39:4
  “Show me, O LORD, my end and the measure of my days. Let me know how fleeting my life is.
- John 9:4
  While it is daytime, we must do the works of Him who sent Me. Night is coming, when no one can work.
- Deuteronomy 32:29
  If only they were wise, they would understand it; they would comprehend their fate.
Through
Hebrews 9:27
Just as man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment,
leads to
- 2 Corinthians 5:10
  For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive his due for the things done in the body, whether good or bad.
- Ecclesiastes 12:7
  before the dust returns to the ground from which it came and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
- Ecclesiastes 12:14
  For God will bring every deed into judgment, along with every hidden thing, whether good or evil.
- Acts 17:31
  For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead.”

About Ecclesiastes

King Solomon in Old Age — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

Ecclesiastes: the study guide →Read chapter 7 →The featured study →

Continue: Ecclesiastes 7 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

06About Ecclesiastes

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

About Ecclesiastes