Ecclesiastes 7:4
in Ecclesiastes 7The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.
KJV
The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.
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This verse in Ecclesiastes 7
Commentary
8 notes on this verse"The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of enjoyment. ""Blessed", says the Saviour, "are the mourning, since they will be consoled". [Matth. 5, 5.] And Samuel mourned King Saul all the days of his life [Cfr I Reg. 16.] and Paul said he had mourned over those who did not want to repent their many sins [Cfr II Cor. 12, 21.].
This site's exposition
A good name is better than fine perfume
on Ecclesiastes 7:1-4
The better-than proverbs open: A good name is better than fine perfume, and one’s day of death is better than his day of birth. The house of mourning outranks the house of feasting, since death is the end of every man, and the living should take this to heart.
This site's exposition
The heart of the wise
Barnes notes the Eastern custom of keeping mourning and feasting for several days, as for Jacob in Genesis 50:10. Clarke pictures the wise man at the side of those in mourning, and the fool at his pleasure. Jerome joins the verse to the blessing on those who mourn.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
BonaventureCommentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 7 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
And he confirms this lesson by the judgment of the wise: whence he says: "The heart of the wise is where sadness is": but on the contrary: "The heart of fools is where merriment is": the former seek sorrowful things in the present, the latter …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
) he makes it the character, (1.) Of a wise man that his heart is in the house of mourning; he is much conversant with mournful subjects, and this is both an evidence and a furtherance of his wisdom.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning - A wise man loves those occasions from which he can derive spiritual advantage; and therefore prefers visiting the sick, and sympathizing with those who have suffered privations by death. But the fool - the gay, thoughtless, and giddy - prefers places and times of diversion and amusement. Here he is prevented from seriously considering either himself or his latter end. The grand fault and misfortune of youth.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
House of mourning ... house of mirth - These phrases acquire a forcible significance from the Eastern custom of prolonging both festive and mournful celebrations through several days. See Gen 50:10; Jdg 14:17. This verse indicates that a life of enjoyment, does not mean the abandonment of ourselves to pleasures, but the thankful and sober use of the beautiful things which God gives us.
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לֵ֤ב | lev | [the] heart of | H3820 → | 595 times |
| חֲכָמִים֙ | chakhamim | wise people | H2450 → | 138 times |
| בְּבֵ֣ית | beveit | [is] in a house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| אֵ֔בֶל | ʾevel | mourning | H60 → | |
| וְלֵ֥ב | velev | and [the] heart of | H3820 → | 595 times |
| כְּסִילִ֖ים | kesilim | fools | H3684 → | 70 times |
| בְּבֵ֥ית | beveit | [is] in a house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| שִׂמְחָֽה׃ | simchah | gladness | H8057 → | 94 times |
לֵ֤ב[the] heart of
levH3820 →595 times
חֲכָמִים֙wise people
chakhamimH2450 →138 times
בְּבֵ֣ית[is] in a house of
beveitH1004 →2046 times
אֵ֔בֶלmourning
ʾevelH60 →
וְלֵ֥בand [the] heart of
velevH3820 →595 times
כְּסִילִ֖יםfools
kesilimH3684 →70 times
בְּבֵ֥ית[is] in a house of
beveitH1004 →2046 times
שִׂמְחָֽה׃gladness
simchahH8057 →94 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Jeremiah 51:39While they are flushed with heat, I will serve them a feast, and I will make them drunk so that they may revel; then they will fall asleep forever and never wake up, declares…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 51:57
I will make her princes and wise men drunk, along with her governors, officials, and warriors. Then they will fall asleep forever and not wake up,” declares the King, whose name is the LORD…
- Jeremiah 25:27
“Then you are to tell them that this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘Drink, get drunk, and vomit. Fall down and never get up again, because of the…
- Jeremiah 51:57
Through
1 Samuel 25:36When Abigail returned to Nabal, there he was in the house, holding a feast fit for a king, in high spirits and very drunk. So she told him nothing until morning light.
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 13:23
Two years later, when Absalom’s sheepshearers were at Baal-hazor near Ephraim, he invited all the sons of the king.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:7–8
For those who sleep, sleep at night; and those who get drunk, get drunk at night.
- 1 Samuel 25:19
and said to her young men, “Go ahead of me. I will be right behind you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal.
- 2 Samuel 13:28
Now Absalom had ordered his young men, “Watch Amnon until his heart is merry with wine, and when I order you to strike Amnon down, you are to kill him. Do not be afraid.…
- 2 Samuel 13:23
Through
Hosea 7:5The princes are inflamed with wine on the day of our king; so he joins hands with those who mock him.
it leads to
- 1 Peter 4:3–4
For you have spent enough time in the past carrying out the same desires as the Gentiles: living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and detestable idolatry.
- Isaiah 28:1
Woe to the majestic crown of Ephraim’s drunkards, to the fading flower of his glorious splendor, set on the summit above the fertile valley, the pride of those overcome by wine.
- 1 Peter 4:3–4
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Ecclesiastes
This page draws on 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 7; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Ecclesiastes; Jerome, Commentary on Ecclesiastes; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.