Ecclesiastes 9:7
in Ecclesiastes 9Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart, for God has already approved your works:
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God hath already accepted thy works.
KJV
Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works.
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This verse in Ecclesiastes 9
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
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.
This site's exposition
Go, eat your bread with joy
on 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.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
For this reason Solomon also, in Ecclesiastes, covertly alluding to this grace, says, "Come hither, eat your bread with joy," that is, the mystical bread. "Come hither," he calls, a saving, beatific call. "And drink your wine with a merry heart," that is, the mystical wine. "And let oil be poured out upon your head": you see how he hints also of the mystical chrism. "And at all times let your garments be white, because the Lord approves what you do." It is now that the Lord approves what you do, for before you came to the grace your doings were "vanity of vanities."
"Go, eat your bread with joy and drink your wine with a glad heart, for God has already approved your deeds. Let your garments always be white, and your head never lack oil. "Regarding the passage until that verse where he says: 'like fish caught in a fatal net, like birds seized in a snare, so are men caught in the moment of disaster when it falls upon them suddenly'. [Eccl. 9, 12.] Before I discuss them individually, it will be useful to link them together, so that it can be seen how all pertain to the same meaning.
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
BonaventureCommentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 9 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
"Go therefore and eat" etc. Here the third point is touched upon, namely the commendation of present delight, to the embracing of which he exhorts first according to taste; whence he says: "Go therefore and eat your bread with joy": by bread is understood everything …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Go thy way,....
That God's providence often crosses the fairest and most hopeful probabilities of men's endeavour, and great calamities often surprise men ere they are aware,
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Addressed to the "righteous wise," spoken of in Ec 9:1. Being "in the hand of God," who now accepteth "thy works" in His service, as He has previously accepted thy person (Ge 4:4), thou mayest "eat . . . with a cheerful (not sensually 'merry') heart" (Ec 3:13;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy - Do not vex and perplex yourselves with the dispensations and mysteries of Providence; enjoy the blessings which God has given you, and live to his glory; and then God will accept your works.
The words behind it
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לֵ֣ךְ | lekh | go | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| אֱכֹ֤ל | ʾekhol | eat | H398 → | 810 times |
| בְּשִׂמְחָה֙ | besimchah | with gladness | H8057 → | 94 times |
| לַחְמֶ֔ךָ | lachmekha | food your | H3899 → | 298 times |
| וּֽשֲׁתֵ֥ה | ushateh | and drink | H8354 → | 217 times |
| בְלֶב־ | velev- | with a heart | H3820 → | 595 times |
| ט֖וֹב | tov | good | H2896 → | 538 times |
| יֵינֶ֑ךָ | yeinekha | wine your | H3196 → | 141 times |
| כִּ֣י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| כְבָ֔ר | khevar | already | H3528 → | 9 times |
| רָצָ֥ה | ratzah | he has taken pleasure in | H7521 → | |
| הָאֱלֹהִ֖ים | haelohim | <the> God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| אֶֽת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מַעֲשֶֽׂיךָ׃ | maaseikha | deeds your | H4639 → | 236 times |
לֵ֣ךְgo
lekhH1980 →1546 times
אֱכֹ֤לeat
ʾekholH398 →810 times
בְּשִׂמְחָה֙with gladness
besimchahH8057 →94 times
לַחְמֶ֔ךָfood your
lachmekhaH3899 →298 times
וּֽשֲׁתֵ֥הand drink
ushatehH8354 →217 times
בְלֶב־with a heart
velev-H3820 →595 times
ט֖וֹבgood
tovH2896 →538 times
יֵינֶ֑ךָwine your
yeinekhaH3196 →141 times
כִּ֣יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
כְבָ֔רalready
khevarH3528 →9 times
רָצָ֥הhe has taken pleasure in
ratzahH7521 →
הָאֱלֹהִ֖ים<the> God
haelohimH430 →2601 times
אֶֽת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
מַעֲשֶֽׂיךָ׃deeds your
maaseikhaH4639 →236 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
Ecclesiastes 8:15So I commended the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be merry. For this joy will accompany him in his…
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 2:24
Nothing is better for a man than to eat and drink and enjoy his work. I have also seen that this is from the hand of God.
- Ecclesiastes 5:18
Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in all the labor one does under the sun during the few days of life…
- Ecclesiastes 3:12–13
I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and do good while they live,
- Ecclesiastes 2:24
Through
Deuteronomy 12:7There, in the presence of the LORD your God, you and your households shall eat and rejoice in all you do, because the LORD your God has blessed you.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 12:18
Instead, you must eat them in the presence of the LORD your God at the place the LORD your God will choose—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite within…
- Deuteronomy 14:26
Then you may spend the money on anything you desire: cattle, sheep, wine, strong drink, or anything you wish. You are to feast there in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice…
- Leviticus 23:40
On the first day you are to gather the fruit of majestic trees, the branches of palm trees, and the boughs of leafy trees and of willows of the brook. And you are to…
- Deuteronomy 12:12
And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite within your gates, since he has no portion or inheritance among you.
- Deuteronomy 12:18
Through
Ecclesiastes 10:19A feast is prepared for laughter, and wine makes life merry, but money is the answer for everything.
it leads to
- Psalms 104:15
wine that gladdens the heart of man, oil that makes his face to shine, and bread that sustains his heart.
- Psalms 104:15
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Ecclesiastes
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
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 9; Cyril of Jerusalem, MYSTAGOGICAL LECTURES 4:8; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ecclesiastes; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.