Category: Study Series

Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better. Ecclesiastes 7:3 (KJV)

The word for ‘sorrow’ is derived from ka‛as כַּעַס, and it means ‘vexation, or anger.’ (H3708)[1] Here, anger is positioned in the context of our sinful existence, and God’s divine disapproval of it. (Provan, 161) In such a case, vexation of spirit is better. It reflects the sort of wisdom that invokes the understanding of the desperate state of the spiritual life. Laughter only deepens the vanity of life; it contributes to the enigma that humans are already entrenched in. 

Reference:

Provan, I. (2001). Ecclesiastes/Song of Songs: The New Application Commentary, Zondervan

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[1] https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h3708/kjv/wlc/0-1/

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. Ecclesiastes 7:2 (KJV)

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The preference of mourning over feasting might imply a suggest an anti-joy thesis. But that is not the case. Qoheleth’s suggestion to take joy as God’s gift still stands. The distinction rather is of pursuit; we have two distinctive senses of joy here. One, to be joyous, eating and drinking and being content within the scope of God’s providence. And two, pursuing such joy; which is typically a copy of a genuine gift from God. This latter sense of joy is what Qoheleth seems to be dismissing in this verse. Provan writes, “It is, rather, the pursuit of them as part of a frivolous and trivializing way of life that is under consideration. There is a way of living that is centered on feasting, on the pursuit of joy, on empty laughter and singing. This is life lived in denial of the true nature of things, hoping to push reality to the margins by flooding the senses with sensation and drowning out quiet contemplation with noise.” (160)

Reference:

Provan, I. (2001). Ecclesiastes/Song of Songs: The New Application Commentary, Zondervan

A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one’s birth. Ecclesiastes 7:1 (KJV)

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Seow interprets this verse as ‘a good reputation is better than the finest luxuries.’ The word for ‘name,’ or ‘fame’ refers to not just current reputation, but with posthumous name as well. (234-235) Weirdly, Provan claims this reputation as an incentive of embracing wisdom over folly. (159) This comment seems weird because it invokes the question – is there acquirable profit under the sun? But perhaps, the non or at least, the least controversial way we could read this verse could be to emphasize on the finality of things: i.e., death. If all our labour is nullified by death, then what is the point of living? Bartholomew responds, ‘if all is enigmatic, then the day of one’s death is better than being born.’ (210) I suppose, the emphasis is not on death per se, but on the finality of things; i.e., that the living should live weighing on the fact that everything ends. It seems the recognition of death’s significance is what Qoheleth is counting as a part of wisdom – not just a direct incentive of it.

References:

Bartholomew, C. (2009). Ecclesiastes, Baker Academic

Provan, I. (2001). Ecclesiastes/Song of Songs: The New Application Commentary, Zondervan

Seow, C.L. (1997). Ecclesiastes, Yale University Press