The Book of Ecclesiastes 9:1-18

 ¹For I considered all this in my heart, so that I could declare it all: that the righteous and the wise and their works are in the hand of God. People know neither love nor hatred by anything they see before them. ²All things come alike to all: One event happens to the righteous and the wicked;

To the good, the clean, and the unclean;

To him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice.

As is the good, so is the sinner;

He who takes an oath as he who fears an oath.

³This is an evil in all that is done under the sun: that one thing happens to all. Truly the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil; madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. ⁴But for him who is joined to all the living there is hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion.

⁵For the living know that they will die;

But the dead know nothing,

And they have no more reward,

For the memory of them is forgotten.

⁶Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished;

Nevermore will they have a share

In anything done under the sun.

⁷Go, eat your bread with joy,

And drink your wine with a merry heart;

For God has already accepted your works.

⁸Let your garments always be white,

And let your head lack no oil.

⁹Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain life which He has given you under the sun, all your days of vanity; for that is your portion in life, and in the labor which you perform under the sun.

¹⁰Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.

¹¹I returned and saw under the sun that—

The race is not to the swift,

Nor the battle to the strong,

Nor bread to the wise,

Nor riches to men of understanding,

Nor favor to men of skill;

But time and chance happen to them all.

¹²For man also does not know his time:

Like fish taken in a cruel net,

Like birds caught in a snare,

So the sons of men are snared in an evil time,

When it falls suddenly upon them.

¹³This wisdom I have also seen under the sun, and it seemed great to me: ¹⁴There was a little city with few men in it; and a great king came against it, besieged it, and built great snares around it. ¹⁵Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that same poor man.

¹⁶Then I said:

“Wisdom is better than strength.

Nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised,

And his words are not heard.

¹⁷Words of the wise, spoken quietly, should be heard

Rather than the shout of a ruler of fools.

¹⁸Wisdom is better than weapons of war;

But one sinner destroys much good.”

Commentary

Vs. 1-2 ¹For I considered all this in my heart, so that I could declare it all: that the righteous and the wise and their works are in the hand of God. People know neither love nor hatred by anything they see before them. ²All things come alike to all: One event happens to the righteous and the wicked;

To the good, the clean, and the unclean;

To him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice.

As is the good, so is the sinner;

He who takes an oath as he who fears an oath.

King Solomon then contemplated all of these things so that he could declare it to all, God’s Words treasures then are not to hidden in one’s own heart they are to be shared and declared, as he himself would later call himself, the Preacher. And so it was that he saw that neither the righteous nor the wise are “self-made” but their works are in the hand of God. For God directs their persons and lives. People then know neither love nor hatred by anything they see before them, which is maybe why the Lord Jesus Christ would later say of a marriage union, “What God has joined together let not man separate.” ^{Matt. 19:6} And yet he returns to a kind of fatalism in verse two where he sees that all things come alike to all, to the good, the clean, and the unclean, to the worshiper, and the one who does not worship, to the good, and to the sinner, to the one who takes an oath, and one who fears an oath. For down here under the sun there is nothing that a person can do to prevent the inevitable and that is the day of one’s death. However, there is much one can to prepare themselves for that day, and the most important thing to do right now is be reconciled to God while one can be, for God made His Son the Lord Jesus Christ to be Thee sacrifice for all our sins, so that by His dying on the Cross and three days later Resurrection from the dead we could by faith in His Person be forgiven all of our sins and be reconciled back to God in heaven (John 3:16).

Vs. 3 ³This is an evil in all that is done under the sun: that one thing happens to all. Truly the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil; madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead.

And so it is that without having hope of the resurrection of the dead life down here under the sun seems terribly unjust. For truly the sons of men’s hearts are full of evil, and their lives full of madness, for people can live terribly wicked and reckless lives and yet they will also go to the place of the dead along with those who lived wisely under the sun. Nonetheless because we know that there is a resurrection of dead, of the just and the unjust, how one lives down here really matters (see John 5:24-30).

Vs. 4-6 ⁴But for him who is joined to all the living there is hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion.

⁵For the living know that they will die;

But the dead know nothing,

And they have no more reward,

For the memory of them is forgotten.

⁶Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished;

Nevermore will they have a share

In anything done under the sun.

Nonetheless for the living there is hope, there is a chance for reconciliation with God, (through the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ), therefore a living dog is better than a dead lion. Better than to be thought of as a dog who flees with its tail between its legs to God for mercy, than to be a bold lion who only dies in his sins and transgressions. Because when he is dead, he knows nothing more, all opportunities for reconciliation with God are now forever lost to him. And he will have no more reward under the sun, but only to be repaid for what he has done. Even his memory will perish, along with all of his love, and hatred and envy, for it has all gone down to the grave with him, nevermore than shall he experience anything under the sun, he and his life is finished. But for the person reconciled to God. death in this life is only a passageway to eternity with the Lord Jesus Christ in His Everlasting Kingdom!

Vs. 7-10 ⁷Go, eat your bread with joy,

And drink your wine with a merry heart;

For God has already accepted your works.

⁸Let your garments always be white,

And let your head lack no oil.

⁹Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain life which He has given you under the sun, all your days of vanity; for that is your portion in life, and in the labor which you perform under the sun. ¹⁰Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.

Because of mankind’s of unbelief, King Solomon commends them all who are so inclined to go on and live out their lives, to eat and drink and be merry. For God has already accepted your works (vs. 7). That is the works that people do down here under the sun in which they are employed or occupied with. The things that God assigns or equips them to do down here under the sun, things which keep this world turning so to speak. For God has already accepted your works. Therefore, he commends them all not to be morbid, but to take care of themselves, to live in clean apparel, and refresh their appearances (vs. 8). To live joyfully with their wives whom they love, for that is their portion down here under the sun. Therefore, he says to them all, do whatever you can do with all your might, for there is no work, or knowledge, or wisdom in the grave where you are going (vs. 9-10).

Vs. 11-12 ¹¹I returned and saw under the sun that—

The race is not to the swift,

Nor the battle to the strong,

Nor bread to the wise,

Nor riches to men of understanding,

Nor favor to men of skill;

But time and chance happen to them all.

¹²For man also does not know his time:

Like fish taken in a cruel net,

Like birds caught in a snare,

So the sons of men are snared in an evil time,

When it falls suddenly upon them.

This passage is very enlightening for those who lived down here under the sun, that life is not a straight linear line which man creates for himself. For the race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, for time and chance plays a role in everything, and sometimes those who are “first” finish last (consider Luke 13:29-30). Same with bread always going to the wise, for there are fools who eat heartily, while there are wise men who go hungry. Nor do riches always go to men of understanding, nor are men of skill always favored above those who know nothing, for life down here under the sun is not always as it should be. The self-made man then is simply a lie that the proud propagate because of their own successes, which they always think they have created for themselves. And yet when mans time comes and he is taken like fish caught in cruel net, or birds in a snare; did, he then create these days of adversities or tragedy for himself? For so it is that the sons of men are snared in an evil time when it suddenly falls upon them.

Vs. 13-18 ¹³This wisdom I have also seen under the sun, and it seemed great to me: ¹⁴There was a little city with few men in it; and a great king came against it, besieged it, and built great snares around it. ¹⁵Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that same poor man.

¹⁶Then I said:

“Wisdom is better than strength.

Nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised,

And his words are not heard.

¹⁷Words of the wise, spoken quietly, should be heard

Rather than the shout of a ruler of fools.

¹⁸Wisdom is better than weapons of war;

But one sinner destroys much good.”

King Solomon now sees a great injustice where a poor wise man by his wisdom delivers the city in which he dwells from being overrun by a mighty king that is much greater than theirs (vs. 13-14). And yet after it was all over, no one remembered that same poor man (vs. 15). From this he learned that wisdom is better than strength, nevertheless the poor’s man’s wisdom is despised, and he is not heard (vs. 16). For in the eyes of his peers he didn’t attend the right universities and colleges, he didn’t get all the degrees and PhD’s that they themselves did. He doesn’t even have the “right pedigree” that they themselves do. Therefore, in their eyes, he is only despised and disqualified for any wise counsel he gives. Nonetheless King Solomon saw past their vainness and declares that the poor man’s wisdom should be heard; "that the words of the wise spoken softly should be heard, rather than the shout of a ruler of fools" (vs. 17), who only knows how to stir people up, but has no idea how to rightly lead and guide them. Yes says the king, wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good. How about you what is your faith in, the poor Wise Man the Lord Jesus Christ or a "rich" ruler of fools. 

Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson.