Ecclesiastes 7 commentary

ECCLESIASTES 7 COMME TARY
EDITED BY GLE PEASE
Wisdom
1
A good name is better than fine perfume,
and the day of death better than the day of birth.
BARNES, "Name ... ointment - The likeness between reputation and odor supplies
a common metaphor: the contrast is between reputation, as an honorable attainment
which only wise people win, and fragrant odor, as a gratification of the senses which all
people enjoy.
The connection of this verse with the preceding verses is this: the man, who wants to
know what is profitable for man and good in this life, is here told to act in such a way as
ordinarily secures a good reputation (i. e., to act like a wise man), and to teach himself
this hard lesson - to regard the day of death as preferable to the day of birth. Though
Solomon seems in some places to feel strongly (Ecc_2:16; Ecc_3:19-20 ff) that natural
fear of death which is, in a great measure, mistrust founded on the ignorance which
Christ dispelled; yet he states the advantage of death over life in respect of its freedom
from toil, oppression, restlessness Ecc_2:17; Ecc_4:2; Ecc_6:5, and in respect of its
implying an immediate and a nearer approach to God Ecc_3:21; Ecc_12:7. While
Solomon preferred the day of death, he might still (with Luther here) have regarded
birth as a good thing, and as having its place in the creation of God.
CLARKE, "A good name - Unsatisfactory as all sublunary things are, yet still there
are some which are of great consequence, and among them a good name. The place is
well paraphrased in the following verses:
“A spotless name,
By virtuous deeds acquired, is sweeter far
Than fragant balms, whose odors round diffused
Regale the invited guests. Well may such men
Rejoice at death’s approach, and bless the hours
That end their toilsome pilgrimage; assured
That till the race of life is finish’d none
Can be completely blest.”
GILL, "A good name is better than precious ointment,.... The word "good" is not
in the text, but is rightly supplied, as it is by Jarchi; for of no other name can this be

said; that which is not good cannot be better. Some understand this of the name of God,
which is God himself, who is the "summum bonum", and chief happiness of men, and
take it to be an answer to the question Ecc_6:12; this and this only is what is a man's
good, and is preferable to all outward enjoyments whatever; interest in him as a
covenant God; knowledge of him in Christ, which has eternal life annexed to it;
communion with him; the discoveries of his lovingkindness, which is better than little;
and the enjoyment of him to all eternity. This is true of the name of Christ, whose name
Messiah which signifies anointed, is as ointment poured forth, and is preferable to it,
Son_1:3; so his other names, Jesus a Saviour; Jehovah, our righteousness; Immanuel,
God with us; are exceeding precious to those who know the worth of him, and see their
need of righteousness and salvation by him; his person, and the knowledge of him; his
Gospel, and the fame and report it gives of him; infinitely exceed the most precious and
fragrant ointment; see 2Co_2:14. So the name or names given to the people of God, the
new names of Hephzibah and Beulah, the name of sons of God, better than that of sons
and daughters; and of Christians, or anointed ones, having received that anointing from
Christ which teacheth all things, and so preferable to the choicest ointment, Isa_56:5.
Likewise to have a name written in heaven, in the Lamb's book of life, and to have one's
name confessed by Christ hereafter before his Father and his holy angels; or even a good
name among men, a name for a truly godly gracious person; for love to Christ, zeal for
his cause, and faithfulness to his truths and ordinances; such as the woman got, better
than the box of ointment poured on Christ's head; and which the brother had, whose
praise in the Gospel was throughout the churches; and as Demetrius, who had good
report of all then, and of the truth itself, Mat_26:13, 3Jo_1:12. Such a good name is
better than precious ointment for the value of it, being better than all riches, for which
this may be put; see Isa_39:2; and for the fragrancy of it, emitting a greater; and for the
continuance of it, being more lasting, Psa_112:6. The Targum is,
"better is a good name the righteous get in this world, thin the anointing oil which was
poured upon the heads of kings and priests.''
So Alshech,
"a good name is better than the greatness of a king, though anointed with oil;''
and the day of death than the day of one's birth; some render it, in connection
with the preceding clause, "as a good name is better, &c. so the day of death than the day
of one's birth" (f); that is, the day of a man's death than the day of his birth. This is to be
understood not of death simply considered; for that in itself, abstracted from its
connections and consequences, is not better than to be born into the world, or come into
life, or than life itself; it is not preferable to it, nor desirable; for it is contrary to nature,
being a dissolution of it; a real evil, as life, and long life, are blessings; an enemy to
mankind, and a terrible one: nor of ether persons, with whom men have a connection,
their friends and relations; for with them the day of birth is a time of rejoicing, and the
day of death is a time of mourning, as appears from Scripture and all experience; see
Joh_16:21. It is indeed reported (g) of some Heathenish and barbarous people in
Thrace, and who inhabited Mount Caucasus, that they mourned at the birth of their
children, reckoning up the calamities they are entering into, and rejoiced at the death of
their friends, being delivered from their troubles: but this is to be understood of the
persons themselves that are born and die; not of all mankind, unless as abstracted from
the consideration of a future state, and so it is more happy to be freed from trouble than
to enter into it; nor of wicked men, it would have been better indeed if they had never

been born, or had died as soon as born, that their damnation might not have been
aggravated by the multitude of their sins; but after all, to die cannot be best for them,
since at death they are cast into hell, into everlasting fire, and endless punishment: this
is only true of good men, that have a good name living and dying; have a good work of
grace upon them, and so are meet for heaven; the righteousness of Christ on them, and
so have a title to it; they are such who have hope in their death, and die in faith and in
the Lord: their death is better than their birth; at their birth they come into the world
under the imputation and guilt of sin, with a corrupt nature; are defiled with sin, and
under the power of it, liable in themselves to condemnation and death for it: at the time
of their death they go out justified from sin through the righteousness of Christ, all being
expiated by his sacrifice, and pardoned for his sake; they are washed from the faith of sin
by the blood of Christ, and are delivered from the power and being of it by the Spirit and
grace of God; and are secured from condemnation and the second death: at their coming
into the world they are liable to sin yet more and more; at their going out they are wholly
freed from it; at the time of their birth they are born to trouble, and are all their days
exercised with it, incident to various diseases of the body, have many troubles in the
world, and from the men of it; many conflicts with a body of sin and death, and harassed
with the temptations of Satan; but at death they are delivered from all these, enter into
perfect peace and unspeakable joy; rest from all their labours and toils, and enjoy
uninterrupted communion with God, Father, Son, and Spirit, angels, and glorified
saints. The Targum is,
"the day in which a man dies and departs to the house of the grave, with a good name
and with righteousness, is better than the day in which a wicked man is born into the
world.''
So the Midrash interprets it of one that goes out of the world with a good name,
considering this clause in connection with the preceding, as many do.
HENRY, "In these verses Solomon lays down some great truths which seem
paradoxes to the unthinking part, that is, the far greatest part, of mankind.
I. That the honour of virtue is really more valuable and desirable than all the wealth
and pleasure in this world (Ecc_7:1): A good name is before good ointment (so it may be
read); it is preferable to it, and will be rather chosen by all that are wise. Good ointment
is here put for all the profits of the earth (among the products of which oil was reckoned
one of the most valuable), for all the delights of sense (for ointment and perfume which
rejoice the heart, and it is called the oil of gladness), nay, and for the highest titles of
honour with which men are dignified, for kings are anointed. A good name is better than
all riches (Pro_21:1), that is, a name for wisdom and goodness with those that are wise
and good - the memory of the just; this is a good that will bring a more grateful pleasure
to the mind, will give a man a larger opportunity of usefulness, and will go further, and
last longer, than the most precious box of ointment; for Christ paid Mary for her
ointment with a good name, a name in the gospels (Mat_26:13), and we are sure he
always pays with advantage.
II. That, all things considered, our going out of the world is a great kindness to us than
our coming into the world was: The day of death is preferable to the birthday; though,
as to others, there was joy when a child was born into the world, and where there is
death there is lamentation, yet, as to ourselves, if we have lived so as to merit a good
name, the day of our death, which will put a period to our cares, and toils, and sorrows,
and remove us to rest, and joy, and eternal satisfaction, is better than the day of our

birth, which ushered us into a world of so much sin and trouble, vanity and vexation. We
were born to uncertainty, but a good man does not die at uncertainty. The day of our
birth clogged our souls with the burden of the flesh, but the day of our death will set
them at liberty from that burden.
JAMISON, "(See on Ecc_6:12).
name — character; a godly mind and life; not mere reputation with man, but what a
man is in the eyes of God, with whom the name and reality are one thing (Isa_9:6). This
alone is “good,” while all else is “vanity” when made the chief end.
ointment — used lavishly at costly banquets and peculiarly refreshing in the sultry
East. The Hebrew for “name” and for “ointment,” have a happy paronomasia, Sheem and
Shemen. “Ointment” is fragrant only in the place where the person is whose head and
garment are scented, and only for a time. The “name” given by God to His child (Rev_
3:12) is for ever and in all lands. So in the case of the woman who received an everlasting
name from Jesus Christ, in reward for her precious ointment (Isa_56:5; Mar_14:3-9).
Jesus Christ Himself hath such a name, as the Messiah, equivalent to Anointed (Son_
1:3).
and the day of [his] death, etc. — not a general censure upon God for creating
man; but, connected with the previous clause, death is to him, who hath a godly name,
“better” than the day of his birth; “far better,” as Phi_1:23 has it.
YOUNG, "1. A good name is better than precious ointment ; and th(
day of death than the day of ones birth.
In this verse, as in the 5th and 6th, Hebrew words of
similar sound are brought together. This paronomasia is
not unfrequent in the Hebrew language ; and seems very
suitable for proverbial expressions. We have the same
thing in English. " He that goes borrowing goes sorrow-
ing," is an example. In this verse we have in Hebrew,
Tov shcm me shemmen, — better is a good name than pre-
cious ointment. The value of a good name is incalculable,
if deserved.
There are many references in the Bible to ointment.
Among the orientals it was much more in use than now
with us. It was especially a mark of festivity. " Anoint
thy head and wash thy face, that thou mayest not appear
unto men to fast." Brotherly love is compared to precious
ointment. Ps. cxxxiii. 2. *' Ointment and perfume rejoice
the heart." Prov. xxvii. 9. " My name is as ointment
poured forth." Cant. i. 3. The idea of this verse is,
that there is a precious savour in a good name. A good

name is the aroma of virtue. Mary felt that she could
bring no more precious gift to Jesus, than to pour upon
his sacred person the costly box of spikenard. She meant
it to be an emblem of Jesus' virtue. But the odour of that
deed of love has been wafted to all lands, and will continue
to perfume her name till the end of time. She did not
desire praise. We ought not to desire it. But we may
desire, and ought to maintain, a good reputation. A good
name is better than a great name. It gives influence, —
The day of the good man's death is better than the day
of his birth. At his birth, he is introduced into a world
of sin and sorrow. At his death, he is introduced into a
world of purity and joy. The day of death, so much
dreaded by many, is a good day to the righteous. To
depart and be with Christ, is far better than to live in this
world of sorrow; even with its brightest joys at one's bid-
ding.
Dr. Hengstenberg says, " The first clause has no in-
ternal connection whatever with the second : the means
adopted to point out such a connection have been plainly
artificial and far-fetched." Dr. Hamilton on the other
hand very plausibly shows a beautiful connection. He
shows that to the owner of a good name the day of death
is better than the day of birth.
TRAPP, "Ecclesiastes 7:1 A good name [is] better than precious ointment; and the day of
death than the day of one’s birth.
Ver. 1. A good name is better than precious ointment.] Yea, than great riches. {See Trapp
on "Proverbs 22:1"} The initial letter (a) of the Hebrew word for "good" here is larger
than ordinary, to show the more than ordinary excellence of a good name and fame
among men. {Hebrew Text Note} If whatsoever David doeth doth please the people, if
Mary Magdalen’s cost upon Christ be well spoken of in all the churches, if the Romans’
faith be famous throughout the whole world, [Romans 1:8] if Demetrius have a good
report of all good men, and St John set his seal to it, this must needs be better than
precious ointments; the one being but a perfume of the nostrils, the other of the heart.
Sweet ointment, olfactum afficit, spiritum reficit, cerebrum iuvat, affects the smell,
refresheth the spirit, comforts the brain: a good name doth all this and more. For,
First, As a fragrant scent, it affects the soul, amidst the stench of evil courses and
companies. It is as a fresh gale of sweet air to him that lives, as Noah did, among such as
are no better than walking dunghills, and living sepulchres of themselves, stinking much
more worse than Lazarus did, after he had lain four days in the grave. A good name

preserveth the soul as a pomander; and refresheth it more than musk or civit doth the
body.
Secondly, It comforts the conscience, and exhilarates the heart; cheers up the mind
amidst all discouragements, and fatteth the bones, [Proverbs 15:30] doing a man good,
like a medicine. And whereas sweet ointments may be corrupted by dead flies, a good
name, proceeding from a good conscience, cannot be so. Fly blown it may be for a
season, and somewhat obscured; but as the moon wades out of a CLOUD, so shall the
saints’ innocence break forth as the light, and their righteousness as the noonday.
[Psalms 37:6] Buried it may be in the open sepulchres of evil throats, but it shall surely
rise again: a resurrection there shall be of names, as well as of bodies, at the last day, at
utmost. But usually a good name comforts a Christian at his death, and CONTINUES
after it. For though the name of the wicked shall rot, his lamp shall be put out in
obscurity, and leave a vile snuff behind it, yet "the righteous shall be had in everlasting
remembrance"; they shall leave their names for a blessing. [Isaiah 65:15]
And the day of death, than the day of one’s birth.] The Greeks call a man’s birthday,
γενεθλιον quasi γενεσιν αθλων; the beginning of his nativity, they call the begetting of
his misery. "Man that is born of a woman, is born to trouble," saith Job. [Job 14:1] The
word there rendered born, signifieth also generated or concieved; to note that man is
miserable, even as soon as he is "warm in the womb," as David hath it. [Psalms 51:5] If
he lives to see the light, he comes crying into the world, a fletu vitam auspicatur, saith
Seneca. (b) Insomuch as the lawyers define life by crying, and a stillborn child is all one
as dead in law. Only Zoroaster is said to have been born laughing, but that laughter was
both monstrous and ominous. (c) For he first found out the black art which yet profited
him not so far as to the vain felicity of this present life. For being king of the Bactrians,
he was overcome and slain in battle by Ninus, king of the Assyrians. Augustine, who
relates this story, saith of man’s first entrance into the world, Nondum loquitur, et
tamen prophetat, ere ever a child speaks, be prophesies, by his tears, of his ensuing
sorrows. Nec prius natus, quam damnatus, no sooner is he born, but he is condemned to
the mines or galleys, as it were, of sin and suffering. Hence Solomon here prefers his
coffin before his cradle. And there was some truth in that saying of the heathen,
Optimum est non nasci, proximum quam celerrime mori: For wicked men it had been
best not to have been born, or being born, to die quickly; since by living long they heap
up first sin, and then wrath against the day of wrath. As for good men, there is no doubt
but the day of death is best to them, because it is the daybreak of eternal righteousness;
and after a short brightness, as that martyr said, gives them, Malorum ademptionem,
bonorum adeptionem, freedom from all evil, fruition of all good. Hence the ancient
fathers called those days wherein the martyrs suffered their birthdays, because then they
began to live INDEED: since here to live is but to lie dying. Eternal life is the only true
life, saith Augustine.
PULPIT, "A good name is better than precious ointment. The paronomasia here is to be
remarked, tob ahem mishemen tob. There is a similar assonance in So Ecc_1:3, which the
German translator reproduces by the sentence, "Besser GUT Gerucht als Wohlgeruch,"
or," gute Geruche," and which may perhaps be rendered in English, "Better is good favor
than good flavor." It is a proverbial saying, running literally, Better is a name than good
oil. Shem, "name," is sometimes used unqualified to signify a celebrated name, good

name, reputation (comp. Gen_11:4; Pro_22:1). Septuagint, Ἀγαθὸν ὄνοµα ὑπὲρ ἔλαιον
ἀγαθόν . Vulgate, Melius eat nomen bonum quam unguenta pretiosa. Odorous unguents
were very precious in the mind of an Oriental, and formed one of the luxuries lavished at
feasts and costly entertainments, or social visits (see Ecc_9:8; Rth_3:3; Psa_45:8; Amo_
6:6; Wis. 2:7; Luk_7:37, Luk_7:46). It was a man's most cherished ambition to leave a
good reputation, and to hand down an honorable remembrance to distant posterity, and
this all the more as the hope of the life beyond the grave was dim and vague (see on Ecc_
2:16, and comp. Ecc_9:5). The complaint of the sensualists in Wis. 2:4 is embittered by
the thought," Our name shall be forgotten in time, and no man shall have our works in
remembrance." We employ a metaphor like that in the clause when we speak of a man's
reputation having a good or ill odor; and the Hebrews said of ill fame that it stank in the
nostrils (Gen_34:30; Exo_5:21; see, on the opposite side, Ecclesiasticus 24:15; 2Co_
2:15). And the day of death than the day of one's birth. The thought in this clause is
closely connected with the preceding. If a man's life is such that he leaves a good name
behind him, then the day of his departure is better than that of his birth, because in the
latter he had nothing before him but labor, and trouble, and fear, and uncertainty; and in
the former all these anxieties are past, the storms are successfully battled with, the haven
is won (see on Ecc_4:3). ACCORDING to Solon's well-known maxim, no one can be
called happy till he has crowned a prosperous life by a peaceful death; as the Greek
gnome runs—
Μήπω µέγαν εἴπῃς πρὶν τελευτήσαντ ἴδῃς
"Call no man great till thou hast seen him dead."
So Ben-Sira, "Judge none blessed ( µὴ µακάριζε µηδένα ) before his death; for a man
shall be known in his children" (Ecclesiasticus 11:28).
COFFMAN, "Some scholars see this chapter as an attempt to answer the question implied
in Ecclesiastes 6:12, "Who knoweth what is good for man"? However that verse may be
read as a declaration that, "No one knows what is good for man." Many of the assertions
in this chapter reveal that Solomon himself, in spite of all his vaunted research,
experience, and searching had by no means solved the problem with any degree of
completeness.
God supernaturally endowed Solomon with great wisdom; but that cannot be a guarantee
that everything Solomon either said or did was invariably correct. Like many another
person, Solomon's experiences, at least many of them, were of a nature to confuse and
deceive him; and, here and there in his writings, one finds unmistakable evidence of that
truth. We do not proceed very far into this chapter before we encounter examples of it.
THE DAY OF DEATH BETTER THAN THE DAY OF ONE'S BIRTH
Ecclesiastes 7:1-4
"A good name is better than precious oil; and the day of death, than the day of one's birth.

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 heart. Sorrow is better than laughter; for by
the sadness of the countenance, the heart is made glad. The heart of the wise is in the
house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth."
This paragraph deals with that second clause of Ecclesiastes 7:1. It is true in a number of
ways, but not in others. When some promising young person is the victim of some terrible
accident and is thus cut down in the prime of life, the day of such a death is not better
than the day of his birth.
However, the death of Christ was better than the day of his birth; because his Church
celebrates his death, not his birth. Paul declared that, "It is better to depart and be with
Christ (Philippians 1:21-23), Also; "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his
saints" (Psalms 116:15). In spite of these scriptures, we find it very hard to believe that
Solomon had anything like that in mind.
His viewpoint here seems to be like that of a tribe in Thrace mentioned by Herodotus,
"Who bewailed the birth of a child because of its entry into the trials of life, and
celebrated death as a joyful release from life's trials."[1]
"A good name is better than precious oil" (Ecclesiastes 7:1a). This simply means, "Honor
is better than vanity."[2] Some renditions have attempted to duplicate the alliteration
found in the Hebrew: "Better is name than nard;"[3] and, "Fair fame is better than fine
perfume."[4] We might paraphrase it by saying, "A good reputation smells better than the
most expensive perfume."
"It is better to go to the house of mourning" (Ecclesiastes 7:2). In Biblical times, funeral
celebrations lasted several days; and the `house of mourning' here refers to such
celebrations. Why should this be called 'better' than going to the house of feasting? As
Psalms 90 eloquently states it: "So teach us to number our days, that we may get us a
heart of wisdom" (Psalms 90:12). "The solemn and necessary thoughts that come to one
at a funeral are far more uplifting and beneficial than those that result from attending any
kind of a feast."[5] "Going to the house of mourning is useful because the living are
confronted with the fact that death is also their own destiny; and it is certain."[6] Every
funeral is a prophecy of one's own death and burial.
"House of feasting" (Ecclesiastes 7:2). What is this? "One of the Qumran scrolls reads
this as `house of joy,' `place of amusement,' as in Ecclesiastes 7:4."[7]
"Sorrow is better than laughter" (Ecclesiastes 7:3). Solomon is still contrasting the house
of mourning with the house of joy; but this does not mean that Christians should not
attend such things as wedding feasts and other joyful celebrations. Christ attended a
marriage feast in Cana and made eighty gallons of wine to aid the celebration! In this
connection, it is good to remember that:
"We should not take Solomon's words either literally or absolutely. They are not laws of
invariable truth. To treat them this way is to err in their application."[8] "The warning
here is for those who wanted only the parties and the good times, and who studiously

avoided all sad and sorrowful occasions. The wise man partakes of both."[9]
"The heart of fools is in the house of mirth" (Ecclesiastes 7:4). As noted above, the
Qumran manuscript in this place makes the house of mirth here the same as the house of
feasting in Ecclesiastes 7:2. Grieve was certain that the reference here is to something like
a tavern with its, "Licentious and vulgar tavern songs (Amos 6:5; Ephesians 5:4)."[10]
The "better ... than ... etc." pattern in the first half of this chapter is exactly the same as
that followed by Solomon in his Proverbs (Proverbs 15:16; 8:11; and 3:14).
Many of the statements in this part of Ecclesiastes are very similar to sayings of Solomon
in Proverbs. Proverbs 22:1 is like Ecclesiastes 7:1, here.
BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR, "A good name is better than precious ointment.
The fragrance of moral worth
I. The elements of a good name. It is something more than being “well spoken of,” for
often “what is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.” It is not
even a good reputation, unless that be sustained by the good reality. Socrates, on being
asked how one might obtain a good name, replied, “Study really to be what you wish to
be accounted.” “A good name” is enshrined in “whatsoever things are honest, lovely, and
of good report”—a “name” not only remembered on earth, but “written in heaven.” It
includes—
1. Piety.
2. Diligence.
3. Integrity.
4. Patriotism.
5. Benevolence.
6. Devotion.
II. The superior value of a good name. “Better than precious ointment.”
1. It is rarer. Rare as some oriental unguents are, they are plentiful compared with
Scripture’s “good name” in this pretentious world.
2. It is more costly. Not a little did the alabaster box of ointment, poured by one on
the Saviour, cost; but who shall estimate the expense at which a rebel against God
has been so changed in state and character as to have a name, absolutely fragrant,
not only in a sinful earth, but throughout a sinless universe? The sufferings of Jesus
and the influences of the Spirit indicate a cost which no arithmetic can compute.
3. It is more enduring than ointment. The latter’s delectable properties will soon
evaporate, as if it had never been; but a “good name,” earned in “doing the will of
God, abideth for ever.” “The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance.”
4. Than ointment, such a “good name” is “better” for the individual himself. It inlays
the soul with satisfaction. “A good man shall be satisfied,” not with, but “from
himself.” He secures a signal luxury. “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Such
“a good name” is “better” for society. It is stimulating. Barnabas’s “good name” was a
passport to Saul of Tarsus among the Churches. Paul’s “good name” was all that was

needed to secure large donations for the poor saints at Jerusalem. Such a name is
absolutely beneficial. What woes have not fled before its odoriferous power! What
songs has it not kindled on lips unaccustomed to “the music of the spheres”! (A. M.
Stalker.)
A well-grounded good name
The improving of our life in this world to the raising up a well-grounded good name and
savoury character in it, is the best balance for the present for the vanity and misery
attending our life, better than the most savoury earthly things.
I. Some things supposed in the doctrine.
1. There is a vanity and misery that is the inseparable attendant of human life in this
world. No man in life is free of it, nor can be (Psa_39:6).
2. Every man will find himself obliged to seek for some allay of that vanity and
misery of life, that he may be enabled to comport with it (Psa_6:6). This makes a
busy world, every one seeking something to make his hard seat soft.
3. It is natural for men to seek an allay to the vanity and misery of life in earthly
things (Psa_6:6).
4. But the best of earthly things will make but a sorry plaster for that sore; they will
not be able to balance the vanity and misery of life, but with them all life may be
rendered sapless, through the predominant vanity and misery of it.
5. Howbeit, the improving of life to the raising a well-grounded good name, will
balance the vanity and misery of life effectually; so that he who has reached that kind
of living, has what is well worth the enduring all the miseries of life for. There is an
excellency and good in it that downweigh all the evils attending life.
II. What is the well-grounded good name that is the balance of the vanity and misery of
human life?
1. It is the name of religion, and no less; for there is nothing truly good separate from
religion (Mat_7:18).
2. It is raised on the reality of religion, and no less; for a mere show of religion is but
a vain and empty thing, which will dwindle to nothing with other vanities. We may
take up that good name in three parts.
(1) Friend of God (Jas_2:23).
(2) Faithful to the Lord (Act_16:15). That designs the man’s temper and way
towards God.
(3) Useful to men, serving his generation (Act_13:35). That designs the man’s
temper and way towards his neighbour.
III. What is the improvement of life whereby that good name may be raised.
1. Improve your life by a personal and saving entering into the covenant of grace, and
uniting with Christ, by believing on His name.
2. Improve your life to a living a life of faith in this world.
(1) Let it be a life of believing and dependence on God in Christ for all.

(2) Let it be a life of devotion, despise and scoff at it who will. In respect of the
truths of God made known to you, reckoning every truth sacred, and cleaving
thereto against all hazards and opposition (Pro_23:28). In respect of the worship
of God; in secret, private, and public, showing reverence in the frame of your
heart and outward gestures; so shall ye have the good name.
(3) Let it be a life of heavenly-mindedness and contempt of the world (Php_
3:20). So Enoch got the good name of walking with God (Gen_5:24), and the
worthies (Heb_11:13-16).
(4) Let it be a life of Christian deportment under trials and afflictions in flee. So
patience, resignation, holy cheerfulness under the cross are necessary to raise the
good name (Jas_1:4).
(5) Let it be a life of uprightness, the same where no eye sees you but God’s, as
where the eyes of men are upon you.
3. Improve your life to the living of a life beneficial to mankind, profitable to your
fellow-creatures, diffusing a benign influence through the world, as ye have access;
so that when you are gone, the world may be convinced they have lost a useful
member that sought their good; so shall ye have the good name, “Useful to men”
(Act_13:36).
(1) “Cast the world a copy by your good example” (Mat_5:18). Of devotion and
piety towards God, in a strict and religious observance of your duty towards Him.
This will be a practical testimony for Him, a light that will condemn the world’s
profane contempt of Him (Pro_28:4). Of exact justice and truth in all your
doings and sayings with men (Zec_8:16). Of sobriety in moderating your own
passions with a spirit of peacefulness, meekness, and forbearance (Mat_11:29).
(2) Be of a beneficent disposition, disposed to do good to mankind as you have
access (Gal_6:10).
(3) Lay out yourselves to forward the usefulness of others (1Co_16:10-11).
(4) Be conscientious in the performance of the duties of your station and
relations (1Co_7:24). It is exemplified in the ease of the priests (Mal_2:6); of
wives (1Pe_3:1); and of servants (Tit_2:9-10). To pretend to usefulness without
our sphere is the effect of pride and presumption, and is the same absurdity in
moral conduct as it would be in nature for the moon and stars to set up for the
rule of the day, the sun contenting himself with the rule of the night.
IV. Confirm the point.
1. This improvement of life is the best balance for the present, for the vanity and
misery of life.
(1) Hereby a man answers the end of his creation, for which he was sent into the
world; and surely the reaching of such a noble end is the best balance for all the
hardships in the way of it.
(2) It brings such a substantial and valuable good out of our life as will
downweigh all the inconveniences that attend our life in the world.
(3) It brings such valuable good into our life as more than counterbalanceth all
the vanity and misery of it. A present comfort and satisfaction within oneself
(2Co_1:12). A future prospect, namely, of complete happiness, which must needs

turn the scales entirely, be the miseries of life what they will (Rom_8:35-39).
(4) That good name well grounded is a thing that may cost much indeed, but it
cannot be too dear bought (Pro_23:23). Whatever it cost you, you will be gainers,
if ye get it (Php_3:8).
2. This improvement of life is better than the best and most savoury earthly things.
(1) It will give a greater pleasure to the mind than any earthly thing can do (Pro_
3:17; Psa_4:7; 2Co_1:17).
(2) It will last longer than they will all do (Psa_112:6).
(3) It is the only thing we can keep to ourselves in the world to our advantage
when we leave the world.
(4) The good name will, after we are away, be savoury in the world, when the
things that others set their hearts on will make them stink when they are gone.
(5) The good name will go farther than the best and most savoury things of the
earth. Mary pours a box of precious ointment on Christ, which no doubt sent its
savour through the whole house; but Christ paid her for it with the good name
that should send its savour through the whole world (Mat_26:13). But ye may
think we can have no hope that ever our good name will go that wide. That is a
mistake; for if we raise ourselves the good name, it will certainly be published
before all the world at the last day (Rev_3:5), and we will carry it over the march
betwixt the two worlds into the other world (Ecc_7:12). (T. Boston, D. D.)
A good name
There are a thousand men in our cities to-day who are considering, “What is the best
investment that I can make of myself? What are the tools that will cut my way in life
best?” It sounds to them very much like old-fashioned preaching to say that a good name
is the best thing you can have. Now, let us consider that a little. In the first place, what is
included in a name? A man that has a name has a character; and a good name is a good
character; but it is more than a good character; it is a good character with a reputation
that properly goes with character. It is what you are, and then what men think you to
be—the substance and the shadow both; for character is what a man is, and what men
think him to be; and when they are coincident, then you have the fulness of a good name.
In the world at large, what are the elements of conduct which leave upon society a kind
of impression of you? The first foundation quality of manliness is truth-speaking. Then,
perhaps, next to that is justice; the sense of what is right between man and man;
fairness. Then sincerity. Then fidelity. If these are all coupled with good sense, or
common sense, which is the most uncommon of all sense; if these are central to that
form of intelligence which addresses itself to the capacity of the average man, you have a
very good foundation laid. Men used, before the era of steam, to wearily tow their boats
up through the lower Ohio, or through the Mississippi, with a long line; and at night it
was not always safe for them to fasten their boats on the bank while they slept, because
there was danger, from the wash of the underflowing current, that they would find
themselves drifting and pulling a tree after them. Therefore they sought out well-
planted, solid, enduring trees and tied to them, and the phrase became popular, “That
man will do to tie to”—that is to say, he has those qualities which make it perfectly safe
for you to attach yourself to him. Now, not only are these foundation qualities, but they
are qualities which tend to breed the still higher elements. If with substantial moral

excellence there comes industry, superior skill, in any and every direction, if a man’s life
leads him to purity and benevolence, then he has gone up a stage higher. If it is found,
not that the man is obsequious to the sects, but that he is God-fearing in the better sense
of the term fear, that he is really a religious-minded man, that he is pure in his moral
habits, though he is deficient in his enterprise and endeavours, so that his inspiration is
not calculation, so that the influence that is working in him is the influence of the eternal
and invisible; if all these qualities in him have been known and tested; if it is found that
his sincerity is not the rash sincerity of inexperience, and that it is not the impulse of an
untutored and untrained generosity; if it is found that these qualities implanted in him
have been built upon, that they have increased, that they have had the impact of storms
upon them, and that they have stood; if there have been inducements and temptations to
abandon truth and justice, and sincerity and fidelity, but the man has been mightier than
the temptation or the inducement—then he has built a name, at least, which is a tower of
strength; and men say, “There is a man for you.” Now, how does a man’s name affect his
prosperity? It is said that it is better than precious ointment. Well, in the first place, it
works in an invisible way, in methods that men do not account for. It suffuses around
about one an atmosphere, not very powerful, but yet very advantageous, in the form of
kind feelings and wishes. Then consider how a good name, where it is real, and is
fortified by patient continuance in well-doing, increases in value. There is no other piece
of property whose value is enhanced more rapidly than this, because every year that
flows around about a man fortifies the opinion of men that it is not put on, that it is not
vincible, that it is real and stable. Then, a good name is a legacy. There is many and
many a father that has ruined a son by transmitting money to him. There is no knife that
is so dangerous as a golden knife. But there is no man that ever hurt his son by giving
him a good name—a name that is a perpetual honour; a name such that when it is
pronounced it makes every one turn round and say, “Ah, that is his son,” and smile upon
him. A good name is worth a man’s earning to transmit to his posterity. And that is not
the end of it, where men are permitted to attain a great name. Some such we have had in
our history. Some such appear in every age and generation in European history—some
far back over the high summits of the thousands of years that have rolled between them
and us. But some names there are in European history, and some names there are in
American history, that have lifted the ideal of manhood throughout the whole world. So
a good name becomes a heritage not only to one’s children, to one’s country, and to one’s
age, but, in the cases of a few men, to the race. (H. W. Beecher.)
A good name
Hitherto the book has chiefly contained the diagnosis of the great disease. The royal
patient has passed before us in every variety of mood, from the sleepy collapse of one
who has eaten the fabled lotus, up to the frantic consciousness of a Hercules tearing his
limbs as he tries to rend off his robe of fiery poison. He now comes to the cure. He
enumerates the prescriptions which he tried, and mentions their results. Solomon’s first
beatitude is an honourable reputation. He knew what it had been to possess it; and he
knew what it was to lose it. And here he says, Happy is the possessor of an untarnished
character! so happy that he cannot die too soon! A name truly good is the aroma from
virtuous character. It is a spontaneous emanation from genuine excellence. It is a
reputation for whatsoever things are honest, and lovely, and of good report. To secure a
reputation there must not only be the genuine excellence but the genial atmosphere.
There must be some good men to observe and appreciate the goodness while it lived, and
others to foster its memory when gone. But should both combine,—the worth and the

appreciation of worth,—the resulting good name is better than precious ointment. Rarer
and more costly, it is also one of the most salutary influences that can penetrate society.
For, just as a box of spikenard is not only valuable to its possessor, but pre-eminently
precious in its diffusion; so, when a name is really good, it is of unspeakable service to all
who are capable of feeling its exquisite inspiration. And should the Spirit of God so
replenish a man with His gifts and graces, as to render his name thus wholesome, better
than the day of his birth will be the day of his death; for at death the box is broken and
the sweet savour spreads abroad. There is an end of the envy and sectarianism and
jealousy, the detraction and the calumny, which often environ goodness when living; and
now that the stopper of prejudice is removed, the world fills with the odour of the
ointment, and thousands grow stronger and more lifesome for the good name of one.
Without a good name you can possess little ascendancy over others; and when it has not
pioneered your way and won a prepossession for yourself, your patriotic or benevolent
intentions are almost sure to be defeated. And yet it will never do to seek a good name as
a primary object. Like trying to be graceful, the effort to be popular will make you
contemptible. Take care of your spirit and conduct, and your reputation will take care of
itself. (J. Hamilton, D. D.)
The day of death than the day of one’s birth.—
The day of the Christian’s death
This statement must be understood not absolutely, but conditionally. It is applicable
only to those who “die unto the Lord,” and none can do so but those who are sincere
believers in Christ, the sinner’s Savior.
I. The day of the Christian’s death brings deliverance from all suffering and grief. The
end of a voyage is better than the beginning, especially if it has been a stormy one. Is not
then the day of a Christian’s death better than the day of his birth?
II. In the case of the believer in Jesus, the day of death is the day of final triumph over
all sin, It is the day in which the work of grace in his soul is brought unto perfection; and
is not that day better than the day of his birth?
III. In the case of Christ’s followers, the day of their decease introduces them into a state
of endless reward (Psa_31:19; 1Pe_1:4; 1Co_2:9; Rev_3:21). (G. S. Ingram.)
The believer’s deathday better than his birthday
You must have a good name,—you must be written among the living in Zion, written in
the Lamb’s book of life, or else the text is not true of you; and, alas, though the day of
your birth was a bad day, the day of your death will be a thousand times worse. But now,
if you are one of God’s people, trusting in Him, look forward to the day of your death as
being better than the day of your birth.
I. First, then, our deathday is better than our birthday: and it is so for this among other
reasons—“Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof.” When we are born we
begin life, but what will that life be? Friends say, “Welcome, little stranger.” Ah, but what
kind of reception will the stranger get when he is no longer a new-comer? He who is
newly born and is ordained to endure through a long life is like a warrior who puts on his
harness for battle; and is not he in a better case who puts it off because he has won the
victory? Ask any soldier which he likes best, the first shot in the battle or the sound

which means “Cease firing, for the victory is won.” When we were born we set out on our
journey; but when we die we end our weary march in the Father’s house above. Surely it
is better to have come to the end of the tiresome pilgrimage than to have commenced it.
Better is the day of death than our birthday, because about the birthday there hangs
uncertainty. I heard this morning of a dear friend who had fallen asleep. When I wrote to
his wife I said, “Concerning him we speak with certainty. You sorrow not as those that
are without hope. A long life of walking with God proved that he was one of God’s
people, and we know that for such there remains joy without temptation, without
sorrow, without end, for ever and ever.” Oh, then, as much as certainty is better than
uncertainty, the day of the saint’s death is better than the day of his birth. So, too, in
things which are certain the saint’s deathday is preferable to the beginning of life, for we
know that when the child is born he is born to sorrow. Trials must and will befall, and
your little one who is born to-day is born to an inheritance of grief, like his father, like
his mother, who prophesied it as it were by her own pangs. But look, now, at the saint
when he dies. It is absolutely certain that he has done with sorrow, done with pain. Now,
surely, the day in which we are certain that sorrow is over must be better than the day in
which we are certain that sorrow is on the road.
II. The day of death is better to the believer than all his happy days. What were his
happy days? I shall take him as a man, and I will pick out some days that are often
thought to be happy. There is the day of a man’s coming of age, when he feels that he is a
man, especially if he has an estate to come into. That is a day of great festivity. You have
seen pictures of “Coming of age in the olden time,” when the joy of the young squire
seemed to spread itself over all the tenants and all the farm labourers: everybody
rejoiced. Ah, that is all very well, but when believers die they do in a far higher sense
come of age, and enter upon their heavenly estates. Then shall I pluck the grapes from
those vines that I have read of as enriching the vales of Eshcol; then shall I lie down and
drink full draughts of the river of God, which is full of water; then shall I know even as I
am known, and see no more through a glass darkly, but face to face. Another very happy
day with a man is the day of his marriage: who does not rejoice then? What cold heart is
there which does not beat with joy on that day? But on the day of death we shall enter
more fully into the joy of our Lord, and into that blessed marriage union which is
established between Him and ourselves. There are days with men in business that are
happy days, because they are days of gain. They get some sudden windfall, they prosper
in business, or perhaps there are long months of prosperity in which all goes well with
them, and God is giving them the desires of their heart. But, oh, there is no gain like the
gain of our departure to the Father; the greatest of all gains is that which we shall know
when we pass out of the world of trouble into the land of triumph. “To die is gain.” There
are days of honour, when a man is promoted in office, or receives applause from his
fellow-men. But what a day of honour that will be for you and me if we are carried by
angels into Abraham’s bosom! Days of health are happy days, too. But what health can
equal the perfect wholeness of a spirit in whom the Good Physician has displayed His
utmost skill? We enjoy very happy days of social friendship, when hears warm with
hallowed intercourse, when one can sit a while with a friend, or rest in the midst of one’s
family. Yes, but no day of social enjoyment will match the day of death. Some of us
expect to meet troops of blessed ones that have gone home long ago, whom we never
shall forget.
III. The day of a believer’s death is better than his holy days on earth. I think that the
best holy day I ever spent was the day of my conversion. There was a novelty and
freshness about that first day which made it like the day in which a man first sees the
light after having been long blind. Since then we have known many blessed days; our

Sabbaths, for instance. We can never give up the Lord’s day. Precious and dear unto my
soul are those sweet rests of love—days that God has hedged about to make them His
own, that they may be ours. Oh, our blessed Sabbaths! Well, there is this about the day
of one’s death—we shall then enter upon an eternal Sabbath. Our communion days have
been very holy days. It has been very sweet to sit at the Lord’s table, and have fellowship
with Jesus in the breaking of bread and the drinking of wine; but sweeter far will it be to
commune with Him in the paradise above, and that we shall do on the day of our death.
Those days have been good, I am not going to depreciate them, but to bless the Lord for
every one of them. When we say that a second thing is “better,” it is supposed that the
first thing has some goodness about it. Aye, and our holy days on earth have been good;
fit rehearsals of the jubilee beyond the river. When you and I enter heaven, it will not be
going from bad to good, but from good to better. The change will be remarkable, but it
will not be so great a change as thoughtless persons would imagine. First, there will be
no change of nature. The same nature which God gave us when we were regenerated—
the spiritual nature—is that which will enjoy the heavenly state. On earth we have had
good days, because we have had a good nature given us by the Holy Spirit, and we shall
possess the same nature above, only more fully grown and purged from all that hinders
it. We shall follow the same employments above as we have followed here. We shall
spend eternity in adoring the Most High. To draw near to God in communion—that is
one of our most blessed employments. We shall do it there, and take our fill of it. Nor is
this all, for we shall serve God in glory. You active-spirited ones, you shall find an
intense delight in continuing to do the same things as to spirit as you do here, namely,
adoring and magnifying and spreading abroad the saving name of Jesus in whatever
place you may be.
IV. The day of a saint’s death is better than the whole of his days put together, because
his days here are days of dying. The moment we begin to live we commence to die. Death
is the end of dying. On the day of the believer’s death dying is for ever done with. This
life is failure, disappointment, regret. Such emotions are all over when the day of death
comes, for glory dawns upon us with its satisfaction and intense content. The day of our
death will be the day of our cure. There are some diseases which, in all probability, some
of us never will get quite rid of till the last Physician comes, and He will settle the matter.
One gentle touch of His hand, and we shall be cured for ever. Our deathday will be the
loss of all losses. Life is made up of losses, but death loses losses. Life is full of crosses,
but death is the cross that brings crosses to an end. Death is the last enemy, and turns
out to be the death of every enemy. The day of our death is the beginning of our best
days. “Is this to die?” said one. “Well, then,” said he, “it is worth while to live even to
enjoy the bliss of dying.” The holy calm of some and the transport of others prove that
better is the day of death in their case than the day of birth, or all their days on earth. (C.
H. Spurgeon.)
Of the birthday and the dying-day
To one who has so lived as to obtain the good name, hie dying day will be better than his
birthday, quite downweighing all the vanity and misery of life in this world.
I. Some truths contained in this doctrine.
1. However men live, they must die.
2. The birthday is a good day, notwithstanding all the vanity and misery of human
life. It is a good day to the relations, notwithstanding the bitterness mixed with it

(Joh_16:21). And so it is to the party, too, as an entrance on the stage of life whereby
God is glorified, and one may be prepared for a better life (Isa_38:19).
3. The dying-day is not always so frightful as it looks; it may be a good day too. As in
scouring a vessel, sand and ashes first defiling it makes it to glister; so grim death
brings in a perfect comeliness. The waters may be red and frightful, where yet the
ground is good, and they are but shallow, passable with all safety.
4. Where the dying-day follows a well-improved life, it is better than the birthday,
however it may appear. There is this difference betwixt them, the birthday has its fair
side outmost, the dying day has its fair side inmost; hence the former begins with
joy, but opens out in much sorrow; the latter begins with sorrow, but opens out in
treasures of endless joy. And certainly it is better to step through sorrow into joy
than through joy into sorrow.
5. The dying-day in that case is so very far better than the birthday, that it quite
downweighs all the former vanity and misery of life.
6. But it will not be so in the ease of an ill-spent life. For whatever joy or sorrow they
have been born to in this world, they will never taste of joy more, but be
overwhelmed with floods of sorrow when once their dying-day is come and over.
II. In what latitude this doctrine is to be understood.
1. As to the parties, those who have so lived as to obtain the good name. It is to be
understood of them—
(1) Universally, whatever different degrees be among them in the lustre of the
good name.
(2) Inclusively, of infants dying in their infancy, before they are capable of being
faithful to God, or useful to men; because, having the Spirit of Christ dwelling in
them, whereby they are united to Christ, they are the friends of God.
(3) Exclusively of all others. They that have not so lived as to obtain the good
name have neither part nor lot in this matter (Pro_14:32).
2. As to the points in comparison, the birthday and the dying-day, it is to be
understood of them—
(1) In their formal notion as days of passing into a new world. It is better for him
when he has got the good name to leave his body a corpse, than it was to leave
the womb of his mother when he was a ripe infant.
(2) In all circumstances whatsoever. The saint’s dying-day compared with his
birthday does so preponderate, that no circumstances whatsoever can east the
balance; suppose him born healthy and vigorous, dying in the most languishing
manner, or in the greatest agonies; born heir to an estate or a crown, dying poor
at a dyke-side, neglected of all; yet the day of his death, in spite of all these
advantages of his birth, is better than the day of his birth.
3. As to the preference, it stands in two points.
(1) The advantages of the saint’s dying-day are preferable to the advantages of
his birthday.
(2) The advantages of the saint’s dying-day downweigh all the disadvantages of
his birthday.

III. Demonstrate the truth of this paradox, this unlikely tale, That the saint’s dying-day
is better than his birthday.
1. The day of the saint’s birth clothed him with a body of weak and frail flesh, and so
clogged him; the day of his death looses the clog, and sets him free, clothing him
with a house that will never clog him (2Co_5:1-8).
2. The day of his birth clogged him with a body of sin; the day of his death sets him
quite free from it, and brings him into a state morally perfect (Heb_12:23).
3. The day of the saint’s death carries him into a better world than the day of his
birth did.
(1) The day of his birth brought him into a world of uncertainty, set him down on
slippery ground; the day of his death takes him into a world of certainty, sets his
feet on a rock.
(2) The day of his birth brought him into a world of sin and defilement; but the
day of his death brings him into a world of purity (Heb_12:23).
(3) The day of his birth brought him into a world of toil and labour; but the day
of his death brings him into a world of rest (Rev_14:13).
(4) The day of his birth brought him into a world of care and sorrow; but the day
of his death brings him into a world of ease and joy (Mat_25:21).
(5) The day of his birth brought him into a world of disappointment; but the day
of his death brings him into a world surmounting expectation (1Co_2:9).
(6) The day of his birth brought him into a world of death; but the day of his
death takes him into a world of life (Mat_10:30).
4. The day of his death settles him among better company than the day of his birth
did (Heb_12:22).
(1) The day of his birth brought him at most into but a small company of
brothers and sisters; perhaps he was an eldest child, or an only one; but the day
of his death lands him in a numerous family, whereof each one with him calls
God in Christ Father (Rev_14:1). Whatever welcome he had in the day of his
birth from neighbours or relations, the joy was but on one side; though they
rejoiced in him, he could not rejoice in them, for he knew them not; but in the
day of his death the joy will be mutual; he that in the day of his birth was not
equal to imperfect men will in the day of his death be equal to the angels. He will
know God and Christ, the saints, and angels, and will rejoice in them, as they will
rejoice in him. Whatever welcome he had into the world in the day of his birth,
he had much uncomfortable society there in the days of his after life that made
him often see himself in his neighbourhood in the world, as in Mesech and Kedar
(Psa_120:5), yea, dwelling among lions’ dens and mountains of leopards (Son_
4:8). But in the day of his death he will bid an eternal farewell to all
uncomfortable society, and never see more any in whom he will not be comforted
to be with them.
5. The day of his death brings him into a better state than the day of his birth did.
(1) The day of his birth sets him down in a state of imperfection, natural and
moral; the day of his death advances him to a state of perfection of both kinds
(Heb_12:23).

(2) The day of his birth brought him into a state of probation and trial; but the
day of his death brings him into a state of retribution and recompense (2Co_
5:10).
(3) The day of his birth brought him into a state of changes, but the day of his
death brings him into an unalterable state (Rev_3:12).
6. The day of the saint’s death brings him to, and settles him in better exercise and
employment than the day of his birth did. He will spend his eternity in the other
world better than he did his time in this world, how well soever he spent it (Rev_
4:8). (T. Boston, D. D.)
Comparative estimate of life and death
What are those circumstances of the Christian which give superiority to the time of
death—which justify us in adopting the sentiment of the text as our own?
I. There is an essential difference in the condition of the Christian at the periods of his
earliest and latest consciousness. At the day of birth you cannot distinguish the future
king from the peasant; the hero from the coward; the philosopher from the clown; the
Christian from the infidel. There is a negation of character common to them all; and the
positive qualities of each are not to be distinguished from the other. What is there to give
value to the birthday of such a being? We pass over the years of childhood and youth,
during which the human being is acquiring varied knowledge, to the period when
character is more fully developed. He feels his responsibility, and knows himself to be a
sinner; but his heart has never submitted to Divine authority, he has never sought for
the pardon of his sins, he is an utter stranger to the grace of the Gospel. What reason has
such a man to exult in the day of his birth? to commemorate it as a joyous event? But
imagine him spared by the goodness of God until he is brought to repentance. He is in an
essentially different position to that in which he was on the day of his birth, not only by
the enlargement of his faculties, and the exercise of his affections, but they are directed
to nobler objects; he knows and loves the character of God, he aspires after the
enjoyment of Him, looks forward to enduring happiness with Him after the toils and
sufferings of earthly existence, and his faith becomes “the substance of things hoped for,
the evidence of things not seen.” On the day of his birth he was the mere creature of flesh
and sense, but now he is born of the Spirit, and he lives by faith. Oh, let death come
when it may to the Christian, his dying day will be better than his birthday.
II. Life is a period of probation, the successful termination of which is better than its
commencement. It requires the utmost circumspection and watchfulness—the strictest
examination of our motives and feelings, to preserve the evidences of our Christian
character bright and unclouded. There are few Christians, faithful to their own hearts,
who have not had seasons of darkness and gloominess, and been distressed with various
doubts and fears. And when once these arise in the mind, they impart a character of
uncertainty to our personal salvation. But as we draw nearer to the goal, our confidence
increases; the decline of a Christian’s life is ordinarily marked by greater stability of
mind—by a less wavering faith. God has been, in times past, better to us than our fears;
He has frequently perfected His strength in our weakness, and carried us unexpectedly
through deep waters of affliction; the ultimate issue appears more certain; we are more
habitually confiding on the arm of omnipotence. And when we come to die, with our
souls awake to our real condition, conscious that we have been upheld to the last
moment, a vigorous faith may enable the Christian go say, with the apostle, in the near

prospect of death, “I have fought the good fight,” etc. We mean not to say that every
successful competitor has a feeling of triumph in the dying hour. The shout of victory
may not be heard on this side the stream of death; but, when he has passed through its
flood, and reached the opposite bank, his redeemed soul will be attuned to a song of
glorious and everlasting triumph.
III. If we consider the evils to which the Christian is exposed in life, we shall see he has
reason to regard the day of death as better than the day of his birth. On this side death
there are bitter herbs for medicine, suitable to imperfect and diseased conditions of life;
but on the other side are the fruits of paradise, not to correct the tendencies of an evil
nature, but to feed the soul, to nourish it up unto everlasting blessedness.
IV. The present life is to the Christian a period of imperfect enjoyment. Here he is, at a
distance from home, from his Father’s house, in which there are many mansions; here
his graces are imperfect, and constitute very limited channels of happiness to his spirit;
here he cannot always enjoy God. His weak faith fails to realize the loveliness and
perfections of Jehovah. Here he cannot at all times hold fellowship with the Saviour; it is
interrupted by doubts and fears—by unworthy suspicions and criminal feelings. Here he
knows but in part, sees but through a glass darkly, and this state of imperfection will
continue until the period of death. The better country which the Christian seeks is a
heavenly country—it is an incorruptible, undefiled, unfading inheritance, not to be
realized in mortal flesh not to be reached until the spirit, freed from the bonds of earth,
ascends to God who gave it. (S. Summers.)
EBC, "The Quest in the Golden Mean.
There be many that say, "Who will show us any gold?" mistaking gold for their god or
good. For though there can be few in any age to whom great wealth is possible, there are
many who crave it and believe that to have it is to possess the supreme felicity. It is not
only the rich who "trust in riches." As a rule, perhaps, they trust in them less than the
poor, since they have tried them, and know pretty exactly both how much, and how little,
they can do. It is those who have not tried them, and to whom poverty brings many
undeniable hardships, who are most sorely tempted to trust in them as the sovereign
remedy for the ills of life. So that the counsels of the sixth chapter may have a wider
scope than we sometimes think they have. But, whether they apply to many or to few,
there can be no doubt that the counsels of the seventh and eighth chapters are applicable
to the vast majority of men. For here the Preacher discusses the Golden Mean in which
most of us would like to stand. Many of us dare not ask for great wealth lest it should
prove a burden we could very hardly bear; but we have no scruple in adopting Agur’s
prayer, "Give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with food proportioned to my
need: Let me have a comfortable competence in which I shall be at an equal remove from
the temptations whether of extreme wealth or of extreme penury."
Now the endeavour to secure a competence may be, not lawful only, but most laudable;
since God means us to make the best of the capacities He has given us and the
opportunities He sends us. Nevertheless, we may pursue this right end from a wrong
motive, in a wrong spirit. Both spirit and motive are wrong if we pursue our competence
as if it were a good so great that we can know no content unless we attain it. For what is
it that animates such a pursuit save distrust in the providence of God? Left in his hands,
we do not feel that we should be safe; whereas if we had our fortune in our own hands,
and were secured against chances and changes by a few comfortable securities, we
should feel safe enough. This feeling is, surely, very general: we are all of us in danger of

slipping into this form of unquiet distrust in the fatherly providence of God.
The Method of the Man who seeks a Competence: Ecc_7:1-14
Because the feeling is both general and strong, the Hebrew Preacher addresses himself
to it at some length. His object now is to place before us a man who does not aim at great
affluence, but, guided by prudence and common sense, makes it his ruling aim to stand
well with his neighbours and to lay by a moderate provision for future wants. The
Preacher opens the discussion by stating the maxims or rules of conduct by which such a
one would be apt to guide himself. One of his first aims would be to secure "a good
name," since that would prepossess men in his favour, and open before him many
avenues which would otherwise be closed. Just as one entering a crowded Oriental room
with some choice fragrance exhaling from person and apparel would find bright faces
turned toward him, and a ready way opened for his approach, so the bearer of a good
name would find many willing to meet him, and traffic with him, and heed him. As the
years passed, his good name, if he kept it, would diffuse itself over a wider area with a
more pungent effect, so that the day of his death would be better than the day of his
birth-to leave a good name being so much more honourable than to inherit one (Ecc_
7:1).
But how would he go about to acquire his good name? Again the answer carries us back
to the East. Nothing is more striking to a Western traveller than the dignified gravity of
the superior Oriental races. In public they rarely smile, almost never laugh, and hardly
ever express surprise. Cool, courteous, self-possessed, they bear good news or bad,
prosperous or adverse fortune, with a proud equanimity. This equal mind, expressing
itself in a grave dignified bearing, is, with them, well-nigh indispensable to success in,
public life. And, therefore, our friend in quest of a good name betakes himself to the
house of mourning rather than to the house of feasting; he holds that serious thought on
the end of all men is better than the wanton foolish mirth which crackles like thorns
under a kettle, making a great sputter, but soon going out; and would rather have his
heart bettered by the reproof of the wise than listen to the song of fools over the wine
cup (Ecc_7:2-6). Knowing that he cannot be much with fools without sharing their folly,
fearing that they may lead him into those excesses in which the wisest mind is infatuated
and the kindest heart hardened and corrupted (Ecc_7:7), he elects rather to walk with a
sad countenance, among the wise, to the house of mourning and meditation, than to
hurry with fools to the banquet in which wine and song and laughter drown serious
reflection, and leave the heart worse than they found it. What though the wise reprove
him when he errs? What though, as he listens to their reproof, his heart at times grows
hot within him? The end of their reproof is better than the beginning (Ecc_7:8); as he
reflects upon it, he learns from it, profits by it, and by patient endurance of it wins a
good from it which haughty resentment would have cast away. Unlike the fools,
therefore, whose wanton mirth turns into bitter anger at the mere sound of reproof, he
will not suffer his spirit to be hurried into a hot resentment, but will compel that which
injures them to do him good (Ecc_7:9). Nor will he rail even at the fools who fleet the
passing hour, or account that, because they are so many and so bold, "the time is out of
joint." He will show himself not only wiser than the foolish, but wiser than many of the
wise; for while they-and here surely the Preacher hits a very common habit of the
studious life-are disposed to look fondly back on some past age as greater or happier
than that in which they live, and ask, "How is it that former days were better than
these?" he will conclude that the question springs rather from their querulousness than
from their wisdom, and make the best of the time, and of the conditions of the time, in
which it has pleased God to place him (Ecc_7:10).

But if any ask, "Why has he renounced the pursuit of that wealth on which many are
bent who are less capable of using it than he?" the answer comes that he has discovered
Wisdom to be as good as Wealth, and even better. Not only is Wisdom as secure a
defence against the ills of life as Wealth, but it has this great advantage-that "it fortifies
or vivifies the heart," while wealth often burdens and enfeebles it. Wisdom quickens and
braces the spirit for any fortune, gives it new life or new strength, inspires an inward
serenity which does not lie at the mercy of outward accidents (Ecc_7:11-12). It teaches a
man to regard all the conditions of life as ordained and shaped by God, and weans him
from the vain endeavour, on which many exhaust their strength, to straighten that which
God has made crooked, that which crosses and thwarts his inclinations (Ecc_7:13); once
let him see that the thing is crooked, and was meant to be crooked, and he will accept
and adapt himself to it, instead of wearying himself in futile attempts to make, or to
think, it straight.
And there is one very good reason why God should permit many crooks in our lot, very
good reason therefore why a wise man should look on them with an equal mind. For God
sends the crooked as well as the straight, adversity as well as prosperity, in order that we
should know that He has "made this as well as that, " and accept both from his benign
hand. He interlaces his providences, and veils his providences, in order that, unable to
foresee the future, we may learn to put our trust in Him rather than in any earthly good
(Ecc_7:14). It therefore behoves a man whose heart has been bettered by much
meditation, and by the reproofs of the wise, to take both crooked and straight, both evil
and good, from the hand of God, and to trust in Him whatever may befall.
The Quest in the Golden Mean: Ecc_7:1-8:13
But now, to come closer home, to draw nearer to that prime wisdom which consists in
knowing that which lies before us in our daily life, let us glance at the Man who aims to
stand in the Golden Mean; the man who does not aspire to heap up a great fortune, but
is anxious to secure a modest competence. He is more on our own level; for our trust in
riches is, for the most part, qualified by other trusts. If we believe in Gold, we also
believe in Wisdom and in Mirth; if we labour to provide for the future, we also wish to
use and enjoy the present. We think it well that we should know something of the world
about us, and take some pleasure in our life. We think that to put money in our purse
should not be our only aim, though it should be a leading aim. We admit that "the love of
money is a root of all evil"-one of the roots from which all forms and kinds of evil may
spring; and, to save ourselves from falling into that base lust, we limit our desires. We
shall be content if we can put by a moderate sum, and we flatter ourself that we desire
even so much as that, not for its own sake, but for the means of knowledge, or of
usefulness, or of innocent enjoyment with which it will furnish us. "Nothing I should like
better," says many a man, "than to retire from business as soon as I have enough to live
upon, and to devote myself to this branch of study or that province of art, or to take my
share of public duties, or to give myself to a cheerful domestic life." It speaks well for our
time, I think, that while in a few large cities there are still many in haste to be rich and
very rich, in the country and in hundreds of provincial towns there are thousands of men
who know that wealth is not the Chief Good, and who do not care to don the livery of
Mammon. Nevertheless, though their aim be "most sweet and commendable," it has
perils of its own, imminent and deadly perils, which few of us altogether escape. And
these perils are clearly set before us in the sketch of the Hebrew Preacher. As I reproduce
that sketch, suffer me, for the sake of brevity, while carefully retaining the antique
outlines, to fill in with modern details.

K&D, "“Better is a name than precious ointment; and better is the day of death than the
day when one is born.” Like ‫ראה‬ and ‫,ירא‬ so ‫ׁשם‬ and ‫ׁשמן‬ stand to each other in the
relation of a paronomasia (vid., Song under Song of Solomon 1:3). Luther translates:
“Ein GUT Gerücht ist besser denn gute Salbe” “a good odour (= reputation) is better
than good ointment. If we substitute the expression denn Wolgeruch than sweet scent,
that would be the best possible rendering of the paronomasia. In the arrangement ‫טוב‬
‫ׁשם‬ ‫,טוב‬ tov would be adj. to shem (a good reputation goes beyond sweet scent); but tov
standing first in the sentence is pred., and shem thus in itself alone, as in the cogn.
prov., Proverbs 22:1, signifies a good, well-sounding, honourable, if not venerable
name; cf. (anshē hashshem), Genesis 6:4; (veli-(shem), nameless, Job 30:8. The author
gives the dark reverse to this bright side of the distich: the day of death better than the
day in which one (a man), or he (the man), is born; cf. for this reference of the pronoun,
Ecclesiastes 4:12; Ecclesiastes 5:17. It is the same lamentation as at Ecclesiastes 4:2.,
which sounds less strange from the mouth of a Greek than from that of an Israelite; a
Thracian tribe, the Trausi, actually celebrated their birthdays as days of sadness, and
the day of death as a day of rejoicing (vid., Bähr's Germ. translat. of Herodotus,
Ecclesiastes 4:4). - Among the people of the Old Covenant this was not possible; also a
saying such as Ecclesiastes 7:1 is not in the spirit of the O.T. revelation of religion; yet it
is significant that it was possible
(Note: “The reflections of the Preacher,” says Hitzig (Süd. deut. ev. protest. Woch. Blatt,
1864, No. 2) “present the picture of a time in which men, participating in the recollection
of a mighty religious past, and become sceptical by reason of the sadness of the
present time, grasping here and there in uncertainty, were in danger of abandoning that
stedfastness of faith which was the first mark of the religion of the prophets.”)
within it, without apostasy from it; within the N.T. revelation of religion, except in such
references as Matthew 26:24, it is absolutely impossible without apostasy from it, or
without rejection of its fundamental meaning.
2 It is better to go to a house of mourning
than to go to a house of feasting,
for death is the destiny of every man;
the living should take this to heart.
BARNES, "That - Namely, what is seen in the house of mourning.

Lay it to his heart - Consider it attentively.
CLARKE, "It is better to go to the house of mourning - Birthdays were
generally kept with great festivity, and to these the wise man most probably refers; but
according to his maxim, the miseries of life were so many and so oppressive that the day
of a man’s death was to be preferred to the day of his birth. But, in dependently of the
allusion, it is much more profitable to visit the house of mourning for the dead than the
house of festivity. In the former we find occasion for serious and deeply edifying
thoughts and reflections; from the latter we seldom return with one profitable thought
or one solid impression.
GILL, "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_11:31. So the Targum
here,
"it is better to go to a mourning man to comfort him;''
for at such times and places the conversation was serious and interesting, and turned
upon the subjects of mortality and a future state, and preparation for it; from whence
useful and instructive lessons are learned; and so it was much better to be there
than to go to the house of feasting: the Targum is,
"than to the house of a feast of wine of scorners;''
where there is nothing but noise and clamour, luxury and intemperance, carnal mirth
and gaiety, vain and frothy conversation, idle talk and impure songs, and a jest made of
true religion and godliness, death and another world;
for that is the end of all men; not the house of feasting, but the house of mourning;
or mourning itself, as Jarchi; every man must expect to lose his relation and friend, and
so come to the house of mourning; and must die himself, and be the occasion of
mourning: death itself seems rather intended, which is the end of all men, the way of all
flesh; for it is appointed for men to die; and so the Targum,
"seeing upon them all is decreed the decree of death;''
and the living will lay it to his heart; by going to the house of mourning, he will be
put in mind of death, and will think of it seriously, and consider his latter end, how near
it is; and that this must be his case shortly, as is the deceased's he comes to mourn for.
So the Targum interprets it of words concerning death, or discourses of mortality he
there hears, which he takes notice of and lays to his heart, and lays up in it. Jarchi's note
is,
"their thought is of the way of death.''

HENRY, "That it will do us more good to go to a funeral than to go to a festival (Ecc_
7:2): It is better to go to the house of mourning, and there weep with those that weep,
than to go to the house of feasting, to a wedding, or a wake, there to rejoice with those
that do rejoice. It will do us more good, and make better impressions upon us. We may
lawfully go to both, as there is occasion. Our Saviour both feasted at the wedding of his
friend in Cana and wept at the grave of his friend in Bethany; and we may possibly
glorify God, and do good, and get good, in the house of feasting; but, considering how
apt we are to be vain and frothy, proud and secure, and indulgent of the flesh, it is better
for us to go to the house of mourning, not to see the pomp of the funeral, but to share in
the sorrow of it, and to learn good lessons, both from the dead, who is going thence to
his long home, and from the mourners, who go about the streets.
1. The uses to be gathered from the house of mourning are, (1.) By way of information:
That is the end of all men. It is the end of man as to this world, a final period to his state
here; he shall return no more to his house. It is the end of all men; all have sinned and
therefore death passes upon all. We must thus be left by our friends, as the mourners
are, and thus leave, as the dead do. What is the lot of others will be ours; the cup is going
round, and it will come to our turn to pledge it shortly. (2.) By way of admonition: The
living will lay it to his heart. Will they? It were well if they would. Those that are
spiritually alive will lay it to heart, and, as for all the survivors, one would think they
should; it is their own fault if they do not, for nothing is more easy and natural than by
the death of others to be put in mind of our own. Some perhaps will lay that to heart,
and consider their latter end, who would not lay a good sermon to heart.
JAMISON, "Proving that it is not a sensual enjoyment of earthly goods which is
meant in Ecc_3:13; Ecc_5:18. A thankful use of these is right, but frequent feasting
Solomon had found dangerous to piety in his own case. So Job’s fear (Ecc_1:4, Ecc_1:5).
The house of feasting often shuts out thoughts of God and eternity. The sight of the dead
in the “house of mourning” causes “the living” to think of their own “end.”
PULPIT, "It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting.
The thought in the last verse leads to the recollection of the circumstances which
accompany the two events therein mentioned—birth and death, feasting and joy, in the
first case; sorrow and mourning in the second. In recommending the sober, earnest life,
Koheleth teaches that wiser, more enduring lessons are to be learned where grief reigns
than in the empty and momentary excitement of mirth and joyousness. The house in
question is mourning for a death; and what a long and harrowing business this was is well
known (see Deu_24:8; Ecclesiasticus 22:10; Jer_22:18; Mat_9:23, etc.). Visits of
condolence and periodical pilgrimages to groves of departed relatives were considered
duties (Joh_11:19, Joh_11:31), and conduced to the growth in the mind of sympathy,
seriousness, and the need of preparation for death. The opposite side, the house of
carousal, where all that is serious is put away, leading to such scenes as Isaiah denounces
(Isa_5:11), offers no wise teaching, and produces only selfishness, heartlessness,
thoughtlessness. What is said here is no contradiction to what was said in Ecc_2:24, that
there was nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink and enjoy himself.
For Koheleth was not speaking of unrestrained sensualism—the surrender of the mind to
the pleasures of the body—but of the moderate enjoyment of the good things of life
conditioned by the fear of God and love of one's neighbor. This statement is quite
compatible with the view that sees a higher purpose and training in the sympathy with

sorrow than in participation in reckless frivolity. For that is the end of all men viz. that
they will some day be mourned, that their house will be turned into a house of mourning.
Vulgate, In illa (dome) enim finis cunctorum admonetur hominum, which is not the sense
of the Hebrew. The living will lay it to his heart. He who has witnessed this scene will
consider it seriously (Ecc_9:1), and draw from it profitable conclusions concerning the
brevity of life and the proper use to make thereof. We recall the words of Christ, "Blessed
are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted;" and "Woe unto you that laugh now for
ye shall mourn and weep" (Mat_5:4; Luk_6:25). Schultens gives an Arab proverb which
says, "Hearest thou lamentation for the dead, hasten to the spot; art thou called to a
banquet, cross not the threshold." The Septuagint thus translates the last clause, Καὶ ὁ ζῶν
δώσει ἀγαθὸν εἰς καρδίαν αὐτοῦ "The living will put good into his heart;" the Vulgate
paraphrases fairly, Et vivens cogitat quid futurum sit," The living thinks what is to come."
"So teach us to number our days," prays the psalmist, "that we may apply our hearts unto
wisdom" (Psa_90:12).
TRAPP, "Ecclesiastes 7:2 [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.
Ver. 2. It is better to go to the house of mourning.] To the terming house, as they term it,
where a dead corpse is laid forth for burial, and in that respect weeping and wailing,
which is one of the dues of the dead, (a) whose bodies are sown in corruption, and
watered usually with tears. It is better therefore to sort with such, to mingle with
mourners, to follow the hearse, to weep with those that weep, to visit the heavy hearted,
this being a special means of mortification, than to go to the house of feasting, where is
nothing but joy and jollity, slaying oxen and killing sheep, eating flesh and drinking wine,
yea, therefore eating and drinking, because tomorrow they shall die. Ede, bibe, lude, post
mortem nulla voluptas. (b) What good can be gotten among such swinish epicures? What
sound remedy against life’s vanity? It is far better therefore to go to the house of
mourning, where a man may be moved with compassion, with compunction, with due and
deep consideration of his doleful and dying condition; where he may hear dead Abel by a
dumb eloquence preaching and pressing this necessary but much neglected lesson, that
"this is the end of all men, and the living should lay it to heart"; or, as the Hebrew hath it,
"lay it upon his heart," work it upon his affections; inditurus est iliad animo suo, so
Tremelius renders it, he will so mind it as to make his best use of it, so as to say with Job,
"I know that thou wilt bring me unto death"; [Job 30:23] and with David, "Behold, thou
hast made my days as a span"; [Psalms 39:4-5] and as Moses, who when he saw the
people’s carcases fall so fast in the wilderness, "Lord, teach us," said he, "so to number
our days, as to cause our hearts" (of themselves never a whit willing) "to come to
wisdom." [Psalms 90:12]
YOUNG, "This verse and those that follow correspond with the
teaching of our Lord in the fifth chapter of Matthew.
" Blessed are the poor in spirit. — Blessed are they that
mourn," &c. Our experience teaches us that scenes of
affliction and sorrow have a mellowing effect upon the
heart. You return from the sick-chamber a better man.
If you have sympathized with the bereaved, you have

done like Jesus, and your fare becomes sweeter and your
pillow softer from the performance of the act of kindness.
" He that hath soothed a widow's woe,
Or wiped an orphan's tear, doth know
There's something here of heaven."
It seems evident that " the house of mourning " means
the house where there is mourning on account of the death
of some one in it. The Hebrew word S^x translated
mourning is generally used concerning mourning for the
dead. But the last part of the verse is conclusive ; —
*' That (death) is the end of all men ; and the living will
lay it to his heart." " So teach us to number our days,
that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom." On the
other hand, if you go to the house of feasting and revelry,
though you may have a little temporary pleasure, recol-
lections of wasted time and sinful joys will follow you to
your bed-chamber ; and plant your pillow with thorns ; —
your heart will not be at rest. Feasting may cause us to
forget our mortality. To prevent this, the Egyptians
brought coffins into their feasts.
BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR, "It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to
the house of feasting.
On the benefits to be derived from the house of mourning
It is evident that the wise man does not prefer sorrow, upon its own account, to mirth; or
represent sadness as a state more eligible than joy. He considers it in the light of
discipline only. He views it with reference to an end. The true scope of his doctrine in
this passage is, that there is a certain temper and state of heart, which is of far greater
consequence to real happiness, than the habitual indulgence of giddy and thoughtless
mirth; that for the attainment and cultivation of this temper, frequent returns of grave
reflection are necessary; that, upon this account, it is profitable to give admission to
those views of human distress which tend to awaken such reflection in the mind; and
that thus, from the vicissitudes of sorrow, which we either experience in our own lot, or
sympathize with in the lot of others, much wisdom and improvement may be derived. I
begin by observing, that the temper recommended in the text suits the present
constitution of things in this world. Had man been destined for a course of undisturbed
enjoyment, perpetual gaiety would then have corresponded to his state; and pensive
thought have been an unnatural intrusion. But in a state where all is chequered and
mixed, where there is no prosperity without a reverse, and no joy without its attending
griefs, where from the house of feasting all must, at one time or other, pass into the
house of mourning, it would be equally unnatural if no admission were given to grave
reflection. It is proper also to observe, that as the sadness of the countenance has, in our
present situation, a proper and natural place; so it is requisite to the true enjoyment of
pleasure. It is only the interposal of serious and thoughtful hours that can give any lively
sensations to the returns of joy. Having premised these observations, I proceed to point

out the direct effects of a proper attention to the distresses of life upon our moral and
religious character.
1. The house of mourning is calculated to give a proper check to our natural
thoughtlessness and levity. When some affecting incident presents a strong discovery
of the deceitfulness of all worldly joy, and rouses our sensibility to human woe; when
we behold those with whom we had lately mingled in the house of feasting, sunk by
some of the sudden vicissitudes of life into the vale of misery; or when, in sad silence,
we stand by the friend whom we had loved as our own soul, stretched on the bed of
death; then is the season when the world begins to appear in a new light; when the
heart opens to virtuous sentiments, and is led into that train of reflection which
ought to direct life. He who before knew not what it was to commune with his heart
on any serious subject, now puts the question to himself, For what purpose he was
sent forth into this mortal, transitory state: what his fate is likely to be when it
concludes; and what judgment he ought to form of those pleasures which amuse for
a little, but which, he now sees, cannot save the heart from anguish in the evil day?
2. Impressions of this nature not only produce moral seriousness, but awaken
sentiments of piety, and bring men into the sanctuary of religion. Formerly we were
taught, but now we see, we feel, how much we stand in need of an Almighty
Protector, amidst the changes of this vain world. Our soul cleaves to Him who
despises not, nor abhors the affliction of the afflicted. Prayer flows forth of its own
accord from the relenting heart, that He may be our God, and the God of our friends
in distress; that He may never forsake us while we are sojourning in this land of
pilgrimage; may strengthen us under its calamities. The discoveries of His mercy,
which He has made in the Gospel of Christ, are viewed with joy, as so many rays of
light sent down from above to dispel, in some degree, the surrounding gloom. A
Mediator and Intercessor with the Sovereign of the universe, appear comfortable
names; and the resurrection of the just becomes the powerful cordial of grief.
3. Such serious sentiments produce the happiest effect upon our disposition towards
our fellow-creatures, as well as towards God. It is a common and just observation,
that they who have lived always in affluence and ease, strangers to the miseries of
life, are liable to contract hardness of heart with respect to all the concerns of others.
By the experience of distress, this arrogant insensibility of temper is most effectually
corrected; as the remembrance of our own sufferings naturally prompts us to feel for
others when they suffer. But if Providence has been so kind as not to subject us to
much of this discipline in our own lot, let us draw improvement from the harder lot
of others. Let us sometimes step aside from the smooth and flowery paths in which
we are permitted be walk, in order to view the toilsome march of our fellows through
the thorny desert. By voluntarily going into the house of mourning; by yielding to the
sentiments which it excites, and mingling our tears with those of the afflicted, we
shall acquire that humane sensibility which is one of the highest ornaments of the
nature of man.
4. The disposition recommended in the text, not only improves us in piety and
humanity, but likewise assists us in self-government, and the due moderation of our
desires. The house of mourning is the school of temperance and sobriety. Thou who
wouldst act like a wise man, and build thy house on the rock, and not on the sand,
contemplate human life not only in the sunshine, but in the shade. Frequent the
house of mourning, as well as the house of mirth. Study the nature of that state in
which thou art placed; and balance its joys with its sorrows. Thou seest that the cup
which is held forth to the whole human race, is mixed. Of its bitter ingredients,

expect that thou art to drink thy portion. Thou seest the storm hovering everywhere
in the clouds around thee. Be not surprised if on thy head it shall break. Lower,
therefore, thy sails. Dismiss thy florid hopes; and come forth prepared either to act
or to suffer, according as Heaven shall decree. Thus shalt thou be excited to take the
properest measures for defence, by endeavouring to secure an interest in His favour,
who, in the time of trouble, can hide thee in His pavilion. Thy mind shall adjust itself
to follow the order of His providence. Thou shalt be enabled, with equanimity and
steadiness, to hold thy course through life.
5. By accustoming ourselves to such serious views of life, our excessive fondness for
life itself will be moderated, and our minds gradually formed to wish and to long for
a better world. If we know that our continuance here is to be short, and that we are
intended by our Maker for a more lasting state, and for employments of a nature
altogether different from those which now occupy the busy, or amuse the vain, we
must surely be convinced that it is of the highest consequence to prepare ourselves
for so important a change. This view of our duty is frequently held up to us in the
sacred writings; and hence religion becomes, though not a morose, yet a grave and
solemn principle, calling off the attention of men from light pursuits to those which
are of eternal moment. (H. Blair, D. D.)
The house of mourning
Jesus, our Almighty Saviour, authoritative Teacher and perfect Exemplar, attended
houses of feasting sometimes, but ever seemed more ready to go to, and more at home
in, houses of mourning. His example suggests that while it may be good to visit the
former, it is better to visit the latter.
I. It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to the house of feasting, because we
can get more good there. We may get less good for the body, but we shall get more good
for the soul. We may get less to minister to our present pleasure, but we shall get more
that will minister to our future well-being. It is a schoolroom in which great moral and
spiritual lessons are very lucidly and very impressively taught.
1. There we may thoroughly learn the terrible evil of sin.
2. There we best learn the vanity of the creature.
3. There we may best learn the value of time.
4. There we may learn the present blessedness of true personal religion.
II. It is better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting, because we
can do more good there. Every man should be as much concerned about doing good as
about getting good. In fact, doing good is one of the most certain ways of getting good.
But, even apart from that, the man who has received great good from God should
endeavour to dispense good to his fellow-men, and we can generally do more good in the
house of mourning than we can in the house of feasting. For in the latter men are so
given over to the business of pampering their bodies that they are usually little disposed
to heed anything you may venture to say about the salvation of their souls. But in the
house of mourning, where poverty, sickness or death has been busy, if you have shown
an unmistakable interest in the family’s temporal welfare, you will usually find them
disposed to listen to what you may have to say about their spiritual and eternal welfare.
Thus shall you scatter much sorrow and let in much peace and comfort. Thus shall you
benefit your fellow-creatures, enrich your own souls, and glorify that Christ who died for

Ecclesiastes 7 commentary

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Ecclesiastes 7 commentary