This document provides commentary on Ecclesiastes 5:1 from five scholars: Barnes, Clarke, Gill, Henry, and Jamison. The scholars provide historical context and analyze the meaning of keeping one's foot when going to the house of God. They explain it means to guard one's conduct and attention during worship. Additionally, the commentary warns that merely performing sacrifices without sincere obedience to God's will is the "sacrifice of fools" and an empty ritual. Believers must worship God in spirit and truth through attentive hearing of his word and obedience to his commands.

1. ECCLESTIASTES 5 COMME TARY
WRITTE A D EDITED BY GLE PEASE
Stand in Awe of God
1 Guard your steps when you go to the house of God.
Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of
fools, who do not know that they do wrong.
BARNES, “Keep thy foot - i. e., Give thy mind to what thou art going to do.
The house of God - It has been said that here an ordinary devout Hebrew writer
might have been expected to call it “the house of Yahweh;” but to those who accept this
book as the work of Solomon after his fall into idolatry, it will appear a natural sign of
the writer’s self-humiliation, an acknowledgment of his unworthiness of the privileges of
a son of the covenant, that he avoids the name of the Lord of the covenant (see Ecc_1:13
note).
Be more ready to hear - Perhaps in the sense that, “to draw near for the purpose of
hearing (and obeying) is better than etc.”
CLARKE, “Keep thy foot - This verse the Hebrew and all the versions join to the
preceding chapter.
Solomon, having before intimated, though very briefly, that the only cure against
human vanity is a due sense of religion, now enters more largely on this important
subject, and gives some excellent directions with regard to the right performance of
Divine service, the nature of vocal and mental prayer, the danger of rash vows, etc. - C.
The whole verse might be more literally translated thus: -
“Guard thy steps as thou art going to the house of God; and approach to hearken, and
not to give the sacrifice of fools, for none of them have knowledge about doing evil.”
“They offer gifts for their sins, and do not turn from their evil works; for they know not
(they distinguish not) between good and evil.” See the Chaldee.
GILL, “Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God,.... The house of the
sanctuary of the Lord, the temple built by Solomon; and so any place of divine worship,
where the word of God is preached, and his ordinances administered. The wise man,
having observed many vanities under the sun, directs men to the house of God, where
they might learn the nature of them, and how to avoid them; though if care was not

2. taken, they would find or introduce vanity there; which, of all vanities, is the worst, and
ought to be guarded against. Wherefore, when men go to any place of divine worship,
which to do is their duty and interest, and for their honour, pleasure, and profit, they
should take care to "keep their feet", for the singular is here put for the plural, not from
going into it; nor does it signify a slow motion towards it, which should be quick, in
haste, showing earnestness, fervency, and zeal; but they should keep their feet in proper
case, in a suitable condition. The allusion is either to the pulling off of the shoes off the
feet, ordered to Moses and Joshua, when on holy ground, Exo_3:5; and which the Jews
observed, when they entered the temple on their festivals and sabbaths, even their kings,
as Juvenal (k) jeers them: not that such a rite should be literally used now, or what is
analogous to it; putting off of the hat, in a superstitious veneration of a place; but what
was signified by it, as the putting off of the old man, with his deeds, laying aside
depraved affections and sordid lusts; two apostles, James and Peter, have taught us this,
when we come to the house of God to hear his word, Jam_1:21; or the allusion is to the
custom of persons in those eastern countries dressing or washing their feet when they
visited, especially those of any note; and entered into their houses on any business, as
Mephibosheth, when he waited on David, 2Sa_19:24; or to the practice of the priests,
who washed their feet when they went into the tabernacle of the Lord, Exo_30:19.
Schindler (l) says that hence (because of this text) the Jews had before their synagogues
an iron fixed in the wall (which we call a "scraper"), on which they cleaned their shoes
before they went into the synagogue. All which may denote the purity and cleanness of
the conversation of the true worshippers of God; for, as the feet are the instruments of
the action of walking, they may intend the conduct and behaviour of the saints in the
house of God, where they should take care to do all things according to his word, which
is a lamp to the feet, and a light unto the path: moreover, what the feet are to the body,
that the affections are to the soul; and these, when a man enters into the house of God
for worship, should be set on divine and spiritual things, and not on the world, and the
things of it, which will choke the word heard, and make it unprofitable; the thoughts
should be composed, sedate, and quiet, and the mind attentive to what is spoken or
done; or otherwise, if diverted by other objects, the service will be useless;
and be more ready to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools; there are sacrifices
to be offered unto God in his house, which are acceptable to him; the sacrifices of
beneficence and alms deeds to the poor, with which he is well pleased; and the
presentation of the bodies of men, as a holy, living, and acceptable sacrifice unto him;
and especially their hearts, and those as broken and contrite, which are the sacrifices of
God; as also the sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving, which are acceptable to him
through Jesus Christ: and under the former dispensation, while sacrifices were in use by
divine appointment, when they were offered up in the faith of the sacrifice of Christ, they
were well pleasing to God; but when they were not done in faith, and were without
repentance for sin and reformation of life; when men retained their sins with them, and
made these a cover for them, and thought by them to make atonement for their crimes,
they were no other than the sacrifices of fools, and abominable unto God; see Isa_1:11;
when these sacrifices were performed in the best manner, moral duties, as hearing and
obeying the word of the Lord, and showing mercy to men, and offering up the spiritual
sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving, were preferred unto them, 1Sa_15:22; and much
more to the sacrifices of fools. To be ready, or near (m), is to hear the word of the Lord,
as Jarchi interprets it; though Aben Ezra understands it of God being near to hear his
people, when they call upon him in truth. The word of the Lord was not only read
publicly in the temple and synagogues, but was explained by the priests and prophets,
the ecclesiastical rulers of the people; see Mal_2:7; so the Targum,

3. "draw near thine ear to receive the doctrine of the law, from the priests and wise men:''
and so the people of God should draw near to hear the word; be swift to hear it, attentive
to it, and receive it with all reverence, humility, love, and affection; and should not take
up with mere outward forms, which is but the sacrifice of fools;
for they consider not that they do evil; or "know not" (n); they think they are doing
well, and doing God good service, when they are doing ill; they know not truly the object
of worship, nor the spiritual nature of it, nor the right end and true use of it: or, "they
know not, only to do evil", so Aben Ezra supplies it: to do good they have no knowledge:
or, "they know not to do the will", or "good pleasure" (o); that is, of God; this sense of
the word Aben Ezra mentions.
HENRY, “Solomon's design, in driving us off from the world, by showing us its vanity,
is to drive us to God and to our duty, that we may not walk in the way of the world, but
by religious rules, nor depend upon the wealth of the world, but on religious advantages;
and therefore,
I. He here sends us to the house of God, to the place of public worship, to the temple,
which he himself had built at a vast expense. When he reflected with regret on all his
other works (Ecc_2:4), he did not repent of that, but reflected on it with pleasure, yet
mentions it not, lest he should seem to reflect on it with pride; but he here sends those to
it that would know more of the vanity of the world and would find that happiness which
is in vain sought for in the creature. David, when he was perplexed, went into the
sanctuary of God, Psa_73:17. Let our disappointments in the creature turn our eyes to
the Creator; let us have recourse to the word of God's grace and consult that, to the
throne of his grace and solicit that. In the word and prayer there is a balm for every
wound.
II. He charges us to behave ourselves well there, that we may not miss of our end in
coming thither. Religious exercises are not vain things, but, if we mismanage them, they
become vain to us. And therefore,
1. We must address ourselves to them with all possible seriousness and care: “Keep thy
foot, not keep it back from the house of God (as Pro_25:17), nor go slowly thither, as one
unwilling to draw nigh to God, but look well to thy goings, ponder the path of thy feet,
lest thou take a false step. Address thyself to the worship of God with a solemn pause,
and take time to compose thyself for it, not going about it with precipitation, which is
called hasting with the feet, Pro_19:2. Keep thy thoughts from roving and wandering
from the work; keep thy affections from running out towards wrong objects, for in the
business of God's house there is work enough for the whole man, and all too little to be
employed.” Some think it alludes to the charge given to Moses and Joshua to put off
their shoes (Exo_3:5, Jos_5:15,) in token of subjection and reverence. Keep thy feet
clean, Exo_30:19.
2. We must take heed that the sacrifice we bring be not the sacrifice of fools (of wicked
men), for they are fools and their sacrifice is an abomination to the Lord, Pro_15:8),
that we bring not the torn, and the lame, and the sick for sacrifice, for we are plainly
told that it will not be accepted, and therefore it is folly to bring it, - that we rest not in
the sign and ceremony, and the outside of the performance, without regarding the sense
and meaning of it, for that is the sacrifice of fools. Bodily exercise, if that be all, is a jest;
none but fools will think thus to please him who is a Spirit and requires the heart, and

4. they will see their folly when they find what a great deal of pains they have taken to no
purpose for want of sincerity. They are fools, for they consider not that they do evil; they
think they are doing God and themselves good service when really they are putting a
great affront upon God and a great cheat upon their own souls by their hypocritical
devotions. Men may be doing evil even when they profess to be doing good, and even
when they do not know it, when they do not consider it. They know not but to do evil, so
some read it. Wicked minds cannot choose but sin, even in the acts of devotion. Or, They
consider not that they do evil; they act at a venture, right or wrong, pleasing to God or
not, it is all one to them.
3. That we may not bring the sacrifice of fools, we must come to God's house with
hearts disposed to know and do our duty. We must be ready to hear, that is, (1.) We
must diligently attend to the word of God read and preached. “Be swift to hear the
exposition which the priests give of the sacrifices, declaring the intent and meaning
of them, and do not think it enough to gaze upon what they do, for it must be a
reasonable service, otherwise it is the sacrifice of fools.” (2.) We must resolve to
comply with the will of God as it is made known to us. Hearing is often put for
obeying, and that is it that is better than sacrifice, 1Sa_15:22; Isa_1:15, Isa_1:16. We
come in a right frame to holy duties when we come with this upon our heart, Speak,
Lord, for thy servant hears. Let the word of the Lord come (said a good man), and if
I had 600 necks I would bow them all to the authority of it.
JAMISON, “From vanity connected with kings, he passes to vanities (Ecc_5:7) which
may be fallen into in serving the King of kings, even by those who, convinced of the
vanity of the creature, wish to worship the Creator.
Keep thy foot — In going to worship, go with considerate, circumspect, reverent
feeling. The allusion is to the taking off the shoes, or sandals, in entering a temple (Exo_
3:5; Jos_5:15, which passages perhaps gave rise to the custom). Weiss needlessly reads,
“Keep thy feast days” (Exo_23:14, Exo_23:17; the three great feasts).
hear — rather, “To be ready (to draw nigh with the desire) to hear (obey) is a better
sacrifice than the offering of fools” [Holden]. (Vulgate; Syriac). (Psa_51:16, Psa_51:17;
Pro_21:3; Jer_6:20; Jer_7:21-23; Jer_14:12; Amo_5:21-24). The warning is against
mere ceremonial self-righteousness, as in Ecc_7:12. Obedience is the spirit of the law’s
requirements (Deu_10:12). Solomon sorrowfully looks back on his own neglect of this
(compare 1Ki_8:63 with Ecc_11:4, Ecc_11:6). Positive precepts of God must be kept, but
will not stand instead of obedience to His moral precepts. The last provided no sacrifice
for willful sin (Num_15:30, Num_15:31; Heb_10:26-29).
YOUNG, "The house of God is wherever he is worshipped. At
the time of the utterance of this sermon, the temple was
the place for public worship. But even then men might
worship acceptably elsewhere : and they might worship
unacceptably at the temple. Bethel (the house of God)
had its name changed to Bethaven, (the house of idols,
Hos. X. 5,) on account of the calves which were set up
there and worshipped. We should fear, lest we make
our Bethels Bethavens. " Keep thy foot." " Stand still,
and be attentive."*
Different forms have been used to manifest reverence.

5. As we take off the hat in entering a place of worship, so
the ancients took off their shoes. Ex. iii. 5. We are,
however, to reverence God, and not the place.
" Sacrifice of fools." Worship is called a sacrifice be-
cause it is an offering. Hence the prophet Hosea speaks
of "the calves of the lips." Hos. xiv. 2.
" They consider not that they do evil." By irrever-
ence and evil motives, even worshippers do evil. Wor-
ship that is mere formality is offensive to God. They
that worship God " must worship him in spirit and in
truth."
PULPIT, “This verse, in the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin Bibles, forms the conclusion of Ecc_4:1-
16 ; and is taken independently; but the division in our version is more natural, and the connection of
this with the following verses is obvious. Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, Some
read "feet" instead of "foot," but the singular and plural numbers are both found in this signification
(comp. Psa_119:59 , Psa_119:105 ; Pro_1:15 ; Pro_4:26 , Pro_4:27 ). To "keep the
foot" is to be careful of the conduct, to remember what you are about, whither you are going. There is
no allusion to the sacerdotal rite of washing the feet before entering the holy place (Exo_30:18
, Exo_30:19 ), nor to the custom of removing the shoes on entering a consecrated building, which
was a symbol of reverential awe and obedient service. The expression is simply a term connected with
man's ordinary life transferred to his moral and religious life. The house of God is the temple. The
tabernacle is called "the house of Jehovah" (1Sa_1:7 ; 2Sa_12:20 ), and this name is commonly
applied to the temple; e.g. 1Ki_3:1 ; 2Ch_8:16 ; Ezr_3:11 . But "house of God" is applied also to
the temple (2Ch_5:14 ; Ezr_5:8 , Ezr_5:15 , etc.), so that we need not, with Bullock, suppose
that Koheleth avoids the name of the Lord of the covenant as "a natural sign of the writer's humiliation
after his fall into idolatry, and an acknowledgment of his unworthiness of the privileges of a son of the
covenant." It is probable that the expression here is meant to include synagogues as well as the great
temple at Jerusalem, since the following clause seems to imply that exhortation would be heard there,
which formed no part of the temple service. The verse has furnished a text on the subject of the
reverence due to God's house and service from Chrysostom downwards. And be more ready to hear,
than to give the sacrifice of fools. Various are the renderings of this clause. Wright, "For to draw
near to hear is (better) than the fools offering sacrifices." (So virtually Knobel, Ewald, etc.) Ginsburg,
"For it is nearer to obey than to offer the sacrifice of the disobedient;" i.e. it is the straighter, truer way
to take when you obey God than when you merely perform outward service. The Vulgate takes the
infinitive verb as equivalent to the imperative, as the Authorized Version, Appropinqua ut audias; but it
is best to regard it as pure infinitive, and to translate, "To approach in order to hear is better than to
offer the sacrifice of fools." The sentiment is the same as that in 1Sa_15:22 , 'Hath the Lord as
great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is
better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams." The same thought occurs in Pro_21:3
; Psa_50:7-15 ; and continually in the prophets; e.g. Isa_1:11 ; Jer_7:21-23 ; Hos_6:6 , etc.
It is the reaction against the mere ceremonialism which marked the popular religion. Koheleth had
seen and deplored this at Jerusalem and elsewhere, and he enunciates the great troth that it is more
acceptable to God that one should go to his house to hear the Law read and taught and expounded,
than to offer a formal sacrifice, which, as being the offering of a godless man is called in proverbial
language "the sacrifice of fools" (Pro_21:27 ). The verb used here, "give" (nathan), is not the usual
expression for offering sacrifice, and may possibly refer to the feast which accompanied such
sacrifices, and which often degenerated into excess (Delitzsch). That the verb rendered "to hear" does

6. not mean merely "to obey" is plain from its reference to conduct in the house of God. The reading of
the Law, and probably of the prophets, formed a feature of the temple service in Koheleth's day; the
expounding of the same in public was confined to the synagogues, which seem to have originated in
the time of the exile, though there were doubtless before that time some regular occasions of
assembling together (see 2Ki_4:23 ). For they consider not that they do evil; Ὅι οὐκ εἰσὶν εἰδότες
τοῦ ποιῆσαι κακόν ; Qui nesciunt quid faciunt mali (Vulgate); "They are without knowledge, so that they
do evil" (Delitzsch, Knobel, etc.); "As they (who obey) know not to do evil" (Ginsburg). The words can
scarcely mean, "They know not that they do evil;" nor, as Hitzig has, "They know not how to be
sorrowful." There is much difficulty in understanding the passage according to the received reading,
and Nowack, with others, deems the text corrupt. If we accept what we now find, it is best to translate,
"They know not, so that they do evil;" i.e. their ignorance predisposes them to err in this matter. The
persons meant are the "fools" who offer unacceptable sacrifices. These know not how to worship God
heartily and properly, and, thinking to please him with their formal acts of devotion, fall into a grievous
sin.
STEDMAN
Guard your steps when you go to the house of God; {Eccl 5:1a RSV}
1. Learn to let God be God; that is the first thing he declares to us. The lessons of
life will fall into place when you learn that. God is in charge of life, let him be in
charge; take these lessons from his hands.
The place to learn that is in the house of God. When you go there, guard your steps, i.e.,
enter thoughtfully, expect to be taught something. In ancient Israel, of course, the house
of God was the Temple in Jerusalem. There sacrifices were offered, and explanation was
made to the people as to what they meant. There the law was read, and the wisdom of
God about life was given to people; this marvelous Old Testament was unfolded, with its
tremendous insights into the truth about life, about what humanity basically and
fundamentally is. The Temple was the only place in the land where people could learn
these things. In our day the house of God is no longer a building. We must be clear about
that. You, the people, are the house of God. What the Searcher is saying is that when you
gather together as the people of God, be expectant; there is something to be learned.
Secondly, he says, listen carefully:
... to draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools; for they do not know
that they are doing evil. {Eccl 5:1b RSV}
A fool is somebody who glibly utters naive, ingenuous and usually false things. What the
Searcher clearly has in mind here is our tendency to complain and murmur about what
has been handed us in life. When we gripe and grouse about our circumstances we are
really complaining against God. We are complaining about the choice God has made in
his wonderful plan for our life. We will never learn to enjoy anything that way, not even
our pleasures, let alone our pain. So he says, listen carefully, for among the people of God
the truth of God is being declared; the wisdom of God is being set forth. Just this morning
a man said to me, "I have been going through a painful experience this past week. I
learned to see myself and it horrified me. I saw things in myself which I despise in
others." That is encouraging. There is a man who is learning truth about himself.
Caution for people often get to flippant and make all kinds of commitments under strong
emotions that they do not follow up. There can be foolish vanities and rash vows and
people are just triflers. Hamilton said, “We allow that there is a great contrast when the
sameness of sermons is not set over against the variety and vivacity of Scripture, and so
often is the text injured by its treatment that we have often wished that some power could

7. give it back in its original pungency, and divested of its drowsy associations. That
passage of the Word was a burning lamp, til the obscuring interpretation conveyed it
under a bushel.”
Branson Alcott, “To be ignorant of one’s ignorance is the malady of the ignorant.”
Flannery O’Connor said, “Ignorance is excusable when it is borne like a cross, but when
it is wielded like a an ax, and with moral indignation, then it becomes something else
indeed.” Ellen Glasgow said, “He knows so little and knows it so fluently.”
KRETZMAN, “v. 1. Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, carefully watching lest it
stray aside from the path leading to the Lord's Temple and such a person's heart be affected with
thoughts which interfere with true devotion, and be more ready to hear, rather, "approach to hear," to
listen to and to heed the Word of God, than to give the sacrifice of fools, as is done in thoughtless
and hypocritical worship; for they consider not that they do evil, they do not realize how deeply they
offend the Lord with their irreverent behavior.
PULPIT 1-7, “Vanities in worship.
I. IRREVERENCE. Specially exhibited in entering upon Divine service. Discommended and rebuked
as:
1. Inconsistent with the sanctity of the place of worship—the house of God. Wherever men convene to
offer homage to the Divine Being, in a magnificent cathedral or in a humble upper room, upon hillsides
and moors, or in dens and caves of the earth, there is a dwelling-place of Jehovah no less than in the
temple (Solomonic or post-exilic) or in the synagogue, of both which the Preacher probably thought.
What lends sanctity to the spot in which worshippers assemble is not its material surroundings,
artificial or natural (architectural elegance or cosmical beauty); it is not even the convening there of the
worshippers themselves, however exalted their rank or sacred the character of the acts in which they
engage. It is the unseen and spiritual, but real and supernatural, presence of God in the midst of his
assembled saints (Exo_20:24 ; Psa_46:4-7 ; Mat_18:20 ; Mat_28:20 ); and the simple
consideration of this fact, much more the realization of that nearness of God to which it points, should
awaken in the breast of every one proceeding towards and crossing the threshold of a Christian
sanctuary the feeling of awe which inspired Jacob on the heights of Bethel (Gen_28:17 ), Ethan the
Ezrahite (Psa_89:7 ), and Isaiah in the temple. (Isa_6:1 ). The thought of God's immediate
neighborhood and of all that it implies, his observance of both the persons of his worshippers (Gen_
16:16 ), and the secrets of their hearts (Psa_139:1 ), should put a hush on every spirit (Hab_
2:20 ; Zec_2:13 ), and dispose each one to "keep his foot," metaphorically, to "put off his shoe," as
Moses did at the bush (Exo_3:5 ), and Joshua in presence of the Captain of Jehovah's host (Jos_
5:15 ).
2. Opposed to the true character of Divine worship. When congregations assemble in the house of

8. God to do homage to him whose presence fills the house, this end cannot be attained by offering the
sacrifice of fools, i.e. by rendering such service as proceeds from unbelieving, disobedient, and
hypocritical hearts (Pro_21:27 ), but only by assuming the attitude of one willing to hear (1Sa_
3:10 ; Psa_85:8 ) and to obey not man but God (Psa_40:5 ). If unaccompanied by a disposition
to do God's will, mere external performances are of no value whatever, however imposing their
magnificence or costly their production. What God desires in his servants is not the outward offering of
sacrifices or celebration of ceremonies, but the inward devotion of the spirit (1Sa_15:22 ; Psa_
51:16 , Psa_51:17 ; Jer_7:21-23 ; Hos_6:6 ). The highest form of worship is not speaking of
or giving to God, but hearing and receiving from God.
3. Proceeding from ignorance both of the sanctity of the place and of the spirituality of its worship.
However the final clause may be rendered (see Exposition), its sense is that irreverence springs from
ignorance—from failing properly to understand the character either of that God they pretend to
worship, or of that worship they affect to render. Ignorance of God, of his nature as spiritual, of his
character as holy, of his presence as near, of his knowledge as all-observant, of his majesty as awe-
inspiring, of his power as irresistible, is the prime root of all wrong worship, as Christ said of the
Samaritans (Joh_4:22 ), and as Paul told the Athenians (Act_17:23 ).
II. FORMALITY. Manifested when engaged in Divine service and more particularly in prayer. Two
phases of this evil commented on.
1. Rashness in prayer. (Verse 2.) Hasty utterance of whatever comes uppermost, as if any jangle of
words might suffice for devotion—a manner of prayer totally inconsistent with the thought that one is
standing in the Divine presence. If a petitioner would hardly venture to lay his requests before an
earthly sovereign, how much less should a suppliant draw near to Heaven's throne without calm
forethought and deliberation? Moreover, it is inconsistent with the real nature of prayer, which is a
making known to God of the soul's needs with thankful acknowledgment of the Divine mercies; and
how can one either state his own wants or record God's mercies who has never taken time to
investigate the one or count up the other?
2. Prolixity in prayer. Much speaking, endless and unmeaning repetitions—a characteristic of
Pharisaic devotions adverted to by Christ (Mat_6:7 ), and difficult to harmonize either with a due
regard to the majesty of God or with the possession of that inward calm which is a necessary condition
of all true prayer. As a dreamer's eloquence, usually turgid and magniloquent, proceeds from an
unquiet state of the brain, which during day has been unduly excited by a rush of business or by the
worries of waking hours, so the multitude of words emitted by a "fool's 'voice is occasioned by the
inward disquiet of a mind and heart that have not attained to rest in God. At the same time, "the
admonition, 'let thy words be few,' is not meant to set limits to the fire of devotion, being directed, not
against the inwardly devout, but against the superficially religious, who fancy that in the multitude of

9. their words they have an equivalent for the devotion they lack" (Hengstenberg).
III. INSINCERITY. Displayed after leaving Divine service, more especially in the non-fulfillment of vows
voluntarily taken while engaged in worship. Against this wickedness the preacher inveighs.
1. Because such conduct cannot be other than displeasing to God. "When thou vowest a vow, defer
not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed." As the Almighty himself
is "the same yesterday, and today, and for ever," "without variableness or shadow of turning," and
"changeth not," so he desires in all his worshippers the reflection at least of this perfection, and cannot
regard with favor one who plays fast and loose with his promises to men, and far less with his vows to
God.
2. Because such conduct is in no sense unavoidable. A worshipper is under no obligation to vow
anything to Jehovah. Whatever is done in this direction must proceed from the clearest free-will.
Hence, to escape the sin of breaking one's vows, one is at liberty not to vow (Deu_23:21-23 ).
Hence also should one cautiously guard against the utterance of rash and sinful vows like those of
Jephthah (Jdg_11:30 ) and of Saul (1Sa_14:24 ), lest through fulfilling (no less than through
breaking) them one should incur sin. Similarly, "we must not vow that which through the frailty of the
flesh we have reason to fear we shall not be able to perform, as those that vow a single life and yet
know not how to keep their vow" (Matthew Henry). The same remark applies to taking vows of total
abstinence from meats and drinks.
3. Because such conduct cannot escape the just judgment of God. The rashly uttered vow, afterwards
left unfulfilled, sets the speaker of it in the place of a sinner, upon whom as guilty God will inflict
punishment. Thus through his mouth, his "flesh," or his body, i.e. his whole personality, of which the
flesh or body is the outer covering, is caused to suffer. Being just and holy, God can by no means
clear the guilty (Exo_34:7 ), although he can justify the ungodly (Rom_4:5 ). Hence the vow-
breaker cannot hope to elude the due reward of his infidelity.
4. Because such conduct is practically indefensible. To say before the angel or presiding minister in
the temple or synagogue in whose hearing the vow haft been registered that the registration of it had
been an error, was, in the judgment of the Preacher, no excuse, but rather an aggravation of the
original offence, and a sure means of drawing down upon the offender the anger of God, and of
causing God to effectually thwart and utterly destroy the designs his pretended worshipper had, first in
making his vows and afterwards in breaking them; and so, when one retreats from protestations and
promises made to God, it is no justification of his conduct in the eyes of others who may have listened
to or become aware of his votive engagements, to aver that he had made them in error. Nor is it
sufficient to excuse one in God's sight to say that one was mistaken in having promised to do so-and-
so. Hence, if one vows before God with regard to matters left in his option, it is his duty to fulfill these

10. vows, even should it be to his hurt. But in all respects it is wiser and better not to vow except in such
things as are already enjoined upon one by God; and should it be said that no possible need can arise
for taking upon one's self by voluntary obligation what already lies upon one by Divine prescription,
this will not be denied. Yet one may vow to do what God has commanded in the sense of resolving to
do it—always in dependence on promised grace; and with regard to this no better counsel can be
offered than that given by Harvey—
ISBET, “THE ETHICS OF PUBLIC WORSHIP
Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the
sacrifice of fools.’
Ecc_5:1
I. God, Who is present at all times and everywhere, has nevertheless appointed particular
seasons and especial places in which He has promised to manifest Himself more clearly, more
powerfully, and more graciously to men. The pious heart finds a temple of God everywhere. It is itself a
temple of God. Yet even hence the need of other temples does appear, for what one good man
considered by himself is, that God commands us all as a body to be. In order that we may all be thus
united together as one man, we must have public assemblies, we must have visible temples, in which
God, angels, and men may together meet.
II. From the consideration of the dignity and blessedness of men regarded in their relations to
one another and to the holy angels, and as united for the performance of that work wherein
their highest dignity and blessedness consists—namely, intercourse with God—the necessity
which thence arises for the existence of holy places is clearly evident. (1) God commanded Moses to
frame a tabernacle in which He might dwell among His people Israel. (2) The constant attendance of
our Blessed Lord at the public worship of the synagogue and that of the Apostles at the Temple afford
sufficient proof of their opinion concerning this matter.
III. To keep our feet diligently is to order devoutly not merely our thoughts, but our words,
looks, and gestures, lest we be guilty not only of irreverence towards God, but of folly towards
ourselves and of sin towards our brethren.
—
Bishop C. Wordsworth.
Illustration
‘Narrowing the application to worship, what does it say to us? Let us be truthful in our hymns, our
prayers, and our preaching. We must not call ourselves “miserable sinners” unless we believe that we
are so. Our prayers are full of vows; let us keep them. Our hymns are full of aspirations; let us try to
live up to them. What covenant did you enter into with God when you were brought into the Church?
Was not your baptism a promise to walk in newness of life? Ask yourself whether you are not often
guilty of breaking your promises made to God in confirmation.’
TRAPP, “Ecc_5:1 Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear,
than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil.

11. Ver. 1. Keep thy foot,] q.d., Wouldst thou see more of the world’s vanity than hitherto hath been
discoursed? get thee "to the sanctuary," as David did. {Psa_73:17 } For as they that walk in a mist
see it not so well as those that stand on a hill; so they that have their hands elbow deep in the world
cannot so easily discern what they do as those that go a little out from it. To the house of God
therefore, to the temple and synagogues, to the churches and oratories steer thy course, take thy way.
Only "see to thy feet," i.e., keep thy senses and affections with all manner of custody, from the mire of
wicked and worldly matters. Shoes we have all upon our feet - that is, to speak in St James’s phrase,
"filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness" {Jam_1:21 } in our hearts, that must be put off at God’s
school door, as God taught Moses and Joshua. {Exo_3:5 Jos_5:15 } And Pythagoras, having
read Moses belike, taught his scholars as much, when he saith, áíõðïäçôïò èõå êáé ðñïóêõíåé , Put off
thy shoes when thou sacrificest and worshippest. His followers, the Pythagoreans, expounded his
meaning, when they would not have men åí ðáñïäù ðñïóêõíåéí , but ïéêïèåí ðáñáóêåõáóáìåíïé ,
worship God carelessly or by the way, but prepare themselves at home aforehand. And Numa
Pompilius, one that had tasted of his learning, would not have men worship the gods åí ðáñåñãù êáé
áìåëùò , by the by, and for fashion, but ÷ïëçí áãïíôáò áðï ôùí áëëùí , at good leisure, and as making
religion their business. {a} In the law of Moses, the priests were commanded to wash the inwards and
the feet of the sacrifice in water. And this was done, ðáíõ óõìâïëéêùò , saith Philo, not without a
mystery - sc., to teach us to keep our feet clean when we draw nigh to God. Antonius Margarita, in his
book of the rites and ceremonies of the Jews, tells us that before their synagogues they have an iron
plate, against which they wipe and make clean their shoes before they enter; and that being entered,
they sit solemnly there for a season, not once opening their mouths, but considering who it is with
whom they have to do. Thus it was wont to be with them; but alate though they come to their
synagogues with washen hands and feet, yet for any show of devotion or elevation of spirit, they are
as reverent, saith one that was an eyewitness, {b} as grammar boys are at school when their master is
absent: their holiness is the mere outward work itself, being a brainless head and a soulless body. And
yet upon the walls of their synagogues they write usually this sentence, by an abbreviature, "Tephillan
belo cauvannah ceguph belo neshamah," i.e., A prayer without effection, is like a body without a soul.
Solinus report eth of the Cretians, that they do very religiously worship Diana, and that no man may
presume to come into her temple but barefooted. {c}Satan Dei aemulus, The devil is God’s ape. He led
these superstitious Ethnics captive, as the Chaldeans did the Egyptians, "naked and barefoot" {d}
{Isa_20:2 ; Isa_20:4 }
When thou goest to the house of God.] Called "the gate of heaven," {Gen_28:17 } such as none
but "the righteous" may "enter," {Psa_118:20 } the "beauty of holiness," the place of angels and
archangels, the kingdom of God, yea, heaven itself, {e} as Chrysostom calls it. The French Protestants
called their meeting house in Paris paradise. The primitive Christians {f} called such
places êõñéáêïõò , whence kirks, churches, and the Lord’s houses; and basilicas, kingly palaces. Now

12. it is held an uncivil thing to come to the palace of a king with dirty shoes, or to eat at his table with foul
hands. Men wash their hands every day of course, but when to dine with a prince, they wash them with
balls. So it should be here; when we come to God’s house we should come with the best preparation
we can make; we should also be there with the first, and stay till the last, as doorkeepers use to do,
which office in God’s house David held a high preferment. {Psa_84:10 } And while we are there, let
our whole deportment be as in the presence of the great God, whom we must look full in the face, and
be ready to hear, as those good souls inAct_10:33 ; "Now therefore we are all here present before
God," say they, "to hear all things that are commanded thee of God." Neither must we hear only with
the hearing of the ear, but with the obedience of the heart and life - for so the original word here
signifieth; Gen_3:17 , "Because thou hast heard," that is, obeyed, "the voice of thy wife," &c. -
hearing diligently without distraction, and doing readily without sciscitation.
Than to give the sacrifice of fools,] i.e., The formalities and external services of profligate professors
that think to set off with God for their sins by their sacrifices; for their evil deeds by their good. Hence
they burden God’s altar, and even cover it with their sacrifices; sticking in the bark and gnabling upon
the shell of holy services, not once piercing to the heart or tasting of the kernel thereof, and are
therefore "abominable, because disobedient, and to every good work reprobate." {Tit_1:16 } How
many are there at this day that not only pray by tale, as Papists do by their beads, but turn over other
duties of religion as a mere task, holding only a certain stint of them, as malt horses {g} do their pace,
or mill horses their round, merely out of form and custom, those banes and breaknecks of due
devotion! These do not only lose their labour but commit sin, {Isa_1:14 } compass God with a lie,
{Hos_11:12 } because they wash not their feet before they compass God’s altar. The heathen orator
{h} can tell these fools of the people, Deum non superstitione coli velle, sed pietate, that God requires
the heart in all holy duties, and must be served in spirit, {Joh_4:24 } even toto corde, id est amore
summo, more vero, ore fideli, re omni.
“ Hoc non fit verbis: Marce, ut ameris, ama. ” - Martial.
For they consider not that they do evil.] That they despite him with seeming honours, with
displeasing service, which is double dishonour; with seeming sanctity, which is double iniquity, and
deserves double damnation. This they so little consider, that they think God is greatly beholden to
them, and does them no small wrong that he so little regards and rewards them. {Isa_58:3Mal_
3:14 } Non sic Deos coluimus ut ille nos vinceret, said that emperor, {i} going into the field against his
enemy. We have not so served the gods, that they should serve us no better than to give the enemy
the better of us.
BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR, “Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God.

13. Reverence and fidelity
This passage is a series of cautions against irreverence and insincerity in worship,
against discouragement because of political wrongs, and against the passion for, and
misuse of, great riches. Distrust in God underlies all these evils. Humble faith in and
reliance upon Him, in the contrast, mark the wise man. Note—
I. One’s proper bearing in the Lord’s house (Ecc_5:1-7).
1. In the first three verses carelessness and loose speech are condemned in all who
come into the presence chamber of the Almighty. So it is when subjects appear
before any sovereign to do him honour or make request. Exact address and studied
phrase are required. The free and easy spirit which will not regard these is expelled
hastily and with great indignation. Earthly dignities are but a faint type of the
heavenly. The soul which faintly realizes this will come before Him with “few words,”
if he be a Sinaitic worshipper; “in fulness of faith” and “with boldness,” if he be a
Christian believer.
2. In the further admonition, hasty and ill-considered pledges are forbidden. Impetuous
promising is the worst kind of trifling, and the Church or person who incites another to
it only works him harm. We are in agreement with the Mosaic legislation regarding such
impiety, “If thou shalt forbear to vow, it shall be no sin in thee.” Sin lies, not in the
refusal to make a partial and ill-considered pledge to God, but in not heeding that first of
all His commands, “Give me thine heart.” Cordial assent to this requirement makes one
an accepted worshipper, whose acts and words do not conflict when he appears before
God. Thoughtless, giddy, garrulous lips here are an abomination unto Him. One might
better be dreaming and know it.
II. The duty of relying upon the Divine justice (Ecc_5:8-9). The victims of tyranny and
wrong have not ceased wailing. We hear their pitiful cries in every era of the world’s
history.
III. The delusive character of wealth (Ecc_5:10-12). To denounce riches generally is as
though one inveighed against the air: all men breathe it. All men just as naturally long
for these material treasures. But our lungs are fitted to receive only a certain volume; we
cannot use more. We cannot store it for consumption, enjoying it all the more that
others have not as much. And the like is true of these earthly possessions. Beyond the
mere provision for food, and raiment, and shelter, and our varied tastes, they have no
power to minister, though piled high and broad as the pyramids. “He cannot reach to
feel them,” as the philosopher says. Yet the deceit is universal, that the more one can
amass the nearer he will come to perfect contentment. He will not believe that he chases
thus only a shadow—that it is as far from his embrace when he counts his millions as
when he had only units. He may as well expect to quench his thirst by drinking of the
ocean. (De Wm. S. Clark.)
Reverence and fidelity
With chapter five begins a series of proverbial sayings somewhat like those of the Book
of Proverbs, but showing more internal connection. These represent some of the
experimental knowledge which had come to the heart in its chase after many things. We
may use them, as we do the Proverbs, as condensations of wisdom, each having a
completeness in itself.
I. worship (verses 1-7).

14. 1. The proper manner of worship is here suggested to us. It mush be with a full
intention of the heart and not merely with the outward symbols. Always in worship,
even when it is most freed of external props, there is the opportunity for a lack of
right intention, and, therefore, a lack of meaning to God as well as to men. Worship
must always be interpreted by the condition of heart of the worshipper.
(1) Thought is necessary to due worship (verse 1). It would be a good thing for
every one of us if we would ask ourselves as we pass through the portals of God’s
house, “Do I really mean to worship God this hour?” If we cannot say yes, would
it not be better for us not to enter?
(2) Deliberateness is necessary to acceptable worship (verse 2). To be rash with our
mouth, to rattle off a formula, however well constructed, without weighing the meaning,
this is not to please God.
(3) Brevity is a virtue in worshipful utterance. God is high above us; we are here in a
position that should make us most deeply respectful towards Him. We should use well-
weighed words before Him, and well-weighed words are few. The touching prayers of the
Bible—the publican’s, Christ’s on the cross, Soul’s at his conversion—were brief.
2. Vows formed a considerable element in the old Jewish worship, and are more or
less recognized in the New Testament. We promise to do certain things: to be faithful
to Christ and His Church, to love our fellow-Christians, to obey those who are over
us in Christ, etc. These are vows, pledges given to God, and they should be kept as
scrupulously as we would keep a business obligation signed with our own hand.
II. A difficult passage concerning statecraft follows. The State may be mismanaged, but
it is wisest to make the best of it. “If thou seest oppression of the poor and violation of
justice and righteousness in the government of a province, be not astonished at the
matter. Such perversion of state-craft is not confined to the petty officials whose deeds
you know. Clear up to the top of the Government it is apt to be the same. For there is a
high one over a high one watching, and higher persons over them, and all are pretty
much alike” (verse 8). “But the advantage of a land in every way is a king devoted to the
field” (verse 9). The idea here is that the old simple agricultural form of government was
the best for the people of that day. The general meaning is that good government comes
from having rulers who are not rapacious for their own aggrandizement, but have the
interests of the country at heart.
III. The matter of riches, which requires such special thought to-day, when riches come
easily and to many, was not without its importance in the olden time.
1. Wealth then as now was unsatisfying (verse 10). It held out promises which it had
no power to fulfil. It said to men, “Be rich and you will be happy.” They became rich,
but they were not happy. The soul is made to crave the most ethereal kind of food;
but the rich man tries to satisfy it with coarse things. It is made to hunger for the
things of heaven; he thrusts upon it the things of earth.
2. Here also is emphasized the thought that the increase of wealth is not satisfying
(verse 11).
3. And then comes the old lesson, which many a rich man has confessed to be true, but
which those who are not rich find it very hard to believe true, that labour with
contentment is better than wealthy idleness (verse 12). Many a successful millionaire has
confessed that his happiest hours were in the beginning of his career, when he felt that
he must work hard for his wife and babies, and when he returned home at night with a
sweet sense of contented fatigue that never comes now in his anxious days of great
prosperity.” (D. J. Burrell, D. D.)

15. Behaviour in church
I. That you should enter the scene of public worship with devout preparation. “Keep thy
foot,” etc. The mad whom Solomon addresses is supposed to be on his way to the house
of God. The character of a man’s step is often an index to the state of his soul. There is
the slow step of the dull brain and the quick step of the intensely active; there is the step
of the proud and the step of the humble, the thoughtless and the reflective. The soul
reveals itself in the gait, beats out its own character in the tread.
1. Realize the scene you are entering. It is “the house of God.” Whom are you to
meet? “The high and holy One,” etc. Draw not hither thoughtlessly. “Put off thy shoes
from off thy feet,” etc. (Exo_3:5). “How dreadful is this place!” etc. (Gen_28:16-17).
Do not rush hither.
2. Realize the solemnity of the purpose. It is to meet with the Mighty Creator of the
universe, whom you have offended and insulted. It is to confess to Him, and to implore
His forgiveness.
II. That you should listen to the instruction of public worship with deep attention.
Having entered the house of God, it is your duty to be more “ready to hear, than to offer
the sacrifice of fools.”
1. You should attend with profound carefulness to the services of God’s house, that
you may avoid a great evil,—that of “offering the sacrifice of fools.” Mere bodily
sacrifices are the sacrifice of fools (Eze_33:31). Lip services are the sacrifice of fools
(Isa_29:13). The hypocritical services are the sacrifices of fools (Luk_18:11-12). What
are the sacrifices that God will accept? (Psa_51:17; Isa_66:2).
2. You should attend with profound carefulness to the services of God’s house that your
mind may be in a right state to receive true good. “Be more ready to hear,” etc.
(1) Be ready to hear teachably. Let the soul be open as the parched garden in
summer to the gentle showers.
(2) Be ready to hear earnestly. Wonderful things are propounded in the house of God;
things vitally connected with your everlasting well-being.
(3) Be ready to hear practically. All the truths are to be appropriated, embodied, and
brought out in life.
III. That you should attend to the engagements of public worship with profound
reverence. “Be not rash with thy mouth,” etc. Let thy words be in harmony with thy real
state of soul; and see that thy state of soul is truthful and right. There seem to be two
reasons here against vapid verbosity in worship.
1. The vast disparity between the worshipper and the object he addresses. “For God
is in heaven,” etc. Duly realize His presence and greatness, and you will become all
but speechless before Him. Isaiah did so (Isa_6:1-6).
2. The fearful tendency of an empty soul to an unmeaning verbosity (verse 3).
(Homilist.)
A dream cometh through the multitude of business.—
The prayer and the dream
There is an analogy instituted between voluminous prayer and the voluminous dream.
The dream arises out of the various transactions of business, and the fool’s prayer

16. springs from the variety of his vocabulary. Confusion is the characteristic of both. They
are produced by external influences. The soul as a directing rational power is asleep.
Dim memories of things mingle in a wild phantasmagoria before the closed portals of
the sense of the dreamer. It is just so with the worshipping word-monger. The nature
and character of God, the promises, Scripture language, are floating before the closed
vision of the pietistic dreamer, and his prayers are a jumble of disjointed things. This
will always be the case with him who gives himself up to the external influences. But as it
is better to dream than to be dead, so is it always better to pray, even disjointedly and
wildly, than to be without that breath of the spiritual life. The mere enthusiast, guided by
no reason in his devotions, may be brought under its direction; but how shall mere
reason become enthusiastic? We answer, by the action of the Spirit of God on the soul.
What we need is this Spirit. We can prophesy to the dry bones, and clothe them with
flesh; but the Spirit of God is needed that they may stand up and become an army of
God. “Come, O breath, and breathe on those slain, that they may live,” is to be our
prayer. When we have got the answer to that petition, we shall be living, loving, active
Christians. (J. Bonnet.)
EBC 1-7, “Ecclesiastes 5:1-7
So also a happier and more effective Method of Worship is open to Men.
The men of affairs are led from the vocations of the Market and the intrigues of the
Divan into the House of God. Our first glance at the worshippers is not hopeful or
inspiriting. For here are men who offer sacrifices in lieu of obedience; and here are men
whose prayers are a voluble repetition of phrases which run far in advance of their
limping thoughts and desires: and there are men quick to make vows in moments of
peril, but slow to redeem them when the peril is past. At first the House of God looks
very like a House of Merchandise, in which brokers and traders drive a traffic as
dishonest as any that disgraces the Exchange. But while the merchants and politicians
stand criticising the conduct of the worshippers, the Preacher turns upon them and
shows them that they are the worshippers whom they criticise; that he has held up a
glass in which they see themselves as others see them; that it is they who vow and do not
pay, they who hurry on their mouths to utter words which their hearts do not prompt,
they who take the roundabout course of sinning and sacrificing for sin instead of that
plain road of obedience which leads straight to God.
But what comfort for them is there in that? How should it help them, to be beguiled into
condemning themselves? Truly there would not be much comfort in it did not the
compassionate Preacher forthwith disclose the secret of this dishonest worship, and give
them counsels of amendment. He discloses the secret in two verses (Ecc_5:3 and Ecc_
5:7), which have much perplexed the readers of this book. He there explains that just as
a mind harassed by much occupation and the many cares it breeds cannot rest even at
night, but busies itself in framing wild disturbing dreams, so also is it with the foolish
worshipper who, for want of thought and reverence, pours out before God a multitude of
unsifted and unconsidered wishes in a multitude of words. In effect he says to them:
"You men of affairs often get little help or comfort from the worship of God because you
come to it with preoccupied hearts, just as a man gets little comfort from his bed because
his brain, jaded and yet excited by many cares, will not suffer him to rest. Hence it is that
you promise more than you perform, and utter prayers more devout than any honest
expression of your desires would warrant, and offer sacrifices to avoid the charge and
trouble of obedience to the Divine laws. And as I have shown you a more excellent way of

17. transacting business than the selfish grasping mode to which you are addicted, so also I
will show you a more excellent style of worship. Go to the House of God ‘with a straight
foot,’ a foot trained to walk in the path of obedience. Keep your heart, set a watch over it,
lest it should be diverted from the simple and devout homage it should pay. Do not urge
and press it to a false emotion, to a strained and insincere mood. Let your words be few
and reverent when you speak to the Great King. Do not vow except under the
compulsion of steadfast resolves, and pay your vows even to your own hurt when once
they are made. Do not anger God, or the angel of God who, as you believe, presides over
the altar, with idle unreal talk and idle half-meant resolves, making vows of which you
afterwards repent and do not keep, pleading that you made them in error or infirmity.
But in all the exercises of your worship show a holy fear of the Almighty; and then, under
the worst oppressions of fortune and the heaviest calamities of time, you shall find the
House of God a Sanctuary, and his worship a strength, a consolation, and a delight."
This, surely, was very wholesome counsel for men of business in hard times.
HAWKER, “Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to
hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil. (2) Be not
rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God: for
God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.
Perhaps Solomon had in view the situation of Moses at the bush, and of Joshua, before
the captain of the Lord’s host, by Jericho. Exo_3:5; Jos_5:13-15. But keeping the foot,
on entering the house of God, certainly carries with it a reference to the corresponding
affections suited to a true spiritual worshipper. Under the gospel dispensation, we may
suppose it implies what our Lord Jesus taught of worshipping God, who is a Spirit, in
spirit, and in truth. Joh_4:23-24.
SBC, “I. In the fourth chapter Koheleth comes to the conclusion that life is essentially
and irretrievably wretched—wretched not because (as he had formerly thought) it would
so soon be over, but wretched because it lasted too long. All that pleasure did for him
was thus to increase his gloom. There was one thing he had forgotten in making out his
programme: he had forgotten the miseries of other people. The prosperity he secured for
himself did not remove their adversity, but only brought it out into more startling relief.
He was infected by their wretchedness, for in the midst of all his dissipation he had
preserved a kindly heart. "I considered," he says, "the tears of those who are oppressed,
and who have no comforter." The oppression of the poor by the rich was one of the most
characteristic phases of Oriental society. To be poor was to be weak, and to be weak was
to be reduced more or less into the condition of a slave.
II. In Ecc_5:4 Koheleth makes a new departure. He remarks that greed is at the bottom
of a good deal of human misery. All work, he says, and all dexterity in work, is due to
envy, to a jealous determination to outstrip our neighbours, to what Mallock calls the
"desire for inequality." In contrast to the career of selfish isolation, Koheleth describes
the advantages of sympathetic co-operation with one’s fellow-men. We should not, he
says, strive against one another, each for his own good; we should strive with one
another, each for the good of the whole. Co-operation is preferable to competition.

18. III. It now occurs to Koheleth that we may perhaps find some help in religious
observances. He has already pointed out to us how we are hemmed in on all sides by
limitations and restrictions. It must evidently be important what attitude we assume
towards the Power which thus checks and thwarts us. Take care, he says, how you go
into the house of God, how you perform your sacrifices, and prayers, and vows. He
teaches us, as wise men have always taught, that obedience is better than sacrifice.
Again, the value of prayer depends not on its length, but on its sincerity. Speak only out
of the fulness of your heart. God is not to be trifled with. He cannot be deluded into
mistaking for worship what is mere idle talk.
A. W. Momerie, Agnosticism, p. 204.
MACLAREN 1-12, “LESSONS FOR WORSHIP AND FOR WORK
This passage is composed of two or perhaps three apparently disconnected sections. The
faults in worship referred to in Ecc_5:1-7 have nothing to do with the legalised robbery
of Ecc_5:8, nor has the demonstration of the folly of covetousness in Ecc_5:10-12 any
connection with either of the preceding subjects. But they are brought into unity, if they
are taken as applications in different directions of the bitter truth which the writer sets
himself to prove runs through all life. ‘All is vanity.’ That principle may even be
exemplified in worship, and the obscure Ecc_5:7 which closes the section about the
faults of worship seems to be equivalent to the more familiar close which rings the knell
of so many of men’s pursuits in this book, ‘This also is vanity.’ It stands in the usual form
in Ecc_5:10.
We have in Ecc_5:1-7 a warning against the faults in worship which make even it to be
‘vanity,’ unreal and empty and fruitless. These are of three sorts, arranged, as it were,
chronologically. The worshipper is first regarded as going to the house of God, then as
presenting his prayers in it, and then as having left it and returned to his ordinary life.
The writer has cautions to give concerning conduct before, during, and after public
worship.
Note that, in all three parts of his warnings, his favourite word of condemnation appears
as describing the vain worship to which he opposes the right manner. They who fall into
the faults condemned are ‘fools.’ If that class includes all who mar their worship by such
errors, the church which holds them had need to be of huge dimensions; for the faults
held up in these ancient words flourish in full luxuriance to-day, and seem to haunt long-
established Christianity quite as mischievously as they did long-established Judaism. If
we could banish them from our religious assemblies, there would be fewer complaints of
the poor results of so much apparently Christian prayer and preaching.
Fruitful and acceptable worship begins before it begins. So our passage commences with
the demeanour of the worshipper on his way to the house of God. He is to keep his foot;
that is, to go deliberately, thoughtfully, with realisation of what he is about to do. He is
to ‘draw near to hear’ and to bethink himself, while drawing near, of what his purpose
should be. Our forefathers Sunday began on Saturday night, and partly for that reason
the hallowing influence of it ran over into Monday, at all events. What likelihood is there
that much good will come of worship to people who talk politics or scandal right up to
the church door? Is reading newspapers in the pews, which they tell us in England is not
unknown in America, a good preparation for worshipping God? The heaviest rain runs
off parched ground, unless it has been first softened by a gentle fall of moisture. Hearts
that have no dew of previous meditation to make them receptive are not likely to drink in
much of the showers of blessing which may be falling round them. The formal
worshipper who goes to the house of God because it is the hour when he has always

19. gone; the curious worshipper (?) who draws near to hear indeed, but to hear a man, not
God; and all the other sorts of mere outward worshippers who make so large a
proportion of every Christian congregation-get the lesson they need, to begin with, in
this precept.
Note, that right preparation for worship is better than worship itself, if it is that of
‘fools.’ Drawing near with the true purpose is better than being near with the wrong one.
Note, too, the reason for the vanity of the ‘sacrifice of fools’ is that ‘they know not’; and
why do they not know, but because they did not draw near with the purpose of hearing?
Therefore, as the last clause of the verse says, rightly rendered, ‘they do evil.’ All hangs
together. No matter how much we frequent the house of God, if we go with unprepared
minds and hearts we shall remain ignorant, and because we are so, our sacrifices will be
‘evil.’ If the winnowing fan of this principle were applied to our decorous congregations,
who dress their bodies for church much more carefully than they do their souls, what a
cloud of chaff would fly off!
Then comes the direction for conduct in the act of worship. The same thoughtfulness
which kept the foot in coming to, should keep the heart when in, the house of God. His
exaltation and our lowliness should check hasty words, blurting out uppermost wishes,
or in any way outrunning the sentiments and emotions of prepared hearts. Not that the
lesson would check the fervid flow of real desire. There is a type of calm worship which
keeps itself calm because it is cold. Propriety and sobriety are its watchwords-both
admirable things, and both dear to tepid Christians. Other people besides the crowds on
Pentecost think that men whose lips are fired by the Spirit of God are ‘drunken,’ if not
with wine, at all events with unwholesome enthusiasm. But the outpourings of a soul
filled, not only with the sense that God is in heaven and we on earth, but also with the
assurance that He is near to it, and it to Him, are not rash and hasty, however fervid.
What is condemned is words which travel faster than thoughts or feelings, or which
proceed from hearts that have not been brought into patient submission, or from such as
lack reverent realisation of God’s majesty; and such faults may attach to the most calm
worship, and need not infect the most fervent. Those prayers are not hasty which keep
step with the suppliant’s desires, when these take the time from God’s promises. That
mouth is not rash which waits to speak until the ear has heard.
‘Let thy words be few.’ The heathen ‘think that they shall be heard for much speaking.’ It
needs not to tell our wants in many words to One who knows them altogether, any more
than a child needs many when speaking to a father or mother. But ‘few’ must be
measured by the number of needs and desires. The shortest prayer, which is not
animated by a consciousness of need and a throb of desire, is too long; the longest,
which is vitalised by these, is short enough. What becomes of the enormous percentage
of public and private prayers, which are mere repetitions, said because they are the right
thing to say, because everybody always has said them, and not because the man praying
really wants the things he asks for, or expects to get them any the more for asking?
Ecc_5:3 gives a reason for the exhortation, ‘A dream comes through a multitude of
business’-when a man is much occupied with any matter, it is apt to haunt his sleeping
as well as his waking thoughts. ‘A fool’s voice comes through a multitude of words.’ The
dream is the consequence of the pressure of business, but the fool’s voice is the cause,
not the consequence, of the gush of words. What, then, is the meaning? Probably that
such a gush of words turns, as it were, the voice of the utterer, for the time being, into
that of a fool. Voluble prayers, more abundant than devout sentiments or emotions,
make the offerer as a ‘fool’ and his prayer unacceptable.
The third direction refers to conduct after worship. It lays down the general principle
that vows should be paid, and that swiftly. A keen insight into human nature suggests

20. the importance of prompt fulfilment of the vows; for in carrying out resolutions formed
under the impulse of the sanctuary, even more than in other departments, delays are
dangerous. Many a young heart touched by the truth has resolved to live a Christian life,
and has gone out from the house of God and put off and put off till days have thickened
into months and years, and the intention has remained unfulfilled for ever. Nothing
hardens hearts, stiffens wills, and sears consciences so much as to be brought to the
point of melting, and then to cool down into the old shape. All good resolutions and
spiritual convictions may be included under the name of vows; and of all it is true that it
is better not to have formed them, than to have formed and not performed them.
Ecc_5:6-7 are obscure. The former seems to refer to the case of a man who vows and
then asks that he may be absolved from his vow by the priest or other ecclesiastical
authority. His mouth-that is, his spoken promise-leads him into sin, if he does not fulfil
it (comp. Deut. xxiii, 21, 22). He asks release from his promise on the ground that it is a
sin of weakness. The ‘angel’ is best understood as the priest (messenger), as in Mal_2:7.
Such a wriggling out of a vow will bring God’s anger; for the ‘voice’ which promised what
the hand will not perform, sins.
Ecc_5:7 is variously rendered. The Revised Version supplies at the beginning, ‘This
comes to pass,’ and goes on ‘through the multitude of dreams and vanities and many
words.’ But this scarcely bears upon the context, which requires here a reason against
rash speech and vows. The meaning seems better given, either by the rearranged text
which Delitzsch suggests, ‘In many dreams and many words there are also many
vanities’ (so, substantially, the Auth. Ver.), or as Wright, following Hitzig, etc., has it, ‘In
the multitude of dreams are also vanities, and [in] many words [as well].’ The simile of
Ecc_5:3 is recurred to, and the whirling visions of unsubstantial dreams are likened to
the rash words of voluble prayers in that both are vanity. Thus the writer reaches his
favourite thought, and shows how vanity infects even devotion. The closing injunction to
‘fear God’ sets in sharp contrast with faulty outward worship the inner surrender and
devotion, which will protect against such empty hypocrisy. If the heart is right, the lips
will not be far wrong.
Ecc_5:8-9 have no direct connection with the preceding, and their connection with the
following (Ecc_5:10-12) is slight. Their meaning is dubious. According to the prevailing
view now, the abuses of government in Ecc_5:8 are those of the period of the writer; and
the last clauses do not, as might appear at first reading, console sufferers by the thought
that God is above rapacious dignitaries, but bids the readers not be surprised if small
officials plunder, since the same corruption goes upwards through all grades of
functionaries. With such rotten condition of things is contrasted, in Ecc_5:9, the happy
state of a people living under a patriarchal government, where the king draws his
revenues, not from oppression, but from agriculture. The Revised Version gives in its
margin this rendering. The connection of these verses with the following may be that
they teach the vanity of riches under such a state of society as they describe. What is the
use of scraping wealth together when hungry officials are ‘watching’ to pounce on it?
How much better to be contented with the modest prosperity of a quiet country life! If
the translation of Ecc_5:9 in the Authorised Version and the Revised Version is retained,
there is a striking contrast between the rapine of the city, where men live by preying on
each other (as they do still to a large extent, for ‘commerce’ is often nothing better), and
the wholesome natural life of the country, where the kindly earth yields fruit, and one
man’s gain is not another’s loss.
Thus the verses may be connected with the wise depreciation of money which follows.
That low estimate is based on three grounds, which great trading nations like England
and the United States need to have dinned into their ears. First, no man ever gets

21. enough of worldly wealth. The appetite grows faster than the balance at the banker’ s.
That is so because the desire that is turned to outward wealth really needs something
else, and has mistaken its object. God, not money or money’s worth, is the satisfying
possession. It is so because all appetites, fed on earthly things, increase by gratification,
and demand ever larger draughts. The jaded palate needs stronger stimulants. The
seasoned opium-eater has to increase his doses to produce the same effects. Second, the
race after riches is a race after a phantom, because the more one has of them the more
people there spring up to share them. The poor man does with one servant; the rich man
has fifty; and his own portion of his wealth is a very small item. His own meal is but a
small slice off the immense provisions for which he has the trouble of paying. It is so,
thirdly, because in the chase he deranges his physical nature; and when he has got his
wealth, it only keeps him awake at night thinking how he shall guard it and keep it safe.
That which costs so much to get, which has so little power to satisfy, which must always
be less than the wish of the covetous man, which costs so much to keep, which stuffs
pillows with thorns, is surely vanity. Honest work is rewarded by sweet sleep. The old
legend told of unslumbering guards who kept the treasure of the golden fruit. The
millionaire has to live in a barred house, and to be always on the lookout lest some
combination of speculators should pull down his stocks, or some change in the current
of population should make his city lots worthless. Black care rides behind the successful
man of business. Better to have done a day’s work which has earned a night’s repose
than to be the slave of one’s wealth, as all men are who make it their aim and their
supreme good. Would that these lessons were printed deep on the hearts of young
Englishmen and Americans!
K&D, ““Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and to go to hear is better
than that fools give a sacrifice; for the want of knowledge leads them to do evil.” The
“house of God” is like the “house of Jahve,” 2Sa_12:20; Isa_37:1, the temple; ‫ל‬ ֶ‫,א‬
altogether like ‫ל‬ ֵ‫־א‬ ִ‫ל־מ‬ ֶ‫,א‬ Psa_73:17. The Chethıb ָ‫יך‬ ֶ‫ל‬ְ‫ג‬ ַ‫ר‬ is admissible, for elsewhere also this
plur. (“thy feet”) occurs in a moral connection and with a spiritual reference, e.g., Psa_
119:59; but more frequently, however, the comprehensive sing. occurs. Psa_119:105; Pro_1:15;
Pro_4:26., and the Kerı thus follows the right note. The correct understanding of what
follows depends on ‫ע‬ ָ‫ר‬ ... ‫י־‬ ִⅴ. Interpreters have here adopted all manner of impossible views.
Hitzig's translation: “for they know not how to be sorrowful,” has even found in Stuart at least
one imitator; but ‫רע‬ ‫עשׂות‬ would, as the contrast of 'asoth tov, Ecc_3:12, mean nothing else
than, “to do that which is unpleasant, disagreeable, bad,” like 'asah ra'ah, 2Sa_12:18.
Gesen., Ewald (§336b), Elster, Heiligst., Burger, Z‫צ‬ckl., Dale, and Bullock translate:
“they know not that they do evil;” but for such a rendering the words ought to have been
‫ע‬ ָ‫ר‬ ‫ם‬ ָ‫שׂוֹת‬ ֲ‫ע‬ (cf. Jer_15:15); the only example for the translation of ‫לעשׂות‬ after the manner of the
acc. c. inf. = se facere malum - viz. at 1Ki_19:4 - is incongruous, for ‫למות‬ does not here mean se
mori, but ut moreretur. Yet more incorrect is the translation of Jerome, which is followed by
Luther: nesciunt quid faciant mali. It lies near, as at Ecc_2:24 so also here, to suppose an injury
done to the text. Aben Ezra introduced ‫ק‬ ַ‫ר‬ before ‫,לעשׂ‬ but Koheleth never uses this limiting

22. particle; we would have to write ‫אם־לעשׂות‬ ‫,כי‬ after Ezr_3:12; Ezr_8:15. Anything thus attained,
however, is not worth the violent means thus used; for the ratifying clause is not ratifying, and
also in itself, affirmed of the ‫,כסילים‬ who, however, are not the same as the resha'im and the
hattaim, is inappropriate. Rather it might be said: they know not to do good (thus the
Syr.); or: they know not whether it be good or bad to do, i.e., they have no moral feeling,
and act not from moral motives (so the Targ.). Not less violent than this remodelling of
the text is the expedient of Herzberg, Philippson, and Ginsburg, who from ַ‫ּע‬‫מ‬ ֵ‫שׁ‬ ִ‫ל‬ derive
the subject-conception of the obedient (‫ים‬ ִ‫ע‬ ְ‫מ‬ ְ ַ‫:)ה‬ “For those understand not at all to do evil;”
the subj. ought to have been expressed if it must be something different from the immediately
preceding ‫.כסילים‬ We may thus render enam yod'im, after Psa_82:5; Isa_56:10, as complete
in itself: they (the fools) are devoid of knowledge to do evil = so that they do evil; i.e.,
want of knowledge brings them to this, that they do evil. Similarly also Knobel: they
concern themselves not, - are unconcerned (viz., about the right mode of worshipping
God), - so that they do evil, with the correct remark that the consequence of their
perverse conduct is here represented as their intention. But ‫ידע‬‫לא‬ , absol., does not mean to
be unconcerned (wanton), but to be without knowledge. Rashbam, in substance correctly: they
are predisposed by their ignorance to do evil; and thus also Hahn; Mendelssohn translates
directly: “they sin because they are ignorant.” If this interpretation is correct, then for ַ‫ּע‬‫מ‬ ְ‫שׁ‬ ִ‫ל‬ it
follows that it does not mean “to obey” (thus e.g., Zöckler), which in general it never means
without some words being added to it (cf. on the contrary, 1Sa_15:22), but “to hear,” - viz. the
word of God, which is to be heard in the house of God, - whereby, it is true, a hearing is meant
which leads to obedience.
In the word ‫,הוֹרוֹת‬ priests are not perhaps thought of, although the comparison of Ecc_5:5
(‫)המלאך‬ with Mal_2:7 makes it certainly natural; priestly instruction limited itself to information
regarding the performance of the law already given in Scripture, Lev_10:11; Deu_33:9., and to
deciding on questions arising in the region of legal praxis, Deu_24:8; Hag_2:11. The priesthood
did not belong to the teaching class in the sense of preaching. Preaching was never a part of the
temple cultus, but, for the first time, after the exile became a part of the synagogue worship. The
preachers under the O.T. were the prophets, - preachers by a supernatural divine call, and by the
immediate impulse of the Spirit; we know from the Book of Jeremiah that they sometimes went
into the temple, or there caused their books of prophecy to be read; yet the author, by the word
ַ‫ּע‬‫מ‬ ְ‫שׁ‬ ִ‫ל‬ of the foregoing proverb, scarcely thinks of them. But apart from the teaching of the
priests, which referred to the realization of the letter of the law, and the teaching of the
prophets to the realization of the spirit of the law, the word formed an essential part of the
sacred worship of the temple: the Tefilla, the Beracha, the singing of psalms, and certainly, at

23. the time of Koheleth, the reading of certain sections of the Bible. When thou goest to the house
of God, says Koheleth, take heed to thy step, well reflecting whither thou goest and how thou
hast there to appear; and (with this ְ‫ו‬ he connects with this first nota bene a second) drawing
near to hear exceeds the sacrifice-offering of fools, for they are ignorant (just because they hear
not), which leads to this result, that they do evil. ‫ן‬ ִ‫,מ‬ prae, expresses also, without an adj.,
precedence in number, Isa_10:10, or activity, Isa_9:17, or worth, Eze_15:2. ‫רוֹב‬ ָ‫ק‬ is inf. absol.
Böttcher seeks to subordinate it as such to ‫ּר‬‫מ‬ ְ‫:שׁ‬ take heed to thy foot ... and to the coming near
to hear more than to ... . But these obj. to ‫שמר‬ would be incongruous, and ‫וגו‬ ‫מתת‬ clumsy and
even distorted in expression; it ought rather to be ‫זבח‬ ‫ים‬ ִ‫י־ל‬ ִ‫ס‬ ְ‫כ‬ ִⅴ ָ‫ך‬ ְ ִ ִ‫.מ‬ As the inf. absol. can
take the place of the obj., Isa_7:15; Isa_42:24; Lam_3:45, so also the place of the subj. (Ewald, §
240a), although Pro_25:27 is a doubtful example of this. That the use of the inf. absol. has a wide
application with the author of this book, we have already seen under Ecc_4:2. Regarding the
sequence of ideas in ‫ח‬ ַ‫ב‬ָ‫ז‬ ... ‫ת‬ ֵ ִ‫מ‬ (first the subj., then the obj.), vid., Gesen. §133. 3, and cf. above
at Ecc_3:18. ‫ח‬ ַ‫ב‬ֶ‫ז‬ (‫ים‬ ִ‫ח‬ ָ‫ב‬ְ‫,)ז‬ along with its general signification comprehending all animal sacrifices,
according to which the altar bears the name ַ‫ח‬ ֵ ְ‫ז‬ ִ‫,מ‬ early acquired also a more special signification:
it denotes, in contradistinction to ‫,עולה‬ such sacrifices as are only partly laid on the altar, and for
the most part are devoted to a sacrificial festival, Exo_18:12 (cf. Exo_12:27), the so-called
shelamim, or also zivhhe shelamim, Pro_7:14. The expression ‫זבח‬‫נתן‬ makes it probable that
here, particularly, is intended the festival (1Ki_1:41) connected with this kind of sacrifice, and
easily degenerating to worldly merriment (vid., under Pro_7:14); for the more common word for
‫ת‬ ֵ would have been ‫יב‬ ִ‫ר‬ ְ‫ק‬ ַ‫ה‬ or ‫חוֹט‬ ְ‫;שׁ‬ in ‫ת‬ ֵ it seems to be indicated that it means not only to
present something to God, but also to give at the same time something to man. The most
recent canonical Chokma-book agrees with Pro_21:3 in this depreciation of sacrifice. But the
Chokma does not in this stand alone. The great word of Samuel, 1Sa_15:22., that self-denying
obedience to God is better than all sacrifices, echoes through the whole of the Psalms. And the
prophets go to the utmost in depreciating the sacrificial cultus.
The second rule relates to prayer.
2 Do not be quick with your mouth,
do not be hasty in your heart
to utter anything before God. God is in heaven

24. and you are on earth,
so let your words be few.
CLARKE, “Be not rash with thy mouth - Do not hasten with thy mouth; weigh thy
words, feel deeply, think much, speak little.
“When ye approach his altar, on your lips
Set strictest guard; and let your thoughts be pure,
Fervent, and recollected. Thus prepared,
Send up the silent breathings of your souls,
Submissive to his will.”
GILL, “Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter
any thing before God,.... In private conversation care should be taken that no rash
and unadvised words be spoken in haste, as were by Moses and David; and that no evil,
nor even any idle word he uttered, since from, the abundance of the heart the mouth is
apt to speak, and all is before, the Lord; not a word in the tongue but is altogether known
by him, and must be accounted for to him, Psa_106:33. Jerom interprets this of words
spoken concerning God; and careful men should be of what they say of him, of his nature
and perfections, of his persons, and of his works; and it may be applied to a public
profession of his name, and of faith in him; though this should be done with the heart,
yet the heart and tongue should not be rash and hasty in making it; men should consider
what they profess and confess, and upon what foot they take up and make a profession
of religion; whether they have the true grace of God or no: and it will hold true of the
public ministry of the word, in which everything that comes uppermost in the mind, or
what is crude and undigested, should not be, uttered; but what ministers have thought
of, meditated on, well weighed in their minds, and properly digested. Some understand
this of rash vows, such as Jephthah's, is supposed to be, which are later repented of; but
rather speaking unto God in prayer is intended. So the Targum,
"thy, heart shall not hasten to bring out speech at the time thou prayest before the
Lord;''
anything and everything that comes up into the mind should not be, uttered before God;
not anything rashly and hastily; men should consider before they speak to the King of
kings; for though set precomposed forms of prayer are not to be used, yet the matter of
prayer should be thought of beforehand; what our wants are, and what we should ask
for; whether for ourselves or others; this rule I fear we often offend against: the reasons
follow;
for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth; his throne is in the heavens, he dwells
in the highest heavens, though they cannot contain him; this is expressive of his majesty,
sovereignty, and supremacy, and of his omniscience and omnipotence; he is the high and
lofty One, that dwells in the high and holy place; he is above all, and sees and knows all
persons and things; and he sits in the heavens, and does whatever he pleases; and

25. therefore all should stand in awe of him, and consider what they say unto him. Our Lord
seems to have respect to this passage when he directed his disciples to pray, saying, "Our
Father, which art in heaven", Mat_6:9; and when we pray to him we should think what
we ourselves are, that we are on the earth, the footstool of God; that we are of the earth,
earthly; dwell in houses of clay, which have their foundation in the dust; crawling worms
on earth, unworthy of his notice; are but dust and ashes, who take upon us to speak unto
him;
therefore let, by words be few; of which prayer consists; such was the prayer of the
publican, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner", Luk_18:13; and such the prayer which
Christ has given as a pattern and directory to his people; who has forbid vain repetitions
and much speaking in prayer, Mat_6:7; not that all lengthy prayers are to be
condemned, or all repetitions in them; our Lord was all night in prayer himself; and
Nehemiah, Daniel, and others, have used repetitions in prayer, which may be done with
fresh affection, zeal, and fervency; but such are forbidden as are done for the sake of
being heard for much speaking, as the Heathens; and who thought they were not
understood unless they said a thing a hundred times over (p); or when done to gain a
character of being more holy and religious than others, as the Pharisees.
HENRY, “We must be very cautious and considerate in all our approaches and
addresses to God (Ecc_5:2): Be not rash with thy mouth, in making prayers, or
protestations, or promises; let not thy heart be hasty to utter any thing before God.
Note, (1.) When we are in the house of God, in solemn assemblies for religious worship,
we are in a special manner before God and in his presence, there where he has promised
to meet his people, where his eye is upon us and ours ought to be unto him. (2.) We have
something to say, something to utter before God, when we draw nigh to him in holy
duties; he is one with whom we have to do, with whom we have business of vast
importance. If we come without an errand, we shall go away without any advantage. (3.)
What we utter before God must come from the heart, and therefore we must not be rash
with our mouth, never let our tongue outrun our thoughts in our devotions; the words
of our mouth, must always be the product of the meditation of our hearts. Thoughts are
words to God, and words are but wind if they be not copied from the thoughts. Lip-
labour, though ever so well laboured, if that be all, is but lost labour in religion, Mat_
15:8, Mat_15:9. (4.) It is not enough that what we say comes from the heart, but it must
come from a composed heart, and not from a sudden heat or passion. As the mouth
must not be rash, so the heart must not be hasty; we must not only think, but think
twice, before we speak, when we are to speak either from God in preaching or to God in
prayer, and not utter any thing indecent and undigested, 1Co_14:15.
5. We must be sparing of our words in the presence of God, that is, we must be reverent
and deliberate, not talk to God as boldly and carelessly as we do to one another, not
speak what comes uppermost, not repeat things over and over, as we do to one
another, that what we say may be understood and remembered and may make
impression; no, when we speak to God we must consider, (1.) That between him and
us there is an infinite distance: God is in heaven, where he reigns in glory over us
and all the children of men, where he is attended with an innumerable company of
holy angels and is far exalted above all our blessing and praise. We are on earth, the
footstool of his throne; we are mean and vile, unlike God, and utterly unworthy to
receive any favour from him or to have any communion with him. Therefore we must
be very grave, humble, and serious, and be reverent in speaking to him, as we are
when we speak to a great man that is much our superior; and, in token of this, let our
words be few, that they may be well chosen, Job_9:14. This does not condemn all

26. long prayers; were they not good, the Pharisees would not have used them for a
pretence; Christ prayed all night; and we are directed to continue in prayer. But it
condemns careless heartless praying, vain repetitions (Mat_6:7), repeating Pater-
nosters by tale. Let us speak to God, and of him, in his own words, words which the
scripture teaches; and let our words, words of our own invention, be few, lest, not
speaking by rule, we speak amiss.
JAMISON, “rash — opposed to the considerate reverence (“keep thy foot,” Ecc_5:1).
This verse illustrates Ecc_5:1, as to prayer in the house of God (“before God,” Isa_1:12);
so Ecc_5:4-6 as to vows. The remedy to such vanities is stated (Ecc_5:6). “Fear thou
God.”
God is in heaven — Therefore He ought to be approached with carefully weighed
words, by thee, a frail creature of earth.
HAWKER, “Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to
hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil. (2) Be not
rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God: for
God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.
Perhaps Solomon had in view the situation of Moses at the bush, and of Joshua, before
the captain of the Lord’s host, by Jericho. Exo_3:5; Jos_5:13-15. But keeping the foot,
on entering the house of God, certainly carries with it a reference to the corresponding
affections suited to a true spiritual worshipper. Under the gospel dispensation, we may
suppose it implies what our Lord Jesus taught of worshipping God, who is a Spirit, in
spirit, and in truth. Joh_4:23-24.
YOUNG, "This may refer either to offering prayer or imparting
instruction. " The admonition ' let thy words be few,' "
says Hengstenberg, " is not meant to set limits to the glow
and fire of devotion. It is directed not against tlie in-
wardly devout, but against the superficially religious^ who
fancy that in the multitude of their words they have an
equivalent for the devotion they lack." Our Saviour re-
bukes the Pharisees who for pretense made long prayers.
Public prayer becomes a weariness to many when too
much protracted ; and sermons when brief are generally
more for edification than when too prolix. No general
rule, however, will suit all circumstances. Secret prayer,
when offered with Jacob's importunity, may continue all
night, and even when the morning dawns the worshipper
may say to the Angel of the Covenant, " I will not let
thee go, except thou bless me."
PULPIT, “Koheleth warns against thoughtless words or hasty professions in prayer, which formed
another feature of popular religion. Be not rash with thy mouth. The warning is against hasty and
thoughtless words in prayer, words that go from the lips with glib facility, but come not from the heart.
Thus our Lord bids those who pray not to use vain repetitions ( µὴ βαττολογήσατε ), as the heathen,
who think to be heard for their much speaking (Mat_6:7 ). Jesus himself used the same words in his
prayer in the garden, and heCONTINUALLY urges the lesson of much and constant prayer—a

27. lessen enforced by apostolic admonitions (see Luk_11:5 , etc.; Php_4:6 ; 1Th_5:17 ); but it is
quite possible to use the same words, and yet throw the whole heart into them each time that they are
repeated. Whether the repetition is vain or not depends upon the spirit of the person who prays. Let
not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God. We should weigh well our wishes, arrange
them discreetly, ponder whether they are such as we can rightly make subjects of petition, ere we lay
them in words before the Lord. "Before God" may mean in the temple, the house of God, where he is
specially present, as Solomon himself testified (1Ki_8:27 , 1Ki_8:30 , 1Ki_8:43 ). God is in
heaven. The infinite distance between God and man, illustrated by the contrast of earth and the
illimitable heaven, is the ground of the admonition to reverence and thoughtfulness (comp. Psa_
115:3 , Psa_115:16 ; Isa_4:1-6 :8, 9; Isa_66:1 ). Therefore let thy words be few, as becomes
one who speaks in the awful presence of God. Ben-Sira seems to have had this passage in mind
when he writes (Ecclesiasticus 7:14), "Prate not in a multitude of elders, and repeat not
( µὴ δευτερώσης ) the word in prayer." We may remember the conduct of the priests of Baal (1Ki_
18:26 ). Ginsburg and WrightQUOTE the Talmudic precept ('Beraehoth,' 68. a), "Let the words of a
man always be few in the presence of God, according as it is written," and then follows the passage in
our text.
KRETZMAN, “v. 2. Be not rash with thy mouth, quick to speak, especially in thoughtless prayer, and
let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God, since prayer demands an attitude of true
devotion; for God is in heaven, exalted above all levity and thoughtless form of worship, and thou
upon earth, immeasurably beneath the majesty of the almighty Sovereign of the earth; therefore let
thy words be few, not indulging in heathenish babbling, Mat_6:7 .
K&D, ““Be not hasty with thy mouth, and let not thy heart hasten to speak a word before
God: for God is in heaven, and thou art upon earth; therefore let thy words be few. For
by much business cometh dreaming, and by much talk the noise of fools.” As we say in
German: auf Fl geln fliegen [to flee on wings], auf Einem Auge nicht sehen [not to see
with one eye], auf der Fl‫צ‬te blasen [to blow on the flute], so in Heb. we say that one
slandereth with (auf) his tongue (Psa_15:3), or, as here, that he hasteth with his mouth,
i.e., is forward with his mouth, inasmuch as the word goes before the thought. It is the
same usage as when the post-bibl. Heb., in contradistinction to ‫ב‬ ָ‫ת‬ ְ‫כ‬ ִ ֶ‫שׁ‬ ‫,התורה‬ the law given
in the Scripture, calls the oral law ‫ה‬ ֶ ‫ל־‬ ַ‫ע‬ ְ ֶ‫שׁ‬ ‫,הת‬ i.e., the law mediated ‫,על־פה‬ oraliter = oralis
traditio (Shabbath 31a; cf. Gittin 60b). The instrument and means is here regarded as the
substratum of the action - as that which this lays as a foundation. The phrase: “to take on the
lips,” Psa_16:4, which needs no explanation, is different. Regarding ‫ל‬ ֵ‫ה‬ ִ , festinare, which is, like
‫ר‬ ֵ‫ה‬ ִ‫,מ‬ the intens. of Kal, vid., once it occurs quite like our “sich beeilen” to hasten, with reflex.
accus. suff., 2Ch_35:21. Man, when he prays, should not give the reins to his tongue, and multiply
words as one begins and repeats over a form which he has learnt, knowing certainly that it is God
of whom and to whom he speaks, but without being conscious that God is an infinitely exalted
Being, to whom one may not carelessly approach without collecting his thoughts, and
irreverently, without lifting up his soul. As the heavens, God's throne, are exalted above the
earth, the dwelling-place of man, so exalted is the heavenly God above earthly man, standing far
beneath him; therefore ought the words of a man before God to be few, - few, well-chosen
reverential words, in which one expresses his whole soul. The older language forms no plur. from
the subst. ‫ט‬ ַ‫ע‬ ְ‫מ‬ (fewness) used as an adv.; but the more recent treats it as an adj., and forms

28. from it the plur. ‫ים‬ ִ ַ‫ע‬ ְ‫מ‬ (here and in Psa_109:8, which bears the superscription le-david, but has
the marks of Jeremiah's style); the post-bibl. places in the room of the apparent adj. the particip.
adj. ‫ט‬ ֵ‫מוֹע‬ with the plur. ‫ים‬ ִ‫ט‬ ֲ‫וּע‬ ֽ‫מ‬ (‫ין‬ ִ‫ט‬ ֲ‫וּע‬ ֽ‫,)מ‬ e.g., Berachoth 61a: “always let the words of a man
before the Holy One (blessed be His name!) be few” (‫.)מוע‬ Few ought the words to be; for where
they are many, it is not without folly. This is what is to be understood, Ecc_5:2, by the
comparison; the two parts of the verse stand here in closer mutual relation than Ecc_7:1, - the
proverb is not merely synthetical, but, like Job_5:7, parabolical. The ‫ב‬ is both times that of the
cause. The dream happens, or, as we say, dreams happen ‫ן‬ָ‫י‬ְ‫נ‬ ִ‫ע‬‫ּב‬‫ר‬ ְ ; not: by much labour; for
labour in itself, as the expenditure of strength making one weary, has as its consequence, Ecc_
5:11, sweet sleep undisturbed by dreams; but: by much self-vexation in a man's striving after high
and remote ends beyond what is possible (Targ., in manifold project-making); the care of such a
man transplants itself from the waking to the sleeping life, it if does not wholly deprive him of
sleep, Ecc_5:11, Ecc_8:16, - all kinds of images of the labours of the day, and fleeting phantoms
and terrifying pictures hover before his mind. And as dreams of such a nature appear when a
man wearies himself inwardly as well as outwardly by the labours of the day, so, with the same
inward necessity, where many words are spoken folly makes its appearance. Hitzig renders ‫,כסיל‬
in the connection ְⅴ ‫,קוֹל‬ as adj.; but, like ‫יל‬ִ‫ו‬ ֱ‫א‬ (which forms an adj. ěvīlī), ‫כסיל‬ is always a
subst., or, more correctly, it is a name occurring always only of a living being, never of a
thing. There is sound without any solid content, mere blustering bawling without sense
and intelligence. The talking of a fool is in itself of this kind (Ecc_10:14); but if one who is
not just a fool falls into much talk, it is scarcely possible but that in this flow of words empty
bombast should appear.
Another rule regarding the worship of God refers to vowing.
STEDMAN, “
The Searcher continues, Verse 2:
Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for
God is in heaven, and you upon earth; therefore let your words be few. For a dream comes
with much business, and a fool's voice with many words. {Eccl 5:2-3 RSV}
Almost everybody takes the phrase, "God is in heaven." to mean that God is off
somewhere, high above the universe, watching the affairs of men, while we insignificant
pygmies struggle along down here. But that is not what this is saying at all. Heaven is not
some distant place. In the Bible, heaven always means the invisible world of reality, what
is going on that we cannot see but yet is really there. God is in that realm, and that is why
he sees much more than we do.
As I look out on this congregation this morning I see your bodies. They reveal certain
things -- some of you are interested, some of you are asleep. If I were to pray for you,

29. however, there is no way I could understand the tremendous complexity and depth of
struggle that many of you are going through. But God does. God not only sees you, he
sees what is inside of you, what even you cannot see. He sees your heredity, your
environment, your struggles. He sees every one of us that way. Remember that when you
are dealing with God. When he speaks to you through his word, that word is so much
more true than anything you can come up with as an explanation of life because God sees
all of life, from beginning to end. He is in heaven and you upon earth, so for heaven's
sake, don't start griping about what God has handed you. That is the Searcher's argument.
The saints have had to learn this lesson from time immemorial. It is reflected in a hymn
by William Cowper,
God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.
Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never ending skill,
He treasures up his bright designs,
And works his sovereign will.
You fearful saints, fresh courage take;
The clouds you so much dread,
are big with mercies, and shall break
In blessings on your head.
"God is in heaven and you upon earth; therefore let your words be few," the Searcher
says. "For a dream comes with much business." By this he means fantasies, and
fantasizing produces much activity but accomplishes nothing. So also a fool with his
many words of complaint accomplishes nothing.
Young Susan was an avid TV fan and one day she prayed at the table and thanked God
for the food they were about to receive and she added, “And speeded up or I’ll miss
Woody Woodpecker.”
It is not wise to make rash promises and be bargain hunting in prayer-Job 40:3-5. Do not
let emotions move you to all sorts of rash promises you cannot keep in times of calm
reflection.
We need to keep our earth bound reality in focus. We live under severe limitations and it
becomes superficial to try and get people to commit themselves on a level higher than
possible. We are to set our affections on things above where we are seated in the
heavenlies, but the fact is we are still on earth and need to watch going beyond what is
possible. Prov. 10:19.
Thomas Carlye, “It is a sad but sure truth that every time you speak of a fine purpose,
especially if with eloquence and to the admiration of bystanders, there is the less chance
of your ever making a fact of it in your own poor life.”
TRAPP, “Ecc_5:2 Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter [any] thing

30. before God: for God [is] in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.
Ver. 2. Be not rash with thy mouth.] From hearing, the Preacher proceeds to give directions for
speaking, whether it be of God or to him. For the first, the very heathens could say, Non loquendum de
Deo sine lumine, {a} We may not speak of God without a light - i.e., without a deliberate premeditation
and well advised consideration. In speaking of God, saith one, {b} our best eloquence is our silence.
And if we speak at all on this subject, saith another, {c} no words will so well become us as
those, quae ignorantiam nostram praetendunt, that most discover our small knowledge of him. "How
little a portion or pittance is heard of him," saith holy Job; {Job_26:14 } the Hebrew word signifies a
little bit or particle - nay, a little piece of a word, such as an echo resoundeth, "But the thunder of his
power who can understand?" it is ineffable, because inconceivable. Here, if ever,
“Claudicat ingenium, delirat linguaque mensque.” - Lucret.
But although Jerome {d} thinks it best to understand the Preacher here of a speaking of God, yet
others, and for better reason, conceive his meaning to be rather of a speaking to God by prayer, and
particularly by a vow, which implies a prayer, as the Greek words åõ÷ç and ðñïóåõ÷ç import. Here
then,
Let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything.] Heb., Let not thine heart through haste be so
troubled or disturbed, as to tumble over, and throw out words without wisdom, in a confused manner,
in a slubbering sort. But as there was "half an hour’s silence in heaven" when the seventh seal was
opened, {Rev_8:1 } and or ever the seven trumpets sounded, so should there be a sad and serious
weighing of our petitions before we utter them. Nescit poenitenda loqui, qui proferenda prius suo
tradidit examini, {e} He repents not of his requests who first duly deliberates what to request. Whereas
he that blurts out whatsoever lies uppermost - as some good men have done in their haste and heat of
passion (as Job, Job_6:5 ; David, Psa_116:11 ; Jeremiah,Jer_15:10 ; Jer_15:18 ;
Jonah, Jon_4:1-3 , who brawled with God instead of praying to him) - displeaseth God no less than
the Muscovy ministers do their hearers if they mispronounce but any syllable in their whole liturgy.
For God is in heaven, and thou upon earth.] He is the "high and Holy One that inhabiteth eternity,"
{Isa_57:15 } and thou art E palude sua procedens et repens vilis ranuncula, as Bernard hath it, a
base toad creeping or crawling out of a ditch: there is an infinite distance and disproportion between
him and thee; therefore see to it that thou come to him with all possible reverence, humility, and self-
abasement. See Job_42:6 1Ki_18:42 Mat_26:38 . It is observable that when the great Turk
comes into his mosque or temple, he lays by all his state, and hath none to attend him all the while.
Therefore let thy words be few.] But full, as the publicans were. {Luk_18:13 } O quam multa quam
paucis! Oh, how much in a little! said Cicero of Brutus’s Epistle. So may we say of that publican’s
prayer; how much more of the Lord’s prayer, set in fiat opposition to the heathenish battologies {f} and
vain repetitions usual with pagans and papagans. {See Trapp on "Mat_6:7 "} {See Trapp on "Mat_
6:8 "} {See Trapp on "Mat_6:9 "} It is reported of the ancient Christians of Egypt, Quod brevissimis
et raptim iaculatis orationibus uti voluerint, ne per moras evanesceret et hebetaretur intentio, {g} that
they made very short prayers that their devotion might not be dulled by longer doings. Cassian also
makes mention of certain religious persons in his time, Qui utilius censebant breves quidem orationes
sed creberrimas fieri, &c., who thought it best that our prayers should be short, but frequent: the one,
that there might beCONTINUAL intercourse maintained between God and us; the other, that by
shortness we might avoid the devil’s darts, which he throws especially at us, while we are praying.

31. These are good reasons, and more may be added out of Mat_6:5-15 , as that "our heavenly Father
knows what we need," &c. That which the Preacher here presseth is the transcendent excellence and
surpassing majesty of almighty God. "I am a great King," saith he, {Mal_1:14 } and I look to be
served like myself. Therefore "take with you words," {Hos_14:2 } neither over curious, nor over
careless, but such as are humble, earnest, direct to the point, avoiding vain babblings, needless and
endless repetitions, heartless digressions, tedious prolixities, wild and idle discourses of such
extemporary petitioners, as not disposing their matter in due order by premeditation, and with it being
word bound, are forced to go forward and backward, like hounds at a loss; and having hastily begun,
they know not how handsomely to make an end.
S.M. SECO D PART
1. 1 ETERNAL Power, whose high abode
Becomes the grandeur of a God,
Infinite lengths beyond the bounds
Where stars revolve their little rounds!
2 Thee while the first archangel sings,
He hides his face behind his wings,
And ranks of shining thrones around
Fall worshipping, and spread the ground.
3 Lord, what shall earth and ashes do?
We would adore our Maker too!
From sin and dust to thee we cry,
The Great, the Holy, and the High.
4 Earth from afar hath heard thy fame,
And worms have learned to lisp thy name:
But O! the glories of thy mind
Leave all our soaring thoughts behind!
5 God is in heaven, and men below:
Be short our tunes, our words be few!
A solemn reverence checks our songs,
And praise sits silent on our tongues.
3 As a dream comes when there are many cares,
so the speech of a fool when there are many words.
CLARKE, “For a dream cometh - That is, as dreams are generally the effect of the
business in which we have been engaged during the day; so a multitude of words
evidence the feeble workings of the foolish heart.

32. GILL, “For a dream cometh through the multitude of business,.... Or, "for as a
dream" (q), so Aben Ezra; as that comes through a multiplicity of business in the
daytime, in which the mind has been busied, and the body employed; and this brings on
dreams in the night season, which are confused and incoherent; sometimes the fancy is
employed about one thing, and sometimes another, and all unprofitable and useless, as
well as vain and foolish;
and a fool's voice is known by multitude of words; either his voice in
conversation, for a fool is full of words, and pours out his foolishness in a large profusion
of them; or his voice in prayer, being like a man's dream, confused, incoherent, and
rambling. The supplement, "is known", may be left out.
HENRY, “That the multiplying of words in our devotions will make them the sacrifices
of fools, Ecc_5:3. As confused dreams, frightful and perplexed, and such as disturb the
sleep, are an evidence of a hurry of business which fills our head, so many words and
hasty ones, used in prayer, are an evidence of folly reigning in the heart, ignorance of
and unacquaintedness with both God and ourselves, low thoughts of God, and careless
thoughts of our own souls. Even in common conversation a fool is known by the
multitude of words; those that know least talk most (Ecc_10:11), particularly in
devotion; there, no doubt, a prating fool shall fall (Pro_10:8, Pro_10:10), shall fall short
of acceptance. Those are fools indeed who think they shall be heard, in prayer, for their
much speaking.
JAMISON, “As much “business,” engrossing the mind, gives birth to incoherent
“dreams,” so many words, uttered inconsiderately in prayer, give birth to and betray “a
fool’s speech” (Ecc_10:14), [Holden and Weiss]. But Ecc_5:7 implies that the “dream” is
not a comparison, but the vain thoughts of the fool (sinner, Psa_73:20), arising from
multiplicity of (worldly) “business.” His “dream” is that God hears him for his much
speaking (Mat_6:7), independently of the frame of mind [English Version and Maurer].
fool’s voice — answers to “dream” in the parallel; it comes by the many “words”
flowing from the fool’s “dream.”
HAWKER,3-7, “For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool’s
voice is known by multitude of words. (4) When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not
to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. (5) Better is it
that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. (6) Suffer not
thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an
error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?
(7) For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities: but
fear thou God.
The divers vanities in dreams are what the Preacher is particularly marking in what is
here said, and which he speaks lightly of: but not those in which the fear of God is. The
scripture account of dreams, and visions of the night, are not what Solomon is speaking
of. We know that the Lord was graciously pleased to make use of them upon many and
various occasions of good: and when realized, they cease to be dreams; for the divine
testimony is upon them. And here they cannot deceive. Elihu saith, that God speaketh in
them: Job_33:15-16. And we have some blessed events said to have been first given in

33. dreams. The dream of Pharaoh made way for great events not only in the family of Israel,
but the church itself. Gen_41:1-16. The great promise of the Spirit is said to be poured
out in dreams, Joe_2:28. Yea, the name of Jesus was first given to Joseph in a dream.
Mat_1:20-21. If the Reader wishes to see more in confirmation of this doctrine, I refer
him to several scriptures: Gen_20:3; Gen_31:11; Gen_31:28; Gen_31:37; Jos_7:13; 1Sa_
28:6; 1Ki_3:5; Dan_2:4; Dan_4:5, etc. Respecting the subject of vows, we find, it formed
a part of the divine directions in this particular, with Israel in the wilderness, Nu 30.
Among the followers of Jesus, the solemn dedication of the soul to God in Christ, is the
only vow which we are authorized to make. The purchase of Christ’s blood is Christ’s
property; and as such, every vow truly such, is to glorify God in our body, and in our
spirit, which are his. 1Co_6:20. It is not very easy to determine what the Preacher meant
by the charge: Say not before the angel, that it was an error. An angel, in scripture,
means a messenger and hence Christ himself as such, is called the Messenger of the
Covenant. Mal_3:1. But whether Solomon had an eye to Christ, when thus speaking, is
not clear. However, his caution is good. And if every idle word is to be accounted for in
the day of judgment, rash and inconsiderate expressions of the mouth cause the soul to
sin. Mat_12:36.
YOUNG, "Dreams often follow the business of the preceding day,
and should not be regarded as a revelation. Mere dreams
were never intended to be guides to duty. " The prophet
that hath a dream, let him tell a dream ; and he that hath
my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the
chaff to the wheat ? saith the Lord." Jer. xxiii. 28.
" And a fool's voice," &c. As dreams are the result
of a previous day's employment, so words are the result
of the employment of the heart. The fool's words are
dreamy.
KRETZMANN, “v. 3. For a dream cometh through the multitude of business, when a person
is engrossed with the cares and anxieties of his work, his dreams are apt to mislead him into a land of
make believe; and a fool's voice is known by multitude of words, he believes the efficacy of prayer
depends upon the amount of language expended, whereas it depends upon the sincerity of the mind
resting upon the true devotion of faith.
PULPIT, “The first clause illustrates the second, the mark of comparison being simply the copula,
mere juxtaposition being deemed sufficient to denote the similitude, as in Ecc_7:1 ; Pro_17:3
;Pro_27:21 . For a dream cometh through (in consequence of) the multitude of business. The
verse is meant to confirm the injunction against vain babbling in prayer. Cares and anxieties in
business or other matters occasion disturbed sleep, murder the dreamless repose of the healthy
laborer, and produce all kinds of sick fancies and imaginations. Septuagint, "A dream cometh in
abundance of trial ( πειρασµοῦ );" Vulgate, Multas curas sequuntur somnia. And a fool's voice is
known by multitude of words. The verb should be supplied from the first clause, and not a new one
introduced, as in the Authorized Version, "And the voice of a fool (cometh) in consequence of many
words." As surely as excess of business produces fevered dreams, so excess of words, especially in
addresses to God, produces a fool's voice, i.e. foolish speech. St. Gregory points out the many ways
in which the mind is affected by images from dreams. "Sometimes," he says, "dreams are engendered
of fullness or emptiness of the belly, sometimes of illusion, sometimes of illusion and thought

34. combined, sometimes of revelation, while sometimes they are engendered of imagination, thought,
and revelation together" ('Moral.,' 8.42).
TRAPP, “Ecc_5:3 For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool’s voice [is
known] by multitude of words.
Ver. 3. For a dream cometh through the multitude of business.] When all the rest of the senses
are bound up by sleep, the soul entereth into the shop of the fancy, and operates there
usuallyACCORDI G to the businesses and employments of the day past; et fieri videntur quae
fieri tamen non videntur, saith Tertullian, {a} those things seem to be done in a dream, which yet are
not seen to be done at all: these are but vanae iactationes negotiosae animae, the idle tossings of a
busy mind. In like sort a fool, a heartless, sapless fellow, that being sensual and void of "the spirit of
grace and supplications," hath neither the affections nor expressions of holy prayer, "multiplies words
without knowledge," thinks to make out in words what he wants in worth, being ëáëåéí áñéóôïò,
ëåãåéí äå áäõíáôùôáôïò , as Plutarch saith of Alcibiades, one that could talk much but speak little:
"His voice is known by multitude of words." It is but a "voice" that is heard, it is but a sound that is
made, like the uncertain sound of a trumpet, that none can tell what it meaneth, what to make of
it. Corniculas citius in Africa, quam res rationesque solidus in Turriani scriptis reperias, saith one, {b}
so here if there be any worth of matter in the fool’s words, it is but by chance, as Aristotle saith, {c} that
dreams do by chance foretell those things that come to pass. Let it be our care to shun as much as
may be all lavish and superfluous talkativeness and tediousness, but especially in prayer, lest we
"offer the sacrifice of fools," and God be angry with us. For as it is not the loudness of a preacher’s
voice, but the weight and holiness of his matter, and the spirit of the preacher, that moves a wise and
intelligent hearer, so it is not the labour of the lips, but the travail of the heart that prevails with God.
The Baalites’ prayer was not more tedious than Elijah’s short, yet more pithy than short. And it was
Elijah that spake loud and sped in heaven. Let the fool learn, therefore, to show more wit in his
discourse than words, lest being known by his voice, he meet, as the nightingale did, with some
Laconian that will not let to tell him, Vox tu es, praeterea nihil, Thou art a voice, and that’s all.
4 When you make a vow to God, do not delay in
fulfilling it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow.
CLARKE, “When thou vowest a vow - When in distress and difficulty, men are apt
to promise much to God if he will relieve them; but generally forget the vow when the
distress or trouble is gone by.
GILL, “When thou vowest a vow unto God,.... Or "if thou vowest" (r), as the
Vulgate Latin version; for vows are free and indifferent things, which persons may make
or not; there is no precept for them in the word of God; instances and examples there
are, and they may be lawfully made, when they are in the power of man to perform, and
are not inconsistent with the will and word of God; they have been made by good men,
and were frequent in former times; but they seem not so agreeable to the Gospel
dispensation, having a tendency to ensnare the mind, to entangle men, and bring on
them a spirit of bondage, contrary to that liberty wherewith Christ has made them free;
and therefore it is better to abstain from them: holy resolutions to do the will and work

35. of God should be taken up in the strength of divine grace; but to vow this, or that, or the
other thing, which a man previous to his vow is not obliged unto, had better be let alone:
but however, when a vow is made that is lawful to be done,
defer not to pay it; that is, to God, to whom it is made, who expects it, and that
speedily, as Hannah paid hers; no excuses nor delays should be made;
for he hath no pleasure in fools; that is, the Lord hath no pleasure in them, he will
not be mocked by them; he will resent such treatment of him, as to vow and not pay, or
defer payment and daily, with him. So the Targum,
"for the Lord hath no pleasure in fools, because, they defer their vows, and do not pay;''
pay that which thou hast vowed; precisely and punctually; both as to the matter,
manner, and time of it.
HENRY, “Four things we are exhorted to in these verses: -
I. To be conscientious in paying our vows.
1. A vow is a bond upon the soul (Num_30:2), by which we solemnly oblige ourselves,
not only, in general, to do that which we are already bound to do, but, in some
particular instances, to do that to do which we were not under any antecedent
obligation, whether it respects honouring God or serving the interests of his kingdom
among men. When, under the sense of some affliction (Psa_66:14), or in the pursuit
of some mercy (1Sa_1:11), thou hast vowed such a vow as this unto God, know that
thou hast opened thy mouth unto the Lord and thou canst not go back; therefore,
(1.) Pay it; perform what thou hast promised; bring to God what thou hast dedicated
and devoted to him: Pay that which thou hast vowed; pay it in full and keep not
back any part of the price; pay it in kind, do not alter it or change it, so the law was,
Lev_27:10. Have we vowed to give our own selves unto the Lord? Let us then be as
good as our word, act in his service, to his glory, and not sacrilegiously alienate
ourselves. (2.) Defer not to pay it. If it be in the power of thy hands to pay it today,
leave it not till tomorrow; do not beg a day, nor put it off to a more convenient
season. By delay the sense of the obligation slackens and cools, and is in danger of
wearing off; we thereby discover a loathness and backwardness to perform our vow;
and qui non est hodie cras minus aptus erit - he who is not inclined today will be
averse tomorrow. The longer it is put off the more difficult it will be to bring
ourselves to it; death may not only prevent the payment, but fetch thee to judgment,
under the guilt of a broken vow, Psa_76:11.
JAMISON, “When thou vowest a vow unto God — Hasty words in prayer (Ecc_
5:2, Ecc_5:3) suggest the subject of hasty vows. A vow should not be hastily made (Jdg_
11:35; 1Sa_14:24). When made, it must be kept (Psa_76:11), even as God keeps His word
to us (Exo_12:41, Exo_12:51; Jos_21:45).
YOUNG, "
Vows are of the nature of a promissory oath. But
there is a distinction between an oath and a vow. In an
oath, man is the party, and God is invoked as a witness.
In a vow, God is both a party and a witness. A vow

36. must be to God only. It should be voluntary, and it
should be made in rehance on the grace of God. No
man may vow to do an unlawful act, or to do what may
lead to an unlawful act. Jephthah vowed to sacrifice what-
soever should come forth of the doors of his house to meet
him, if God should deliver the children of Amnion into
his hands, when he should return home in peace. The
event proved that the vow was rash, and therefore wrong.
In the exultation of her heart at her father's success, not
knowing his rash vow, his daughter, an only child, " came
out to meet him with timbrels and with dances." The
language of Scripture would lead us to believe that he
sacrificed his daughter under the mistaken idea that he
was bound to perform a sinful vow. " Defer not to pay."
This injunction pre-supposes that the vow has been law-
ful.
In Deut. xxiii. 21, 22, we learn that it is no sin not to
vow ; but if we vow lawfully, it is a sin not to pay the
vow.
KRETZMANN, “v. 4. When thou vowest a vow unto God, such vows among the Jews being
included in the precepts of their religion, Num_30:2 ; Deu_23:21-23 , defer not to pay it, this
admonition being directed against hasty and ill-considered vows; for He hath no pleasure in
fools, God wants no vows to be made in a spirit of levity, without regarding their sanctity; pay that
which thou hast vowed,Psa_66:13-14 .
PULPIT, “Koheleth passes on to give a warning concerning the making of vows, which formed a
great feature in Hebrew religion, and was the occasion of much irreverence and profanity. When thou
vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it. There is here plainly a reminiscence of Deu_23:21-
23 . Vows are not regarded as absolute duties which every one was obliged to undertake. They are of
a voluntary nature, but when made are to be strictly performed. They might consist of a promise to
dedicate certain things or persons to God (see Gen_38:20 ; Jdg_11:30 ), or to abstain from
doing certain things, as in the case of the Nazarites. The rabbinical injunctionQUOTED by our Lord
in the sermon on the mount (Mat_5:33 ), "Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the
Lord thine oaths," was probably levelled against profane swearing, or invoking God's Name lightly, but
it may include the duty of performing vows made to or in the Name of God. Our Lord does not
condemn the practice of corban, while noticing with rebuke a perversion of the custom (Mar_7:11 ).
For he hath no pleasure in fools. The non-fulfillment of a vow would prove a man to be impious, in
proverbial language "a fool," and as such God must regard him with displeasure. The clause in the
Hebrew is somewhat ambiguous, being literally, There is no pleasure (chephets) in fools; i.e. no one,
neither God nor man, would take pleasure in fools who make promises and never perform them. Or it
may be, There is no fixed will in fools; i.e. they waver and are undecided in purpose. But this rendering
of chephets appears to be very doubtful. Septuagint Ὅτι οὐκ ἔστι θέληµα ἐν ἄφροσι which reproduces
the vagueness of the Hebrew; Vulgate, Displicet enim ei (Deo) infidelis et stulta promissio. The
meaning is well represented in the Authorized Version, and we must complete the sense by supplying
in thought "on the part of God." Pay that which thou but vowed. Ben-Sira re-echoes the injunction
(Ecclesiasticus 18:22, 23), "Let nothing hinder thee to pay thy vow ( εὐχὴν ) in due time, and defer not
until death to be justified [i.e. to fulfill the vow]. Before making a vow ( εὔξασθαι ) prepare thyself; and

37. be not as one that tempteth the Lord." The verse is cited in the Talmud; and Dukes gives a parallel,
"Before thou vowest anything, consider the object of thy vow". So in Pro_20:25 we have, according
to some translations, "It is a snare to a man rashly to say, It is holy, and after vows to make inquiry."
Septuagint," Pay thou therefore whatsoever thou shalt have vowed ( ὅσα ἐάν εὔξη ),
STEDMAN, “One commentator says this refers to long prayers which are empty.
Secondly, he says, "Don't play games with God!" Verse 4:
When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it; for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay
what you vow. {Eccl 5:4 RSV}
God is a realist. He never plays games with us. He sees things the way they really are and
he tells us the way they are. God expects us to carry out our word. It is dangerous to make
superficial promises about what we are going to do if he will only do this or that. He
hears our promises, and he takes us at our word. There is a penalty when we do not keep
it. This ought to teach us to be careful about what we promise God. Do not do that, for he
is not pleased with fools.
CHARLES SIMEON, “DUTY OF PAYING OUR VOWS
Ecc_5:4-5 , When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools;
pay that which thou hast rowed. Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow
and not pay.
THE offering of vows was extremely common under the Mosaic dispensation; and many laws were
instituted in relation to them. By them persons bound themselves to the performance of certain things
which were not specifically appointed of God. Some were conditional, and depended on some mercy
which should be previously bestowed by God [Note: Gen_28:20-22 .1Sa_1:11 .]: and others
were absolute, and to be performed by the persons at all events. Respecting vows made by persons
who were under the government of others, especial provision was made, under what circumstances,
and to what extent, they should be binding [Note: Num_30:3-15 .]. In cases where the vows
themselves were not lawful, the person sinned, whether he performed them or not [Note: ver. 6.]; and
in some cases at least, the violation of them was less criminal than the observance [Note: Mat_
14:6-10 . Act_23:12 .]: but where they were not in themselves contrary to any command of God,
there they were to be punctually fulfilled, and without delay.
We propose, on the present occasion, to consider,
I. The vows which you have made [Note: This is intended for an Address after Confirmation: but
may be easily changed to a Preparatory Address.]—
These are doubtless very comprehensive—
[The things promised for us in our baptism, are contained under the following heads: first, that we

38. should “renounce the devil and all his works, the pomps and vanities of this wicked world, and all the
sinful lusts of the flesh: next, that we should believe all the articles of the Christian faith: and lastly, that
we should keep God’s holy will and commandments, and walk in the same all the days of our life.” In
our confirmation we take these vows upon ourselves. Let us consider them distinctly — — — Let us
often revolve them in our minds, and cry mightily to God for grace to assist us in the performance of
them: for “who is sufficient for these things [Note: It would be easy to divide this subject into three or
four i closing the first at this place; making the remaining part of this head into a second; forming the
second head into a third sermon; and the concluding address into a fourth.]?”— — —]
But the duties to which they bind us are highly reasonable—
[We universally consider children as bound to obey their parents, and servants their masters: but what
parent has such a claim upon us as God, since from him we derive our whole existence and support?
“in him we live and move and have our being:” or what master is entitled to such an unreserved
compliance with his will, as God, whom all the angels in heaven obey? God himself founds his claim to
our allegiance upon these very principles; “A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if I
then be a Father, where is mine honour? and if I be a Master, where is my fear? saith the Lord of
Hosts [Note: Mal_1:6 .].” And indeed the most unrestricted devotion of all our faculties to his service
is expressly called by him, not only an acceptable, but areasonable service [Note: Rom_12:1 .].]
These duties are binding upon us independently of any vows which we may make respecting them—
[They arise from our very relation to God as his creatures, and more especially as his redeemed
people. The potter is undoubtedly entitled to the use of the vessels which his own hands have formed.
Even if our services were ever so painful, we should have no right to complain: “the thing formed could
not, under any circumstances, presume to say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus
[Note: Rom_9:20 .]?” But, as we have before observed, the whole of what we have taken upon
ourselves is a truly reasonable service: and therefore it would be the height of impiety to hesitate for a
moment in giving up ourselves unreservedly to God.
But God has redeemed us also, and that too by the blood of his only dear Son; “We are not our own;
we are bought with a price; and therefore we are bound from this consideration also to glorify God with
our bodies and our spirits, which are his.” It is not optional with us, whether we will surrender to him
what he has so dearly purchased: we cannot alienate it, we cannot withhold it; whether we make any
vow respecting it, or not, we are equally bound to employ all our faculties for God: and the only reason
we wish you to take these vows upon you is, not to increase your obligations to serve him, much less
to create obligations which did not exist before, but to impress your own minds with a sense of those
duties which are indissolubly connected with every child of man.]

39. But to bind ourselves to these things by solemn vows is a duty truly and properly evangelical—
[Some would imagine this to be a legal act: and if we were to engage in it with a view to establish a
righteousness of our own, or with an idea of performing our duties in our own strength, it would then
indeed be legal: but if, in. humble dependence on divine aid, we devote ourselves to God, it is no other
act than that which God himself has specified as characterizing his people under the Gospel
dispensation [Note: Isa_19:21 .]. The very manner in which this act shall be performed is also
specified; and it is particularly foretold, that all who are duly influenced by Gospel principles shall
animate one another to the performance of it [Note: Jer_50:4-5 .].]
Such then are the vows which we have made: they are comprehensive indeed, but highly reasonable,
and relating only to things which are in themselves necessary; and the making of which is as much a
duty under the Gospel dispensation, as ever it was under the Law.
We now proceed to notice,
II. The importance of performing them—
But how shall this be painted in any adequate terms? In it is bound up,
1. Our comfort in life—
[Many foolishly imagine, that a life devoted unto God must be one continued scene of melancholy. But
is not the very reverse declared in Scripture? “The work of righteousness is peace,” says the prophet;,
and “the effect of righteousness is quietness and assurance for ever.” Yes, “Godliness has the
promise of the life that now is, as well as of that which is to come: and we will venture to appeal to the
consciences of all, whether even the greatest despisers of religion do not think that truly pious people
are happier than they? In the very nature of things it must be, that they who are delivered from the
tyranny of their lusts are happier than those who are yet bond-slaves of sin and Satan: their minds
must be more tranquil, and their consciences more serene. But if we take into theACCOUNT , that
God “will manifest himself to his faithful servants as he does not unto the world,” and
“shed abroad his love in their hearts,” and “fill them with a peace that passeth
understanding, and joy that is unspeakable,” we can have no doubt but that religion’s
ways are ways of pleasantness,” and that “in keeping God’s commandments there is great
reward.” In proof of this, we need only see with what delight David contemplated the paying of his
vows to God [Note: Psa_22:25 ; Psa_66:13-14 .]: and the more we resemble him in the ardour
of his piety, the more shall we resemble him also in the sublimity of his joys.]
2. Our hope in death—

40. [What must be the prospects of an ungodly man in his dying hour? When he looks back upon all his
duties neglected, all his vows broken, and his eternal interests sacrificed to the things of time and
sense, what must he think of the state to which he is hastening? He may try to comfort himself with his
own vain delusions; but he will feel a secret consciousness that he is building on the sand. Hence it is,
that those who will not give themselves up to God, are so averse to hear of death and judgment: they
know that, if the Scriptures be true, and God be such a God as he is there represented, they have
nothing to expect but wrath and fiery indignation. It is the godly only who can feel composed and
happy in the near approach of death: they, when the time of their departure is at hand, can look
forward with joy to “that crown of glory which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give them.” “Mark the
perfect man, and behold the upright; for the end of that man is peace.”]
3. Our welfare in eternity—
[“God will surely put a difference between those who served him here, and those who served him not.”
Hear what Solomon says to us in the text: “When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it:
for God hath no pleasure in fools,” No indeed; God can have no pleasure in those who never delighted
themselves in him. How is it possible that he should receive to his bosom those who spent their whole
lives in rebellion against him? He shews his abhorrence of them by the very name whereby he
designates them in the words before us: he calls them “fools,” and will leave them to reap the bitter
fruits of their folly. We may see how indignant God was against Zedekiah for violating a covenant
whereby he had engaged to hold the kingdom of Judah as tributary to the king of Babylon
[Note: Eze_17:11-21 . Cite the whole of this.]. What indignation then must he feel against those
who have violated all their engagements with him! If the neglect of vows made by compulsion to an
oppressive enemy be so criminal, what must be the neglect of vows voluntarily made to the Most High
God! But we need not collect this in a way of inference; for God himself has expressly told us, that
we must pay our vows to him; that we must do it without delay; that if we defer to pay them, it will be
imputed to us as a most heinoussin; and that he will surely require it at our hands [Note: Deu_
23:21-23 .]. And in the text itself he tells us, that however criminal it must be to feel such alienation
of heart from God as not to vow any vow to him, “it were better for us never to vow at all than to vow
and not pay.”]
Address—
1. The young who have been just confirmed—
[Remember, I beseech you, that “the vows of God are upon you.” And now hear what Almighty God
says unto you: “If a man vow a vow unto the Lord, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond, he
shall not break his word: he shall doACCORDING to all that proceodeth out of his mouth

41. [Note: Num_30:2 .].” Now you, my Beloved, have “bound your souls with a bond;” you have “sworn
unto the Lord, and cannot go back;” remember then that you “must not break your words;” you must,
you “shall do according to all that has proceeded out of your mouths.” O bear in mind the particular
vows which you have made [Note: See the Catechism.], and set yourselves diligently to the
performance of them. See how determined David was, under your circum-stances [Note: Psa_
119:106 .]; and make him the model of your conduct. And begin now without delay to prepare for
attending on the Lord’s Supper. Your Confirmation is but a step to something beyond, even to a
dedication of yourselves to God at the table of the Lord. I mean not that you are to be hasty in taking
this further step; because you ought doubtless to be well instructed in the nature of that ordinance
before you partake of it; and to be fully determined through grace to live, not unto yourselves, but unto
Him who died for you. But that you should keep this in view, and with all convenient speed renew at
the Lord’s table the vows which you have now made, the holy Psalmist informs you [Note: Psa_
116:12-14 ; Psa_116:16-19 . Particularly notice ver. 16.]: and his resolutions on the subject I
earnestly recommend for your adoption.]
2. The elder part of this audience—
[To you the younger will look for instruction and encouragement in the ways of God. But many who
desire to have their children confirmed, would actually oppose them if they should begin to execute
their vows. If a young person should begin to renounce the world, to mortify the flesh, and to live by
faith on the Son of God, the generality of persons would rather be alarmed than comforted, and would
exert their influence to divert his thoughts from such ways. But beware how any of you put a
stumbling-block in the way of your children, either by your influence or example. Beware how, after
having instigated them to vow unto the Lord, you tempt them to forget and violate their vows. Rather
take occasion from the confirmation of your children to look back upon your own conduct, and to see
how you have kept your own vows. Do not imagine that a lapse of years can make any difference in
your obligations to serve the Lord, or that, because you have forgotten your vows, God has forgot
them too: they are all written in the book of his remembrance; and every word which we have
addressed to the young people in reference to this matter, is applicable to you; yea, to you it applies
with double force, because your more advanced age qualifies you so much better to see and follow the
path of duty. I call upon you then to watch over your children, and to promote, by every possible
means, their progress in the divine life. Encourage them to read the Scriptures diligently, to give
themselves much to meditation and prayer, and to commence in earnest that race, which must be run
by all who would obtain the prize.]
TRAPP, “Ecc_5:4 When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for [he hath] no
pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.

42. Ver. 4. When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it.] {See Trapp on "Deu_23:22 "} It
is in thy power to vow or not to vow. Vovere nusquam est praeceptum, saith Bellarmine. {a} We have
no command to vow. That of David, "Vow and perform to the Lord your God," is not purum
praeceptum, saith Mr Cartwright, a pure precept, but like that other, "Be angry, and sin not"; where
anger is not commanded, but limited. So neither are we simply commanded to vow, but having
voluntarily vowed, we may not defer to pay it; delays are taken for denials, excuses for refusals.
For he hath no pleasure in fools.] He "needs" them as little as King Achish did; {1Sa_21:15 } he
"abhors" them {Psa_5:5 } as deceitful workers, as mockers of God. Jephthah in vovendo fuit stultus,
inpraestando impius: {b} Jephthah was a fool invowing, and wicked in performing. But he that vows a
thing lawful and possible, and yet defers to perform it, or seeks an evasion, is two fools for failing;
since -
K&D, ““When thou hast made a vow to God, delay not to fulfil it; for there is no pleasure
in fools: that which thou hast vowed fulfil. Better that thou vowest not, than that thou
vowest and fulfillest not. Let not thy mouth bring thy body into punishment; and say not
before the messenger of God that it was precipitation: why shall God be angry at thy talk,
and destroy the work of thy hands? For in many dreams and words there are also many
vanities: much rather fear God!” If they abstained, after Shabbath 30b, from treating the
Book of Koheleth as apocryphal, because it begins with ‫דברי‬‫דברי‬‫דברי‬‫דברי‬ ‫תורה‬‫תורה‬‫תורה‬‫תורה‬ (cf. at Ecc_1:3) and
closes in the same way, and hence warrants the conclusion that that which lies between will also
be ‫תורה‬‫תורה‬‫תורה‬‫תורה‬‫דברי‬‫דברי‬‫דברי‬‫דברי‬ , this is in a special manner true of the passage before us regarding the vow which, in
thought and expression, is the echo of Deu_23:22-24. Instead of kaashěr tiddor, we find there
the words ki tiddor; instead of lelohim (= lěělohim, always only of the one true God), there
we have lahovah ělohěcha; and instead of al-teahher, there lo teahher. There the reason is:
“for the Lord thy God will surely require it of thee; and it would be sin in thee;” here: for
there is no pleasure in fools, i.e., it is not possible that any one, not to speak of God,
could have a particular inclination toward fools, who speak in vain, and make promises
in which their heart is not, and which they do not keep. Whatever thou vowest,
continues Koheleth, fulfil it; it is better (Ewald, §336a) that thou vowest not, than to vow
and not to pay; for which the T‫פ‬ra says: “If thou shalt forbear to vow, it shall be no sin in
thee” (Deu_23:22). ‫ר‬ ֶ‫ד‬ֶ‫נ‬‫ר‬ ֶ‫ד‬ֶ‫נ‬‫ר‬ ֶ‫ד‬ֶ‫נ‬‫ר‬ ֶ‫ד‬ֶ‫,נ‬ which, according to the stem-word, denotes first the vow of
consecration of setting apart (cogn. Arab. nadar, to separate, ‫נזר‬‫נזר‬‫נזר‬‫,נזר‬ whence ‫יר‬ִ‫ז‬ָ‫נ‬‫יר‬ִ‫ז‬ָ‫נ‬‫יר‬ִ‫ז‬ָ‫נ‬‫יר‬ִ‫ז‬ָ‫,)נ‬ the so-called ‫ר‬ ָ‫ס‬ ֱ‫א‬‫ר‬ ָ‫ס‬ ֱ‫א‬‫ר‬ ָ‫ס‬ ֱ‫א‬‫ר‬ ָ‫ס‬ ֱ‫א‬
[vid. Num_30:3], is here a vow in its widest sense; the author, however, may have had, as there,
the law (cf. Ecc_5:2-4), especially shalme něděr, in view, i.e., such peace-offerings as the law

43. does not enjoin, but which the offerer promises (cogn. with the shalme nedavah, i.e., such
as rest on free-will, but not on any obligation arising from a previous promise) from his
own inclination, for the event that God may do this or that for him. The verb ‫ם‬ ֵ ִ‫שׁ‬‫ם‬ ֵ ִ‫שׁ‬‫ם‬ ֵ ִ‫שׁ‬‫ם‬ ֵ ִ‫שׁ‬ is not,
however, related to this name for sacrifices, as ‫א‬ ֵ ִ‫ח‬‫א‬ ֵ ִ‫ח‬‫א‬ ֵ ִ‫ח‬‫א‬ ֵ ִ‫ח‬ is to ‫את‬ ָ ַ‫ח‬‫את‬ ָ ַ‫ח‬‫את‬ ָ ַ‫ח‬‫את‬ ָ ַ‫,ח‬ but denotes the fulfilling or
discharge as a performance fully accordant with duty. To the expression ‫א‬ ְ‫ט‬ ֵ‫ח‬‫א‬ ְ‫ט‬ ֵ‫ח‬‫א‬ ְ‫ט‬ ֵ‫ח‬‫א‬ ְ‫ט‬ ֵ‫ח‬ ... ‫היה‬‫היה‬‫היה‬‫היה‬ (twice
occurring in the passage of Deut. referred to above) there is added the warning: let not thy
mouth bring thy body into sin. The verb nathan, with Lamed and the inf. following,
signifies to allow, to permit, Gen_20:6; Jdg_1:34; Job_31:30. The inf. is with equal right
translated: not to bring into punishment; for ‫א‬ ָ‫ט‬ ָ‫ח‬‫א‬ ָ‫ט‬ ָ‫ח‬‫א‬ ָ‫ט‬ ָ‫ח‬‫א‬ ָ‫ט‬ ָ‫ח‬ - the syncop. Hiph. of which, according to
an old, and, in the Pentateuch, favourite form, is ‫טיא‬ ֲ‫לח‬‫טיא‬ ֲ‫לח‬‫טיא‬ ֲ‫לח‬‫טיא‬ ֲ‫לח‬ - signifies to sin, and also (e.g., Gen_
39:9; cf. the play on the word, Hos_8:11) to expiate sin; sin-burdened and guilty, or liable to
punishment, mean the same thing. Incorrectly, Ginsburg, Zöck., and others: “Do not suffer thy
mouth to cause thy flesh to sin;” for (1) the formula: “the flesh sins,” is not in accordance with
the formation of O.T. ideas; the N.T., it is true, uses the expression σᆭρξ ᅋµαρτίας, Rom_8:3,
but not ᅋµαρτάνουσα, that which sins is not the flesh, but the will determined by the
flesh, or by fleshly lust; (2) the mouth here is not merely that which leads to sin, but the
person who sins through thoughtless haste, - who, by his haste, brings sin upon his
flesh, for this suffers, for the breach of vow, by penalties inflicted by God; the mouth is,
like the eye and the hand, a member of the ᆉλον τᆵ σራµα (Mat_5:24.), which is here
called ‫בשׂר‬‫בשׂר‬‫בשׂר‬‫;בשׂר‬ the whole man in its sensitive nature (opp. ‫ב‬ ֵ‫ל‬‫ב‬ ֵ‫ל‬‫ב‬ ֵ‫ל‬‫ב‬ ֵ‫,ל‬ Ecc_2:3; Ecc_11:10; Pro_14:30) has to
suffer chastisement on account of that which the mouth hath spoken. Gesen. compares this
passage, correctly, with Deu_24:4, for the meaning peccati reum facere; Isa_29:21 is also similar.
The further warning refers to the lessening of the sin of a rash vow unfulfilled as an
unintentional, easily expiable offence: “and say not before the messenger of God that it was a
‫ה‬ָ‫ג‬ָ‫ג‬ ְ‫,שׁ‬ a sin of weakness.” Without doubt hammƮlāch is an official byname of a priest, and that
such as was in common use at the time of the author. But as for the rest, it is not easy to
make the matter of the warning clear. That it is not easy, may be concluded from this,
that with Jewish interpreters it lies remote to think of a priest in the word hammƮlāch. By
this word the Targ. understands the angel to whom the execution of the sentence of
punishment shall be committed on the day of judgment; Aben Ezra: the angel who
writes down all the words of a man; similarly Jerome, after his Jewish teacher. Under
this passage Ginsburg has an entire excursus regarding the angels. The lxx and Syr.
translate “before God,” as if the words of the text were ‫אל‬‫ד‬ֶ‫ג‬ֶ‫נ‬ , Psa_138:1, or as if hammalach
could of itself mean God, as presenting Himself in history. Supposing that hammalach is
the official name of a man, and that of a priest, we appear to be under the necessity of

44. imagining that he who is charged with the obligation of a vow turns to the priest with the
desire that he would release him from it, and thus dissolve (bibl. ‫יר‬ ִ‫פ‬ ֵ‫,ה‬ Mishnic ‫יר‬ ִ ִ‫)ה‬ the
vow. But there is no evidence that the priests had the power of releasing from vows. Individual
cases in which a husband can dissolve the vow of his wife, and a father the vow of his daughter,
are enumerated in Num 30; besides, in the traditional law, we find the sentence: “A vow, which
one who makes it repents of, can be dissolved by a learned man (‫,)חכם‬ or, where none is present,
by three laymen,” Bechoroth 36b; the matter cannot be settled by any middle person (‫,)שׁליח‬ but
he who has taken the vow (‫)הנודר‬ must appear personally, Jore deah c. 228, §16. Of the priest as
such nothing is said here. Therefore the passage cannot at all be traditionally understood of an
official dissolution of an oath. Where the Talm. applies it juristically, Shabbath 32b, etc., Rashi
explains hammalach by gizbar shěl-haqdesh, i.e., treasurer of the revenues of the sanctuary;
and in the Comm. to Koheleth he supposes that some one has publicly resolved on an act
of charity (‫,)צדקה‬ i.e., has determined it with himself, and that now the representative of the
congregation (‫)שׁליח‬ comes to demand it. But that is altogether fanciful. If we proceed on the
idea that liphne hammalach is of the same meaning as liphne hakkohen, Lev_27:8, Lev_
27:11; Num_9:6; Num_27:2, etc., we have then to derive the figure from such passages
relating to the law of sacrifice as Num_15:22-26, from which the words ki shegagah hi
(Num_15:25) originate. We have to suppose that he who has made a vow, and has not
kept it, comes to terms with God with an easier and less costly offering, since in the
confession (‫וּי‬ ִ‫)ו‬ which he makes before the priest he explains that the vow was a shegagah, a
declaration that inconsiderately escaped him. The author, in giving it to be understood
that under these circumstances the offering of the sacrifice is just the direct contrary of a
good work, calls to the conscience of the inconsiderate ‫:נודר‬ why should God be angry on
account of thy voice with which thou dost excuse thy sins of omission, and destroy (vid., regarding
‫ל‬ ֵ ִ‫ח‬ under Isa_10:27) the work of thy hands (vid., under Psa_90:17), for He destroys what thou
hast done, and causes to fail what thou purposest? The question with lammah resembles those
in Ezr_4:22; Ezr_7:23, and is of the same kind as at Ecc_7:16.; it leads us to consider
what a mad self-destruction that would be (Jer_44:7, cf. under Isa_1:5).
The reason for the foregoing admonition now following places the inconsiderate vow
under the general rubric of inconsiderate words. We cannot succeed in interpreting Ecc_
5:6 [7] (in so far as we do not supply, after the lxx and Syr. with the Targ.: ne credas; or
better, with Ginsburg, ‫היא‬ = it is) without taking one of the vavs in the sense of “also.”
That the Heb. vav, like the Greek καί, the Lat. et, may have this comparative or
intensifying sense rising above that which is purely copulative, is seen from e.g., Num_
9:14, cf. also Jos_14:11. In many cases, it is true, we are not under the necessity of
translating vav by “also;” but since the “and” here does not merely externally connect,
but expresses correlation of things homogeneous, an “also” or a similar particle
involuntarily substitutes itself for the “and,” e.g., Gen_17:20 (Jerome): super Ismael
quoque; Exo_29:8 : filios quoque; Deu_1:32 : et nec sic quidem credidistis; Deu_9:8 :
nam et in Horeb; cf. Jos_15:19; 1Sa_25:43; 2Sa_19:25; 1Ki_2:22; 1Ki_11:26; Isa_49:6,

45. “I have also given to thee.” But there are also passages in which it cannot be otherwise
translated than by “also.” We do not reckon among these Psa_31:12, where we do not
translate “also my neighbours,” and Amo_4:10, where the words are to be translated,
“and that in your nostrils.” On the contrary, Isa_32:7 is scarcely otherwise to be
translated than “also when the poor maketh good his right,” like 2Sa_1:23, “also in their
death they are not divided.” In 2Ch_27:5, in like manner, the two vavs are scarcely
correlative, but we have, with Keil, to translate, “also in the second and third year.” And
in Hos_8:6, ‫הוּא‬ְ‫,ו‬ at least according to the punctuation, signifies “also it,” as Jerome translates:
ex Israele et ipse est. According to the interpunction of the passage before us, ְ‫ר‬ ַ‫ה‬ ְ‫וּד‬ is the pred.,
and thus, with the Venet., is to be translated: “For in many dreams and vanities there are
also many words.” We could at all events render the vav, as also at Ecc_10:11; Exo_16:6, as
vav apod.; but ‫וגו‬‫ּב‬‫ר‬ ְ has not the character of a virtual antecedent, - the meaning of the
expression remains as for the rest the same; but Hitzig's objection is of force against it (as
also against Ewald's disposition of the words, like the of Symmachus, Jerome, and
Luther: “for where there are many dreams, there are also vanities, and many words”), that
it does not accord with the connection, which certainly in the first place requires a reason
referable to inconsiderate talk, and that the second half is, in fact, erroneous, for between
dreams and many words there exists no necessary inward mutual relation. Hitzig, as
Knobel before him, seeks to help this, for he explains: “for in many dreams are also
vanities, i.e., things from which nothing comes, and (the like) in many words.” But not only is
this assumed carrying forward of the ‫ב‬ doubtful, but the principal thing would be made a
secondary matter, and would drag heavily. The relation in _Ecc_5:2 is different where vav is
that of comparison, and that which is compared follows the comparison. Apparently the text
(although the lxx had it before them, as it is before us) has undergone dislocation, and is thus to
be arranged: ‫והבלים‬ ‫הרבה‬ ‫ודברים‬ ‫חלמת‬ ‫ברב‬ ‫:כי‬ for in many dreams and many words there are also
vanities, i.e., illusions by which one deceives himself and others. Thus also Bullock renders, but
without assigning a reason for it. That dreams are named first, arises from a reference back to
Ecc_5:2, according to which they are the images of what a man is externally and mentally busied
and engaged with. But the principal stress lies on ‫הרבה‬ ‫,ודברים‬ to which also the too rash,
inconsiderate vows belong. The pred. ‫,והבלים‬ however, connects itself with “vanity of vanities,”
which is Koheleth's final judgment regarding all that is earthly. The ‫כי‬ following connects itself
with the thought lying in 6a, that much talk, like being much given to dreams, ought to be
avoided: it ought not to be; much rather (imo, Symm. ᅊλλά) fear God, Him before whom one
should say nothing, but that which contains in it the whole heart.
5 It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not

46. fulfill it.
CLARKE, “Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, etc. - We are under constant
obligations to live to God; no vow can make it more so. Yet, there may be cases in which
we should bind ourselves to take up some particular cross, to perform some particular
duty, to forego some particular attachment that does not tend to bring our souls nearer
to God. Then, if fully determined, and strong in faith relative to the point, bind and hold
fast; but if not fully, rationally, and conscientiously determined, “do not suffer thy mouth
to cause thy soul to sin.”
GILL, “Better is it that thou shouldest not vow,.... For a vow is an arbitrary thing;
a man is not bound to make it, and while he vows not, it is in his own power, and at his
option, whether he will do this or that, or not; but when he has once vowed, he is then
brought under an obligation, and must perform; see Act_5:4; and therefore it is better
not to vow; it is more acceptable to God, and, it is better for a man;
than that thou shouldest vow and not pay; for this shows great weakness and folly,
levity and inconstancy, and is resented by the Lord.
HENRY, “Two reasons are here given why we should speedily and cheerfully pay our
vows: - (1.) Because otherwise we affront God; we play the fool with him, as if we
designed to put a trick upon him; and God has no pleasure in fools. More is implied than
is expressed; the meaning is, He greatly abhors such fools and such foolish dealings. Has
he need of fools? No; Be not deceived, God is not mocked, but will surely and severely
reckon with those that thus play fast and loose with him. (2.) Because otherwise we
wrong ourselves, we lose the benefit of the making of the vow, nay, we incur the penalty
for the breach of it; so that it would have been better a great deal not to have vowed,
more safe and more to our advantage, than to vow and not to pay. Not to have vowed
would have been but an omission, but to vow and not pay incurs the guilt of treachery
and perjury; it is lying to God, Act_5:4.
JAMISON, “(Deu_23:21, Deu_23:23).
PULPIT, “Better is it that thou shouldest not vow. There is no harm in not vowing (Deu_23:22 );
but a vow once made becomes of the nature of an oath, and its non-performance is a sin and
sacrilege, and incurs the punishment of false swearing. We gather from the Talmud that frivolous
excuses for the evasion of vows were very common, and called for stern repression, One sees this in
our Lord's references (Mat_5:33-37 ; Mat_23:16-22 ). St. Paul severely reprehends those
women who break their vow of widowhood, "having condemnation, because they have rejected their
first faith" (1Ti_5:12 ).
KDETZMANN, “v. 5. Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, Deu_23:22 , not make rash
promises supported by an obligation before the Lord, than that thou shouldest vow and not
pay, provided the vow is in agreement with the great precepts of God's Word, especially the command
of love.

47. STEDMAN, “In fact, the Searcher goes on to say,
It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. Let not your
mouth lead you into sin, and do not say before the messenger [the priest, the pastor or
the representative of God] it was a mistake; {Eccl 5:5-6a RSV}
God is not offended by a non-vow. A non-decision, which is real, that is, based on a real image of
self that knows one is not moved to make such a decision is more pleasing to God than superficial
vows. It is better not to make a decision than to make it and then break it.
Do not say, "I didn't really mean that." How many have said this about their wedding
vows. God takes you at your word.
TRAPP, “Ecc_5:5 Better [is it] that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not
pay.
Ver. 5. Better it is that thou shouldest not vow,] q.d., Who bade thee be so forward? Why wouldst
thou become a voluntary votary, and so rashly engage to the loss of thy liberty and the offence of thy
God, who expected thou shouldst have kept touch, and not have dealt thus slipperily with him? {a}
"Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God." {Act_5:4 } "As the truth of Christ is in me," saith Paul;
{2Co_11:10 } so he binds himself by an oath, as the learned have observed. And "as God is true,
our word toward you was not yea and nay; for the Son of God who was preached among you by me
was not yea and nay; but in him all the promises of God are yea and amen." {2Co_1:19-20 } Why,
what of that? some might say; and what is all this to the purpose? Very much, for it implieth that what a
Christian doth promise to men (how much more to God?) he is bound by the earnest penny of God’s
Spirit to perform. He dares no more alter or falsify his word than the Spirit of God can lie. And as he
looks that God’s promises should be made good to him, so is he careful to pay what he hath vowed to
God, since his is a covenant of mercy, ours of obedience; and if he shall be all-sufficient to us, we
must be altogether his. {Son_2:16 }
6 Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. And do not
protest to the temple messenger, "My vow was a
mistake." Why should God be angry at what you say
and destroy the work of your hands?
BARNES, “Suffer not thy mouth ... - i. e., Do not make rash vows which may
hereafter be the cause of evasion and prevarication, and remain unfulfilled.
Before the angel - The Septuagint and some other versions render “before the face
of God,” meaning a spiritual being representing the presence of God, a minister of divine
justice Exo_23:21, such a one as inflicted judgment upon David 2Sa_24:17. Others, with
less probability, understand the angel to be a priest, and refer to Mal_2:7.

48. CLARKE, “Neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error - Nor think
of saying “before the cruel angel, who shall exercise authority over thee in the judgment
of the great day, that thou didst it through ignorance.” - Chaldee. I believe by the angel
nothing else is intended than the priest, whose business it was to take cognizance of
vows and offerings. See Lev_5:4, Lev_5:5. In Mal_2:7, the priest is called the “angel of
the Lord of hosts.”
GILL, “Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin,.... That is, himself, who is
corrupt and depraved; either by making a rash vow, which it is not in his power to keep;
or such is the corruption of his nature, and the weakness of the flesh, that he cannot
keep it; or by making sinful excuses after he has made the vow, and so is guilty of lying,
or false swearing, or other sins of the flesh. Jarchi by "flesh" understands his children,
on whom his iniquity may be visited and punished; and the Targum interprets this
punishment of the judgment or condemnation of hell; see Pro_20:25;
neither say thou before the angel that it was an error; that it was done
ignorantly and through mistake: that it was not intended, and that this was not the
meaning of the vow; and therefore desires to be excused performing it, or to offer a
sacrifice in lieu of it. Interpreters are divided about the angel before whom such an
excuse should not be made. Some think angel is put for angels in general, in whose
presence, and before whom, as witnesses, vows are made; and who were signified by the
cherubim in the sanctuary, where they were to be performed, and who are present in the
worshipping assemblies of saints, where these things are done, 1Ti_5:21; others think
the guardian angel is meant, which they suppose every man has; and others that Christ,
the Angel of the covenant, is designed, who is in the midst of his people, sees and knows
all that is done by them, and will not admit of their excuses; but it is most probable the
priest is intended, called the angel, or messenger, of the Lord of hosts, Mal_2:7; to
whom such who had made vows applied to be loosed from them, acknowledging their
error in making them; or to offer sacrifice for their sin of ignorance, Lev_5:4;
wherefore should God be angry at thy voice; either in making a rash and sinful
vow, or in excusing that which was made;
and destroy the work of thine hands? wrought with success, for which the vow was
made; and so, instead of its succeeding, is destroyed, and comes to nothing. Vows made
by the Jews were chiefly about their houses, or fields, or cattle; see Lev_27:28; and so
the destruction suggested may signify the curse that God would bring upon any of these,
for excusing or not performing the vow made.
HENRY, “. To be cautious in making our vows. This is necessary in order to our being
conscientious in performing them, Ecc_5:6. 1. We must take heed that we never vow
anything that is sinful, or that may be an occasion of sin, for such a vow is ill-made and
must be broken. Suffer not thy mouth, by such a vow, to cause thy flesh to sin, as
Herod's rash promise caused him to cut off the head of John the Baptist. 2. We must not
vow that which, through the frailty of the flesh, we have reason to fear we shall not be
able to perform, as those that vow a single life and yet know not how to keep their vow.
Hereby, (1.) They shame themselves; for they are forced to say before the angel, It was
an error, that either they did not mean or did not consider what they said; and, take it

49. which way you will, it is bad enough. “When thou hast made a vow, do not seek to evade
it, nor find excuses to get clear of the obligation of it; say not before the priest, who is
called the angel or messenger of the Lord of hosts, that, upon second thoughts, thou
hast changed thy mind, and desirest to be absolved from the obligation of thy vow; but
stick to it, and do not seek a hole to creep out at.” Some by the angel understand the
guardian angel which they suppose to attend every man and to inspect what he does.
Others understand it of Christ, the Angel of the covenant, who is present with his people
in their assemblies, who searches the heart, and cannot be imposed upon; provoke him
not, for God's name is in him, and he is represented as strict and jealous, Exo_23:20,
Exo_23:21. (2.) They expose themselves to the wrath of God, for he is angry at the voice
of those that thus lie unto him with their mouth and flatter him with their tongue, and is
displeased at their dissimulation, and destroys the works of their hands, that is, blasts
their enterprises, and defeats those purposes which, when they made these vows, they
were seeking to God for the success of. If we treacherously cancel the words of our
mouths, and revoke our vows, God will justly overthrow our projects, and walk contrary,
and at all adventures, with those that thus walk contrary, and at all adventures with him.
It is a snare to a man, after vows, to make enquiry.
JAMISON, “thy flesh — Vow not with “thy mouth” a vow (for example, fasting), which
the lusts of the flesh (“body,” Ecc_2:3, Margin) may tempt thee to break (Pro_20:25).
angel — the “messenger” of God (Job_33:23); minister (Rev_1:20); that is, the priest
(Mal_2:7) “before” whom a breach of a vow was to be confessed (Lev_5:4, Lev_5:5). We,
Christians, in our vows (for example, at baptism, the Lord’s Supper, etc.) vow in the
presence of Jesus Christ, “the angel of the covenant” (Mal_3:1), and of ministering
angels as witnesses (1Co_11:10; 1Ti_5:21). Extenuate not any breach of them as a slight
error.
YOUNG, "Let not thy mouth (in vowing) cause thy flesh — thy
corrupt nature — to sin (in not performing.) Some suppose
that the guardian angel is here meant. Some refer the
word " angel " to the Angel of the Covenant — Christ.
(See Ex. xxiii. 20—22.) But it more likely means God's
minister. The priest was called " the messenger of the
Lord of Hosts." Mai. ii. 7. Angel is but another name
for messenger. John wrote to the angels of the seven
churches of Asia, i. e. to the pastors of those churches.
" It was an error.'''' It was a mistake. Hamilton says,
{in loco,) " Some in a fit of fervour utter vows which they
forget to pay ; and when reminded of their promise by the
angel of the church, (the priest or his messenger,) they
protest that there must be some mistake ; they repudiate
the vow, and say, 'it was an error.'" "No man may
vow to do anything forbidden in the word of God, or what
would hinder any duty therein commanded, or which is
not in his own power, and for the performance whereof
he hath no promise or ability from God. Li which re-
spects, popish monastical vows of perpetual single life,

50. professed poverty, and regular obedience, are so far from
being degrees of higher perfection, that they are super-
stitious and sinful snares, in which no Christian may en-
tangle himself."*
PULPIT, “Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin. "Thy flesh" is equivalent to "thyself," the
whole personality, the idea of the flesh, as a distinct part of the man, sinning, being alien from Old
Testament ontology. The injunction means—Do not, by uttering rash or inconsiderate vows, which you
afterwards evade or cannot fulfill, bring sin upon yourself, or, as others render, bring punishment upon
yourself. Septuagint, "Suffer not thy mouth to Cause thy flesh to sin ( τοῦ ὠξαµαρτῆσαι τὴν σάρκα
σου );" Vulgate, Ut peccare facias carnem tuam. Another interpretation, but not so suitable, is this—Do
not let thy mouth (i.e. thy appetite) lead thee to break the vow of abstinence, and indulge in meat or
drink from which (as, e.g; a Nazarite) thou wast bound to abstain. Neither say thou before the angel,
that it was an error. If we take "angel" (malak) in the usual sense (and there seems no very forcible
reason why we should not), it must mean the angel of God in whose special charge you are placed, or
the angel who was supposed to preside over the altar of worship, or that messenger of God whose
duty it is to watch man's doings and to act as the minister of punishment (2Sa_24:16 ). The
workings of God's providence are often attributed to angels; and sometimes the names of God and
angel are interchanged (seeGen_16:9 , Gen_16:13 ; Gen_18:2 , Gen_18:3 , etc.; Exo_
3:2 , Exo_3:4 ; Exo_23:20 , etc.). Thus the Septuagint here renders, "Say not before the face of
God ( πρὸ = προσώπου τοῦ Θεοῦ )." If this interpretation be allowed, we have an argument for the
literal explanation of the much-disputed passage in 1Co_11:10 , διὰ τοὺς ἀγγέλους . Thus, too, in
'The Testaments of the XII. Patriarchs,' we have, "The Lord is witness, and his angels are witnesses,
concerning the word of your mouth" ('Levi,' 19). But most commentators consider that the word here
means "messenger" of Jehovah, in the sense of priest, the announcer of the Divine Law, as in the
unique passage Mal_2:7 . Traces of a similar use of ἄγγελος may be found in the New Testament
(Rev_1:20 ; Rev_2:1 , etc.). According to the first interpretation, the man comes before God with
his excuse; according to the second, he comes to the priest, and confesses that he was thoughtless
and overhasty in making his vow, and desires to be released from it, or, at any rate, by some means to
evade its fulfillment. His excuse may possibly look to the eases mentioned in Num_15:22 , etc; and
he may wish to urge that the vow was made in ignorance, and that therefore he was not responsible
for its incomplete execution. We do not know that a priest or any officer of the temple had authority to
release from the obligation of a vow, so that the excuse made "before" him would seem to be
objectless, while the evasion of a solemn promise made in the Name of God might well be said to be
done in the presence of the observing and recording angel. The Vulgate rendering, Non eat
providentia, makes the manACCOUNT for his neglect by assuming that God takes no heed of such
things; he deems the long-suffering of God to be indifference and disregard (comp. Ecc_8:11
; Ecc_9:3 ). The original does not bear this interpretation. Wherefore should God be angry at thy
voice—the words in which thy evasion and dishonesty are expressed—and destroy the work of
thine hands? i.e. punish thee by calamity, want of success, sickness, etc; God's moral government
being vindicated by earthly visitations.
KRETZMANN, “v. 6. Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin, for the sensual nature of
man is stimulated by the sins of the tongue; neither may thou before the angel, before the priest, as
the representative of the Lord, that it was an error, the object being to escape the consequences of
an unfulfilled vow; wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, which has thus become guilty of
lying, and destroy the work of thine hands? The punishment of God, in a case of this kind, is shown
not only in the failure of undertakings, but also in the overthrowing of projects already established.
TRAPP, “Ecc_5:6 Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the
angel, that it [was] an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine
hands?

51. Ver. 6. Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin.] Heb., Nec des, Give not liberty to thy mouth,
which of itself is so apt to overflow and run riot in sinful and superfluous language. Rein it in therefore,
and lay laws upon it, lest it "cause thy flesh to sin," thyself to become a sinner against thine own soul.
Say to it in this case, as Christ did to those Pharisees in the gospel, "Why temptest thou me, thou
hypocrite?" or as the witch said to Saul, that sought to her, "Wherefore layest thou a snare for my life,
to cause me to die?" {1Sa_28:9 } Shall my prayer become sin, and my religious vows, through non-
payment, a cause of a curse? {Psa_109:7 } When thou art making such an ill bargain, say to thy
mouth, as Boaz said to his kinsman, "At what time thou buyest it, thou must have Ruth with it"; {Rth_
4:5 } so thou must have God’s curse with it - for that is the just hire of the least sin, {Rom_6:23 }
how much more of thy crimson crime! And let thy mouth answer, No, I may not do it; I shall mar and
spoil a better inheritance; I shall anger the angel of the covenant, who, if his wrath be kindled, yea, but
a little, "he will not pardon my transgression, for God’s name is in him," {Exo_23:21 } who, as he
is pater miserationum, "the Father of mercies," so he is Deus ultionum, "the God of recompenses."
{Psa_94:1 } True it is that anger is not properly in God; "Fury is not in me"; {Isa_27:4 } but
because he chides and smites for sin, as angry men use to do, therefore is anger here and elsewhere
attributed to him, that men may stand in awe and not sin, since sin and punishment are linked together
with chains of adamant.
STEDMAN, “... why should God be angry at your voice, and destroy the work of your hands? For
when dreams increase, empty words grow many: but do you fear God? {Eccl 5:6b-7 RSV}
You are dealing with the Author of life itself. He holds your existence in the palm of his
hand. God is not cruel and heartless; he is loving but he is real, so do not play games with
him. Be honest with God; that is all the Searcher is saying. So pay attention when you are
hearing the words of God. Listen as he describes life to you. He is telling you so that you
might find enjoyment in all that you do.
Thirdly, value government; it too is from God. Verse 8:
If you see in a province the poor oppressed and justice and right violently taken away, do not
be amazed at the matter [do not be bitter over this]; for the high official is watched by a
higher, and there are yet higher ones over them. But in all, a king is an advantage to a land
with cultivated fields. {Eccl 5:8-9 RSV}
The argument is very simple: do not be astonished and bitter. God has set up higher
officials who may correct oppression when they become aware of it. But even if they do
not, there is One yet higher. He is aware, and he knows what he is doing. Recognize that
there is good in government. Someone has well said, "Even bad government is better than
no government at all." We cannot live in anarchy. Even the worst kind of government is
better than no government at all. Value that. It will help in dealing with the problems of
life.
Then the Searcher takes a fourth circumstance. Most people feel that if they could only
get rich they could handle the pressures and the problems of life. This section runs from
Verses 10-17.
KELLY, “A natural division begins with chap. 5, which may be said to stretch over
the following chapters also. It has the form of exhortation at the start, but soon
passes into the prevalent character of the book. The first of rights is that God should
have His; all is wrong when God is left out; and this is quite the root of the misery in
man and the world. Yet neither the house of God, nor utterance before Him, nor
vows to Him, can rescue from folly or vanity. Hearing from God takes precedence of

52. speaking to Him. The weakness of man, fallen as he is, pursues him everywhere. The
sole resource for the wise man is to fear God. Without this the religious effort but
increases the danger. And the conviction of One higher than the high preserves from
wonder. As yet all is out of course. So far is rank or wealth from Him all. A king
depends on the field; and no resources satisfy the possessor, but fall to others; so
that the labourer's lot is often preferable, and riches a hurt instead of a comfort,
and no permanency either, and thus he goes as he came naked. Where the profit of
such labour? When things are received from God as His gift, how sad to see riches,
possessions, honour, with incapacity to enjoy! Long life, and numerous offspring, in
such a case do not extract the sting: he is worse off than an abortion. Insatiable
desire ruins all. Contention is vain with Him that is mightier than he. God, not man,
knows what is good for him, and God reveals an inheritance incorruptible, and
undefiled, and unfading reserved in heaven; but till Christ died and rose, it was
comparatively hidden. Misery here was plain, especially to the wise.
"Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God; for to draw nigh to hear is
better than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they know not they do evil. Be not rash
with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God; for
God is in heaven, and thou upon the earth: therefore let thy words be few. For a
dream cometh with a multitude of business: and a fool's voice with a multitude of
words. When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no
pleasure in fools: pay that which thou vowest. Better is it that thou shouldest not
vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy
flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should
God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thy hands? For in the multitude
of dreams and many words [are] also vanities: but fear thou God.
"If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and the violent taking away of judgment
and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter: for one higher than the high
regardeth; and there are higher than they. Moreover the profit of the earth is every
way: the king is served by the field.
"He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance
with increase: this also is vanity. When goods increase, they are increased that eat
them: and what advantage is there to the owner thereof, save the beholding of them
with his eyes? The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much:
but the fulness of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.
"There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun, riches kept by the owner
thereof to his hurt; and those riches perish by evil adventure; and if he hath
begotten a son, there is nothing in his hand. As be came forth of his mother's womb,
naked shall he go again as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he
may carry away in his hand. And this also is a grievous evil, that in all points as he
came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that laboureth for the wind? All his
days also he eateth in darkness, and he is sore vexed and hath sickness and
irritation.

53. "Behold, that which I have seen to be good and to be comely is for one to eat and to
drink, and to enjoy good in all his labour, wherein he laboureth under the sun, all
the days of his life which God hath given him: for this is his portion. Every man also
to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat
thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God.
For he shall not much remember the days of his life; because God answereth him
with the joy of his heart" (vers. 1-20).
7 Much dreaming and many words are meaningless.
Therefore stand in awe of God.
BARNES, “For ... vanities - Or, For so it happens through many dreams and vanities
and many words.
CLARKE, “In - dreams - are - divers vanities; but fear thou God - If, by the
disturbed state of thy mind during the day, or by Satanic influence, thou dream of evil,
do not give way to any unreasonable fears, or gloomy forebodings, of any coming
mischief: - Fear God. Fear neither the dream nor its interpretation; God, will take care of
and protect thee. Most certainly, he that fears God need fear nothing else. Well may an
upright soul say to Satan himself, I fear God; and because I fear him, I do not fear thee.
GILL, “For in the multitude of dreams, and many words, there are also
divers vanities,.... Or as, "in a multitude of dreams, there are many vanities, so also
in a multitude of words" (s); as dreams are vain things, or there are abundance of vain
things that come into the mind in dreams; so vain and idle are the many excuses which
are made for the non-performance of vows; or there are many vain things which are
uttered in making of them, or in long prayers to God; or in discourses concerning him;
to all which is opposed the fear of God;
but fear thou God; give no heed to dreams, nor to the many words of men, which are
vain and foolish; but keep close to the word of God, and worship him internally and
externally, in spirit and in truth; for herein lies the sum and substance of religion; see
Ecc_12:13; The Targum is,
"for in the multitude of the dreams of the false prophets believe not, nor in the vanities
of the authors of enchantments, and the many speeches of ungodly men; but serve the
wise and just, and of them seek doctrine, and fear before the Lord;''

54. see Jer_23:28;
HENRY, “To keep up the fear of God, Ecc_5:7. Many, of old, pretended to know the
mind of God by dreams, and were so full of them that they almost made God's people
forget his name by their dreams (Jer_23:25, Jer_23:26); and many now perplex
themselves with their frightful or odd dreams, or with other people's dreams, as if they
foreboded this or the other disaster. Those that heed dreams shall have a multitude of
them to fill their heads with; but in them all there are divers vanities, as there are in
many words, and the more if we regard them. “They are but like the idle impertinent
chat of children and fools, and therefore never heed them; forget them; instead of
repeating them lay no stress upon them, draw no disquieting conclusions from them, but
fear thou God; have an eye to his sovereign dominion, set him before thee, keep thyself
in his love, and be afraid of offending him, and then thou wilt not disturb thyself with
foolish dreams.” The way not to be dismayed at the signs of heaven, nor afraid of the
idols of the heathen, is to fear God as King of nations, Jer_10:2, Jer_10:5, Jer_10:7.
JAMISON, “(See on Ecc_5:3). God’s service, which ought to be our chief good, becomes
by “dreams” (foolish fancies as of God’s requirements of us in worship), and random
“words,” positive “vanity.” The remedy is, whatever fools may do, “Fear thou God” (Ecc_
12:13).
KRETZMANN, “v. 7. For in the multitude of dreams, foolish fancies concerning God's
requirements of men in worship, and many words, hasty and ill-considered, there are also divers
vanities, they are unreliable and do not fit a person for the duties which the Word of God lays upon
him; but fear thou God, for the fear of God, as the basis of all true wisdom, will guide the steps of
man aright on the way of true sanctification.
TRAPP, “Ecc_5:7 For in the multitude of dreams and many words [there are] also [divers]
vanities: but fear thou God.
Ver. 7. For in the multitude af dreams, and in many words,] i.e., As in the multitude of dreams, so
in many words, &c. There may be some matter in some of either; but neither of them wants their
vanities. Dreams are of various sorts. {See Trapp on "Gen_20:3 "} Epicurus judged them all vain.
The Telmisenses nulla somnia evacuabant, saith Tertullian, {a} made no dreams to be vain. But that
some dreams are divine, some diabolical, and some natural, Peculiare solarium naturalis oraculi, as
one speaketh, good symptoms and indications of the natural constitution, no wise man ever doubted.
That of the philosopher {b} hath a truth in it, Iustum ab iniusto non somno, sed somnio discerni, that a
good man may be distinguished from a bad, though not by his sleep, yet by his dreams in his sleep.
But fear thou God.] And so eschew this evil of fond babbling (in God’s service especially), which is no
less a vanity than plain doting, and procures Divine displeasure. Deum siquis parum metuit, valde
contemnit. {c} He that fears not God’s wrath is sure to feel it. {Psa_90:11 }
PULPIT, “For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities. The

55. Hebrew is literally, For in multitude of dreams, and vanities, and many words; i.e; as Wright puts it, "In
the multitude of dreams are also vanities, and (in) many words (as well)." Koheleth sums up the sense
of the preceding paragraph, Ecc_5:1-6 . The popular religion, which made much of dreams and
verbosity and vows, is vanity, and has in it nothing substantial or comforting. The superstitious man
who puts his faith in dreams is unpractical and unreal; the garrulous man who is rash in his vows, and
in prayer thinks to be heard for his much speaking, displeases God and never secures his object.
Ginsburg and Bullock render, "For it is (it happens) through the multitude of idle thoughts and vanities
and much talking," the reference being either to the foolish speaking of Ecc_5:2 or to the wrath of
God in Ecc_5:6 . The Septuagint rendering is elliptical, Ὅτι ἐ πλήθει ἐνυπνίων καὶ µαταιοτήτων καὶ
λόγων πολλῶν ὅτι σὺ τὸν Θεὸν φοβοῦ . To complete this, some supply, "Many vows are made or
excused;" others, "There is evil." Vulgate, Ubi multa aunt somnia, plurimae aunt vanitates, et
sermones innumeri.' The Authorized Version gives the sense of the passage. But fear thou God. In
contrast with these spurious forms of religion, which the Jews were inclined to adopt, the writer recalls
men to the fear of the one true God, to whom all vows should be performed, and who should be
worshipped from the heart.
YOU G, "The remedy is, a heart-felt and abiding reverence, —
" fear thou God." The fear of the Lord is piety — is true
religion — is the beginning of wisdom. All the profit that
there is in this life, is to prepare for another — a higher
* Confession of Faith, ch. xxii. I 7.
life. Hence ** the conclusion of the whole matter," as
summed up in chapter xii. 13, is this, " Fear God, and
keep his commandments : for this is the whole of man."
Our translators supply the word duty. It would be in
accordance with the inquiry of the book of Ecclesiastes to
supply profit. " This is the whole profit of man."
SUGGESTED REMARKS.
I. Man is a religious being, and must therefore be a
worshipper. Public worship as well as private is admira-
bly adapted to the mysterious cravings of the human heart.
If religion is essential to man, (and it is,) the public wor-
ship of God is essential to religion. The Scriptures are
doubly dear when we can share their teachings with our
fellow-worshippers. The throne of grace seems more
accessible when there are a whole band of petitioners.
In Solomon's better days the temple had been com-
pleted. There it stood on Mount Moriah, with its tower-
mg porch and its brazen pillars ; its costly stones, and its
plates of gold. Thither the tribes of Israel went up to
worship. Three times a year the city of Jerusalem was
crowded with worshippers. And every Sabbath day
some repaired to this sacred place of prayer. Solomon

56. could see, perhaps, from his own magnificent home, the
lofty porch, and could hear, perhaps, the loud-sounding
cymbals. It may have been in the court of this temple,
or in "Solomon's porch," that he uttered the discourse,
now constituting this Book of Ecclesiastes.
To the outer court of the temple, through one of its
western gates, the causeway led from the royal palace
And why might not Solomon lead his queenly and kingly
visitors along this way to the court of the temple, and
utter there the words of wisdom which caused them to
exclaim, " the one-half was not told me ?"
And those same visitors, from Sheba, and Tyre, and
Persia, may have entered with him the courts of the tem-
ple, to hear from God's ministers the word of God !
We, however, have a more blessed privilege. Splendid
as was the temple, — imposing as was the Jewish ritual
our simple worship is far more refreshing, more enlighten
ing.
In the Jewish worship there was much to please the
eye, the ear, the taste ; but the power of truth grew fee-
ble under the glitter of externals.
But from Jacob's humble altar, on which he poured his
libation of oil ; to the magnificent temple, the worshippers
could say, " This is the house of God." In our humble
places of worship, we too have a house of God, which
proves to be " the gate of heaven." May we be abun-
dantly satisfied with the fatness of God's house.
Coming to God through the Lord Jesus Christ, we
make every place a house of prayer. " The hour cometh,
when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusa-
lem, worship the Father. The hour cometh and now is,
when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in
spirit and in truth : for the Father seeketh such to worship
him. God is a spirit : and they that worship him must
worship him in spirit and in truth."
II. Worship on earth is preparatory to the higher and
holier worship of heaven.
Happy are those who so worship here as to be prepared
to worship there. Here we worship in temples made

57. with hands, and sometimes in circumstances of discomfort.
There the worshippers meet in a temple " not made with
hands, eternal in the heavens." Here we meet in worship
with good but very imperfect men. There we shall meet
with those made perfect, walking in robes washed and
made white in the blood of the Lamb. If on a high
mountain rearing its head a httle way towards heaven, the
disciples exclaimed, " It is good for us to be here," because
Moses and Elijah and Jesus were there talking about the
coming decease of Christ; how overwhelmed with glory
will be those favoured ones who shall stand upon the ever-
lasting hills in the company of all the redeemed, and Jesus
in their midst, while the theme will still be the redemption ;
but then understood and appreciated as it could not be by
Peter, James, and John, on the mount of transfiguration.
Here we attempt to praise ; but
" Hosannas languish on our tongues,
And our devotion dies."
But there, the high anthems of the redeemed, without a
discordant note, fill all the concave with melody, as the
voice of many waters. In heaven there will be no " sac-
rifice of fools," no rash utterances, no dreams. The wor-
shippers shall no longer " see through a glass, darkly," but
all within them and around them will be light, and joy, and
glory. May the writer and reader be sharers in the
bliss.
Riches Are Meaningless
8 If you see the poor oppressed in a district, and justice
and rights denied, do not be surprised at such things;
for one official is eyed by a higher one, and over them
both are others higher still.
BARNES, “Matter - Rather, purpose (as in the margin, and Ecc_3:1), referring either
to the will of God or to the edict of an oppressive ruler.
For he ... they - literally, for high watches over high and the highest over them, i. e.,
the king in the capital watches over the judge or governor in the province, and God over
both. This seems more in harmony with the preceding verses, and more agreeable to the
scope of this passage than to understand the passage only of earthly rulers.

58. CLARKE, “If thou seest the oppression of the poor - For this was a frequent case
under all governments; and especially in the provinces or colonies which being far from
the seat of government, were generally oppressed by the sovereign’s deputies.
Marvel not at the matter - ‫החפץ‬ hachephets, the will, i.e., of God; which permits
such evils to take place; for all things shall work together for good to them that love him.
“Marvel not
Ye righteous, if his dispensations here
Unequal seem. What, though disorders reign?
He still presides, and with unerring hand
Directs the vast machine. His wisdom can
From discord harmony produce; and make
Even vice itself subservient to his ends.”
GILL, “If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of
justice in a province,.... Which is a very disagreeable sight, but often seen; the poor
are oppressed, and judgment and justice perverted, and that in a very violent and
flagrant manner, in open courts of judicature, in the several provinces and kingdoms of
the world;
marvel not at the matter; as though it was some strange and uncommon thing, when
nothing is more common: or "marvel not at the will" or "pleasure" (t); that is, of God,
who suffers such things to be. So the Targum, Jarchi, and Aben Ezra, interpret it;
stumble not at it, nor arraign the wisdom and justice of God; let not that temptation
prevail in thee as it has done in some good men, who have been tempted from hence to
think there was nothing in religion, nor no providence attending the affairs of this world;
do not be frightened and astonished, and hurried into such a thought; nor be distressed
at the calamities and oppressions of poor and innocent men;
for he that is higher than the highest regardeth: that is, God, who is the most
high in all the earth; higher, than the kings of the earth, and all high and haughty
oppressors; higher indeed than the heavens, and the angels there: he "regards" all his
people, his eyes are on them, and he never withdraws them from them; he regards their
cries, and hears and answers them; he regards their oppressors, and their oppressions;
and will, in his own time, deliver them; or he "keeps" (u) his people as the apple of his
eye, in the hollow of his hand, night and day, lest any hurt them; he keeps them by his
power through faith unto salvation. It may be rendered, "the high One from on high
observes" (w); God, who is the high and lofty One, looks down from the high heavens
where he dwells, and takes notice of all the sons of men, and considers all their works;
see Psa_33:13;
and there be higher than they; either the holy angels, who are higher than
tyrannical oppressors, higher in nature, and excel in strength and power; and these are
on the side of the oppressed, have the charge of saints, and encamp about them; and,
whenever they have an order, can destroy their enemies in a moment: or rather the three
divine Persons are meant, by the plural expression used, Father, Son, and Spirit;
Jehovah the Father is above men, the greatest of men, in the things in which they deal
proudly; be is greater than all, and none can pluck his sheep out of his hands, and worry

59. them: Christ, the Son of the Highest, is higher than the kings, of the earth; he is King of
kings, and Lord of lords, and able to deliver and save his people; and the Holy Spirit is
the power of the Highest, and is greater than he or they that are in the world, the avowed
enemies of the saints. Aben Ezra interprets it of the secret of the name of God, which he
says is inexplicable. So the Midrash understands it of the holy blessed God; and in
another tract it is said, on mention of this passage, there are three superiors above them
in the way of emanation, and of them it is said (x), "there be higher than they."
HENRY, “With that to keep down the fear of man, Ecc_5:8. “Set God before thee, and
then, if thou seest the oppression of the poor, thou wilt not marvel at the matter, nor
find fault with divine Providence, nor think the worse of the institution of magistracy,
when thou seest the ends of it thus perverted, nor of religion, when thou seest it will not
secure men from suffering wrong.” Observe here, 1. A melancholy sight on earth, and
such as cannot but trouble every good man that has a sense of justice and a concern for
mankind, to see the oppression of the poor because they are poor and cannot defend
themselves, and the violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province,
oppression under colour of law and backed with power. The kingdom in general may
have a good government, and yet it may so happen that a particular province may be
committed to a bad man, by whose mal-administration justice may be perverted; so hard
it is for the wisest of kings, in giving preferments, to be sure of their men; they can but
redress the grievance when it appears. 2. A comfortable sight in heaven. When things
look thus dismal we may satisfy ourselves with this, (1.) That, though oppressors be
high, God is above them, and in that very thing wherein they deal proudly, Exo_18:11.
God is higher than the highest of creatures, than the highest of princes, than the king
that is higher than Agag (Num_24:7), than the highest angels, the thrones and
dominions of the upper world. God is the Most High over all the earth, and his glory is
above the heavens; before him princes are worms, the brightest but glow-worms. (2.)
That, though oppressors be secure, God has his eye upon them, takes notice of, and will
reckon for, all their violent perverting of judgment; he regards, not only sees it but
observes it, and keeps it on record, to be called over again; his eyes are upon their ways.
See Job_24:23. (3.) That there is a world of angels, for there are higher than they, who
are employed by the divine justice for protecting the injured and punishing the
injurious. Sennacherib valued himself highly upon his potent army, but one angel
proved too hard for him and all his forces. Some, by those that are higher than they
understand the great council of the nation, the presidents to whom the princes of the
provinces are accountable (Dan_6:2), the senate that receive complaints against the
proconsuls, the courts above to which appeals are made from the inferior courts, which
are necessary to the good government of a kingdom. Let it be a check to oppressors that
perhaps their superiors on earth may call them to an account; however, God the
Supreme in heaven will.
JAMISON, “As in Ecc_3:16, so here the difficulty suggests itself. If God is so exact in
even punishing hasty words (Ecc_5:1-6), why does He allow gross injustice? In the
remote “provinces,” the “poor” often had to put themselves for protection from the
inroads of Philistines, etc., under chieftains, who oppressed them even in Solomon’s
reign (1Ki_12:4).
the matter — literally, “the pleasure,” or purpose (Isa_53:10). Marvel not at this
dispensation of God’s will, as if He had abandoned the world. Nay, there is coming a
capital judgment at last, and an earnest of it in partial punishments of sinners

60. meanwhile.
higher than the highest — (Dan_7:18).
regardeth — (2Ch_16:9).
there be higher — plural, that is, the three persons of the Godhead, or else, “regardeth
not only the ‘highest’ kings, than whom He ‘is higher,’ but even the petty tyrants of the
provinces, namely, the high ones who are above them” (the poor) [Weiss].
KRETZMANN, “v. 8. If thou seest the oppression of the poor, 4:1, and violent perverting of
judgment and justice in a province, 3:16, marvel not at the matter, for such things are to be
expected in this wicked world, 1Pe_4:12 , wherefore the believers should also not be worried about
the eventual trend of justice; for He that is higher than the highest regardeth, and there be higher
than they, above all the rulers of this world is the great Sovereign of them all, who will finally
adjudicate all matters which now often seem mingled in a hopeless muddle.
PULPIT, “If thou seest the oppression of the poor. From errors in the service of God, it is natural
to turn to faults in the administration of the king (Pro_24:21 ). Koheleth has already alluded to these
anomalies in Ecc_3:16 and Ecc_4:1 . Violent perverting; literally, robbery; so that judgment is
never rightly given, and justice is withheld from applicants. In a province (me dinah, Ecc_2:8 ); the
district in which the person addressed dwells. It may, perhaps, to implied that {his is remote from the
central authority, and therefore more liable to be injuriously dealt with by unscrupulous rulers. Marvel
not at the matter (chephets, Ecc_3:1 ). Be not surprised or dismayed (Job_26:11 ) at such evil
doings,, as though they were unheard of, or inexperienced, or disregarded. There is here nothing of
the Greek maxim, reproduced by Horace in his "Nil admirari" ('Epist.,' 1.6. 1). It is like St. John's
"Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you" (1Jn_3:13 ); or St. Peter's "Think it not strange
concerning the fiery trial among' you" (1Pe_4:12 ). The stupid and unintelligent observation of such
disorders might lead to arraignment of Providence and distrust in the moral government of God.
Against such mistakes the writer guards. For he that is higher than the highest regardeth. Both the
words are in the singular number. Septuagint, Ὑψηλὸς ἐπάνω ὑψηλοῦ φυλάξαι . One thinks of the
Persian satraps, who acted much as the Turkish pashas in later times, the petty rulers oppressing the
people, and being themselves treated in the same fashion by their superiors. The whole is a system of
wrong-doing, where the weaker always suffers, and the only comfort is that the oppressor himself is
subject to higher supervision. The verb (shamar) translated "regardeth" means to observe in a hostile
sense, to watch for occasions of reprisal, as 1Sa_19:11 ; and the idea intended is that in the
province there were endless plottings and counterplottings, mutual denunciations and recriminations;
that such things were only to be expected, and were no sufficient cause for infidelity or despair. "The
higher one" is the monarch, the despotic king who holds the supreme power over all these
maladministrators and perverters of justice. And there be higher than they. "Higher" is here
plural (gebohim), the plural of majesty, as it is called (comp. Ecc_12:1 ), like Elohim, the word for
"God," the assonance being probably here suggestive. Over the highest of earthly rulers there are
other powers, angels, principalities, up to God himself, who governs the course of this world, and to
whom we may leave the final adjustment. Who are meant seems purposely to be left undetermined;
but the thought of the righteous Judge of all is intimated in accordance with the view of Ecc_3:17 .
This is a far more satisfactory explanation of the passage than that which regards as the highest of all
"the court favorites, king's friends, eunuchs, chamberlains," etc. In this view Koheleth is merely
asserting the general system of injustice and oppression, and neitherACCOUNTING for it nor
offering any comfort under the circumstances. But his object throughout is to show man's inability to
secure his own happiness, and the need of submission to Divine providence. To demonstrate the
anomalies in the events of the world, the circumstances of men's lives would be only one part of his
task, which would not be completed without turning attention to the remedy against hasty and unfair
conclusions. This remedy is the thought of the supreme Disposer of events, who holds all the strings in
his hand, and will in the end bring good out of evil.

61. TRAPP, “Ecc_5:8 If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and
justice in a province, marvel not at the matter: for [he that is] higher than the highest regardeth; and
[there be] higher than they.
Ver. 8. If thou seest the oppression of the poor.] And so mayest be drawn to doubt of Divine
providence, and toWITHDRAW thine awful regard to the divine Majesty, to forego godliness, and to
turn fiat atheist, as Diagoras and Averroes did.
Marvel not at the matter.] Nil admirari prope res est una Numici. {a} A wise man wonders at nothing;
he knows there is good cause why God should allow it so to be, and gives him his glory.Opera Dei
sunt in mediis contrariis, saith Luther: {b} God’s works are effected usually by contraries. And this he
doth éíá êáé ìáëëïí èáõìáæçôáé , that he may be the more marvelled at, saith Nazianzen. Hence he
commonly goes a way by himself, drawing light out of darkness, good out of evil, heaven out of hell,
that his people may feelingly say, "Who is like unto thee, O Lord, glorious in holiness, fearful in
praises, doing wonders." {Exo_15:11 } "Verily there is a reward for the righteous; verily he is a God
that judgeth in the earth." {Psa_58:11 }
For he that is higher than the highest regardeth.] And "wherein they deal proudly, he is above
them," {Exo_18:11 } and overtops them; {Psa_2:4 } sets a day for them, and "sees that their day
is coming." {Psa_37:13 } "The Most High cuts off the spirit of princes" {Psa_76:12 } - he slips
them off, as one should slip off a flower between his fingers; or he cuts them off, as grapegatherers do
the clusters off the vines; such a metaphor there is in the original - "He is terrible to all the kings of the
earth," those dread sovereigns, those hammers of the earth and scourges of the world, {c} as Atillas
styled himself; such as Sennacherib, whom God so subdued and mastered, that the Egyptians, in
memory of it, set up his statue in the temple of Vulcan, with this inscription,Eìå ôéò ïñåùí åõóåâçò
åóôï : {d} Let all that behold me learn to fear God. It was therefore excellent counsel that Jehoshaphat
gave his judges: "Take heed what you do, for ye judge not for man, but for the Lord, who is with you in
the judgment. Wherefore now let the fear of the Lord our God be upon you; take heed and do it."
{2Ch_19:6 } Look upon him that overlooks all your doings, saith he, and then learn to sit upon the
tribunal, in as great though not in so slavish a fear of doing wrong, as Olanes in the history did upon
the flayed skin of his father Sisannus, nailed by Cambyses on the judgment seat; or as a Russian
judge that fears the boiling caldron or open battocking; or the Turkish senate, when they think the
great Turk to stand behind the arras {e} at the dangerous door. In fine, let the grandees and potentates
of the earth know and acknowledge with Constantine, Valentinian, and Theodosius, three great
emperors, as Socrates reports of them, that they are but Christi vasalli, Christ’s vassals; and that as he
is Excelsus super excelsos, high above all, even the highest, so he hath other high ones at hand - viz.,
the holy angels, who can "resist the King of Persia," as Michael the prince did; {Dan_10:13 } fright
the Syrians with a panic terror; {2Ki_7:6 } smite the Assyrians with an utter destruction; {Isa_37:36
} deliver Peter from the hand of Herod, and from the expectation of the Jews. {Act_12:11 } What a
wonderful difference in the slaughter of the firstborn of Egypt! {Exo_12:23-32 } Tyrants shall be
sure, sooner or later, to meet with their match. Look what a hand the Ephori had over the King of
Sparta; the tribunes had over the Roman consuls; and the Prince Palgrave of Rhine ought, by the
ancient orders, to have over the Emperor of Germany ( Palatino haec dignitatis praerogativa est, ut
ipsum Caesarem iudicare et damnare possit, quoties scilicet lis ei ab aliquo ordinum imperii
movetur; { f} the Palgrave hath power to judge and pass sentence upon the emperor himself, when any
of the states of Germany do sue him at the law); the same and more hath God and his angels over the
mightiest magnificoes in the world. "Lebanon shall fail by a mighty one," {Isa_10:34 } i.e., by an
angel, as some interpret it.
EBC 8-17, “Ecclesiastes 5:8-17

62. And a more helpful and consolatory Trust in the Divine Providence.
Not content with this, however, the Preacher goes on to show how, when they returned
from the House of God to the common round of life, and were once more exposed to its
miseries and distractions, there were certain comfortable and sustaining thoughts on
which they might stay their spirits. To the worship of the Sanctuary he would have them
add a strengthening trust in the Providence of God. That Providence was expressed, as in
other ordinances, so also in these two:
First; whatever oppressions and perversions of justice and equity there were in the land
(Ecc_5:8), still the judges and satraps who oppressed them were not supreme; there was
an official hierarchy in which superior watched over superior, and if justice were not to
be had of the one, it might be had of another who was above him; if it were not to be had
of any, no, not even of the king himself, there was this reassuring conviction that, in the
last resort, even the king was "the servant of the field" (Ecc_5:9), i.e., was dependent on
the wealth and produce of the land, and could not, therefore, be unjust with impunity, or
push his oppressions too far lest he should decrease his revenue or depopulate his realm.
This was "the advantage" the people had; and if it were in itself but a slight advantage to
this man or that, clearly it was a great advantage to the body politic; while as an
indication of the Providence of God, of the care with which He had arranged for the
general well-being, it was full of consolation.
The second fact, or class of facts, in which they might recognise the gracious care of God
Was this, -That the unjust judges and wealthy rapacious "lords" who oppressed them
had very much less satisfaction in their fraudulent gains than they might suppose. God
had so made men that injustice and selfishness defeated their own ends, and those who
lived for wealth, and would do evil to acquire it, made but a poor bargain after all. "He
that loveth silver is never satisfied with silver, nor he that clings to wealth with what it
yields" (Ecc_5:10). "When riches increase, they increase that consume them"-
dependents, parasites, slaves, flock around the man who rises to wealth and place. He
cannot eat and drink more, or enjoy more, than when he was a man simply well-to-do in
the world; the only advantage he has is that he sees others consume what he has
acquired at so great a cost (Ecc_5:11). He cannot know the sweet refreshing sleep of
husbandmen weary with toil (Ecc_5:12), for his heart is full of care and apprehension.
Robbers may drive off his flocks, or "lift" his cattle; his investments may fail, or his
secret hoard be plundered; he must trust much to servants, and they may be unfaithful
to their trust; his official superiors may ruin him with the bribes they extort, or the
prince himself may want a sponge to squeeze. If none of these evils befall him, he may
apprehend, and have cause to apprehend, that his heir longs for his death, and will prove
little better than a fool, wasting in wanton riot what he has amassed with much painful
toil (Ecc_5:13-14). And, in any event, he cannot take his wealth with him on his last
journey (Ecc_5:15-16). So that, naturally enough, he is much perturbed, and "hath great
vexation and grief" (Ecc_5:17), cannot sleep for his apprehensive care for his
"abundance"; and at last must go out of the world as bare and unprovided as he came
into it. He "labours for the wind," and reaps what he has sown. Was such a life,
mounting to such a close, a thing to long for and toil for? Was it worth while to hurl
oneself against the adamantine laws of Heaven and risk the oppressions of earth, to
injure one’s neighbours, to sink into an insincere and distracted worship and a
weakening distrust of the providence of God, in order to spend anxious toilsome days
and sleepless nights, and at last to go out of the world naked of all but guilt, and rich in
nothing but the memory of frauds and wrongs? Might not even a captive or a slave,
whose sleep was sweetened by toil, and who, from his trust in God and the sacred
delights of honest worship, gathered strength to endure all the oppressions of the time,

63. and to enjoy whatever alleviations and innocent pleasures were vouchsafed him-might
not even he be a wiser, happier man than the despot at whose caprice he stood?
HAWKER 8-20, “If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of
judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter: for he that is higher than
the highest regardeth; and there be higher than they. (9) Moreover the profit of the earth
is for all: the king himself is served by the field. (10) He that loveth silver shall not be
satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity. (11)
When goods increase, they are increased that eat them: and what good is there to the
owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes? (12) The sleep of a
labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will
not suffer him to sleep. (13) There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely,
riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt. (14) But those riches perish by evil
travail: and he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand. (15) As he came forth of
his mother’s womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his
labour, which he may carry away in his hand. (16) And this also is a sore evil, that in all
points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that hath laboured for the
wind? (17) All his days also he eateth in darkness, and he hath much sorrow and wrath
with his sickness. (18) Behold that which I have seen: it is good and comely for one to eat
and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the
days of his life, which God giveth him: for it is his portion. (19) Every man also to whom
God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take
his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God. (20) For he shall not
much remember the days of his life; because God answereth him in the joy of his heart.
I make no interruption in the reading of these verses, for one general observation
belongs to all; and the Preacher’s whole design from them is to impress yet stronger
upon the mind, the great subject he hath in view. In everything short of Christ, Solomon
finds vanity. And whether the Reader hath discovered his design in these sermons
contained in Ecclesiastes we have already gone through, or not; certain it is, that the
main object intended from the whole, is to lead to somewhat higher than this world can
bestow; and that somewhat is Christ. Happy will it be for both Writer and Reader, if
from the perusal, like Solomon himself, we form the same conclusion, and in Jesus
behold where God the Father hath centered all things that pertain to life and godliness.
2Pe_1:1-4.
YOUNG, "Solomon had extensive knowledge of violence and
wrong in the world.
" In a province^ Provinces do not necessarily mean
districts in the land of Judea, or even in the countries
governed by Solomon. The Hebrew word is nrT:
Lexicographers reckon this as one of the later Hebrew
words. And some have inferred from this and a few
others, that the Book of Ecclesiastes was not written by

64. Solomon. But it is a Chaldee word, and though not
found in the Hebrew Scriptures till after the time of Sol-
omon, (except in Ecclesiastes,) he may himself have in-
troduced it into the Hebrew language, as he was ac-
quainted with different languages, and had intercourse
with the east as well as other parts of the world. Ad-
dressing, as he often did, men of different nations, he
would be likely to use words familiar to those nations.
See 1 Kings x. 24. In Chaldea or Assyria the word
might have been in use at the time. Provinces were
districts of country under prefects, viceroys, or satraps.
These officers were often oppressive, and perverted judg-
ment and justice.
" For he that is higher than the highest regardeth,^*
&c. Higher rulers sit in judgment on lower. " There
are higher than they^'* means that God is higher than
all, and he will judge all. The plural is used as intensive,
to designate the Most High God. Do not consider it in-
explicable that there is oppression, (marvel not at it,) for
there is One who will bring it all right at last. Here a
future reward is evidently hinted at. " An appeal lies to
a higher court; but if the matter still goes on adversely
there, then remember for your comfort that there is One
superior to all^ who will bring all into judgment." '
9 The increase from the land is taken by all; the king
himself profits from the fields.

65. BARNES, “The king himself is served by the field - Rather, the king is subject to
the field, i. e., is dependent on its cultivation. The higher ranks, if they oppress the lower,
lose thereby their own means of subsistence.
CLARKE, “The profit of the earth is for all - The earth, if properly cultivated, is
capable of producing food for every living creature; and without cultivation none has a
right to expect bread.
The king himself is served by the field - Without the field he cannot have
supplies for his own house; and, unless agriculture flourish, the necessary expenses of
the state cannot be defrayed. Thus, God joins the head and feet together; for while the
peasant is protected by the king as executor of the laws, the king himself is dependent on
the peasant; as the wealth of the nation is the fruit of the laborer’s toil.
GILL, “Moreover, the profit of the earth is for all,.... Or, "the excellency of the
earth in" or "above all things is this" (y); that God most high rules over all the earth, and
is higher than the kings of it, and all oppressors in it; or in all respects there is a
preference, a superior excellency in the country as opposed to the city, especially in this,
that there are not so many tumults, riots, and oppressions there; though this is mostly
understood of the preference and superior excellency of agriculture, or tillage of the
earth. So the Targum,
"the excellency of the praise of tilling the earth is above all things:''
and to the same purpose Jarchi and Aben Ezra; and the profit arising from it is enjoyed
by all; it is for all, even the beasts of the field have grass from hence, as well as man has
bread corn, and all other necessaries;
the king himself is served by the field; his table is served with bread corn, and
flesh, and wine, and fruits of various sorts, the produce of the earth, which spring from
it, or are nourished by it; were it not for husbandry the king himself and his family could
not subsist; and therefore it becomes kings to encourage it, and not oppress those who
are employed in it: or "the king is a servant to the field" (z); some kings have addicted
themselves to husbandry, and been great lovers of it, as Uzziah was, 2Ch_26:10; and
some of the Chinese emperors, as their histories (a) show; and the kings of Persia (b):
Vulcan, in the shield of Achilles, represented the reapers, gatherers, and binders of
sheaves at work in the field, and a king standing among the sheaves with a sceptre in his
hand, looking on with great pleasure, while a dinner is prepared by his orders for the
workmen (c); many of the Roman generals, and high officers, were called from the
plough, particularly Cincinnatus (d); and these encouraged husbandry in their subjects,
as well as took care of their own farms. There is another sense of the words given,
besides many more;
"and the most excellent Lord of the earth (that is, the most high God) is the King of every
field that is tilled; (that is, the King of the whole habitable world;) or the King Messiah,
Lord of his field, the church, and who is the most eminent in all the earth (e).''
The Midrash interprets it of the holy blessed God.

66. HENRY, “Solomon had shown the vanity of pleasure, gaiety, and fine works, of honour,
power, and royal dignity; and there is many a covetous worldling that will agree with
him, and speak as slightly as he does of these things; but money, he thinks, is a
substantial thing, and if he can but have enough of that he is happy. This is the mistake
which Solomon attacks, and attempts to rectify, in these verses; he shows that there is as
much vanity in great riches, and the lust of the eye about them, as there is in the lusts of
the flesh and the pride of life, and a man can make himself no more happy by hoarding
an estate than by spending it.
I. He grants that the products of the earth, for the support and comfort of human life,
are valuable things (Ecc_5:9): The profit of the earth is for all. Man's body, being made
of the earth, thence has its maintenance (Job_28:5); and that it has so, and that a
barren land is not made his dwelling (as he has deserved for being rebellious, Psa_
68:6), is an instance of God's great bounty to him. There is profit to be got out of the
earth, and it is for all; all need it; it is appointed for all; there is enough for all. It is not
only for all men, but for all the inferior creatures; the same ground brings grass for the
cattle that brings herbs for the service of men. Israel had bread from heaven, angels'
food, but (which is a humbling consideration) the earth is our storehouse and the beasts
are fellow-commoners with us. The king himself is served of the field, and would be ill
served, would be quite starved, without its products. This puts a great honour upon the
husbandman's calling, that it is the most necessary of all to the support of man's life. The
many have the benefit of it; the mighty cannot live without it; it is for all; it is for the
king himself. Those that have an abundance of the fruits of the earth must remember
they are for all, and therefore must look upon themselves but as stewards of their
abundance, out of which they must give to those that need. Dainty meats and soft
clothing are only for some, but the fruit of the earth is for all. And even those that suck
the abundance of the seas (Deu_33:19) cannot be without the fruit of the earth, while
those that have a competency of the fruit of the earth may despise the abundance of the
seas.
II. He maintains that the riches that are more than these, that are for hoarding, not for
use, are vain things, and will not make a man easy or happy. That which our Saviour
has said (Luk_12:15), that a man's life consists not in the abundance of the things
which he possesses, is what Solomon here undertakes to prove by various
arguments.
JAMISON, ““The profit (produce) of the earth is (ordained) for (the common good of)
all: even the king himself is served by (the fruits of) the field” (2Ch_26:10). Therefore
the common Lord of all, high and low, will punish at last those who rob the “poor” of
their share in it (Pro_22:22, Pro_22:23; Amo_8:4-7).
young, "If the English translation is correct, it means that sub-
jects have the same advantages that kings have. The
ground must produce for all alike. Kings do not feed
upon ambrosia, but upon bread that comes from the
fields, — upon the same kind of bread that the tiller of the
soil eats. There is therefore no superior advantage to
persons in authority. Bridges connects the sense of this
verse with the preceding, thus : " Perhaps the supremacy
of God giving to all an equal interest in the earth, was in-

67. tended as a memento, that common interest and mutual
dependence should check unjust oppression^
KRETZMANN, “v. 9. Moreover, the profit of the earth, the increase or produce of the land, is
for all; the king himself is served by the field, and therefore the great Lord of all will finally punish
all those who abused their authority and robbed the poor of their share in this world's goods.
PULPIT, “It has been much debated whether this verse should be connected with the preceding or
the following paragraph. The Vulgate takes it with the preceding verse, Et insuper universae terrae rex
imperat servienti; so the Septuagint; and this seems most natural, avarice, wealth, and its evils in
private life being treated of in Ecc_5:10 and many following. Moreover the profit of the earth is for
all: the king himself is served by the field. The writer seems to be contrasting the misery of Oriental
despotism, above spoken of, with the happiness of a country whose king was content to enrich
himself, not by war, rapine, and oppression, but by the peaceful pursuits of agriculture, by cherishing
the natural productions of his country, and encouraging his people in developing its resources. Such
was Uzziah, who" loved husbandry" (2Ch_26:10 ); and in Solomon's own time the arts of peace
greatly flourished. There is much difficulty in interpreting the verse. The Vulgate rendering, "And
moreover the King of the whole earth rules over his servant," probably means that God governs the
king. But the present Hebrew text does not support this translation. The Septuagint has, Καὶ περίσσεια
γῆς ἑπὶ παντί ἐστὶ βασιλεὺς τοῦ ἀγροῦ εἰργασµένου , which makes more difficulties. "Also the
abundance of the earth is for every one, or upon every thing; the king (is dependent on) the cultivated
land, or, there is a king to the land when cultivated," i.e. the throne itself depends on the due
cultivation of the country. Or, removing the comma, "The profit of the land in everything is a king of the
cultivated field." The Hebrew may safely be rendered, "But the profit of a land in all things is a king
devoted to the field," i.e. who loves and fosters agriculture. It is difficult to suppose that Solomon
himself wrote this sentence, however we may interpret it. According to the Authorized Version, the idea
is that the profit of the soil extends to every rank of life; even the king, who seems superior to all, is
dependent upon the industry of the people, and the favorable produce of the land. He could not be
unjust and oppressive without injuring his revenues in the end. Ben-Sira sings the praises of
agriculture: "Hate not laborious work, neither husbandry; which the Most High hath ordained"
(Ecclesiasticus 7:15). Agriculture held a very prominent position in the Mosaic commonwealth. The
enactments concerning the firstfruits, the sabbatical year, landmarks, the non-alienation of
inheritances, etc; tended to give peculiar importance to cultivation of the soil. Cicero's praise of
agriculture is oftenQUOTED . Thus ('De Senect.,' 15. sqq.; 'De Off.,' 1:42): "Omninm return, ex
quibus aliquid acquiritur, nihil est agricultura melius, nihil uberius, nihil dulcius, nihil heroine libero
dignius."
TRAPP, “Ecc_5:9 Moreover the profit of the earth is for all: the king [himself] is served by the
field.
Ver. 9. Moreover, the profit of the earth is for all,] viz., For all sorts of men, and for all kind of
uses. Alma mater, terra ferax. "Then shall the earth yield her increase; and (therein) God, even our
own God, shall bless us." {Psa_67:6 } "Can any of the vanities of the heathens give rain," or grain?
No, neither. {Jer_14:22 } Can the earth bring forth fruit of herself? {a} So, indeed, our Saviour seems
to say, "First the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear"; {Mar_4:28 } but then it is after
the good husbandman hath sowed it, and God by his blessing given the increase. The drift of the
Preacher here is to set forth the excellence of tillage first, and then to show the vanity of it. Tillage is
the life and blood of a commonwealth; it is beyond all pecuniary possessions. Jacob had money and
other fruits of the earth, and yet if Egypt, the world’s granary, as one calls it, had not supplied them
with grain, he and his might have perished. {Gen_43:1-2 }

68. The king himself is served by the field.] Not the lion, dragon, unicorn, &c. But the plough aud the
ship are the supporters of a crown. Some read it thus: Rex agro servit, The king is a servant to the
field. {b} It concerns him to have care of tillage, plantation of fruits, breeding of cattle, &c., or else all
will soon run to wrack and ruin. King Uzziah loved husbandry, and used it much. {2Ch_26:10 }
In Amo_7:1 , we read of "the king’s mowings." And Pliny hath observed that grain was never so
plentiful, good and cheap at Rome as when the same men tilled the land that ruled the
commonwealth, Quasi gauderet terra laureato vomere scilicet et aratore triumphali.
K&D, “The author, on the other hand, now praises the patriarchal form of government
based on agriculture, whose king takes pride, not in bloody conquests and tyrannical
caprice, but in the peaceful promotion of the welfare of his people: “But the advantage of
a country consists always in a king given to the arable land.” What impossibilities have
been found here, even by the most recent expositors! Ewald, Heiligst., Elster, Z‫צ‬ckl.
translate: rex agro factus = terrae praefectus; but, in the language of this book, not ‫עבד‬
but ‫מלך‬‫עשׁה‬ is the expression used for “to make a king.” Gesen., Win., de Wette, Knobel,
Vaih. translate: rex qui colitur a terra (civibus). But could a country, in the sense of its
population in subjection to the king, be more inappropriately designated than by ‫ה‬ ֶ‫ד‬ ָ‫?שׂ‬ Besides,
‫עבד‬ certainly gains the meaning of colere where God is the object; but with a human ruler as
the object it means servire and nothing more, and ‫ד‬ ְ‫ע‬ֶ‫נ‬
(Note: Thus pointed rightly in J., with Sheva quiesc. and Dagesh in Beth; vid., Kimchi in
Michlol 63a, and under ‫).עבד‬
can mean nothing else than “dienstbar gemacht” made subject to, not “honoured.” Along with
this signification, related denom. to ‫ד‬ ֶ‫ב‬ ֶ‫ע‬,‫נעבד‬ , referred from its primary signification to ‫ה‬ ֶ‫ד‬ ָ‫,שׂ‬ the
open fields (from ‫ה‬ ָ‫ד‬ ָ‫,שׂ‬ to go out in length and breadth), may also, after the phrase ‫האדמה‬ ‫,עבד‬
signify cultivated, wrought, tilled; and while the phrase “made subject to” must be certainly held
as possible (Rashi, Aben Ezra, and others assume it without hesitation), but is without example,
the Niph. occurs, e.g., at Eze_36:9, in the latter signification, of the mountains of Israel: “ye shall
be tilled.” Under Ecc_5:8, Hitzig, and with him Stuart and Zöckler, makes the misleading remark
that the Chethıb is ‫יא‬ ִ‫ל־ה‬ ָ‫כ‬ ְ , and that it is = ‫ּאת‬‫ז‬‫ל־‬ ָ‫כ‬ ְ , according to which the explanation is then
given: the protection and security which an earthly ruler secures is, notwithstanding this, not to
be disparaged. But ‫היא‬ is Chethıb, for which the Kerı substitutes ‫הוּא‬;‫ּל‬ⅴ ַ is Chethıb without
Kerı; and that ‫כל‬ ְ is thus a modification of the text, and that, too, an objectionable one,
since ‫,בכל־היא‬ in the sense of “in all this,” is unheard of. The Kerı seeks, without any
necessity, to make the pred. and subj. like one another in gender; without necessity, for
‫היא‬ may also be neut.: the advantage of a land is this, viz., what follows. And how ‫ּל‬ⅴ ַ is
to be understood is seen from Ezr_10:17, where it is to be explained: And they prepared
(Note: That ְ‫ב‬ ‫כלה‬ may mean “to be ready with anything,” Keil erroneously points to
Gen_44:12; and Philippi, St. Const. p. 49, thinks that vƮkol Ʈnāshim can be taken together

69. in the sense of vakol haanashim.)
the sum of the men, i.e., the list of the men, of such as had married strange wives; cf.
1Ch_7:5. Accordingly ‫בכל‬ here means, as the author generally uses ‫הכל‬ mostly in the
impersonal sense of omnia: in omnibus, in all things = by all means; or: in universum, in
general. Were the words accentuated ‫ד‬ ֽ‫נעב‬ ‫לשדה‬ ‫,מלך‬ the adject. connection of ‫נע‬ ‫לשׂ‬ would
thereby be shown; according to which the lxx and Theod. translate τοሞ αγροሞ εᅶργασµένου;
Symm., with the Syr., τሀ χώρα εᅶργασµένη: “a king for the cultivated land,” i.e., one who
regards this as a chief object. Luzz. thus indeed accentuates; but the best established
accentuation is ‫נעבד‬ ‫לשדה‬ ‫.מלך‬ This separation of ‫נעבד‬ from ‫לש‬ can only be intended to
denote that ‫נעבד‬ is to be referred not to it, but to ‫,מלך‬ according to which the Targ.
paraphrases. The meaning remains the same: a king subject (who has become a servus) to the
cultivated land, rex agro addictus, as Dathe, Rosenm., and others translate, is a still more distinct
expression of that which “a king for the well-cultivated field” would denote: an agriculture-king, -
one who is addicted, not to wars, lawsuits, and sovereign stubbornness in his opinions, but who
delights in the peaceful advancement of the prosperity of his country, and especially takes a lively
interest in husbandry and the cultivation of the land. The order of the words in Ecc_5:8 is like
that at Ecc_9:2; cf. Isa_8:22; Isa_22:2. The author thus praises, in contrast to a despotic state, a
patriarchal kingdom based on agriculture.
SBC, “Ecc_5:9-20; Ecc_6:1-9
I. In all grades of society human subsistence is very much the same. Even princes are not
fed with ambrosia, nor do poets subsist on asphodel. The profit of the earth is for all.
II. When a man begins to amass money, he begins to feed an appetite which nothing can
appease, and which its proper food will only render fiercer. Therefore happy they who
have never got enough to awaken the accumulating passion!
III. It is another consideration which should reconcile us to the want of wealth that as
abundance grows, so grow the consumers, and of riches less perishable the proprietor
enjoys no more than the mere spectator.
IV. Among the pleasures of obscurity, the next noticed is sound slumber. If the poor
could get a taste of opulence, it would reveal to them strange luxuries in lowliness.
V. Wealth is often the ruin of its possessor. It is "kept for the owner to his hurt."
VI. Last of all are the infirmity and fretfulness which are the frequent companions of
wealth.
VII. Whether your possessions be, great or small, think only of the joys at God’s right
hand as your eternal treasure. Lead a life disentangled and expedite, setting your
affections on things above and never so clinging to the things temporal as to lose the
things eternal. The true disciple will value wealth chiefly as he can spend it on objects
dear to his dear Lord.
J. Hamilton, The Royal Preacher, Lecture XI.
References: 5:10-6:12.— T. C. Finlayson, A Practical Exposition of

70. 10 Whoever loves money never has money enough;
whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income.
This too is meaningless.
CLARKE, “He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver - The more he
gets, the more he would get; for the saying is true: -
Crescit amor nummi, quantum ipsa pecunia crescit.
“The love of money increases, in proportion as money itself increases.”
GILL, “He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver,.... The tillage of
the earth is necessary, a very laudable and useful employment, and men do well to busy
themselves in it; without this, neither the common people nor the greatest personages
can be supplied with the necessaries of life; but then an immoderate love of money is
criminal, which is here meant by loving silver, one kind of money, which when loved
beyond measure is the root of all evil; and besides, when a man has got ever so much of
it, he is not satisfied, he still wants more, like the horse leech at the vein cries Give, give;
or he cannot eat silver, so Jarchi; or be "fed with money", as Mr. Broughton renders it;
and herein the fruits of the earth, for which the husbandman labours, have the
preference to silver; for these he can eat, and be filled and satisfied with them, but he
cannot eat his bags of gold and silver;
nor he that loveth abundance with increase; that is, he that coveteth a great deal
of this world's things shall not be satisfied with the increase of them, let that be what it
will; or, he shall have "no increase" (f), be ever the better for his abundance, or enjoy the
comfort and benefit of it: or, "he that loveth abundance from whence there is no
increase" (g); that loves to have a multitude of people about him, as manservants and
maidservants; a large equipage, as Aben Ezra suggests, which are of very little use and
service, or none at all;
this is also vanity: the immoderate love of money, coveting large estates and
possessions, and to have a train of servants. Jarchi allegorically interprets silver and
abundance, of the commands, and the multitude of them.
HENRY, “The more men have the more they would have, Ecc_5:10. A man may have
but a little silver and be satisfied with it, may know when he has enough and covet no
more. Godliness, with contentment, is great gain. I have enough, says Jacob; I have all,
and abound, says St. Paul: but, (1.) He that loves silver, and sets his heart upon it, will
never think he has enough, but enlarges his desire as hell (Hab_2:5), lays house to
house and field to field (Isa_5:8), and, like the daughters of the horse-leech, still cries,

71. Give, give. Natural desires are at rest when that which is desired is obtained, but corrupt
desires are insatiable. Nature is content with little, grace with less, but lust with nothing.
(2.) He that has silver in abundance, and has it increasing ever so fast upon him, yet does
not find that it yields any solid satisfaction to his soul. There are bodily desires which
silver itself will not satisfy; if a man be hungry, ingots of silver will do no more to satisfy
his hunger than clods of clay. Much less will worldly abundance satisfy spiritual desires;
he that has ever so much silver covets more, not only of that, but of something else,
something of another nature. Those that make themselves drudges to the world are
spending their labour for that which satisfies not (Isa_55:2), which fills the belly, but
will never fill the soul, Eze_7:19.
JAMISON, “Not only will God punish at last, but meanwhile the oppressive gainers of
“silver” find no solid “satisfaction” in it.
shall not be satisfied — so the oppressor “eateth his own flesh” (see on Ecc_4:1 and
see on Ecc_4:5).
with increase — is not satisfied with the gain that he makes.
K&D, ““He who loveth silver is not satisfied with silver; and he whose love cleaveth to
abundance, hath nothing of it: also this is vain.” The transition in this series of proverbs
is not unmediated; for the injustice which, according to Ecc_5:7, prevails in the state as
it now is becomes subservient to covetousness, in the very nature of which there lies
insatiableness: semper avarus eget, hunc nulla pecunia replet. That the author speaks of
the “sacra fames argenti” (not auri) arises from this, that not ‫,זהב‬ but ‫,כסף‬ is the specific
word for coin.
(Note: A Jewish fancy supposes that ‫כסף‬ is chosen because it consists of letters rising
in value (20, 60, 80); while, on the contrary, ‫זהב‬ consists of letters decreasing in value
(7, 5, 2).)
Mendelssohn-Friedländer also explains: “He who loveth silver is not satisfied with silver,” i.e., it
does not make him full; that might perhaps be linguistically possible (cf. e.g., Pro_12:11),
although the author would in that case probably have written the words ‫ף‬ ֶ‫ס‬ ֶⅴ ַ‫ן־ה‬ ִ‫,מ‬ after Ecc_6:3;
but “to be not full of money” is, after Ecc_1:8, and especially Ecc_4:8, Hab_2:5, cf. Pro_27:20 =
never to have enough of money, but always to desire more.
That which follows, Ecc_5:9, is, according to Hitz., a question: And who hath joy in
abundance, which bringeth nothing in? But such questions, with the answer to be
supplied, are not in Koheleth's style; and what would then be understood by capital
without interest? Others, as Z‫צ‬ckler, supply ‫ע‬ ַ ְ‫שׂ‬ִ‫:י‬ and he that loveth abundance of
possessions (is) not (full) of income; but that which is gained by these hard ellipses is only a
tautology. With right, the Targ., Syr., Jerome, the Venet., and Luther take lo tevuah as the
answer or conclusion; and who clings to abundance of possessions with his love? - he
has no fruit thereof; or, with a weakening of the interrog. pronoun into the relative (as at
Ecc_1:9; cf. under Psa_34:13): he who ... clings has nothing of it. Hamon signifies a
tumult, a noisy multitude, particularly of earthly goods, as at Psa_37:16; 1Ch_29:16;

72. Isa_60:5. The connection of ‫אהב‬ with ‫,ב‬ occurring only here, follows the analogy of ְ ‫ץ‬ ֵ‫פ‬ ָ‫ח‬ and
the like. The conclusion is synon. with levilti ho'il; e.g., Isa_44:10; Jer_7:8. All the Codd.
read ‫לא‬;‫לו‬ in this sense would be meaningless.
(Note: In Maccoth 10a, ‫לו‬ is read three times in succession; the Midrash Wajikra, c. 22,
reads ‫,לא‬ and thus it is always found without Kerı and without variation.)
The designation of advantage by tevuah, the farmer enjoys the fruit of his labour; but he
who hangs his heart on the continual tumult, noise, pomp of more numerous and
greater possessions is possible, to him all real profit - i.e., all pleasant, peaceful
enjoyment - is lost. With the increase of the possessions there is an increase also of
unrest, and the possessor has in reality nothing but the sight of them.
KRETZMANN, “v. 10. He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver, for the covetous
is never satisfied, never happy; nor he that loveth abundance with increase, having his heart set on
a multitude of possessions, for the more he has, the more he wants; this is also vanity, for it cannot
yield true happiness.
TRAPP, “Ecc_5:10 He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth
abundance with increase: this [is] also vanity.
Ver. 10. He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver.] As he cannot fill his belly, nor clothe
his back with it, so neither can he satisfy his inordinate appetite and desire after it, though he had
heaped and hoarded it up, as the great Caliph of Babylon had - that covetous wretch, starved to death
by Haalon, brother to Mango, the great Cham of Cataia, in the midst of his gold, silver, and precious
stones, whereof, till then, he could never have enough. {a} Auri nempe fames parto fit maior ab
auro, {b} A man may as soon fill a chest with grace as a heart with wealth. As a circle cannot fill a
triangle, so neither can the whole world, if it could be compassed, possibly fill the heart of man. Anima
rationalis caeteris omnibus occupari potest, impleri non potest:{c} The reasonable soul may be busied
about other things, but it cannot be filled with them. Non plus satiatur cor auro, quam corpus aura, As
air fills not the body, so neither doth money the mind. It cannot, therefore, be man’s chiefest good, as
mammonists make it, since it doth not terminate his appetite, but that although he hath never so much
of it, yet is he as hungry after more as if he were not worth a halfpenny. Theoeritus brings in the
covetous person first wishing -
“ Mille meis errent in montibus agni; ”
that he had a thousand sheep in his flock. And this when he had gotten, then, Pauperis est namerare
pecus. He would have cattle without number. The Greeks derive their word for desire {d} from a root
that signifieth to burn, Now, if one should heap never so much fuel upon a fire, it would not quench it,
but kindle it the more. So here. Surely, as a ship may be overladen with silver, even unto sinking, and
yet have compass and sides enough to hold ten times more, so a covetous wretch, though he hath
enough to sink him, yet never hath he enough to satisfy him. Cataline was ever alieni appetens, sui
profusus, {e} not more prodigal of his own than desirous after other men’s estates.

73. PULPIT, “He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver. "Silver," the generic name for
money, as Greek ἀργύριον and French ARGENT . The insatiableness of the passion for money is a
common theme of poets, moralists, and satirists, and is found in the proverbs of all nations. Thus
Horace ('Ep.,' Eph_1:2 . 56): "Semper avarus eget;" to which St Jerome alludes ('Epist.,' 53),
"Antiquum dictum est, Avaro tam deest, quod habet, quam quod non habet." Comp. Juvenal, 'Sat.,'
14.139—
"Interea pleno quum forget sacculus ere,
Crescit amor nummi, quantum ipsa pecnnia crevit."
"For as thy strutting bags with money rise,
The love of gain is of an equal size."
(Dryden.)
There is much more of similar import in Horace. See 'Carm.,' 2.2. 13, sqq.; 3.16. 17, 28; 'Ep.,' 2.2, 147;
an, 1 Ovid, Fast.,' 1.211—
"Creverunt etopes et opum furiosa cupido,
Et, quum possideant plura, plura volunt."
"As wealth increases grows the frenzied thirst
For wealth; the more they have, the more they want."
Nor he that loveth abundance with increase. The Authorized Version scarcely presents the sense of
the passage, which is not tautological, but rather that given by the Vulgate, Et qui amat divitias fructum
non capiet exeis, "He who loveth abundance of wealth hath no fruit therefrom;" he derives no real
profit or enjoyment from the luxury which it enables him to procure; rather it brings added trouble. And
so the old conclusion is again reached, this is also vanity. Hitzig takes the sentence as interrogative,
"Who hath pleasure in abundance which brings nothing in?" But such questions are hardly in the style
of Kohelcth, and the notion of capital without interest is not a thought which would have been then
understood. The Septuagint, however, reads the clause interrogatively, Καὶ τίς ἠγάπησεν ἐν πλήθει
αὐτῶν ( αὐτοῦ , al.) γέννηµα ; "And who has loved [or, has been content with] gain in its fullness?"
But îÄé is not necessarily interrogative, but here indefinite, equivalent to "whosoever."
STEDMAN, “
He who loves money will not be satisfied with money; nor he who loves wealth, with gain:
this also is vanity. {Eccl 5:10 RSV}
First, money will not satisfy you; money will not leave you feeling full and enjoying life.
There is plenty of testimony to that today.
Hamilton wrote, “Happy they who have never got enough to awaken the accumulating
passion.”
A Jewish proverb says, “Money really adds not more to the wise than clothes can to the
beautiful.” Tertullian wrote, “Nothing that is God’s is obtainable by money.”

74. John Keynes, “The moral problem of our age is concerned with the love of money, with
the habitual appeal to the money nature in nine tenths of the activities of life.” I Tim. 6:9-
10.
Shakespeare said, “Wealth is like sea water, the more we drink, the thirstier we become.”
Rudyard Kipling in a commencement speech said, “someday you will meet a man who
cares for none of these things-money, position, or glory-then you will know how poor you
are.”
This is no maybe, but a definite appointment on God’s calendar. We are not rewarded
based on this or that church we joined or because we believed this or that doctrine, or
rather we have done good or bad. It is not on the quantity but the quality of life. Matt.
7:1-2 will be the standard, and so how we judged others will come into play. Ironside
said, “It is not how much we have done that is going to count, but it is the quality of what
we have done that is going to matter. We are to prepare by judging self-I Cor. 11:31.
Secondly,
When goods increase, they increase who eat them; and what gain has their owner but to see
them with his eyes? {Eccl 5:11 RSV}
That is, you will soon discover that a crowd of parasites gather around you to spend your
money for you; you get nothing out of them but expense.
He develops this even further:
Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much; but the surfeit of the rich will
not let him sleep. {Eccl 5:12 RSV}
A second disadvantage to having money is that you worry about how to take care of your
property. You stay awake nights, worrying about how to keep what you have.
There is still a third disadvantage:
There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owner to
his hurt, and those riches were lost in a bad venture; and he is father of a son, but he has
nothing in his hand. {Eccl 5:13-14 RSV}
You can lose your riches too. They can disappear overnight. A turn of the wheel, a drop
in the Dow Jones Averages and your fortune is gone.
Finally, riches will not survive death, but you will:
As he came from his mother's womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take
nothing for his toil, which he may carry away in his hand. This also is a grievous evil: Just as
he came, so shall he go; and what gain has he that he toiled for the wind, and spent all his
days in darkness and grief, in much vexation and sickness and resentment? {Eccl 5:15-17
RSV}
You can take absolutely nothing away with you. Life is empty and meaningless for so
many people. They suffer from "Destination Sickness"; having arrived at where they
always wanted to be, and having everything they always wanted to have, they do not want
anything they've got.
Once again we come to the true answer in the closing words of the chapter:
Behold, what I have seen to be good and to be fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment
in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life which God has given

75. him, for this is his lot. Every man also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and
power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and find enjoyment in his toil -- this is the gift of
God. {Eccl 5:18-19 RSV}
Enjoyment does not come from possessions, or from riches. Nor does it come from
companionship, from popularity and fame, from the approval and the admiration of
others. Enjoyment comes by knowing the Living God and taking everything from his
hand with thanksgiving, whether it be pain or pleasure. That is the gift of God, and that is
the lesson of this great book.
Notice how the chapter closes:
For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy
in his heart. {Eccl 5:20 RSV}
Have you ever met people like that? They have lived a full life, but they never talk about
the past. Some people live in the past.
William Randolph Hearst, who amassed one of the great fortunes of our time, ended his
days amidst all the opulence and splendor of the castle which he built in Southern
California, sitting in a basement, playing over and over again the movies of his paramour
from Hollywood, in an effort to eke out a degree of enjoyment from the past.
When people discover the richness of life which God has provided they do not think of
the past, or even talk about it. They do not talk about the future either because they are so
richly involved with the savor of life right now.
How good it is to know the Living God, to know that he controls what comes into your
life. He expects you to make choices; Scripture always encourages that. But rejoice in the
wisdom of a Father's heart, and richly enjoy what is handed you day-by-day; that is the
secret of life. Such a one "will not much remember the days of his life" because God will
keep him occupied "with joy in his heart."
11 As goods increase,
so do those who consume them.
And what benefit are they to the owner
except to feast his eyes on them?
BARNES, “They ... that eat them - i. e., The laborers employed, and the household
servants.
CLARKE, “When goods increase - An increase of property always brings an
increase of expense, by a multitude of servants; and the owner really possesses no more,
and probably enjoys much less, than he did, when every day provided its own bread, and
could lay up no store for the next. But if he have more enjoyment, his cares are

76. multiplied; and he has no kind of profit. “This also is vanity.”
GILL, “When goods increase, they are increased that eat them,.... When a
man's substance increases by trade, or otherwise, very often so it is that his family
increases, and he has more mouths to feed, and backs to clothe; or his estate growing
larger, if he lives suitably to it, he must keep more servants; and these, as they have but
little work to do, are described by their eating, rather than by their working; and besides,
such a growing man in the world has more friends and visitors that come about him, and
eat with him, as well as the poor, which wait upon him to receive his alms: and if his
farms, and his fields, and his flocks, are enlarged, he must have more husbandmen, and
labourers, and shepherds to look after them, who all must be maintained. So Pheraulas
in Xenophon (h) observes,
"that now he was possessed of much, that he neither ate, nor drank, nor slept the
sweeter for it; what he got by his plenty was, that he had more committed to his keeping,
and more to distribute to others; he had more care and more business, with trouble; for
now, says he, many servants require food of me, many drink, many clothing, some need
physicians, &c. it must needs be, adds he, that they that possess much must spend much
on the gods, on friends, and on guests;''
and what good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them
with their eyes? he can go into his grounds, his fields, and his meadows to behold his
flocks and his herds, and can say, all these are mine; he can go into his chambers and
open his treasures, and feed his eyes with looking upon his bags of gold and silver, his
jewels, and other riches; he can behold a multitude of people at his table, eating at his
expense, and more maintained at his cost: and, if a liberal man, it may be a pleasure to
him; if otherwise, it will give him pain: and, excepting these, he enjoys no more than
food and raiment; and often so it is, that even his very servants have in some things the
advantage of him, as follows. The Targum is,
"what profit is there to the owner thereof who gathers it, unless he does good with it,
that he may see the gift of the reward with his eyes in the world to come?''
Jarchi interprets it after this manner,
"when men bring many freewill offerings, the priests are increased that eat them; and
what good is to the owner of them, the Lord, but the sight of his eyes, who says, and his
will is done?''
HENRY, “The more men have the more occasion they have for it, and the more they
have to do with it, so that it is as broad as it is long: When goods increase, they are
increased that eat them, Ecc_5:11. The more meat the more mouths. Does the estate
thrive? And does not the family at the same time grow more numerous and the children
grow up to need more? The more men have the better house they must keep, the more
servants they must employ, the more guests they must entertain, the more they must
give to the poor, and the more they will have hanging on them, for where the carcase is
the eagles will be. What we have more than food and raiment we have for others; and
then what good is there to the owners themselves, but the pleasure of beholding it with
their eyes? And a poor pleasure it is. An empty speculation is all the difference between

77. the owners and the sharers; the owner sees that as his own which those about him enjoy
as much of the real benefit of as he; only he has the satisfaction of doing good to others,
which indeed is a satisfaction to one who believes what Christ said, that it is more
blessed to give than to receive; but to a covetous man, who thinks all lost that goes
beside himself, it is a constant vexation to see others eat of his increase.
JAMISON, “they ... that eat them — the rich man’s dependents (Psa_23:5).
K&D, ““When property and goods increase, they become many who consume them;
and what advantage hath the owner thereof but the sight of them with his eyes?” The
verb ‫ה‬ ָ‫ב‬ ָ‫ר‬ signifies to increase, the ‫ב‬ ַ‫ב‬ ָ‫,ר‬ to be many; but also (which Böttch. denies)
inchoatively: to become many, Gen_6:1; rightly, the lxx, ᅚπληθύνθησαν. The author has not a
miser in view, who shuts up his money in chests, and only feeds himself in looking at it
with closed doors; but a covetous man, of the sort spoken of in Psa_49:12; Isa_5:8. If
the hattovah, the possession of such an one, increases, in like manner the number of
people whom he must maintain increases also, and thus the number of those who eat of
it along with him, and at the same time also his disquiet and care, increase; and what
advantage, what useful result (vid., regarding Kishron, above, p. 638, and under Ecc_
2:21) has the owner of these good things from them but the beholding of them (reith;
Kerı, reuth; cf. the reverse case, Psa_126:4)? - the possession does not in itself bring
happiness, for it is never great enough to satisfy him, but is yet great enough to fill him
with great care as to whether he may be able to support the demands of so great a
household: the fortune which it brings to him consists finally only in this, that he can
look on all he has accumulated with proud self-complacency.
KRETZMANN,, “v. 11. When goods increase, they are increased that eat them, for with in.
creasing wealth comes the demand for more servants, and they and other dependents are consumers
rather than producers; and what good is there to the owners thereof, what benefit have they of all
their possessions, saving the beholding of them with their eyes? a feeling of pleasure which cannot
permanently satisfy.
TRAPP, “
Ecc_5:11 When goods increase, they are increased that eat them: and what good [is there] to the
owners thereof, saving the beholding [of them] with their eyes?
Ver. 11. When goods increase, they are increased that eat them.] Servants, friends, flatterers,
trencher men, pensioners, and other hangerons that will flock to a rich man, as crows do to a dead
carcase, not to defend, but to devour it. Caesar perished in the midst of his friends, whose boundless
hopes and expectations he was not able to satisfy. The King of Spain, were it not for the West India
fleet, were never able to subsist, though he be by far the greatest prince in Christendom, gives for his
motto, Totus non sufficit orbis, and hath his empire so far extended that he may truly say, Sol mihi
semper lucet, The sun ever shines upon my dominions. {a} The Duke of Bavaria’s house is so
pestered with friars and Jesuits that, notwithstanding the greatness of his revenue, he is very poor, as
spending all his estate on those Popish flesh flies, those inutiles et ribaldi (Lyra’s words upon this text),
useless, needless, ribaldry fellows. {b}

78. Saving the beholding of them with his eyes.] To such a large retinue, such a numerous family; as
Job, who had a very great household, {Job_1:3 } and Abraham, who had a trained hand in his
family, but especially as Solomon, who had thousands of servants and work folk. Whereunto I may
add Cardinal Wolsey’s pompous family, consisting of one earl, nine barons, knights and esquires very
many, chaplains and other servants, besides retainers, at bed and board, no fewer than four hundred.
Or, to see so much wealth, and to tumble in it; as Caligula the emperor was wont to do, contrectandae
pecuniae cupidine incensus, loving to handle his money, to walk upon it with his bare feet, and to roll
among it with his whole body, as Suetonins relateth. {c} The like is reported of Heliogabalus, who also,
besides what he did eat, is said to have provided himself, in case he should be in danger to be
surprised by his enemies, silken halters to hang himself with, ponds of sweet water to drown himself,
gilded poisons to poison himself with, &c.
PULPIT, “Koheleth proceeds to notice some of the inconveniences which accompany wealth, which
go far to prove that God is over all. When goods increase, they are increased that eat them. The
more riches a man possesses, the greater are the claims upon him. He increases his household,
retainers, and dependents, and is really none the better off for all his wealth. So Job in his prosperous
days is said to have had "a very great household" (Job_1:3 ), and the servants and laborers
employed by Solomon must have taxed to the utmost even his abnormal resources (1Ki_5:13 , etc.).
Commentators from Piueda downwards have quoted the remarkable parallel in Xenoph;
'Cyropaed.,' Job_8:3 , wherein the wealthy Persian Pheraulas, who had risen from poverty to high
estate, disabuses a young Sacian friend of the idea that his riches made him happier or afforded
supreme content. "Do you not know," said he," that I neither eat, nor drink, nor sleep with any more
pleasure now than I did when I was poor? by having this abundance I gain merely this, that I have to
guard more, to distribute more among others, and to have the trouble of taking care of more. For now
numerous domestics demand of me food, drink, clothes; some want the doctor; one comes and brings
me sheep that have been torn by wolves, or oxen killed by failing down a precipice, or tells of a
murrain that has affected the cattle; so that I seem to myself to have more afflictions in my abundance
than I had when I was poor, It is obligatory on him who possesses much to expend much both on
the gods and on friends and on strangers; and whosoever is greatly pleased with the possession of
riches will, you may be assured, be greatly annoyed at the expenditure of them." What good is there
to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes? What it is that the owners
behold is doubtful. Ginsburg considers that the increased number of devourers is meant; but surely
this sight could hardly be called kishron, "success, profit." So it is better to take the sight to be the
amassed wealth. The contemplation of this is the only enjoyment that the possessor realizes. So the
Vulgate, Et quid prodest possessori, nisi quod cernit divitias oculis suis? Septuagint, Καὶ τί ἀνδρεία τῷ
παρ αὐτῆς ὅτι ἀρχὴ τοῦ ὁρᾷν ὀφθαλµοῖς αὐτοῦ ," And in what does the excellence of the owner
consist? except the power of seeing it with his eyes." A LapideQUOTES Horace's portrait of the
miser ('Sat.,' 1.1.66, sqq.)
"Populus me sibilat; ut mihi plaudo
Ipse domi, simul ac, nummos contemplor in area
... congestis undique saccis
Indormis inhians et tanquam parcere sacris
Cogeris aut pictis tanquam gaudere tabellis."
"He, when the people hissed, would turn about,
And dryly thus accost the rabble-rout:

79. 'Hiss on; heed you not, ye saucy wags,
While self-applauses greet me o'er my bags. '
O'er countless heaps in nicest order stored,
You pore agape, and gaze upon the hoard,
As relics to be laid with reverence by,
Or pictures only meant to please the eye."
(Howes.)
12 The sleep of a laborer is sweet,
whether he eats little or much,
but the abundance of a rich man
permits him no sleep.
BARNES, “Labouring man - Not a slave (Septuagint), but everyone who, according
to the divine direction, earns his bread in the sweat of his brow.
CLARKE, “The sleep of a laboring man is sweet - His labor is healthy exercise. He
is without possessions, and without cares; his sleep, being undisturbed, is sound and
refreshing.
GILL, “The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or
much,.... Or "of a servant" (i), who enjoys sleep equally as a king; a tiller of the ground,
as Jarchi; who also interprets it of one that serves the Lord, as likewise the Targum; a
beloved one of his, to whom he gives sleep, Psa_127:2. A refreshing sleep is always
reckoned a great mercy and blessing, and which labouring men enjoy with sweetness (k);
for if they have but little to eat at supper, yet coming weary from their work, sleep is
easily brought on when they lie down, and sound sleep they have, and rise in the
morning lively and active, and fit for business; or, if they eat more plentifully, yet
through their labour they have a good digestion, and their sleep is not hindered: so that
should it be answered to the above question, what has the master more than the servant,
though he eats and drinks more freely, and of the best, and lives voluptuously? yet it may
be replied, that, in the business of sleep, the labouring man has the preference to him;
which must be owned to be a great blessing of life, and is often interrupted by excessive
eating and drinking;

80. but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep; either the abundance
of food which he eats, which loads his stomach, and fills his head with vapours, and
makes him restless, so that he can get no sleep, or what he does get is very
uncomfortable: or the abundance of his riches fills him with cares, what he shall do with
them, and how to keep and increase them; and with fears, lest thieves should break in
and take them away from him, so that he cannot sleep quietly (l). The Targum is,
"sweet is the sleep of a man that serves the Lord of the world with a perfect heart; and he
shall have rest in the house of his grave, whether he lives a few years or more, &c;''
and much to the same purpose Jarchi; and who says, it is thus interpreted in an ancient
book of theirs, called Tanchuma.
HENRY, “ The more men have the more care they have about it, which perplexes them
and disturbs their repose, Ecc_5:12. Refreshing sleep is as much the support and
comfort of this life as food is. Now, (1.) Those commonly sleep best that work hard and
have but what they work for: The sleep of the labouring man is sweet, not only because
he has tired himself with his labour, which makes his sleep the more welcome to him
and makes him sleep soundly, but because he has little to fill his head with care about
and so break his sleep. His sleep is sweet, though he eat but little and have but little to
eat, for his weariness rocks him asleep; and, though he eat much, yet he can sleep well,
for his labour gets him a good digestion. The sleep of the diligent Christian, and his long
sleep, is sweet; for, having spent himself and his time in the service of God, he can
cheerfully return to God and repose in him as his rest. (2.) Those that have every thing
else often fail to secure a good night's sleep. Either their eyes are held waking or their
sleeps are unquiet and do not refresh them; and it is their abundance that breaks their
sleep and disturbs it, both the abundance of their care (as the rich man's who, when his
ground brought forth plentifully, thought within himself, What shall I do? Luk_12:17)
and the abundance of what they eat and drink which overcharges the heart, makes them
sick, and so hinders their repose. Ahasuerus, after a banquet of wine, could not sleep;
and perhaps consciousness of guilt, both in getting and using what they have, breaks
their sleep as much as any thing. But God gives his beloved sleep.
JAMISON, “Another argument against anxiety to gain riches. “Sleep ... sweet” answers
to “quietness” (Ecc_4:6); “not suffer ... sleep,” to “vexation of spirit.” Fears for his
wealth, and an overloaded stomach without “laboring” (compare Ecc_4:5), will not
suffer the rich oppressor to sleep.
K&D, “He can also eat that which is good, and can eat much; but he does not on that
account sleep more quietly than the labourer who lives from hand to mouth: “Sweet is
the sleep of the labourer, whether he eats little or much; but, on the contrary, the
abundance of the rich does not permit him to sleep.” The lxx, instead of “labourer,” uses
the word “slave” (δούλου), as if the original were ‫ד‬ ֶ‫ב‬ ֶ‫ע‬ ָ‫.ה‬ But, as a rule, sound sleep is the
reward of earnest labour; and since there are idle servants as well as active masters, there is no
privilege to servants. The Venet. renders rightly by “of the husbandman” (ᅚργάτου), the ‫ה‬ ָ‫מ‬ ָ‫ד‬ ֲ‫הא‬
‫ד‬ ֵ‫ּב‬‫ע‬; the “labourer” in general is called ‫ל‬ ֵ‫מ‬ ָ‫,ע‬ Ecc_4:8 and Jdg_5:26, post-bibl. ‫ל‬ ֵ‫ּע‬ . The labourer
enjoys sweet, i.e., refreshing, sound sleep, whether his fare be abundant of scanty - the labour

81. rewards him by sweet sleep, notwithstanding his poverty; while, on the contrary, the sleep of the
rich is hindered and disturbed by his abundance, not: by his satiety, viz., repletion, as Jerome
remarks: incocto cibo in stomachi angustiis aestuante; for the labourer also, if he eats much, eats
his fill; and why should sufficiency have a different result in the one from what is has in the
other? As ‫ע‬ ָ‫ב‬ ָ‫שׂ‬ means satiety, not over-satiety; so, on the other hand, it means, objectively,
sufficient and plentifully existing fulness to meet the wants of man, Pro_3:10, and the word
is meant thus objectively here: the fulness of possession which the rich has at his disposal does
not permit him to sleep, for all kinds of projects, cares, anxieties regarding it rise within him,
which follow him into the night, and do not suffer his mind to be at rest, which is a condition of
sleep. The expression ָ‫ע‬ ֶ‫ל‬ ָ ַ‫ה‬ is the circumlocutio of the genit. relation, like ‫לב‬ ... ‫,חל‬ Rth_2:3; ‫נע‬
... ‫אם‬ (lxx Αµνᆹν τᇿσ ʆ Αχινόαµ), 2Sa_3:2. Heiligstedt remarks that it stands for ‫העשׁיר‬ ‫ע‬ ַ‫ב‬ ְ‫שׂ‬
; but the nouns ‫א‬ ָ‫מ‬ ָ‫,צ‬ ‫ַב‬‫ע‬ ָ‫ר‬ , ‫ָא‬‫מ‬ָ‫צ‬snuon, ‫ע‬ ָ‫ב‬ ָ‫שׂ‬ form no const., for which reason the circumloc. was
necessary; ‫ע‬ ַ‫ב‬ ְ‫שׂ‬ is the constr. of ַ‫ע‬ ֵ‫ב‬ ָ‫.שׂ‬ Falsely, Ginsburg: “aber der Ueberfluss den Reichen - er
lässt ihn nicht schlafen” but superabundance the rich - it doth not suffer him to sleep; but this
construction is neither in accordance with the genius of the German nor of the Heb. language.
Only the subject is resumed in ‫וּ‬ ֶ‫ינ‬ ֵ‫א‬ (as in Ecc_1:7); the construction of ַ‫יח‬ִ‫נ‬ ֵ‫ה‬ is as at 1Ch_16:21;
cf. Psa_105:14. Of the two Hiphil forms, the properly Heb. ַ‫יח‬ִ‫נ‬ ֵ‫ה‬ and the Aramaizing ַ‫יח‬ִ ִ‫,ה‬ the
latter is used in the weakened meaning of ᅚᇰν, sinere.
After showing that riches bring to their possessor no real gain, but, instead of that,
dispeace, care, and unrest, the author records as a great evil the loss, sometimes
suddenly, of wealth carefully amassed.
young, "Toil brings sleep. God, in kindness to the sons of
toil, so orders it that they generally sleep soundly, and
are thereby refreshed. But the man of wealth, though
lying on a softer couch, is often prevented from enjoying
this luxury. Two causes may be assigned for the sleep-
lessness of the rich. First, wealth often leads its pos-
sessor to dissipation, and consequent pain of body. Who
can sleep with the gout at his feet, or delirium tremens at
his brain 1 Second, fear of robbery or of sudden loss fills
the mind with anxiety, so that sleep departs from his eyes.
" Elwes the millionaire is said to have often started from
his sleep, and to have been found in the dead of night
wandering through his house, mourning over the loss of
five pounds."
KRETZMANN, “v. 12. The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, sound and healthful, whether he
eat little or much, whether he has a generous supply of food or must be satisfied with nourishment
just sufficient to sustain life; but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep, rich foods

82. together with worry over his possessions drive the sleep from the eyes of the wealthy. LL
TRAPP, “Ecc_5:12 The sleep of a labouring man [is] sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the
abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.
Ver. 12. The sleep of a labouring man is sweet.] Sleep is theNURSE of nature, the wages that
she pays the poor man for his incessant pains. His fare is not so high, his care is not so great, but that
without distemper or distraction he can hug his rest most sweetly, and feel no disturbance, until the
due time of rising awakeneth him. {a} These labouring men are as sound as a rock, as hungry as
hunters, as weary as ever was dog of day, as they say, and therefore no sooner laid in their beds but
fast asleep, their hard labour causing easy digestion, and uninterrupted rest. Whereas the restless
spirit of the rich wretch rides his body day and night; care of getting, fear of keeping, grief of losing,
these three vultures feed upon himCONTINUALLY . He rolls a Sisyphus’ stone; his abundance,
like a lump of lead, lies heavy upon his heart, and breaks his sleep. Much like the disease called the
nightmare, or ephialtes, in which men in their slumber think they feel a thing as large as a mountain
lying upon their breasts, which they can no way remove. His evil conscience soon lasheth and lanceth
him, as it did our Richard III, after the murder of his two innocent nephews, and Charles IX of France,
after the bloody massacre. God also terrifies him with dreams, throws handfuls of hell fire in his
face,interpellat cogitantem, excitat dormientem, as Ambrose hath it, interrupts him while he is thinking,
awakeneth him while he is sleeping, rings that doleful peal in his ears, that makes him start and stare,
"Thou fool, this night shall thy soul be taken from thee." Veni miser in iudicium, Come, thou wretch,
receive thy judgment.
PULPIT, “Another inconvenience of great wealth—it robs a man of his sleep. The sleep of a
laboring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much. The laborer is the husbandman, the tiller of
the ground (Gen_4:2 ). The Septuagint, with a different pointing, renders δούλου , "slave," which is
less appropriate, the fact being generally true of free or bond man. Whether his fare be plentiful or
scanty, the honest laborer earns and enjoys his night's rest. But the abundance of the rich will not
suffer him to sleep. The allusion is not to the overloading of the stomach, which might occasion
sleeplessness in the case of the poor equally with the rich man, but to the cares and anxieties which
wealth brings. "Not a soft couch, nor a bedstead overlaid with silver, nor the quietness that exists
throughout the house, nor any other circumstance of this nature, are so generally wont to make sleep
sweet and pleasant, as that of laboring, and growing weary, and lying down with a disposition to sleep,
and very greatly needing it . Not so the rich. On the contrary, whilst lying on their beds, they are
frequently without sleep through the whole night; and, though they devise many schemes, they do not
obtain such pleasure" (St. Chrysostom, 'Hom. on Stat.,' 22). The contrast between the grateful sleep of
the tired worker and the disturbed rest of the avaricious and moneyed and luxurious has formed a
fruitful theme for poets. Thus Horace, 'Carm.,' 3.1.21—
"Somnus agrestium
Lenis virorum non humiles domes
Fastidit umbrosamque ripam,
Non Zephyris agitata Tempe."
"Yet sleep turns never from the lowly shed
Of humbler-minded men, nor from the eaves
In Tempe's graceful vale is banished,

83. Where only Zephyrs stir the murmuring leaves."
(Stanley.)
And the reverse, 'Sat.,' 1.1.76, sqq.—
"An vigilare metu exanimem, noctesque diesque
Formidare males fures, inccndia, serves,
Ne to compilent fugientes, hoc juvat?"
"But what are your indulgencies? All day,
All night, to watch and shudder with dismay,
Lest ruffians fire your house, or slaves by stealth
Rifle your coffers, and abstract your wealth?
If this be affluence—this her boasted fruit,
Of all such joys may I live destitute."
(Howes.)
Comp. Juvenal, 'Sat.,' 10.12, sqq.; 14.304. Shakespeare, 'Henry IV.,' Pt. II; act 3. sc. 1—
"Why rather, sleep, liest thou in smoky cribs,
Upon uneasy pallets stretching thee,
And hush'd with buzzing night-flies to thy slumber,
Than in the perfumed chambers of the great,
Under the canopies of costly state,
And lulled with sounds of sweetest melody?"
This is often so, but not always. George Gissing in 1903 said, “When I think of all
the sorrow and barrenness that has been wrought in my life by want of a few more
pounds per annum than I was able to earn, I stand aghast at money’s significance.”
Kim Hubbard said, “There is one advantage of being poor-the doctor will cure you
faster.”

84. 13 I have seen a grievous evil under the sun:
wealth hoarded to the harm of its owner,
CLARKE, “Riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt - This may be the
case through various causes:
1. He may make an improper use of them, and lose his health by them.
2. He may join in an unfortunate partnership and lose all.
3. His riches may excite the desire of the robber; and he may spoil him of his goods,
and even take away his life.
4. Or, he may leave them to his son, who turns profligate; spends the whole, and
ruins both his body and soul. I have seen this again and again.
GILL, “There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun,.... Or "an evil
sickness" (m). A sinful disease in the person with whom it is found, and very
disagreeable to others to behold; it is enough to make one sick to see it; and what he is
about to relate he himself was an eyewitness of:
namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt; laid up in barns and
granaries, as the fruits of the earth; or in chests and coffers, as gold and silver, for the
use and service of the owners of them; and which yet have been to their real injury; being
either used by them in a luxurious and intemperate way, so have brought diseases on
their bodies, and damnation to their souls; or not used at all for their own good, or the
good of others, which brings the curse of God upon them, to their ruin and destruction,
both here and hereafter: and oftentimes so it is, and which no doubt had fallen under the
observation of Solomon, that some who have been great misers, and have hoarded up
their substance, without using them themselves, or sharing them with others, have not
only been plundered of them, but, for the sake of them, their lives have been taken away
in a most barbarous manner, by cutthroats and villains; sometimes by their own
servants, nay, even by their own children. Riches ill gotten and ill used are very
prejudicial to the owners; and if they are well got, but ill used, or not used at all, greatly
hurt the spiritual and eternal state of men; it is a difficult thing for a rich man to enter
into the kingdom of heaven, and a covetous man cannot; if a professor, the word he
hears is choked and made unprofitable; he errs from the faith, and pierces himself
through with many sorrows now, and is liable to eternal damnation hereafter. The
Targum interprets it of a man that gathers riches, and does no good with them; but
keeps them to himself, to do himself evil in the world to come.
HENRY, “ The more men have the more danger they are in both of doing mischief and
of having mischief done them (Ecc_5:13): There is an evil, a sore evil, which Solomon
himself had seen under the sun, in this lower world, this theatre of sin and woe - riches
left for the owners thereof (who have been industrious to hoard them and keep them
safely) to their hurt; they would have been better without them. (1.) Their riches do them
hurt, make them proud, secure, and in love with the world, draw away their hearts from

85. God and duty, and make it very difficult for them to enter into the kingdom of heaven,
nay, help to shut them out of it. (2.) They do hurt with their riches, which not only put
them into a capacity of gratifying their own lusts and living luxuriously, but give them an
opportunity of oppressing others and dealing hardly with them. (3.) Often they sustain
hurt by their riches. They would not be envied, would not be robbed, if they were not
rich. It is the fat beast that is led first to the slaughter. A very rich man (as one observes)
has sometimes been excepted out of a general pardon, both as to life and estate, merely
on account of his vast and overgrown estate; so riches often take away the life of the
owners thereof, Pro_1:19.
JAMISON, “
Proofs of God’s judgments even in this world (Pro_11:31). The rich oppressor’s wealth
provokes enemies, robbers, etc. Then, after having kept it for an expected son, he loses it
beforehand by misfortune (“by evil travail”), and the son is born to be heir of poverty.
Ecc_2:19, Ecc_2:23 gives another aspect of the same subject.
KRETZMANN, “v. 13. There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches
kept for the owners thereof to their hurt, carefully taken care of by guardians, but later a snare to
the possessors, plunging them into many evil and hurtful lusts.
TRAPP, “
Ecc_5:13 There is a sore evil [which] I have seen under the sun, [namely], riches kept for the
owners thereof to their hurt.
Ver. 13. There is a sore evil.] Or, An evil disease, {a} such as breaks the sleep, hinc pallor et genae
pendulae, item furiales somni et inquies nocturna, {b} causing paleness, leanness, restlessness by
night. This disease is the dropsy or bulimy of covetousness, as seldom cured as heresy, frenzy,
jealousy, which three are held incurable maladies.
Riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.] Worldlings sit abrood upon their wealth, and hatch
to their hurt, as the silly bird doth the eggs of the cockatrice. Riches are called "goods," but it hath
been well observed that he that first called them so was a better husband [husbandman] than divine.
Such a husband was he in the gospel, who reckoned upon "much goods laid up for many years." But
how come these "goods" to prove evil to the owners but by the evil usage of them? Riches in
themselves are of an indifferent nature, and it is through men’s corruption, ut magna sit cognatio et
nominis et rei divitiis et vitiis, that riches are weapons of wickedness - engines of evil. "He that getteth
riches, and not by right, shall die a poor fool." {Jer_17:11 }
“ Dum peritura parat, per male parts perit. ”
He that keepeth his riches - having no quick silver, no current money - when God calls him to part with
them for pious and charitable uses, keepeth them to his own greatest hurt. For the rust of his canker
eaten gold shall rise up in judgment against him at that great day. {Jam_5:3 }
PULPIT, “There is also a sore evil which I have seen under the sun (so Ecc_5:16 ). The fact
that follows is, of course, not universally true, but occasionally seen, and is a very bitter evil. The

86. Septuagint calls it ἀῤῥωστία ; the Vulgate, infirmitas. Riches kept for the owners thereof to their
hurt; rather, preserved by the possessor, hoarded and guarded, only to bring their lord added grief
when by some reverse of fortune he loses them, as explained in what follows.
He did not give til it hurt, but kept til it hurt.
K&D, ““There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, riches kept by their
possessor to his hurt: the same riches perish by an evil event; and he hath begotten a
son, thus this one hath nothing in his hand.” There is a gradation of evils. ‫ה‬ ָ‫חוֹל‬‫ה‬ ָ‫ע‬ ָ‫ר‬ (cf. ‫ע‬ ָ‫ר‬
ָ‫ר‬ ‫י‬ ִ‫ל‬ ֳ‫,ח‬ Ecc_6:2) is not an ordinary, but a morbid evil, i.e., a deep hurtful evil; as a wound, not a
common one, but one particularly severe and scarcely curable, is called ‫ה‬ ָ‫ל‬ ְ‫ח‬ַ‫,נ‬ e.g., Nah_3:19. ‫השׁ‬
... ִ‫א‬ ָ‫ר‬ is, as at Ecc_10:5, an ellipt. relat. clause; cf. on the other hand, Ecc_6:1; the author
elsewhere uses the scheme of the relat. clause without relat. pron. (vid., under Ecc_1:13; Ecc_
3:16); the old language would use ָ‫יה‬ ִ‫ית‬ ִ‫א‬ ְ‫,ר‬ instead of ‫,ראיתי‬ with the reflex. pron. The great evil
consists in this, that riches are not seldom kept by their owner to his own hurt. Certainly ְ‫ל‬ ‫מוּר‬ ָ‫שׁ‬
can also mean that which is kept for another, 1Sa_9:24; but how involved and constrained is
Ginsburg's explanation: “hoarded up (by the rich man) for their (future) owner,” viz., the heir to
whom he intends to leave them! That ‫ל‬ can be used with the passive as a designation of the
subj., vid., Ewald, §295c; certainly it corresponds as little as ‫ן‬ ִ‫,מ‬ with the Greek ᆓπό, but in
Greek we say also πλοሞτος φυλαχθεᆳς τሬ κεκτηµένሩ, vid., Rost's Syntax, §112. 4. The suff.
of lera'atho refers to be'alav, the plur. form of which can so far remain out of view, that we
even say adonim qosheh, Isa_19:4, etc. “To his hurt,” i.e., at the last suddenly to lose that
which has been carefully guarded. The narrative explanation of this, “to his hurt,” begins
with vav explic. Regarding 'inyan ra'. It is a casus adversus that is meant, such a stroke
upon stroke as destroyed Job's possessions. The perf. ‫הוֹ‬ְ‫ו‬ supposes the case that the man
thus suddenly made poor is the father of a son; the clause is logically related to that which
follows as hypothet. antecedent, after the scheme. Gen_33:13. The loss of riches would of
itself make one who is alone unhappy, for the misfortune to be poor is less than the misfortunes
to be rich and then to become poor; but still more unfortunate is the father who thought that by
well-guarded wealth he had secured the future of his son, and who now leaves him with an empty
hand.
What now follows is true of this rich man, but is generalized into a reference to every rich man,
and then is recorded as a second great evil. As a man comes naked into the world, so also he
departs from it again without being able to take with him any of the earthly wealth he has
acquired.

87. 14 or wealth lost through some misfortune,
so that when he has a son
there is nothing left for him.
BARNES, “Evil travail - Adverse accident, or unsuccessful employment (compare
Ecc_1:13; Ecc_4:8).
CLARKE, “And he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand - He has
been stripped of his property by unfortunate trade or by plunderers; and he has nothing
to leave to his children.
GILL, “But those riches perish by evil travail,.... Or, "by an evil business or affair"
(n). That is, such riches as are not well got, or are not used as they should be, these waste
away and come to nothing; either by the owner's bad management, and misconduct in
trade and business; or by fire, tempest, thieves, and robbers, and many other ways and
means: these are very certain things; and there are various ways by which they make
themselves wings and flee away, under the direction of a divine providence;
and he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand; the riches he had
hoarded up, he designed for his son; but being stripped of them by one means or
another, when he comes to die, has nothing to leave his son: or if his riches do not perish
in his own lifetime, yet they are quickly consumed by his son, who, in a short time, has
nothing to live upon; and so being brought up a gentleman, and in no business, is in a
worse condition than such who have been brought up to work for their living, and in no
expectation of an estate after the decease of their friends. The Targum understands it in
this latter sense, paraphrasing the words thus,
"and those riches, which he shall leave his son after his death, shall perish, because he
hath gotten them in an evil way; and they shall not remain in the hand of the son whom
he hath begotten; neither shall anything remain in his hand.''
HENRY, “The more men have the more they have to lose, and perhaps they may lose it
all, Ecc_5:14. Those riches that have been laid up with a great deal of pains, and kept
with a great deal of care, perish by evil travail, by the very pains and care which they
take to secure and increase them. Many a one has ruined his estate by being over-
solicitous to advance it and make it more, and has lost all by catching at all. Riches are
perishing things, and all our care about them cannot make them otherwise; they make
themselves wings and fly away. He that thought he should have made his son a
gentleman leaves him a beggar; he begets a son, and brings him up in the prospect of an
estate, but, when he dies, leaves it under a charge of debt as much as it is worth, so that
there is nothing in his hand. This is a common case; estates that made a great show do

88. not prove what they seemed, but cheat the heir.
JAMISON, “Proofs of God’s judgments even in this world (Pro_11:31). The rich
oppressor’s wealth provokes enemies, robbers, etc. Then, after having kept it for an
expected son, he loses it beforehand by misfortune (“by evil travail”), and the son is born
to be heir of poverty. Ecc_2:19, Ecc_2:23 gives another aspect of the same subject.
KRETZMANN, “v. 14. But those riches perish by evil travail, they are lost by the various
misfortunes attending wealth; and he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand, he is an
heir of poverty.
PULPIT, “Those riches perish by evil travail; thing or circumstance. There is no need to confine the
cause of the loss to unsuccessful business, as many commentators do. The rich man does not seem
to be a tradesman or speculator; he loses his property, like Job, by visitations for which he is in no way
answerable—by storm or tempest, by robbers, by fire, by exactions, or by lawsuits.And he begetteth a
son, and there is nothing in his hand. The verb rendered "begetteth" is in the past tense, and used
as it were, hypothetically, equivalent to "hath he begotten a son," supposing he has a son. His misery
is doubled by the reflection that he has lost all hope of securing a fortune for his children, or founding a
family, or passing on an inheritance to posterity. It is doubtful to whom the pronoun "his" refers. Many
consider that the father is meant, and the clause says that when he has begotten a son, he finds he
has nothing to give him. But the suffix seems most naturally to refer to the son, who is thus left a
pauper. Vulgate, Generavit filium qui in summa egestate erit. Having a thing in the hand moans having
power over it, or possessing it.
15 aked a man comes from his mother's womb,
and as he comes, so he departs.
He takes nothing from his labor
that he can carry in his hand.
BARNES, “As he came forth - However it may be, he himself shall carry nothing
with him into the eternal world. If he die worth millions, those millions are dead to him
for ever; so he has had no real profit from all his labors, cares, anxieties, and vast
property!
CLARKE, “As he came forth - However it may be, he himself shall carry nothing
with him into the eternal world. If he die worth millions, those millions are dead to him

89. for ever; so he has had no real profit from all his labors, cares, anxieties, and vast
property!
GILL, “As he came forth of his mother's womb, naked shall he return to go
as he came,.... This may be understood either of the covetous rich man, or of his son;
and that supposing what is before said should not be the case of either of them, but they
should possess their substance as long as they live; yet, when they come to die, they will
be stripped of them all; of their gold and silver, their plate and jewels, and rich
household furniture; of their cattle and possessions, farms and estates, which are no
longer theirs; and even of their very clothes, and be as naked as they were when they
came into the world; and which is indeed the case of every man, Job_1:21; and is used as
an argument, and a very forcible one, against covetousness;
and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand;
nothing of his substance, which he has got by his labour, and hoarded up with great
care; not the least portion of it can he carry away with him when he dies; not any of his
jewels, nor bags of gold and silver; and if any of these should be put into his grave, which
has been sometimes done at the interment of great personages, these are of no manner
of use and service to him, either to comfort and refresh his body, or to save his soul from
hell, and procure it an entrance into the heavenly glory; see 1Ti_6:7. The Targum
allegorizes this in a very orthodox way, not very usual, in favour of original sin, and
against the doctrine of merit;
"as he goes out of his mother's womb naked, without a covering, and without any good;
so he shall return to go to the house of his grave, indigent of merit, as he came into this
world; and no good reward shall he receive by his labour, to take with him into the world
to which he goes, that it may be for merit in his hand.''
HENRY, “How much soever men have when they die, they must leave it all behind
them (Ecc_5:15, Ecc_5:16): As he came forth of his mother's womb naked, so shall he
return; only as his friends, when he came naked into the world, in pity to him, helped
him with swaddling-clothes, so, when he goes out, they help him with grave-clothes, and
that is all. See Job_1:21; Psa_49:17. This is urged as a reason why we should be content
with such things as we have, 1Ti_6:7. In respect of the body we must go as we came; the
dust shall return to the earth as it was. But sad is our case if the soul return as it came,
for we were born in sin, and if we die in sin, unsanctified, we had better never have been
born; and that seems to be the case of the worldling here spoken of, for he is said to
return in all points as he came, as sinful, as miserable, and much more so. This is a sore
evil; he thinks it so whose heart is glued to the world, that he shall take nothing of his
labour which he may carry away in his hand; his riches will not go with him into
another world nor stand him in any stead there. If we labour in religion, the grace and
comfort we get by that labour we may carry away in our hearts, and shall be the better
for it to eternity; that is meat that endures. But if we labour only for the world, to fill our
hands with that, we cannot take that away with us; we are born with our hands griping,
but we die with them extended, letting go what we held fast. So that, upon the whole
matter, he may well ask, What profit has he that has laboured for the wind? Note, Those
that labour for the world labour for the wind, for that which has more sound than
substance, which is uncertain, and always shifting its point, unsatisfying, and often
hurtful, which we cannot hold fast, and which, if we take up with it as our portion, will

90. no more feed us than the wind, Hos_12:1. Men will see that they have laboured for the
wind when at death they find the profit of their labour is all gone, gone like the wind,
they know not whither.
KRETZMANN, “v. 15. As he came forth of his mother's womb, naked shall be return to go as
he came, and shall take nothing of his labor, which he may carry away in his hand, whatever
treasures be has gained he must leave behind. Cf Job_1:21 ; Psa_49:17 ; 1Ti_6:7 .
TRAPP, “
Ecc_5:15 As he came forth of his mother’s womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall
take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand.
Ver. 15. As he came forth of his mother’s womb,] q.d., If riches leave not us while we live, yet we are
sure to leave them when we die. {a} Look how a false harlot leaves her lover when arrested for debt,
and follows other customers; so is it here. And as dogs, though they go along with us in company, yet
at parting they run every one to his own master. So do these to the world, when we come to leave the
world. Death, as a porter, stands at the gate, and strips us of all our thick clay wherewith we are laden.
{See Trapp on "Ecc_2:22 "}
To go as he came.] Like an unwelcome guest, or an unprofitable servant, a cipher, and excrement.
Oh live, live, live, saith a reverend man, {b} quickly, much, long; so you are welcome to the world: else
you are but hissed and kicked off this stage of the world, as Phocas was by Heraclius; nay, many
{as Job_27:23 } who were buried before half dead, &c.
And shall take nothing of hls labour.] Ne obolum quo naulum Charonti solvant. Some have had
great store of gold and silver buried with them, and others would needs be buried in a monk’s cowl, out
of a superstitious conceit of speeding the better in another world; but it hath profited them nothing at
all. {Ecc_9:10 }
PULPIT, “The case of the rich man who has lost his property is here generalized. What is true of
him is, in a measure, true of every one, so far as he can carry nothing away with him when he dies
(Psa_49:17 ). As he came forth of his mother's womb, naked shall he return to go as he
came. There is a plain reference to Job_1:21 , "Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked
shall I return thither." The mother is the earth, human beings being regarded as her offspring. So the
psalmist says, "My frame was curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth" (Psa_139:15 ).
And Ben-Sira, "Great trouble is created for every man, and a heavy yoke is upon the sons of Adam,
from the day that they go out of their mother's womb till the day that they return to the mother of all
things." 1Ti_6:7 , "We brought nothing into the world, neither can we carry anything out." Thus
Propertius, 'Eleg.,' 3.5. 13—
"Hand ullas portabis opes Acherontis ad undas,
Nudus ab inferna, stulte, vehere rate."
"No wealth thou'lt take to Acheron's dark shore,
Naked, th' infernal bark will bear thee o'er."

91. Shall take nothing of his labor; rather, for his labor, the preposition being áÀÌ of price. He gets
nothing by his long toil in amassing wealth. Which he may carry away in his hand, as his own
possession. The ruined Dives points a moral for all men.
MACLAREN, “NAKED OR CLOTHED?
Ecc_5:15; Rev_14:13
It is to be observed that these two sharply contrasted texts do not refer to the same
persons. The former is spoken of a rich worldling, the latter of ‘the dead who die in the
Lord.’ The unrelieved gloom of the one is as a dark background against which the
triumphant assurance of the other shines out the more brightly, and deepens the gloom
which heightens it. The end of the man who has to go away from earth naked and empty-
handed acquires new tragic force when set against the lot of those ‘whose works do
follow them.’ Well-worn and commonplace as both sets of thought may be, they may
perhaps be flashed up into new vividness by juxtaposition; and if in this sermon we have
nothing new to say, old truth is not out of place till it has been wrought into and
influenced our daily practice. We shall best gather the lessons of our text if we consider
what we must leave, what we must take, and what we may take.
I. What we must leave.
The Preacher in the context presses home a formidable array of the limitations and
insufficiencies of wealth. Possessed, it cannot satisfy, for the appetite grows with
indulgence. Its increase barely keeps pace with the increase of its consumers. It
contributes nothing to the advantage of its so-called owner except ‘the beholding of it
with his eyes,’ and the need of watching it keeps them open when he would fain sleep. It
is often kept to the owner’s hurt, it often disappears in unfortunate speculation, and the
possessor’s heirs are paupers. But, even if all these possibilities are safely weathered, the
man has to die and leave it all behind. ‘He shall take nothing of his labour which he can
carry away in his hand’; that is to say, death separates from all with whom the life of the
body brings us into connection. The things which are no parts of our true selves are ours
in a very modified sense even whilst we seem to possess them, and the term of
possession has a definite close. ‘Shrouds have no pockets,’ as the stern old proverb says.
How many men have lived in the houses which we call ours, sat on our seats, walked
over our lands, carried in their purses the money that is in ours! Is ‘the game worth the
candle’ when we give our labour for so imperfect and brief a possession as at the fullest
and the longest we enjoy of all earthly good? Surely a wise man will set little store by
possessions of all which a cold, irresistible hand will come to strip him. Surely the life is
wasted which spends its energy in robing itself in garments which will all be stripped
from it when the naked self ‘returns to go as he came.’
But there are other things than these earthly possessions from which death separates us.
It carries us far away from the sound of human voices and isolates us from living men.
Honour and reputation cease to be audible. When a prominent man dies, what a clatter
of conflicting judgments contends over his grave! and how utterly he is beyond them all!
Praise or blame, blessing or banning are equally powerless to reach the unhearing ear or
to agitate the unbeating heart. And when one of our small selves passes out of life, we
hear no more the voice of censure or of praise, of love or of hate. Is it worth while to toil
for the ‘hollow wraith of dying fame,’ or even for the clasp of loving hands which have to
be loosened so surely and so soon?
Then again, there are other things which must be left behind as belonging only to the

92. present order, and connected with bodily life. There will be no scope for material work,
and much of all our knowledge will be antiquated when the light beyond shines in. As we
shall have occasion to see presently, there is a permanent element in the most material
work, and if in handling the transient we have been living for the eternal, such work will
abide; but if we think of the spirit in which a sad majority do their daily tasks, whether of
a more material or of a more intellectual sort, we must recognise that a very large
proportion of all the business of life must come to an end here. There is nothing in it that
will stand the voyage across the great deep, or that can survive in the order of things to
which we go. What is a man to do in another world, supposing there is another world,
where ledgers and mills are out of date? Or what has a scholar or scientist to do in a state
of things where there is no place for dictionaries and grammars, for acute criticism, or
for a careful scientific research?
Physical science, linguistic knowledge, political wisdom, will be antiquated. The poetry
which glorifies afresh and interprets the present will have lost its meaning. Half the
problems that torture us here will cease to have existence, and most of the other half will
have been solved by simple change of position. ‘Whether there be tongues, they shall
cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away’; and it becomes us all to bethink
ourselves whether there is anything in our lives that we can carry away when all that is
‘of the earth earthy’ has sunk into nothingness.
II. What we must take.
We must take ourselves. It is the same ‘he’ who goes ‘naked as he came’; it is the same
‘he’ who ‘came from his mother’s womb,’ and is ‘born again’ as it were into a new life,
only ‘he’ has by his earthly life been developed and revealed. The plant has flowered and
fruited. What was mere potentiality has become fact. There is now fixed character. The
transient possessions, relationships, and occupations of the earthly life are gone, but the
man that they have made is there. And in the character there are predominant habits
which insist upon having their sway, and a memory of which, as we may believe, there is
written indelibly all the past. Whatever death may strip from us, there is no reason to
suppose that it touches the consciousness and personal identity, or the prevailing set
and inclination of our characters. And if we do indeed pass into another life ‘not in entire
forgetfulness, and not in utter nakedness,’ but carrying a perfected memory and clothed
in a garment woven of all our past actions, there needs no more to bring about a solemn
and continuous act of judgment.
III. What we may take.
‘Their works do follow them.’ These are the words of the Spirit concerning ‘the dead who
die in the Lord.’ We need not fear marring the great truth that ‘not by works of
righteousness but by His mercy He saved us,’ if we firmly grasp the large assurance
which this text blessedly contains. A Christian man’s works are perpetual in the measure
in which they harmonise with the divine will, in the measure they have eternal
consequences in himself whatever they may have on others. If we live opening our minds
and hearts to the influx of the divine power ‘that worketh in us both to will and to do of
His good pleasure,’ then we may be humbly sure that these ‘works’ are eternal; and
though they will never constitute the ground of our acceptance, they will never fail to
secure ‘a great recompence of reward.’ To many a humble saint there will be a moment
of wondering thankfulness when he sees these his ‘children whom God hath given him’
clustered round him, and has to say, ‘Lord, when saw I Thee naked, or in prison, and
visited Thee?’ There will be many an apocalypse of grateful surprise in the revelations of
the heavens. We remember Milton’s noble explanation of these great words which may
well silence our feeble attempts to enforce them-

93. ‘Thy works and alms and all thy good endeavour
Stood not behind, nor in the grave were trod,
But as faith pointed with her golden rod,
Followed them up to joy and bliss for ever.’
So then, life here and yonder will for the Christian soul be one continuous whole, only
that there, while ‘their works do follow them,’ ‘they rest from their labours.’
16 This too is a grievous evil:
As a man comes, so he departs,
and what does he gain,
since he toils for the wind?
GILL, “And this also is a sore evil, that in all points as he came,
so shall he go,.... This seems not to be an evil or vanity, distinct from the former; but
the same repeated and confirmed, and expressed, if possible, in stronger terms, that a
man is in all respects alike, when he goes out of the world, as when he came in. A man's
birth is signified by "coming", that is, out of his mother's womb, and into the world; and
which is a description of every man born into it, Joh_1:9; he is of the earth, earthly;
comes forth like a flower, and springs up as grass; he comes not of himself, nor casually,
but by means of his parents; and according to the determinate will of God, and to answer
some end or other: and his death is signified by "going": a going the way of all flesh; a
going out of the world; a going to the grave, the house of all living, a man's long home; it
is like going from one house to another; for death is not an annihilation of man, but a
remove of him from hence elsewhere; and a man's birth and death are in all points alike.
This is to be understood of natural and civil things; of riches and honours, which men
cannot carry with them; and with respect to them, they are as they were born, naked and
stripped of them; and with respect to the body, the parts of it then are the same, though
more grown; it is as naked as it was born; and a man is as much beholden to his friends
for his grave as for his swaddling clothes; it becomes what it was at first, earth and dust;
and as a man comes not into the world at his own will and pleasure, so neither does he
go out of it at his will, but the Lord's. The Midrash interprets it thus,
"as a man comes into the world, with crying, weeping, and sighing, and without
knowledge, so he goes out.''
Likewise this is only true of natural and unregenerate men as to moral things; as they are
born in sin, they die in sin; with only this difference, an addition of more sin; as they

94. come into the world without the image of God, without a righteousness, without
holiness, and without the grace of God, so they go out of it without these things: but this
is not true of saints and truly gracious persons; they come into the world with sin, but go
out of it without it; being washed in the blood of Christ, justified by his righteousness,
and all their sins expiated and pardoned through his sacrifice: they are born without a
righteousness, but do not die without one; Christ has wrought out an everlasting
righteousness for them; this is imputed to them; is received by faith; given them; they
are found in it, living and dying; and this introduces them into heaven and happiness:
they are born without holiness, but do not live and die without it; they are regenerated
and sanctified by the Spirit of God, and at the moment of death made perfectly holy. This
only therefore is true of men, as natural, and with respect to natural and civil things: the
Targum interprets it,
"as he comes into this world void of merit, so he shall go into that;''
and what profit hath he that hath laboured for the wind? for riches, which are
as unsatisfying as the wind; which are as shifting, and as swift to flee away, as that; and
can no more be held, when it is the will of God they should go, and especially at death,
than the wind is to be held in the fist of men; and which are as unprofitable as that in the
hour of death. Particularly, what profit has a man of all his riches, which he has got by
labour, when he neither makes use of them in life for his own good, nor the good of
others; and when he comes to die, they leave him and stand him in no stead; and
especially having been unconcerned about his immortal soul; and having been wholly
taken up in the pursuit of such vain and transitory things? see Mat_16:26.
JAMISON, “Even supposing that he loses not his wealth before death, then at least he
must go stripped of it all (Psa_49:17).
laboured for the wind — (Hos_12:1; 1Co_9:26).
K&D, “
A transition is now made to rich men as such, and the registering formula which
should go before Ecc_5:14 here follows: “And this also is a sore evil: altogether exactly as
he came, thus shall he depart: and what gain hath he that laboureth in the wind?”
Regarding ‫ּה‬‫ז‬; and regarding ‫שׁ‬ ֻ‫ל־ע‬ ָⅴ,
(Note: I n H. written as one word: ‫ת‬ ַ‫מ‬ ֻ‫ע‬ ְ‫ל‬ ַⅴ. Parchon (Lex. under ‫)עמת‬ had this form before
him. In his Lex. Kimchi bears evidence in favour of the correct writing as two words.)
The writing of these first two as one word [vid. note below] accords with Ibn-Giat's view,
accidentally quoted by Kimchi, that the word is compounded of ‫כ‬ of comparison, and the
frequently occurring ‫ת‬ ַ ֻ‫ע‬ ְ‫ל‬ always retaining its ‫,ל‬ and ought properly to be pointed ֻ‫ע‬ ְ‫ל‬ ְⅴ (cf.
ְ ִ‫מ‬, 1Ki_7:20 .(‫ה‬ ָ ֻ‫ע‬ signifies combination, society, one thing along with or parallel to
another; and thus ‫לעמת‬ bears no ‫,כ‬ since it is itself a word of comparison, ‫ת‬ ַ ֻ‫ל־ע‬ ָⅴ “altogether
parallel,” “altogether the same.” The question: what kind of advantage (vid., Ecc_1:3) is to
him (has he) of this that ... , carries its answer in itself. Labouring for the wind or in the wind, his

95. labour is ַ‫רוּח‬ ( ‫יוֹן‬ ְ‫ע‬ ַ‫ר‬(‫עוּת‬ ְ‫ר‬ , and thus fruitless. And, moreover, how miserable an existence is this life
of labour leading to nothing!
young, "These verses show that riches laid up in store fail to
secure the object intended, and therefore are unprofitable ;
or rather a great disadvantage. They tempt to vain-glory
and to forgetfulness of God. The soul is made lean while
the body is pampered. " How hardly shall they that
have riches enter into the kingdom of God !" Mat. xix.
23. By evil travail — by speculations, or accidents, riches
make to themselves wings. And the man has nothing in
his hand by which to bless his heir. He goes out of the
world as he came in — naked. His first robes are swad-
dling-bands — his last robe is a winding-sheet. If there is
no future, how worthless are the fleeting possessions of
earth ! The man who labours for this world only, la-
bours for the wind — for a puff of air — ^for very vanity.
What profit—?
KRETZMANN, “v. 16. And this also is a sore evil, not only the fact that the rich must leave all
his wealth behind, but that he is subject to death, as are all human beings, that in all points as he
came, so shall he go, departing without a cent; and what profit hath he that hath labored for the
wind? for he stored up his wealth without use and benefit, since he must leave all behind.
PULPIT, “This also is a sore evil. The thought of Ecc_5:15 is emphatically repeated. In all points
as he came; i.e. naked, helpless. And what profit hath he that laboreth for the wind? The answer
is emphatically "nothing." We have had similar questions in Ecc_1:3 ; Ecc_2:22 ; Ecc_3:9 . To
labor for the wind is to toil with no result, like the "feeding on wind, pursuing of vanity," which is the
key-note of the book. The wind is the type of all that is empty, delusive, unsubstantial. In Pro_
11:29 we have the phrase, "to inherit the wind." Job calls futile arguments "words of wind" (Job_
16:3 ; Job_15:2 ). Thus the Greek proverb Ἀνέµους θρᾶν ἐν δικτύος to try to catch the wind:" and
the Latin, "Ventos pascere," and "Ventos colere "(see Erasmus, 'Adag.,' s.v. "Inanis opera").
Septuagint, Καὶ τίς ἡ περίσσεια αὐτοῦ ᾖ µοχθεῖ εἰς ἄνεµον ; "And what is his gain for which he labors
for the wind?"
TRAPP, “
Ecc_5:16 And this also [is] a sore evil, [that] in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit
hath he that hath laboured for the wind?
Ver. 16. And this also is a sore evil.] Malum dolorificum, so it will prove; a singular vexation, a sharp
corrosive, when Balaam and his bribes, Laban and his bags, Nabal and his flocks, Achan and his
wedge, Belshazzar and his bulls, Herod and his harlots, Dives and his dishes, &c., shall part asunder
for ever, when they shall look from their death beds, and see that terrible spectacle, death, judgment,
hell, and all to be passed through by their poor souls! Oh, what a dreadful shriek gives the guilty soul
at death, to see itself launching into an ocean of scalding lead, and must swim naked in it for ever!
Who, therefore, unless he had rather burn with Dives than reign with Lazarus, will henceforth reach
out his hand to bribery, usury, robbery, deceit, sacrilege, or any such like wickedness or worldliness,
which "drown men’s souls in perdition and destruction?" {1Ti_6:9 } If rich men could stave off death,
or stop its mouth with a bag of gold, it were somewhat like. But that cannot be, as Henry Beaufort, that

96. rich and wretched cardinal found by experience; as the King of Persia told Constance the Emperor,
who had showed him all the glory and bravery of Rome; Mira quidem haec, said he, sed ut video, sicut
in Persia, sic Romoe heroines moriuntur, {a} - i.e., These be brave things, but yet I see that as in
Persia, so at Rome also, the owners of these things must needs die. Agreeable whereunto was that
speech of Nugas, the Scythian monarch, to whom, when Michael Paleologus, the emperor, sent
certain rich robes for a present, he asked, Nunquid calamitates, morbos, mortem depellere possent? -
whether they could drive away calamities, sickness, death? - for if they could not do so they were not
much to be regarded, {b}
What profit hath he that hath laboured for the wind?] i.e., For just nothing. See Hos_12:1 Jer_
22:22 . The Greeks expressed the same by hunting after and ‘husbanding the wind.’ {c} The apostle
speaks of "beating the air," {1Co_9:26 } as he doth that fights with his own shadow - that disquiets
himself in vain. The four monarchies are called the "four winds of heaven." {Zec_6:3-4 } And at the
Pope’s enthronisation a wad of straw is set on fire before him, and one appointed to say, Sic transit
gloria mundi, - The glory of this world is but a blaze or blast.
17 All his days he eats in darkness,
with great frustration, affliction and anger.
BARNES, “Hath much sorrow ... - Rather, is very sad and hath pain and vexation.
CLARKE, “All his days also he eateth in darkness - Even his enjoyments are
embittered by uncertainty. He fears for his goods; the possibility of being deprived of
them fills his heart with anguish. But instead of ‫יאכל‬ yochel, “he shall eat,” ‫ילך‬ yelech, “he
shall walk,” is the reading of several MSS. He walks in darkness - he has no evidence of
salvation. There is no ray of light from God to penetrate the gloom; and all beyond life is
darkness impenetrable!
And wrath with his sickness - His last hours are awful; for,
“Counting on long years of pleasure here,
He’s quite unfurnish’d for the world to come.”
Blair.
He is full of anguish at the thought of death; but the fear of it is horrible. But if he have
a sense of God’s wrath in his guilty conscience, what horror can be compared with his
horror!
GILL, “All his days also he eateth in darkness,.... To all that has been said is
added another evil, that attends such whose hearts are inordinately set on riches; that all
their days, throughout the whole of their lives, they live a most uncomfortable life; for
eating is here put for their whole manner of living: such not only eat coarse bread, and

97. very mean food of any sort, but wear sordid apparel, and live in a poor cottage, in a very
obscure and miserable manner. Aben Ezra understands it literally of the night, to which
time such a man defers eating, that he might lose no time in his labour; and that it might
not be seen what sort of food he eats, and how sparingly, and that others might not eat
with him; and what he does eat is not eaten freely, but grudgingly, and with anguish and
distress of mind, without any real pleasure and joy; and much less with the light of God's
countenance, the discoveries of his love, and communion with him: the Targum is,
"all his days he dwelleth in darkness, that he may taste his bread alone;''
and he hath, much sorrow and wrath with his sickness; either the sickness of
his mind, his covetousness; or the sickness of his body, emaciated by withholding from
himself the necessaries of life: or when he comes upon a sick bed, he is filled with sorrow
and indignation, that he must live no longer, to accumulate more wealth, and
accomplish his projects and designs; and that he must leave his wealth, he has been at so
much pains to gather together. Or, "and he is much angry" (o); when things do not
answer in trade according to his wishes; when his substance diminishes, or, however,
does not increase as he desires; when he is cheated by fraudulent men, or robbed by
thieves: "and he hath sickness" (p); either of body or mind, or both, because matters do
not succeed as he would have them; and through fretfulness at losses and crosses, and
disappointments; and through cares in getting and keeping what he has: "and wrath"; at
all about him, whom he is ready to charge with slothfulness or unfaithfulness to him;
and even at the providence of God, that does not give him the desired success; so that he
has no manner of pleasure and comfort in life.
HENRY, “ Those that have much, if they set their hearts upon it, have not only
uncomfortable deaths, but uncomfortable lives too, Ecc_5:17. This covetous worldling,
that is so bent upon raising an estate, all his days eats in darkness and much sorrow,
and it is his sickness and wrath; he has not only no pleasure of his estate, nor any
enjoyment of it himself, for he eats the bread of sorrow (Psa_127:2), but a great deal of
vexation to see others eat of it. His necessary expenses make him sick, make him fret,
and he seems as if he were angry that himself and those about him cannot live without
meat. As we read the last clause, it intimates how ill this covetous worldling can bear the
common and unavoidable calamities of human life. When he is in health he eats in
darkness, always dull with care and fear about what he has; but, if he be sick, he has
much sorrow and wrath with his sickness; he is vexed that his sickness takes him off
from his business and hinders him in his pursuits of the world, vexed that all his wealth
will not give him any ease or relief, but especially terrified with the apprehensions of
death (which his diseases are the harbingers of), of leaving this world and the things of it
behind him, which he has set his affections upon, and removing to a world he has made
no preparation for. He has not any sorrow after a godly sort, does not sorrow to
repentance, but he has sorrow and wrath, is angry at the providence of God, angry at
his sickness, angry at all about him, fretful and peevish, which doubles his affliction,
which a good man lessens and lightens by patience and joy in his sickness.
JAMISON, “eateth — appropriately put for “liveth” in general, as connected with Ecc_
5:11, Ecc_5:12, Ecc_5:18.
darkness — opposed to “light (joy) of countenance” (Ecc_8:1; Pro_16:15).
wrath — fretfulness, literally, “His sorrow is much, and his infirmity (of body) and

98. wrath.”
young, "The last sickness of the wretched worldHng is often at-
tended with the greatest grief and the manifest wrath of
God. " Wrath from above ! — terror from within ! — a dark
eternity before him of unspeakable torment ! — an ever-
lasting night !"* Let me not die the death of the wicked.
The darkness here spoken of is that mental gloom and
sadness which often comes upon those who make money
their god. They " pierce themselves through with many
sorrows." The misery of an old age without religion is
forcibly presented in the last chapter, xii. 2. It is com-
pared to the darkening of the sun — the light — the moon —
the stars, and the clouds returning after the rain. Heng-
stenberg translates the verse thus : " All his days also he
eateth in darkness and hath much discontent, and then his
sickness and wrath." Wrath may refer to God's wrath,
which rests upon him in this life, and follows him to the
next. But it is generally understood of his own anger
and vexation.
KRETZMANN, “v. 17. All his days also he eateth in darkness, always under a
gloomyCLOUD , never sure of the continuance of his wealth, and he hath much sorrow and
wrath with his sickness, nothing but annoyance and dissatisfaction onACCOUNT of the anxiety
connected with the acquiring and maintaining of his riches.
TRAPP, “Ecc_5:17 All his days also he eateth in darkness, and [he hath] much sorrow and wrath
with his sickness.
Ver. 17. All his days also he eats in darkness,] i.e., He lives besides that he hath, and cannot so
much as be merry at meat. Hence is much sorrow, wrath, and sickness, especially if spoiled of his
goods, which he made his god; he is no less troubled than Laban was for his teraphim, or Micah for his
idol. {Jdg_17:3 } He is mad almost, and ready to hang himself for woe, having much fretting,
foaming, fuming, anger, languor, ready to flee at God and men.
PULPIT, “The misery that accompanies the rich man's whole life is summed up here, where one
has to think chiefly of his distress after his loss of fortune. All his days also he eateth in
darkness; i.e.passes his life in gloom and cheerlessness. ëÈÌìÎéÈîÈéå , "all his days," is the
accusative of time, not the object of the verb. To eat in darkness is not a common metaphor for
spending a gloomy life, but it is a very natural one, and has analogies in this book (e.g. Ecc_2:24
; Ecc_3:13 , etc.), and in such phrases as to "sit in darkness" (Mic_7:8 ), and to "walk in darkness"
(Isa_1:10 ). The Septuagint, reading differently, translates, Καί γε πᾶσαι αἱ ἡµέραι αὐτοῦ ἐν σκότει ἐν
πένθει , "Yea, and all his days are in darkness and in mourning." But the other versions reject this
alteration, and few modern commentators adopt it. And he hath much sorrow and wrath with his
sickness; literally, and much vexation, and sickness, and wrath; Revised Version,he is sore
vexed, and hath sickness and wrath. Delitzsch takes the last words as an exclamation, "And oh for his
sorrow and hatred!" The man experiences all kinds of vexation when his plans fail or involve him in
trouble and privation; or he is morbid and diseased in mind and body; or he is angry and envious when

99. others succeed better than himself. The sentiment is expressed by St. Paul (1Ti_6:9 ), "They that
desire ( βουλόµενοι ) to be rich fall into a temptation and a snare, and many foolish and hurtful lusts,
such as drown men ( βυθίουσι τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ) in destruction and perdition." "For," he proceeds,
"the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, which some reaching after have been led astray from
the faith, and have pierced themselves through ( ἑαυτοὺς περιέπειραν ) with many sorrows." The
SeptuagintCONTINUES its version, "And in much passion ( θυµῷ ) and in infirmity and wrath." The
anger may be directed against himself, as he thinks of his folly in taking all this trouble for nothing.
K&D, ““Also all his life long he eateth in darkness and grieveth himself much, and oh for
his sorrow and hatred!” We might place Ecc_5:16 under the regimen of the ‫שׁ‬ of ‫שׁיע‬ of
Ecc_5:15; but the Heb. style prefers the self-dependent form of sentences to that which is
governed. The expression Ecc_5:16 has something strange. This strangeness disappears if, with
Ewald and Heiligst., after the lxx and Jerome, for ‫ל‬ ֵ‫ּכ‬‫א‬‫י‬ we read ‫ל‬ ֶ‫כ‬ ֵ‫א‬ְ‫ו‬: καᆳ ᅚν πένθει; B‫צ‬ttch.
prefers ‫ל‬ ֶ‫ּפ‬‫א‬ָ‫,ו‬ “and in darkness.” Or also, if we read ְ‫ך‬ ֵ‫ל‬ֵ‫י‬ for ‫;יאכל‬ thus the Midrash here, and
several codd. by Kennicott; but the Targ., Syr., and Masora read ‫.יאכל‬ Hitzig gets rid of that
which is strange in this passage by taking ‫יו‬ ָ‫מ‬ָ‫ל־י‬ ָⅴ as accus. of the obj., not of the time: all his
days, his whole life he consumes in darkness; but in Heb. as in Lat. we say: consumere
dies vitae, Job_21:13; Job_36:11, but not comedere; and why should the expression, “to eat in
darkness,” not be a figurative expression for a faithless, gloomy life, as elsewhere “to sit in
darkness” (Mic_7:8), and “to walk in darkness”? It is meant that all his life long he ate ‫ים‬ִ‫אוֹנ‬‫ם‬ ֶ‫ח‬ ֶ‫ל‬ ,
the bread of sorrow, or ‫ץ‬ ַ‫ח‬ ַ‫ל‬‫ם‬ ֶ‫ח‬ ֶ‫ל‬ , prison fare; he did not allow himself pleasant table comforts in a
room comfortably or splendidly lighted, for it is unnecessary to understand ְ‫ך‬ ֶ‫ּשׁ‬‫ח‬ subjectively
and figuratively (Hitz., Zöck.).
In 16b the traditional punctuation is ‫ס‬ ַ‫ע‬ ָ‫כ‬ְ‫.ו‬
(Note: Thus in correct texts, in H. with the note: ‫מלרע‬ ‫,כ‬ viz., here and at Psa_112:10, only
there ‫ע‬ has, according to tradition, the Kametz. Cf. Mas. fin. 52b, and Baer's Ed. of
Psalter, under Psa_112:10.)
The perf. ruled by the preceding fut. is syntactically correct, and the verb ‫ס‬ ַ‫ע‬ ָⅴ is common with
the author, Ecc_7:9. Hitzig regards the text as corrupt, and reads ‫ליוֹ‬ ָ‫ח‬ ְⅴ and ‫ס‬ ַ‫ע‬ ַⅴ, and explains:
and (he consumes or swallows) much grief in his, etc.; the phrase, “to eat sorrow,” may be
allowed (cf. Pro_26:6, cf. Job_15:16); but ‫,יאכל‬ as the representative of two so bold and
essentially different metaphors, would be in point of style in bad taste. If the text is corrupt, it
may be more easily rectified by reading ‫וק‬‫לוֹ‬‫י‬ ִ‫ל‬ ֳ‫וח‬‫הרבה‬‫ס‬ ַ‫ע‬ ַⅴְ‫ו‬ : and grief in abundance, and sorrow
has he, and wrath. We merely suggest this. Ewald, Burger, and Böttch. read only ‫י‬ ִ‫ל‬ ֳ‫וח‬ ‫הרבה‬ ‫עס‬ ַ‫;וכ‬
but ‫לו‬ is not to be dispensed with, and can easily be reduced to a mere vav. Elster retains
‫עס‬ ָ‫,וכ‬ and reads, like Hitzig, ‫:בחליו‬ he grieves himself much in his sorrow and wrath; but in that

100. case the word ‫וקצפו‬ was to be expected; also in this way the ideas do not psychologically
accord with each other. However the text is taken, we must interpret ‫וקצף‬ ‫וחליו‬ as an
exclamation, like ְ‫ף‬ ָ‫,ה‬ Isa_29:16; ְ‫ף‬ ִ , Jer_49:16; Ewald, §328a, as we have done above. That ָ‫ח‬ְ‫ו‬ of
itself is a subst. clause = ‫לו‬ ‫וחלי‬ is untenable; the rendering of the noun as forming a
clause, spoken of under Ecc_2:21, is of a different character.
(Note: Rashi regards ‫וחליו‬ as a form like ‫תוֹ‬ְ‫י‬ ַ‫.ח‬ This o everywhere appears only in a gen.
connection.)
He who by his labour and care aims at becoming rich, will not only lay upon himself unnecessary
privations, but also have many sorrows; for many of his plans fail, and the greater success of
others awakens his envy, and neither he himself nor others satisfy him; he is morbidly disposed,
and as he is diseased in mind, so also in body, and his constantly increasing dissatisfaction
becomes at last ‫,קצף‬ he grumbles at himself, at God, and all the world. From observing such
persons, Paul says of them (1Ti_6:6.): “They have pierced themselves through (transfoderunt)
with many sorrows.”
In view of these great evils, with which the possession of riches also is connected: of their
deceitful instability, and their merely belonging to this present life, Koheleth returns to his
ceterum censeo.
18 Then I realized that it is good and proper for a man
to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in his toilsome
labor under the sun during the few days of life God has
given him-for this is his lot.
Forty years on, growing older and older
Shorter in wind as in memory strong,
Feeble of foot, and rheumatic of shoulder,
What will it help you that once you were strong? Scott.
BARNES, “Rather, Behold what I have seen to be good, it is pleasant for a man to eat.
Such thankful enjoyment is inculcated by the Law Deu_12:7, Deu_12:18.
CLARKE, “Behold that which I have seen - This is the result of my observations

101. and experience. God gives every man, in the course of his providence, the necessaries of
life; and it is his will that he should thankfully use them.
For it is his portion - What is requisite for him in the lower world; without them his
life cannot subsist, and earthly blessings are as truly the portion of his body and animal
life, as the salvation of God is the portion of his soul.
GILL, “Behold that which I have seen,.... Observed, considered and approved of,
and which he recommended and excited attention to, and is as follows;
it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink; to make use of the creatures
God has given for service in a free and liberal manner, without excess, and with
moderation; and not deprive a man's self of those things he may lawfully partake of, and
are necessary for him: to do this is good for himself, and for the health of his body; and
is right in the sight of God, and is comely before men; it is not only lawful, but laudable.
There is another version and sense of the words, "it is good to eat and drink him that is
fair" (q), or comely; Christ, who is fairer than the children of men; to live by faith on
him, to eat his flesh, and drink his blood; but this, however true, spiritual, and
evangelical, it seems foreign to the text. It follows,
and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the
days of his life, which God giveth him; this last clause, "which God giveth him", is
not to be connected with "the good of all his labour"; though it is true, that whatever
good is got by labour is the gift of God; but with "all the days of his life"; for the life of
man, and all the days of it, be they more or fewer, are the gift of God, and according to
his determinate will and pleasure; and throughout this time a man should enjoy, in a
comfortable way, with thankfulness to God, the good things he has gotten by his labour
and industry, through the blessing of God along with them. This Solomon frequently
inculcates; Aben Ezra says, this is the third time, but it seems to be the fourth; see Ecc_
2:24;
for it is his portion; that is, in this life; for otherwise, if a good man, he has a better
portion in another: this is the part which God has allotted to him here; and it is his duty,
and for his good and comfort, to make use of it.
HENRY, “Solomon, from the vanity of riches hoarded up, here infers that the best
course we can take is to use well what we have, to serve God with it, to do good with it,
and take the comfort of it to ourselves and our families; this he had pressed before, Ecc_
2:24; Ecc_3:22. Observe, 1. What it is that is here recommended to us, not to indulge the
appetites of the flesh, or to take up with present pleasures or profits for our portion, but
soberly and moderately to make use of what Providence has allotted for our comfortable
passage through this world. We must not starve ourselves through covetousness,
because we cannot afford ourselves food convenient, nor through eagerness in our
worldly pursuits, nor through excessive care and grief, but eat and drink what is fit for
us to keep our bodies in good plight for the serving of our souls in God's service. We
must not kill ourselves with labour, and then leave others to enjoy the good of it, but
take the comfort of that which our hands have laboured for, and that not now and then,
but all the days of our life which God gives us. Life is God's gift, and he has appointed us
the number of the days of our life (Job_14:5); let us therefore spend those days in
serving the Lord our God with joyfulness and gladness of heart. We must not do the

102. business of our calling as a drudgery, and make ourselves slaves to it, but we must
rejoice in our labour, not grasp at more business than we can go through without
perplexity and disquiet, but take a pleasure in the calling wherein God has put us, and go
on in the business of it with cheerfulness. This it to rejoice in our labour, whatever it is,
as Zebulun in his going out and Issachar in his tents. 2. What is urged to recommend it
to us. (1.) That it is good and comely to do this. It is well, and it looks well. Those that
cheerfully use what God has given them thereby honour the giver, answer the intention
of the gift, act rationally and generously, do good in the world, and make what they have
turn to the best account, and this is both their credit and their comfort; it is good and
comely; there is duty and decency in it. (2.) That it is all the good we can have out of the
things of this world: It is our portion, and in doing thus we take our portion, and make
the best of bad. This is our part of our worldly possession. God must have his part, the
poor theirs, and our families theirs, but this is ours; it is all that falls to our lot out of
them. (3.) That a heart to do thus is such a gift of God's grace as crowns all the gifts of
his providence. If God has given a man riches and wealth, he completes the favour, and
makes that a blessing indeed, if withal he gives him power to eat thereof, wisdom and
grace to take the good of it and to do good with it. If this is God's gift, we must covet it
earnestly as the best gift relating to our enjoyments in this world
JAMISON, “Returns to the sentiment (Ecc_3:12, Ecc_3:13, Ecc_3:22); translate:
“Behold the good which I have seen, and which is becoming” (in a man).
which God giveth — namely, both the good of his labor and his life.
his portion — legitimately. It is God’s gift that makes it so when regarded as such. Such
a one will use, not abuse, earthly things (1Co_7:31). Opposed to the anxious life of the
covetous (Ecc_5:10, Ecc_5:17).
KRETZMANN, “v. 18. Behold that which I have seen, the conclusion which he reaches also in
this chapter: It is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his
labor that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him, without avarice
on the one hand, and without care and worry on the other; for it is his portion, which he should use
properly while living in this world.
TRAPP, “Ecc_5:18 Behold [that] which I have seen: [it is] good and comely [for one] to eat and to
drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which
God giveth him: for it [is] his portion.
Ver. 18. It is good and comely for one to eat, &c.] Niggardice and baseness is an ugly evil, making a
man, though never so rich, to be vilipended and despised of all. Nabal shall not be called Nadib - the
vile person liberal, the churl bountiful. {Isa_32:5 } {See Trapp on "Ecc_2:24 "} {See Trapp on
"Ecc_3:12 "}
PULPIT, “Behold that which I have seen: it is good and comely, etc. The accentuation is against
this rendering, which, however, has the support of the Syriac and the Targum. The Septuagint
gives,Ἰδοὺ εἶδον ἐγὼ ἀγαθὸν ὅ ἐστι καλόν , "Behold, I have seen a good which is comely;" and it is
best to translate, with Delitzsch and others, "Behold, what I have seen as good, what as beautiful, is
this." My conclusion holds good. They who seek for traces of Greek influence in Koheleth find
Epicureanism in the sentiment, and the familiar combination, καλὸν κἀγαθὸν , in the language. Both

103. ideas are baseless. (For supposed Epicureanism, see on Ecc_2:24 and Ecc_3:12 .) And the
juxtaposition of καλὸς and ἀγαθὸς is only a fortuitous rendering of the Hebrew, upon which no
argument for Grecism can be founded. To eat and to drink, etc.; i.e. to use the common blessings
which God bestows with thankfulness and contentment. As St. Paul says, "Having food and covering,
we shall he therewith content" (1Ti_6:8 ). Which God giveth him. This is the point so often insisted
upon. These temporal blessings are God's gifts, and are not to be considered as the natural and
assured result of man's own exertions. Man, indeed, must labor, but God giveth the increase. For it is
his portion (Ecc_3:22 ). This calm enjoyment is allotted to man by God, and nothing more must be
expected. Ben-Sira gives similar advice, "Defraud not thyself of a good day, and let not the share in a
right pleasure pass by thee Give, and take, and beguile thy soul; for there is no seeking of dainties in
Hades" (Ecclesiasticus 14:14. etc.).
BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR, “It is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy
the good of all his labour.
Labour
It is concerning Labour in its broadest sense that I wish to speak. The navvy with his
shovel, the ploughman with his team, the weaver with his loom, the clerk with his pen,
the “commercial” with his order-book, the domestic with her scrubbing-brush, the
designer, manager, inventor, writer with his brain and brilliant gifts, the minister with
tender heart and cultured mind—these all are sons of Labour, who, in their striving to do
true work, can realize a responsibility so great as to declare their brotherhood with Him
who declared, “I must work the works of Him that sent Me while it is day, for the night
cometh when no man can work.”
I. The rights of labour.
1. Has not the labourer a right to expect some degree of pleasure in his labour? To
some this may seem somewhat fanciful, but they cannot deny its justness. To eat, to
drink, to sleep, to think, to speak, are pleasurable sensations; why should so natural
and necessary a function as toil be otherwise? Yet we know it is to many. Multitudes
are brutalized by work, simply because they find no satisfaction in it. They work in
order to live, and die in order to find rest.
2. Equally just is it for Labour to assert its right to an honest reward. Adam Smith, in his
“Wealth of Nations,” got to the root of the wage question when he said that the wages of
labour were the fruits of labour. And the writer of the Book of Ecclesiastes, had he been
able to hear that sentiment, would have said “Amen! for it is his portion.” Amid the
complex tangle of modern mercantile transactions it would be an impossibility to assign
to the hand-worker the exact product of his individual labour, after deducting the wages
of the brain-worker who designs, organizes, or superintends, and the other expenses
involved in production. But should it not be the striving of a Christian employer to
secure to every worker as near an approximation to his true reward as can be
ascertained? Should it not be frowned upon as a deadly sin for men to grow rich on “the
hire of the labourers, which they keep back by fraud”?
3. Further, it is surely Labour’s right to have the fullest liberty in seeking these ends. The
work done by our trade unions is a splendid monument to the sturdy self-restraint of the
workers, and whilst in the future the principles taught and the methods adopted by them
may undergo considerable change, yet the intelligent association of men for purposes of
educating public opinion, and influencing the legislature will remain the most effective
of means for realizing Labour’s ideals.
II. The duties of labour. Let Labour, whilst seeking for justice to itself, seek to deal justly
with others. If “capital” be the miserable abstraction of which the proverb says it has

104. “neither soul to save, nor heart to feel, nor body to kick,” it is no reason why workers
should deal unfairly with the individual “capitalist,” who often is as much the victim of
an evil social system as the worker himself. If it be the maxim of commerce to buy in the
cheapest market and sell in the dearest, blind to all considerations as to whether thereby
one obeys or disobeys the law of Christ; if to take advantage of a brother’s necessity is
not condemned as a breach of commercial ethics, there is no justification whatever for
any worker adopting similar principles in his life work. Because a man does not believe
in the justice of our present system of doing business, it is no reason why he should play
ducks and drakes with his employer. Assuming that the principle of competition is a
cruelly oppressive one, and that many employers are heartless tyrants, a sensible worker
will, nevertheless, while those evil conditions remain—and they may for some time yet—
make the best he can of them. To worry employers for concessions that it would be
suicidal to grant is, at best, a short-sighted policy. Better to attack the system to which
both masters and men are victims. Employers of labour are sometimes made
unnecessarily hard by the foolishness and inconsiderateness of workers. It may, for
instance, be quite legitimate for a mill-hand to grumble over the poorness of his pay, but
the justice of his plea becomes miserably weakened when he “plays” for a couple of days
when work is abundant, with the consequence that that work is driven elsewhere. It may
be quite lawful for a man to take a holiday at any time he pleases, but not expedient.
Even in such a matter the higher law of brotherliness should prevail. In the ranks of
manual labour, though not these exclusively, we find a lamentable “want of thought,”
which in its results is often as bad as “want of heart.” It has been asserted that the British
workman is the hardest of all masters when he reaches that position; that in his co-
operative societies his “divvy” is often larger than it should be because of underpaid
labour. Not difficult would it be to prove that the overwork of multitudes of shop
assistants is caused by thoughtless working-folk who “shop” late when it would be as
easy to “shop” early. A man’s religion is seen in the byways of conduct, and if in these
movements he is not above suspicion, he loses all claim to be called a Christian, for the
spirit of Christ’s Gospel says, “Deal with all men as with your brother, as with children of
God, whose necessity is your sorrow, whose strength is your joy.” (T. A. Leonard.).
EBC, “Ecclesiastes 5:18-20
The Conclusion.
For himself Coheleth has a very decided opinion on this point. He is quite sure that his
first conclusion is sound, though for a moment he had questioned its soundness, and
that a quiet, cheerful, and obedient heart is greater riches than the wealthiest estate.
With all the emphasis of renewed and now immovable conviction he declares, Behold,
that which I have said holds good; it is well for a man to eat and to drink, and to enjoy
the good of all his labours through the brief day of his life. And I have also said-and this
too is true-that a man to whom God hath given riches and wealth-for even a rich man
may be a good man and use his wealth wisely-if He hath also enabled him to eat thereof,
and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour-this too is a most Divine gift. He does
not fret over the brevity of his life; it is not much, or often, or sadly in his thoughts: for
he knows that the joy his heart takes in the toils and pleasures of life is approved by God,
or even, as the phrase seems to mean, corresponds in some measure with the joy of God
Himself; that his tranquil enjoyment is a reflection of the Divine peace.
II. There are not many Englishmen who devote themselves solely or mainly to the

105. acquisition of Wisdom, and who, that they may teach the children of men that which is
good, live laborious days, withdrawing from the general pursuit of wealth and scorning
the lures of ease and self-indulgence; such men, indeed, are but a small minority in any
age or land. Nor do those who give themselves exclusively to the pursuit of Pleasure
constitute more than a small and miserable class, though most of us have wasted on it
days that we could ill spare. But when the Hebrew Preacher, having followed his quest of
the supreme Good in Pleasure and Wisdom, turns to the affairs of Business-and I use
that term as including both commerce and politics-he enters a field of action and inquiry
with which we are nearly all familiar, and can hardly fail to speak words which will touch
us close home. For, whatever else we may or may not be, we are most of us among the
worshippers of the great god Traffic-a god whose wholesome, benignant face too often
lowers and darkens, or ever we are aware, into the sordid and malignant features of
Mammon.
Now in dealing with this broad and momentous province of human life the Preacher
exhibits the candour and the temperance which marked his treatment of Wisdom and
Mirth. Just as he would not suffer us to think of Wisdom as in itself an evil, nor of
Pleasure as an evil, so neither will be allow us to think of Business as essentially and of
necessity an evil. This, like those, may be abused to our hurt; but none the less they may
all be used, and were meant to be used, for our own and our neighbours’ good. Pursued
in the right method, from the right motive, with the due moderation and reserve,
Business, as he is careful to point out, besides bringing other great advantages, may be a
new bond of union and brotherhood: it develops intercourse among men and races of
men, and should develop sympathy, goodwill, and a mutual helpfulness. Nevertheless,
thrift may degenerate into miserliness, and the honest industry of content into a
dishonest eagerness for an excessive devotion to it. These degenerate undue gains, and a
wise attention to business into tendencies had struck their roots deep into the Hebrew
mind of his day, and brought forth many bitter fruits. The Preacher describes and
denounces them; he lays an axe to the very roots of these evil growths: but it is only that
he may clear a space for the fairer and more wholesome growths which sprang beside
them, and of which they were the wild bastard offshoots.
Throughout this second section of the Book, his subject is excessive devotion to
Business, and the correctives to it which his experience enables him to suggest.
1. His handling of the subject is very thorough and complete. Men of business might do
worse than get the lessons he here teaches by heart. According to him, their excessive
devotion to affairs springs from a "jealous rivalry": it tends to forth in them a grasping
covetous temper which can never be satisfied, to produce a materialistic scepticism of all
that is noble, spiritual, aspiring in thought and action, to render their worship formal
and insincere, and, in general, to incapacitate them for any quiet happy enjoyment of
their life. This is his diagnosis of their disease, or of that diseased tendency which, if it be
for the most part latent in them, always threatens to become pronounced and to infect
all healthy conditions of the soul.
Devotion to Business springs from Jealous Competition: Ecc_4:4
(a) Let us glance once more at the several symptoms we have already heard him discuss,
and consider whether or not they accord with the results of our own observation and
experience, is it true, then-or, rather, is it not true-that our devotion to business is
becoming excessive and exhausting, and that this devotion springs mainly from our
jealous rivalry and competition with each other? If, some two or three and twenty
centuries ago, the Jews were bent every man on outdoing and outselling his neighbour;
if his main ambition was to amass greater wealth or to secure a larger business than his
competitors, or to make a handsomer show before the world; if in the urgent pursuit of

106. this ambition he held his neighbours not as neighbours, but as unscrupulous rivals, keen
for gain at his expense and to rise by his fall; if, to reach his end, he was willing to get up
early and go late to rest, to force all his energies into an injurious activity and strain
them close to the snapping point: if this were what a Jew of that time was like, might you
not easily take it for a portrait of many an English merchant, manufacturer, lawyer, or
politician? Is it not as accurate a delineation of our life as it could be of any ancient form
of life? If it be, as I think it is, we have grave need to take the Preacher’s warning. We
gravely need to remember that the stream cannot rise above its source, nor the fruit be
better than the root from which it grows; that the business ardour which has its origin in
a base and selfish motive can only be a base and selfish ardour. When men gather grapes
from thorns and figs from thistles, then, but not before, we may look to find a satisfying
good in "all the toil and all the dexterity in toil" which spring from this "jealous rivalry of
the one with the other."
It tends to form a covetous Temper: Ecc_4:8
(b) Nor, in the face of facts patent to the most cursory observer, can we deny that this
eager successful conduct of business and excessive devotion to it tends to produce a
grasping, covetous temper which, however much it has gained, is forever seeking more.
It is not only true that the stream cannot rise above its source; it is also true that the
stream will run downward, and must inevitably contract many pollutions from the lower
levels on which it declines. The ardour which impels men to devote themselves with
eager intensity to the labours of the market may often have an origin as pure as that of
the stream which bubbles up on the hills, amid grass and ferns, and runs tinkling along
its clear and rocky channels, setting its labours to a happy music, singing its low sweet
song to the sweet listening air. But as it runs on, if it swell in volume and power, it also
sinks and grows foul. Bent at first on acquiring the means to support a widowed mother,
or to justify him in taking a wife, or to provide for his children, or to win an honourable
place in his neighbours’ eyes, or to achieve the chance of self-culture and self-
development, or to serve some public and worthy end, the man of business and affairs
too often suffers himself to become more and more absorbed in his pursuits. He
conceives larger schemes, is drawn into more perilous enterprises, and advances
through these to fresh openings and opportunities, until at last, long after his original
ends are compassed and forgotten, he finds himself possessed by the mere craving to
extend his labours, resources, influence, if not by the mere craving to amass-a craving
which often "teareth" and "tormenteth" him, but which can only be exorcised by an
exertion of spiritual force which would leave him half dead. "He has no one with him,
not even a son or a brother": the dear mother or wife is long since dead; his children, to
use his own detestable phrase, are "off his hands": the public good has slipped from his
memory and aims: but still "there is no end to all his labours, neither are his eyes
satisfied with riches." Coheleth speaks of one such man: alas, of how many such might
we speak!
To produce a Materialistic Scepticism: Ecc_3:18-21
(c) The "speculation" in the eye of business men is not commonly of a philosophic cast,
and therefore we do not look to find them arguing themselves into the materialism
which infected the Hebrew Preacher as he contemplated them and their blind devotion
to their idol. They are far, perhaps very far, from thinking that in the body and spirit, in
origin and end, man is no better than the beast, a creature of the same accident and
subject to "the same chance." But though they do not reason out a conclusion so sombre
and depressing, do they not practically acquiesce in it? If it is far from their thoughts, do
they not live in its close neighbourhood? Their mind, like the dyer’s hand, is subdued to

107. that it works in. Accustomed to think mainly of material interests, their character is
materialised. They are disposed to weigh all things-truth, righteousness, the motives and
aims of nobler men-in the scales of the market, and can very hardly believe that they
should attach any grave value to aught which will not lend itself to their coarse handling.
In their judgment, mental culture, or the graces of moral character, or single-hearted
devotion to lofty ends, are not worthy to be compared with a full purse or large
possessions. They regard as little better than a fool, of whom it is very kind of them to
take a little care, the man who has thrown away what they call "his chances," in order
that he may learn wisdom or do good. Giving, perhaps, a cheerful and unforced accord to
the current moral maxims and popular creed, they permit neither to rule their conduct.
If they do not say, "Man is no better than a beast," they carry themselves as if he were no
better, as though he had no instincts or interests above those of the thrifty ant, or the
cunning beaver, or the military locust, or the insatiable leech-although they are both
surprised and affronted when one is at the pains to translate their deeds into words.
Judged by their deeds, they are sceptics and materialists, since they have no vital faith in
that which is spiritual and unseen. They have found "the life of their hands," and they
are content with it. Give them whatever furnishes the senses, whatever in them holds by
sense, and they will cheerfully let all else go. But such a materialism as this is far more
injurious, far more likely to be fatal, than that which reflects, and argues, and utters
itself in words, and refutes itself by the very powers which it employs. With them the
malady has struck inward, and is beyond the reach of cure save by the most searching
and drastic remedies.
To make Worship Formal and Insincere: Ecc_5:1-7
(d) But now if, like Coheleth, we follow these men to the Temple, what is the scene that
meets our eye? In the English Ternple, I fear, that which would first strike an
unaccustomed observer would be the fact that very few men of business are there. They
are "conspicuous by their absence," or, at best, noted for an only occasional attendance.
The Hebrew Temple was crowded with men; in the English Temple it is the other sex
which predominates. But glance at the men who are there? Do you detect no signs of
weariness and perfunctoriness? Do you hear no vows which will never be paid. and
which they do not intend to pay even when they make them? no prayers which go
beyond any honest and candid expression of their desires? Do you not feel and know
that many of them are making an unwilling sacrifice to the decencies and the proprieties,
instead of worshipping God the Spirit in spirit and nerving themselves for the difficulties
of obedience to the Divine law? Listen: they are saying, "Almighty God, Father of all
mercies, we bless Thee for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life;
but above all for Thine inestimable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord
Jesus Christ, for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory." But are these ineffable
spiritual benefits "above all" else to them? Do they care for "the means of grace" as much
even as for the state of the market, or for "the hope of glory" as much as for success or
promotion? Which is most in their thoughts, their lives, their aspirations, for which will
they take most pains and make most sacrifices-for what they mean by the beautiful
phrase "all the blessings of this life," or for that sacred and crowning act of the Divine
Mercy, "the redemption," in which God has once for all revealed His fatherly forgiving
love?
What is it that makes their worship formal and insincere? It is the very cause which, as
the Preacher tells us, produced the like evil effect upon the Jews. They come into the
Temple with preoccupied hearts. Their thoughts are distracted by the cares of life even
as they bend in worship. And hence even the most sacred words turn to "idle talk" on
their lips, as remote from the true feeling of the moment as "the multitude of dreams"

108. which haunt the night; they utter fervent prayers without any due sense of their
meaning, or any hearty wish to have them granted.
And to take from Life its Quiet and Innocent Enjoyments: Ecc_5:10-17
(e) Now surely a life so thick with perils, so beset with temptations, should have a very
large and certain reward to offer. But has it? For one, Coheleth thinks it has not. In his
judgment, according to his experience, instead of making a man happier even in this
present time, to which it limits his thoughts and aims, it robs him of all quiet and happy
enjoyment of his life. And, mark, it is not the unsuccessful man of business, who might
naturally feel sore and aggrieved, but the successful man, the man who has made a
fortune and prospered in his schemes, whom the Preacher describes as having lost all
faculty of enjoying his gains. Even the man who has wealth and abundance, so that his
soul lacketh nothing of all that he desireth, is placed before us as the slave of unsatisfied
desire and constant apprehension. Both his hands are so full of labour that he cannot lay
hold on quiet. Though he loves silver so well, and has so much of it, he is not satisfied
therewith; his riches yield him no certain and abiding delight. And how can he be in
"happy plight" who is
"debarred the benefit of rest?
When day’s oppression is not eased by night,
But day by night, and night by day, oppress’d?
And each, though enemies to either’s reign,
Do in consent shake hands to torture him."
The sound sleep of humble contented labour is denied him. He is haunted by perpetual
apprehensions that "there is some ill a-brewing to his rest," that evil in some dreaded
shape will befall him. He doubts "the filching age will steal his treasure." He knows that
when he is called hence he can carry away nothing in his hand; all his gains must be left
to his heir, who may either turn out a wanton fool or be crushed and degraded by the
burden and temptations of a wealth for which he has not laboured. And hence, amid all
his toils and gains, even the most prosperous and successful man suspects that he has
been "labouring for the wind" and may reap the whirlwind: "he is much perturbed, and
hath vexation and grief."
Is the picture overdrawn? Is not the description as true to modern experience as to that
of "the antique world"? Shakespeare, who is our great English authority on the facts of
human experience, thought it quite as true. His Merchant of Venice has argosies on
every sea; and two of his friends, hearing him confess that sadness makes such a want-
wit of him that he has much ado to know himself, tell him that his "mind is tossing on
the ocean" with his ships. They proceed to discuss the natural effects of having so many
enterprises on hand. One says:
"Believe me, Sir, had I such venture forth, The better part of my affections would Be
with my hopes abroad. I should be still Plucking the grass, to know where sits the
wind: Peering in maps for ports, and piers, and roads: And every object that might
make me fear Misfortune to my ventures, out of doubt Would make me sad."
And the other adds:
"My wind, cooling my broth, Would blow me to an ague, when I thought What harm
a wind too great at sea might do. I should not see the sandy hour-glass run, But I
should think of shallows and of flats, And see my wealthy Andrew, dock’d in sand,
Vailing her high-top lower than her ribs To kiss her burial. Should I go to church"
"And see the holy edifice of stone, And not bethink me straight of dangerous rocks,
Which, touching but my gentle vessel’s side, Would scatter all her spices in the stream:

109. Enrobe the roaring waters with my silks: And, in a word, but even now worth this, And
now worth nothing? Shall I have the thought To think on this: and shall I lack the
thought That such a thing bechanced would make me sad?"
"Abundance suffereth not the rich to sleep"; the thought that his "riches may perish in
some unlucky adventure" rings a perpetual alarm in his ears: "all his days he eateth in
darkness, and is much perturbed, and hath vexation and grief." These are the words of
the Hebrew Preacher: are not our own great poet’s words an expressive commentary on
them, an absolute confirmation of them, covering them point by point? And shall we
envy the wealthy merchant whose two hands are thus "full of labour and vexation of
spirit"? Is not "the husbandman whose sleep is sweet, whether he eat little or much,"
better off than he? Nay, has not even the sluggard who, so long as he hath meat, foldeth
his hands in quiet, a truer enjoyment of his life?
Of course Coheleth does not mean to imply that every man of business degenerates into
a miserly sceptic, whose worship is a formulated hypocrisy and whose life is haunted
with saddening apprehensions of misfortune. No doubt there were then, as there are
now, many men of business who were wise enough to "take pleasure in all their labours,"
to cast their burden of care on Him in whose care stand both tomorrow and today; men
to whom worship was a calming and strengthening communion with the Father of their
spirits, and who advanced, through toil, to worthy or even noble ends. He means simply
that these are the perils to which all men of business are exposed, and into which they
fall so soon as their devotion to its affairs grows excessive. "Make business, and success
in business, your chief good, your ruling aim, and you will come to think of your
neighbour, as selfish rivals; you will begin to look askance on the lofty spiritual qualities
which refuse to bow to the yoke of Mammon; your worship will sink into an insecure
formalism; your life will be vexed and saddened with fears which will strangle the very
faculty of tranquil enjoyment": this is the warning of the Preacher; a warning of which
our generation, in such urgent sinful haste to be rich, stands in very special need.
2. But what checks, what correctives, what remedies, would the Preacher have us apply
to the diseased tendencies of the time? How shall. men of business save themselves from
being absorbed in its interests and affairs?
The Correctives of this Devotion are a Sense of its Perils: Ecc_5:10-17
(a) Well, the very sense of danger to which they are exposed-a danger so insidious, so
profound, so fatal-should surely induce caution and a wary self-control. The symptoms
of the disease are described that we may judge whether or not we are infected by it; its
dreadful issues that, if infected, we may study a cure. The man who loves riches is placed
before us that we may learn what he is really like-that he is not the careless happy being
we often assume him to be. We see him decline on the low bare levels of covetousness
and materialism, hypocrisy and fear; and, as we look, the Preacher turns upon us with,
"There, that is the slave of Mammon in his habit as he lives. Do you care to be like that?
Will you break your heart unless you are allowed to assume his heavy and degrading
burden?"
And the Conviction that it is opposed to the Will of God as expressed in the
Ordinances of his Providence: Ecc_3:1-8
This is one help to a wise content with our lot; but he has many more at our service, and
notably this, -that an undue devotion to the toils of business is contrary to the will, the
design, the providence of God. God, he argues, has fixed a time for every undertaking
under heaven, and has made each of them beautiful in its season, but only then. By his
kindly ordinances He has sought to divert us from an injurious excess in toil. Our sowing
and our reaping, our time of rest and our time for work, the time to save and the time to

110. spend, the time to gain and the time to lose, -all these, with all the fluctuating feelings
they excite in us: in short, our whole life, from the cradle to the grave, is under, or should
be under, law to Him. It is only when we violate His gracious ordinances, -working when
we should be at rest, waking when we should sleep, saving when we should spend,
weeping over losses which are real gains, or laughing over gains which will prove to be
losses, -that we run into excess, and break up the peaceful order and tranquil flow of the
life which He designed for us.
In the Wrongs which He permits Men to inflict upon us: Ecc_3:16-4:3
Because we will not be obsequious to the ordinances of His wisdom, He permits us to
meet a new check in the caprice and injustice of man-making even these to praise Him
by subserving our good. If we do not suffer the violent oppressions which drew tears
from the Preacher’s fellow captives, we nevertheless stand very much at the mercy of our
neighbours in so far as our outward haps are concerned. Unwise human laws or an
unjust administration of them, or the selfish rapacity of individual men-brokers who rig
the market; bankers whose long prayers are a pretence under cloak of which they rob
widows and orphans, and sometimes make them; bankrupts for whose wounds the
Gazette has a singular power of healing, since they come out of it "sounder" men than
they went in: these are only some of the instruments by which the labours of the diligent
are shorn of their due reward. And we are to take these checks as correctives, to find in
the losses which men inflict the gifts of a gracious God. He permits us to suffer these and
the like disasters lest our hearts should be overmuch set on getting gain. He graciously
permits us to suffer them that, seeing how often the wicked thrive (in a way and for a
time) on the decay of the upright, we may learn that there is something better than
wealth, more enduring, more satisfying, and may seek that higher good.
But above all, in the immortal Cravings which He has quickened in the Soul:
Ecc_3:11
Nay, going to the very root of the matter and expounding its whole philosophy, the
Preacher teaches us that wealth, however great and greatly used, cannot satisfy men,
since God has "put eternity into their hearts" as well as time: and how should all the
kingdoms of a world that must soon pass content those who are to live forever? This
saying, "God has put eternity into their hearts," is one of the most profound in the whole
book, and one of the most beautiful and suggestive. What it means is that, even if a man
would confine his aims and desires within "the bounds and coasts of Time," he cannot
do it. The very structure of his nature forbids it. For time, with all that it inherits, sweeps
by him like a torrent, so that, if he would secure any lasting good, he must lay hold of
that which is eternal. We may well call this world, for all so solid as it looks, "a perishing
world"; for, like our own bodies, it is in a perpetual flux, perishing every moment that it
may live a little longer, and must soon come to an end. But we, in our true selves, we who
dwell inside the body and use its members as the workman uses his tools, how can we
find a satisfying good whether in the body or in the world which is akin to it? We want a
good as lasting as ourselves. Nothing short of that can be our chief good, or inspire us
with a true content.
"Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore,
So do our minutes hasten to their end:
Each changing place with that which goes before,
In sequent toil all forwards do contend"
And we might as well think to build a stable habitation on the waves which break upon
the pebbled shore as to find an enduring good in the sequent minutes which carry us

111. down the stream of time. It is only because we do not understand this "work of God" in
putting eternity into our hearts and therefore making it impossible for us to be content
with anything less than an eternal good; it is because, plunged in the flesh and its cares
and delights, we forget the grandeur of our nature, and are tempted to sell our immortal
birthright for a mess of pottage which, however much we enjoy it today, will leave us
hungry tomorrow: it is only, I say, because we fail to understand this work of God "from
beginning to end," that we ever delude ourselves with the hope of finding in aught the
earth yields a good in which we can rest.
Practical Maxims deduced from this View of the Business life.
(b) A noble philosophy this, and pregnant with practical counsels of great value. For if,
as we close our study of this Section of the Book, we ask, "What good advice does the
Preacher offer that we can take and act upon?" we shall find that he gives us at least
three serviceable maxims.
A Maxim on Cooperation: Ecc_4:9-16
To all men of business conscious of their special dangers and anxious to avoid them, he
says, first: Replace the competition which springs from your jealous and selfish rivalry,
with the cooperation which is born of sympathy and breeds goodwill. "Two are better
than one. Union is better than isolation. Conjoint labour has the greater reward."
Instead of seeking to take advantage of your neighbours, try to help them. Instead of
standing alone, associate with your fellows. Instead of aiming at purely selfish ends,
pursue your ends in common. Indeed the wise Hebrew Preacher anticipates the Golden
Rule to a remarkable extent, and, in effect, bids us love our neighbour as our self, look on
his things as well as our own, and do to all men as we would that they should do to us.
A Maxim on Worship: Ecc_5:1-7
His second maxim is: Replace the formality of your worship with a reverent and
steadfast sincerity. Keep your foot when you go to the House of God. Put obedience
before sacrifice. Do not hurry on your mouth to the utterance of words which transcend
the desires of your heart. Be not one of those who
"Words for virtue take,
As though mere wood a shrine would make."
Do not come into the Temple with a preoccupied spirit, a spirit distracted with thoughts
that travel different ways. Realise the presence of the Great King, and speak to Him with
the reverence due to a King. Keep the vows you have made in His house after you have
left it. Seek and serve Him with all your hearts, and ye shall find rest to your souls.
A Maxim on Trust in God: Ecc_5:8-17
And his last maxim is: Replace your grasping self-sufficiency with a constant trust in the
fatherly providence of God. If you see oppression or suffer wrong, if your schemes are
thwarted and your enterprises fail, you need not therefore lose the quiet repose and
settled peace which spring from a sense of duty discharged and the undisturbed
possession of the main good of life. God is over all, and rules all the undertakings of
man, giving each its season and place, and causing all to work together for the good of
the loving and trustful heart. Trust in Him, and you shall feel, even though you cannot
prove,
"That every cloud that spreads above,
And veileth love, itself is love."

112. Trust in Him and you shall find that
"The slow sweet hours that bring us all things good,
The slow sad hours that bring us all things ill
And all good things from evil,"
as they strike on the great horologe of Time, are set to a growing music by the hand of
God; a music which rises and falls as we listen, but which nevertheless swells through all
its saddest cadences and dying falls toward that harmonious close, that "undisturbed
concent," in which all discords will be drowned.
19 Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and
possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept
his lot and be happy in his work-this is a gift of God.
GILL, “Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth,.... Which
include the whole of a man's substance; all his estate, personal and real; and all his
goods and possessions, movable and immovable, as gold, silver, cattle, fields, and farms;
which are all the gift of God, by whatsoever means they may be acquired or possessed;
and hath given him power; or, "caused him to have dominion" (r), over his wealth
and riches, and not be a slave to them, as many are: but to have so much command of
them and of himself, as
to eat thereof; comfortably enjoy them; and dispose of them to his own good, the good
of others, and the glory of God. It follows,
and to take his portion; which God hath allotted him; to take it thankfully, and use it
freely and comfortably;
and to rejoice in his labour; in the things he has been labouring for, in a cheerful use
of them; blessing God for them, and taking the comfort of them;
this is the gift of God; to have such power over his substance, and not be a slave to it,
and to enjoy the fruits of his labour, in a cheerful and comfortable manner; this is as
much the gift of God as riches themselves (s).
HENRY, “That a heart to do thus is such a gift of God's grace as crowns all the gifts of
his providence. If God has given a man riches and wealth, he completes the favour, and
makes that a blessing indeed, if withal he gives him power to eat thereof, wisdom and
grace to take the good of it and to do good with it. If this is God's gift, we must covet it
earnestly as the best gift relating to our enjoyments in this world.

113. JAMISON, “As Ecc_5:18 refers to the “laboring” man (Ecc_5:12), so Ecc_5:19 to the
“rich” man, who gets wealth not by “oppression” (Ecc_5:8), but by “God’s gift.” He is
distinguished also from the “rich” man (Ecc_6:2) in having received by God’s gift not
only “wealth,” but also “power to eat thereof,” which that one has not.
to take his portion — limits him to the lawful use of wealth, not keeping back from
God His portion while enjoying his own.
KRETZMANN, “v. 19. Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, as a
blessing bestowed by God's loving-kindness, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take
his portion, in a lawful use of his wealth, and to rejoice in his labor, enjoying the fruit
thereofACCORDING to God's will; this is the gift of God, to be accepted and used in that sense
only, and not after the manner of the avaricious fool who hoards his riches and spoils his chances for
happiness.
TRAPP, “
Ecc_5:19 Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to
eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this [is] the gift of God.
Ver. 19. This is the gift of God.] A gift of his right hand, donum throni, non scabelli, - Godliness only
hath contentedness. {1Ti_6:6 } The comfort of wealth comes in by no other door than by the
assurance of God’s love in bestowing it, and of his grace in sanctifying it. "God give thee the dew of
heaven." {Gen_27:28 } Esau likewise had the like, but not with a "God give thee." A carnal heart
cares not how, so he may have it; hence his so little comfort and enjoyment. A godly man will have
God with it, or else he is all amort. Moses would not be put off with an angel to go along with them.
Luther protested, when great gifts were offered him, that he would not be satisfied or quieted with
those rattles. {a}
PULPIT, “Every man also. The sentence is anacoluthic, like Ecc_3:13 , and may best be
rendered, Also for every man to whom this is a gift of God. Ginsburg connects the verse closely
with the preceding one, supplying, "I have also seen that a man," etc. Whichever way we take the
sentence, it comes to the same tiling, implying man's absolute dependence upon God's bounty. To
whom God hath given riches and wealth. Before he can enjoy his possessions a man must first
receive them from God's hands. The two terms here used are not quite synonymous. While the former
word, osher; is used for wealth of any kind whatever, the latter, nekasim, means properly "wealth in
cattle," like the Latin pecunia, and thence used generally for riches (volek). Hath given him power to
eat thereof. Abundance is useless without the power to enjoy it. This is the gift of God, a great and
special bounty from a loving and gracious God. Thus Horace, 'Epist.,' 1.4. 7—
"Di tibi divitias dederunt artemque fruendi."
"The gods have given you wealth, and (what is more)
Have given you wisdom to enjoy your store."
(Howes.)

114. 20 He seldom reflects on the days of his life,
because God keeps him occupied with gladness
of heart.
BARNES, “The days will pass smoothly and pleasantly, while he lives in the
consciousness of God’s favor.
Answereth him - i. e., grants his prayers.
CLARKE, “For he shall not much remember - The person who acts in this way,
extracts all the good requisite from life. He passes through things temporal so as not to
lose those that are eternal: -
“Calm and serene, the road of life to him,
Or long or short, rugged or smooth, with thorns
O’erspread, or gay with flowers, is but a road.
Such fare as offers grateful he accepts,
And smiling to his native home proceeds.”
GILL, “For he shall not much remember the days of his life,.... Be they more or
fewer, as Jarchi: he will not think life long and tedious; nor dwell upon, and distress
himself with, the troubles he has met with, or is likely to meet with; but, being content
with the good things God has given him, and freely and cheerfully enjoying them, he
passes away his time delightfully and pleasantly. Some, as Aben Ezra observes, and
which he approves of, and is agreeably to the accents, render the words, "if he has not
much, he remembers the days of his life" (t); if he has but little of the good things of this
life, he remembers how few his days are he has to live; and doubts not he shall have
enough to carry him to the end of his days, and therefore is quite easy and content; he
calls to mind how he has been supplied all his days hitherto, and is persuaded that that
God, who has provided for him, will continue his goodness to him, and that he shall not
want any good thing; and therefore does not distress himself with what is to come;
because God answereth him in the joy of his heart; he calls upon God for a
blessing on his labours, asks of him his daily food, and desires what may be proper and
sufficient for him, or what he judges is necessary and convenient; and God answers his
prayers and petitions, and good wishes, by filling his heart with food and gladness; and
giving him that cheerfulness of spirit, and thankfulness of heart, in the enjoyment of
every blessing; and especially if along with it he lifts up the light of his countenance, and
grants him joy in the Holy Ghost; he will go on so pleasantly and comfortably as to forget
all his former troubles; and it will dissipate his doubts and fears about how he shall live
for the future.
HENRY, “That this is the way to make our own lives easy and to relieve ourselves

115. against the many toils and troubles which our lives on earth are incident to (Ecc_5:20):
He shall not much remember the days of his life, the days of his sorrow and sore travail,
his working days, his weeping days. He shall either forget them or remember them as
waters that pass away; he shall not much lay to heart his crosses, nor long retain the
bitter relish of them, because God answers him in the joy of his heart, balances all the
grievances of his labour with the joy of it and recompenses him for it by giving him to
eat the labour of his hands. If he does not answer all his desires and expectations, in the
letter of them, yet he answers them with that which is more than equivalent, in the joy of
his heart. A cheerful spirit is a great blessing; it makes the yoke of our employments easy
and the burden of our afflictions light.
JAMISON, “JAMISON, “JAMISON, “JAMISON, “He will not remember much, looking back with disappointment, as the
ungodly do (Ecc_2:11), on the days of his life.
answereth ... in the joy — God answers his prayers in giving him “power” to enjoy
his blessings. Gesenius and Vulgate translate, “For God (so) occupies him with joy,” etc.,
that he thinks not much of the shortness and sorrows of life. Holden, “Though God gives
not much (as to real enjoyment), yet he remembers (with thankfulness) the days; for (he
knows) God exercises him by the joy,” etc. (tries him by prosperity), so Margin, but
English Version is simplest.
HAWKER, "MY soul! are all things here below empty and unsatisfying: and is there a
rest that remaineth for the people of God? And wilt thou not, then, after such repeated
convictions as these scriptures afford of human vanity and human disappointment, be
prompted, like the Patriarchs to seek a City that hath foundations, whose builder and
maker is God. Enquire, my soul, in the history of these holy men gone before, from what
cause it was that their lives were so peaceful, and honourable; and their deaths so
triumphant and glorious. And the reason is assigned, in all that is said of them, They
walked by faith, and not by sight. They did, as Abraham the great father of the faithful
did, they believed God, and it was accounted to them for righteousness. They went out,
when called upon to go forth into a place which they should afterwards receive for an
inheritance, not knowing whither they went. God had promised, and that was enough.
They took God at his word. And they were not afraid, but depended upon his
faithfulness.
Do thou, my soul, the same. God’s promise in Christ is the same now as it was then: or
rather, it is now confirmed beyond the possibility of failure in that all the promised
undertaking of Christ hath been accomplished. Look forward, look upward then, my
soul, and contemplate the glories which shortly shall be revealed. And when, at any time,
some renewed instance of vanity, arising from the things here below, shall occur, turn
away thine eyes, and behold with faith that upper brighter world. There neither sin, nor
Satan; care, nor anxiety; fightings without, nor fears within; can arise to break in upon
thy everlasting enjoyments. There dwells Jehovah, manifesting himself in Christ to all
his redeemed. There the Lamb, that is in the midst of the throne, is leading the church to
fountains of living waters, and all tears are forever wiped away from off all faces. Say, my
soul! art thou indeed to dwell there - to go out no more. Are these vanities here below no
longer to distress; neither these eyes of thine to behold sin? And shall not even the
prospect of such felicity, fill thee with a joy unspeakable, and full of glory? Oh! for the
holy longing of the church; Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe, or to a

116. young hart, upon the mountains of spices.
KRETZMANN, “KRETZMANN, “KRETZMANN, “KRETZMANN, “v. 20. For he shall not much remember the days of his life, for the memory of
any earthly enjoyment is brief; because God answereth him in the joy of his heart, vouchsafing to
him such happiness in this life as will enable him to sojourn amidst the disappointments of this earth
with a heart resting in trust in the heavenly Father, that being the ideal which the believer should keep
before his eyes always.
TRAPP, “Ecc_5:20 For he shall not much remember the days of his life; because God answereth
[him] in the joy of his heart.
Ver. 20. For he shall not much remember, &c.] He vexeth not at the brevity or misery of his life, but
looketh upon himself as a stranger here, and therefore if he can have a better condition, he "useth it
rather," {1Co_7:21 } as if a traveller can get a better room in an inn, he will; if not, he can be content,
for, saith he, it is but for a night.
PULPIT, “PULPIT, “PULPIT, “PULPIT, “For he shall not much remember the days of his life. The man who has learned the lesson
of calm enjoyment does not much concern himself with the shortness, uncertainty, or possible trouble
of life. He carries out the counsel of Christ, "Be not anxious for the morrow, for the morrow will be
anxious for itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof" (Mat_6:34 ). Ginsburg gives an entirely
opposite rendering to the clause, "He should remember that the days of his life are not many;" i.e. the
thought of the shortness of life should urge us to enjoy it while it lasts. But the Authorized Version is
supported by the Septuagint and Vulgate and most modern commentators, and seems most
appropriate to the context. The marginal rendering, "Though he give not much, yet he
remembereth," etc; which Ginsburg calls a literary curiosity, must have been derived from the version
of Junius, which gives, "Quod si non multum (supple, est illud quod dederit Deus, ex versu
praec.)," etc. Because God answereth him in the joy of his heart. The man passes a calm and
contented life, because God shows that he is pleased with him by the tranquil joy shed over his heart.
The verb îÇòÂðÆä (the hiph. participle of òÈðÈä ) is variously rendered. The Septuagint gives, Ὁ
Θεὸς περισπᾷ αὐτὸν ἐν εὐφροσύνῃ καρδίας αὐτοῦ , "God distracts him in the mirth of his heart;"
Vulgate, Eo quod Deus occupet deliciis cot ejus; Ginsburg, "God causeth him to work for the
enjoyment of his heart," i.e. God assigns him work that he may thence derive enjoyment; Koster," God
makes him sing in the joy of his heart;" Delitzsch, Wright, and Plumptre, "God answers (corresponds
with) the joy of his heart," which the latter explains to mean "is felt to approve it as harmonizing, in its
calm evenness, with his own blessedness, the tranquility of the wise man mirroring the tranquility of
God." But this modified Epicureanism is alien from the teaching of Koheleth. Rather the idea is that
God answers him with, imparts to him, joy of heart, makes him sensible of his favorable regard by this
inward feeling of satisfaction and content.
SBC, "A profound gloom rests on the second act or section of this drama. It teaches us
that we are helpless in the iron grip of laws which we had no voice in making; that we
often lie at the mercy of men whose mercy is but a caprice; that in our origin and end, in
body and spirit, in faculty and prospect, in our lives and pleasures, we are no better than
the beasts that perish; that the avocations into which we plunge, amid which we seek to
forget our sad estate, spring from our jealousy the one of the other, and tend to a lonely
miserliness, without a use or a charm.
I. The Preacher’s handling of this subject is very thorough and complete. According to

117. him, men’s excessive devotion to affairs springs from "a jealous rivalry the one with the
other;" it tends to form in them a grasping, covetous temper which can never be
satisfied, to produce a materialistic scepticism of all that is noble and spiritual in
thought and action, to render their worship formal and insincere, and in general to
incapacitate them for any quiet, happy enjoyment of their life. This is his diagnosis of
their disease.
II. But what checks, what correctives, what remedies, would the Preacher have us apply
to the diseased tendencies of the time? How shall men of business save themselves from
that excessive devotion to its affairs which breeds so many portentous evils? (1) The very
sense of the danger to which they are exposed—a danger so insidious, so profound, so
fatal—should surely induce caution and a wary self-control. (2) The Preacher gives us at
least three serviceable maxims. To all men of business conscious of their special dangers
and anxious to avoid them he says, (a) Replace the competition which springs from your
jealous rivalry with the co-operation which is born of sympathy and breeds goodwill. (b)
Replace the formality of your worship with a reverent and steadfast sincerity. (c) Replace
your grasping self-sufficiency with a constant holy trust in the fatherly providence of
God.
S. Cox, The Quest of the Chief Good, p. 140.
YOUNG, "So far from tending to gloom and sorrow, as some sup-
pose, religion sweetens even temporal things and gives
them power to yield enjoyment. It is good and comely
for a man to enjoy the good of his labour. " Religion
never was designed to make our pleasures less." It is
God's gift to enable a man to be cheerful and happy in
the enjoyment of good tilings. The 20th verse seems to
be a contrast with the 17th. There the wicked man has
sorrow and wrath in his last sickness. Here the righteous
man "shall not much remember" the sorrows of the past,
for God is with him giving joy. It is evident that Solo-
mon does not speak against wealth as such, or against men
because they are wealthy. He recognizes it as coming
from God, and also the enjoying of it as coming from
God. God gives " power " to enjoy, when by his Spirit
he frees the heart from the bonds of avarice. When the
Christian can look at his earthly inheritance as the gift of
his heavenly Father, reconciled to him through the right-
eousness of his Redeemer, and can with a heart full of the
graces of his Comforter enjoy it, gratitude and praise as-
cend as incense before God. He thanks God for this
earthly portion, though it is not the peculiar portion of
his soul. "The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; there-
fore will I hope in him." Lam. iii. 24.
SUGGESTED REMARKS.
I. God has given to man a rich possession in this fair

118. WORLD which he inhabits. " The profit of the earth is
for all." God claims for himself the heavens, while he
has given the earth to men. " The heaven, even the
heavens, are the Lord's : but the earth hath he given to
the children of men." Ps. cxv. 16. What a magnificent
gift ! How well adapted is it to his wants ! For the use
of man volcanic fires have fused and crystallized the gran-
ite, and piled it up into lofty table-land. For him the
water has washed it down into fruitful valleys, where na-
ture rejoices in its luxuriant growth. For him there are
opened up hundreds of thousands of gushing crystal
springs, where he may slake his thirst. Rich metalHc
veins interlace these hills and valleys. Beneath the sur-
face are vast storehouses of vegetables now transmuted
into fuel, and into oil for heating and lighting up his abode.
The interior of the earth is made a storehouse for all
things necessary for his comfort and wealth, upon which
he learns to draw from age to age, as God gives him wis-
dom to understand their value. There they have lain for
centuries awaiting the time when human progress shall
need them, and call them up from their dark caverns.
Specimens of the handiwork of God appear in every re-
cess. " As for the earth, out of it cometh bread ; and
under it is turned up as it were fire. The stones of it are
the place of sapphires; and it hath dust of gold." Job
xxviii. 5, 6. The atmosphere, besides aftbrding the breath
of life, is a great laboratory where chemical changes are
going on continually. The lightnings play at pleasure,
and " the wind bloweth where it listeth." Man may lay
hold of all these agents, and employ tnem for his work.
He may make his pathway across the ocean. He may
employ the winds in driving his machinery, or in wafting
his vessel to foreign ports. He may bind the steam to
his car, and send the forked lightning as his ambassador
to whisper his commands into the ear of distant cities or
armies. God has given the earth with its appendages to
men, and they should lay hold of its advantages to advance
their own true interests, and the glory of God. Yes, God
should be glorified by our use of the world, for though he
has given it to us, we are but renters and stewards. We
are his tenants at will. And when we have used the earth
to the best advantage, — when we have partaken of its
fruits, and dug up its treasures, we commit our bodies to
its bosom, as our loving mother, there to sleep till the
graves give up their dead.
II. Let tis appreciate, and be thankful for the blessing

119. of SLEEP.
" The sleep of the labouring man is sweet, whether he
eat little or much ; but the abundance of the rich will not
sutler him to sleep." What a delightful provision for re-
storing our wasted energies ! " Tired nature's sweet re-
storer, balmy sleep." " There is no fact more clearly es-
tablished in the physiology of man than this, that the brain
expends its energies and itself during the hours of wake-
fulness, and that these are recuperated during sleep. If
the recuperation does not equal the expenditure, the brain
withers — this is insanity." Persons condemned to death
by being prevented from sleeping, as has been the bar-
barous punishment inflicted by some nations, always die
maniacs. All should endeavour to secure a sufficient
amount of sleep. It was one of Jacob's grievances when
in the service of his father-in-law, that he lost his sleep.
" In the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by
night; and my sleep departed from mine eyes." One of
God's favours to his people is, " He giveth his beloved
sleep." Ps. cxxvii. 2. To the wise and obedient God
says, " When thou hest down, thou shalt not be afraid :
yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet."
Prov. iii. 24. With a sense of God's protecting care, we
may say with the Psalmist, " I will both lay me down in
peace, and sleep: for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in
safety." Ps. iv. 8. " But the abundance of the rich will
not suffer him to sleep." The hand of the robber may
be on his treasures ; — the cares of the past day may follow
him through the night; — or late hours of intemperate in-
dulgence may goad his conscience.
No downy pillow will make amends for the thorn rank-
ling in the heart. Thus " fevered with late hours and false
excitement, scared by visions, or with palpitating heart
listening to every sound — the fancied footstep of the rob-
ber," some lie, and watch, and toss till dawn of day.
Shakespeare puts into the mouth of Henry IV. these ex-
pressive words : —
" How many thousands of my poorest subjects
Are at this hour asleep! Sleep, gentle sleep !
Nature's soft nurse, how have 1 frighted thee,

120. That thou no more wilt weigh my eyelids down,
And steep my senses in forgetfuluess !
Why rather, sleep, liest thou in smoky cribs,
Upon uneasy pallets stretching thee.
And hushed with buzzing night-flies to thy slumber,
Than in the perfumed chambers of the great,
Under the canopies of costly state.
And lulled with sounds of sweetest melody ?
.... Then, happy low, lie down !
Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown !"
Let us have minds at peace with God and man, — let us
use frugally God's gifts, and be employed in useful avoca
tions ; and we may hope to enjoy refreshing slumber.
But there is a last sleep, sweet to the righteous. They
" sleep in Jesus." After a long sleep the body will arise
fresh, vigorous, beautiful ; prepared to walk the streets of
the new Jerusalem, and to perform the work of a glorious
and never-ending day. The soul will, at the commence-
ment of this sleep, be wafted away, not in the wild fancies
of a dream, but in blessed reality, to a world of beauties
and wonders, beyond what the imagination of the natural
sleeper ever painted. There it will revel in pure plea-
sure, and bask for ever in the sunshine of heaven. " Let
me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be
Hke his."
in. Let us turn and view the contrast between the
death of the righteous and that of the wicked. That
man is mioerable in his final sickness, who has only an
earthly portion. " He hath much sorrow and wrath
with his sickness." Verse 17. Luxurious living and re-
morse for evil deeds, bring " gloom of mind, irritability,
prolonged infirmity, with impatient and angry fretting un-
der it." It is true, that some wicked men " have no
bands in their death." They die carelessly. But many
sad instances are frequently brought to the view of the
pastor and other observers, of ungodly men dying in the

121. greatest agony of mind. And if agony does not com-
mence sooner, there will be boundless woe when the spirit
takes its departure to the " indignation and wrath, tribula-
tion and anguish" of " outer darkness."
Not so the death of the righteous. " He shall not
much remember the days of his life; because God an-
swereth him in the joy of his heart." Verse 20. Refer-
ence is to the days of his past life, in which were many
things sad and sorrowful. He looks to the future, not to
the past. Like the voyager who is just in port, he for-
gets the storms and tempests through which he has passed,
and thinks only of the joyful greetings and re-unions be-
fore him. Bright angels have come to carry him to Abra-
ham's bosom. Jesus, with face benignant and glowing
with light, is ready to welcome him. And he almost
hears the music of heavenly harps while his heartstrings
are breaking ; and he shouts, " O death, where is thy
sting ? O grave, where is thy victory ?"