Advice and Further Reflections

Ecclesiastes 5–11 (selections)

4th–3rd Century BCE

Chapter 5

³When you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfill it. For He has no pleasure in fools; what you vow, fulfill. ⁴It is better not to vow at all than to vow and not fulfill. [ . . . ]

⁷If you see in a province oppression of the poor and suppression of right and justice, don’t wonder at the fact; for one high official is protected by a higher one, and both of them by still higher ones. [ . . . ]

⁹A lover of money never has his fill of money, nor a lover of wealth his fill of income. That too is futile. ¹⁰As his substance increases, so do those who consume it; what, then, does the success of its owner amount to but feasting his eyes? ¹¹A worker’s sleep is sweet, whether he has much or little to eat; but the rich man’s abundance doesn’t let him sleep. [ . . . ]

¹⁴^aAnother grave evil is this: He [= a rich man?] must depart just as he came.^aAs he came out of his mother’s womb, so must he depart at last, naked as he came. He can take nothing of his wealth to carry with him. ¹⁵So what is the good of his toiling for the wind? [ . . . ]

¹⁷Only this, I have found, is a real good: that one should eat and drink and get pleasure with all the gains he makes under the sun, during the numbered days of life that God has given him; for that is his portion. ¹⁸Also, whenever a man is given riches and property by God, and is also permitted by Him to enjoy them and to take his portion and get pleasure for his gains—that is a gift of God. [ . . . ]

Chapter 7

¹^bA good name is better than fragrant oil, and the day of death than the day of birth.^c

²It is better to go to a house of mourning than to a house of feasting; for that is the end of every man, and a living one should take it to heart.

³Vexation is better than revelry;^dfor though the face be sad, the heart may be glad. ⁴Wise men are drawn to a house of mourning, and fools to a house of merrymaking.

⁵It is better to listen to a wise man’s reproof than to listen to the praise of fools. ⁶For the levity of the fool is like the crackling of nettles under a kettle. ^eBut that too is illusory; ⁷for cheating may rob the wise man of reason and destroy the prudence of the cautious.^f

⁸The end of a matter is better than the beginning of it.

Better a patient spirit than a haughty spirit.

⁹Don’t let your spirit be quickly vexed, for vexation abides in the breasts of fools.

¹⁰Don’t say, “How has it happened that former times were better than these?” For it is not wise of you to ask that question.

¹¹Wisdom is as good as a patrimony, and even better, for those who behold the sun. ¹²For to be in the shelter of wisdom is to be also in the shelter of money, and the advantage of intelligence is that wisdom preserves the life of him who possesses it.

¹³^gConsider God’s doing! Who can straighten what He has twisted? ¹⁴So in a time of good fortune enjoy the good fortune; and in a time of misfortune, reflect: The one no less than the other was God’s doing; consequently, man may find no fault with Him.^h

¹⁵In my own brief span of life, I have seen both these things: sometimes a good man perishes in spite of his goodness, and sometimes a wicked one endures in spite of his wickedness. ¹⁶So don’t overdo goodness and don’t act the wise man to excess, or you may be dumfounded. ¹⁷Don’t overdo wickedness and don’t be a fool, or you may die before your time. ¹⁸It is best that you grasp the one without letting go of the other, for one who fears God will do his duty by both.

¹⁹Wisdom is more of a stronghold to a wise man than ten magnates that a city may contain.

²⁰ⁱ For there is not one good man on earth who does what is best and doesn’t err.

²¹Finally, don’t pay attention to everything that is said, so that you may not hear your slave reviling you; ²²for well you remember^jthe many times that you yourself have reviled others.

²³All this I tested with wisdom. I thought I could fathom it, but it eludes me. ²⁴[The secret of] what happens is elusive and deep, deep down; who can discover it? ²⁵I put my mind to studying, exploring, and seeking wisdom and the reason of things, and to studying wickedness, stupidity, madness, and folly. ²⁶Now, I find woman more bitter than death; she is all traps, her hands are fetters and her heart is snares. He who is pleasing to God escapes her, and he who is displeasing is caught by her. ²⁷See, this is what I found, said Koheleth, item by item in my search for the reason of things. ²⁸As for what I sought further but did not find, I found only one human being in a thousand, and the one I found among so many was never a woman. ²⁹But, see, this I did find: God made men plain, but they have engaged in too much reasoning. [ . . . ]

Chapter 8

[ . . . ] ²“Obey the king’s orders [ . . . ].” ³^kLeave his presence; do not tarry^kin a dangerous situation, for he can do anything he pleases; ⁴inasmuch as a king’s command is authoritative, and none can say to him, “What are you doing?” ⁵One who obeys orders will not suffer from the dangerous situation. [ . . . ]

And here is another frustration: ¹¹the fact that the sentence imposed for evil deeds is not executed swiftly, which is why men are emboldened to do evil—¹²the fact that a sinner may do evil a hundred times and his [punishment] still be delayed. For although I am aware that “It will be well with those who revere God since they revere Him, ¹³and it will not be well with the scoundrel, and he will not live long, because he does not revere God”—¹⁴here is a frustration that occurs in the world: sometimes an upright man is requited according to the conduct of the scoundrel; and sometimes the scoundrel is requited according to the conduct of the upright. I say all that is frustration.

¹⁵I therefore praised enjoyment. For the only good a man can have under the sun is to eat and drink and enjoy himself. That much can accompany him, in exchange for his wealth, through the days of life that God has granted him under the sun. [ . . . ]

Chapter 9

¹For all this I noted, and I ascertained all this: that the actions of even the righteous and the wise are determined by God. Even love! Even hate! Man knows none of these in advance²—none! For the same fate is in store for all: for the righteous, and for the wicked; for the good and pure,^land for the impure; for him who sacrifices, and for him who does not; for him who is pleasing,^mand for him who is displeasing; and for him who swears, and for him who shuns oaths.³That is the sad thing about all that goes on under the sun: that the same fate is in store for all. (Not only that, but men’s hearts are full of sadness, and their minds of madness, while they live; and then—to the dead!) ⁴For he who is reckoned among the living has something to look forward to—even a live dog is better than a dead lion—⁵since the living know they will die. But the dead know nothing; they have no more recompense, for even the memory of them has died. ⁶Their loves, their hates, their jealousies have long since perished; and they have no more share till the end of time in all that goes on under the sun.

⁷Go, eat your bread in gladness, and drink your wine in joy; for your action was long ago approved by God. ⁸Let your clothes always be freshly washed, and your head never lack ointment. ⁹Enjoy happiness with a woman you love all the fleeting days of life that have been granted to you under the sun—all your fleeting days. For that alone is what you can get out of life and out of the means you acquire under the sun. ¹⁰Whatever it is in your power to do, do with all your might. For there is no action, no reasoning, no learning, no wisdom in Sheol, where you are going.

¹¹I have further observed under the sun that

The race is not won by the swift,

Nor the battle by the valiant;

Nor is bread won by the wise,

Nor wealth by the intelligent,

Nor favor by the learned.

For the time of mischanceⁿcomes to all.^o¹²And a man cannot even know his time. As fishes are enmeshed in a fatal net, and as birds are trapped in a snare, so men are caught at the time of calamity, when it comes upon them without warning.

¹³This thing too I observed under the sun about wisdom, and it affected me profoundly. ¹⁴There was a little city, with few men in it; and to it came a great king, who invested it and built mighty siege works against it. ¹⁵Present in the city was a poor wise man who might have saved it with his wisdom, but nobody thought of that poor man. ¹⁶So I observed: Wisdom is better than valor; but

A poor man’s wisdom is scorned,

And his words are not heeded.

¹⁷^pWords spoken softly by wise men are heeded sooner than those shouted by a lord in folly.

¹⁸Wisdom is more valuable than weapons of war, but a single error destroys much of value. [ . . . ]

Chapter 11

¹Send your bread forth upon the waters; for after many days you will find it. [ . . . ]

⁴If one watches the wind, he will never sow; and if one observes the clouds, he will never reap. ⁵Just as you do not know how the lifebreath passes into the limbs within the womb of the pregnant woman, so you cannot foresee the actions of God, who causes all things to happen. ⁶Sow your seed in the morning, and don’t hold back your hand in the evening, since you don’t know which is going to succeed, the one or the other, or if both are equally good.

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