Ecclesiastes 9

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Ecclesiastes 9

1 For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God: no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them.

2 All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.

3 This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.

4 For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion.

5 For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.

6 Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.

7 Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works.

8 Let thy garments be always white; and let thy head lack no ointment.

9 Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun.

10 Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.

11 I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

12 For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.

13 This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed great unto me:

14 There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it:

15 Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.

16 Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.

17 The words of wise men are heard in quiet more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools.

18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war: but one sinner destroyeth much good.

Notes

Cross Reference

Concordance

Commentary

Rashi

Verse 1

<html>To make [all this] clear. And to clarify — All this. I clarified and tested. That the righteous and the wise and their works are in the hand of God. He helps them and He judges them in order to benefit them in their end. And their works. These are their students, their servants, who follow [in] their ways. Whether it be love or hate. The rest of mankind neither knows nor perceives what would make them become beloved by the Omnipresent and what causes them to become hated.¹Alternatively, man is unable to comprehend what inspires him to love or to hate. (Metsudas Dovid) All is before them. Before the righteous and the wise.²Alternatively, all preceded them, i.e., all was decreed before they were born. (Ibn Ezra) </html>

Verse 2

<html>All things come alike to all. All perceive when the occurrence happens to all mankind, and they know that ultimately each person is recompensed according to his ways. The same fate [awaits]. And [they] know that ultimately everyone, whether righteous or wicked, will die, and they all have one fate in this world. All this they know, but nevertheless, they choose for themselves the proper path, because they know that there is a distinction between them in the World to Come. The righteous. Such as No’ach. And the wicked. [Such as] Pharaoh Necho. This one became crippled, and that one [No’ach] became lame. The good. This is Moshe.³Those who do good with others. (Metsudas Dovid) And the pure. This is Aharon.⁴Those who have pure thoughts. (Metsudas Dovid) And the impure. These are the spies;⁵Those who focus on impure thoughts and levity. (Metsudas Dovid) these spoke well in praise of the land of Yisroel, but those spoke derogatorily about it. Neither these entered the land, nor those entered the land, hence, they have the same fate. To him who brings offerings. This is Yoshiyahu, as it is stated, “And Yoshiyahu offered a sacrifice.”⁶II Divrei Hayomim 35:7. The reading of the text is, “And Yoshiyahu separated” [וירם יאשיהו] instead of “ויזבח יאשיהו.” Rashi apparently did not have our version of the text. And to him who does not bring offerings. This is Achav, who abolished [Bnei] Yisroel’s festival pilgrimages [to the Beis Hamikdosh]. and that one [Yoshiyahu] was killed by arrows.⁸See I Melochim 22:34-35. As is with the good man. This is Dovid. So is it with the sinner. This is Nevuchadnetzar. This one [Dovid] built the Beis Hamikdosh, and that one destroyed it; this one reigned forty years, and that one reigned forty years. As is with one who swears [easily]. This is Tzidkiyahu, who swore falsely, as it is stated, “And he also rebelled against King Nevuchadnetzar, who had made him swear, etc.”⁹See II Divrei Hayomim 35:23-24. So is it with the one who fears an oath. This is Shimshon, as it is stated, “And Shimshon said to them, ‘Swear to me, that you, yourselves, will not strike me.’”¹⁰II Divrei Hayomim 36:13. We learn that he was strict in his observance of an oath. This one died after his eyes were gouged out,¹¹Shoftim 15:12. and that one [Tzidkiyahu] died after his eyes were gouged out.¹²See Shoftim 16:21. Therefore— </html>

Verse 3

<html>The hearts of men are filled with evil. For they say that there is no judgment of retribution for the wicked. Everything is attributed to chance, [benefitting] sometimes the righteous, and sometimes the wicked. And afterwards they join the dead. And they ultimately descend to Gehinnom.</html>

Verse 4

<html>For to him that is joined to all the living, there is hope. For as long as he lives, even if he is wicked and he associates with the wicked, as it is stated, “to all the living,” [including] even the wicked, there is hope that he will repent before his death.¹³See II Melochim 25:7. ¹⁴For the lowliest person, as long as he is alive, can grow spiritually, whereas the wisest and most righteous who are dead cannot. (Metsudas Dovid) For a live dog is better than a dead lion. And they are both wicked. It was better for Nevuzaradan, who was a wicked slave and became a proselyte, that death did not overtake him sooner than Nevuchadnetzar, his master, who is called a “lion,” as it is stated, “A lion has come up from his thicket,”¹⁵The written text is יבחר [=will choose], to indicate that only those having the ability to choose have hope, but for the dead, being that they are unable to choose, all hope is lost. (Ibn Ezra) and who died in his wickedness, in Gehinnom, while his slave [Nevuzaradan] is in the Garden of Eden. Our Rabbis expounded upon this, that we may butcher a carcass for dogs on Shabbos, but a human corpse, lying in the sun, may not be moved unless one places a child or a loaf on it. </html>

Verse 5

<html>For the living know that they will die. And perhaps they will be mindful of the day of death, and they will repent of their ways, but once they die, they do not know anything,¹⁶Yirmiyahu 4:7. and they no longer earn reward for the actions¹⁷And even if they were to have perception, it is too late for them to repent. (Metsudas Dovid) that they do from their death and onwards, for “whoever toils on the eve of Shabbos will [have what to] eat on Shabbos.”¹⁸Alternatively, ואין להם עוד שכר כי נשכח זכרם means “there is no reward for them, when [= כי] their memory is forgotten,” i.e., when those who die leave no legacy of good deeds for others to follow. However, for the righteous who leave a legacy of good deeds for others to follow [i.e., their memory is not forgotten], there is further reward. (Kehilas Shlomo) </html>

Verse 6

<html>Also their love. That they loved folly and scorn. [Also] their hate. That they hated knowledge. [Also] their jealousy. That they provoked the Holy One, Blessed Is He, with their [evil] deeds. And a portion they will never again have, etc., in anything that is done, etc. The merit of a son or a daughter did not avail those wicked men who worshiped idols, and they have no atonement after death. </html>

Verse 7

<html>Go eat [your bread] in joy. But you, the righteous man, who the Holy One, Blessed Is He, has already accepted your good deeds and who will merit the World to Come, “go, eat [your bread] in joy.”¹⁹See Maseches Avodah Zarah 3a. </html>

Verse 8

<html>At all times, let your garments be white. Prepare yourself at all times with good deeds, so that if you die today, you will enter [the Hereafter] in peace. And Shlomo likened this to a man whom the king invited for a day of feast, without setting a date for him. If he is wise or clever, he will immediately launder his garments, bathe, and anoint himself.²⁰Koheles addresses the righteous man to “go eat your bread in joy.” True happiness is achieved by eating “your own” bread that you have labored for, as indicated in Tehillim 128:2, “when you eat the labor of your hands you are praiseworthy and it is well with you.” Also, be satisfied with life’s basic necessities [represented by bread] without getting involved in life’s luxuries. Mesilas Yeshorim in Chapter 15 states, that once food has been swallowed, its memory is forgotten as if it had never existed, and therefore enough black bread will satiate one to the same extent as fattened swans. And similarly [he will do] tomorrow until such time that he will be summoned to the feast, all this time his garments are white²¹According to Targum, ושמן על ראשך refers to a good reputation, i.e., do not lack a good reputation. [=laundered] and he is bathed and anointed. So did our Rabbis expound it in Maseches Shabbos.²²White garments were worn on festive occasions and are symbolic of purity. </html>

Verse 9

<html>See [to enjoy] life with the wife you love. See and understand to learn a skill by which to earn a livelihood,²³153a. together with Torah study that you possess.²⁴See Maseches Kiddushin 30b. For that is your portion in life. If you have done so, your share will be life in this world, by earning a livelihood from the skill, and in the World to Come, because laboring in both [i.e., work and Torah study] causes sin to be forgotten.²⁵Alternatively, אשה refers to one’s soul [=נשמה]. (Alshich) </html>

Verse 10

<html>Whatever you are able to do. The will of your Maker— as long as you have your strength—do.²⁶See Mishnayos Avos 2:2. For there is neither deed, etc., in the grave. For your merit after you die, and if you did so, you have no reckoning in the grave to worry about. The [text of the] verse is transposed [meaning], “for there is neither deed nor knowledge nor wisdom in the grave for the wicked,²⁷Alternatively, whatever charity and good deeds you are able to do, do them with all your strength. (Targum) nor reckoning for the righteous, when the wicked give an accounting and reckoning, and so is it expounded in the Midrash. And one who interprets it without transposing it, but according to its apparent meaning, interprets ‘חֶשְׁבּוֹן’ as an expression of “thought,” what more can he still do²⁸For them to use as an excuse for their sins. to exempt himself from judgment.²⁹I.e., once one is in the grave, there is nothing more he can think of doing to exempt himself from judgment. </html>

Verse 11

<html>Again I saw. Like ‘זָכוֹר’[=remebering continually], wedant in O.F. The race is not to the swift. Isohel’s swiftness³⁰See II Shmuel 2:18. did not avail him when his time [to die] arrived.³¹His swiftness allowed him to catch up with Avneir, who killed him. See II Shmuel 2:23. Nor the battle to the strong. Avner’s might did not avail him when his day [to die] arrived. Nor does bread [come] to the wise. For example, I, whose daily bread was “thirty kor of fine flour, etc.,”³²I Melochim 5:2. and now, “this [was] my portion [reward] from all my labor,”³³Above 2:10. Being wise is no guarantee for having food. Metsudas Dovid) my staff and my cup. Nor riches to men of understanding. Such as Iyov. In the beginning, “His livestock consisted of, etc.,”³⁴Iyov 1:3. But when his time came, he said, “Have pity on me, you, my friends.”³⁵Ibid. 19:21. Alternatively, this phrase is connected with the preceding one. The reason that bread does not come to the wise is because wealth is not bestowed upon men of understanding, for if it were, they would share their wealth and provide the wise with bread so they would not lack anything. (Hafla’ah) Nor favor to the learned. Referring to Moshe; there was no one more knowledgeable or wiser than he in Yisroel, and yet he did not find favor with his prayer to enter the land [of Yisroel].³⁶Alternatively, knowledge does not always earn only the acclaim of his fellow man. For time and chance. [To be interpreted] as its apparent meaning.³⁷Alternatively, “for time and death [=פגע] happen to them all.” (Metsudas Tzion) Another explanation: “For time” will befall them, and to entreaty and supplication they should be accustomed, that these things should not befall them. </html>

Verse 12

<html>As fish that are caught in a weak net. Like large fish that are caught in an inferior and weak net, and our Rabbis explained: This is a fishhook, which is no more than a type of needle, by which a large fish is caught. Like them, [men] are snared. With a small and weak trap, like the weak net and the snare. People stumble at the time of the visitation of their evil, when their time comes for evil to fall upon them suddenly, in an inferior trap, malweise in O.F. Like them. Like them.</html>

Verse 15

<html>Yet no person remembered. No one attributed any importance to him.</html>

Verse 16

<html>And [yet] I said. When I saw this, “Wisdom is better than might,” for this one’s wisdom was despised by all, but now, they were all rescued through him. The Midrash Aggadah [expounds as follows]: A small city. This is the body.³⁸See Maseches Nedarim 32b. With few men within it. These are the limbs of a person. A mighty king. This is the evil inclination, which all his limbs feel. A poor [wise] man. This is the good inclination.</html>

Verse 17

<html>Are received with pleasure. They are accepted by mankind.³⁹Alternatively, the words of the wise [spoken] gently are heard, i.e., בנחת [gently] modifies דברי [the spoken words of the wise] as opposed to בנחת נשמעים [=are received with pleasure]. (Metsudas Dovid) More than the shouts of a ruler of fools. Moshe passed away many years ago, yet his decrees are still accepted by Yisroel, and how many kings of the nations issue decrees over Yisroel, but their words do not endure. </html>

Verse 18

<html>Wisdom is better than weapons of war. The wisdom of Serach, of whom it is stated, “And the woman then went to [all] the people, in her wisdom,”⁴⁰Rashi apparently did not have כל in his version of the text. availed them more than the weapons that were in their hands, to wage war with Yo’av.⁴¹II Shmuel 20:22. But one sinner destroys a multitude of good. Had she not slain Sheva the son of Bichri, they would all have been destroyed by him.⁴²Alternatively, the wisdom of Yaakov was more effective than Eisav’s weapons. (Midrash) Another explanation: But one sinner destroys a multitude of good. If Yisroel were half of righteous people and half of wicked ones, and one person came and sinned and made [the wicked] the majority, the result would be that he weighed them all down to be guilty.⁴³Alternatively, when a wise man becomes a sinner, many people will abandon their pursuit of wisdom by concluding that this person’s wisdom was of no avail. (Metsudas Dovid)</html>

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Table of Contents

Ecclesiastes 9

Ecclesiastes 9

Notes

Cross Reference

Concordance

Commentary

Rashi

Verse 1

Verse 2

Verse 3

Verse 4

Verse 5

Verse 6

Verse 7

Verse 8

Verse 9

Verse 10

Verse 11

Verse 12

Verse 15

Verse 16

Verse 17

Verse 18