probably to brighten up · verb, piel imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
money
וְהַכֶּ֖סֶףve.ha.Ke.sef
H3701
silver (from its pale color) · conjunction + definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
answereth
יַעֲנֶ֥הya.'a.Neh
H6030
properly · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Psalms 104:15 And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man’s heart.
Psalms 112:9 He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor; his righteousness endureth for ever; his horn shall be exalted with honour.
Ecclesiastes 2:1-2 I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity.
Ecclesiastes 7:11-12 Wisdom is good with an inheritance: and by it there is profit to them that see the sun.
Isaiah 23:18 And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the LORD: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them…
Isaiah 24:11 There is a crying for wine in the streets; all joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone.
Luke 12:19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
Philippians 4:15-19 Now ye Philippians know also, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concern…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 10:16–end
Solomon here observes,
I. How much the happiness of a land depends upon the character of its rulers; it is well or ill with the people according as the princes are good or bad. 1. The people cannot be happy when their princes are childish and voluptuous (Ecc 10:16): Woe unto thee, O land! even the land of Canaan itself, though otherwise the glory of all lands, when thy king is a child, not so much in age (Solomon himself was young when his kingdom was happy in him) as in understanding; when the prince is weak and foolish as a child, fickle and fond of changes, fretful and humoursome, easily imposed upon, and hardly brought to business, it is ill with the people. The body staggers if the head…
Referring to Ecc 10:18. Instead of repairing the breaches in the commonwealth (equivalent to "building"), the princes "make a feast for laughter (Ecc 10:16), and wine maketh their life glad (Psa 104:15), and (but) money supplieth (answereth their wishes by supplying) all things," that is, they take bribes to support their extravagance; and hence arise the wrongs that are perpetrated (Ecc 10:5-6; Ecc 3:16; Isa 1:23; Isa 5:23). MAURER takes "all things" of the wrongs to which princes are instigated by "money"; for example, the heavy taxes, which were the occasion of Rehoboam losing ten tribes (Kg1 12:4, &c.).
John Gill on Ecclesiastes 10:19
A feast is made for laughter,.... Or, "who make bread for laughter" (i). Not bakers, who make bread for common use, and for all sorts of persons, sorrowful ones as others; but luxurious men, particularly such princes as are before described; they "make bread", that is, a feast, as the phrase is used, Daniel 5:1; not for mere refreshment, but to promote mirth and gaiety to an excessive degree; being attended with rioting and drunkenness, chambering and wantonness, with revellings and dancing;
and wine maketh merry; or, "and they prepare wine" (k); which is provided in plenty at feasts; and which is sometimes put for a feast itself, and called a banquet of wine, Esther 7:2; which wine makes m…
Let each one do his work without chatting or shouting. Let absolutely no one laugh, so that there will not apply to us the reproach of the Scriptures, "They make bread for laughter." If someone needs to ask his neighbor a question, he must do so quietly, without shouting.
"A feast is made for laughter, and wine gladdens life, but money answers everything. "I think that what follows relates to the preceding verses. For with regard to the sloth and the indolence of teachers the Church is lowered, and its roof is made to fall, and its timbers leak, as we have shown above. Therefore here he is speaking of the self-same teachers. And he has been seen to accuse them, asking why they remain silent and do not make use of their duty as teacher, (that is both for bishops and elders in the Church), saying that they neither work on their speaking nor doctrine, the same that even Titus admonishes [Cfr Tit. 1, 5.], and is taught by Timothy [Cfr. I Tim. 4, 14.], so that one does not forget the grace of God, which is bestowed upon a great man. But in this respect they see themselves as elders and bishops, so that they receive an allowance, and many teachers ask for a two-fold glory, which is owed in fact to those who work on their speaking and doctrines. But now he takes the other side and accuses those who even speak in the Church and teach the congregation, but they teach the people that which they like to hear, because he flatters the sinner in his crime and incites the listeners to applaud. For surely when such a teacher is giving a lascivious speech in the Church, does he not promise the blessing and realm of heaven to the crowd, as it will seem to you that his laughter makes bread, and he mixes wine with the happiness of those who drink? Or as those who teach and seek riches, food, and wealth through the promised delights. Or the bread of the Church, which is the bread of mourners, and not of those who laugh, because those who weep are blessed, for they will laugh, and will have joy in their happiness. He also goes on to say: money or silver answers everything, and this must be taken as two-fold: either that those learned men become rich after their praise, and take their place at the head of the people, or indeed, since money is always taken in return for a speech: for "the words of the LORD are pure words: as silver extracted in a furnace of earth, purified seven times." [Ps. 12, 6.] He asserts this because the ignoble crowd is always moved easily by eloquence and speeches, which are composed of a great foliage of words. Differently: those who have free-will and are forbidden to mourn and fast, make bread in their laughter. Isaac…
Dictionary and topics
Banquets — among the Hebrews, were not only a means of social enjoyment, but were a part of the observance of religious festivity. At the three solemn festivals the family also had its domestic feast. (16:11)…
Money · Silver used as — Silver used as
Riches · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Wine · Characterised as: Making mirthful — Characterised as: Making mirthful
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Keil & Delitzsch on Ecclesiastes 10:19
"Meals they make into a pleasure, and wine cheereth the life, and money maketh everything serviceable." By עשׂים, wicked princes are without doubt thought of-but not immediately, since Ecc 10:16 is too remote to give the subject to Ecc 10:19. The subject which 'osim bears in itself (= 'osim hēm) might be syntactically definite, as e.g., Psa 33:5, אהב, He, Jahve, loves, thus: those princes, or, from Ecc 10:18 : such slothful men; but 'osim is better rendered, like e.g., omrim, Exo 5:16 (Ewald, 200a), and as in the Mishna we read קורין and the like with gramm. indefin. subj.: they make, but so that by it the slothful just designated, and those of a princely rank are meant (cf. a similar use o…
money gives everything: It is the way to get what you want or need in this world (cp. 7:11-12).
Rashi on Ecclesiastes 10:19
A feast is made for laughter. For the joy of the musical entertainment at a wedding, we make a feast, and an ordinary large feast is called ‘לֶחֶם,’ as it is stated, “King Belshatzar made a great feast לֶחֶם.”32Daniyeil 5:1.
And wine. They give to drink at the feast, that which makes life joyful.
And money answers all things. Without money, there is no feast; therefore, a person should not neglect work, so that he will have what to spend.33Alternatively, “money afflicts [=יענה] all,” i.e., either the abundance or lack of money causes affliction to mankind. Or, “money makes everyone respond [=יענה],” i.e., money causes people to readily listen and to obey.