Ecclesiastes 11:9 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Ecclesiastes 11:9
Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.
probably to brighten up · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
man
בָּח֣וּרba.Chur
H970
properly · noun, common masculine singular absolute
youth
בְּיַלְדוּתֶ֗יךָbe.yal.du.Tei.kha
H3208
boyhood (or girlhood) · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
heart
לִבְּךָ֙li.be.Kha
H3820
the heart · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
cheer
טוֹבṭôwb
H2895
to be (transitively
days
בִּימֵ֣יbi.Mei
H3117
a day (as the warm hours) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
youth
בְחוּרוֹתֶ֔ךָve.chu.ro.Te.kha
H979
youth (collectively and abstractly) · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
walk
וְהַלֵּךְ֙ve.ha.leKh
H1980
to walk (in a great variety of applications · conjunction + verb, piel imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
ways
בְּדַרְכֵ֣יbe.dar.Khei
H1870
a road (as trodden) · preposition + noun, common both genders plural construct
heart
לִבְּךָ֔li.be.Kha
H3820
the heart · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
sight
וּבְמַרְאֵ֖יu.ve.mar.'Ei
H4758
a view (the act of seeing) · conjunction + preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
eyes
עֵינֶ֑יךָ'ei.Nei.kha
H5869
an eye (literally or figuratively) · noun, common feminine dual construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
know
וְדָ֕עve.Da'
H3045
to know (properly · conjunction + verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
God
הָאֱלֹהִ֖יםha.'E.lo.Him
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
bring
יְבִֽיאֲךָ֥ye.vi.'a.Kha
H935
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · verb, hiphil imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
judgment
בַּמִּשְׁפָּֽטba.mish.Pat
H4941
properly · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
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
Ecclesiastes 12:14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
1 John 2:15-16 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
Ecclesiastes 12:1 Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no ple…
Ecclesiastes 3:17 I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.
Lamentations 3:27 It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.
2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath…
Job 31:7 If my step hath turned out of the way, and mine heart walked after mine eyes, and if any blot hath cleaved to mine hands;
Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 11:7–end
Here is an admonition both to old people and to young people, to think of dying, and get ready for it. Having by many excellent precepts taught us how to live well, the preacher comes now, towards the close of his discourse, to teach us how to die well and to put us in mind of our latter end.
I. He applies himself to the aged, writes to them as fathers, to awaken them to think of death, Ecc 11:7, Ecc 11:8. Here is, 1. A rational concession of the sweetness of life, which old people find by experience: Truly the light is sweet; the light of the sun is so; it is a pleasant thing for the eyes to behold it. Light was the first thing made in the formation of the great world, as the eye is one of…
Rejoice--not advice, but warning. So Kg1 22:15, is irony; if thou dost rejoice (carnally, Ecc 2:2; Ecc 7:2, not moderately, as in Ecc 5:18), &c., then "know that . . . God will bring thee into judgment" (Ecc 3:17; Ecc 12:14).
youth . . . youth--distinct Hebrew words, adolescence or boyhood (before Ecc 11:10), and full-grown youth. It marks the gradual progress in self-indulgence, to which the young especially are prone; they see the roses, but do not discover the thorns, until pierced by them. Religion will cost self-denial, but the want of it infinitely more (Luk 14:28).
John Gill on Ecclesiastes 11:9
Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth,.... This advice may be considered as serious; and either as relating to natural, corporeal, and temporal delight and pleasure, under due limitations; that as mirth and cheerfulness, or a free use of the creatures of God, with moderation and temperance, is allowable to all men in common, and is spoken of throughout this book as commendable, and is healthful and profitable to men; so it is particularly suitable to the youthful age, whose natural desires may be enjoyed, and their outward senses may be gratified, in a lawful way, so far as is consistent with the fear of God, and the expectation of a future judgment: or it may be considered with respect to reli…
As he doth, in the first place, express the delight of carnal things, and pronounceth it to be good to cast away all care, and to eat and drink: so afterward, with reason and judgment doth he reprove that, when he saith that it is better to go unto the house of mourning, than to the house of feasting: and though he saith that a young man ought to rejoice in his youth, yet doth he utter that as proceeding from the resolution of a carnal mind; seeing afterward, by definitive sentence, he reproveth both youth and pleasure, as vain things. Again there we find it written: O young man, rejoice in thy youth: and yet a little after is added: for youth and pleasure be vain things. Seeing, therefore, he doth afterward reprove that for vain, which before he seemed to allow: plainly doth he declare that he spake those words as it were of carnal concupiscence, and the other of a right and true judgment.
"Rejoice, O young man, in your youth; and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth, and walk in the ways of your heart, and in the sight of your eyes: but know, that for all these things God will bring you into judgement. Therefore remove sorrow from your heart, and put away evil from your flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity. "In this chapter there were many explanations of all things and almost as many opinions as men themselves. It would take too long however to recount all the opinions of everyone and their arguments in which they want to prove their opinions, the matter would require a volume to itself. But it is enough for wise men to have shown what they feel, and like in a small picture, to have depicted the thirst of the earth, the waste of the whole earth, and the belt of the ocean, and to have shown them in such a small collection. The Hebrews believe the imperative here refers to Israel, to whom it is taught that she should enjoy her riches, and before the time of bondage comes should change youth to old-age. She should enjoy whatever is pleasant or fun, just as it seems to the heart so it seems to the eyes; at that time while she still has them to hand. She knows however that she will be judged in all things that she has done. And just as from bad thoughts she flees from desires, knowing that foolishness is joined to youth, and will remember always her Creator, and before the days of Babylonian and Roman captivity come, in which she will no longer be free...
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Judgment, The final — The sentence that will be passed on our actions at the last day (Matt. 25; Rom. 14:10, 11; 2 Cor. 5:10; 2 Thess. 1:7-10). The judge is Jesus Christ, as mediator. All judgment is committed to him…
Amusements And Pleasures, Worldly · Punishment of — Punishment of
Amusements And Worldly Pleasures · Punishment of — Punishment of
Joy · Of the wicked: Is derived from earthly pleasures — Of the wicked: Is derived from earthly pleasures
Judgment · THE GENERAL — THE GENERAL
Judgment, The · Shall be of all: Actions — Shall be of all: Actions
Sensuality · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Staves (Long Poles) · SYMBOLI — SYMBOLI
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 11:9
"Rejoice, young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know, that for all this God will bring thee to judgment." The parallel בּימי shows that the beth in בּילד (with ד aspirated) does not introduce the reason of the joy, but the time suitable for it. Instead of veyithav libbecha, "let thy heart be of good cheer," as the expression might also be, the words are vithivecha libbecha, "make thy heart of good cheer to thee," - so, viz., that from this centre brightness may irradiate thy countenance (Pro 15:13) and thy whole personality, vid., Psychologie, p. 249. Vehhuroth, the period of yo…
Young people are encouraged to enjoy their youth to the fullest. They should also remember that they will give an account to God and should therefore avoid foolish behavior.
Rashi on Ecclesiastes 11:9
Rejoice young man in your youth. As a person who says to his servant or to his child, “Persist in your sinning, but [realize] you will be punished in one blow for all [your sins].” Here too, the wise man says, “Rejoice, young man in your youth ... follow the ways of your heart,” but be assured “that for all these things,” the Judge “will bring you to judgment.”25Alternatively, the Gemara in Maseches Shabbos 21b states that what is learned in the years of childhood is remembered more readily. This is the time period that one has no distractions or troubling thoughts. (Sforno)
