to know (properly · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common singular
good
ט֖וֹבTov
H2896
good (as an adjective) in the widest sense · adjective, masculine singular absolute
rejoice
לִשְׂמ֔וֹחַlis.Mo.ach
H8055
probably to brighten up · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
do
וְלַעֲשׂ֥וֹתve.la.'a.Sot
H6213
to do or make · conjunction + preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
good
ט֖וֹבTov
H2896
good (as an adjective) in the widest sense · adjective, masculine singular absolute
life
בְּחַיָּֽיוbe.chai.Yav
H2416
alive · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 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 37:3 Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.
Ecclesiastes 3:22 Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall b…
1 Timothy 6:18 That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate;
1 Thessalonians 5:15-16 See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.
Acts 20:35 I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said,…
Philippians 4:4-9 Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.
Isaiah 64:5 Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou art wroth; for we have sinned:…
Luke 11:41 But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 3:11-15
We have seen what changes there are in the world, and must not expect to find the world more sure to us than it has been to others. Now here Solomon shows the hand of God in all those changes; it is he that has made every creature to be that to us which it is, and therefore we must have our eye always upon him.
I. We must make the best of that which is, and must believe it best for the present, and accommodate ourselves to it: He has made every thing beautiful in his time (Ecc 3:11), and therefore, while its time lasts, we must be reconciled to it: nay, we must please ourselves with the beauty of it. Note, 1. Every thing is as God has made it; it is really as he appointed it to be, not as it…
in them--in God's works (Ecc 3:11), as far as relates to man's duty. Man cannot fully comprehend them, but he ought joyfully to receive ("rejoice in") God's gifts, and "do good" with them to himself and to others. This is never out of season (Gal 6:9-10). Not sensual joy and self-indulgence (Phi 4:4; Jam 4:16-17).
John Gill on Ecclesiastes 3:12
I know that there is no good in them,.... In these things; as the Arabic version; in the creatures, as Jarchi; in all sublunary enjoyments; in everything the wise man had made a trial of before, as natural Wisdom and knowledge, worldly pleasure, riches, and wealth; the "summun bonum", or happiness of men, did not lie in these things; this he knew by experience, and had the strongest assurance of it: or in them, that is, the children of men, as the Targum: there is no real good thing in them, nor comes out of them, nor is done by them; they cannot think a good thought, nor do a good action, of themselves. Or rather the sense is, I know there is nothing better for them than what follows:
but…
"Thus I then perceived that among them (men) there is nothing better than to enjoy themselves, and indulge themselves in their life." The resignation would acquire a reality if לע טוב meant "to do good," i.e., right (lxx, Targ., Syr., Jer., Venet.); and this appears of necessity to be its meaning according to Ecc 7:20. But, with right, Ginsburg remarks that nowhere else - neither at Ecc 2:24, nor Ecc 3:22; Ecc 5:17; Ecc 8:15; Ecc 9:7 - is this moral rendering given to the ultimatum; also טוב ור, 13a, presupposes for לע טוב a eudemonistic sense. On the other hand, Zckler is right in saying that for the meaning of עשות תוב, in the sense of "to be of good cheer" (Luth.), there is no example. Zi…
The Church Fathers
"Thus I perceived that there is nothing good for each of them than to rejoice and do what is good in his life. Indeed every man who eats and drinks and finds satisfaction in all his labour- it is a gift from God." Therefore the settler and the foreigner of the world has been charged that he should enjoy the time of his short life, and when the hope of a longer life has been removed, he sees everything that he has as if he is about leave this life, and he sees also what he can do well in his life. And his thoughts are not in vain thus twisted, on account of his amassed wealth. And he doesn't think that he is able to acquire more from his toil than his food and drink and if he expends anything from his wealth into good work, then only this is a gift of God. We are not provoked, as some scholars think, by such words into luxury, pleasures, and desperation as are animals, according to that phrase of Isaiah: "let us gorge ourselves and drink, for tomorrow we will die." [Is. 22, 31.] But according to the apostle: "having sustenance and clothing, we are content with these." [I Tim. 6, 8.] And whatever we have that is more than this, we use in feeding the poor and our need for charity. More to the point, since the true food is the flesh of the Lord, and his blood is the true drink, according to "anagoge [See footnote 60.]", we only regard this as good in the present world, if we actually do feed from his flesh and drink from his blood, not only in secret but even in reading the Scriptures. For true food and drink, which is taken from the word of God, is knowledge of the Scriptures. But no one believes the word of Balaam of the prophets, who says "there will be no toil against Jacob, no suffering in Israel" [Num. 23, 23.]. It is in fact contrary to this, because it is said to be a gift of God: "If anyone eats and drinks and shows he is good in all of his work" [Cfr Eccl. 3, 13.]. In fact these are the many troubles of the righteous. And the apostle complains about these, saying he has sweated in toil and suffering. But the Lord freed us for our future in toil and suffering also: "there will be no toil against Jacob, no suffering in Israel". And we read how " the blessed weep, since they will laugh" [Luc. 6, 21.], and our laughter follows the words of Job the prophet: for the "mouth will be filled with the joy of truths" [Cfr Iob. 8, 21.]. Thus now we enjoy our toil…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Life, Natural · Should be spent in: Doing good — Should be spent in: Doing good
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).
be happy and enjoy: Though life and work can be burdensome, the Teacher’s conclusion (repeated from 2:24) can still hold true.
Rashi on Ecclesiastes 3:12
I know. Now, since the time of visitation [death] is concealed, that there is nothing better for man than to rejoice with his portion and to do that which is good in his Creator’s eyes, while he is yet alive.
