abundance (in any respect) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
dreams
חֲלֹמוֹת֙cha.lo.mOt
H2472
a dream · noun, common feminine plural absolute
many
הַרְבֵּ֑הhar.Beh
H7235
to increase (in whatever respect) · verb, hiphil infinitive absolute
words
וּדְבָרִ֖יםu.de.va.Rim
H1697
a word · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural absolute
vanities
וַהֲבָלִ֔יםva.ha.va.Lim
H1892
emptiness or vanity · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural absolute
fear
יְרָֽאye.Ra'
H3372
to fear · 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
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
Matthew 12:36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
Ecclesiastes 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
Ecclesiastes 8:12 Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which…
Proverbs 23:17 Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long.
Ecclesiastes 5:3 For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool’s voice is known by multitude of words.
Isaiah 50:10-11 Who is among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in…
Ecclesiastes 7:18 It is good that thou shouldest take hold of this; yea, also from this withdraw not thine hand: for he that feareth God shall come forth of t…
Ecclesiastes 3:14 I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men s…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 5:4-8
Four things we are exhorted to in these verses: -
I. To be conscientious in paying our vows.
1. A vow is a bond upon the soul (Num 30:2), by which we solemnly oblige ourselves, not only, in general, to do that which we are already bound to do, but, in some particular instances, to do that to do which we were not under any antecedent obligation, whether it respects honouring God or serving the interests of his kingdom among men. When, under the sense of some affliction (Psa 66:14), or in the pursuit of some mercy (Sa1 1:11), thou hast vowed such a vow as this unto God, know that thou hast opened thy mouth unto the Lord and thou canst not go back; therefore, (1.) Pay it; perform what thou has…
(See on Ecc 5:3). God's service, which ought to be our chief good, becomes by "dreams" (foolish fancies as of God's requirements of us in worship), and random "words," positive "vanity." The remedy is, whatever fools may do, "Fear thou God" (Ecc 12:13).
John Gill on Ecclesiastes 5:7
For in the multitude of dreams, and many words, there are also divers vanities,.... Or as, "in a multitude of dreams, there are many vanities, so also in a multitude of words" (s); as dreams are vain things, or there are abundance of vain things that come into the mind in dreams; so vain and idle are the many excuses which are made for the non-performance of vows; or there are many vain things which are uttered in making of them, or in long prayers to God; or in discourses concerning him; to all which is opposed the fear of God;
but fear thou God; give no heed to dreams, nor to the many words of men, which are vain and foolish; but keep close to the word of God, and worship him internally a…
"When thou hast made a vow to God, delay not to fulfil it; for there is no pleasure in fools: that which thou hast vowed fulfil. Better that thou vowest not, than that thou vowest and fulfillest not. Let not thy mouth bring thy body into punishment; and say not before the messenger of God that it was precipitation: why shall God be angry at thy talk, and destroy the work of thy hands? For in many dreams and words there are also many vanities: much rather fear God!" If they abstained, after Shabbath 30b, from treating the Book of Koheleth as apocryphal, because it begins with תורה דברי (cf. at Ecc 1:3) and closes in the same way, and hence warrants the conclusion that that which lies between…
The Church Fathers
"If you see oppression of the poor, and the suppression of justice and right of the State, do not be astonished at the fact, for there is One higher than the high Who watches and there are high ones above them. The advantage of land is supreme; even a king is indebted to the soil." Christ's garment, woven on top, was not able to be torn by those who crucified him; and the Saviour threw him from that demon, and advised him to go away having put on the clothes of the apostles. So we believe that the clothes of our Ecclesiastes are not to be torn, nor should we sew on here and there patches in place of our free-will of opinion, but use the one text itself in dispute, and follow the same meaning and arrangement all the way through. Above this he had said: "do not tell the messenger that it was a madness, lest God become angry over your speech", and regarding the remaining things, he had spoken against those, who do not know that providence rules over human affairs. Since therefore the question arises many times about the precept, why the righteous sustain disaster, and why the unjust become judges over all the world, but God is not vengeful: now he introduces and finishes this argument, saying, 'if you see the calamity of a pauper, who is said to be blessed in the Gospel, and the situation is assessed according to his strength and not in justice, do not be astonished or let anything seem new to you. God, who is highest above the high, sees these things, He that placed His angels above the judges and kings of the earth, to prevent injustice and they are more important on earth, than any of man's potentates. But since he will be the Saviour at the end of the judges, and in the end of the world when the cornfield will be ripe, and the harvesters will come, he will be ordered that the wheat be separated and the darnel thrown on the fire. Therefore he now awaits and differs in opinion, although the field of the world is cultivated carefully more fully. But since that field is interpreted as the world, the Lord expounds about them in the parable of darnel and wheat. [Cfr Matth. 13, 24-30.]
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
Dream · Vanity of — Vanity of
Dreams · Vanity of trusting to natural — Vanity of trusting to natural
Lead · Used for weighing — Used for weighing
Measure · about a bushel and a half — about a bushel and a half
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).
Fear God: Reverence for God is the foundation for worthwhile words and useful activities (see 12:1; Prov 1:7).
Rashi on Ecclesiastes 5:7
Oppression of the poor, perversion of justice and righteousness, etc. If you see in the province that they oppress the poor and deprive justice and righteousness.
Do not be astonished. About the will of the Omnipresent, when He exacts retribution upon them.
For One higher than the high watches. And sees their deeds, and there are higher ones6I.e., angels. over them who carry out the mission of the Omnipresent, and their hand is strong to punish them.
Perversion of justice. Deprivation of justice. Since it is in the construct [i.e., possessive] state, גֵּזֶל is vowelized with a small patach [=segol],7Apparently Rashi’s text is not like our edition where גזל is vowelized with a tzeireh. for…
