Ecclesiastes 8:15 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Ecclesiastes 8:15
Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for that shall abide with him of his labour the days of his life, which God giveth him under the sun.
properly · conjunction + verb, piel sequential perfect, 1st person common singular
mirth
הַשִּׂמְחָ֔הha.sim.Chah
H8057
blithesomeness or glee · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
man
לָֽאָדָם֙la.'a.Dam
H120
ruddy i.e. a human being (an individual or the species · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
thing
ט֤וֹבTov
H2896
good (as an adjective) in the widest sense · adjective, masculine singular absolute
sun
הַשֶּׁ֔מֶשׁha.She.mesh
H8121
the sun · definite article + noun, common both genders singular absolute
eat
לֶאֱכ֥וֹלle.'e.Khol
H398
to eat (literally or figuratively) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
drink
וְלִשְׁתּ֖וֹתve.lish.Tot
H8354
to imbibe (literally or figuratively) · conjunction + preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
merry
וְלִשְׂמ֑וֹחַve.lis.Mo.ach
H8055
probably to brighten up · conjunction + preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
abide
יִלְוֶ֣נּוּyil.Ve.nu
H3867
properly · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
labour
בַעֲמָל֗וֹva.'a.ma.Lo
H5999
toil · preposition + noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
days
יְמֵ֥יye.Mei
H3117
a day (as the warm hours) · noun, common masculine plural construct
life
חַיָּ֛יוchai.Yav
H2416
alive · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
God
הָאֱלֹהִ֖יםha.'E.lo.Him
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
giveth
נָֽתַןna.tan-
H5414
to give · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
sun
הַשָּֽׁמֶשׁha.Sha.mesh
H8121
the sun · definite article + noun, common both genders 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 2:24 There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I…
Ecclesiastes 5:18 Behold that which I have seen: it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh und…
Ecclesiastes 3:12-13 I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life.
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…
Ecclesiastes 9:7-9 Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works.
1 Timothy 4:3-4 Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and…
1 Timothy 6:17 Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us ri…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 8:14–end
Wise and good men have, of old, been perplexed with this difficulty, how the prosperity of the wicked and the troubles of the righteous can be reconciled with the holiness and goodness of the God that governs the world. Concerning this Solomon here gives us his advice.
I. He would not have us to be surprised at it, as though some strange thing happened, for he himself saw it in his days, Ecc 8:14. 1. He saw just men to whom it happened according to the work of the wicked, who, notwithstanding their righteousness, suffered very hard things, and continued long to do so, as if they were to be punished for some great wickedness. 2. He saw wicked men to whom it happened according to the work of t…
no better thing, &c.--namely, for the "just" man, whose chief good is religion, not for the worldly.
abide--Hebrew, "adhere"; not for ever, but it is the only sure good to be enjoyed from earthly labors (equivalent to "of his labor the days of his life"). Still, the language resembles the skeptical precept (Co1 15:32), introduced only to be refuted; and "abide" is too strong language, perhaps, for a religious man to apply to "eating" and "mirth."
John Gill on Ecclesiastes 8:15
Then I commended mirth,.... Innocent mirth, a cheerfulness of spirit in whatsoever state condition men are; serenity and tranquillity of mind, thankfulness for what they have, and a free and comfortable use of it; this the wise man praised and recommended to good men, as being much better than to fret at the prosperity of the wicked, and the seemingly unequal distribution of things in this world, and because they had not so much of them: as others; who yet had reason to be thankful for what they had, and to lift up their heads and be cheerful, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God in another world. The Targum interprets it of the joy of the law;
because a man hath no better thing under th…
Now, to be made a sharer at the table is to begin to have life, as we see from a text in Ecclesiastes: "There is no good for a man except what he shall eat and drink." How can we reasonably interpret these words save as an allusion to partaking at the table which the Mediator of the New Testament, priest according to the order of Melchizedek, provides with his own body and blood? This sacrifice, indeed, has taken the place of all the sacrifices of the Old Testament that foreshadowed it.
"So I praised enjoyment, for man has no other aim under the sun but to eat, drink, and be joyful; and this will accompany him in his toil during the days of his life which God has given him beneath the sun. "I have interpreted this more fully above, and now I shall just speak cursorily. He is allowed to prefer to eat and drink, which is the enjoyment (and must be short and end quickly) in the dire-straits of his life, and in light of those things, which are seen to happen unfairly in the world, (since man seems to have only this in return for his toil), he enjoys only modest recompense. But if the interpretation is read in the way it has been written, it reproves the wretched, the fasting and the hungry, the thirsty and the mourners, whom the Lord calls blessed in the Gospel [Cfr. Matth. 5, 5.6.]. And we regard food and drink spiritually and above this happiness, which we are scarcely able to find in the toil of our life. But because these things are expressed in this way, as I have said, the following verse shows this too, which says, "I dedicated my heart to seeing wisdom and work", since clearly men work on earth, and consider deeply the Scriptures day and night in this way so that sleep flees from their eyes, in return for their study.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Gentiles · PROPHECIES OF THE CONVERSION OF — PROPHECIES OF THE CONVERSION OF
Sensuality · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
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).
on Ecclesiastes 8:15
"Who is like the wise? and who understandeth the interpretation of things? The wisdom of a man maketh his face bright, and the rudeness of his face is changed." Unlike this saying: "Who is like the wise?" are the formulas חכם מי, Hos 14:9, Jer 11:11, Psa 107:43, which are compared by Hitzig and others. "Who is like the wise?" means: Who is equal to him? and this question, after the scheme מי־כמכה, Exo 15:11, presents him as one who has not his like among men. Instead of כּה the word כּחכם might be used, after לחכם, Ecc 2:16, etc. The syncope is, as at Eze 40:25, omitted, which frequently occurs, particularly in the more modern books, Eze 47:22; Ch2 10:7; Ch2 25:10; Ch2 29:27; Neh 9:19; Neh 1…
The Teacher’s conclusion is familiar (2:24-25; 3:12-13, 22; 5:18-20; 6:9). In spite of tragedies and hard labor, we can enjoy life and be happy. • In Hebrew, the word translated having fun means finding enjoyment in our daily activities, not pursuing pleasure or entertainment for its own sake.
Rashi on Ecclesiastes 8:15
Rejoicing. That he should be happy with in his lot30Alternatively, I extolled the virtuous trait of rejoicing, i.e., the trait of being able to accept every occurrence in life with happiness and joy. (Derech Hachayim) and engage in the “upright commands,” which “cause the heart to rejoice,”31Tehillim 19:9. and he should not be immersed in increasing his wealth by means of usury, interest and robbery.32The Gemara in Maseches Shabbos 30b sees an apparent contradiction between this verse which extolls the concept of rejoicing, and the verse above [2:2], which states, “and of joy, what does it accomplish.” The Gemara explains that the verse here is speaking of a celebration or rejoicing of a mit…
