Ecclesiastes 9:8

Let thy garments be always white; and let thy head lack no ointment.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
garments	בְגָדֶ֖יךָ ve.ga.Dei.kha	H899	a covering · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
always	עֵ֕ת 'et	H6256	time · noun, common both genders singular absolute
white	לְבָנִ֑ים le.va.Nim	H3836	white · adjective, masculine plural absolute
head	רֹאשְׁךָ֥ ro.she.Kha	H7218	the head (as most easily shaken) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
lack	יֶחְסָֽר yech.Sar	H2637	to lack · verb, qal jussive, 3rd person masculine singular
ointment	וְשֶׁ֖מֶן ve.She.men	H8081	grease · conjunction + 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

Revelation 19:14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
Revelation 3:4-5 Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.
Revelation 7:13-14 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?
Revelation 19:8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
Revelation 7:9 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood bef…
Revelation 16:15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
Ruth 3:3 Wash thyself therefore, and anoint thee, and put thy raiment upon thee, and get thee down to the floor: but make not thyself known unto the…
2 Samuel 19:24 And Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king, and had neither dressed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 9:4-10

Solomon, in a fret, had praised the dead more than the living (Ecc 4:2); but here, considering the advantages of life to prepare for death and make sure the hope of a better life, he seems to be of another mind. I. He shows the advantages which the living have above those that are dead, Ecc 9:4-6. 1. While there is life there is hope. Dum spiro, spero - While I breathe, I hope. It is the privilege of the living that they are joined to the living, in relation, commerce, and conversation, and, while they are so, there is hope. If a man's condition be, upon any account, bad, there is hope it will be amended. If the heart be full of evil, and madness be in it, yet while there is life there is ho…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Ecclesiastes 9:8

white--in token of joy (Isa 61:3). Solomon was clad in white (JOSEPHUS, Antiquities, 8:7,3); hence his attire is compared to the "lilies" (Mat 6:29), typical of the spotless righteousness of Jesus Christ, which the redeemed shall wear (Rev 3:18; Rev 7:14). ointment-- (Psa 23:5), opposed to a gloomy exterior (Sa2 14:2; Psa 45:7; Mat 6:17); typical, also (Ecc 7:1; Sol 1:3).

John Gill on Ecclesiastes 9:8

Let thy garments be always white,.... That is, neat and clean, not vile and sordid; what is comely and decent, and suitable to a man's circumstances; this colour is particularly mentioned because much used in the eastern countries, and in Judea; hence we so often read of washing garments, and of fullers that whitened them; and especially on festival days and days of rejoicing, to which Horace (a) refers; and here it signifies that every day should be like a festival or day of rejoicing to a good man, to whom God has given the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, Isaiah 61:3; and though there may be times for mourning, and so of putting on other apparel, yet, in common and ordinaril…

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Keil & Delitzsch on Ecclesiastes 9:7-10

The Church Fathers

"You love righteousness and hate wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions." See, even the companions are anointed. But he himself was anointed before them, since he has not been anointed because of them, but they because of him. After all, they are called "Christ's companions," not Christ their companion.
— Didymus the Blind, COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES 273:13

The Holy Spirit actually teaches us not to put things off from day to day but to do to our soul all the good that is possible. [This we do] to adorn it with every virtue worthy of heaven, so as to clothe it with brilliant vestments according to this agreeable voice: "Let your clothes be brilliant at all times; let your head not lack in oil."
— Oresiesis-Heru-sa Ast, INSTRUCTIONS 4:1

Tropology (that is, a moral manner of speech) has regard to the establishment and correction of manners, pronounced in words that are either plain or figurative; in plain words, as when John admonishes, saying, "My little children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and in truth," or in figurative words, as when Solomon said: "Let your garments be always white and let not oil be lacking on your head," which is to say openly, "At all times let your works be pure and let not charity be lacking from your heart."
— Bede, On the Tabernacle 1

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

Banquet — A feast provided for the entertainment of a company of guests (Esther 5; 7; 1 Pet. 4:3); such as was provided for our Lord by his friends in Bethany (Matt. 26:6; Mark 14:3; comp. John 12:2). These…
Colour — The subject of colours holds an important place in the Scriptures. White occurs as the translation of various Hebrew words. It is applied to milk (Gen. 49:12), manna (Ex. 16:31), snow (Isa. 1:18),…
Hair — (1.) The Egyptians let the hair of their head and beard grow only when they were in mourning, shaving it off at other times. “So particular were they on this point that to have neglected it was a…
Anointing · Of the body — Of the body
Contentment · 14:10,14;15:13,15,30;16:8;17:1,22;30:8; — 14:10,14;15:13,15,30;16:8;17:1,22;30:8;
Garments · Colours of, mentioned: White — Colours of, mentioned: White
Hair, The · Often expensively anointed — Often expensively anointed
Head · Often anointed — Often anointed

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).

Ecclesiastes 9:8

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 9:4-10

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Ecclesiastes 9:8

John Gill on Ecclesiastes 9:8

Keil & Delitzsch on Ecclesiastes 9:7-10

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Ecclesiastes 9:8

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 9:4-10

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Ecclesiastes 9:8

John Gill on Ecclesiastes 9:8

Keil & Delitzsch on Ecclesiastes 9:7-10

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Ecclesiastes 9:7-10

Rashi on Ecclesiastes 9:8