Ecclesiastes 3:12

I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life. I KNOW THAT (THERE IS) NO GOOD IN THEM. Man can get no good in God's works except by rejoicing in his share of them, allotted by God, and doing good therewith. Hengstenberg explains, 'There is no good in (i:e., for [bª-]) the sons of men' (), etc. So the Hebrew particle is translated in . Joy is the antidote to worrying care (); to dare to trust joyfully in the Lord is His gift (). To "do good" is to go side by side with enjoying God's gifts, for thus a good conscience and the favour of God are retained, upon which true joy depends. Man canno...

11-15 Every thing is as God made it; not as it appears to us. We have the world so much in our hearts, are so taken up with thoughts and cares of worldly things, that we have neither time nor spirit to see God's hand in them. The world has not only gained possession of the heart, but has formed thoughts against the beauty of God's works. We mistake if we think we were born for ourselves; no, it is our business to do good in this life, which is short and uncertain; we have but little time to be doing good, therefore we should redeem time. Satisfaction with Divine Providence, is having faith that all things work together for good to them that love him. God doeth all, that men should fear before him. The world, as it has been, is, and will be. There has no change befallen us, nor has any temptation by it taken us, but such as is common to men....

Verse Ecclesiastes 3:12. _I KNOW THAT_ THERE IS _NO GOOD IN THEM, BUT, C._] Since God has so disposed the affairs of this world, that the great events of providence cannot be accelerated or retarded by human cares and anxieties, submit to God make a proper use of what he has given: do thyself _no harm_, and endeavour as much as possible to do others _good_. Enjoy, and bless thyself; let others share The transient blessing: 'tis the gift of God....

IN THEM - i. e., in the sons of men. TO DO GOOD - In a moral sense. Physical enjoyment is referred to in Ecclesiastes 3:13....

EXPOSITION ECCLESIASTES 3:1 Section 4. In confirmation of the truth that man's happiness depends upon the will of God, Koheleth proceeds to show how _Providence arranges even the minutest concerns; that man can alter nothing, must make the best of things as they are, bear with anomalies, bounding his desires by this present life._ ECCLESIASTES 3:1 The providence of God disposes and arranges every detail of man's life. This proposition is stated first generally, and then worked out in particular by means of antithetical sentences. In Hebrew manuscripts and most printed texts Ecclesiastes 3:2 are arranged in two parallel col

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 FOR [A MAN] TO REJOICE; not in sin and sinful pleasures, in a riotous, voluptuous, and epicurean manner; but to be cheerful, and enjoy the blessings of life in a comfortable way, and with a thankful...

2. FURTHER RESULTS OF THE SEARCH CHAPTER 3 _ 1. The times of man under the sun (Ecclesiastes 3:1)_ 2. When then is the good? (Ecclesiastes 3:12) 3. Concerning judgment and the future (Ecclesiastes 3:16) Ecclesiastes 3:1. There is a time for everything. Twenty-eight “times” are mentioned, beginning with the time of birth and ending with the time for peace. Everything has a fixed time: Life-death; seeding-harvesting; killing-healing; breaking-down building-up; weeping-laughing; mourning-dancing, etc. These are the times of the entire race; that is what human life

From one point of view this section may be entitled _In Praise of Opportunism,_ from another _Human Helplessness._ Every action in which man can engage has its allotted season, but who can be sure that he has found this season? God's plan can be known only in part, hence man's efforts to succeed are always liable to fail; nothing remains but to enjoy the present. ECCLESIASTES 3:1. PURPOSE: read business or affair. In the Heb. the antitheses that follow are in parallel columns like a Greek _sustoichia_ or Table of Contrasts. Ecclesiastes 3:2. Untimely birth and untimely death are both abhorrent; human entrances and exits have their parallel in the agricultural operations of sowing and reaping. There is no need to compare...

IN THEM: i.e. in God's works. IN. during....

_for a man to rejoice, and to do good_ There is no instance in O. T. language of the phrase "do good" being used, like the Greek εὖ πράττειν, in the sense of "prospering," or "enjoying one's self," and in ch. Ecclesiastes 7:20 it can only have its full ethical meaning, such as it has in Psalms 34:14; Psalms 37:3; Isaiah 38:3. On the whole, therefore, we are led to assign that meaning to it here. Over and above the life of honest labour and simple joys which had been recognised as good before, the seeker has learnt that "honesty is the best policy," that "doing good" (the term is more comprehensive in its range than our "beneficence") is