Ecclesiastes 5:17

All his days also he eateth in darkness, and he hath much sorrow and wrath with his sickness. EATETH - appropriately put for 'liveth' in general, as connected with Ecclesiastes 5:11; . IN DARKNESS - opposed to 'light (joy) of countenance' (; ). He may be seated in a well-lighted hall, but all is gloom in his heart. The sun is darkened to him who is in mental darkness. It shines only for the happy (; ). (He hath) much sorrow and wr...

9-17 The goodness of Providence is more equally distributed than appears to a careless observer. The king needs the common things of life, and the poor share them; they relish their morsel better than he does his luxuries. There are bodily desires which silver itself will not satisfy, much less will worldly abundance satisfy spiritual desires. The more men have, the better house they must keep, the more servants they must employ, the more guests they must entertain, and the more they will have hanging on them. The sleep of the labourer is sweet, not only because he is tired, but because he has little care to break his sleep. The sleep of the diligent Christian, and his long sleep, are sweet; having spent himself and his time in the service of God, he can cheerfully repose in God as his Rest. But those who have every thing else, often fail to secure a good night's sleep; their abundance...

Verse 17. _ALL HIS DAYS ALSO HE EATETH IN DARKNESS_] Even his enjoyments are embittered by _uncertainty_. He fears for his goods; the possibility of being deprived of them fills his heart with anguish. But instead of יאכל _yochel_, "he shall eat," ילך _yelech_, "he shall walk," is the reading of several MSS. _He walks_ in darkness - he has no evidence of salvation. There is no ray of light from God to penetrate the gloom; and all beyond life is darkness impenetrable! _AND WRATH WITH HIS SICKNESS._] His _last hours_ are _awful_; for, "Counting on long years of pleasure here, He's quite unfurnish'd for the world to come." BLAIR. He is full of anguish at the _thought_ of death; but the _fear_ of it is horrible. But if he have a sense

HATH MUCH SORROW ... - Rather, is very sad and hath pain and vexation....

EXPOSITION ECCLESIASTES 5:1 Section 6. Man's outward and secular life being unable to secure happiness and satisfaction, can these be found in _popular religion?_ Religious exercises need the observation of strict rules, which are far from meeting with general attention. Koheleth proceeds to give instruction, in the form of maxims, concerning public worship, prayer, and vows. ECCLESIASTES 5:1 This verse, in the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin Bibles, forms the conclusion of Ecclesiastes 4:1; and is taken independently; but the division in our version is more natural, and the connection of this with the following verses is obvious....

ALL HIS DAYS ALSO HE EATETH IN DARKNESS,.... To all that has been said is added another evil, that attends such whose hearts are inordinately set on riches; that all their days, throughout the whole of their lives, they live a most uncomfortable life; for eating is here put for their whole manner of living: such not only eat coarse bread, and very mean food of any sort, but wear sordid apparel, and live in a poor cottage, in a very obscure and miserable manner. Aben Ezra understands it literally of the night, to which time such a man defers eating, that he might lose no time in his labour; and that it might not be seen what sort of food he eats, and how sparingly, and that others might not eat with him; and what he does eat is not eaten freely, but grudgingly, and with anguish and distress of mind, without any real pleasure and joy; and much less with the light of God's countenance, the...

3. EXHORTATIONS ON DIFFERENT VANITIES CHAPTER 5 _ 1. Concerning worship and vows (Ecclesiastes 5:1)_ 2. Concerning extortions (Ecclesiastes 5:8) 3. The vanities of wealth (Ecclesiastes 5:10) 4. The conclusion (Ecclesiastes 5:18) Ecclesiastes 5:1. The writer, King Solomon, seems to have been exhausted in his descriptions as to the things under the sun. He pauseth and turns to something different. He meditates on worship, that man aims to get in touch with the unsee

CONCERNING DESPOTISM AND WEALTH. Ecclesiastes 5:8 f. The oppression and injustice that one sees (_in_ an Oriental satrapy) are not to be wondered at when we remember the graded hierarchy of officials who are all eager simply to enrich themselves. There is no reference to God; read, One high official is watching over another, and there are higher ones (perhaps the king) over them. Yet on the whole a king, especially if he take an interest in agriculture, is an advantage to a country. So we may interpret the extremely difficult Ecclesiastes 5:9 (_cf. mg.)._ Ecclesiastes 5:10 ff. The avaricious man is always poor; though his wealth increases he lacks satisfaction, enlarged inc

_he eateth in darkness_ The words are so natural a figure of a cheerless life with no "sweetness and light" in it (comp. Micah 7:8), that there is something almost ludicrous in the prosaic literalism which interprets them, either (1) of the miser as eating in the dark to save candlelight, or (2) working all day and waiting till nightfall before he sits down to a meal. _much sorrow and wrath with his sickness_ Better, AND SICKNESS AND WRATH. The Hebrew gives a conjunction and not a preposition. The words have been variously taken, (1) "_is much disturbed and hath grief and vexation_," (2) "_grieveth himself much, and oh! for his sorrow and hatred_," but the general meaning remains the same. Koheleth teaches, as St Paul does, that "they that will be (_i.e._set their hearts on being) rich, pierce themselves through with many sorrows" ...

ALL HIS DAYS ALSO HE EATETH— The first proof of the second proposition is comprized in Ecclesiastes 5:14 and is taken from the instability of riches. The longer one has been in possession of a plentiful fortune, the more it vexes him to see it, notwithstanding all his assiduity and care, dwindling away to nothing; and to leave his son, whom he had lived in hopes of leaving a rich heir, reduced to poverty. Yet this is a misfortune, against which no man can be certainly guarded, although he himself carries nothing away of what he has heaped up, and passes the remainder of his days, after the sinking of his fortune, in affliction, and continual repining at his present situation....