Ecclesiastes 7:3

Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better. SORROW - such as arises from serious thoughts of eternity. The Hebrew Kahas is translated anger in Ecclesiastes 7:9. Here it is commended; there it is condemned. The anger which is felt against our own sin (whence flows God's anger) is good, because it is substantially repentance. The anger which breaks forth against God and His dealings is evil (Lamentations 3:39-25). IS BETTER THAN LAUGHTER - reckless mirth (Ecclesiastes 2:2). BY THE SADNESS OF THE COUNTENANCE - ...

1-6 Reputation for piety and honesty is more desirable than all the wealth and pleasure in this world. It will do more good to go to a funeral than to a feast. We may lawfully go to both, as there is occasion; our Saviour both feasted at the wedding of his friend in Cana, and wept at the grave of his friend in Bethany. But, considering how apt we are to be vain and indulge the flesh, it is best to go to the house of mourning, to learn the end of man as to this world. Seriousness is better than mirth and jollity. That is best for us which is best for our souls, though it be unpleasing to sense. It is better to have our corruptions mortified by the rebuke of the wise, than to have them gratified by the song of fools. The laughter of a fool is soon gone, the end of his mirth is heaviness....

Verse Ecclesiastes 7:3. _SORROW_ IS _BETTER THAN LAUGHTER_] The reason is immediately given; for _by the sorrow of the countenance - the grief_ of heart that shows itself in the countenance - _THE HEART IS MADE BETTER._] In such cases, most men try themselves at the tribunal of their own consciences, and resolve on amendment of life....

SORROW - Rather, Seriousness. THE HEART IS MADE BETTER - i. e., is made bright and joyful (compare 2 Corinthians 6:10). The mind which bears itself equally in human concerns, whether they be pleasant or sorrowful, must always be glad, free, and at peace....

EXPOSITION ECCLESIASTES 7:1 Ecclesiastes 12:8.—Division II. DEDUCTIONS FROM THE ABOVE-MENTIONED EXPERIENCES IN THE WAY OF WARNINGS AND RULES OF LIFE. ECCLESIASTES 7:1 Section 1. Though no man knows for certain what is best, yet there are _some practical rules for the conduct of life which wisdom gives_._ _Some of these Koheleth sets forward in the prov

SORROW [IS] BETTER THAN LAUGHTER,.... Sorrow, expressed in the house of mourning, is better, more useful and commendable, than that foolish laughter, and those airs of levity, expressed in the house of feasting; or sorrow on account of affliction and troubles, even adversity itself, is oftentimes much more profitable, and conduces more to the good of men, than prosperity; or sorrow for sin, a godly sorrow, a sorrow after a godly sort, which works repentance unto salvation, that needeth not to be repented of, is to be preferred to all carnal mirth and jollity. It may be rendered, "anger [is] better than laughter" h; which the Jews understand of the anger of God in correcting men for sin; which is much better than when he takes no notice of them, but suffers them to go on in sin, as if he was pleased with them; the Midrash gives instances of it in the generation of the flood and the Sodomi...

PART II. CHAPTER S 7-12 1. The Good Advice of the Natural Man, Discouragement and Failure CHAPTER 7 _ 1. The better things (Ecclesiastes 7:1)_ 2. The anomalies (Ecclesiastes 7:15) 3. The strength of wisdom, yet none perfect (Ecclesiastes 7:19) 4. The worst thing he found (Ecclesiastes 7:23) Ecclesiastes 7:1. All had been tested by the royal searcher; all was found out to be vanity and vexation of spirit. Darkness, discouragement, uncertainty and despai

PROVERBS AND REFLECTIONS. After asking, What is good for man in life? (Ecclesiastes 6:12), Qoheleth gives us advice as to what a man may do by way of mitigating his worries. First of all it is advisable for him to cultivate seriousness rather than levity (Ecclesiastes 7:1). The curious remark that a (good) name is better than precious ointment (_cf._ Ca. Ecclesiastes 1:3 *) is in the Heb. a play on the words _shem_ and _shemen;_ ointment is highly esteemed in the East. Ecclesiastes 7:1_ b_ reminds us of the Thracian tribe mentioned by Herodotus ...

_Sorrow is better than laughter_ The thought is essentially the same as that of the preceding verse, but is somewhat more generalized. We are reminded of the Greek axiom, παθεῖν, μαθεῖν ("Pain is gain"), of the teaching of Æschylus. Ζῆνα … τὸν φρονεῖν βροτοὺς ὁδώ- σαντα, τὸν πάθει μάθος θέντα κυρίως ἔχειν. "Yea, Zeus, who leadeth men in wisdom's way And fixeth fast the law That pain is gain." _Agam_. 170. There is a moral improvement rising out of sorrow which is not gained from enjoyment however blameless. The "Penseroso" is after all a character of nobler stamp than the "Allegro....

SORROW IS BETTER THAN LAUGHTER— _A sorrowful appearance is often better than laughter; for, notwithstanding the sadness of the countenance, the heart may be happy:_ Desvoeux: who thinks, that not real sorrow, but the appearance of it only, is meant; such a serious countenance as is compatible with inward joy and satisfaction, though absolute grief does not seem to be so....