Ecclesiastes 7:5

It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools. (IT IS) BETTER TO HEAR ... - (Psalms 141:4.) Godly reproof offends the flesh, but benefits the spirit. Fools' songs "in the house of mirth" please the flesh, but injure the soul....

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....

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

[IT IS] BETTER TO HEAR THE REBUKE OF THE WISE,.... To listen to it diligently, receive it cordially, and act according to it; though it may be disagreeable to the flesh, and give present pain, yet the effect and issue will be good, and show that man to be wise that hears it, as well as he that gives it; see Psalms 141:1; THAN FOR A MAN TO HEAR THE SONG OF FOOLS; the vain and impure songs that foolish men sing in the house of mirth; or the flatteries of foolish men, which tickle and please the mind, as music and songs do: or, "than a man that hears the song of fools" i, and is pleased with it. i מאיש שמע שיר כסילים "quam vir audiens canticum stultorum", Montanus, Mercerus; "prae viro audiente canticum stultorum", Rambachius....

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 ...

_It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise_ The word for "rebuke" is characteristic of the sapiential books of the Old Testament (Proverbs 13:1; Proverbs 17:10). Here also the teacher finds the moral that "pain is gain." The "rebuke" is not pleasant, but it acts with a power to heal. The "song of fools" points to the type of lyric poetry of which we have examples in Anacreon, perhaps to the more wanton and impure poems which entered so largely into Greek life, and are preserved in such abundance in the _Anthologia Græca_. The comic drinking songs of a people represent at all times the lowest form of its animal life, and with these also, either in his own country or in Greek-speaking lands, the writer of the book had become acquainted....

THE SONG OF FOOLS— Mr. Desvoeux, in a long and learned note, has shewn, that this _song of fools_ refers to the encomiastic songs of strolling bards, who were a kind of extempore singers of stories at banquets, going from place to place, and suiting their performances to the taste of those who paid or entertained them; and praises are so palatable, especially to the great and rich, that it would be a wonder if songs which were to be paid for had not been filled with the encomiums of the purchasers; and I suppose nobody will doubt that such songs were more pleasant to the hearers, and better paid for, than the reprimands of wise men. See Tull. de Oratore, ii. 86, and Pope's Essay on Homer, p. 52....

e. A rebuke from the wise is better than the song of fools. Ecclesiastes 7:5-7 TEXT 7:5-7 5 It is better to listen to the rebuke of a wise man than for one to listen to the song of fools. 6 For as the crackling of thorn bushes under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool, and this too is futility. 7 For oppression makes a wise man mad, and a bribe corrupts the heart. THOUGHT QUESTIONS 7:5-7 182. What is of greater profit than listening to the singing of fools? 183. Discuss the lesson taught by the analogy of the crackling of thorn bushes, and the laughter of fools. 184. State the two reasons given in verse seven for listening to a wise man. PARAPHRASE 7:5-7 Grave admonitions which are directed toward us from a wise men are better than listening to the singing of fools. The laughter of fools ac

PRACTICAL APHORISMS 1-6. Things useful to remember in life. The writer has just warned as that we cannot rely on either the present or the future. We can, however, guide ourselves in the conduct of life by bearing in mind useful truths. These he now proceeds to give....