Ecclesiastes 7:6

For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool: this also is vanity. AS THE CRACKLING OF THORNS ... The "crackling" answering to the loud merriment of fools. It is the very fire consuming them which produces the seeming merry noise (Joel 2:5). Their light soon goes out in the black darkness. There is a paronomasia in the Hebrew ciyriym (H5518) (thorns) ... ciyr (H5518) (pot). The wicked are often compared to "thorns" (2 Samuel 23:6; Nahum 1:10). Dried cow dung was the common fuel in Palestine; its slowness in burni...

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 7:6. _FOR AS THE CRACKLING OF THORNS_] They make a great noise, a great blaze; and are extinguished in a few moments. Such indeed, comparatively, are the joys of life; they are noisy, flashy, and transitory....

AS THE CRACKLING OF THORNS - Noisy while it lasts, and quickly extinguished. See Psalms 58:9 note....

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

FOR AS THE CRACKLING OF THORNS UNDER A POT, SO [IS] THE LAUGHTER OF THE FOOL,.... As thorns are weak, useless, and unprofitable; yea, hurtful and pernicious, and only fit for burning; so are foolish and wicked men, 2 Samuel 23:6; and as the noise and sound of the one under a pot is very short, they make a blaze for a while, and is soon over; so though the laughter of a fool is loud and noisy, it makes no melody, no more than the noise of thorns; and is but for a moment, and will be soon changed for weeping and howling, which will last for ever; see Job 20:5; THIS ALSO [IS] VANITY; the carnal mirth of wicked men....

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 ...

CRACKLING. Same word as "voice" (Genesis 3:8), used of any sound. THORNS... POT. Note Figure of speech _Paronomasia_ (App-6). Hebrew. _hassirim... hassir._ May be Englished by "nettles... kettles". VANITY. See note on Ecclesiastes 1:2....

_As the crackling of thorns under a pot_ As in Ecclesiastes 7:1 the epigrammatic proverb is pointed by a play of alliterative assonance (_sirim_= thorns, _sir_= pot). "As crackling nettles under kettles," "As crackling stubble makes the pot bubble" are the nearest English equivalents. The image is drawn from the Eastern use of hay, stubble, and thorns for fuel (Matthew 6:30; Psalms 118:12). A fire of such material, burnt up more quickly than the charcoal embers (Jeremiah 26:22; John 18:18), which were also in common use, but then it also