Ecclesiastes 7:9

Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools. BE NOT HASTY - passionate with excitement, bursting out in complaints against God, and impatient at adversity befalling thee, as Job was (; Psalms 37:1; ). Contrast Lamentations 3:24. ANGER RESTETH IN THE BOSOM OF FOOLS. It is fools who give way to anger or impatience and fretfulness at the sight of the prosperity of the ungodly (; )....

7-10 The event of our trials and difficulties is often better than at first we thought. Surely it is better to be patient in spirit, than to be proud and hasty. Be not soon angry, nor quick in resenting an affront. Be not long angry; though anger may come into the bosom of a wise man, it passes through it as a way-faring man; it dwells only in the bosom of fools. It is folly to cry out upon the badness of our times, when we have more reason to cry out for the badness of our own hearts; and even in these times we enjoy many mercies. It is folly to cry up the goodness of former times; as if former ages had not the like things to complain of that we have: this arises from discontent, and aptness to quarrel with God himself....

Verse Ecclesiastes 7:9. _ANGER RESTETH IN THE BOSOM OF FOOLS._] A wise man, off his guard, may feel it for a moment: but in him it cannot _rest_: it is a _fire_ which he immediately casts out of his breast. But the _fool_ - the man who is under the dominion of his own tempers, harbours and fosters it, till it takes the form of malice, and then excites him to seek full revenge on those whom he deems enemies. Hence that class of _dangerous_ and _empty fools_ called _duellists_....

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

BE NOT HASTY IN THY SPIRIT TO BE ANGRY,.... With men, for every word that is said, or action done, that is not agreeable; encourage not, but repress, sudden angry emotions of the mind; be not quick of resentment, and at once express anger and displeasure; but be slow to wrath, for such a man is better than the mighty, James 1:19 Proverbs 16:32; or with God, for his corrections and chastisements; so the Targum, "in the time that correction from heaven comes upon thee, do not hasten in thy soul to be hot (or angry) to say words of rebellion (or stubbornness) against heaven;'' that advice is good, "do nothing in anger l;'' FOR ANGER RESTETH IN THE BOSOM OF FOOLS; where it riseth quick, and continues long; here it soon betrays itself, and fi

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 ...

_Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry_ From sins of speech in general, the teacher passes on to that which is the source from which they most often flow. Anger, alike from the Stoic and Epicurean stand-point (and the writer, as we have seen, had points of contact with each of them), was the note of unwisdom. If it be right at all, it is when it is calm and deliberate, an indignation against moral evil. The hasty anger of wounded self-love is, as in the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:22), destructive of the tranquillity of true wisdom, and, transient and impulsive as it seems at first, may harden "in the bosom of the fool" into a settled antipathy or malignant scorn....

TO BE ANGRY;—FOR ANGER— _To grieve; for grief,_ &c.] So our translators have rendered the original word, chap. Ecclesiastes 2:23. See also chap. Ecclesiastes 5:17 and Ecclesiastes 11:10; and, thus rendered, it answers Solomon's purpose much better than _anger._...

f. Patience is better than anxiety. Ecclesiastes 7:8-9 TEXT 7:8-9 8 The end of a matter is better than its beginning; patience of spirit is better than haughtiness of spirit. 9 Do not be eager in your heart to be angry, for anger resides in the bosom of fools. THOUGHT QUESTIONS 7:8-9 185. To what previous statement in this chapter could the first part of verse eight have reference? 186. What one word is synonymous with haughtiness of spirit? 187. Explain what you think is meant by _eager_ ... to be angry. 188. One who harbors anger in his heart is considered to be what? PARAPHRASE 7:8-9 Better is the end of something than its beginning, and better is a patient spirit than a proud spirit. Do not become impatient and angered in spirit for he who allows anger to reside in his heart is a foo