5 Better to hear a rebuke of a wise man, Than `for' a man to hear a song of fools,
The righteous doth beat me `in' kindness. And doth reprove me, Oil of the head my head disalloweth not, For still my prayer `is' about their vexations.
An ear that is hearing the reproof of life Doth lodge among the wise. Whoso is refusing instruction is despising his soul, And whoso is hearing reproof Is getting understanding.
Those sitting at the gate meditate concerning me, And those drinking strong drink, Play on instruments.
Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee, Give reproof to the wise, and he loveth thee.
Rebuke cometh down on the intelligent More than a hundred stripes on a fool.
Faithful are the wounds of a lover, And abundant the kisses of an enemy.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Ecclesiastes 7
Commentary on Ecclesiastes 7 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 7
Solomon had given many proofs and instances of the vanity of this world and the things of it; now, in this chapter,
Ecc 7:1-6
In these verses Solomon lays down some great truths which seem paradoxes to the unthinking part, that is, the far greatest part, of mankind.
Ecc 7:7-10
Solomon had often complained before of the oppressions which he saw under the sun, which gave occasion for many melancholy speculations and were a great discouragement to virtue and piety. Now here,
Ecc 7:11-22
Solomon, in these verses, recommends wisdom to us as the best antidote against those distempers of mind which we are liable to, by reason of the vanity and vexation of spirit that there are in the things of this world. Here are some of the praises and the precepts of wisdom.
Ecc 7:23-29
Solomon had hitherto been proving the vanity of the world and its utter insufficiency to make men happy; now here he comes to show the vileness of sin, and its certain tendency to make men miserable; and this, as the former, he proves from his own experience, and it was a dear-bought experience. He is here, more than any where in all this book, putting on the habit of a penitent. He reviews what he had been discoursing of already, and tells us that what he had said was what he knew and was well assured of, and what he resolved to stand by: All this have I proved by wisdom, v. 23. Now here,