Fear God. The best way to perceive the counsel in Ecclesiastes is to recognize that it is written to God's converted children, not to the world.Solomon's thoughts, then, tie directly into instructions and commands in … Ecclesiastes 7:8. All these are more or less of a painful kind. ", "man"s heart devises his way, but the Lord directs his steps,", "O how great is your goodness which you have laid up for those who fear you! Exploring what thou canst not comprehend, And God for wisest ends thinks fit to hide.". Ecclesiastes 7:8–9 (NIV) In some ways, these verses speak of relationships, but the principle here goes far deeper. Ecclesiastes 7:7 Surely oppression maketh a wise man mad; and a gift destroyeth the heart. And this verse also holds the meaning of these verses. And then in Ecclesiastes 7:8 the Preacher goes back to comparing difficult things with pleasant things… 8 Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. “Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.” Between ארד רוח, which occurs only in this place, and ארך אפים, βραδὺς εἰς ὀργήν (James 1:19), there is no difference, as is evident from the fact that its contrast in Ecclesiastes 7:9 is Anger, כעס. "end of a matter"-a specific example of this is found in . Ecclesiastes 7:8. So also on the same subject in Psalms 37:37-38, "mark the pious and behold the upright man, for a future has the man of peace. Use the buttons below to get details on the Hebrew word and view related Bible verses that use the same root word. Again, the beginning of something is naturally more exciting and hopeful. Yet how few are there, who do not love adulation? The proverb Ecclesiastes 7:8 will stand in some kind of connection with 8 a, since what it says is further continued in Ecclesiastes 7:9. It is but putting the same thing in more general terms to say, The end will be better than the beginning if we shall by then have practically learnt to live more strictly and earnestly for the greatest purposes of life. At the beginning we are often apt to make very rash conjectures, and often suppose that such and such things are against us; and that every thing is going wrong. We have, in this and the preceding verses, the first proof of the third general proposition. I. The King James Bible (1611) and Strong's Concordance (1890) with Hebrew and Greek dictionaries are sourced from the BibleForgeDB database (https://github.com/bibleforge) within the BibleForge project (http://bibleforge.com). 5. The downward spiral of human wickedness in many situations is radical enough to justify such an old man's question, because, as an apostle said, "Wickedness shall wax worse and worse" (2 Timothy 2:13). In that particular sense, the end is much better than the beginning. Ecclesiastes 7:8 Better [is] the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: [and] the patient in spirit [is] better than the proud in spirit. To get what Ecclesiastes 7:8 means based on its source text, scroll down or follow these links for the original scriptural meaning , biblical context and relative popularity. At the end of his life he is introduced into a better state. It is not without limitation true; for of a matter in itself evil, the very contrary is true, Proverbs 5:4; Proverbs 23:32. We find that interpretation, as well as wisdom, is a gift from God. 5 n Guard your steps when you go to o the house of God. Ecclesiastes 7:8 - The end of a matter is better than its beginning; Patience of spirit is better than haughtiness of spirit. Being intent on the noblest purposes of life will itself in a great degree create this “effectual sense.” But there may require, too, a special thought of time itself--a habit of noting it--because it is so transient, silent, and invisible a thing. What does this verse really mean? 2. Ecclesiastes 7:8, ESV: "Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit." Ecclesiastes 7:8. The end determines all. Verse 8 confronts us with the idea that how we end is more important than how we start. 32). What is the meaning of life? Many set out for heaven with as much seeming resolution as Lot’s wife did out of Sodom, as Orphah did out of Moab, as the young man in the Gospel came to Christ; but after a while they fall away, they stumble at the cross, and fall backwards. "What is the cause that the former days were better ...?" There may be a want of faith to “see this invisible,” and of a sense of its flight. Thus says the wise Prayer of Manasseh, and it is often true in natural things, but invariably so in divine. 5 It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools. . Ecclesiastes 7:8-10. In all this we see it is conditionally, and not absolutely, that “the end is better than the beginning.” Now let us consider in a short series of plain particulars what state of the case would authorize us at the end of the year to pronounce this sentence upon it. Wisdom A good name is better than fine perfume,and the day of death better than the day of birth. Ecclesiastes 9:7 Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works. But if it is in the interest of a man to see the matter brought to an issue, an ארך אףּ will, notwithstanding, wait with self-control in all quietness for the end; while it lies in the nature of the רוּח גּבהּ, the haughty, to fret at the delay, and to seek to reach the end by violent means; for the haughty man thinks that everything must at once be subservient to his wish, and he measures what others should do by his own measureless self-complacency. If we shall have acquired a more effectual sense of the worth of time, the sentence, “Better is the end of a thing than the beginning,” will be true. Ecclesiastes 9:18(NASB) Verse Thoughts. Without can not be used by it self, meaning that it has to be minimum one more condition included (all/at least one,etc) all: "fish", without: "bread", will search for verses that contains "fish" but NOT "bread" start: search for verses that contains words that start with the search words Popularity relative to other verses in Ecclesiastes chapter 7 using average monthly Google searches. So also Proverbs 23:17; Jeremiah 29:11,—"for I know the thoughts that I think towards you, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an end and hope." The Preacher tries one thing after another, and tells his experiences. And the patient in spirit is better than the proud, &c. here meaning the reproof above named. VIII. KJV: King James Version Better it had been for such never to have known the way of God, &c. Christ loves no lookers back. The end of a matter is better than its beginning; Patience of spirit is better than haughtiness of spirit. At the end of his life he is introduced into better occupations. We must notice again, that Solomon is looking at the happenings of this earth. On the whole, therefore, I stand more acquitted towards you than I have at the conclusion of any former season.”. Ecclesiastes 7-8 NIV - Wisdom - A good name is better than - Bible Gateway. Ecclesiastes 7:8. VI. And I will execute great vengeance upon them, love the Lord your God with all your heart, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Good (as an adjective) in the widest sense; used likewise as a noun, both in the masculine and the feminine, the singular and the plural (good, a good or good thing, a good man or woman; the good, goods or good things, good men or women), also as an adverb (well), The last or end, hence, the future; also posterity, A word; by implication, a matter (as spoken of) or thing; adverbially, a cause, The first, in place, time, order or rank (specifically, a firstfruit), Wind; by resemblance breath, i.e., a sensible (or even violent) exhalation; figuratively, life, anger, unsubstantiality; by extension, a region of the sky; by resemblance spirit, but only of a rational being (including its expression and functions). "Mark the upright man, and behold the just, for" - whatsoever his beginning or his middle be - "the end of that man is peace." And so, this is the meaning of Ecclesiastes: We live in a broken world where life is confusing and chaotic, filled with things that seem satisfying but actually leave us empty, hurt, and/or angry. We may begin it with much fear, and find from the event those fears utterly groundless. 7 Surely oppression maketh a wise man mad; and a gift destroyeth the heart. Better is the patient in spirit than the proud in spirit. At the beginning of a job, we are uncertain of ourselves. It will be a great advantage and advancement to end the year with if we shall then have acquired more of a rational and Christian indifference to life itself. But there exists no reason for this; גּבהּ is not to be held, as at Proverbs 16:5, and elsewhere generally, as the connecting form of גּבהּ, and so ארך for that of ארך ; it amounts to the same thing whether the two properties (characters) or the persons possessing them are compared. What Does Ecclesiastes 7:9 Mean? And the patient in spirit is better than the proud, &c.] Pride is the mother of impatience, as infidelity is of pride. "The end is better because we can form a right judgment about a matter; we see what was its purpose; we know whether it has been advantageous and prosperous or not" (P.P. Ecclesiastes 7. Reality is, some courses of action are better than others. ), The end of a good man’s life is better than the beginning. And if that ulterior object be attained, and be worth all this preceding course of things, then "the end is better than the beginning." Popularity rankings are based on search volume data from the Google AdWords Keyword Planner tool. "[14] "Of course, this proverb is too pessimistic to be true without qualifications. I have, therefore, less of a delusive hope on this ground as to the future. And, there is an overriding theme: What Is Better. Ecclesiastes 7:8, ESV: "Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit." and who knoweth the interpretation of a thing? We have many obstacles to overcome. If one is patient, one will finally see that moral integrity is indeed the better way…The wise man is neither naïve nor cynical and embittered" (Garrett p. 320). It will, again, be true if with regard to fellow-mortals we can conscientiously feel that we have been to them more what Christians ought than in the preceding year. Niagara in all its thunder fetches no fertility; but the Nile, coming without observation, with noiseless fatness overflows, and from under the retiring flood Egypt looks up again, a garner of golden corn. The commencement of that which is here treated of was on the side of the heathen world, for in the present Israel served, and the heathen ruled. Amongst these are many blunders. v. “Death is the end of dying. “My property in life is now less by almost, 400 days; so much less to cultivate and reap from. Wisdom - A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth. We need to remember that for the Christian the point isn"t finishing first, but finishing (Heb. That condition is that everything is passing on toward something else in order to, and for the sake of, that something further on, so that its chief … [Psalms 37:37] Only he must hold out faith and patience, and not fall off from good beginnings; for as the evening crowneth the day, and as the grace of an interlude is in the last scene, so it is constancy that crowneth all graces, and he only that "continueth to the end that shall he saved." 9  Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools. Again, the beginning of something is naturally more exciting and hopeful. The patient in spirit, who quietly waits for the end and issue of things, and is willing to bear hardships and inconveniences in the mean time. What does ecclesiastes mean? The proposition is here expressed generally, that whoso has the end of a thing in his favour, for whomsoever the end of a business turns out well, is better off than he to whom the beginning belongs. Ecclesiastes 7:8 KJV Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. Each comparison shows wisdom's significance to a successful life. (Homilist. Any thing is more perfect (and consequently preferable) when finished, than when it is just begun; yet love of novelty, on the one hand, and aptness to be tired on the other, generally get the better of that very obvious reason. The end of a wicked ruler's reign is, of course, better than the beginning of it. Some attitudes lead us in better directions; some emotions are better than others for us and for those with us. And if, this year, we shall acquire much more of this strong habitual sense--if we become more covetous of time--if we cannot waste it without much greater pain--if we shall, therefore, lose and misspend much lees--then the text is true. Ecclesiastes 7:6 For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool: this also is vanity. At the close of this year, should life be protracted so far, the text will be applicable, if we can then say, “My lessons from reflection on the departed year are much less painful, and much more cheering than at the close of the former”: if we can say this without any delusion from insensibility, for the painfulness of reflection may lessen from a wrong cause; but to say it with an enlightened conscience to witness, how delightful! I have exerted myself more for your good. is better than the proud; which he puts instead of hasty or impatient, which the opposition might seem to require, partly because pride is the chief cause of impatience, Proverbs 13:10, and makes men unable to bear any thing either from God or from men whereas humility makes men sensible of their own unworthiness, and that they deserve, at least from God, all the indignities and injuries which they suffer from men by God’s permission, and therefore patient under them; and partly to correct the vulgar error of proud men, who think highly of themselves, and trample all others, especially such as are meek and patient, under their feet. 1. !” “What shall I render to God for the mercy of His granting my prayer for all-sufficient aid? Rarely at first can we foresee what will be the outcome of any matter which we take in hand. Whatever we take in hand it is very rare that our expectations are fully carried out, for we have again and again to learn that "man"s heart devises his way, but the Lord directs his steps," and that there are many devices in a man"s heart, nevertheless the counsel of the Lord, that and that only, shall stand. Now to such it may well be said, The end is better than the beginning. The spiritual good of so much time expended I regard as transferred t,o eternity; so much, therefore, thrown into the scale of another life against this. 8. 12:1-4). The main passage in which an end is denied to the heathen is Numbers 24:20, where it is said of Amalek,—"his end is destruction." ", "The end of a matter is better than its beginning; patience of spirit is better than haughtiness of spirit.". Ecclesiastes 7:5-6. Solomon's approach is not with God in mind as our example, but that patience is prudent in our dealings with others and events. Better is the end - We can then judge of the whole, and especially if the matter relate to the conduct of Divine Providence. The ancient poet Horace has this:[17], Morose and querulous, praising former days. I. It is a race--shall he win? Better [is] the end of a thing than the beginning thereof. Ecclesiastes is a phonetic transliteration of the Greek word Ἐκκλησιαστής (Ekklesiastes), which in the Septuagint translates the Hebrew name of its stated author, Kohelet (קֹהֶלֶת). By their end, inasmuch as a bad end can not make me happy in that particular sense, a! The outcome ecclesiastes 7:8 meaning any former season. ” than vainly thus to attempt right-hand column for detailed definitions and verses use... Thing is higher Talmud attribute the authorship of the fool: this also is.. Event those fears utterly groundless sentence will be true without qualifications 400 days ; so less! Way of God, & c. here meaning the reproof above named happy is the third general.! 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