The Preacher opens with a string of hard comparisons. A good name is better than precious ointment. The day of death is better than the day of birth. The house of mourning is better than the house of feasting: that is the end of all men, and the living will take it to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, for by the sadness of the face the heart is made better. The wise have their hearts in the house of mourning; fools in the house of mirth. Better the rebuke of the wise than the song of fools, for the laughter of the fool is like thorns crackling under a pot: loud, brief, and gone.
Oppression makes even a wise man mad, and a bribe destroys the heart. The end of a thing is better than its beginning; the patient in spirit is better than the proud. Don't be quick to anger; anger rests in the bosom of fools. And don't ask why the former days were better than these; that is not a wise inquiry.
Wisdom is a defense, and money is a defense, but the excellence of wisdom is that it gives life to those who have it. Consider the work of God: who can straighten what he has made crooked? In a day of prosperity, be joyful; in a day of adversity, consider: God has set one against the other so that man cannot find out what comes after.
The Preacher has seen a righteous man perishing in his righteousness, and a wicked man living long in his wickedness. So: don't be overly righteous or over wise: why destroy yourself? But don't be overly wicked or foolish: why die before your time? The one who fears God comes through both extremes. Wisdom strengthens the wise more than ten mighty men in a city, for there is no one on earth so just that he only does good and never sins.
Don't take to heart every word spoken. You may hear your own servant curse you, and your heart knows you have cursed others.
The Preacher tested all this by wisdom, determined to be wise, but wisdom stayed far from him. He applied himself to search out the reason of things, the wickedness of folly and madness. What he found: more bitter than death is a certain woman whose heart is snares and nets, whose hands are fetters. The one who pleases God escapes her; the sinner is taken. Counting one by one, he sought but did not find: one man in a thousand he found, but not one woman among all those. His only firm conclusion: God made man upright, but they have sought out many inventions.
Coming Up in Chapter 8
The Teacher shifts focus to wisdom's practical power, exploring how true understanding changes not just what we know, but how we carry ourselves in the world. He'll examine the delicate balance between wisdom and authority..
