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Selected Verse: Ecclesiates 7:3 - Strong Concordance
| Verse |
Translation |
Text |
| Ec 7:3 |
Strong Concordance |
Sorrow [03708] is better [02896] than laughter [07814]: for by the sadness [07455] of the countenance [06440] the heart [03820] is made better [03190]. |
| |
King James |
Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better. |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
| A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882] |
Sorrow--such as arises from serious thoughts of eternity.
laughter--reckless mirth (Ecc 2:2).
by the sadness . . . better-- (Psa 126:5-6; Co2 4:17; Heb 12:10-11). MAURER translates: "In sadness of countenance there is (may be) a good (cheerful) heart." So Hebrew, for "good," equivalent to "cheerful" (Ecc 11:9); but the parallel clause supports English Version. |
| Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
Sorrow - Rather, Seriousness.
The heart is made better - i. e., is made bright and joyful (compare Co2 6:10). The mind which bears itself equally in human concerns, whether they be pleasant or sorrowful, must always be glad, free, and at peace. |
| Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78] |
The joy of life must thus be not riot and tumult, but a joy tempered with seriousness: "Better is sorrow than laughter: for with a sad countenance it is well with the heart. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, and the heart of fools in the house of mirth." Grief and sorrow, כּעס, whether for ourselves or occasioned by others, is better, viz., morally better, than extravagant merriment; the heart is with רע פּ (inf. as רע, Jer 7:6; cf. פן ר, Gen 40:7; Neh 2:2), a sorrowful countenance, better than with laughter, which only masks the feeling of disquiet peculiar to man, Pro 14:13. Elsewhere לב ייטב = "the heart is (may be) of good cheer," e.g., Rut 3:7; Jdg 19:6; here also joyful experience is meant, but well becoming man as a religious moral being. With a sad countenance it may be far better as regards the heart than with a merry countenance in boisterous company. Luther, in the main correct, after Jerome, who on his part follows Symmachus: "The heart is made better by sorrow." The well-being is here meant as the reflex of a moral: bene se habere.
Sorrow penetrates the heart, draws the thought upwards, purifies, transforms. Therefore is the heart of the wise in the house of sorrow; and, on the other hand, the heart of fools is in the house of joy, i.e., the impulse of their heart goes thither, there they feel themselves at home; a house of joy is one where there are continual feasts, or where there is at the time a revelling in joy. That Ecc 7:4 is divided not by Athnach, but by Zakef, has its reason in this, that of the words following אבל, none consists of three syllables; cf. on the contrary, Ecc 7:7, חכם. From this point forward the internal relation of the contents is broken up, according to which this series of sayings as a concluding section hangs together with that containing the observations going before in Ecc 6:1-12. |
| Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
Sorrow is better than laughter - The reason is immediately given; for by the sorrow of the countenance - the grief of heart that shows itself in the countenance: -
The heart is made better - In such cases, most men try themselves at the tribunal of their own consciences, and resolve on amendment of life. |
9 Rejoice [08055], O young man [0970], in thy youth [03208]; and let thy heart [03820] cheer [02895] thee in the days [03117] of thy youth [0979], and walk [01980] in the ways [01870] of thine heart [03820], and in the sight [04758] of thine eyes [05869]: but know [03045] thou, that for all these things God [0430] will bring [0935] thee into judgment [04941].
10 For [1063] they verily [3303] for [4314] a few [3641] days [2250] chastened [3811] us after [2596] their own [846] pleasure [1380]; but [1161] he for [1909] our profit [4851], that [1519] we might be partakers [3335] of his [846] holiness [41].
11 Now [1161] no [3956] [3756] chastening [3809] for [4314] [3303] the present [3918] seemeth [1380] to be [1511] joyous [5479], but [235] grievous [3077]: nevertheless [1161] afterward [5305] it yieldeth [591] the peaceable [1516] fruit [2590] of righteousness [1343] unto them which are exercised [1128] thereby [1223] [846].
17 For [1063] our [2257] light [1645] affliction [2347], which [3588] is but for a moment [3910], worketh [2716] for us [2254] a far [2596] [5236] more exceeding [1519] [5236] and eternal [166] weight [922] of glory [1391];
5 They that sow [02232] in tears [01832] shall reap [07114] in joy [07440].
6 He that goeth [03212] forth [01980] and weepeth [01058], bearing [05375] precious [04901] seed [02233], shall doubtless [0935] come [0935] again with rejoicing [07440], bringing [05375] his sheaves [0485] with him.
2 I said [0559] of laughter [07814], It is mad [01984]: and of mirth [08057], What [02090] doeth [06213] it?
10 As [5613] sorrowful [3076], yet [1161] alway [104] rejoicing [5463]; as [5613] poor [4434], yet [1161] making [4148] many [4183] rich [4148]; as [5613] having [2192] nothing [3367], and [2532] yet possessing [2722] all things [3956].
1 There is [03426] an evil [07451] which I have seen [07200] under the sun [08121], and it is common [07227] among men [0120]:
2 A man [0376] to whom God [0430] hath given [05414] riches [06239], wealth [05233], and honour [03519], so that he wanteth [02638] nothing for his soul [05315] of all that he desireth [0183], yet God [0430] giveth him not power [07980] to eat [0398] thereof, but a stranger [0376] [05237] eateth [0398] it: this is vanity [01892], and it is an evil [07451] disease [02483].
3 If a man [0376] beget [03205] an hundred [03967] children, and live [02421] many [07227] years [08141], so that the days [03117] of his years [08141] be many [07227], and his soul [05315] be not filled [07646] with good [02896], and also that he have no burial [06900]; I say [0559], that an untimely birth [05309] is better [02896] than he.
4 For he cometh [0935] in with vanity [01892], and departeth [03212] in darkness [02822], and his name [08034] shall be covered [03680] with darkness [02822].
5 Moreover he hath not seen [07200] the sun [08121], nor known [03045] any thing: this [02088] hath more rest [05183] than [02088] the other.
6 Yea, though [0432] he live [02421] a thousand [0505] years [08141] twice [06471] told, yet hath he seen [07200] no good [02896]: do not all go [01980] to one [0259] place [04725]?
7 All the labour [05999] of man [0120] is for his mouth [06310], and yet the appetite [05315] is not filled [04390].
8 For what hath the wise [02450] more [03148] than the fool [03684]? what hath the poor [06041], that knoweth [03045] to walk [01980] before the living [02416]?
9 Better [02896] is the sight [04758] of the eyes [05869] than the wandering [01980] of the desire [05315]: this is also vanity [01892] and vexation [07469] of spirit [07307].
10 That which hath been is named [07121] [08034] already [03528], and it is known [03045] that it is man [0120]: neither may [03201] he contend [01777] with him that is mightier [08623] than he.
11 Seeing there be [03426] many [07235] things [01697] that increase [07235] vanity [01892], what is man [0120] the better [03148]?
12 For who knoweth [03045] what is good [02896] for man [0120] in this life [02416], all [04557] the days [03117] of his vain [01892] life [02416] which he spendeth [06213] as a shadow [06738]? for who can tell [05046] a man [0120] what shall be after [0310] him under the sun [08121]?
7 Surely oppression [06233] maketh a wise man [02450] mad [01984]; and a gift [04979] destroyeth [06] the heart [03820].
4 The heart [03820] of the wise [02450] is in the house [01004] of mourning [060]; but the heart [03820] of fools [03684] is in the house [01004] of mirth [08057].
6 And they sat down [03427], and did eat [0398] and drink [08354] both [08147] of them together [03162]: for the damsel's [05291] father [01] had said [0559] unto the man [0376], Be content [02974], I pray thee, and tarry all night [03885], and let thine heart [03820] be merry [03190].
7 And when Boaz [01162] had eaten [0398] and drunk [08354], and his heart [03820] was merry [03190], he went [0935] to lie down [07901] at the end [07097] of the heap of corn [06194]: and she came [0935] softly [03909], and uncovered [01540] his feet [04772], and laid her down [07901].
13 Even in laughter [07814] the heart [03820] is sorrowful [03510]; and the end [0319] of that mirth [08057] is heaviness [08424].
2 Wherefore the king [04428] said [0559] unto me, Why is thy countenance [06440] sad [07451], seeing thou art not sick [02470]? this is nothing else but sorrow [07455] of heart [03820]. Then I was very [03966] sore [07235] afraid [03372],
7 And he asked [07592] Pharaoh's [06547] officers [05631] that were with him in the ward [04929] of his lord's [0113] house [01004], saying [0559], Wherefore look [06440] ye so sadly [07451] to day [03117]?
6 If ye oppress [06231] not the stranger [01616], the fatherless [03490], and the widow [0490], and shed [08210] not innocent [05355] blood [01818] in this place [04725], neither walk [03212] after [0310] other [0312] gods [0430] to your hurt [07451]: