24 Whatever hath been, is far off, and exceeding deep: who will find it out?
For this commandment which I command thee this day is not too wonderful for thee, neither is it far off. It is not in the heavens, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to the heavens, and bring it to us, that we should hear it and do it? And it is not beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it to us, that we should hear it and do it? For the word is very near to thee, in thy mouth and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.
Canst thou by searching find out +God? canst thou find out the Almighty to perfection? [It is as] the heights of heaven; what wilt thou do? deeper than Sheol; what canst thou know?
But wisdom, where shall it be found? and where is the place of understanding? Man knoweth not the value thereof; and it is not found in the land of the living. The deep saith, It is not in me; and the sea saith, It is not with me. Choice gold cannot be given for it, nor silver be weighed for its price. It is not set in the balance with gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, and the sapphire. Gold and glass cannot be compared to it, nor vessels of fine gold be its exchange. Corals and crystal are no more remembered; yea, the acquisition of wisdom is above rubies. The topaz of Ethiopia shall not be compared to it, neither shall it be set in the balance with pure gold. Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding? For it is hidden from the eyes of all living, and concealed from the fowl of the heavens. Destruction and death say, We have heard its report with our ears. God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth its place:
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,