Ecclesiastes 9:2

9:1-3 We are not to think our searching into the word or works of God useless, because we cannot explain all difficulties. We may learn many things good for ourselves and useful to others. But man cannot always decide who are objects of God's special love, or under his wrath; and God will certainly put a difference between the precious and the vile, in the other world. The difference as to present happiness, arises from the inward supports and consolations the righteous enjoy, and the benefit they derive from varied trials and mercies. As far as the sons of men are left to themselves, their hearts are full of evil; and prosperity in sin, causes them even to set God at defiance by daring wickedness. Though, on this side death, the righteous and the wicked may often seem to fare alike, on the other side there will be a vast difference between them.

Ecclesiastes 9:2-3 . All things come alike to all — The good and evil things of this world equally happen to good and bad men; as is the good, so is the sinner — As to all outward things. This is an evil, &c. — A great trouble and temptation to a considerate and good man; yea, also the heart of the sons of men — Of wicked men, such as the generality of mankind are; is full of evil — Of wickedness; and madness is in their heart — Upon this account they go on madly and desperately in evil courses, without any fear of an after reckoning; and after that they go to the dead — And after all they appear to die in the same manner as the best men do. So hitherto there is no difference. For Solomon here forbears to take into consideration the future life: he intimates, however, that as the madness, so the happiness of the wicked, is ended by death: which is more fully expressed in the following words.

All things come alike to all; the good and evil things of this world do equally happen to good and bad men. The clean; either, 1. Morally clean or holy men. Or, 2. Legally, who made conscience of keeping himself pure from all legal defilements, according to the law then in force, and consequently from all other sins upon the same ground. That sacrificeth; that worshippeth God sincerely, though it be to his cost. As is the good , so is the sinner, as to all outward things. That sweareth, to wit, customarily, unnecessarily, rashly, without due consideration and reverence, or falsely and wickedly. For otherwise that some swearing was then allowed, and in some cases required, none do or can deny. That feareth an oath; who is afraid of offending God, or abusing his name, by vain, or rash, or false oaths.

2. All things … alike—not universally; but as to death. Ec 9:2-10 are made by Holden the objection of a skeptical sensualist. However, they may be explained as Solomon's language. He repeats the sentiment already implied in Ec 2:14; 3:20; 8:14. one event—not eternally; but death is common to all. good—morally. clean—ceremonially. sacrificeth—alike to Josiah who sacrificed to God, and to Ahab who made sacrifice to Him cease. sweareth—rashly and falsely.

2 . All things come alike to all ] As before, the seeker sees no order or purpose in the chances and changes of life. Earthquakes, pestilences, tempests make no discrimination between good and evil. As with the melancholy emphasis of iteration, the various forms of contrasted characters are grouped together. “The righteous and the wicked” point to men’s conduct relative to their neighbours, the “good and pure” (the first word is probably added to shew that a moral and not merely a ceremonial purity is meant) to what we call “self-regarding” actions, the self-reverence of purity in act and thought. “Sacrifice” is the outward expression of man’s relation to God. “The good” and “the sinner” are wider in their range and express the totality of character. The last group is not without difficulty. As commonly interpreted, “he that sweareth” is the man who swears falsely or rashly, as in Zechariah 5:3 , he “that feareth an oath” is either the man who looks on its obligation with a solemn awe, or one whose communication is Yea, yea, Nay, nay, and who shrinks in reverential awe from any formal use of the Divine Name. On this view, the words probably point to the tendency of thought which was developed in the teaching of the Essenes, who placed every oath on the same level as perjury (Jos. Wars , ii. 8, § 6), and was in part sanctioned in the Sermon on the Mount ( Matthew 5:33-37 ).

It may be noted, however, that in all the other groups, the good side is placed first, and I do not feel quite sure that it is not so in this case also. The man “that sweareth” may be he who does what most religious Jews held to be their duty, truthfully and well (comp Deuteronomy 6:13 ; Isaiah 65:16 ; Psalm 63:11 ), he who “fears the oath,” may be the man whose “coward conscience” makes him shrink from the oath either of compurgation on the part of an accused person (comp. Aristot. Rhet . i. 27), or of testimony. The former was in frequent use in Jewish as in Greek trials. Comp. Exodus 22:10-11 ; 1 Kings 8:31 ; 2 Chronicles 6:22 ; Numbers 5:19-22 . It may be added that this view agrees better with the language about “the oath of God” in ch. Ecclesiastes 5:2 .

Verse 2. - All things come alike to all ; literally, all things [ are ] like that which [ happens ] to all persons . There is no difference in the treatment of persons; all people of every kind meet with circumstances of every kind. Speaking generally, there is no discrimination, apparently, in the distribution of good and evil. Sun and shade, calm and storm. fruitful and unfruitful seasons, joy and sorrow, are dispensed by inscrutable laws. The Septuagint, reading differently, has, "Vanity is in all;" the Syriac unites two readings, "All before him is vanity, all as to all" (Ginsburg). There is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked. All men have the same lot, whether it be death or any other contingency, without regard to their naomi condition. The classes into which men are divided must be noted. "Righteous" and "wicked" refer to men in their conduct to others. The good. The Septuagint, Vulgate, and Syriac add, "to the evil," which is said again almost immediately. To the clean, and to the unclean . "The good" and "clean" are those who are not only ceremonially pure, but, as the epithet "good" shows, are morally undefiled. To him that sacrificeth ; i.e. the man who attends to the externals of religion, offers the obligatory sacrifices, and brings his free-will offerings. The good... the sinner ; in the widest senses. He that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath . He who takes an oath lightly, carelessly, or falsely (comp.

Zechariah 5:3 ), is contrasted with him who regards it as a holy thing, or shrinks in awe from invoking God's Name in such a case This last idea is regarded as a late Essenic development (see Josephus, 'Bell. Jud.,' 2:08. 6); though something like it is found in the sermon on the mount, "I say unto you, Swear not at all," etc. ( Matthew 5:34-37 ). Dean Plumptre, however, throws doubt on the above interpretation, owing to the fact that in all the other groups the good side is placed first; and he suggests that "he who sweareth" may be one who does his duty in this particular religiously and well (comp. Deuteronomy 6:13 ; Isaiah 65:16 ), and "he who fears the oath" is a man whose conscience makes him shrink from the oath of compurgation ( Exodus 22:10, 11 ; Numbers 5:19-22 ), or who is too cowardly to give his testimony in due form. The Vulgate has, Ut perjurus, its et ille qui verum dejerat ; and it seems unnecessary to present an entirely new view of the passage in slavish expectation of a concinnity which the author cannot be proved to have ever aimed at. The five contrasted pairs are the righteous and the wicked, the clean and the unclean, the sacrificer and the non-sacrificer, the good and the sinner, the profane swearer and the man who reverences an oath. The last clause is rendered by the Septuagint, "So is he who sweareth ( ὁ ὀμνύων ) even as he who fears the oath," which is as ambiguous as the original.