NOTES for Ecc 9:1

In a certain respect, seeing righteousness and wisdom as goals valuable in themselves was an important discovery of Ecclesiastes, for in that case the answer to the question of the meaning of life and of the events that happen in the world no longer depended on those events themselves: everything was determined only by a person's stance in life and by his choice. But such a solution gave rise to another, perhaps much more serious problem, devaluing in a person's eyes not only concepts such as justice and recompense, but also the very judgment of God. Indeed, if "one fate comes to all," if neither the righteousness of the righteous person nor the wickedness of the wicked person affects the life of either, what could be worse (vv. 2-3)? And does this not mean that the world is generally beyond morality, that in everything that happens "there is neither love nor hatred" (v. 1)? And if so, perhaps God has no concern at all for people, for their righteousness and wickedness, and perhaps even for anything that happens in the world?

The picture becomes utterly bleak if one adds to it the fairly obvious fact that the success of a person's activity often depends not at all on his efforts, and that success is a matter of chance (v. 11). Everything in the world is generally random, and this conclusion, drawn by Ecclesiastes, is quite logical; it follows from all his preceding reflections. Indeed, if God has no concern for righteousness and wickedness, why should He be concerned at all about human affairs? In that case one can hardly speak of God's providence; deism is more appropriate here - the view of God that, while continuing to see Him as Lord and Creator of the universe, rejects the idea of any intervention by Him in the events that take place on earth after creation. And in a world where everything is random, what is valued, of course, is not wisdom but strength (v. 16).

Sometimes, especially in days of calamity, whole cities listen to the words of the wise, but as soon as the calamities pass, they are quickly forgotten (vv. 13-15). And so only one thing remains for a person: to rejoice in life in everything in which it is possible to rejoice (vv. 7-10), for the joy of life will pass away together with life itself, and in Sheol the dead person will find none of what was dear to him and brought him joy in this world (vv. 4-6). The conclusion is pessimistic, but it is quite realistic in a world that lies in evil and does not allow for any changes for the better.

In the book's concluding section, comprising its last four chapters, Ecclesiastes turns to reflect on what may be positive in human life before and apart from God's own self-revelation to the world. As we have already said, Ecclesiastes believes that, although the highest blessedness is beyond human reach, some reflections of it can be found in life. His thought is paradoxical: he begins by saying that everything and everyone has one fate—death. It is crucial that Ecclesiastes subjects this essentially obvious fact to a moral judgement. ‘This is the evil,’ he says, ‘that one fate comes to all.’ The world around him is still wholly in death's power, but the sage refuses to recognise this state of affairs as right. He sees no solution to the problem and cannot offer arguments for why one should choose wisdom and goodness despite the triumph of death, which levels everything. Yet he knows in his heart that one should, and tries to convey this to the reader.

At the beginning of chapter 9, speaking of death, Ecclesiastes formulates in detail and with precision the Old Testament understanding of death as life's opposite. He speaks of Sheol, where the dead dwell, as a place containing none of what exists in life. ‘The dead know nothing... their love and their hatred... have already vanished, and they no longer have any share in anything done under the sun’; ‘in the grave to which you are going, there is neither work nor thought nor knowledge nor wisdom.’ Moreover, Ecclesiastes asserts that the dead have no reward either, ‘for the memory of them is forgotten’. He does not extend God's judgement, of which he speaks more than once, to life after death. Such is the understanding of human destiny after death throughout the Old Testament; it differs strikingly from the ideas that developed among early Christians. This difference can be explained only in part by the fact that the Greek translation calls Sheol hades—Hades, hell—thereby introducing Hellenic ideas of the underworld into religious culture. The main point, however, is that the Old Testament, like the New, is directed entirely towards life, not death. The idea of recompense after death is foreign to the Bible because, for the Bible, unlike paganism, death and existence after death are unnatural, abnormal phenomena. ‘God did not make death’ (Wis. 1:13), and ‘God made man upright’ (Eccl. 7:29). Death should therefore not exist, which means that there is no place in the Creator's purpose for recompense after death either. Thus the idea that the wicked and evil will suffer in hell while the righteous enjoy nectar and ambrosia is foreign to the Old Testament. Something else, something entirely different, gives hope of justice within it: the unfathomable expectation that God will come into the world and lead people out of Sheol. In this, God's righteousness will be revealed: those who remembered God in life will not be forgotten by him in death. That is why Ecclesiastes says of the dead that even their memory is forgotten. By this he explains why ‘judgement upon evil deeds is not carried out swiftly’. And this is the soil in which Christ's words will be sown: ‘Those who have done good will come forth to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation’ (John 5:29).

Ecclesiastes' understanding of death also gives rise to his call to rejoice in the good things of life. The joys he finds are quite simple and unassuming, which makes the mystery of truth hidden within them all the deeper. The first things he brings to the reader's attention are joy in God's gifts, the union of man and woman, and creative work. Then, at the end of chapter 9 and in chapter 10, Ecclesiastes speaks of wisdom, which for him is the way of life in the face of inevitable death.