Ecclesiastes
Chapter 5
Don’t be impulsive or hasty with your words in front of God, because God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore, let your words be few.
For dreams come from over-anxiety, and foolish talk from too many words.
When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it, for he takes no pleasure in fools. Keep your vow.
It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it.
Do not let your speech cause you to sin, and then blame God’s minister by saying it was a mistake. Why anger God with what you say and ruin the work of your hands? From much dreaming and many words, emptiness comes.
So, fear God.
Authorities
If you see the poor oppressed, right and justice denied in the province, do not be surprised, for over a high-placed official a higher one watches, and over both of these, a still higher one watches.
The produce of the land benefits everyone, and the king serves the land.
Wealth
Whoever loves money will never be satisfied with it. Those who love wealth don’t have enough income. This makes no sense.
When good things are plentiful, there are many consumers. What benefit does the owner gain, aside from watching?
Sleep is sweet for the laborer, whether he eats little or much. But the rich man who has had his fill cannot sleep.
There is a great evil I found under the sun: the rich man who hoards his wealth to his own hurt.
A bad investment can wipe out those riches; a son is born, but there is nothing to leave him.
Naked he came from his mother’s womb; he returns as he came—naked. He can’t take any of his labor with him.
That, too, is a terrible evil: as he came, so he goes. So what did he gain from chasing the wind?
Why did he spend all his life in darkness, full of sorrow, suffering, and frustration?
This is what I see as most fitting for man: to eat, drink, and be happy in all the work he does under the sun during the days God grants him; this is his reward.
And when God grants a man riches and property, along with the opportunity to enjoy them and find happiness in his work, this is a gift from God.
As long as God keeps him busy with the joy in his heart, he doesn’t worry about how long he will live.
Commentaries
Vows and Promises.
The Preacher now examines worship and religion. He explains the difference between the behavior of the wise and the foolish based on vows and promises—on sins of inadvertence, see Leviticus 4; Numbers 15:22-.
He speaks of the respect owed to the sacred place; he rejects inconsistency (Hos 8:18; Am 5:21-24) and values obedience (4:17). He emphasizes God’s transcendence (5:1; cf. Dt 26:15; Ps 115:3; Jos 2:11), hence silence is the most respectful way to address Him — as seen in the Egyptian instruction of “Ani” from around 1000 B.C. — and warns of the fulfillment of what is promised (5:3f). All of this is seasoned with sentences that sound like popular proverbs: “obedience is more acceptable than sacrifices”; “our concerns appear in our dreams”; “many concerns bring nightmares”… Finally, it alludes to the “messenger” (5:5), which may refer to the priest (Mal 2:7) or the angel before whom excuses are futile, since he keeps track of our deeds (Tob 12:12; Acts 10:4). It concludes that it is best to abandon vain illusions and fear God.
Vow fulfillment is common across all cultures (Gen 28:20-22). The importance of acting quickly to fulfill vows is already noted in Deut 23:22, which reflects an ancient wisdom tradition that often distances itself from ritual sacrifices. The argument is that God causes misfortune, but it is humans who bring it about (cf. Ex 32:10-14; Ps 106:23).
The words we find in this section are logical and full of common sense. For our reflection, consider the following example, which aligns with the previous sections: “Since there are vows and promises…,” obedience is greater, because those who act contrary to them are doing wrong.
Authorities.
In 3:16, Qohelet expressed himself in a very similar tone when discussing the administration of justice. Although he may be alluding to historical events—collaboration with the Ptolemies in the Hellenistic period—the expressions remain universal in nature.
Verse 8 is mysterious; it might praise rulers for farming the land. It also highlights injustices committed in the name of obedience to authority, resulting in the poor losing money from their land.
The Preacher isn’t surprised by the oppression of the poor or those of lower ranks because these are facts of life. His reflections are always based on experience. But one question remains: do acts of injustice and exploitation fall into the category of things that must be accepted without resistance?
Wealth.
It seems that wealth and happiness have always been connected. Qohelet concentrates on this subject and discusses its benefits and drawbacks. The message is easy to understand, and it’s not surprising that people agree with his points. Traditional wisdom itself shows similar expressions and sentiments: fortune does not satisfy its owner (Prov 19:4, 6); the rich man suffers from insomnia (Sir 31:1a) and cannot enjoy his possessions (Sir 30:19); there is a parallel between the poor wise man and the rich fool (Prov 11:28a; 14:21b; 17:5), etc. But Ecclesiastes, as we said at the beginning, maintains his particular confrontation with this wisdom by presenting his own experience as proof.
5:9 is a satire, not of the evil rich man, but of how money is either well or poorly acquired and well or badly spent. 5:12-16 aligns with Job—a work that we also need to include among those that criticize the classical wisdom tradition of the Old Testament—in the “tragic fate of human beings”: they depart like wine, for they will take nothing from the work of their hands (Job 1:21). Parallel to verse 16 is Job 14:1; 6:4f also aligns with Job when it states that abortion is better than the living (Job 3:13).
The futility of human effort runs parallel to the dissatisfaction that comes with riches (6:7-9; cf. 5:9-11). Once again, he states his belief that one should not be overly eager to understand the incomprehensible—expressed with a popular proverb in 6:9. 6:12 presents another challenge to traditional proverbs, similar to Hos 13:3; Job 7:9; Ps 39:7.
The conclusion is found in 5:17-19; it is not a renunciation of the possibility of happiness, but a call to realism: eat, drink, and enjoy (2:24f; 3:12f).
Once again, we must face the reality of the link between wealth and happiness from the perspective of Ecclesiastes, not in a moral sense, but simply as an observer and experiencer. This is the starting point for his reflection, based on what traditional wisdom has taught him. He is convinced that happiness does not lie in accumulating goods (cf. Mt 6:19-21, 24, 25-34), but in God’s gift of enjoying everyday activities.