Ecclesiastes 7:13

Ecc 7:13 Consider the work of God: for who can make [that] straight, which he hath made crooked?

Ver 13. Consider the work of God, &c.] q.d., Stoop, since there is no standing out. See God in that thou sufferest, and submit. God by a crooked tool many times makes straight work; he avengeth the quarrel of his covenant by the Assyrian, that rod of God’s wrath, though he thinks not so. {Isa 10:5-7} Job could discern God’s arrows in Satan’s hand, and God’s hand on the arms of the Sabean robbers. He it is that "killeth and maketh alive," saith holy Hannah; "he maketh poor and maketh rich, he bringeth low and lifteth up." {1Sa 2:6-7} All is done according to the counsel of his will; who, as he may do what he pleases, so he will be sure never to overdo; his holy hand shall never be further stretched out to smite, than to save. {Isa 59:1} This made David "dumb, for he knew it was God’s doing." {Psa 39:2} "It is the Lord," said Eli, "let him do," {1Sa 3:18} and I will suffer, lest I add passive disobedience to active. Aaron, his predecessor, had done the like before him upon the same consideration, in the untimely end of his untowardly children. {Lev 10:3} Jacob, likewise, in the rape of Dinah. {Gen 34:5} Agnovit haud dubie ferulam divinam, saith Pareus on that text; he considered the work of God in it, and that it was in vain for him to seek to make that straight which God had made crooked. There is no standing before a lion, no hoisting up sail in a tempest, no contending with the Almighty. "Who ever waxed fierce against God and prospered?" {Job 9:4} Who ever got anything by kicking against the pricks, by biting the rod which they should rather have kissed? See Isa 14:27 Job 9:12-13; Job 34:12-18. Set God before your passions, when they are up in a hurry, and all will be hushed. Set down proud flesh when it bustles and bristles under God’s fatherly chastisements, and say soberly to yourselves, Shall I not drink of the cup that my Father, who is also my physician, hath put into mine hands; stand under the cross that he hath laid on my shoulders; stoop unto the yoke that he hangeth on my neck? Drink down God’s cup willingly, said Mr Bradford the martyr, and at first when it is full, lest if we linger we drink at length of the dregs with the wicked. Ferre minora volo, ne graviora feram. That was a very good saying of Demosthenes, who was ever better at praising virtue than at practising it. Good men should ever do the best, and then hope the best. But if anything happen worse than was hoped for, let that which God will have done be borne with patience.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Ecc 7:13. Consider the work of God — Not of creation, but of providence; his wise, and just, and powerful government of all events, which is proposed as the last and best remedy against all murmurings. For who can make that straight, &c. — No man can correct or alter any of God’s works; and therefore all frettings at the injuries of men, or calamities of the times, are not only sinful, but also vain and fruitless. This implies that there is a hand of God in all men’s actions, either effecting them, if they be good, or permitting them, if they be bad, and ordering and overruling them, whether they be good or bad.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

7:13 God’s sovereign acts are irresistible; it is useless to counter or avoid his purposes.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

He answereth to them that esteem not wisdom except riches be joined therewith, showing that both are the gifts of God, but that wisdom is far more excellent, and may be without riches.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Consider as to God's work, that it is impossible to alter His dispensations; for who can, &c.

straight . . . crooked--Man cannot amend what God wills to be "wanting" and "adverse" (Ecc 1:15; Job 12:14).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 13. Consider the work of God] Such is the nature of his providence, that it puts money into the hands of few: but wisdom is within the reach of all. The first is not necessary to happiness; therefore, it is not offered to men; the latter is; and therefore God, in his goodness, offers it to the whole human race. The former can rarely be acquired, for God puts it out of the reach of most men, and you cannot make that straight which he has made crooked; the latter may be easily attained by every person who carefully and seriously seeks it from God.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

13. who can make that straight, which he hath made crooked] The sequence of thought is as follows. To “consider the work of God” intelligently is one application of the wisdom which has been praised in Ecc_7:11-12. In so considering, the mind of the Debater goes back to Ecc_7:10, and he bids men accept the outward facts of life as they come. If they are “crooked,” i.e. crossing and thwarting our inclinations, we cannot alter them. It is idle, to take up a Christian phrase that expresses the same thought, to seek to “change our cross.” We cannot alter the events of life, and our wisdom is not merely to accept them as inevitable, but to adapt ourselves to them. It is a striking example of Rabbinic literalism that the Chaldee Targum refers the words to the impossibility of removing bodily deformities, such as those of the blind, the hunchback, and the lame. The word and the thought are clearly the same as in ch. Ecc_1:15.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Consider the work of God,.... This is dressed to those who thought the former days better than the present, and were ready to quarrel with the providence of God, Ecc 7:10; and are therefore advised to consider the work of God; not the work of creation, but of providence; which is the effect of divine sovereignty, and is conducted and directed according to the counsel of his will, and is always wisely done to answer the best ends and purposes: everything is beautiful in its season; contemplate, adore, and admire the wisdom, power, and goodness of God, displayed therein; it is such as cannot be made better, nor otherwise than it is;

for who can make that straight which he hath made crooked? or which seems to be so, irregular and disagreeable? No man can mend or make that better he finds fault with and complains of; nor can he alter the course of things, nor stay the hand, nor stop the providence of God: if it is his pleasure that public calamities should be in the world, or in such a part of it, as famine, pestilence, or the sword; or any affliction on families, and particular persons, or poverty and meanness in such and such individuals, there is no hindering it; whatever he has purposed and resolved, his providence effects, and there is no frustrating his designs; it signifies nothing for a creature to murmur and complain; it is best to submit to his will, for no alteration can be made but what he pleases. Some understand this of natural defects in human bodies, with which they are born, or which attend them, as blindness, lameness, &c. so the Targum,

"consider the work of God, and his strength, who made the blind, the crooked, and the lame, to be wonders in the world; for who can make straight one of them but the Lord of the world, who made him crooked?''

Others, of spiritual defects in such who walk in crooked ways, and are hardened in them; who can correct them, and make them other ways, if God does not give them his grace to convert them, and soften their hard hearts? he hardens whom he will, and who hath resisted his will? Jarchi's paraphrase is,

"who can make straight after death what he has made crooked in life?''

See Gill on Ecc 1:15. Alshech interprets it of the first man Adam.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The work of God - The scheme of Divine Providence, the course of events which God orders and controls (compare Ecc 3:11). It comprises both events which are “straight,” i. e., in accordance with our expectation, and events which are “crooked,” i. e., which by their seeming inequality baffle our comprehension.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Them. Money may procure necessaries for the body; (Haydock) but wisdom gives a long and happy life, Proverbs iv. 10., and Baruch iii. 28. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

The work of God; not of creation, but of providence; his wise, and just, and powerful government of all events in the world, which is proposed as the last and best remedy against all murmurings and sinful disquietments of mind, under the sense of the great and many disorders which happen in the world, as is implied, Ecc 7:10, against which wisdom is prescribed as one remedy, Ecc 7:11,12, and now here is another.

Who can make that straight, which he hath made crooked? no man can withstand, or correct, or alter any of God’s works; and therefore all self-tormenting frettings and discontents at the injuries of men, or calamities of times, are not only sinful, but also vain and fruitless. This reason implies that there is a hand or work of God in all men’s actions, either effecting them if they be good, or permitting them if they be bad, and ordering and overruling them, whether they be good or bad. And God is here said to make things crooked, as he is said to make the hearts of sinners fat or hard, Isa 6:10, and elsewhere, not positively, but privatively, because he denies or withdraws from men that wisdom or grace which should make them straight.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

13. Consider the work of God — The thought is of comparing the past and present, as in Ecc_7:10. If there is any special hardship on these times, remember who hath appointed the rod. No man, no secondary power, has changed or can change what He has ordained.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Consider the work of God. Here is another reason against murmuring and hasty judgment. True wisdom is shown by submission to the inevitable. In all that happens one ought to recognize God"s work and God"s ordering, and man"s impotence. For who can make that straight, which he hath made crooked? The things which God hath made crooked are the anomalies, the crosses, the difficulties, which meet us in life. Some would include bodily deformities, which seems to be a piece of unnecessary literalism. Thus the Septuagint, Tiv dunhsetai kosmhsai onn a oJ Qeoyh aujton; "Who will be able to straighten him whom God has distorted?" and the Vulgate, Nemo possit corrigere quem ille despexerit, "No one can amend him whom he hath despised." The thought goes back to what was said in Ecc_1:15, "That which is crooked cannot be made straight;" and in Ecc_6:10, man "cannot contend with him that is mightier than he." "As for the wondrous works of the Lord," says Ben-Sirs," there may be nothing taken from them, neither may anything be put unto them, neither can the ground of them be found out" (Ecc 18:6). We cannot arrange events according to our wishes or expectations; therefore not only is placid acquiescence a necessary duty, but the wise man will endeavor to accommodate himself to existing circumstances

Vers. 13, 14.

Crooked things and straight.

I COMPOSE THE TEXTURE OF HUMAN LIFE.

1. Crooked things. Such experiences, events, and dispensations as run counter or lie cross to the inclinations, as e.g. afflictions, disappointments, and trials of all sorts. Few lives, if any, are exempt from crosses; few estates are so good as to have no drawbacks. Examples: Abraham, (Gen_15:2, Gen_15:3) Naaman, (2Ki_5:1) Haman, (Est_5:13 2Co_12:7)

2. Straight things. Such experiences as harmonize with the soul"s wishes, as e.g. seasons of prosperity, dispensations of good, and enjoyments of every kind; and, as nobody"s lot on earth is entirely straight, so on the other hand no one"s lot is wholly crooked are always some straight and even parts in it." "Indeed, when men"s passions, having got up, have cast a mist over their minds, they are ready to say all is wrong with them and nothing right; yet is that never true in this world, since (always) it is of the Lord"s mercies that we are not consumed" (Lam_3:22) (Boston).

II PROCEED FROM THE HAND OF GOD. Neither come by accident or from second causes, but from him "of whom, to whom, and through whom are all things" (Rom_11:36; 2Co_5:18; Heb_2:10)

1. True of straight things. "Every good gift and every perfect is from above". (Jam_1:17) Saint and sinner alike depend on the providential bounty of God, (Psa_136:25) who appointeth to all men the bounds of their habitation (Act_17:26) and measureth out their lots. (Jer_13:25) So elementary is this truth that it needs nodemonstration; yet is it so familiar as to be frequently forgotten.

2. No less correct of crooked things. These also are from God (Amo_3:6; Mic_1:12) It is he who lays affliction on the loins of men, (Psa_66:11) distributes sorrows in his anger, (Job_21:17) shows great and sore troubles, (Psa_71:20) lifts up and casts, (Psa_102:10) wounds and heals, kills and makes alive. (Deu_32:39) The Preacher recognizes God"s hand in introducing crooked things into men"s lots; in this all should follow his example.

III DEMAND DIVERSE TREATMENT FROM THE INDIVIDUAL.

1. Straight things call for cheerfulness. "In the day of prosperity be joyful," "be in good spirits," be thankfully happy and happily thankful.

(1) Gratitude, an element in that treatment God"s goodness calls for. (Psa_103:1, Psa_103:2) Every creature of God is good if it be received with thanksgiving. (1Ti_4:4)

(2) Use, another ingredient in a proper return for God"s gifts. These are not to be despised and shunned, but valued and enjoyed. Asceticism, or voluntary abstinence from meats and drinks, as if these were sinful, harmonizes not with the spirit of either the Old (Ecc_9:7) or the New Testament (Col_2:20-23) religion. If permissible under the latter as a means of spiritual discipline, (1Co_9:27) or as an expedient for preventing sin in others, (Rom_14:21) it should not be forgotten that God "giveth us all things richly to enjoy". (1Ti_6:17)

2. Crooked things demand consideration. "In the day of adversity consider:

(1) Whence adversity comes, viz. from God (Lam_3:32; Job_2:10) Hence should it be accepted with submission. (Job_2:10; Psa_39:9)

(2) How adversity comes. Not as a strange thing, i.e. allotted in an exceptional way to the individual, (1Pe_4:12) but rather as an experience common among men (1Co_10:13; 1Pe_5:9) Not as an isolated thing, unmixed with good or untempered with mercy. (Psa_101:1) Not as a constant thing, as if life were a perpetual calamity. (Job_22:18) Not as an arbitrary thing, as if the sovereign Disposer of events acted without reason in sending troubles upon men (Lam_3:33; Heb_12:10) Certainly not as a malignant thing, as if the Almighty took pleasure in the sufferings and miseries of his creatures (Lam_3:33; Heb_12:10)

(3) Why adversity comes; because of man"s sinfulness, though not always in each instance connected with some particular offence.

(4) Wherefore adversity comes; to fulfill the Divine purpose concerning man, which is not one but manifold. (Job_33:29)

IV COMBINE TO SERVE A LOFTY PURPOSE. "God hath even made the one side by side with the other, to the end that man should not find out anything that shall be after him." The Almighty"s design variously explained.

1. Unlikely interpretations.

(1) That God, willing man to be rid of all things at death instead of punishing him hereafter, puts evil into his existence here, and allows it to alternate with good (Hitzig). This does not harmonize with the Preacher"s doctrine of a future judgment, (Ecc_9:9 Ecc_12:14) and is ruled out of court by the general scope of the New Testament.

(2) That man might find nothing which he, dying, might take with him into the unseen world (Ewald). But this end is secured by death, (Ecc_5:15) and if more were needed would have been more effectually attained by making man"s lot on earth all adversity and no prosperity, rather than a commingling of the two; while if the proposed interpretation explains the presence of evil alongside of good, it leaves unaccounted for the existence of good alongside of evil in man"s lot.

(3) That man might pass through the whole school of life, so that on departing from this scene nothing might remain outstanding (in arrears) which he had not experienced (Delitzsch). This seems equivalent to saying that God commingles joy and sorrow in man"s experience that man might have a taste of both which sounds like a truism or that his discipline might be complete by being subjected to both, so that nothing more should be possible to or required by him in a future state to render him responsible which, though true, indicates a clearness and fullness of theologicalconception manifestly beyond the Preacher.

(4) That no one coming after God by way of review should be able to find anything of blame to cast on his procedure (Mercator, Poole, Fausset); which, though undeniable, is not warranted by a just translation of the Hebrew.

2. Likely interpretations.

(1) That the alternation of prosperous and adverse dispensations was designed to prevent man from finding out the course of future events; in other words, that man should never be able certainly to predict his own future, or even what should be on the morrow (Zockler, Hengstenberg), and therefore should be disposed to trust in God and calmly wait the development of events; with which teaching may be compared Christ"s about taking no thought for the morrow, (Mat_6:34) and that of Horace ("Odes," 3:29. 29-38).

God in his wisdom hides from sight, Yelled in impenetrable night, The future chance and change; And smiles when mortals" anxious fears, Forecasting ills of coming years, Beyond their limit range. (Plumptre, in loco. )

The continuity of human experience is not so unbroken that mortal sagacity, at its highest, can forecast the incidents of even the nearest day.

(2) That no man should be able to tell precisely what might come to pass on earth after he had left it (Plumptre), a thought already expressed, (Ecc_6:12) of which the practical outcome is the same as that just stated, viz. that as the Divine Being desired to keep the times and seasons in his own hand, he mingled crooked things and straight in man"s experience, that man should not be able to guess with certainty at what was coming, and might accordingly be impelled to lead a life of sobriety and watchfulness (Pro_4:23, Pro_4:25, Pro_4:26; Mat_25:13; Luk_12:15, Luk_12:35-40)

(3) That man might not be able by all his cogitations on the present scene to find out the lot either of himself or of mankind generally in a future state (Wright); and unquestionably this is true that without the gospel the whole subject of a future state for man would be, if not an insoluble enigma, at least a darkly veiled mystery. A consideration of man"s experiences on earth would so little guide to accurate knowledge of what his experiences beyond the grave should be, that to thoughtful minds they might rather seem to have been constructed for the very purpose of baffling curiosity on that alluring theme.

Learn:

1. That crooked things may sometimes be better than straight.

2. That men should not always ask the crooked things in their lot to be straightened.

3. That straight things alone might often prove hurtful.

Vers. 13-15.

The perplexities of life.

The Book of Ecclesiastes raises questions which it very inadequately answers, and problems which it scarcely attempts to solve. Some of the difficulties observable in this world, in human society, and in individual experience appear to be insoluble by reason, though to some extent they may be overcome by faith. And certainly the fuller revelation which we enjoy as Christians is capable of assisting us in our endeavor not to be overborne by the forces of doubt and perplexity of which every thoughtful man is in some measure conscious.

I A SPECULATIVE DIFFICULTY: THE COEXISTENCE OF CROOKED THINGS WITH STRAIGHT. The philosophical student encounters this difficulty in a more definite form than ordinary thinkers, and is best acquainted with the apparent anomalies of existence. It may suffice to refer to the coexistence of sense and spirit, nature and reason, law and freedom, good and evil, death and immortality.

II A PRACTICAL DIFFICULTY; THE JUXTAPOSITION AND INTERCHANGE OF PROSPERITY AND ADVERSITY. "God hath even made the one side by side with the other." The inequality of the human lot has, from the time of Job, been the occasion of much questioning, dissatisfaction, and skepticism. Opinions differ as to the effect upon this inequality of the advance of civilization. Riches and poverty, splendor and squalor, refinement and brutishness, exist side by side. And the observation of every one has remarked the startling transitions in the condition and fortunes alike of the wealthy and the poor; these are exalted, and those depressed. At first sight all this seems inconsistent with the sway of a just and benignant Providence.

III A MORAL DIFFICULTY: THE EVIDENT ABSENCE OF A JUST AND PERFECT RETRIBUTION N THIS LIFE. The righteous perish, and the wicked live on in their evil-doing unchecked and unpunished. There are those who would acquiesce in inequality of condition, were such inequality proportioned to disparities of moral character, but who are dismayed by the spectacle of prosperous crime and triumphant vice, side by side with integrity and benevolence doomed to want and suffering.

IV THE DUTY OF CONSIDERATION AND PATIENCE IN THE PRESENCE OF SUCH PERPLEXING ANOMALIES. The first and most obvious attitude of the wise man, when encountering difficulties such as those described in this passage, is to avoid hasty conclusions and immature, unconsidered, and partial judgments. It is plain that we are confronted with what we cannot comprehend. Our observation is limited; our penetration is at fault; our reason is baffled. We are not, therefore, to shut our eyes to the facts of life, or to deny what our intelligence forces upon us. But we must think, and we must wait.

V THE PURPOSE OF SUCH DIFFICULTIES, AS FAR AS WE ARE CONCERNED, IS TO TEST AND TO ELICIT FAITH IN GOD. There is sufficient reason for every thoughtful man to believe in the wisdom and righteousness of the eternal Ruler. And the Christian has special grounds for his assurance that all things are ordained by his Father and Redeemer, and that the Judge of all the earth will do right. T.

Vers. 13, 14.

The irremediable.

Before we apply the main principle of the text, we may gather two lessons by the way.

I THE WISDOM OF APPROPRIATING of appropriating to ourselves and enjoying what God gives us without hesitation. In the day of our prosperity let us be joyful. We need not be draping our path with gloomy thoughts; we need not send the skeleton round at the feast; we should, indeed, partake moderately of everything, and in everything give thanks, showing gratitude to the Divine Giver; and we should also have the open heart which does not fail to show liberality to those in need. If our success be hallowed by these three virtues, it will be well with us.

II THE RIGHTNESS OF RECTIFYING of making straight all the crooked things which can be straightened. We are not to give up great moral problems as insoluble until we are absolutely convinced that they are beyond our reach. Poverty, ignorance, intemperance, irreligion, these are very "crooked" things; but God did not make them what they are. Man has done that. His sin is the great and sad perverting force in the world, bending all things out of their course and turning them in wrong directions. And though they may seem to be too rigid and fixed to be amenable to our treatment, yet, hoping in God and seeking his aid, we must address ourselves courageously and intelligently to these crooked things until they are made straight. There is nothing that so strongly appeals to, and that will so richly reward, our aspiration, our ingenuity, our energy, our patience.

III THE DUTY OF SUBMITTING. There are some things in regard to which we have to acknowledge that the evil thing is a "work of God," something he has "made crooked." This is to be accepted as the ordering of his holy will, as something that is balanced and overbalanced by the good things which are on the other side. It may be slenderness of means, lowliness of position, feebleness of intelligence, exclusion from society in which we should like to mingle, incapacity to visit scenes we long to look upon, the inaccessibility of a sphere for which we think ourselves peculiarly fitted, the advance of fatal disease, the reduction of resources or the decline of power, the breaking up of the old home and the scattering of near relatives, the loosening of old ties with the formation of new ones, etc. Such things as these are to be calmly and contentedly accepted.

1. To strive against the inevitable or irremediable is

1. to strive against God and be guilty;

2. to court failure and be miserable;

3. to waste energy that might be happily and fruitfully spent in other ways.

2. To submit to the will of God, after considering his work, is

1. to please him;

2. to have the heart filled with pure and elevating contentment;

3. to be free to do a good if not a great work "while it is day.

Vers. 13, 14.

Resignation to Providence.

Already in the tenth verse the Preacher has counseled his readers not to chafe against the conditions in which they find themselves. "Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these?" It is part of the true wisdom which he has praised "to consider the work of God," to accept the outward events of life, and believe that, whether they be pleasant or the contrary, they are determined by a will or power which we cannot control or change. It is wise to submit. The crooked we cannot make straight; (Ecc_1:15) the cross which is laid upon us we cannot shake off, and had best bear without repining (cf. Job_8:3; Psa_146:9) A mingled draught is in the cup of life prosperity and adversity, the sweet and the bitter. Remember that it is commended to your lips by a higher hand, which it is folly to resist; accept the portion which may be assigned to you. In the time of prosperity be in good spirits (ver. 14), let not forebodings of future evil damp the present enjoyment; in the time of adversity consider that it is God who has appointed the evil day as well as the good. The thought is the same as that in the Book of Job, "What? shall we receive good at the hands of God, and shall we not receive evil?". (Job_2:10) The reason why both good andevil are appointed us is given by the Preacher, though his words are somewhat obscure: "God also hath even made the one side by side with the other, to the end that man should not find out anything that shall be after him" (ver. 14b, Revised Version). The obscurity is in the thought rather than in the phrases used. The commonest explanation of the words is that they simply assert that to know the future is forbidden us. But the phrase, "after him," is always used to mean that which follows upon the present (Ecc_3:22 Ecc_6:12; Job_21:21) Hitzig explains the words as implying, "that because God wills it that man shall be rid of all things after his death, he puts evil into the period of his life, and lets it alternate with good, instead of visiting him therewith after his death," This explanation would make the passage equivalent to, Idcirco ut non inveniat homo post se quidquam, sell. quod non expertus est. But probably the best explanation of these words is that given by Delitzsch, who accepts this of Hitzig"s with some modification: "What is meant is much rather this, that God causes man to experience good and evil, that he may pass through the whole school of life, and when he departs hence that nothing may be outstanding which he has not experienced." This interpretation of the various events of life, joyous and somber, as forming a complete disciplinary course, through which it is an advantage for us to pass, is the most worthy of the explanations of the words that they have received. And if we accept it as truly representing the author"s thoughts, we may say that our author"s researches were not so fruitless as he himself seems sometimes to assert. This recognition of a Divine purpose running through all the events of life is calculated to sanctify our enjoyment of the blessings we receive, and to comfort and sustain us in the day of sorrow and adversity. J.W.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Consider - His wise, and just, and powerful government of all events, which is proposed as the last and best remedy against all murmurings. For who - No man can correct or alter any of God's works; and therefore all frettings at the injuries of men, or calamities of times, are not only sinful, but also vain and fruitless. This implies that there is an hand of God in all mens actions, either effecting them, if they be good, or permitting them, if they be bad, and ordering and over-ruling them, whether they he good or bad.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

There now follows a proverb of devout submission to the providence of God, connecting itself with the contents of Ecc 7:10 : "Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight which He hath made crooked! In the good day be of good cheer, and in the day of misfortune observe: God hath also made this equal to that, to the end that man need not experience anything (further) after his death." While ראה, Ecc 1:10; Ecc 7:27, Ecc 7:29, is not different from הנּה, and in Ecc 9:9 has the meaning of "enjoy," here the meaning of contemplative observation, mental seeing, connects itself both times with it. כּי before מי can as little mean quod, as asher, Ecc 6:12, before mi can mean quoniam. "Consider God's work" means: recognise in all that is done the government of God, which has its motive in this, that, as the question leads us to suppose, no creature is able (cf. Ecc 6:10 and Ecc 1:15) to put right God's work in cases where it seems to contradict that which is right (Job 8:3; Job 34:12), or to make straight that which He has made crooked (Psa 146:9).

14a. The call here expressed is parallel to Sir. 14:14 (Fritz.): "Withdraw not thyself from a good day, and let not thyself lose participation in a right enjoyment." The ב of בּטובis, as little as that of בּצל, the beth essentiae - it is not a designation of quality, but of condition: in good, i.e., cheerful mood. He who is, Jer 44:17, personally tov, cheerful (= tov lev), is betov (cf. Psa 25:13, also Job 21:13). The reverse side of the call, 14ab, is of course not to be translated: and suffer or bear the bad day (Ewald, Heiligst.), for in this sense we use the expression רעה ראה, Jer 44:17, but not ברעה ראה, which much rather, Oba 1:13, means a malicious contemplation of the misfortune of a stranger, although once, Gen 21:16, ב ראה also occurs in the sense of a compassionate, sympathizing look, and, moreover, the parall. shows that רעה ביום is not the obj., but the adv. designation of time. Also not: look to = be attentive to (Salomon), or bear it patiently (Burger), for ראה cannot of itself have that meaning.

(Note: Similarly also Sohar (Par. (מחור): הוי וגו, i.e., cave et circumspice, viz., that thou mayest not incur the judgment which is pronounced.)

But: in the day of misfortune observe, i.e., perceive and reflect: God has also made (cf. Job 2:10) the latter לעמּת corresponding, parallel, like to (cf. under Ecc 5:15) the former.

So much the more difficult is the statement of the object of this mingling by God of good and evil in the life of man. It is translated: that man may find nothing behind him; this is literal, but it is meaningless. The meaning, according to most interpreters, is this: that man may investigate nothing that lies behind his present time, - thus, that belongs to the future; in other words: that man may never know what is before him. But aharav is never (not at Ecc 6:12) = in the future, lying out from the present of a man; but always = after his present life. Accordingly, Ewald explains, and Heiligst. with him: that he may find nothing which, dying, he could take with him. But this rendering (cf. Ecc 5:14) is here unsuitable. Better, Hitzig: because God wills it that man shall be rid of all things after his death, He puts evil into the period of his life, and lets it alternate with good, instead of visiting him therewith after his death. This explanation proceeds from a right interpretation of the words: idcirco ut (cf. Ecc 3:18) non inveniat homo post se quidquam, scil. quod non expertus sit, but gives a meaning to the expression which the author would reject as unworthy of his conception of God. What is meant is much more this, that God causes man to experience good and evil that he may pass through the whole school of life, and when he departs hence that nothing may be outstanding (in arrears) which he has not experienced.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

Who can straighten out anything he has made crooked?

The author uses this rhetorical question to emphasize that no one can change something that God has done. This can be written as a statement. AT: "No one can straighten out anything he has made crooked." (See: Rhetorical Question)

translationWords

works

God

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

See God’s work how straight it is, everything according to man’s deed: Paradise for the righteous and Gehinnom for the wicked. See for yourself to which one you will cleave.

for who can straighten out after death that which he made crooked during his lifetime?

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.