New Living Translation
Ecclesiastes 7:4
4A wise person thinks a lot about death, while a fool thinks only about having a good time.
Ecclesiastes 7:4 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.
- New International Version (NIV)The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.
- English Standard Version (ESV)The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.
- New King James Version (NKJV)The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, But the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.
Context of Ecclesiastes 7:4
2Better to spend your time at funerals than at parties. After all, everyone dies— so the living should take this to heart. 3Sorrow is better than laughter, for sadness has a refining influence on us. A wise person thinks a lot about death, while a fool thinks only about having a good time. 5Better to be criticized by a wise person than to be praised by a fool. 6A fool’s laughter is quickly gone, like thorns crackling in a fire. This also is meaningless.
Read all of Ecclesiastes 7Ecclesiastes 7:4 word by word
לֵ֤ב חֲכָמִים֙ בְּבֵ֣ית אֵ֔בֶל וְלֵ֥ב כְּסִילִ֖ים בְּבֵ֥ית שִׂמְחָֽה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 7:4
- Nehemiah 2:2So the king asked me, “Why are you looking so sad? You don’t look sick to me. You must be deeply troubled.” Then I was terrified,
- Isaiah 53:3He was despised and rejected— a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care.
- Matthew 8:14When Jesus arrived at Peter’s house, Peter’s mother-in-law was sick in bed with a high fever.
- Mark 5:38When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw much commotion and weeping and wailing.
- Luke 7:12A funeral procession was coming out as he approached the village gate. The young man who had died was a widow’s only son, and a large crowd from the village was with her.
- John 11:31When the people who were at the house consoling Mary saw her leave so hastily, they assumed she was going to Lazarus’s grave to weep. So they followed her there.
- 1 Samuel 25:36When Abigail arrived home, she found that Nabal was throwing a big party and was celebrating like a king. He was very drunk, so she didn’t tell him anything about her meeting with David until dawn the next day.
- 1 Samuel 30:16So he led David to them, and they found the Amalekites spread out across the fields, eating and drinking and dancing with joy because of the vast amount of plunder they had taken from the Philistines and the land of Judah.
- 2 Samuel 13:28Absalom told his men, “Wait until Amnon gets drunk; then at my signal, kill him! Don’t be afraid. I’m the one who has given the command. Take courage and do it!”
- 1 Kings 20:16About noontime, as Ben-hadad and the thirty-two allied kings were still in their tents drinking themselves into a stupor,
- Isaiah 21:4My mind reels and my heart races. I longed for evening to come, but now I am terrified of the dark.
- Jeremiah 51:39And while they lie inflamed with all their wine, I will prepare a different kind of feast for them. I will make them drink until they fall asleep, and they will never wake up again,” says the Lord.
- Daniel 5:1Many years later King Belshazzar gave a great feast for 1,000 of his nobles, and he drank wine with them.
- Hosea 7:5On royal holidays, the princes get drunk with wine, carousing with those who mock them.
- Nahum 1:10His enemies, tangled like thornbushes and staggering like drunks, will be burned up like dry stubble in a field.
- Mark 6:21Herodias’s chance finally came on Herod’s birthday. He gave a party for his high government officials, army officers, and the leading citizens of Galilee.
Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 7:4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning - A wise man loves those occasions from which he can derive spiritual advantage; and therefore prefers visiting the sick, and sympathizing with those who have suffered privations by death. But the fool - the gay, thoughtless, and giddy - prefers places and times of diversion and amusement. Here he is prevented from seriously considering either himself or his latter end. The grand fault and misfortune of…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4House of mourning house of mirth - These phrases acquire a forcible significance from the Eastern custom of prolonging both festive and mournful celebrations through several days. See Genesis 50:10; Judges 14:17. This verse indicates that a life of enjoyment, does not mean the abandonment of ourselves to pleasures, but the thankful and sober use of the beautiful things which God gives us.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3-4good for the heart: Thinking clearly about death helps us understand the seriousness of God's curse on sin and shows us the importance of enjoying life wisely (Ecclesiastes 9:10).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-29Ec 7:1-29. 1. (See on Ec 6:12). name--character; a godly mind and life; not mere reputation with man, but what a man is in the eyes of God, with whom the name and reality are one thing (Is 9:6). This alone is "good," while all else is "vanity" when made the chief end. ointment--used lavishly at costly banquets and peculiarly refreshing in the sultry East. The Hebrew for "name" and for "ointment," have a happy paronomasia, Sheem and Shemen. "Ointment" is…Read the comment
Topics related to Ecclesiastes 7:4
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 7
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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