Tree of Life Version
Ecclesiastes 7:4
4The heart of the wise is in a house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in a house of pleasure.
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 go to a house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, since that is the end of all mankind —and the living should take it to heart. 3Grief is better than laughter, for though the face is sad, the heart may be glad. The heart of the wise is in a house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in a house of pleasure. 5Better to hear a rebuke from the wise than to listen to the song of fools. 6For like the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This too is vapor.
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 said to me, “Why is your face so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart.” I was very frightened,
- Isaiah 53:3He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, One from whom people hide their faces. He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
- Matthew 8:14And when Yeshua came into Peter’s house, He saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying down, sick with a fever.
- Mark 5:38They come to the house of the synagogue leader. He sees a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly.
- Luke 7:12Just as He came near the town gate, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother, a widow. A considerable crowd from the town was with her.
- John 11:31The Judeans, who were with Miriam in the house and comforting her, seeing how quickly she got up and went out, followed her. They thought she was going to the tomb to weep there.
- 1 Samuel 25:36Then Abigail went to Nabal, and there he was holding a banquet in his house like that of a king—Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was quite drunk. So she told him nothing at all until daybreak.
- 1 Samuel 30:16So he led him down, and behold, they were scattered over all the area, eating, drinking and feasting because of all the great spoil that they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah.
- 2 Samuel 13:28Then Absalom commanded his young men saying, “Now watch Amnon until his heart is merry with wine. When I tell you, ‘Strike Amnon!’ then put him to death! Have no fear! Isn’t it I who commanded you? Be strong! Be sons of valor!”
- 1 Kings 20:16They marched out at noon, while Ben-Hadad was drinking himself drunk in the booths—he and the 32 kings allied with him.
- Isaiah 21:4My heart is bewildered, terror overwhelms me. The twilight I longed for has been turned into trembling.
- Jeremiah 51:39When they become hot, I will set out a banquet for them and will make them so drunk that they become merry— and then sleep a perpetual sleep and never awake.” It is a declaration of Adonai.
- Daniel 5:1King Belshazzar held a great feast for 1,000 of his nobles and was drinking wine in front of the thousand.
- Hosea 7:5On the day of our king, princes become sick from wine. His hand drags scorners along.
- Nahum 1:10For even like tangled thorns they will be consumed, or like drunkards who are drunk, or like stubble that is fully dry.
- Mark 6:21An opportunity came—when Herod, on his birthday, gave a banquet for his high officials, military brass, and the leaders of the 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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