Rashi on TanakhEcclesiastes 5

utter a word before God to speak harshly against Heaven.

for God is in heaven, and you are on the earth And even if a weak one is above, and a mighty one is below, the fear of the weak one is upon the mighty one, and all the more so if a mighty one is above and a weak one is below!

For a dream comes with much concern For it is usual for a dream to come because of the many thoughts upon which a person ponders and thinks during the day, and it is usual for the voice of a fool to come with many words, because by increasing his words, he utters a voice of foolishness from his mouth, for [from talking too much] transgression is inevitable; therefore, I say that your words should be few.

He has no pleasure in fools The Holy One, blessed be He, has no pleasure in the wicked who vow and do not pay.

Do not allow your mouth with a vow.

to cause sin to your flesh that He should visit the iniquity on your children.

and say not before the messenger the messenger who comes to demand of you the charity that you pledged in public.

that it is an error By error, I pledged it. I thought that I would have the ability to give.

and destroy the work of your hands The commandments that were in your hands, that you have already performed, you have lost. It is interpreted in this manner in the Midrash (Ecc. Rabbah).

with your voice because of your voice.

For despite many dreams, etc. for [despite all that,] dreams, false prophets, and many words tell you, to part with the Omnipresent.

only fear God כִּי serves as an expression of “but.” Do not obey the dreams, but fear God.

If you see oppression of the poor and deprivation of justice and righteousness, etc. If you see in the province that they oppress the poor and deprive [them of] justice and righteousness.

wonder not about the will of the Omnipresent, when He brings evil upon them.

for the Highest over the high waits and sees their deeds, and there are higher ones [i.e., angels] over them who perform the agency of the Omnipresent, and they have a strong hand to punish them.

and deprivation of justice Heb. וְגֵזֶל מִשְּׁפָּט, deprivation of justice. Since it is in the construct state, it is vowelized גֶזֶל, with a small “pattah” (seggol), for were it not in the construct state, it would be vowelized גָזֵל with a “kamatz.” Another explanation: If you see that they oppress the poor and deprive them of justice, and you see charity coming to the city, that the Holy One, blessed be He, lavishes goodness upon them and does not mete retribution upon them, do not wonder about the will of the Omnipresent, for so is His custom, to be slow to anger.

for the Highest over the high waits He waits until their measure is full.

and...higher ones He has over them to recompense them when the time of their visitation arrives, like (Job 14:15): “You do not wait (תִשְּׁמוֹר) for my sin”; (Isa. 26:2): “awaiting (שֹּׁמֵר) the realization”; (Gen. 37:11): “awaited (שָּׁמַר) the matter.”

And the loftiness of the earth is in everything and the loftiness of the dwellers of the earth, who are haughty and provoke the Omnipresent. is in everything In everything, he performs His agency to recompense them, even through mosquitoes, as He did to Titus.

even the King is subservient to the field The Holy One, blessed be He, became subservient to Zion, to demand [the punishment for] their mistreatment from her destroyers and to pay her reward to her builders.

Whoever loves silver will not be sated with silver Whoever loves the commandments will not be sated with them.

and he who loves a multitude of many commandments.

without increase and none of them has a specific and recognizable commandment, such as the building of the Temple or a synagogue, or a beautiful Sepher Torah.

this too is vanity So are these two verses expounded upon in the Midrash, and there are other suitable interpretations, but I stated this one first because it is related to the matter of (verse 7): “and there are higher ones over them,” which Scripture juxtaposed to them.

Another explanation: [8] And the loftiness of the earth is over everything The reward for tilling the soil is esteemed over everything, for even the king must be subservient to the field; if the earth produced fruits, he will eat, but if not, he dies from hunger.

[9] Whoever loves silver will not be sated with silver He will not eat money,

and he who loves a multitude—of money...

without grain that he does not gather for himself produce—this too is vanity.

Another explanation: [8] And the loftiness of the land is in everything The reward of Israel is in all words of Torah, both in Scripture, in Mishnah, and in Gemara.

the king is subservient to the field If he is [well-versed] in Scripture and in Mishnah, he must still be subservient to the one well-versed in Gemara, because he arranges before him the practical decisions of prohibition and permissibility, uncleanness and cleanness, and laws of jurisprudence.

[9] Whoever loves silver Whoever loves Torah, will not be sated with it.

and he who loves a multitude of Torah.

without grain [He] who has [knowledge of] Scripture and Mishnah, but has no [knowledge of] Gemara, what use does he have? All these are in Leviticus Rabbah (23:13).

With the increase of good when the Israelites improve their deeds.

its eaters increase the giving of the reward for the commandments.

and what is the advantage to its Master to the Holy One, blessed be He, with all the improvement of their deeds.

except seeing [with] His eyes that He sees that they are subservient to Him, and He has satisfaction [from the fact] that He commanded [lit. He said] and His will was done, and so [it is] concerning the sacrifices.

With the increase of good its eaters increase When they bring many freewill offerings, the priests who eat it increase.

and what is the advantage to its Master to the Holy One, blessed be He.

except what He sees [with] His eyes that He commanded, and His will was done.

The sleep of the laborer is sweet The one who tills the soil sleeps, and he enjoys his sleep, whether he eats little or whether he eats much, for he is already accustomed to it.

but the satiety of the rich does not allow him to sleep But the satiety of belongings of the rich man, who owns much merchandise, does not allow him to sleep; all night he thinks about them. Another explanation: The year of the one who serves God is sweet; whether the days of his years are few or many, he will eat his reward—the one who had few years like the one who had many years. Moses led Israel forty years, and the prophet Samuel led them ten years, yet Scripture equated them, this one like that one, as it is said (Ps. 99.6): “Moses and Aaron among His priests, and Samuel among those who call in His name, etc.” So is it expounded upon in Tanhuma (Ki Thissa 3).

but the satiety of the rich the one who has taught many traditions.

does not allow him to sleep in the grave, as it is said (Song 7:10): “making the lips of the sleeping speak.” Every Torah scholar, in whose name a traditional law is recited—his lips speak in the grave.

riches kept by their owner for his harm like the riches of Korah, because of which he became haughty and descended into the grave.

who will have nothing in his hand not even the merit of his fathers.

and he will carry nothing with his toil When he dies, he will not take in his hand any merit of charity that he did with his money during his lifetime.

just as it came that money, so will it go.

and sickness Heb. וְחָלְיוֹ, like וְחֹלִי, and the “vav” is superfluous, like the “vav” of (Ps. 104: 20): “beast (חֳיְתוֹ) of the forest.”

to eat and drink and to experience goodness to engage in the Torah, which is a good doctrine; and he should not accumulate much wealth, but he should rejoice with the portion given him, for that is his portion.

and has given him power to eat thereof during his lifetime.

and to take his portion in his death, that He should enable him to engage in the Torah and in the commandments during his lifetime, so that he should receive reward.

are not many for there is no longevity in this world.

For let him remember that the days of his life for they are few and not many; so why should he toil to accumulate wealth? Let him toil in his lifetime with a thing that endures for him in the World to Come.

for God is testimony, etc. The Holy One, blessed be He, [testifies] a constant testimony about this forever.

of the joy of his heart that he rejoiced to do good in his lifetime, and I saw in the Midrash (Ecc. Rabbah): This refers to Elkanah, who led Israel up to Shiloh on the festivals, and on the way that he brought them up on one year he did not bring them up the foll owing year, in order to publicize the matter and to accustom them [to perform the pilgrimage]. Therefore, Scripture praises him (I Sam. 1:3): “And that man was wont to go up from his city, etc.” I believe [lit., I say] that this Midrash is [based on] the end of the verse: “for God is testimony of the joy of his heart.” This is Elkanah, whom the Holy One, blessed be He, established in the Scriptures, and testified about him: “And that man was wont to go up from his city.”

testimony Heb. מַעֲנֶה. This is vowelized with a “pattah kattan” (seggol). Therefore, I explain it as a noun, like (Job 32:5): “for there was no answer (מַעֲנֶה) in the mouth of the three men.”

of the joy of his heart that he was happy on the festival.