What happensPermalink
Beginning with proverbs about what is good, the Preacher commends reputation, rebuke, patience, contentment, wisdom, and sober reflection on death. Prosperity and adversity both belong within God’s providence. His puzzling warning against being “overly righteous” cautions against assuming righteousness controls outcomes. He also rejects wickedness and folly. His search for wisdom ends with a bitter warning about an ensnaring woman and the conclusion that humanity pursues many sinful schemes.
Why it mattersPermalink
Hard experiences teach what celebration conceals. Mourning, rebuke, adversity, and mortality can form wisdom, but wisdom cannot unravel God’s work or eliminate sin. The warning likely challenges righteousness used as a formula for security; verse 18 anchors both warnings in fear of God. The Preacher frames his harsh, gendered observation as the report of an incomplete search. His final verdict is universal: God made humanity upright, and people pursued many schemes.
Key versePermalink
In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.