Ecclesiastes 7:2

A good name is better than precious ointments, and a day of death is better than a day of birth.

Catholic Public Domain Version

In The King James Version

It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart.

In Context

1Why is it necessary for a man to seek things that are greater than himself, when he does not know what is advantageous for himself in his life, during the number of the days of his sojourn, and while time passes by like a shadow? Or who will be able to tell him what will be in the future after him under the sun?

3It is better to go to a house of mourning, than to a house of feasting. For in the former, we are admonished about the end of all things, so that the living consider what may be in the future.

Read all of Ecclesiastes 7

Cross References

Genesis 49:2Gather together and listen, O sons of Jacob. Listen to Israel, your father.

Numbers 23:10Who can number the dust that is Jacob, and who can know the number of the stock of Israel? May my soul die a just death, and may my end be like theirs.”

Deuteronomy 32:46And he said to them: “Set your hearts upon all the words which I am testifying to you this day. So shall you command your sons, to keep, and to do, and to fulfill all the things that have been written in this law.

Psalms 90:12With their hands, they will carry you, lest you hurt your foot against a stone.

Isaiah 5:11Woe to you who rise up in the morning to pursue drunkenness, and to drink even until evening, so as to be inflamed with wine.

Isaiah 47:7And you have said: “I will be a noblewoman forever.” You have not set these things upon your heart, and you have not remembered your end.

Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 7:2-7

The Value of a Good Name. 1 A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one's birth. 2 It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart. 3 Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better. 4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. 5 It is better to hear the rebuke of… Read the whole commentary →

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