Ecclesiastes 7:3
Better [is] sorrow than laughter, || For by the sadness of the face the heart becomes better.
Literal Standard Version
In The King James Version
Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better.
In Context
4The heart of the wise [is] in a house of mourning, || And the heart of fools in a house of mirth.
Cross References
Psalms 119:67Before I am afflicted, I am erring, || And now I have kept Your saying.
Psalms 126:5Those sowing in tears, reap with singing,
Jeremiah 31:8Behold, I am bringing them in from the north country, || And have gathered them from the sides of the earth, || Blind and lame [are] among them, || Conceiving and travailing one—together, || A great assembly—they return here.
Jeremiah 50:4In those days, and at that time,” || A declaration of YHWH, || “Sons of Israel come in, || They and sons of Judah together, || Going on and weeping they go, || And they seek their God YHWH.
Daniel 10:2“In those days, I, Daniel, have been mourning three weeks of days;
Zechariah 12:10And I have poured on the house of David, || And on the inhabitant of Jerusalem, || The Spirit of grace and supplications, || And they have looked to Me whom they pierced, || And they have mourned over Him, || Like a mourning over the only one, || And they have been in bitterness for Him, || Like a bitterness over the firstborn.
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 →