Ecclesiastes 7:7 - Exposition

The verse begins with ki , which usually introduces a reason for what has preceded; but the difficulty in finding the connection has led to various explanations and evasions. The Authorized Version boldly separates the verse from what has gone before, and makes a new paragraph beginning with "surely:" Surely oppression maketh a wise man mad. Delitzsch supposes that something has been lost between Ecclesiastes 7:6 and Ecclesiastes 7:7 , and he supplies the gap by a clause borrowed from Proverbs 16:8 , "Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right;" and then the sentence proceeds naturally, "For oppression," etc. But this is scarcely satisfactory, as it is mere conjecture wholly unsupported by external evidence. The Vulgate leaves ki untranslated; the Septuagint has ὅτι . Looking at the various paragraphs, all beginning with tob , rendered "better," viz. Proverbs 16:1 , Proverbs 16:2 , Proverbs 16:3 , Proverbs 16:5 , Proverbs 16:8 , we must regard the present verse as connected with what precedes, a new subject being introduced at Proverbs 16:8 . Putting Proverbs 16:6 in a parenthesis as merely presenting an illustration of the talk of fools, we may see in Proverbs 16:7 a confirmation of the first part of Proverbs 16:5 . The rebuke of the wise is useful even in the case of rulers who are tempted -to excess and injustice. The "oppression" in the text is the exercise of irresponsible power, that which a man inflicts, not what he suffers; this makes him "mad," even though he be in other respects and under other circumstances wise; he ceases to be directed by reason and principle, and needs the correction of faithful rebuke. The Septuagint and Vulgate, rendering respectively συκοφαντία and calumnia , imply that the evil which distracts the wise man is false accusation. And a gift destroyeth the heart. The admission of bribery is likewise an evil that calls for wise rebuke. So Proverbs 15:27 , "He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house; but he that hateth gifts shall live." The phrase, "destroys the heart," means corrupts the understanding, deprives a man of wisdom, makes him no better than a fool (comp. Hosea 4:11 , where the same effect is attributed to whoredom and drunkenness). The Septuagint has, ἀπόλλυσι τὴν καρδίαν εὐγενείας αὐτοῦ , "destroys the heart of his nobility;" the Vulgate, perdet robur cordis illius , "will destroy the strength of his heart." The interpretation given above seems to be the most reasonable way of dealing with the existing text; but Nowack and Volck adopt Delitzsch's emendation.