Ecclesiastes 7:8 - Exposition

Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof. This is not a repetition of the assertion in verse. I concealing the day of death and the day of birth, but states a truth in a certain sense generally true. The end is better because we then can form a right judgment about a matter; we see what was its purpose; we know whether it has been advantageous and prosperous or not. Christ's maxim, often repeated (see Matthew 10:22 ; Matthew 24:13 ; Romans 2:7 ; Hebrews 3:6 , etc.), is, "He that shall endure unto the end shall be saved." No one living can be said to be so absolutely safe as that he can look to the great day without trembling. Death puts the seal to the good life, and, obviates the danger of falling away. Of course, if a thing is in itself evil, the gnome is not true (comp. Proverbs 5:3 , Proverbs 5:4 ; Proverbs 16:25 , etc.); but applied to things indifferent at the outset, it is as correct as generalizations can be. The lesson of patience is here taught. A man should not be precipitate in his judgments, but wait for the issue. From the ambiguity in the expression dabar (see on Ecclesiastes 6:11 ), many render it "word "in this passage. Thus the Vulgate, Melior est finis orationis, quam principium ; and the Septuagint, ἀγαθὴ ἐσχάτη λόγων ὑπὲρ ἀρχὴν αὐτοῦ , where φωνή , or some such word, must be supplied. If this interpretation be preferred, we must either take the maxim as stating generally that few words are better than many, and that the sooner one concludes a speech, so much the better for speaker and hearer; or we must consider that the word intended is a well-merited rebuke, which, however severe and at first disliked, proves in the end wholesome and profitable. And the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. "Patient" is literally "long of spirit," as the phrase, "short of spirit," is used in Proverbs 14:29 and Job 21:4 to denote one who loses his temper and is impatient. To wait calmly for the result of an action, not to be hasty in arraigning Providence, is the part of a patient man; while the proud, inflated, conceited man, who thinks all must be arranged according to his notions, is never resigned or content, but rebels against the ordained course of events. "In your patience ye shall win your souls," said Christ ( Luke 21:19 ); and a Scotch proverb declares wisely, "He that weel bides, weel betides."