ä¼ é“ä¹¦ 3:22

Chinese NCV (Simplified)

因此我看人最好是在自己所作的事上自得其樂，因為這也是他的分；誰能使他看見他自己死後的事呢？

Parallel Translations

Chinese Union (Simplified)
故 此 ， 我 见 人 莫 强 如 在 他 经 营 的 事 上 喜 乐 ， 因 为 这 是 他 的 分 。 他 身 後 的 事 谁 能 使 他 回 来 得 见 呢 ？

Contextual Overview

¹⁶ I also saw this here on earth: Where there should have been justice, there was evil; where there should have been right, there was wrong. ¹⁷ I said to myself, God has planned a time for every thing and every action, so he will judge both good people and bad. ¹⁸ I decided that God leaves it the way it is to test people and to show them they are just like animals. ¹⁹ The same thing happens to animals and to people; they both have the same breath, so they both die. People are no better off than the animals, because everything is useless. ²⁰ Both end up the same way; both came from dust and both will go back to dust. ²¹ Who can be sure that the human spirit goes up to God and that the spirit of an animal goes down into the ground? ²² So I saw that the best thing people can do is to enjoy their work, because that is all they have. No one can help another person see what will happen in the future.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

nothing: Ecclesiastes 3:11, Ecclesiastes 3:12, Ecclesiastes 2:10, Ecclesiastes 2:11, Ecclesiastes 2:24, Ecclesiastes 5:18-20, Ecclesiastes 8:15, Ecclesiastes 9:7-9, Ecclesiastes 11:9, Deuteronomy 12:7, Deuteronomy 12:18, Deuteronomy 26:10, Deuteronomy 26:11, Deuteronomy 28:47, Romans 12:11, Romans 12:12, Philippians 4:4, Philippians 4:5

who: Ecclesiastes 6:12, Ecclesiastes 8:7, Ecclesiastes 9:12, Ecclesiastes 10:14, Job 14:21, Daniel 12:9, Daniel 12:10, Daniel 12:13, Matthew 6:34

Reciprocal: Ecclesiastes 2:19 - who knoweth Ecclesiastes 9:9 - for

Cross-References

Genesis 1:26
Then God said, "Let us make human beings in our image and likeness. And let them rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the tame animals, over all the earth, and over all the small crawling animals on the earth."

Genesis 2:9
The Lord God caused every beautiful tree and every tree that was good for food to grow out of the ground. In the middle of the garden, God put the tree that gives life and also the tree that gives the knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 3:5
God knows that if you eat the fruit from that tree, you will learn about good and evil and you will be like God!"

Genesis 3:6
The woman saw that the tree was beautiful, that its fruit was good to eat, and that it would make her wise. So she took some of its fruit and ate it. She also gave some of the fruit to her husband who was with her, and he ate it.

Genesis 3:7
Then, it was as if their eyes were opened. They realized they were naked, so they sewed fig leaves together and made something to cover themselves.

Genesis 3:12
The man said, "You gave this woman to me and she gave me fruit from the tree, so I ate it."

Genesis 3:13
Then the Lord God said to the woman, "How could you have done such a thing?" She answered, "The snake tricked me, so I ate the fruit."

Psalms 22:26
Poor people will eat until they are full; those who look to the Lord will praise him. May your hearts live forever!

Proverbs 3:18
As a tree produces fruit, wisdom gives life to those who use it, and everyone who uses it will be happy.

Jeremiah 22:23
King, you live in your palace, cozy in your rooms of cedar. But when your punishment comes, how you will groan like a woman giving birth to a baby!

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Wherefore I perceive that [there is] nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his own works,.... The Targum is, "in his good works"; not as justifying him before God, but as vindicating him before men, from unjust censures and charges: rather the sense is, that this is the wise man's conclusion, and this his sentiment, upon the whole; that there is nothing better for a man, than cheerfully to enjoy the fruit of his labours; to eat and drink in moderation, freely, joyfully, and thankfully; and make use of his riches, power, and authority, for his own good, the good of his family for the present, and the good of his fellow creatures; see Ecclesiastes 2:21;

for that [is] his portion; what is allotted to him, and thus enjoyed, is a very good one, and for which he has reason to be thankful;

for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him? to see who shall succeed him, and what use they will make of what he leaves them; he shall never return after death to see anything of this kind, nor shall any acquaint him with it; he shall not be able to know when he is dead what shall befall his sons, whether they will prosper or rio, so Jarchi; wherefore it is best for him to enjoy his substance himself in a comfortable way, and be beneficial to others, and not oppressive to them. The Midrash illustrates it thus,

"who shall bring David to see what Solomon did? and who shall bring Solomon to see what Rehoboam did?''

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

That great anomaly in the moral government of this world, the seemingly unequal distribution of rewards and punishments, will be rectified by God, who has future times and events under His control Ecclesiastes 3:16-17. As for people, they are placed by God, who is their teacher, in a humble condition, even on a level with inferior animals, by death, that great instance of their subjection to vanity Ecclesiastes 3:18-19, which reduces to its original form all that was made of the dust of the ground Ecclesiastes 3:20. And though the destinies of man and beast are different, yet in our present lack of knowledge as to God’s future dealing with our spirits Ecclesiastes 3:21, man finds his portion (see the Ecclesiastes 2:10 note) in such labor and such joy as God assigns to him in his lifetime Ecclesiastes 3:22.

Ecclesiastes 3:16

I saw ... - Rather, I have seen (as in Ecclesiastes 3:10) under the sun the place etc. The place of judgment means the seat of the authorized judge. Compare “the place of the holy” Ecclesiastes 8:10.

Ecclesiastes 3:17

A time there - i. e., a time with God.

Ecclesiastes 3:18

literally, I said in my heart with regard to the sons of men, it is that God may prove them and show them that they are beasts, they themselves. “Showing” is the reading of the Septuagint and Syriac: the present Hebrew text reads “seeing.” The meaning is that the long delay of God’s judgment Ecclesiastes 3:16-17 is calculated to show people that the brevity of their life renders them incapable of following out and understanding His distributive justice.

Ecclesiastes 3:19

That which befalleth the sons of men - literally, the event (happenstance) of the sons of men, i. e., what comes upon them from outside, by virtue of the ordinance of God. See the Ecclesiastes 2:14 note. Death in particular Ecclesiastes 3:2, Ecclesiastes 3:11 is a part of the “work that God doeth.”

Ecclesiastes 3:21

The King James Version of this verse is the only rendering which the Hebrew text, as now pointed, allows. It is in accordance with the best Jewish and many modern interpreters. A slightly different pointing would be requisite to authorize the translation, “Who knows the spirit of the sons of man whether it goes above, and, the spirit of the beast whether it goes down below?” etc., which, though it seems neither necessary nor suitable, is sanctioned by the Septuagint and other versions and by some modern interpreters.

Who knoweth - This expression (used also in Ecclesiastes 2:19; Ecclesiastes 6:12) does not necessarily imply complete and absolute ignorance. In Psalms 90:11, it is applied to what is partially understood: compare similar forms of expression in Proverbs 31:10; Psalms 94:16; Isaiah 53:1. Moreover, it is evident from marginal references that Solomon did not doubt the future existence and destination of the soul. This verse can only be construed as a confession of much ignorance on the subject.

Ecclesiastes 3:22

What shall be after him - i. e., What shall become of the results of his work after he is dead. Compare Ecclesiastes 2:19; Ecclesiastes 6:12.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Ecclesiastes 3:22. A man should rejoice in his own works — Do not turn God's blessings into sin by perverseness and complaining; make the best of life. God will sweeten its bitters to you, if you be faithful. Remember this is the state to prepare for glory; and the evils of life may be so sanctified to you as to work for your good. Though even wretched without, you may be happy within; for God can make all grace to abound towards you. You may be happy if you please; cry to God, who never rejects the prayer of the humble, and gives his Holy Spirit to all them that ask him.