Ecclesiastes 7:2

Bible in Basic English (1941)

It is better to go to the house of weeping, than to go to the house of feasting; because that is the end of every man, and the living will take it to their hearts.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

טוֹב לָלֶכֶת אֶל־בֵּית־אֵבֶל מִלֶּכֶת אֶל־בֵּית מִשְׁתֶּה בַּאֲשֶׁר הוּא סוֹף כָּל־הָאָדָם וְהַחַי יִתֵּן אֶל־לִבּוֹ

Transliteration

Ṭôḇ lāleḵeṯ to-bêṯ-ʾēḇel from-lekeṯ to-bêṯ mišteh in-which he sôp̄ all-the-ʾāḏām wə-haḥay yittēn to-libbô

Grammar Details

• *Ṭôḇ*: adjective, masculine singular - good/better
• *lāleḵeṯ*: Qal infinitive construct with preposition - to go
• *bêṯ*-*ʾēḇel*: construct chain - house of mourning
• *lekeṯ*: Qal infinitive construct - going
• *bêṯ* *mišteh*: noun + noun - house of feasting
• *sôp̄*: noun, masculine singular - end
• *ʾāḏām*: noun, masculine singular with definite article - the man/mankind
• *wə-haḥay*: conjunction + article + adjective/participle - and the living
• *yittēn*: Qal imperfect 3rd masculine singular - he will give/set
• *libbô*: noun, masculine singular with 3rd masculine singular suffix - his heart

Word Meanings

• *Ṭôḇ*: good/better/more beneficial
• *bêṯ*-*ʾēḇel*: house of mourning/place of grief
• *bêṯ* *mišteh*: house of feasting/place of banquet
• *sôp̄*: end/conclusion/destiny
• *ʾāḏām*: mankind/humanity/every person
• *haḥay*: the living one/one who is alive
• *yittēn* *ʾel-libbô*: will take to heart/will consider deeply/will reflect

Referenced Verses

• Ps 90:12 : 12 So give us knowledge of the number of our days, that we may get a heart of wisdom.
• Isa 5:11-12 : 11 Cursed are those who get up early in the morning to give themselves up to strong drink; who keep on drinking far into the night till they are heated with wine! 12 And corded instruments and wind-instruments and wine are in their feasts: but they give no thought to the work of the Lord, and they are not interested in what his hands are doing.
• Isa 22:12-14 : 12 And in that day the Lord, the Lord of armies, was looking for weeping, and cries of sorrow, cutting off of the hair, and putting on the clothing of grief: 13 But in place of these there was joy and delight, oxen and sheep were being made ready for food, there was feasting and drinking: men said, Now is the time for food and wine, for tomorrow death comes. 14 And the Lord of armies said to me secretly, Truly, this sin will not be taken from you till your death, says the Lord, the Lord of armies.
• Isa 47:7 : 7 And you said, I will be a queen for ever: you did not give attention to these things, and did not keep in mind what would come after.
• Amos 6:3-6 : 3 You who put far away the evil day, causing the rule of the violent to come near; 4 Who are resting on beds of ivory, stretched out on soft seats, feasting on lambs from the flock and young oxen from the cattle-house; 5 Making foolish songs to the sound of corded instruments, and designing for themselves instruments of music, like David; 6 Drinking wine in basins, rubbing themselves with the best oils; but they have no grief for the destruction of Joseph.
• Hag 1:5 : 5 For this cause the Lord of armies has said, Give thought to your ways.
• Mal 2:2 : 2 If you will not give ear and take it to heart, to give glory to my name, says the Lord of armies, then I will send the curse on you and will put a curse on your blessing: truly, even now I have put a curse on it, because you do not take it to heart.
• Matt 5:4 : 4 Happy are those who are sad: for they will be comforted.
• Matt 14:6-9 : 6 But when Herod's birthday came, the daughter of Herodias was dancing before them, and Herod was pleased with her. 7 So he gave her his word with an oath to let her have whatever she might make request for. 8 And she, at her mother's suggestion, said, Give me here on a plate the head of John the Baptist. 9 And the king was sad; but because of his oaths and because of his guests, he gave the order for it to be given to her; 10 And he sent and had John's head cut off in the prison. 11 And his head was put on a plate and given to the girl; and she took it to her mother. 12 And his disciples came, and took up his body and put it in the earth; and they went and gave Jesus news of what had taken place.
• Rom 6:21-22 : 21 What fruit had you at that time in the things which are now a shame to you? for the end of such things is death. 22 But now, being free from sin, and having been made servants to God, you have your fruit in that which is holy, and the end is eternal life.
• Phil 3:19 : 19 Whose end is destruction, whose god is the stomach, and whose glory is in their shame, whose minds are fixed on the things of the earth.
• Heb 9:27 : 27 And because by God's law death comes to men once, and after that they are judged;
• 1 Pet 4:3-4 : 3 Because for long enough, in times past, we have been living after the way of the Gentiles, given up to the desires of the flesh, to drinking and feasting and loose behaviour and unclean worship of images; 4 And they are wondering that you no longer go with them in this violent wasting of life, and are saying evil things of you:
• Gen 48:1-9 : 1 Now after these things, word came to Joseph that his father was ill: and he took with him his sons Manasseh and Ephraim. 2 And when they said to Jacob, Your son Joseph is coming to see you: then Israel, getting all his strength together, had himself lifted up in his bed. 3 And Jacob said to Joseph, God, the Ruler of all, came to me in a vision at Luz in the land of Canaan, and gave me his blessing, 4 And said to me, Truly, I will make you fertile and give you increase and will make of you a great family of nations: and I will give this land to your seed after you to be their heritage for ever. 5 And now your two sons who came to birth in Egypt before I came to you here, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine, in the same way as Reuben and Simeon are. 6 And any other offspring which you have after them, will be yours, and will be named after their brothers in their heritage. 7 And as for me, when I came from Paddan, death overtook Rachel on the way, when we were still some distance from Ephrath; and I put her to rest there on the road to Ephrath, which is Beth-lehem. 8 Then Israel, looking at Joseph's sons, said, Who are these? 9 And Joseph said to his father, They are my sons, whom God has given me in this land. And he said, Let them come near me, and I will give them a blessing. 10 Now because Israel was old, his eyes were no longer clear, and he was not able to see. So he made them come near to him, and he gave them a kiss, folding them in his arms. 11 And Israel said to Joseph, I had no hope of seeing your face again, but God in his mercy has let me see you and your children. 12 Then Joseph took them from between his knees, and went down on his face to the earth. 13 Then taking Ephraim with his right hand, Joseph put him at Israel's left side, and with his left hand he put Manasseh at Israel's right side, placing them near him. 14 And Israel, stretching out his right hand, put it on the head of Ephraim, the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, crossing his hands on purpose, for Manasseh was the older. 15 And he gave Joseph a blessing, saying, May the God to whom my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, gave worship, the God who has taken care of me all my life till this day, 16 The angel who has been my saviour from all evil, send his blessing on these children: and let my name and the name of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, be given to them; and let them become a great nation in the earth. 17 Now when Joseph saw that his father had put his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it did not seem right to him; and lifting his father's hand he would have put it on the head of Manasseh. 18 And Joseph said to his father, Not so, my father, for this is the older; put your right hand on his head. 19 But his father would not, saying, I am doing it on purpose, my son; he will certainly become a nation and a great one; but his younger brother will be greater than he, and his seed will become a great family of nations. 20 So he gave them his blessing that day, saying, You will be the sign of blessing in Israel, for they will say, May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh; and he put Ephraim before Manasseh. 21 Then Israel said to Joseph, Now my death is near; but God will be with you, guiding you back to the land of your fathers. 22 And I have given you more than your brothers, even Shechem as your heritage, which I took from the Amorites with my sword and my bow.
• Gen 49:2-9 : 2 Come near, O sons of Jacob, and give ear to the words of Israel your father. 3 Reuben, you are my oldest son, the first-fruit of my strength, first in pride and first in power: 4 But because you were uncontrolled, the first place will not be yours; for you went up to your father's bed, even his bride-bed, and made it unclean. 5 Simeon and Levi are brothers; deceit and force are their secret designs. 6 Take no part in their secrets, O my soul; keep far away, O my heart, from their meetings; for in their wrath they put men to death, and for their pleasure even oxen were wounded. 7 A curse on their passion for it was bitter; and on their wrath for it was cruel. I will let their heritage in Jacob be broken up, driving them from their places in Israel. 8 To you, Judah, will your brothers give praise: your hand will be on the neck of your haters; your father's sons will go down to the earth before you. 9 Judah is a young lion; like a lion full of meat you have become great, my son; now he takes his rest like a lion stretched out and like an old lion; by whom will his sleep be broken? 10 The rod of authority will not be taken from Judah, and he will not be without a law-giver, till he comes who has the right to it, and the peoples will put themselves under his rule. 11 Knotting his ass's cord to the vine, and his young ass to the best vine; washing his robe in wine, and his clothing in the blood of grapes: 12 His eyes will be dark with wine, and his teeth white with milk. 13 The resting-place of Zebulun will be by the sea, and he will be a harbour for ships; the edge of his land will be by Zidon. 14 Issachar is a strong ass stretched out among the flocks: 15 And he saw that rest was good and the land was pleasing; so he let them put weights on his back and became a servant. 16 Dan will be the judge of his people, as one of the tribes of Israel. 17 May Dan be a snake in the way, a horned snake by the road, biting the horse's foot so that the horseman has a fall. 18 I have been waiting for your salvation, O Lord. 19 Gad, an army will come against him, but he will come down on them in their flight. 20 Asher's bread is fat; he gives delicate food for kings. 21 Naphtali is a roe let loose, giving fair young ones. 22 Joseph is a young ox, whose steps are turned to the fountain; 23 He was troubled by the archers; they sent out their arrows against him, cruelly wounding him: 24 But their bows were broken by a strong one, and the cords of their arms were cut by the Strength of Jacob, by the name of the Stone of Israel: 25 Even by the God of your father, who will be your help, and by the Ruler of all, who will make you full with blessings from heaven on high, blessings of the deep stretched out under the earth, blessings of the breasts and of the fertile body: 26 Blessings of sons, old and young, to the father: blessings of the oldest mountains and the fruit of the eternal hills: let them come on the head of Joseph, on the crown of him who was separate from his brothers. 27 Benjamin is a wolf, searching for meat: in the morning he takes his food, and in the evening he makes division of what he has taken. 28 These are the twelve tribes of Israel: and these are the words their father said to them, blessing them; to every one he gave his blessing. 29 And he gave orders to them, saying, Put me to rest with my people and with my fathers, in the hollow of the rock in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30 In the rock in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in the land of Canaan, which Abraham got from Ephron the Hittite, to be his resting-place. 31 There Abraham and Sarah his wife were put to rest, and there they put Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I put Leah to rest. 32 In the rock in the field which was got for a price from the people of Heth. 33 And when Jacob had come to the end of these words to his sons, stretching himself on his bed, he gave up his spirit, and went the way of his people.
• Gen 50:15-17 : 15 Now after the death of their father, Joseph's brothers said to themselves, It may be that Joseph's heart will be turned against us, and he will give us punishment for all the evil which we did to him. 16 So they sent word to Joseph, saying, Your father, before his death, gave us orders, saying, 17 You are to say to Joseph, Let the wrongdoing of your brothers be overlooked, and the evil they did to you: now, if it is your pleasure, let the sin of the servants of your father's God have forgiveness. And at these words, Joseph was overcome with weeping.
• Num 23:10 : 10 Who is able to take the measure of the dust of Jacob or the number of the thousands of Israel? May my death be the death of the upright and my last end like his!
• Deut 32:29 : 29 If only they were wise, if only this was clear to them, and they would give thought to their future!
• Deut 32:46 : 46 Moses said to them, Let the words which I have said to you today go deep into your hearts, and give orders to your children to do every word of this law.
• Job 1:4-5 : 4 His sons regularly went to one another's houses, and every one on his day gave a feast: and at these times they sent for their three sisters to take part in their feasts with them. 5 And at the end of their days of feasting, Job sent and made them clean, getting up early in the morning and offering burned offerings for them all. For, Job said, It may be that my sons have done wrong and said evil of God in their hearts. And Job did this whenever the feasts came round.