A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of birth.
In these verses Solomon lays down some great truths which seem paradoxes to the unthinking part, that is, the far greatest part, of mankind. I. That the honour of virtue is really more valuable and desirable than all the wealth and pleasure in this world (Ecc 7:1): A good name is before good ointment (so it may be read); it is preferable to it, and...
Commenting on Ecclesiastes 7:1-6
A good name is better than precious ointment,.... The word "good" is not in the text, but is rightly supplied, as it is by Jarchi; for of no other name can this be said; that which is not good cannot be better.
A good name [is] better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one's birth. (b) He speaks thus after the judgment of the flesh, which thinks death is the end of all evils, or else because this corporal death is the entering into everlasting life.