Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.
Solomon, in a fret, had praised the dead more than the living (Ecc 4:2); but here, considering the advantages of life to prepare for death and make sure the hope of a better life, he seems to be of another mind. I. He shows the advantages which the living have above those that are dead, Ecc 9:4-6. 1. While there is life there is hope.
Commenting on Ecclesiastes 9:4-10
Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do,.... Not anything that is evil, which is near at hand, and easy to be found, and is in the power of men's hands to do, Rom 7:21; for this is forbidden of God, abominable to him, and hurtful to men; but whatsoever is good; so the Targum, "to do good and alms to the poor;'' even all good works...
Whatsoever--namely, in the service of God. This and last verse plainly are the language of Solomon, not of a skeptic, as HOLDEN would explain it. hand, &c.-- (Lev 12:8, Margin; Sa1 10:7, Margin). thy might--diligence (Deu 6:5; Jer 48:10, Margin). no work . . . in the grave-- (Joh 9:4; Rev 14:13). "The soul's play-day is Satan's work-day; the idler the man the busier the tempter" [SOUTH].