Ecclesiastes 9:4-6

[4] For to him that is to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion. [5] For the living know that they shall die: know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. [6] Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.

What is the context of Ecclesiastes 9:4-6?

What does Ecclesiastes 9:4-6 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

However, the inequities in life and the certainty of death should not make us give up on living. Life is better than death. In the ancient Near East, people despised wild dogs and they honored lions. Solomon's point was that it is better to be alive and have no honor, than dead and receive honor, because the living person also has consciousness and hope. The living can enjoy life, but the dead cannot.

"The dead do not know anything" does not mean they are insensible. Later revelation indicates that the dead are aware of their feelings, the past, other people, and other things (cf. Matthew 25:46; Luke 16:19-31; et al.). In the context, this clause means the dead have no capacity to enjoy life as the living can.

Ecclesiastes 9:4-6 do not contradict Ecclesiastes 4:2-3, where Solomon said the dead are better off than the living. A person who is suffering oppression may feel it is preferable to be dead ( Ecclesiastes 4:1), but when a person is dead his opportunities for earthly enjoyment do not exist ( Ecclesiastes 9:4-6).