Question 1

What does it mean that the righteous and wise are in the hand of God?

Accepted Answer

Saying the righteous and wise are “in the hand of God” means their lives and works are under God’s care and control. Even when life feels confusing and unfair, they are not outside of God’s rule. Outward things like success or suffering do not tell the whole story of God’s love for them. This line reminds believers that God is not distant. He sees their faith and obedience, and he directs their path in ways that may be hidden now but will make sense in light of eternity.

Question 2

Why does the passage say no one knows love or hatred by what is before them?

Accepted Answer

The passage is saying you cannot look at someone’s outward situation and be sure whether God loves or hates that person. Good health, money, or comfort do not prove God’s favor, and pain or loss do not prove his rejection. God may allow both joy and trouble in the lives of the righteous and the wicked. True knowledge of God’s heart is not found by reading circumstances, but by trusting his promises and looking to how he will finally deal with people beyond this life.

Question 3

What is meant by “one event to the righteous and to the wicked”?

Accepted Answer

The “one event” mainly points to death, which comes to everyone, whether they are righteous or wicked, clean or unclean, religious or not. In daily life too, similar things happen to both groups: sickness, health, wealth, and loss. This can feel like an “evil” or a hard problem, because it seems to hide the difference between good and evil. The passage hints that the full separation between righteous and wicked does not appear clearly in this life, but will be seen after death.

Question 4

Why does the writer call this an evil done under the sun?

Accepted Answer

He calls it an evil, or a troubling thing, because seeing the same outward fate for righteous and wicked can discourage people. It can tempt some to think it does not matter how they live. He also notes that human hearts are already full of evil and madness, and this confusion about life and death feeds that madness. People often go on in their sin and then simply “go to the dead.” The wording shows how serious it is when people ignore God while they still have time.

Question 5

What does “a living dog is better than a dead lion” mean?

Accepted Answer

In that culture, a dog was seen as low and despised, while a lion was strong and honored. Saying a living dog is better than a dead lion means that even a low, weak person who is still alive has more opportunity than a great person who has died. The living still have hope, choices, and time to turn from sin and seek God. The dead, however important they were, no longer share in what happens on earth or in its rewards. Their time for change is over.

Question 6

How is there hope for the one joined to all the living?

Accepted Answer

Hope for the living means that as long as a person is alive, the door is still open for change, repentance, and seeking God’s mercy. The living can think about their ways, turn from the evil in their heart, and live in a way that pleases God. They can also enjoy God’s daily gifts rightly. The dead cannot do any of this. They no longer know what happens here, and they have no more share in life under the sun. So the passage urges people not to waste their days.

Question 7

What does this passage say about the hearts of people?

Accepted Answer

The passage says the hearts of people are “full of evil” and that “madness” is in their heart while they live. This shows that sin is not just on the surface but deep inside. People think and act in foolish and harmful ways, often ignoring God and living as if this life is all there is. Then, after a life shaped by this inner evil, they “go to the dead.” The words are meant to wake readers up to the seriousness of sin and the need to turn to God while there is time.

Question 8

How does this passage describe the dead and their place in life under the sun?

Accepted Answer

The dead are described as not knowing anything about what happens here now. They no longer receive reward in this world, and people soon forget them. Even their love, hate, and envy are finished. In other words, their part in earthly life is over. This is not denying any life after death, but it is saying that, as far as life under the sun goes, their story is closed. This picture is meant to push the living to use their present days wisely before they reach that point.

Question 9

What does this passage teach about God’s control over life and death?

Accepted Answer

The passage teaches that all people, righteous and wicked, live under God’s hand. He governs what happens, even when his reasons are hidden and hard to sort out. The shared experience of death shows that no one escapes his rule. At the same time, the text hints at a deeper difference between those who trust God and those who do not, a difference that will be fully seen beyond this life. For now, people are called to face death honestly and seek God while they still live.

Ecclesiastes 9:1

For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God: no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them.

Death Comes to Good and Bad

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Ecclesiastes 9:1

For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God: no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them.

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Death Comes to Good and Bad

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