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1–6. About prayer and vows. 7–8. Features of despotic management. 9–16. Vanity of wealth. 17–19. The virtue of pure joys. Prayer and vows are inseparable from Divine services. Ecclesiastes gives instructions on these subjects as well. Eccl.5:1. Do not be hasty with your tongue, and let not your heart be in a hurry to utter a word before God; because God is in heaven and you are on earth; therefore let your words be few. He warns the reader against hasty and long-winded prayer. The awareness of the greatness of God who lives in heaven and the insignificance of man living on earth should encourage the latter to weigh his every word, to speak from the depths of his heart, with humility and reverence. And in the New Testament, the Savior warns against verbose and irreverent prayer (Matthew 6.7–8). Eccl.5:2. For just as dreams come from many worries, so the voice of a fool is known from many words. Just as excessive restless concern causes many dreams that disturb the peace of the sleeper, so stupid fussiness during prayer gives rise to meaningless and aimless verbosity. Eccl.5:3. When you make a vow to God, do not hesitate to fulfill it, because He does not favor fools: what you promised, fulfill. Eccl.5:4. It is better for you not to promise than to promise and not fulfill. The fulfillment of vows is obligatory, but not the vows themselves. “If you have not made a vow, there will be no sin on you” (Deut. 23.22). Eccl.5:5. Do not allow your lips to lead your flesh into sin, and do not say before the Angel [of God]: “This is a mistake!” Why should you do so that God will be angry at your word and destroy the work of your hands? “To cause the flesh to sin” means either to incite sensuality to sin (cf. James 3.6 etc.) or to subject the body to testing or punishment. The latter understanding is more correct, since the expression “to cause the body to sin” does not fully correspond to biblical usage, according to which it is not the body or even the flesh that sins, but the human will. "Angel" or messenger here means the priest who was charged with overseeing the vows. This word is used in the same sense in Mal 2.7. The Greek and Syriac translation instead of “before the Angel” reads: “before God” (glory: “before the face of God”). They either had another Jewish reading in this place or understood the expression “Angel” in the sense of God’s self-revelation. Ecclesiastes warns, in case of failure to fulfill a vow, to tell the priest: “this is a mistake,” that is, a sin of weakness, since such hypocritical self-justification will bring the wrath of God and punishment upon the guilty person. Eccl.5:7. If you see in any area oppression of the poor and violation of justice and truth, then do not be surprised at this: because the high is watched over by the highest, and above them there is an even higher; To understand the connection of verse 7 with the previous ones, we should remember that in the code of ordinary Jewish wisdom, next to the commandment to fear God, there was a commandment to respect the king (cf. Proverbs 24.21). Ecclesiastes wants to say here that injustice and oppression should not reduce respect for the king, since they are quite natural where there are many rulers. The word "region" (medinah) is found only in the books of later times (2 and 3 Kings, Lamentations, Ezek., Dan, Ezra and Neh.) and designates the provinces of the Asian kingdoms, in particular the Persian kingdom. In the book of Ezra (1 Ezra 5.8) and Nehemiah (Neh. 1.2, 7.6, 11.3) this is the name Palestine, as a Persian province. The word “region” is probably used in this sense in the book of Ecclesiastes. “And above them is still higher”, literally, from Hebrew – “higher”. By the last word, many commentators mean God, seeing in the plural an indication of the greatness of God. The meaning of the verse is this: do not be surprised at injustice, since God Himself oversees those who are higher, and will restore righteousness (cf. Eccl. 3:16–17). However, this understanding of the second half of verse 7 does not quite fit the context. Ecclesiastes here does not warn of indignation and murmuring at the sight of injustices, but simply surprise. He offers, therefore, not consolation, but an explanation of the fact. The existence of God's judgment does not in any way explain the injustice of human judgment. Moreover, article 8, which speaks of the advantage of a country ruled by a king, is difficult to connect with such an understanding. More reasons in the 7th Art. see an indication of the features of a despotic kingdom, namely the Persian one, where the leadership of the region was entrusted to the satrap, a special inspector supervised the satrap, and the king with his numerous court stood over both of them. This complexity of governing a despotic kingdom, in which each boss pursues his own interests, explains injustice and oppression. Eccl.5:8. the superiority of the country as a whole is the king who cares about the country. The despotic state is contrasted with a patriarchal kingdom with a king who personally rules the people and takes care of their welfare. The exact translation of the verse should be: “The advantage of a country is always in a king who is devoted to the field.” The expression “field” (lesadeh) indicates agriculture as the main occupation of the people and the main subject of concern for the patriarchal king. Eccl.5:9. He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver, and he who loves wealth will not profit from it. And this is vanity! A money lover is unable to quench his thirst for wealth and, therefore, always remains unsatisfied and unhappy. Eccl.5:10. As property multiplies, those who consume it also multiply; and what good is it for the one who owns it: except to see with his own eyes? Eccl.5:11. Sweet is the sleep of a worker, you never know how much he eats; but the rich man's satiety does not allow him to sleep. "Those who consume it". According to some, this refers to members of the family; according to others, it refers to servants and companions who squander the master’s wealth. In both cases, the rich person has to not so much use his wealth as watch how others use it. Eccl.5:12. There is a painful illness that I have seen under the sun: wealth saved by its owner to his detriment. Eccl.5:13. And this wealth perishes from accidents: he gave birth to a son, and he has nothing in his hands. Eccl.5:14. Just as he came out naked from his mother’s womb, so he goes away as he came, and will take nothing from his labor that he could carry in his hand. Eccl.5:15. And this is a serious illness: the way it came, that’s the way it goes away. What good does it do him to work for nothing? Eccl.5:16. And all his days he ate in the dark, in great irritation, in grief and annoyance. Ecclesiastes cites a case where wealth not only does not give happiness, but also makes a person positively unhappy. An unexpected loss of wealth, especially when there are children, is the greatest misfortune, which is much worse than constant poverty. Eccl.5:17. Here’s something else that I found good and pleasant: to eat and drink and enjoy good things in all his labors, as someone works under the sun all the days of his life that God has given him; because this is his share. Eccl.5:18. And if God gave wealth and property to any person, and gave him the power to use them and take his share and enjoy from his labors, then this is the gift of God. Eccl.5:19. The days of his life will not be long in his memory; that is why God rewards him with the joy of his heart. Having shown the vanity of wealth, Ecclesiastes returns to his conclusion that the best thing in life is to enjoy good work and enjoy earthly goods to the extent that God sends them, without burdening oneself with painful worries about increasing wealth. The thought of Ecclesiastes is essentially the same as in the words of the Savior: “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things: enough for each day is its own care” (Matthew 6.34). You might be interested in: