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Ecclesiastes 5 Bible study: Guard your steps
In Hebrew, the chapter's first command, "Guard your steps" (5:1), and its "you must fear God" (5:7) are the two commands of the book's last words: "Fear God and keep his commandments" (12:13). And the verb of "God occupies him with the joy of his heart" (5:20) is the one behind "to be afflicted with" (1:13).
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“Don’t be rash with your mouth, and don’t let your heart be hasty to utter anything before God; for God is in heaven, and you on earth. Therefore let your words be few.”
Try it · Did you catch it?
“In Ecclesiastes 5, the verses on words and vows before God end with "you must fear God".”
Is that in Ecclesiastes 5, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
Guard, and fear God
The chapter opens with a command: "Guard your steps when you go to God’s house" (5:1) (tap Guard). Its first seven verses end with another: "but you must fear God" (5:7) (tap fear). Here is what almost everyone misses: in Hebrew these are the two commands of the book's last words. "Fear God and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man" (12:13). In Hebrew you must fear God in 5:7 and Fear God in 12:13 are the same three words, et ha'elohim yera, and Guard in 5:1 and keep in 12:13 are the same command, shemor. Ecclesiastes gives that command three times: here, in "Keep the king’s command!" (8:2), and at the end (12:13). Between 5:1 and 5:7 the Preacher speaks of what is said before God: "let your words be few" (5:2), vows to be paid (5:4-5), and a mouth that leads into sin (5:6).
Honest questions
Questions people ask about Ecclesiastes 5
- "It is better that you should not vow, than that you should vow and not pay" (5:5). Is the Preacher saying not to make vows?
- "If you see the oppression of the poor … don’t marvel at the matter" (5:8). Is the Preacher saying that injustice doesn't matter?
- "Every man also to whom God has given riches and wealth … this is the gift of God" (5:19). Is this a promise that God will make people rich?
- "Don’t protest before the messenger that this was a mistake" (5:6). Who is the messenger?
That was a taste
The rest of Ecclesiastes 5 is waiting in Favor
- Vows, in the law's words
- Not satisfied
- What God gives
- Occupied
- As he came, so shall he go
- 11 questions as you read
- 12 more Hebrew words
- A short check at the end
- Your notes, saved as you go
Favor reads the Bible in order, so you'll reach Ecclesiastes 5 with everything before it in view. First week free, then $10 a month per person.
The Hebrew word behind it
שָׁמַרshamarsay sha-MAR
Brown-Driver-Briggs: "keep, watch, preserve". Strong's: "properly, to hedge about (as with thorns), i.e. guard". The chapter has it three times. "Guard your steps when you go to God’s house" (5:1): Guard is the command shemor. "for one official is eyed by a higher one" (5:8): is eyed is a form of it, shomer. "There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: wealth kept by its owner to his harm" (5:13): kept is shamur. Ecclesiastes has the verb nine times, and gives the command shemor three times: here, "Keep the king’s command!" (8:2), and "Fear God and keep his commandments" (12:13).
For your group
Ecclesiastes 5 Bible study questions
- 1"to draw near to listen is better than to give the sacrifice of fools" (5:1). What helps you listen when you come to worship God?
- 2"The sleep of a laboring man is sweet" (5:12). What has made rest sweet for you after a day's work?
- 3"this is the gift of God" (5:19). What ordinary good thing in your week would you call a gift of God?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Ecclesiastes 5 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.
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Questions
What is Favor?
Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.
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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home