Ecclesiastes 6:10
Ecclesiastes 6:10
Whatever exists has already been named, and it is known what man is; for he cannot dispute with him who is stronger than he is.
The New Living Translation states: “Everything has already been decided. It was known long ago what each person would be. So there’s no use arguing with God about your destiny.”
The New Living Translation seems plausible, given the context. Compare with Ecclesiastes 3:11 which states: “God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.” One thing about the Bible is that in some places it contains the dialogue of God, and in some places, history, and in some places, prophecy, but also in some places it contains the dialogue of the devil, such as at Job 1:9-11; 4:12-21 and Matthew 4:3. Some places, like in the Book of Job, there is also the dialogue of errant individuals like Eliphaz, and mixed messages from an exasperated Job. You need to differentiate who is speaking, and what is the purpose for why it is contained as part of Scripture. Scripture is indeed inerrant, but Scripture also contains the testimony of others, even the devil, and you shouldn’t take the words of the devil and process it as if it was spoken by God. Ecclesiastes is similar to Job, in that mixed messages are sent. I recommend a commentary study on Ecclesiastes in order to get the larger context of the book of Ecclesiastes. Solomon had been searching and struggling, and in the early chapters, you’ll notice that Solomon talks similar to Eliphaz. He explored happiness in every form of worldly pursuit, and it all left him in cynical misery, and he commented from such a state of mind, which shows us what it gets you. See Ecclesiastes 1:18; 2:11; and then compare with 12:1, 13. So the book bears some structural similarity with Job. Chapter 3 is a theological mess, much like Job chapter 4. Solomon (earlier on in the book), wrote as a miserable hand-wringer, and the early portions of the book comes across as an Anti-Proverbs, and Jehovah’s Witnesses often quote Ecclesiastes 9:3-10 to “prove” soul-sleep. Proof-texting Ecclesiastes, without consideration of the larger context, is a recipe for theological disaster. Don’t take my word for it. Check around with other commentators and see what they say about Ecclesiastes.
