A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one’s birth.
A good name is better than precious ointment and more valuable than great riches, wealth, costly possessions, social rank, and fashionable clothing, and it is of priceless value. It is not worldly fame or the reputation of powerful people, but an honorable reputation consisting in Christian character marked by humility, self-sacrifice, patience, purity, virtuous living, and love for God and others. Like fragrant ointment compounded from desirable qualities, this character is formed through a painful, crushing process in which trials and suffering play a part, yet carried out with tender and compassionate care. The good name is the new name given to the true Christian, revealed in the book of life to the one who overcomes, and is itself lasting riches because its bearer will inherit all things.
The names recorded in the book of life are names of lasting honor, while those absent from it face the second death. A good name should serve to glorify God and benefit one's neighbor, not to feed self-regard or self-praise. Because of its worth, a good name should be guarded at all times. As illustrated by a father willing to give up his fortune to restore his son's good name, this warns young men not to sacrifice honor for fast living.
The day of death is better than the day of birth only when life is viewed in its vanity, sorrow, and trouble with no hope beyond it, in which view death offers rest, and this bleak outlook helps explain why some choose suicide. The verse does not teach that death is simply more desirable than life, for read in the context of Ecclesiastes as a whole, its bleak view is not the final answer, since loving obedience to God's commands is better than seeing only vanity and vexation of spirit. The verse is a fitting funeral text at the death of a kind and faithful wife and mother, bringing comfort to grieving family and church by pointing to the hope that the dead rest in the grave to await Christ coming to call his loved ones home.
A good name is better than precious ointment and more valuable than great riches, wealth, costly possessions, social rank, and fashionable clothing, and it is of priceless value. It is not worldly fame or the reputation of powerful people, but an honorable reputation consisting in Christian character marked by humility, self-sacrifice, patience, purity, virtuous living, and love for God and others. Like fragrant ointment compounded from desirable qualities, this character is formed through a painful, crushing process in which trials and suffering play a part, yet carried out with tender and compassionate care. The good name is the new name given to the true Christian, revealed in the book of life to the one who overcomes, and is itself lasting riches because its bearer will inherit all things.
The names recorded in the book of life are names of lasting honor, while those absent from it face the second death. A good name should serve to glorify God and benefit one's neighbor, not to feed self-regard or self-praise. Because of its worth, a good name should be guarded at all times. As illustrated by a father willing to give up his fortune to restore his son's good name, this warns young men not to sacrifice honor for fast living.
The day of death is better than the day of birth only when life is viewed in its vanity, sorrow, and trouble with no hope beyond it, in which view death offers rest, and this bleak outlook helps explain why some choose suicide. The verse does not teach that death is simply more desirable than life, for read in the context of Ecclesiastes as a whole, its bleak view is not the final answer, since loving obedience to God's commands is better than seeing only vanity and vexation of spirit. The verse is a fitting funeral text at the death of a kind and faithful wife and mother, bringing comfort to grieving family and church by pointing to the hope that the dead rest in the grave to await Christ coming to call his loved ones home.