Commentary - Ecclesiastes 10:19

Bird's-eye view

Ecclesiastes 10:19 is a potent distillation of the Preacher's wisdom concerning life "under the sun." At first glance, it appears to be a simple, almost cynical, observation about the mechanics of worldly pleasure and commerce. Feasting brings joy, wine brings gladness, and money gets things done. But within the broader context of Ecclesiastes, this verse is anything but simple. It is a piece of inspired wisdom that operates on two levels. On the one hand, it affirms the goodness of God's creation, bread, wine, and laughter are indeed gifts to be enjoyed. On the other hand, it sets up the great temptation of materialism by stating a plain fact of earthly life: money is the universal tool. The Preacher is not saying money is the ultimate answer to life's meaning, for he has already demolished that idea. Rather, he is stating how things work in this fallen, yet providentially governed, world. The verse serves as both a license for sanctified enjoyment and a stark warning against finding one's ultimate hope in the very tool that God has provided for our use in this life.

The key to understanding this verse, as with all of Ecclesiastes, is to see it through the lens of God's absolute sovereignty. God gives the feast, the wine, and the money. And God gives the ability to enjoy them, which is a separate gift altogether. The unregenerate man sees this verse as a license for hedonism and materialism. The believer, who fears God and keeps His commandments, sees it as a description of the created order in which he is called to live, work, and worship. He can laugh at the feast and enjoy the wine because his hope is not in them. And he can use money as the answer for "all things" in the marketplace precisely because he knows it cannot answer the "one thing" that truly matters, the state of his soul before God.

Outline

Context In Ecclesiastes

This verse comes near the end of a section (chapters 9-10) where the Preacher is offering a series of proverbial, practical observations about wisdom and folly. He has just discussed the chaos introduced by foolish rulers (10:16-17) and the danger of sloth (10:18). Verse 19 then stands in contrast to the ruin brought by folly and laziness. A well-ordered kingdom, a well-ordered life, includes times of feasting and gladness. These are the products of diligent labor and wise governance. The statement about money fits into this context of practical, earthly wisdom. How does one repair a decaying house (v. 18) or provide for a feast (v. 19)? In the ordinary providence of God, it requires money. This is not a departure from the book's main theme of "vanity," but rather an application of it. Because all is vanity, a chasing after the wind, the wise man does not place his hope in these things. Instead, he receives them as gifts from God's hand and enjoys them for what they are: temporary blessings for our pilgrimage under the sun. The final conclusion of the book is to "fear God and keep his commandments" (Eccl 12:13), and this verse provides the earthly backdrop against which that ultimate duty is to be lived out.

Key Issues

The Answer for Everything Under the Sun

The last clause of this verse is a classic stumbling block for the piously-minded, and a banner for the materialist. "Money is the answer to everything." Can this really be in the Bible? Yes, and it is gloriously true, provided we understand the jurisdiction. The Preacher is speaking of the world "under the sun." In that realm, the realm of commerce and economics and building projects and paying the bills, money is indeed the universal medium of exchange. If you want to buy bread for a feast, you need money. If you want to purchase wine to make the heart glad, you need money. If you want to fix the roof that is caving in from your laziness (v. 18), you need money. In this horizontal, transactional world, money is the answer.

But the entire book of Ecclesiastes is a sustained argument that the world "under the sun" is not the whole story. Money can buy you a feast, but it cannot buy you a sanctified appetite. It can buy you the finest wine, but it cannot buy you true joy. It can build you a palace, but it cannot give you a peaceful home. It can answer every problem that can be solved with a checkbook, but it is mute before the great problems of sin, death, and the judgment of God. The Preacher's statement is a piece of brilliant, deadpan wisdom. He states the plain truth of the world's operating system in order to show its profound limitations. The man who lives as though money is the answer for absolutely everything, including the state of his soul, is the greatest fool of all. The wise man uses money to answer all the things it can answer, and for the rest, he fears God.

Verse by Verse Commentary

19 Men prepare bread for laughter, and wine makes life glad, and money is the answer to everything.

We must take this verse piece by piece, as the Preacher gives it to us. It is a three-legged stool of worldly wisdom, and all three legs are necessary for it to stand.

First, "Men prepare bread for laughter." The Hebrew says more literally, "For laughter they make bread." This is not about mere subsistence. This is not about grimly eating a crust in the corner to ward off starvation. This is about feasting. It is about the fellowship, the celebration, and the joy that is supposed to accompany our eating. God designed us to be communal creatures, and sharing a meal is a fundamental expression of that design. Laughter around a dinner table is not a worldly frivolity; it is a created good. The Preacher is affirming that part of a well-lived life involves preparing and enjoying food for the express purpose of joy and fellowship.

Second, "and wine makes life glad." This echoes the Psalmist, who says that God gives "wine that makes glad the heart of man" (Ps. 104:15). This is a direct contradiction to the sour-faced prohibitionism that infects certain strains of piety. Wine, in Scripture, is a symbol of joy and blessing. It is a gift from God. Of course it can be abused, as any good gift can be, but its right and proper use is to bring gladness. The Preacher is not commending drunkenness, which the Bible condemns everywhere, but rather the moderate use of wine that gladdens the heart and enlivens the spirit at a feast. Laughter and gladness, these are the intended results of God's provision of bread and wine.

Third, "and money is the answer to everything." And here is the punchline. How do you get the bread and the wine for the feast? In the world of commerce, you buy it. The word for money here is keseph, silver, the standard medium of exchange. The verb translated "answer" can also mean to respond or to provide. In the practical affairs of life, money is the necessary provision. It is the tool that responds to every material need. Do you need to pay your taxes? Money answers. Do you need to buy a field? Money answers. Do you need to fund the feast that brings laughter and gladness? Money answers. The Preacher is simply stating a fact of life. He is not making a value judgment about the ultimate worth of money. He is describing its function in the created order. This is economic realism, not a recommendation for materialism.

Application

This verse presents a profound challenge to the modern Christian, who is tempted by two opposite errors. The first is the error of Gnosticism, the pietistic retreat from the material world. This error looks at feasts and wine and money and sees only temptation and worldliness. It seeks a "spiritual" life that is detached from the gritty realities of creation. To this error, the Preacher says, "Eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart" (Eccl 9:7). God made these things for your gladness. To refuse them out of a false sense of holiness is to insult the Giver.

The second error is the error of materialism, which is the default religion of our age. This error reads "money is the answer to everything" and says, "Amen! That's my creed." It sees feasting and gladness not as gifts from God, but as commodities to be purchased. It believes that if you have enough money, you can solve not just your practical problems, but your existential ones as well. To this error, the whole book of Ecclesiastes thunders a resounding NO. You can gain the whole world and still be chasing the wind. You can have all the money in the world and still not have the gift of enjoyment, which comes from God alone.

The gospel provides the true balance. Because Christ has purchased our redemption, we are freed from both the fear of the world and the love of the world. We are free to enjoy a feast with laughter because our ultimate joy is not in the food, but in the Christ who provides it. We are free to use wine to gladden our hearts because our ultimate gladness is not in the bottle, but in the Spirit who fills us. And we are free to use money as the answer for all the things it can answer, because we know that our ultimate answer is Christ Himself. He is the bread of life, the true wine of the new covenant, and the one whose riches are unsearchable. The Christian can therefore be the most joyful feaster and the most prudent financier, holding all of it loosely, knowing that it is all a gift from a sovereign God, to be enjoyed and used for His glory.