For the living know that they shall die; but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward, for the memory of them is forgotten.
Ecclesiastes 9:5 is quoted often in arguments about life after death, and misused just as often. Does it reveal the state of the dead, or does it only report what a living man sees from the graveside?
The Rest of the Sentence
The verse does not stop at the words about the dead knowing nothing. It runs on into words that no one applies beyond this world.
You quote, for example, Ecclesiastes 9:5: "the dead know nothing": now how does this go on? "And they have no more reward." Do you believe that applies to anything beyond this world? You know well you do not; you teach the contrary. "For the memory of them is forgotten… and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun." Is it not as clear as the sun that all this applies to this world? So does the whole book, which speaks of what is under the sun in the days of the life of our vanity.
What the Dead No Longer Know
Read within that boundary, each phrase describes the dead man's relation to the world he has left, not the condition of his soul.
He was looking at the scene around him, out of which men departed and left no sign behind to show that they had been. Their memory was forgotten… In relation to that scene they knew nothing; their wisdom and knowledge had departed too. This does not mean that they "lost their memories," or that they became fools. They knew nothing of things taking place after they left, and their wisdom or knowledge could not appear in the scene any more. The closing sentence shows clearly what the earlier part applies to: "and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun."
One everyday example shows how far this ignorance reaches.
A man may have been the watchful head of a large business on earth. Once he leaves this world behind, he knows nothing more of it, or whether it prospers. And so with all departed ones as far as human affairs are concerned.
Whose Verdict Is This?
Commentators differ on how much weight the words themselves carry. Some ask whether verse 5 is God's teaching at all.
But is this the truth? Is this a doctrine of the faith delivered to the saints? Is this the revelation of God? A thousand times, No! It is the verdict which the natural man — pagan or unbelieving philosopher — pronounces.
Others weigh the words by what the writer could not yet know.
Death is the end of all here below; but in Him is life, and those who believe have it in Christ. Before He came, death could not but be dreadful: so dim, even to the believer, was the light beyond. Now we can call death gain, and very much better than the life of this world; for it is to depart and be with Christ.
The Soul-Sleep Argument Answered
Many use this verse to argue that the soul sleeps between death and resurrection. Commentators give two answers. The first weighs the word "sleep," and points to two men who were conscious after death.
Some tell us that men lie passive until the resurrection, and press the word "sleep" in support of their notion. But Scripture says "sleep" only of the body, never of the soul. Lazarus was "comforted." This was conscious blessedness… The rich man, too, was conscious. He was in pain. As he saw the joy of Lazarus, he felt his own loss. His memory was alive, and fear filled him for his five brothers still alive on the earth.
The second is that the same book closes the question itself.
That Solomon himself contradicts such an interpretation of Ecclesiastes 9:5 as soul-sleep is clear. He says, "and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it" (Ecclesiastes 12:7).
A Call to the Living
The living have one thing the dead do not: they know death is coming. Ecclesiastes draws a practical lesson from that.
Then the moral is: be busy now; work ceases in the grave; wisdom for this busy scene is not there; no heart that plans; no planning head. All true in its way. But this was man's musing, not divine revelation about the state of the dead at all. Had you asked this man what he knew of that, he would have said, as he did say, Who knows? "Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward?" He saw the dust laid in the tomb, and that was all he knew. The rest was guesswork, nothing more.
Summary
- Boundary. "Under the sun" rules the whole book. Every clause here describes the dead man's link with this world, and the verse's last line says so.
- Loss. Death ends a person's share, reward, memory and influence here. It does not end the person.
- Viewpoint. The words report what a man sees from the graveside. Commentators call this either the natural man's verdict or the dim light people had before Christ came.
- Correction. Scripture speaks of sleep for the body, never for the soul. Ecclesiastes itself sends the spirit back to God who gave it.
- Urgency. Work and planning stop at the grave. So knowing that you will die is a call to act now.