Ecclesiastes 7:4 (DBY)

Passage

The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools in the house of mirth.

Nearby Context

Ecclesiastes 7:2 It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting: in that that is the end of all men, and the living taketh it to heart.

Ecclesiastes 7:3 Vexation is better than laughter; for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better.

Ecclesiastes 7:4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools in the house of mirth.

Ecclesiastes 7:5 It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise, than to hear the song of fools.

Ecclesiastes 7:6 For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This also is vanity.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "heart", "wise", "house", "mourning", "fools", and "mirth". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "heart" and "wise", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 3's "Vexation is better than laughter for by..." into verse 5's "It is better for a man to...", so "heart" and "wise" belong inside that flow. In Ecclesiastes context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "heart" and "wise" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.