3. (a) What ancient custom in Israel is here discussed, and what is the most consoling thought for such a time? (b) How do we know that the name here mentioned is a good one?

³ Does this clarify the strange statement that the day of your death is better than the day of your birth? It does if you know the occasion and the background of those words. They concern a custom in ancient Israel. When a household lost a loved one in death, their dwelling became a house of mourning. It was the custom for friends and neighbors to come and offer condolences.

THE MOURNERS BENEFITED

 5. What may the mourner ponder as he sits in a house of mourning?

⁵ But when an ancient Israelite went to a house of mourning to comfort the bereaved ones, there was benefit for him also. Consider this as we reread some of the verses. “It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart.” (Eccl. 7:2, AV) Not only does he show a kindly sympathy for the survivors, rather than callously pursuing his own pleasures, but also he ponders the fact that in this house a person has died, that it is not anything unusual, that death comes to every man, and that it will come to him also. When it does, will that day of his death be better than the day of his birth? Will he have acted wisely during his lifetime, so that by the day of his death he will have made a good name with God? The living must lay it to heart, while there is time to change, for a good name cannot be made in the few minutes of a deathbed repentance.