SUMMARY
Sheriff Matt Dillon’s introduction to each radio episode of Gunsmoke (the title used for this section) serves as a fitting summary. “Time and chance” happen to all; knowing that to be true is part of human wisdomWisdom encompasses the qualities of experience, knowledge, and good judgment. The Old Testament book of Proverbs, which sometimes invokes a Woman as the personification of Wisdom, is a collection of aphorisms and moral teachings. Along with other biblical passages, it teaches, "The fear of the... More.
ANALYSIS
This segment of Ecclesiastes expands Matt Dillon’s observation to include all of life. Notice that 9:7-10 (see above) is placed between a reminder of human mortality in 9:1-6 and this recitation about the chanciness of human life in 9:11-12. Both sections remind us that we can never be in complete control of our lives. All humans are subject to the limits of life and the reality of death (9:1-6). And all humans are subject to the fortunes and misfortunes of time and chance.
