1. What does everyone make for himself, and sometimes give to others?

EVERYONE makes something additional to what he does, even the one who does nothing. A man makes fine furniture, and, additionally, makes a name as a skilled craftsman. A woman makes delicious meals, and thus makes a name as a good cook. A third person does nothing, and makes a name for laziness. Everyone makes a name for himself. And sometimes we give names to others. Saul and his associates by their slander gave David a bad name. David by his psalms gave God a good name. Jehovah enabled David to make a good name for himself. Some who claim to represent God give him a bad name through their religious lies and immoral deeds. True worshipers by their words and their deeds give God a good name, and in so doing they make a good name for themselves with Jehovah God.​—Ps. 64:1-6; 1 Chron. 17:8; Ezek. 36:20-23.

2. What seemingly strange statement is made in Ecclesiastes, and what counsel follows it?

² There is a verse in the Bible book of Ecclesiastes that may seem to be a very strange statement to some readers: “A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one’s birth.” How can this be? How can death be better than life? If you had a choice, would you not prefer to be beginning your life rather than to be coming to its end? Let us read this verse again, along with the verses that follow it:

“A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one’s birth.

Eccl. 7:1-6, “Authorized Version.”

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 most consoling thought would be that the day of the death of this loved one would be better than the day of his birth​—if he had made a good name with God. It is true that in the original Hebrew, verse one of this passage merely says “a name” rather than “a good name.”a However, it is to be understood that the name is a good one. A similar case is Proverbs 22:1: “A name is to be chosen rather than abundant riches.” Some translations supply the adjective “good” to show the kind of name meant.b Necessarily the name is a good one, in both the proverb and in Ecclesiastes 7:1; otherwise, neither of the statements would make sense.

4. What may we have at death that we did not have at birth, and why?

⁴ As we live, we make names for ourselves​—good names or bad names. If we act wisely in God’s eyes, we make a good name for ourselves with God. But it takes time. On the day of our birth we have not lived long enough to make any kind of name at all. Furthermore, we are born under Adamic sin and condemned to death. (Rom. 5:12) Hence, if years later, on the day of our death, we have made a good name with God, we have something that we did not possess on the day of our birth. We have a name that God will remember when he resurrects the dead to life under Christ’s kingdom. “The remembrance of the righteous one is due for a blessing, but the very name of the wicked ones will rot.”​—Prov. 10:7.

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.

AN EVEN STRANGER STATEMENT

8. With deeper understanding, what lesson is now discerned?

⁸ So now, with this deeper understanding, we go back to the statement that ‘the day of death is better than the day of birth.’ We see that it is no longer strange but is a powerful lesson on how we should live our lives in order to make a good name with God. Then the day of our death will be better than the day of our birth.