Neville Goddard on Ecclesiastes 9:4-6 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read Ecclesiastes 9 in context

Scripture Focus

4For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion.

5For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.

6Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 9:4-6

Biblical Context

These verses contrast the living who have hope with the dead whose memory and passions fade; the living know they will die, and nothing in the sun remains for the dead.

Neville's Inner Vision

Let us listen to the inner voice behind this plain text: to be 'joined to all the living' is to be in a state of consciousness that never dies. The 'dead' are simply states you have outgrown inside your own awareness—memories fixed in time, not alive in the present. In Neville's view, hope is the gift of the living consciousness itself; when you refuse to identify with a past self, you awaken as the I AM and the sun once more shines within you. The verse's claim that the memory of the dead is forgotten points to the transformation of your inner world: when you dwell in the now, past outcomes lose their power to haunt you. Similarly, love, hatred, and envy perish when you know yourself as the I AM rather than as the character you once wore. The remedy is not to chase time, but to revise your state of consciousness. By imagining yourself already in the new, living condition and feeling its reality, you unlock the continued life of your awareness and fade the old, dry tombs of yesterday.

Practice This Now

Close your eyes and affirm, in present tense: I am joined to all the living; I live now in the I AM. Feel the field of living consciousness expand; let past selves and their memories fade as you remain in awareness.