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Answer:

It is important for us to take into account the purpose, genre and context of the scripture. Ecclesiastes is known to be a part of the ‘wisdom literature’ genre in the Bible, along with Proverbs. A method commonly used in these books is to state apparently contradictory principles (e.g., Prov 26:4-5) and leave it to the listener to work out which principle applies in a given situation. In Ecclesiastes, the writer also shows the complexities of life in a fallen world, which may result in individual exceptions to the conventions of biblical wisdom.

Eccl 9:4-6
“4 But he who has joined with all the living has hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion. 5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. 6 Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is under the sun.”

I don’t believe that this text teaches that there is no afterlife. Chapter 9 begins with four facts which are laid out in verses 1-6. Firstly, the godly are in God’s hands (vs1); secondly, the certainty of death (vs2-3); thirdly, evil resides in the human heart (vs 3); and lastly, there is hope for the living.

Verses 5 and 6 don’t speak about life after death, but rather death itself. Death is in view here. Everyone dies, but the ‘living’ have hope. That hope is of an eternal destiny, no matter what one’s personal circumstances are (a ‘dog’ or a ‘lion’ – vs 4). There is a hope connected to the ‘living’ which the ‘dead’ do not have. The theme of the meaningless of life apart from God, which is a dominant theme in Ecclesiastes, also comes in to play. Being apart from God, the ‘dead’ know nothing and there will be no reward for them. There is therefore no hope for them after death.

The resolution of the book of Ecclesiastes is with the words: “Fear God and keep his commandments for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgement, with every secret thing, whether good or evil” (Eccl 12:13-14). This states that our life on earth has eternal consequences. There will be a judge after death who will call us to account. For those whose lives are ‘in Christ’, they have nothing to fear, but rather a glorious hope of eternal life with God.