12 People can never predict when hard times might come. Like fish in a net or birds in a trap, people are caught by sudden tragedy.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on Ecclesiastes 9:12

Commentary on Ecclesiastes 9:11-12

(Read Ecclesiastes 9:11-12)

Men's success seldom equals their expectations. We must use means, but not trust to them: if we succeed, we must give God the praise; if crossed, we must submit to his will. Those who put off the great concerns of their souls, are caught in Satan's net, which he baits with some worldly object, for which they reject or neglect the gospel, and go on in sin till they suddenly fall into destruction.