Ecclesiastes 7
DEDUCTIONS FROM
THE ABOVE-MENTIONED EXPERIENCES IN
THE WAY OF
WARNINGS AND RULES OF LIFE. This begins Division II
which goes through ch. 12:8.
Vs. 1-7. Section 1.
Though no man knows for certain what is best, yet there
are some practical rules for the conduct of life which
wisdom gives. Some of
these Koheleth sets forward in the proverbial form,
recommending a serious,
earnest life in preference to one of gaiety and frivolity.
1 “A good
name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death
than the day of one’s birth.” A good name is better than
precious ointment.
The paronomasia here is to be remarked, rob ahem mishemen
tob. There is a
similar assonance in Song of Solomon 1:3, which the German
translator
reproduces by the sentence, “Besser gut Gerucht als
Wohlgeruch,” or,”
gute Geruche,” and which may perhaps be rendered in
English, “Better is
good favor than good flavor.” It is a proverbial saying,
running literally,
Better is a name than good oil. Shem, “name,” is sometimes used
unqualified to signify a celebrated name, good name,
reputation (compare
Genesis 11:4; Proverbs 22:1). Septuagint, Ἀγαθὸν ὄνομα
ὑπὲρ ἔλαιον ἀγαθόν
-
Agathon onoma
huper elaion agathon – A good name
is better than fine perfume. Vulgate, Melius eat nomen bonum quam unguenta
pretiosa. Odorous unguents were very precious in the mind of an
Oriental, and
formed one of the luxuries lavished at feasts and costly
entertainments, or
social visits (see ch.9:8; Ruth 3:3; Psalm 45:8; Amos 6:6;
Luke 7:37, 46). It was
a man’s most cherished ambition to leave a good reputation,
and to hand down
an honorable remembrance to distant posterity, and this all
the more as the
hope of the life beyond the grave was dim and vague (see
ch. 2:16, and compare
ch.9:5). The complaint of the sensualists in Wisdom of
Solomon 2:4 is embittered
by the thought, “Our
name shall be forgotten in time, and no man shall have our
works in
remembrance.” We employ a metaphor like
that in the clause when
we speak of a man’s reputation
having a good or ill odor; and the Hebrews
said of ill fame that
it stank in the nostrils (Genesis 34:30; Exodus 5:21; see,
on the opposite side,
“I gave a sweet smell like cinnamon and aspalathus,
and I yielded a pleasant odor like the best myrhh, as
galbanum, and onyx,
and sweet storax, and as the fume of frankincense in the
tabernacle.” –
Ecclesiasticus 24:15;
“For we are unto God a sweet savor
of Christ, in
them that are
saved, and in them that perish.” II Corinthians 2:15). And the
day of death than the
day of one’s birth. The thought in
this clause is closely
connected with the preceding. If a man’s life is such that
he leaves a good
name behind him, then the day of his departure is better
than that of his
birth, because in the latter he had nothing before him but
labor, and
trouble, and fear, and uncertainty; and in the former all
these anxieties are
past, the storms are successfully battled with, the haven
is won (see on
ch.4:3). According to Solon’s well-known maxim, no one can
be called happy till he has crowned a prosperous life by a
peaceful death
(Herod., 1:32; Soph., ‘Trachin.,’ 1-3; (‘Ed. Tyr.,’ 1528, sqq.);
as the Greek
gnome runs —
Μήπω
μέγαν εἴπῃς πρὶν
τελευτήσαντ ἴδῃς
Maepo megan eipaes prin teleutaesant ideas
“Call no
man great till thou hast seen him dead.”
So Ben-Sira, “Judge none blessed (μὴ μακάριζε
μηδένα – maemakarize
maedena) before his death; for a man
shall be known in his children”
(Ecclesiasticus 11:28).
Reputation (v. 1)
The connection between the two clauses of this verse is not
at first sight
apparent. But it may well be intended to draw attention to
the fact that it is
in the case of the man who has justly gained a good name
that the day of
death is better than that of birth.
WORTHLESS, AND IN WHICH SOLICITUDE FOR REPUTATION
IS FOLLY. If the reality
of fact points one way, and the world’s opinion
points in an opposite direction,
that opinion is valueless. It is better to be
good than to seem and to be
deemed good; and it is worse to be bad than
unjustly to be reputed bad. Many
influences affect the estimation in which a
man is held among his fellows.
Through the world’s injustice and prejudice,
a good man may be evil spoken
of. On the other hand, a bad man may be
reputed better than he is, when
he humors the world’s caprices, and falls in
with the world’s tastes and
fashions. He who aims at conforming to the
popular standard, at winning the
world’s applause, will scarcely make a
straight course through life.
NOT TO BE DESPISED.
Such good qualities and habits as justice,
integrity and truthfulness as
bravery sympathy, and liberality, must needs,
in the course of a lifetime,
make some favorable impression upon
neighbors, and perhaps upon the
public; and in many cases a man
distinguished by such virtues
will have the credit of being what he is. A
good name, when deserved, and
when obtained by no mean artifices, is a
thing to be desired, though not
in the highest degree. It may console amidst
trials and difficulties, it is
gratifying to friends, and it may serve to rouse
the young to emulation. A man
who is in good repute possesses and
exercises in virtue of that very
fact an extended influence for good.
REPUTATION IS FULLY AND FINALLY MADE UP. “Call no man
happy before his death” is an
ancient adage, not without its justification.
There are those who have only
become famous in advanced life, and there
are those who have enjoyed a
temporary celebrity which they have long
outlived, and who have died in
unnoticed obscurity. It is after a man’s
career has come to an end that
his character and his work are fairly
estimated; the career is
considered as a whole, and then the judgment is
formed accordingly.
OF SUPREME CONSEQUENCE.
A good name amongst one’s fellow-
creatures, as fallible as one’s
self, is of small account. Who does not admire
the noble assertion of the
Apostle Paul, “It is a small thing for me
to be
judged by man’s judgment”? (I Corinthians
4:3). They
who are calumniated
for their fidelity to truth,
who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, who are
execrated by the unbelieving
and the worldly whose vices and sins they have
opposed, shall be recognized and
rewarded by Him whose judgment is just,
and who suffers
none of His faithful servants to be for ever unappreciated.
But they may wait for
appreciation until “the day of death.” The clouds of
misrepresentation and of malice
shall then be rolled away, and they shall
shine like stars in the firmament.
“Then
shall every man have praise of
God.” (Ibid. v. 5)
A Good Name Better than Precious Ointment
(v. 1)
nard,” but the cost of a “good
name” is beyond rubies. This which cannot
be gotten for gold, neither
shall silver be weighed for the price thereof,
can be secured
only by LABORIOUS PERSONAL EXERCISE IN
GOODNESS, always smiled on by Heaven’s favor and ASSISTED
BY HEAVEN’S
GRACE. It is the flower, fruit, and fragrance
of a soul
long practiced in well-living
and good-doing. If, therefore, things are
valuable in proportion to the
cost of obtaining them, the above proverbial
utterance bears the stamp of
truth.
Ø
An article of greater value in itself. Precious
ointment is, after all,
only a production of the earth; whereas a good
name is a spiritual
aroma proceeding
from THE SOUL!
Ø
An index of truer wealth. Precious ointment at the best is material
riches; a good name proclaims
one possessed of riches which are
spiritual.
Ø
A mark of higher dignity. Costly unguent a sign of social
rank
among the children of men; a good name attests that one has
qualities of soul,
of mind, heart, and disposition, proclaiming him
a son of God and
a peer of heaven.
pleasant fragrance which
gratifies the sense of smell and revives the body’s
vigor; the spiritual aroma of a good name not only
diffuses happiness
amongst those who come to hear of it, but imparts a sweet
joy, holy and
refreshing, to him who bears it.
extends to those in its
immediate vicinity; the savor of a good name goes
far and wide, often pervades the
community in which the owner of it lives;
sometimes, as in the instance of
Mary of Bethany (Mark 14:9), spreads
itself abroad throughout the
whole world.
unguent ultimately ceases.
Becoming feebler the longer it is exposed to the
air and the wider it diffuses
itself, it ultimately dies away. The savor of a
good name never perishes (Psalm 112:6). It passes on from age to age,
being handed down by
affectionate tradition to succeeding, frequently to
latest, generations. Witness the
names of Noah, the preacher of
righteousness; Abraham, the
father of the faithful; Moses, the law-giver of
disciple; Peter, the man of
rock; Paul, the Apostle of the Gentiles; with
names like those of Polycarp,
Cyprian, Origen, Athanasius, Augustine,
Chrysostom, Luther, Calvin,
Knox, etc.
for one entrance into earthly circles
of rank and fashion; a good name will
procure for him who bears it admission into the society of Heaven’s
peerage forever.
Let us seek this good name. Let us cherish it above all earthly
distinctions, and
Guard it from getting tarnished
by walking worthy of it!
The Day of Death and the Day of Birth (v. 1)
The day of birth begins a life at the longest brief (Psalm
90:10 – I learned in a
recent study of the Book of Judges, that it is well that a
life so sinful is so brief! –
CY – 2013). The day of death
begins a life which shall never end (Luke 20:36).
The secret of
living well is to keep an eye on
the day of one’s death (Deuteronomy
32:29; Psalm 90:12). The
secret of dying happily — living in the fear
of God
(Acts 13:36; Philippians 1:21).
2
“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.” It is better to go to the house
of mourning, than to go to the
house of feasting. The thought in the
last verse leads to the recollection of
the circumstances which accompany the two events therein
mentioned —
birth and death, feasting and joy, in the first case; sorrow
and mourning in
the second. In recommending the sober, earnest life,
Koheleth teaches that
wiser, more enduring lessons are to be learned where grief
reigns than in
the empty and momentary excitement of mirth and joyousness.
The house
in question is mourning for a death; and what a long and
harrowing business
this was is well known (Jeremiah 22:18; Matthew 9:23).
Visits of condolence
and periodical pilgrimages to groves of departed relatives
were considered
duties (John 11:19, 31), and conduced to the growth in the mind of
sympathy, seriousness, and the need of preparation
for death. The opposite
side, the house of carousal, where all that is serious is
put away, leading to
such scenes as Isaiah denounces (Isaiah 5:11), offers no
wise teaching,
and produces only selfishness, heartlessness, thoughtlessness. What is said
here is no contradiction to what was said in ch.2:24, that
there was nothing
better for a man than that he should eat and drink and
enjoy himself. For
Koheleth was not speaking of unrestrained
sensualism — the surrender of
the mind to the pleasures of the body — but of the moderate
enjoyment
of the good things
of life conditioned by the fear of
God and love of
one’s neighbor. This
statement is quite compatible with
the view that sees a higher purpose and training in the
sympathy with
sorrow than in participation in reckless frivolity. For that is the end of all
men viz. that they will some day
be mourned, that their house will be
turned into a house of mourning. The living will lay it to his heart.
He who has witnessed this scene will consider it seriously
(ch.9:1), and
draw from it profitable conclusions:
·
concerning the brevity of life and
·
the proper use to
make thereof.
We recall the words of Christ, “Blessed are they that mourn: for
they shall be
comforted;” and “Woe unto you that laugh now for ye shall
mourn and weep” (Matthew 5:4; Luke 6:25). Schultens gives an
Arab proverb which says, “Hearest thou lamentation for the
dead, hasten
to the spot; art thou called to a banquet, cross not the
threshold.” The
Septuagint thus translates the last clause, Καὶ ὁ ζῶν
δώσει ἀγαθὸν εἰς
καρδίαν
αὐτοῦ - Kai ho zon dosei agathon eis kardian autou -The living
will put good into
his heart; the Vulgate paraphrases fairly,
Et vivens
cogitat quid futurum sit,
“The living thinks what is to come.” “So teach
us to number our
days,” prays
the psalmist,“that we may apply our
hearts unto wisdom” (Psalm 90:12).
3 “Sorrow
is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance
the heart is made better.” Sorrow is better than laughter. This is a further
expansion of the previous maxim, כַּעַס (kaas), as contrasted with שְׂהוק,
is rightly
rendered “sorrow,”
“melancholy,” or “thoughtful sadness.” The Septuagint has
θυμός – thumos – passion;
as breathing hard, the Vulgate ira; but
anger is not
the feeling
produced by a visit to the house of mourning. Such a scene
produces saddening reflection, which is in itself a moral
training, and is
more wholesome and elevating than thoughtless mirth. For by the sadness
of the countenance
the heart is made better. The feeling
which shows
itself by the look of sadness (compare Genesis 40:7;
Nehemiah 2:2)
has a purifying effect on the heart, gives a moral tone to
the character,
i.e. sorrow
beautifies the soul, producing, as it were, comeliness, spiritual
beauty, and, in the end, serener happiness. The Vulgate
translates the passage
thus: Melter eat ira risu; quia per tristitia
vultus corrigitur animus deliquentis,
“Better is anger than laughter, because through sadness of
countenance the
mind of the offender is corrected.” The anger is that
either of God or of good
men which reproves sin; the laughter is that of sinners who thus show their
connivance at or approval of evil. There can be no doubt that this is not the
sense of the passage. For the general sentiment concerning
the moral influence
of grief and suffering, we may compare the Greek sayings, (Τὰ
παθήματα
μαθήματα –
Ta pathaemata
mathaemata – learn from affliction, and Τί
μαθών τί παθών –
Ti mathon ti
pathon – learn from passion – my
translation - CY –
2013) which are almost equivalent in meaning (comp. AEschyl., ‘Again.,’ 170;
Herod., 1:207). The Latins would
say, “Quaenocent, docent,” and we,
“Pain is gain.”
,
4 “The
heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of
fools is in the house of mirth.” The heart of the wise is in the
house of
mourning. This is the natural conclusion from what was said in vs. 2-3.
The man who recognizes the serious side
of life, and knows where to learn
lessons of high moral meaning, will be found conversant
with scenes of
sorrow and suffering,
and reflecting upon them.
But the heart of fools is in
the house of mirth. The fool, who thinks of nothing but present enjoyment,
and how to make life pass pleasantly, turns
away from mournful scenes, and
goes only there where he may drown care
and be thoughtless and merry.
(I recommend Isaiah 1 – Spurgeon Sermon – To The Thoughtless – this
Web site – CY – 2013).
5 “It is
better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the
song of fools.” It is better to hear the rebuke
of the wise. Gearah, “rebuke,”
is the word used in Proverbs for the grave admonition which
heals and
strengthens while it wounds (see Proverbs 13:1; 17:10). The silent
lessons which a
man learns from the contemplation of others’ sorrow are
rightly
supplemented by the salutary correction of the wise man’s tongue.
Than for a man to
hear the song of fools. Shir, “song,”
is a general term
used of sacred or profane song; the connection here with
the second clause
of v. 4, leads one to think of the boisterous, reckless,
often immodest, singing
heard in the house of revelry, such as Amos (Amos 6:5)
calls “idle
songs to
the sound of the
viol” Koheleth might have heard these in
his own country,
without drawing his experience from the license of Greek
practice or the
impurity of Greek lyrics. (So too, in
anything goes! – CY – 2013). The Vulgate renders the clause, Quum
stultorum
adulatione decipi, “Than to be deceived by the flattery of
fools.” This is a
paraphrase; the correctness is negatived by the explanation given in the
following verse.
6 “For as
the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the
fool: this also is vanity.” For as the crackling of thorns under a pot. There is
a play of words in the Hebrew, “The crackling of sirim under a
sir,” which
can be translated – “Like
the noise of the nettles under the kettles.” In
the East, and where wood is scarce, thorns, hay, and
stubble are used for
fuel (Psalm 58:9; 120:4; Matthew 6:30). Such materials are
quickly
kindled, blaze up for a time with much noise, and soon die
away (Psalm
118:12). So is the
laughter of the fool. The point of comparison is the loud
crackling and the short duration of the fire with small
results. So the fool’s
mirth is boisterous and noisy, but
comes to a speedy end, and is spent
to no good purpose. So in Job (Job 20:5) we have, “The triumphing of
the wicked is
short, and the joy of the godless but for a moment.” All this
profitless mirth is again nothing but vanity.
The House of Mourning and the House of
Feasting (vs. 2-6)
HOUSE OF FEASTING AN ERECTION OF MAN.
Ø
The house of mourning a
Divine institution. Though not true that
“man was made to mourn
“(Burns) in the sense that the Creator
Originally intended human
experience on the earth to be one
prolonged wail of sorrow,
it is nevertheless certain that days of
mourning, equally with days
of death — and, indeed, just because
of these — come to all by
Heaven’s decree. As no one of woman
born can elude
bereavement in some shape or form, so must every
one in turn make
acquaintance with the house of mourning.
Hence
mourning for departed relatives
(Genesis 23:2; 27:41; 50:4; Numbers
20:29; Deuteronomy 34:8; II
Samuel 11:27) has not only been a
universal custom among mankind,
but has commended itself to men’s
judgments as in perfect
accordance with the divinely implanted
instincts of human nature. To
mourn for the dead in becoming
manner is something more than to
array one’s self in “customary suits
of solemn black,” to affect the
“windy suspiration of forced breath,”
with “the fruitful river in the
eye,” or to put on “the dejected behavior
of the visage, together with all
forms, modes, shapes of grief,” which
are at best only the outward
“trappings and suits of woe’ (Shakespeare,
‘Hamlet,’ act 1. sc. 2); it is
more even than to utter selfish lamentations
over one’s own loss in being
deprived of the society of the departed,
sighing like the psalmist, “Lover and friend hast thou put far from me,
and mine
acquaintance into darkness” (Psalm 88:18); it is to bewail
their abstraction from the light
of heaven and the love of friends,
saying, “Alas, my brother!” (I Kings 13:30; the grief
of
her son: cf. ‘King John,’ act 3.
sc. 4), though sorrow on this account
is greatly tempered
by the consolations of the gospel in respect of
Christians (II Thessalonians 4:13);
it is to express the heart’s affection
for those who have been removed
from its embrace, like Rachel weeping
for her children, and refusing to be comforted because
they were not
(Matthew 2:18); it is even to
pay a tribute of gratitude to God for the
temporary loan of the precious
gift He has withdrawn, as Job
did when he lamented his dead
sons and daughters (Job 1:21) — to
record appreciation of its
worth, and seek, if not its immediate return,
its safe keeping till a future
day, when they who have been severed
here shall be
reunited in immortal love. Hence it is
easy to perceive
how the house of mourning may be
fitly spoken of as a house of
Divine
appointment.
Ø
The house of feasting a purely
human institution. Not that feasting
And dancing, considered in
themselves, are sinful, or that there are not
times and seasons when both may
be indulged in without sin. Many
Such occasions may be found in
actual life, as e.g. in connection with
birthdays (Genesis 40:20),
marriages (Ibid. ch.29:22; John 2:1), and
funerals (Deuteronomy 26:14; Job
42:11; Jeremiah 16:7; Ezekiel 24:17;
Hosea 9:4), with family
rejoicings of other sorts and for other reasons.
But the “house of feasting,” contrasted with the abode of sorrow,
is the tent of carousal, in which
wine and wassail, song and dance,
mirth and revelry, prevail
without moderation, and with no other
end in view than
the gratification of sinful appetite.
Such-like
gatherings, having no sanction
from Heaven, may be spoken of as
instituted by man rather than as
appointed by God.
THE HOUSE OF FEASTING ATTENDED BY FOOLS.
Ø
The heart of the wise in the house of mourning. The wise are the
good, serious,
devout, religious, as distinguished
from the
wicked,
frivolous,
profane, and irreligious. The hearts
of the wise are in the
house of mourning, even when
their bodies are absent; they are
constantly or very frequently
meditating upon sad and serious things.
They are much conversant with
mournful subjects; and as often as
occasion offers and duty calls,
they repair to the scene of sorrow and
chamber of bereavement to
sympathize with and comfort its inmates,
as Job’s friends did with him
(Job 2:11), and Mary’s with her (John
11:19), recognizing it to be
their duty to “weep with them that weep,”
as well as to “rejoice with
them that do rejoice” (Romans 12:15); and
even on their own accounts to
learn the wisdom which such a scene
is fitted to impart.
Ø
The heart of fools in the house of mirth. To this they are
attracted on
the principle that “like draws
to like “ — the same principle that
constrains the wise to repair to
the house of mourning, and by the
gratification there found for
their folly, in the laughter which there
provokes their mirth, and the
revelry which there slakes their longing
for self-indulgence.
HOUSE OF FEASTING A
Ø
The lessons taught by the house of mourning.
o
The certainty of
death for the wise man himself and for all
others. What he sees in the chamber of bereavement is “THE
END OF ALL MEN, the end to which all
the bravery and
glory of all men must
eventually come (II Samuel 14:14;
Psalm 89:48; Isaiah 40:7;
Hebrews 9:27), the final scene
also in HIS OWN
SWIFTLY FLEETING LIFE (Psalm
39:4); and so while he
lives he:
§
lays it to heart,
§
considers his end,
§
numbers his days,
and
§
applies his soul
unto wisdom (Deuteronomy 32:29;
Psalm 90:12).
o
The vanity of all
earthly things, and especially of pleasure
and frivolity. The “song of fools,”
whether:
§
the bacchanalian
carol,
§
the obscene
ballad,
§
the comic ditty,
or
§
the amorous
sonnet,
grates with harshness and
pain upon his ear, while the
laughter it evokes is like
the crackling of thorns
under a pot, or of nettles under
kettles, noisy, short-lived,
evanescent, and profitless,
leaving nothing behind but:
§
ashes (Isaiah 44:20),
§
a bad taste in
the mouth,
§
a pain in the
ear,
§
a taint upon the
conscience and
§
a wound in the
heart.
o
The duty and
sweetness of sympathy — duty for him
and
o
sweetness for the
bereaved. Weeping
with them that weep,
(Romans 12:15)
§
learns how to
bear another’s burdens (Galatians
6:2),
§
appreciates the inward satisfaction which flows from
the exercise of sympathy (Proverbs 11:17),
§
sees the
sustaining strength it yields to the weak and
disconsolate (Ibid.17:17),
and thus has his own soul
confirmed and enlarged in goodness.
Sorrow :
§
penetrates the
heart,
§
draws the
thought upward,
§
purifies,
§
transforms;
and thus, as the
Preacher observes, “by the sorrow of the
countenance the
heart is made better.”
o
The value of serious
talk. The discourse that prevails in
the
o
rebukes upon one’s
spirit, these are felt to be better from a
moral and spiritual pointof
view than the low and groveling,
frequently prurient and
obscene, songs that in the Preacher’s
day were heard, as in our
day they are not unknown,
in a pothouse. (Now it is questionable to what a pothouse
then
was, and what it is today,
but we know for sure that humanity
is definitely on a downhill
course when marijuana is
legalized and a “pothouse” of a different kind is in vogue! –
CY – 2013)
Ø
The proficiency acquired in the house of feasting, by no means in
wisdom, either human
or Divine. One will hardly assert that
a person
will:
o
become shrewder in business or brighter in intelligence by
o
indulging in chambering and wantonness;
o
it is certain he will not grow either holier or more
spiritually
minded.
Whatever apologies may be
offered for frequenting carousals —
innocent feasting requires
none — this cannot be urge:
o
that it tends to
make one purer in heart or more devout
in spirit,
o
that it incites one
to holy living, or
prepares one for
happy dying.
Rather, the instruction received in such haunts of dissipation is for
the most part INSTRUCTION
IN VICE or at the best IN
FRIVOLITY — a poor
accomplishment for A MAN WITH A
SOUL!
Compensations of Misery (vs. 2-6)
Although in the Book of Ecclesiastes there is much that
seems to be
contradictory of our ordinary judgments of life, much that
is at first
apparently calculated to prevent our taking an interest in
its business and
pleasures — which are all asserted to be vanity and
vexation of spirit —
there are yet to be found in
it sober and well-grounded exhortations, which
we can only neglect at our peril. Out of his large experience the writer
brings some lessons of great value. It is sometimes the
case, indeed, that he
speaks in such a way that we feel it is reasonable in us to
discount his
judgment pretty heavily. When
he speaks as a sated voluptuary, as one who
had tried every kind of sensuous pleasure, who had
gratified to the utmost
every desire, who had enjoyed all the luxuries which his
great wealth could
procure, and found all his
efforts to secure happiness vain — I say, when
he speaks in this way, and asks us to believe that none of
these things are
worth the pains, we are not inclined to believe him
implicitly. We are
inclined rather to resent being lectured in such a way by such
a man. The
satiety, the weariness, the ennui, which result from
over-indulgence, do not
qualify a man for setting up as a moral and spiritual
guide; they rather
disqualify him for exercising such an office. In answer to the austere and
sweeping condemnation which he is inclined to pass upon the
sources from
which we think may be drawn a reasonable amount of
pleasure, we may
say, “Oh yes! it is all very well for you to speak in that
way. You have
worn out your strength and blunted your taste by over-indulgence;
and it
comes with a bad grace from you to recommend an abstentious
and severe
mood of life which you have never tried yourself. The exhortations which
befit the lips of a John the Baptist, nurtured from early
life in the desert,
lose their power when spoken by a jaded epicure.” The answer would be
perfectly just. And if Solomon’s reflections were all of
the type described,
we should he justified in placing less value upon them than
he did. It is true
that more than once he speaks with a bitterness and disgust
of all the
occupations and pleasures of life, which we cannot, with
our experience,
fairly endorse. But, as a rule, his moralizing is not of
the ascetic type. He
recommends, on the whole, a cheerful and grateful enjoyment
of all the
innocent pleasures of life, with a constant
remembrance that the judgment
draws
ever nearer and nearer. While he has no hesitation in declaring that
no earthly employments or pleasures can completely satisfy
the soul and
give it a resting-place, he does not, like the ancient
hermits, approve of
dressing in sackcloth, of feeding on bread and water only,
and of retiring
altogether from the society of our fellows. His teaching,
indeed, contains a
great deal more of true Christianity than has often been
found in the
writings and sermons of professedly Christian moralists and
preachers. All
the more weight, therefore, is to be attached to his words
from this very
fact, that he does not pose as an ascetic. We could not
listen to him if he
did; and accordingly we must
be all the more careful not to lessen the value
and weight of the words he speaks to which we should attend, by
depreciating him as an authority. It is only of some of his
judgments that
we can say they are such as a healthy mind could scarcely
endorse. This, in
the passage before us, is certainly not one of them. It
certainly runs counter
to our ordinary sentiments and practices, like many of the
sayings of Christ,
but is not on that account to be hastily rejected; we are
not justified either
in seeking to diminish its weight or explain it away. It is not, indeed, a
matter of surprise that the
thoughts and feelings of beings under the
influence of sinful habits, which enslave both mind and
heart, should
require to undergo a change before their teaching
coincides with THE
MIND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT!
In this section of the book we have teaching
very much in the spirit of the New Testament. Compare with
the second verse
the sentences spoken by Christ: “Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall
hunger; woe unto
you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep”
(Luke 6:25). And notice that the visits paid to the
afflicted to console
them, from which the Preacher declares he had gained moral
and spiritual
benefits, are recommended to us by the apostle as Christian
duties
(James 1:27). From even the saddest experiences, therefore,
a
thoughtful mind will derive some gain; some compensations
there are to
the deepest miseries. The house of mourning is that in
which there is
sorrow on account of death. According to Jewish customs,
the expression
of grief for the dead was very much more demonstrative and
elaborate than
with us. The time of mourning was for seven days
(Ecclesiasticus. 22:10),
sometimes in special cases for thirty days (Numbers 20:29;
Deuteronomy 24:8).
The presence of sympathizing friends (John 11:19), of hired
mourners and
minstrels (Matthew 9:23; Mark 5:38), the solemn meals of
the bread and
wine of affliction (Jeremiah 16:7; Hosea 9:4), made the
scene very impressive.
Over against the picture he suggests of lamentation and
woe, he sets that of a
house of feasting, filled with joyous guests, and he
asserts that it is better to go
to the former than to the latter. He contradicts the more
natural and obvious
inclination which we all have to joy rather than to sorrow.
But a moment’s
consideration will convince us that he is in the right,
whether we choose
the better part or not. Joy
at the best is harmless — it relieves an overstrain
on the mind or spirit; but when it has passed away it
leaves no positive gain
behind. Sorrow rightly
borne is able to draw the thoughts upward, to
purify and transform the soul. Its office is like that attributed to tragedy by
Aristotle: “to cleanse the mind from evil passions by pity
and terror — pity
at the sight of another’s misfortune, and terror at the
resemblance between
the sufferer and ourselves” (‘Poetics’). Contradictory of
ordinary feelings
and opinions though this teaching of Solomon’s is, there
are three ways in
which a visit to the house of mourning is better than to
the house of
feasting.
WITH THE AFFLICTED. Among
our best-spent hours are those in
which we have sought to lighten
and share the burden of the bereaved and
distressed. We may not have been
able to open sources of consolation
which otherwise would have
remained hidden and sealed; but the mere
expression of our commiseration
may be helpful and soothing. Sometimes
we may be able to suggest
consolatory thoughts, to impart serviceable
advice, or to give needful
relief. But in all cases we feel that we have
received more than we have given
— that in seeking to comfort the
sorrowful we come into closer communion
with that Savior who came
from heaven to
earth to bear the burden of sin and suffering, who was
a welcome Guest on occasions of
innocent festivity (John 2:2; Luke 7:36),
but whose presence was still
more eagerly desired in the homes of
the afflicted (John 11:3; Mark
5:23).
gives us a more trustworthy
standard of judging the relative importance of
those things that engage our
attention and employ our faculties. It checks
unworthy ambitions, flattering
hopes, and sinful desires. We learn to realize
that only some of the aims we have
cherished have been worthy of us, only
some of the pursuits in which we
have been engaged are calculated to yield
us lasting satisfaction when we come in the
light of eternity to review the
past of our lives. The
sight of blighted hopes admonishes us not to run
undue risk of disappointment by
neglecting to take into account the
transitory and changeful
conditions in which we live. The spectacle of great
sorrows patiently borne rebukes
the fretfulness and impatience which we
often manifest under the minor
discomforts and troubles which we may be
called to endure.
END. (v. 2.) “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.” Though the brevity of life is a fact with which we are all
acquainted from the very first
moment when we are able to see and know
what is going on about us, it is
a fact which
it is very difficult for us to
realize in our own case.
“We think all are mortal but ourselves.” No
feelings of astonishment are
excited in us by the sight of the aged and
weakly sinking down into the
grave, but
we can scarcely believe that we
are to follow them. The
very aged still lay their plans as though death were
far off; the dying can hardly be
convinced till perhaps the very last moment
that their great change is at
hand. But a visit to the house of mourning
gives us hard, palpable evidence,
which must, though but for an instant,
convince us that MORTALITY
IS A UNIVERSAL LAW, that in a short
time our end will come. The effect of
such a thought need not be depressing;
it need not poison all our enjoyments and paralyze all
our efforts. It should
lead us to
RESOLVE:
Ø
to make good use of every
moment, since life is so brief; and
Ø
to live as they should
do who know that they have to give account
of themselves to God.
A practical benefit is thus
to be drawn from even the saddest experiences,
for by them “the heart is made better” (v. 3). The foolish will seek out
something which he calls
enjoyment, in order to deliver his mind from
gloomy thoughts; but the
short-lived distraction of attention which he
secures is not to be
compared with the calm wisdom which piety can
extract even from sorrow
(v. 4). Painful though some of the lessons taught
us may be, they wound but
to impart a permanent cure; while the mirth
which drowns
reflection soon passes away, and is
succeeded by A
DEEPER GLOOM (vs.
5-6). One circumstance renders the
teaching of this passage all the
more impressible, and that is the absence
from it of the ascetic spirit.
This perhaps is, you will think, a paradoxical
statement, when the whole tone
of the utterance is of a somber, not to say
gloomy, character. But you will
notice that the author does not lay a ban
upon all pleasure; he does not denounce all innocent
enjoyments as wicked.
He does not say it is sinful to
go to the house of feasting, to indulge in
laughter, to sing secular songs.
There have been and are those who make
these sweeping statements. But
he says that a wise, serious-minded man
will not find
these things satisfying all his desires;
that he will, on the
contrary, often find it greatly for
his advantage to familiarize himself with
very different scenes and
employments. In other words, there are two
sides
to life — the
temporal and THE ETERNAL! The soul, like the head of
Janus, looks both on the
present, with all its varied and transitory events,
and on the future, in which
there are so many new and solemn experiences
in store for us. The epicurean,
the worldling, looks to the present alone;
the ascetic looks to the future
alone. The wise have TRUE APPRECIATION
OF THEM BOTH; know what conduct
duty prescribes as appropriate in
regard to them both. The
examples of Christ and His apostles show us that
we may partake both in the
business and innocent pleasures of life without
being untrue to our higher
calling. Christ, though “holy, harmless,
undefiled,
and SEPARATE FROM SINNERS (Hebrews 7:26) wrought with His own
hands, and thus sanctified all
honest labor; He graced a marriage-feast with
His presence, and supplied by a
miracle the means of convivial cheerfulness.
The sights and sounds of city
and country life, the mirth of happy homes, the
splendor of palaces, the
pageantry of courts, the sports of children, were not
frowned upon by Him as in
themselves unworthy of attracting the attention
of immortal natures; they were
employed by Him to illustrate eternal truths.
And all through the writings and
exhortations of His apostles the same spirit
is manifest; the same counsel is
virtually given to use the
present world
without abusing
it — to receive with thankfulness
every good creature of God.
And at the same time, no
one can deny that great stress is
laid. by them also
upon the things
that are SPIRITUAL and ETERNAL; greater
even than on
the others. For we are in greater risk of forgetting the
eternal than of
neglecting the temporal. Far too often is it true in the poet’s words —
“The world
is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting
and spending, we lay waste our powers.”
Therefore it is all the more
necessary for startling admonitions like these of
Solomon’s to be given, which recall us with a jerk TO ATTEND TO
THOSE THINGS WHICH
CONCERN OUR HIGHER WELFARE.
The fact that there are dangers against which
we must guard, dangers
springing not merely from our
own sinful perversity, but from the
conditions of our lives, the danger especially of being too much taken
up with THE PRESENT, is calculated to arouse us to serious thought
and effort. Very much easier
would it have been for us if a code of rules
for external conduct had been
given us, so that at any time we might have
made sure about being on the
right way; but very much poorer and more
barren would the life thus
developed have been. We are called, as in this
passage before us, to weigh matters carefully; to make our choice of
worthy employments; to decide for
ourselves:
Ø
when to enjoy that
which is earthly and temporal, and
Ø
when to sacrifice
it for the sake of that which is SPIRITUAL
and ETERNAL!
And we may be sure that that
goodness which springs from an habitually
wise choice is infinitely
preferable to the narrow, rigid formalism which
results from conformity with a
Puritanic rule. It is not a sour, killjoy spirit
that should drive us to prefer
the house of mourning to the house of
feasting; but the sober, intelligent conviction that at times we
may find
there help to
order our lives aright, and have an opportunity of lightening
by our sympathy the heavy burden of sorrow which God may see fit to
lay upon our brethren.
7 “Surely
oppression maketh a wise man mad; and a gift destroyeth
the heart.”The
verse begins with ki, which usually introduces a reason for
what has preceded; but the difficulty in finding the
connection has led to
various explanations and evasions. The Authorized Version
boldly
separates the verse from what has gone before, and makes a
new paragraph
beginning with “surely:”
Surely oppression maketh a wise man
mad.
It is possible that something has been lost between vs. 6
and 7. The Vulgate
leaves ki untranslated; the Septuagint has ὅτι – hoti -
surely.
Looking at the
various paragraphs,
all beginning with rob, rendered “better,”
viz. vs. 1, 2, 3,
5, 8, we must regard the present verse as connected with
what precedes, a new
subject being introduced at v. 8. Putting v. 6 in a parenthesis as merely
presenting an illustration of the talk of fools, we may see
in v. 7 a confirmation
of the first part of v. 5.
The rebuke of the wise is useful even in the case of
rulers who are tempted to excess and injustice. The “oppression” in the text is
the exercise of irresponsible power, that which a man
inflicts, not what he
suffers; this makes him “mad,”
even though he be in other respects and under
other circumstances wise; he ceases to be directed by reason and
principle, and
needs the correction of faithful rebuke. The Septuagint and Vulgate,
rendering respectively συκοφαντία – sukophantia –
extortion; and calumnia,
imply that the evil which distracts the wise man is false
accusation. And a gift
destroyeth the heart. The admission of bribery is likewise an evil that calls for
wise rebuke. So
Proverbs 15:27, “He that is greedy of
gain troubleth his
own house; but he
that hateth gifts shall live.” The phrase,
“destroys
the
heart,” means corrupts the
understanding, deprives a man
of wisdom,
makes him no better than a fool (compare Hosea 4:11, where the same
effect is
attributed to whoredom and drunkenness). The Septuagint has,
ἀπόλλυσι
τὴν καρδίαν εὐγενείας
αὐτοῦ, – apollusi taen kardian
eugeneias autou - destroys the heart
of his
nobility;
the Vulgate, perdet
robur cordis illius,
“will destroy the strength of his heart.” The
interpretation
given above seems to be the most reasonable
way of dealing with the existing
text.
The Mischief of Oppression and Bribery (v.
7)
There is some uncertainty as to the interpretation of this
verse: the
reference may be to the effect of injustice upon him who
inflicts it; it may
be to its effect upon him who suffers it. It is usual to
regard the observation
as descriptive of the result of oppression and bribery in
the feelings of
irritation and despondency they produce upon the minds of
those who are
wronged, and upon society generally.
There is moral law, upon which
alone civil law can be wisely and securely
based. When those who are in power are guided in their
administration of
political affairs by a reverent
regard for righteousness, tranquility, and
contentment, order
and harmony may be expected to prevail.
OF RULERS ARE INCOMPATIBLE WITH JUSTICE AND WITH
THE PUBLIC GOOD.
Unjust rulers sometimes use the power which they
have acquired,
or with which they have been entrusted, for selfish ends, and
in the
pursuit of such ends are unscrupulous as to the means they employ.
Such wrongdoing is peculiar to
no form of civil government. It is to some
extent checked by the prevalence of liberty and of publicity,
and yet more
by an elevated
standard of morality, and by the influence of pure religion.
But in the East corruption and bribery
have been too general on the part of
those in power.
IS THE FURTHERANCE AND PREVALENCE OF FOLLY AND
UNREASON. To the
writer of Ecclesiastes, who regarded wisdom as “the
principal
thing,” it was natural to discern in
mischievous principles of
government the cause of general
unwisdom and foolishness.
Ø
The governor himself,
although he may be credited with craft and
cunning, is morally injured and
degraded, sinks to a lower level,
loses self-respect, and forfeits
the esteem of his subjects.
Ø
The governed are
goaded to madness by the impossibility of
Obtaining their rights, by
the curtailment of their liberties, and
by the loss of their
property. Hence arise murmurings,
discontent,
and resentment, which
may, and often do, lead to conspiracy,
insurrection, and revolution.
Ø
THE DUTY OF ALL UPRIGHT MEN TO SET THEIR FACES
AGAINST SUCH EVIL
PRACTICES. A good man must not ask —
Can I profit by the prevalence
of injustice? Will my party or my friends
be strengthened by it? He must,
on the contrary, turn away from the
question of consequences; he
must witness against venality and
oppression; he must use all
lawful means to expose and to put an end
to such practices. And this he
is bound to do from the highest motives.
Government is of
DIVINE AUTHORITY and is to be based upon
Divine
principles. Of God we know that “righteousness and
judgment are the
habitation of his throne” (Psalm
97:2). They
are
unworthy to rule who employ their power
for base and selfish ends.
Section 2 contains vs. 8-14. Here follow some recommendations to patience
and
resignation under the ordering of God’s
providence. Such conduct is
shown to be TRUE WISDOM!
8 “Better
is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the
patient in spirit is better than the proud
in spirit.” Better is the end
of
a thing than the
beginning thereof. This is not a repetition of the assertion
in v. 1, concealing the day of death and the day of
birth, but states a truth in
a certain sense generally true. The end is better
because we then can form a right
judgment about a matter; we see what was its purpose; we know whether it
has
been advantageous and prosperous or not. Christ’s maxim, often
repeated (see
Matthew 10:22;
24:13; Romans 2:7; Hebrews 3:6), is, “He that shall endure
unto the end shall be saved.” No one living can be said to be so absolutely
safe as that he can look to the great day without
trembling. Death puts the
seal to the good life, and, OBVIATES THE DANGER OF
FALLING AWAY!
Of course, if a thing is in
itself evil, the gnome is not true (compare Proverbs
5:3-4; 16:25); but applied to things indifferent at the outset, it
is as correct as
generalizations can be. The
lesson of patience is here taught. A man should
not be precipitate in his judgments, but wait for the issue. From the ambiguity
in the expression dabar (see on ch.6:11), many
render it “word “in this passage.
Thus the Vulgate, Melior est finis orationis,
quam principium; and the Septuagint,
Ἀγαθὴ
ἐσχάτη λόγων ὑπὲρ
ἀρχὴν αὐτοῦ - Agathae
eschatae logon huper
archaen autou –
Better is the end of a thing than its beginning,
where φωνή, –
phonae – the idea of disclosure; a tone (articulate, bestial or artificial); by
implication an address
(for any purpose), saying or language:— noise,
sound,
voice - or some such
word, must be supplied. If this interpretation be preferred,
we must either take the maxim as stating generally that few
words are better
than many, and that the sooner one concludes a speech, so
much the better for
speaker and hearer; or we must consider that the word
intended is a well-merited
rebuke, which, however severe and at first disliked, proves
in the end wholesome
and profitable. And the patient in spirit is better than the
proud in spirit.
“Patient” is literally “long of spirit,” as the phrase, “short of
spirit,” is used in
Proverbs 14:29 and Job 21:4 to denote one who loses his
temper and is impatient.
To wait calmly for the result of an action, not to be hasty in arraigning
is the part of a patient man; while the proud, inflated, conceited man, who
thinks
all must be
arranged according to his notions, is
never resigned or content,
but rebels against the ordained course of events. “In your
patience ye shall
win your souls,” said Christ (Luke 21:19); and a
Scotch proverb declares
wisely, “He that weel bides, weel betides.”
Patience and Pride (v. 8)
Patience is to be distinguished from a dull indiscriminateness
and from
insensibility, to which one treatment is much the same as
another; it is the
calm endurance, the quiet, hopeful waiting on the part of
the intelligent and
sensitive spirit. Pride is
to be distinguished from self-respect; it is an
overweening estimate indulged by a man respecting himself —
of his
power, or of his position, or of his character. Thus
understood, these two
qualities stand in striking contrast to one another.
FORBIDDEN THING.
Ø
Patience (Luke
21:19; II Thessalonians 1:4; Hebrews 10:36;
II Peter 1:6; James 5:7-8,
11; Revelation 2:2-3).
Ø
Pride (Psalm 101:5;
119:21; 138:6; Proverbs 6:17; Isaiah 2:12;
Mark 7:22; Romans 12:3; James
4:6).
PERIL. The man that is
willing to wait in patience for the good which
God will grant him, accepting
what He gives him with quiet contentment,
Is likely to walk in wisdom, and
to abide in the fear and favor of the Lord;
But the man who over-estimates
his strength is standing in a very “slippery
place” — he is almost
sure to fall. No words of the wise man are more
frequently fulfilled than those
concerning pride and a haughty spirit
(Proverbs 16:18). The proud
heart is the mark for many adversaries.
Few things are morn spiritually
beautiful than patience. When under long
continued bodily pain or
weakness, or under grievous ill-treatment, or
through long years of deferred
hope and disappointment, the chastened
spirit lives on in cheerful
resignation, the Christian workman toils on in
unwavering faith, there is a
spectacle which we can well believe that
the
angels of God look upon with delight.
Certainly it is the object of our
admiring regard. On the other
hand, pride
is an offensive thing in the eyes
of man, as we know it is in the sight of God (Proverbs 8:13). Whether
a man shows himself elated about
his personal appearance, or his riches, or
his learning, or his strength
(of any kind), we begin by being amused and
end by being
annoyed and repelled; we turn away as
from an ugly
picture or from an offensive
odor.
Ø
Patient inquiry will
bring a man into the sunshine of full discipleship
To Jesus Christ, but pride
will keep him away, and leave him to be
lighted by the poor sparks
of his own wisdom.
Ø
Patient steadfastness
in the faith will conduct to the gates of the
Ø
Patient continuance in
well-doing will end in the commendation
of Christ and in His
bountiful reward.
9 “Be not
hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the
bosom of fools.” Be not hasty in thy
spirit to be angry. A further warning
against the arrogance which
murmurs at
the checks of the
Divine arrangement. The injunction in
ch.5:2
might be taken in this sense. It is not a general
admonition against
unrighteous anger, but is leveled at the haughty
indignation which a proud
man feels when
things do not go as he wishes, and he
deems that he could
have managed matters more satisfactorily. For anger resteth
in the
bosom of fools. Such unreasonable
displeasure is the mark of a foolish or
skeptical mind, and if it rests (Proverbs 14:33), is
fostered and
cherished there, may develop into misanthropy and atheism.
If we adopt
the rendering “word”
in v. 8, we may see in this injunction a warning
against being quick to take offence at a rebuke, as it is
only the fool who
will not look to the object of the censure and see that it
ought to be
patiently submitted to. On the subject of anger St. Gregory
writes, “As
often as we restrain the turbulent motions of the mind
under the virtue of
mildness, we are essaying
to return to the likeness of our Creator. For
when the peace of mind is lashed with anger, torn and
rent, as it were, it is
THROWN INTO CONFUSION
so that it is not in harmony
with itself, and
loses the force of the inward likeness. By anger wisdom is parted with, so
that we are left wholly in ignorance what to do; and it withdraws
the light of
understanding, while by agitating it troubles the mind”
(‘Moral.,’ 5:78).
The Folly of Pride, Hastiness, and Anger
(vs. 8-9)
The Scriptures are more pronounced and decisive with regard
to these
dispositions than for the most part are heathen moralists.
Yet the student of
human character and life is at no loss to adduce facts in
abundance to justify
the condemnation of habits which philosophy and religion
alike condemn.
THE CONSTITUTION OF HUMAN NATURE.
EXERCISE AND GROWTH.
RULE THE LIFE IS THE PART OF FOLLY.
EXEMPLIFY THE BEAUTY OF HUMILITY, PATIENCE, AND
MEEKNESS.
CHRIST CONTRIBUTE TO THE WELFARE OF THE INDIVIDUAL
AND OF SOCIETY.
USE OF WHICH EVIL HABITS MAY BE CONQUERED, AND
SELFCONTROL MAY BE ATTAINED
10 “Say
not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better
than these? for thou dost not enquire
wisely concerning this.”The same
impatience leads a man to
disparage the present in comparison with a past age.
What is the cause
that the former days were better than
these? He does not
know from any adequate information
that preceding times were in any respect
superior to present, but in his moody discontent he looks on
what is around
him with a
jaundiced eye, and sees the past through a
rose-tinted atmosphere,
as an age of heroism,
faith, and righteousness. Horace finds such a character in
the morose old man, whom he describes in ‘De Arte Poet.,’
173 —
“Difficilis,
querulus, laudater temporis acti
Se puero,
castigator censorque minornm.”
“Morose
and querulous, praising former days
When he
was boy, now ever blaming youth.”
And ‘Epist.,’ 2:1.22 —
“... et
nisi quae terris semota suisque
Temporibus
defuncta videt, fastidit et odit.”
“All that
is not most distant and removed
From his
own time and place, he loathes and scorns.”
For thou dost not
inquire wisely concerning this. In asking such a
question you show that you have not reflected wisely on the
matter. Every
age has its light and dark side; the past was not wholly
light, the present is
not wholly dark. And it may well be questioned whether much
of the
glamour shed over antiquity is not false and unreal. The
days of “Good
Queen Bess” were anything but halcyon; the “merrie
was full of disorder, distress, discomfort. In yearning again
for the fleshpots
of
accompaniments of
those sensual pleasures.
Counsels for Evil Times (vs. 7-10)
Ø
Allowing it to unsettle one’s
judgment. “Surely oppression,” or
extortion, “maketh a wise man mad,” or foolish; i.e. driveth him
to
foolish actions through
indignation and vexation, through the misery
he endures, the hardship he
suffers, the sense of injustice he feels,
the rising doubts of which he is
conscious. A soul thus driven to the
wall and set at bay through the
woes inflicted by imperious and
pitiless tyranny, is prone to be
unsettled in its judgments, fierce and
even reckless in its actions. Of
course, no amount of oppression or
extortion should have this
effect on any; but it sometimes has.
Ø
Attempting to remove it by bribery. “And a gift destroyeth the
understanding.” Equally of
him that gives and him that receives
a bribe is the saying true,
that it perverts the judgment, disturbs
the soul’s perceptions of
right and wrong, and leaves a blot upon
the conscience. To seek the
removal of oppression by currying favor
with the oppressor through
presentation of gifts, is to seek a right
thing in a wrong way, and
is to that extent to be condemned.
(There is no right way to do the wrong thing)
Ø
Indulging in anger on account of it. “Be not hasty in thy spirit to
be angry.” Whether
this anger be directed against the oppressor or
against the oppression, or against God’s
providence, who has
suffered both to come together and cooperate against the wise
man,
to give way to it is to
part with one’s wisdom, since “anger resteth
in the bosom of
fools” (v. 9), if it is not also (in the last case it is) to
sin against God. It is always
difficult to be angry and sin not (Psalm
4:4, margin; Ephesians 4:26);
hence Christians are exhorted not to
be
soon angry (Titus 1:7),
indeed, to put off (Colossians 3:8)
and put
away (Ephesians 4:31) anger, as
one of the works of the flesh
(Galatians 5:20).
Ø
Giving way to despair because of it. Saying in one’s heart that “the
former days were better than these,” and that all things are going
to the dogs. The Preacher
pretty plainly hints that such a sentiment
is an error, and yet it is
one widely entertained by the ignorant and
prone to be adopted by the unfortunate.
Ø
Permitting the evil to avenge itself on its perpetrator. This it will
do, if the propositions be
correct that oppression practiced even by
a wise man will make him
mad, and that a bribe accepted by a good
man will corrupt his heart
and destroy his understanding. The
oppressive exercise of
power is so demoralizing that even the wise
man, skilled in statecraft,
loses his wisdom. There comes upon him,
as the history of crime so often
shows, something like a mania of
tyrannous cruelty. And the same
effect follows on the practice of
corruption.
Ø
Reflecting that the evil will not continue forever. It will run its
course, have its day, and
come to an end as other evil things have
done before it; and “better will its end be than its beginning.”
In
the course of history this has
often been observed, that seasons of
oppression and periods of
persecution have not been suffered to
continue for ever, and have
often been terminated by some sudden
turn in providence, by the death
of the oppressor, or by a change of
purpose in the persecuted sooner
than the victims expected.
Ø
Exercising patience while the evil day continues. “Better is the
patient in spirit than the proud in spirit,” better in respect of moral
character and religious
profiting. Philosophy and religion both teach
that the way to rise superior to injustice and oppression,
to extract
the largest amount of profiting from it, and to bring it most
speedily
to an end, is to meekly endure it. Patience disarms the oppressor of
his strongest
weapon, and imparts to his victim double advantage
over his foe. Without patience tribulation cannot work out the soul’s
good (Romans 5:3; James 1:4).
Ø
Cherishing a hopeful spirit in the darkest times. Not despairing of the
future either for one’s self or
for the world, but believing
that all things
work together
for good to them that love God (Romans 8:28), and that
through evil times as well as
good times the world is slowly but surely
moving on towards a better day.
The Good Old Days - A Popular Delusion (v.
10)
The proposition may be
understood as applying:
Ø
To individual experience, in which case it will signify that the former
days of the speaker’s life
were better than those in which he then was.
Or:
Ø
To mundane history, in which case the sense will be that the earlier
periods of the world’s history were
better than the later, or that the times
which preceded the speaker’s day
were better than those in which he
was living.
Ø
From sacred history.
o
As to individual
experience. Job was neither the first
nor the last
o
who cried, “Oh that I were
as in months past!” (Job 29:2).
o
Probably Jacob was in
a similar mood of mind when he heard of
o
Simeon’s detention in
o
Benjamin “All
these things are against me.” (Genesis 42:36;
o
43:14). The old men
who wept at the foundation of the second
o
temple certainly
believed that the days when as yet the first
temple stood were incomparably
more resplendent than those
in which they then lived (Ezra
3:12).
o
As to
world-epochs. To many of the Sethites,
no doubt, in the
antediluvian era,” the days of
old,” when man lived in innocence
in
fallen when all flesh had
corrupted its way (Genesis 6:12). To not
a few in the days of the judges
and of the kings it seemed as if
“the years of ancient times,” and “of the right
hand of the
Most High,” when He
brought forth the bondmen of Pharaoh
from
77:5, 10). To the exiles who had
returned from
golden age of their country was
behind them in the days of
David and Solomon, not before
them in the era of Persian
domination.
o
From profane history. “Illustrations crowd upon one’s
memory. Greeks looking back to
the age of those who fought at
greatness of the republic;
Frenchmen mourning over the ancient
regime; or Englishmen over the good old days of the Tudors, are
all examples of this unwise
thinking. Old men regretting the
vanished days of their boyhood,
or once rich but now poor
men lamenting the disappearance
of wealth which was theirs,
or fallen great men sighing for
the times when they were called
“My lord!” are individual instances of this same delusion.
widespread delusion as to the
relative values of the past and present.
Ø
An instinctive idealization of the past.
o
The good things of the past, which one has either never known
at all or counted only
moderately good when he did know them,
he now esteems as supremely
excellent, on the principle that
“distance lends enchantment to
the view.”
o
The bad things of the past, which he complained of when he
o
endured them, he has
now through lapse of time largely
forgotten; while if the bad
things of the past were such as he
never himself experienced
but has only heard or read of, these
are not likely to press him
down so heavily as the lesser
present evils under which
he groans.
Ø
An equally instinctive depreciation of the present.
o
Its good things are
never so sweet as some other good things
o
which we have not, or
which other people had. As the
possession of
pleasure is seldom so intoxicating as its
pursuit,
so is that which one has
never so valuable as that which one
once had or may yet have.
o
Its evil things being
present always appear worse, i.e. heavier,
o
than they really are.
They are felt more acutely and oppress
more severely than either
the ills of other people one has never
felt, or one’s own ills in
the past which have been forgotten.
foundations.
Ø
A mistaken standard. If “better” only means in the case
of the
Individual “more free from
anxiety, pain, or difficulty,” or in the
case of communitie or
nations “more free from wars, troubles,
revolutions, or social
disturbances, the proposition complained
of may be easily
established; but if “better” signify more
advantageous in the highest
sense, i.e. more helpful to and
beneficial for moral and spiritual
good it will frequently be found
that the proposition is false,
and that for individuals, for instance,
times of present trouble and
seasons of present affliction may be
better than past times of quiet
and seasons of prosperity, and for
communities and nations periods
of social upheaval and foreign
war better than antecedent days
of stagnation and civil death.
Ø
An incomplete comparison. It is commonly forgotten that each age
has a dark as well as
bright side, and that in estimating the worth of
two different periods in
the experience of an individual or the history
of a nation, it will not do
to contrast the dark side of the present with
the bright side of the
past, but the dark and bright sides of both must
be brought into view.
Patience Under Provocation (vs. 7-10)
In these words our author seems to commend the virtues of
patience and
contentment in trying circumstances, by pointing out that
certain evils
against which we may chafe bring their own punishment, and
so in a
measure work their own cure, that others spring from or are
largely
aggravated by faults in our own temperament, and that
others exist to a
very great extent in
our own imagination rather than in actual fact. And
accordingly the sequence of thought in the chapter is
perfectly clear. We
have here, too, some “compensations
of misery,” as in vs. 2-6. The
enumeration of the various kinds of evil that provoke our
dissatisfaction
supplies us with a convenient division of the passage.
THEIR OWN CURE. “Surely oppression maketh a wise man mad; and
a
gift destroyeth the heart. Better is the end of a thing
than the beginning
thereof” (vs. 7-8a). It is
the oppressor and not the
oppressed who is
driven mad. The unjust use of power demoralizes its possessor,
deprives
him of his wisdom, and drives
him into actions of the grossest folly. The
receiver of bribes, i.e.
the judge who allows gifts to
warp his judgments,
loses the power
of moral discernment, and BECOMES
UTTERLY
DISQUALIFIED for discharging his sacred functions. And this view
of the meaning of the words makes
them an echo of those passages in the
Law of Moses which prescribe the
duties of magistrates and rulers. “Thou
shalt not wrest
judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither shalt
thou take a gift:
for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the
words of the righteous” (Deuteronomy 16:19; compare Exodus 23:8). The
firm conviction which any extended experience of life is sure to
confirm
abundantly, that such moral
perverseness as is implied in the exercise of
tyranny, in extortion and bribery, brings with it its own punishment, is
calculated to inspire patience
under the endurance of even very gross
wrongs. The tyrant may excite an
indignation and detestation that will lead
to his own destruction; the
clamor against an unjust judge may become so
great as to necessitate his
removal from office, even if the government that
employs him be ordinarily very
indifferent to moral considerations. In any
case, “the man who can
quietly endure oppression is sure to come off best
in the end” (compare
Matthew 5:38-41).
TEMPERAMENT. “The patient in spirit is better than the
proud in spirit.
Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth
in the bosom of
fools” (vs. 8b-9).
That the disposition here reprobated is a very general
and fruitful source of misery
cannot be doubted. The proud spirit that
refuses to submit to wrongs, either real or fancied, that
is on the outlook
for offence, that strives to redress on the instant the
injury received, is
rarely long without cause of irritation. If unprovoked by real and serious
evils, it will find abundant
material for disquietude in the minor crosses and
irritations of daily life. While
the patient spirit, that schools itself to
submission, and yet waits in
hope that in the providence of God the cause
of pain and provocation will be
removed, enjoys peace even in very trying
circumstances. It is not that our author commends insensibility of
feeling,
and deprecates the sensitiveness
of a generous nature, which is swift to
resent cruelty and injustice. It
is rather the ill-advised and morbid state of
mind in which there is an unhealthy sensitiveness to affronts and a
fruitless
chafing against them that he reproves.
That anger is in some
circumstances a lawful
passion no reasonable person can deny; but the
Preacher points out two forms
of it that are in themselves evil.
Ø
The first is when
anger is“hasty,” not calm and deliberate, as the
lawful expression of moral indignation,
but the outcome of
wounded
self-love; and
Ø
the second when it is detained too
long, when it “rests” in the bosom.
As a momentary, instinctive feeling
excited by the sight of wickedness, it is
lawful; but when it has a home in the heart it changes
its character, and
becomes malignant hatred or settled scornfulness. “Be ye angry, and
sin
not,” says Paul; “let not the sun go down upon your wrath” (Ephesians
4:26). “Wherefore, my beloved brethren,” says James, “let
every man
be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: for the wrath of man
worketh not the righteousness of
God” (James
1:19-20).
is the cause that the former days were better than these?
for thou dost not
inquire wisely concerning this” (v. 10). Discontentment with the present
time and conditions is reproved
in these words. It is often a weakness of
age, but it is not by any means
confined to the old. There are many who cast
longing glances back upon the
past, and think with admiration of the age of
heroes or of the age of faith,
in comparison with which the present is
ignoble and worthless. It would be a somewhat harmless folly if it did not
lead, as it generally does, to apathetic discontent with the present and
despondency concerning the future. Every age has its
peculiar difficulties,
and a man inclined to take a
dark view of things will always be able to
compare unfavorably the present
with the past. But a readiness to make
comparisons of that kind is no
sign of real wisdom. There is light as well as
darkness in every age.
The young men that shouted for joy at the rebuilding
of the temple acted more wisely than
the old men who wept with a loud
voice” (Ezra 3:12-13). And the
question may still be asked — Were
the old times really better than
the present? Is it not a delusion to imagine
they were? Are not we the
heirs of the ages, to whom the experience of the
past and all its attainments in knowledge and all its bright
examples of
virtue have descended as an endowment and an
inspiration? The
disposition, therefore, that
makes the best of things as they are, instead of
grumbling that they are not
better, that bears patiently even with very great
annoyances, and that is characterized
by self-control, is sure to escape a
great deal of the misery which falls to the lot of a passionate,
irritable, and
discontented man
(compare Psalm 37.). —
Let us exhibit wisdom by trying to make the best of the
present instead of
dreaming about the past.
11 “Wisdom
is good with an inheritance: and by it there is profit to them
that see the sun.” Such hasty judgment is incompatible with true wisdom and
sagacity. Wisdom
is good with an inheritance;
Septuagint, Ἀγαθὴ
σοφία μετὰ
κληρονομίας - Agathae sophia
meta klaeronomias. Vulgate, Utilior eat
sapientia cam divitiis. The sentence thus rendered seems to mean that wealth
lends a prestige to wisdom,
that the man is happy who possesses both. The
inheritance spoken of
is an hereditary one; the man who is “rich with ancestral
wealth” is enabled
to employ his wisdom to good purpose, his position adding
weight to his words and actions, and relieving him from the low pursuit of
moneymaking. To
this effect Wright quotes Menander —
Μακάριος
ὅστις οὐσίαν καὶ
νοῦν ἕχει
Ξρῆται γὰρ
οῦτος εἰς α} δεῖ
ταύτῃ καλῶς.
Makarios hostis ousian kai noun hechei
Chaetai gar outos) eis a dei tautae kalos
“Blest is
the man who wealth and wisdom hath,
For he can
use his riches as he ought.”
(Compare Proverbs 14:24.) Many commentators, thinking such
a
sentiment alien from the context, render the particle עִם not “with,” but
“as” Wisdom is [as] good as an inheritance” (see on ch.
2:16).
This is putting wisdom on rather a low platform, and one
would have
expected to read some such aphorism as “Wisdom is better
than rubies”
(Proverbs 8:11), if Koheleth had intended to make any such
comparison. It appears then most expedient to take im in
the sense of
“moreover,” “as well as,” “and” (compare I Samuel
17:42, “ruddy, and
(ira) of a fair countenance”). “Wisdom is good, and
an inheritance is good;
‘both are good, but the advantages of the former, as v. 12
intimates, far
outweigh those of the latter. And by it there is profit to them that see
the sun; rather, and an advantage for those that see the, sun.
However
useful wealth may be, wisdom is that which is really
beneficial to all who
live and rejoice in the light of day. In Homer the phrase, ὁρᾶν
φάος ἠελίοιο –
horan phaos
aeelioio - to see the light of the sun (‘Iliad,’ 18:61),
signifies merely “to live;”
after all, life has its bright side.
12 “For
wisdom is a defense, and money is a defense: but the excellency
of knowledge is, that wisdom giveth life to
them that have it.” For wisdom is
a defense, and money is a defense; literally, in the shade is wisdom,
in the
shade is money;
Septuagint, Ὅτι
ἐν σκιᾷ αὐτῆς
ἡ σοφία ὡς σκιὰ
ἀργυρίου –
Hoti en skia
autaes hae Sophia hos skia arguriou - For in its shadow wisdom
is as the shadow of money Symmachus has, Σκέπει
σοφία ὡς σκέπει τὸ
ἀργύριον – Skepei Sophia
hos skepei to argurion - Wisdom shelters as
money
shelters.” The Vulgate explains the obscure
text by paraphrasing, Sieur enirn
protegit sapientia, sic protegit petunia. Shadow, in Oriental
phrase, is equivalent
to protection (see Numbers
14:9; Psalm 17:8; Lamentations 4:20). Wisdom as
well as money is a shield and defense to men. As it is said
in one passage
(Proverbs 13:8) that riches are the ransom of a man’s life,
so in another
(ch.9:15) we are told how wisdom delivered a city from
destruction. The literal
translation given above implies that he who has wisdom and
he who has money
rest under a safe protection, are secure from material
evil. In this respect they are
alike, and have analogous claims to man’s regard. But the excellency — profit,
or advantage — of knowledge is, that wisdom giveth life to
them that have it.
“Knowledge” (daath) and “wisdom” (chokmah)
are practically here
identical, the terms being varied for the sake of poetic
parallelism. The
Revised Version renders, Wisdom preserveth the life of
him that hath it; i.e.
secures him from passions and excesses WHICH TEND TO SHORTEN
LIFE! This seems to be
scarcely an adequate ground for the noteworthy
advantage which wisdom is said to possess. The Septuagint
gives, Καὶ
περίσσεια
γνώσεως τῆς
σοφίας
ζωοποιήσει
τόν παρ αὐτῆς - Kai
perisseia gnoseos
taes sophias zoopoiaesei ton par autaes - And the
excellence of the
knowledge of wisdom will quicken
him that hath it.
Something more than the mere animal life is signified,
a climax to the
“defense” mentioned in the preceding clause — the higher, spiritual life
which man has from God. Wisdom in the highest sense, that is, practical
piety and religion, is “a tree
of life to them that lay hold
of her, and happy
is every one that retaineth her” (Proverbs 3:18), where
it is implied that
wisdom restores to man the gift which he lost at the Fall (compare also
Proverbs 8:35). The Septuagint expression ζωοποιήσει – zoopoinaesei –
recalls the words of Christ, “As the Father raiseth the dead and quickeneth
(ζωοποιεῖ – zoopoiei – to
make alive) them,
even so the Son also quickeneth
whom He will;” “It is the Spirit
that quickeneth (τὸ
ζωοποιοῦν – to
zoopoioun - John 5:21; 6:63). Koheleth
attributes that power to wisdom which
the more definite teaching of
Christianity assigns to the influence of the
Holy Spirit. Some would explain, “fortifies or vivifies the heart,” i.e.
imparts
new life and strength
to meet every fortune.
13 “Consider
the work of God: for who can make that straight, which
He hath made crooked?” Consider the work
of God. Here is another
reason
Against murmuring and hasty judgment. True wisdom is shown by
submission
to the inevitable. In all that happens
one ought to recognize God’s work and
God’s ordering, and man’s impotence.
For who can make that straight,
which He hath made
crooked? The things which God hath made crooked
are the anomalies, the crosses, the difficulties, which
meet us in life. Some
would include bodily deformities, which seems to be a piece
of unnecessary
literalism. Thus the Septuagint, Τίς
δυνήσεται
κοσμῆσαι ο{ν α}ν
ὁ Θεὸς
διαστρέψῃ
αὐτόν - Tis dunaesetai kosmaesai hon an ho Theos
diastrepsae
auton - Who will be able to straighten him whom God has distorted?” and the
Vulgate, Nemo possit corrigere quem ille despexerit, “No one can amend him
whom He hath despised.” The thought goes back to what was said in ch.1:15,
“That which is
crooked cannot be made straight;” and in ch. 6:10,
man
“cannot contend
with Him
that is mightier than he.” “As for the
wondrous
works of the Lord,” says
Ben-Sirs,” there may be nothing taken from them,
neither may anything be put unto
them, neither can the ground of them be
found out” (Ecclesiasticus.
18:6). We cannot arrange events according to our
wishes or expectations; therefore not only is placid acquiescence a necessary
duty, but the wise man will endeavor to accommodate himself to
existing
circumstances.
14 “In the
day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider:
God also hath set the one over against the other,
to the end that man should
find nothing after him.” In the day of prosperity be
joyful; literally, in the
day of good be in good i.e.
when things go well with you, be cheerful (ch. 9:7;
Esther 8:17); accept the situation and enjoy it. The advice is the same as that
which runs through the book, viz. to make the best of the present. So Ben-Sira
says, “Defraud not thyself of the good day, and let
not a share in a good desire
pass thee by” (Ecclesiasticus. 14:14). Septuagint Ἐν
ἡμέρᾳ
ἀγαθωσύνης
ζῆθι
ἐν αγαθῷ - En haemera
agathosunaes zaethi en agatho - In a day of good
live in (an atmosphere of) good;”
Vulgate, in die bona fruere bonis, “In a
good day enjoy your good things.” But in the day of adversity consider;
in the evil day look well. The writer could not conclude this clause so as to
make it parallel with the other, or he would have had to
say, “In the ill day
take it ill,” which would be far from his meaning; so he
introduces a
thought which may
help to make one resigned to adversity.
The reflection
follows. Septuagint, Καὶ ἴδε ἐν ἡμέρᾳ
κακίας ἴδε κ.τ.λ.-
Kai ide
en haemera
kakias ide –
in the day of adversity consider - Vulgate,
Et malam diem praecave,
“Beware of the
evil day.” But, doubtless, the object of
the verb is the following
clause. God also
hath set the one over against
the other; or, God hath
made the
one corresponding to the other; i.e. he hath made the day of evil as well
as the
day of good. The light and shade in man’s life are
equally under God’s ordering
and permission. “What?”
cries Job (Job 2:10), “shall we receive
good at the
hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?”
Corn. Lapide quotes a saying of
Plutarch to this effect: the harp gives forth sounds acute
and grave, and
both combine to form the melody; so in man’s life
the mingling of
prosperity and
adversity yields a well-adjusted harmony.
God strikes all the
strings of our life’s harp, and we ought, not only patiently, but cheerfully,
to listen to the chords produced by this Divine
Performer. To the end that
man should find
nothing after him. This clause gives Koheleth’s view of
God’s object in the admixture of good and evil; but the
reason has been
variously interpreted, the explanation depending on the sense
assigned to
the term “after him”
(אַתַרָיו). The Septuagint gives ὀπίσω
αὐτοῦ – opiso
autou – after;
follow him – which is vague; the Vulgate, contra eum,
meaning
that man may have no occasion to complain against God. Cheyne (‘Job
and
Solomon’) considers that Koheleth here implies that death closes
the scene,
and that there is then nothing more to fear, rendering the
clause, “On the
ground that man is to experience nothing at all hereafter.”
They who believe
that the writer held the doctrine of a future life cannot
acquiesce in this view.
The interpretation of Delitzsch is this — God lets man pass
through the whole
discipline of good and evil, that when he dies there may be
nothing which
he has not experienced. Hitzig and Nowack explain the text
to mean that,
as God designs that man after his death shall have done
with all things, He
sends upon him evil as well as good, that He may not have
to punish him
hereafter — a doctrine opposed to the teaching of a future
judgment.
Wright deems the idea to be that man may be kept in
ignorance of what
shall happen to him beyond the grave, that the present life
may afford no
clue to the future. One does not see why this should be a
comfort, nor how
it is compatible with God’s known counsel of making the condition
of the
future life dependent upon the conduct of this. Other
explanations being
more or less unsatisfactory, many modem commentators see in
the passage
an assertion that God intermingles good and evil in men’s
lives according
to laws with which they are unacquainted, in order that
they may not
disquiet themselves by forecasting the future, whether in
this life or after
their death, but may be WHOLLY
DEPENDENT UPON GOD casting
all their care upon Him, knowing that He careth for them (I Peter 5:7).
We may safely adopt this explanation (compare ch. 3:22; 6:12). The
paragraph then con-rains the same teaching as Horace’s
oft-quoted ode-
“Prudens
futuri temporis exitum,” etc.
(‘Carm.,’
3:29. 29.)
Theognis’, 1075 —
“The issue
of an action incomplete,
‘Tis hard
to forecast how God may dispose it;
For it is
veiled in darkest night, and man
In present
hour can never comprehend
His
helpless efforts.”
Plumptre quotes the lines in Cleanthes’s hymn to Zeus,
vers. 18-21 (‘Poet.
Gnom.,’ p. 24) —
“Thou alone knowest how to change the odd
To even,
and to make the crooked straight;
And things
discordant find accent in thee.
Thus in
one whole thou blendest ill with good,
So that
one law works on for evermore.”
Ben-Sira has evidently borrowed the idea in Ecclesiasticus.
33: (36.) 13-15
From our passage; after speaking of man being like clay
under the potter’s
hand, he proceeds, “Good is set over against evil, and life
over against death;
so is the godly against the sinner, and the sinner against
the godly. So look
upon all the works of the Mast High: there are two and two,
one against
the other.”
Crooked Things and Straight (vs. 13-14)
Ø
Crooked things. Such experiences, events, and dispensations as run
counter or lie cross to the
inclinations, as e.g. afflictions,
disappointments, and trials of
all sorts. Few lives, if any, are exempt
from crosses; few estates are so
good as to have no drawbacks.
Examples:
o
Abraham (Genesis
15:2-3),
o
Naaman (II Kings 5:1),
o
Haman (Esther 5:13),
o
Paul (II Corinthians
12:7).
Ø
Straight things. Such experiences as harmonize with the soul’s
wishes, as seasons of
prosperity, dispensations of good, and enjoyments
of every kind; and, as nobody’s
lot on earth is entirely straight, so on the
other hand no one’s lot is
wholly crooked — there are always some
straight and even parts in it.
Indeed, when men’s passions, having got up,
have cast a mist over their
minds, they are ready to say all is wrong with
them and nothing right; yet is
that never true in this world, since (always)
it is of the Lord’s
mercies that we are not consumed, because His
compassions fail not.
They are new every morning: great
is thy
faithfulness.” (Lamentations
3:22-23)
or from second causes, but from Him “of whom, to whom, and through
whom are all
things” (Romans 11:36; II Corinthians
5:18; Hebrews 2:10).
Ø
True of straight things. “Every good gift and every perfect is from
above” (James 1:17).
Saint and sinner alike depend on the
providential
bounty of God (Psalm 136:25), who
appointeth to all
men the bounds of their
habitation (Acts 17:26) and measureth out
their lots (Isaiah 34:17;
Jeremiah 13:25). So elementary is this truth
that it needs no demonstration;
yet is it so familiar as to be
frequently forgotten.
Ø
No less correct of crooked things. These also are from
God
(II Kings 6:33; Amos 3:6;
Micah 1:12). It is he who lays affliction
on the loins of men (Psalm
66:11), distributes sorrows in His anger
(Job 21:17), shows great and
sore troubles (Psalm 71:20), lifts up
and casts down (Ibid.
ch.102:10), wounds and heals, kills and makes
alive (Deuteronomy 32:39). The
Preacher recognizes God’s hand in
introducing crooked things into
men’s lots; in this all should follow
his example.
Ø
Straight things call for cheerfulness. “In the day of prosperity be
joyful,” “be in good spirits,” be thankfully happy and happily
thankful.
o
Gratitude, an element in
that treatment God’s goodness
calls for (Psalm
103:1-2). Every creature of God is good
if it be received with thanksgiving (I Timothy 4:4).
o
Use, another ingredient in a proper return for God’s gifts.
These are not to be
despised and shunned, but valued and
enjoyed. Asceticism, or
voluntary abstinence from meats and
drinks, as if these were sinful,
harmonizes not with the spirit
of either the Old (ch.9:7) or
the New Testament (Colossians
2:20-23) religion. If
permissible under the latter as a means of
spiritual discipline (I
Corinthians 9:27), or as an expedient for
preventing sin in others (Romans
14:21), it should not be
forgotten that God “giveth us all things richly to enjoy”
(I Timothy 6:17).
Ø
Crooked things demand consideration. “In the day of
adversity
consider:” (v. 14)
o
Whence adversity
comes, viz. from God (Lamentations
3:32;
Job 2:10). Hence should it
be accepted with submission
(I Samuel 3:18; Job 2:10;
Psalm 39:9).
o
How adversity
comes. Not as a strange thing, i.e.
allotted
in an exceptional way to
the individual (I Peter 4:12), but
rather as an experience
common among men (I Corinthians
10:13; I Peter 5:9). Not as an isolated thing, unmixed with
good or untempered with
mercy (Psalm 101:1). Not as a
constant thing, as if life
were a perpetual calamity (Job 22:18).
Not as an arbitrary thing, as if
the sovereign Disposer of events
acted without reason in sending
troubles upon men
(Lamentations 3:33; Hebrews
12:10). Certainly not as a
Malignant thing, as if the
Almighty took pleasure in the
sufferings and miseries of his
creatures.
o
Why adversity comes;
because of man’s sinfulness, though
not always in each instance
connected with some particular
offence.
o
Wherefore
adversity comes; to fulfill the Divine
purpose
o
concerning man, which is not one but manifold (Job 33:29).
the one side by
side with the other, to the end that man should not find
out anything that
shall be after him.” The Almighty’s
design variously
explained.
Ø
Unlikely interpretations.
o
That God, willing man
to be rid of all things at death instead
Of punishing him hereafter,
puts evil into his existence here,
and allows it to alternate with
good (Hitzig). This does not
harmonize with the Preacher’s
doctrine of a future judgment
(ch.9:9; 12:14), and is ruled
out of court by the general scope
of the New Testament.
o
That man might find
nothing which he, dying, might take with
him into the unseen world (Ewald).
But this end is secured by
death (ch. 5:15), and if more
were needed would have been
more effectually attained by
making man’s lot on earth all
adversity and no prosperity,
rather than a commingling of the
two; while if the proposed
interpretation explains the presence
of evil alongside of good, it
leaves unaccounted for the
existence of good alongside of
evil in man’s lot.
o
That man might pass
through the whole school of life, so that
On departing from this
scene nothing might remain outstanding
(in arrears) which he had
not experienced (Delitzsch). This
seems equivalent to saying
that God commingles joy and sorrow
in man’s experience that man
might have a taste of both —
which sounds like a truism — or
that his discipline might be
complete by being subjected to
both, so that nothing more should
be possible to or required by
him in a future state to render him
responsible — which, though
true, indicates a clearness and
fullness of theological
conception manifestly beyond the
Preacher.
o
That no one coming
after God by way of review should be able to
find
anything of blame to cast on his procedure (Mercator,
Fausset);
which, though undeniable, is not warranted by a just
translation of the Hebrew.
Ø
Likely interpretations.
o
That the alternation of
prosperous and adverse dispensations
Was designed to prevent man
from finding out the course of
future events; in other words,
that man should never be able
certainly to predict his own
future, or even what should be on
the morrow (Zockler, Hengstenberg),
and therefore should be
disposed to
trust in God and calmly wait the development of
events; with
which teaching may be compared Christ’s
about taking no
thought for the morrow (Matthew 6:34),
and that of Horace (‘Odes,’
3:29. 29-38).
“God in his
wisdom hides from sight,
Yelled in
impenetrable night,
The future
chance and change;
And smiles
when mortals’ anxious fears,
Forecasting
ills of coming years,
Beyond
their limit range.”
(Plumptre,
in loco.)
The continuity of human
experience is not so unbroken that
mortal sagacity, at its
highest, can forecast the incidents of
even the nearest day.
o
That no man should be
able to tell precisely what might come
to pass on earth after he
had left it (Plumptre), a thought
already expressed
(ch.6:12), of which the practical outcome is
the same as that just
stated, viz. that as the Divine Being desired
to keep the times and seasons in
His own hand (Acts 1:7), He
mingled crooked things and
straight in man’s experience, that
man should not be able to guess
with certainty at what was
coming, and might accordingly be impelled to lead a life of
sobriety and
watchfulness (Proverbs 4:23, 25-27;
Matthew
25:13; Luke 12:15, 35-40).
o
That man might not be
able by all his cogitations on the
present scene o find out the lot
either of himself or of mankind
generally in a future state
(Wright); and unquestionably this is
true that without the gospel the
whole subject of a future state
for man would be, if not an
insoluble enigma, at least a darkly
veiled mystery. A consideration
of man’s experiences on
earth would so little guide to
accurate knowledge of what his
experiences beyond the grave
should be, that to thoughtful
minds they might rather seem to
have been constructed for
the very purpose of baffling
curiosity on that alluring theme.
Resignation to
Already in the tenth verse the Preacher has counseled his
readers not to
chafe against the conditions in which they find themselves.
“Say not
thou,
What is the cause
that the former days were better than these?” It is part of
the true wisdom which he has praised “to consider the work
of God,” to
accept the outward events of life, and believe that,
whether they be
pleasant or the contrary, they are determined by a will or
power which we
cannot control or change. It is wise to submit. The crooked
we cannot
make straight (ch.1:15); the cross which is laid upon us we
cannot shake off,
and had best bear without repining (compare Job 8:3; 34:12;
Psalm 146:9).
A mingled draught is in the cup of life — prosperity and
adversity, the sweet and
the bitter. Remember that it is commended to your lips by a
higher hand, which
it is folly to resist; accept the portion which may be
assigned to you. In the time
of prosperity be in good spirits (v. 14), let not
forebodings of future evil damp the
present enjoyment; in the time of adversity consider that
it is God who has
appointed the evil day as well as the good. The thought is
the same as that
in the Book of Job, “What? shall we receive good at the hands of
God, and
shall we not
receive evil?” (Job 2:10). The reason why
both good and
evil are appointed us is given by the Preacher, though his
words are
somewhat obscure: “God also hath even made the one side by
side with the
other, to the end that man should not find out anything
that shall be after
him” (v. 14b, Revised Version). The obscurity is in the
thought rather
than in the phrases used. The commonest explanation of the
words is that
they simply assert that to know
the future is forbidden us. But the
phrase,
“after him,” is always used to mean that which follows upon the present
world (ch.3:22; 6:12; Job 21:21). What is
meant is much rather this, that
God causes man to experience good and evil, that he may
pass through the
whole school of life, and when he departs hence that
nothing may be
outstanding which he has not experienced. This interpretation
of the
various events of life, joyous and somber, as forming a
complete
disciplinary course, through which it is an advantage for
us to pass, is the
most worthy of the explanations of the words that they have
received. And
if we accept it as truly representing the author’s
thoughts, we may say that
our author’s researches were not so fruitless as he himself
seems
sometimes to assert. This recognition
of a Divine purpose running through
all the events of life is calculated
to sanctify our enjoyment of the blessings
we receive, and
to comfort and sustain us in the day of sorrow and adversity.
In vs. 15-22 we have arnings
against excesses, and praise of the
golden mean, which is practical wisdom and the
art of living happily.
15 “All
things have I seen in the days of my vanity: there is a just man
that perisheth in his righteousness, and
there is a wicked man that
prolongeth his life in his wickedness.” All things have I seen in the days of
my vanity. Koheleth gives his own experience of an anomalous condition which
often occurs in
human affairs. “All,” being here defined by the article, must refer
to the cases which he has mentioned or proceeds to mention. “The days of
vanity” mean merely “fleeting,
vain days” (compare ch.6:12). The
expression
denotes the writer’s view of the emptiness and
transitoriness of life (ch.1:2),
and it may also have special reference to his own vain
efforts to solve the
problems of existence. There is a just (righteous)
man that perisheth in his
righteousness. Here is a difficulty about the dispensation of good and
evil,
which has always perplexed the thoughtful. It finds expression
in Psalm 73.,
though the singer propounds a solution “Until I went into the sanctuary
of God; then I understood their end.” (v. 17) which Koheleth misses. The
meaning of the preposition (בְּ) before “righteousness”
is disputed. Some
take it as equivalent to “in spite of,” as in Deuteronomy 1:32, where
“in this thing” means “notwithstanding,”
“for all this thing.” Righteousness
has the promise of long life and prosperity; it is an
anomaly that it should
meet with disaster and early death. We cannot argue from
this that the author
did not believe in temporal rewards and punishments; he
states merely
certain of his own experiences, which may be abnormal and
capable of
explanation. For his special purpose this was sufficient.
Others take the
preposition to mean “through,”
“in consequence of.” Good men have always
been persecuted for righteousness’ sake (Matthew 5:10-11;
John 17:14;
II Timothy 3:12),
and so far the interpretation is quite admissible, and is
perhaps supported by v. 16, which makes a certain sort of
righteousness
the cause of disaster. But looking to the second clause of
the present verse,
where we can hardly suppose that the wicked man is said to
attain to long
life in consequence of his wickedness, we are safe in
adopting the
rendering, “in spite
of.” There is a wicked man that
prolongeth his life
in (in spite of) his
wickedness. The verb arak,
“to make long,” “to
prolong,” is used both with and without the accusative “days” (see
ch.8:12-13; Deuteronomy 5:33; Proverbs 28:2). Septuagint, Ἐστὶν
ἀσεβῆς
μένων ἐν
κακίᾳ αὐτοῦ - Estin asebaes
menon en kakia autou – There is an ungodly
man remaining in
his wickedness, which does not convey the sense of the
original. According to the moral government of God
experienced by the
Hebrews in their history, the sinner was to suffer calamity
and to be cut off
prematurely. This is the contention of Job’s friends,
against which he
argues so warmly. The writer of the Book of Wisdom has
learned to look
for the correction of such anomalies in another life. He
sees that length of
days is not always a blessing, and that retribution awaits
the evil beyond
the grave (Wisdom of Solomon - 1:9; 3:4, 10; 4:8, 19, etc.). Abel perished
in early youth; Cain had his days prolonged. This apparent
inversion of moral
order leads to another reflection concerning the danger of exaggerations.
The Perplexities of Life (vs. 13-15)
The Book of Ecclesiastes raises questions which it very
inadequately
answers, and problems which it scarcely attempts to solve.
Some of the
difficulties observable in this world, in human society,
and in individual
experience appear to be insoluble by reason, though to some
extent they
may be overcome by faith. And certainly the fuller revelation which we
enjoy as Christians is capable of assisting us in our endeavor not to be
overborne by the forces of doubt and perplexity of which
every thoughtful
man is in some measure conscious.
CROOKED THINGS WITH STRAIGHT. The philosophical student
encounters this difficulty in a
more definite form than ordinary thinkers,
and is best acquainted with the
apparent anomalies of existence. It may
suffice to refer to the
coexistence of sense and spirit, nature and reason,
law and freedom, good and evil,
death and immortality.
INTERCHANGE OF PROSPERITY AND ADVERSITY. “God hath
even made the one side by side
with the other.” The inequality of the
human lot has, from the time of
Job, been the occasion of much
questioning, dissatisfaction,
and skepticism. Opinions differ as to the effect
upon this inequality of the
advance of civilization. Riches and poverty,
splendor and squalor, refinement
and brutishness, exist side by side. And
the observation of every one has
remarked the startling transitions in the
condition and fortunes alike of
the wealthy and the poor; these are exalted,
and those depressed. At first
sight all this seems inconsistent with the sway
of a just and benignant
AND PERFECT RETRIBUTION N THIS LIFE. The righteous perish,
and the wicked live on in their
evil-doing unchecked and unpunished.
There are those who would
acquiesce in inequality of condition, were such
inequality proportioned to
disparities of moral character, but who are
dismayed by the spectacle of
prosperous crime and triumphant vice, side by
side with integrity and
benevolence doomed to want and suffering.
PRESENCE OF SUCH PERPLEXING ANOMALIES. The first and
most obvious attitude of the
wise man, when encountering difficulties such
as those described in this
passage, is to avoid hasty conclusions and immature,
unconsidered, and partial
judgments. It is plain that we are confronted
with
what we cannot
comprehend. Our observation is
limited; our penetration is
at fault; our reason is baffled.
We are not, therefore, to shut our eyes to the
facts of life, or to deny what
our intelligence forces upon us. But we must
think, and WE MUST
WAIT!
CONCERNED, IS TO TEST AND TO ELICIT FAITH IN GOD.
There is sufficient reason for
every thoughtful man to believe in the
wisdom
and righteousness
of THE ETERNAL RULER. And the
Christian has
special grounds for his assurance that all things are ordained by his Father
and Redeemer, and that the Judge of all the earth will do right. (Genesis
18:25).
16 “Be not
righteous over much; neither make thyself over wise: why
shouldest thou destroy thyself?” Be not righteous over much. The
exhortation
has been variously interpreted to warn against too scrupulous
observance of ritual
and ceremonial religion, or the mistaken piety which
neglects all mundane
affairs, or the Pharisaical spirit which is bitter in
condemning others who
fall short of one’s own standard. Koheleth is condemning the tendency to
immoderate asceticism which had begun to show itself in his
day — a rigorous,
prejudiced, indiscreet manner of life and conduct which
made piety offensive,
and afforded no real aid to the cause of religion. This
arrogant system virtually
dictated the laws by which
with divinely ordered circumstances if they did not
coincide with its
professors’ preconceived opinions. Such religionism might
well be called
being “righteous over
much.” Neither make thyself over
wise;
Septuagint, Μηδὲ
σοφίζου
περισσά - mae sophizou perissa; Vulgate, Neque
plus sapias quam necesse est; better, show not thyself too wise; i.e.
do not
indulge in speculations about God’s dealings,
estimating them according to
your own predilections, questioning the wisdom of
His moral government.
Against such perverse speculation Paul argues
(Romans 9:19-21). “Thou
wilt say unto me,
Why doth he still find fault? For who withstandeth his
will? Nay but, O
man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the
thing formed say
to him that formed it, Why didst thou make me thus?” A
good principle carried to excess may bring evil results. Summum
jus,
summa injuria. The
maxim, Μηδὲν
ἀγάν – Maeden agan, Ne quid
nimis,
“Moderation in all
things,” is taught here; and Aristotle’s
theory of virtue
being the mean between
the two extremes of excess and defect is adumbrated
(‘Ethic. Nicom.,’
2:6. 15, 16): though we do not see that the writer is reproducing
current Greek thought, or that independent reflection and
observation could not
have landed him at the implied conclusion without
plagiarism. Why shouldest
thou destroy thyself? Septuagint, ποτὲ ἐκπλαγῇς,
– Mae
pote ekplagaes,
Lest perchance
thou be confounded; Vulgate, Ne obstupescas,
“Lest thou be
stupefied.” This is the primary meaning of the special form
of the verb here
used (hithp. of שׁמם). It is not a mental,
internal effect that is contemplated,
but something that affects comfort, position, or life, like
the corresponding clause
in the following verse. The Authorized Version is correct.
A man who professes
to be wiser than others, and. indeed, wiser than
animosity of his fellowmen, and will certainly be punished
by God for his
arrogance and presumption.
17 “Be not
over much wicked, neither be thou foolish: why shouldest
thou die before thy time?” Be not over much wicked neither be thou foolish.
These two injunctions are parallel and correlative to those in v.
16 concerning
over-righteousness and over-wisdom. But the present verse cannot be
meant, as at first sight it
seems to do, to sanction a certain amount of
wickedness provided it
does not exceed due measure. To surmount this
difficulty some have undefined to modify the term “wicked”
(rasha), taking
it to mean “engaged in worldly matters,” or “not subject to
rule,” “lax,” or
again “restless,” as some translate the word in Job 3:17.
But the word
seems not to be used in any such senses, and bears
uniformly the
uncompromising signification assigned to it, “to be wicked,
unrighteous,
guilty.” The difficulty is not overcome by Plumptre’s suggestion of
the
introduction of a little “playful irony learned from Greek
teachers,” as if
Koheleth meant, “I have warned you, my friends, against
overrighteousness,
but do not jump at the conclusion that license is
allowable.
That was very far from my meaning.” The connection of thought
is this: in
the previous verse Koheleth had denounced the Pharisaical
spirit which
virtually condemned the Divine ordering of circumstances,
because vice
was not at once and visibly punished, and virtue at once
rewarded; and
now he proceeds to warn
against the deliberate and abominable wickedness
which infers from God’s long-suffering his absolute neglect
and non-
interference in mortal matters, and on this view plunges
audaciously into
vice and immorality, saying to itself, “God hath forgotten: he hideth
his
face; he will never see it” (Psalm 10:11). Such conduct may well be
called “foolish;” it is that of
“the fool who says in his heart, There is no
God” (Psalm 14:1).
The actual wording of the injunction sounds to us
somewhat strange; but its form is determined by the
requirements of
parallelism, and the aphorism must not be pressed beyond
its general
intention, “Be not righteous nor wise to excess; be not
wicked nor foolish
to excess.” Septuagint, “Be
not very wicked, and be not stubborn
(σκληρός - sklaeros).” Why shouldest thou die before thy time?
literally,
not in thy time; prematurely, tempting God to punish thee by retributive
judgment, or shortening thy days
by vicious excesses. (For the former, see
Job 22:16; Psalm 55:23;
Proverbs 10:27; and compare I Samuel 2:31, 33;
and for the latter, Proverbs 5:23; 7:23-27; 10:21.) The
Syriac
contains a clause not given in any other version, “that thou mayest not be
hated.” As is often the case, both in this book and in Proverbs, a
general
statement in one place is reduced by a contrariant
or modified opinion in
another. Thus the prolongation of the life of the wicked,
noticed in v. 15,
is here shown to be abnormal,
impiety in the usual course of events having
a tendency to shorten life. In this way hasty generalization is corrected, and
the Divine arrangement is vindicated.
18 “It is
good that thou shouldest take hold of this; yea, also from this
withdraw not thine hand: for he that
feareth God shall come forth
of them all.” It is good that thou shouldest
take hold of this; yea, also
from this withdraw
not thine hand. The pronouns refer to the two
warnings in vs. 16 and 17 against over-righteousness and
over-wickedness.
Koheleth does not advise a man to make trial of opposite
lines of
conduct, to taste the fruit of the tree of knowledge of
good and evil, that
from a wide experience he may, like a man of the world,
pursue a safe
course; this would be poor morality, and
unmeet for the stage at which his
argument has arrived. Rather he advises him to lay to heart
the cautions
above given, and learn from them to avoid all extremes. As
Horace says
(‘Epist.,’ 1:18. 9) —
“Virtus
est medium vitiorum et utrinque reductum.”
“Folly, as usual, in extremes is seen,
While virtue
nicely hits the happy mean.”
(Howes.)
The Vulgate has interpolated a word, and taken the pronoun
as masculine,
to the sacrifice of the sense and connection: Bonum est
te sustentare
justum, sed el ab
illo ne subtrahas manum tuam, “It is good that thou
shouldst support the just man, nay, from him withdraw not
thy hand.” For
he that feareth
God shall come forth of them all; shall
escape both
extremes together with their evil results. The fear of God will keep
a man
from all excesses.
The intransitive verb yatsa, “to go
forth,” is here used
with an accusative (compare Genesis 44:4, which, however,
is not quite
analogous.
19 “Wisdom
strengtheneth the wise more than ten mighty men which
are in the city.” Wisdom strengtheneth the wise. The moderation enjoined is
the only true wisdom, which, indeed, is the most powerful
incentive and
support. “Wisdom proves itself stronger” (as the verb is
put intransitively)
“to the wise man.” Septuagint, βοηθήσει,– bonthaesei - will help; Vulgate,
confortuvit, “hath
strengthened.” The spiritual
and moral force of the
wisdom grounded upon the fear of God is here signified, and
is all the more
insisted upon to counteract any erroneous impression
conveyed by the
caution against over-wisdom in v. 16 (see note on v. 17, at
the end).
More than ten
mighty men which are in the city. The number ten
indicates completeness,
containing in itself the whole arithmetical system,
and used representatively for an indefinite multitude. Thus
Job (19:3)
complains that his friends have reproached him ten times,
and Elkanah asks
his murmuring wife, “Am
I not better to thee than ten sons?” (I Samuel
1:8). The sentence may be compared with Proverbs 10:15;
21:22; 24:5.
The word rendered “mighty
men” (shallitim) is not necessarily a military
designation; it is
translated “ruler” in ch. 10:5, and “governor” in
Genesis 42:6. The Septuagint here has Ἐξουσιάζοντας
τοὺς ὄντας ἐν
τῇ πόλει –
Exousiazontas
tous ontas en tae polei – more than ten
rulers who are in the city; the Vulgate, principes civitatis. The persons
intended are not primarily men of valor in war, like David’s heroes, but
rulers of sagacity, prudent statesmen, whose moral force is far
greater and
more efficacious than any merely physical excellence (compare
ch.9:16).
20 “For
there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth
not.”
The wisdom above signified is, indeed,
absolutely necessary, if
one would escape the consequences of that frailty of nature which leads to
transgression. Wisdom shows
the sinner a way out of the evil course in
which he is walking, and puts him back in THAT
FEAR OF GOD WHICH
IS HIS ONLY SAFETY!
For
there is not a just man upon earth. The verse
confirms v. 19. Even the just man sinneth, and therefore
needs wisdom. That
doeth good, and
sinneth not. This reminds us of the words in Solomon’s
prayer (I Kings 8:46; Proverbs 20:9). So James (James 3:2)
says, “In many
things we all offend all;” and John, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves, and the
truth is not in us” (I John 1:8). And
Paul, “All have
sinned
and come short of the glory of God” (Romans
3:23). A Greek
gnome runs — Ἁμαρτάνει
τι καὶ σοφοῦ
σοφώτερος. - Amartanei ti kai
sophou sophoteros
. “Erreth
at times the very wisest man.”
21 “Also
take no heed unto all words that are spoken; lest thou hear thy
servant curse thee:” Also take no heed unto all words
that are spoken;
literally, give not thy heart, as
ch.1:13, etc. Here is another matter in
which wisdom will lead
to right conduct. You will not pay
serious
attention to evil reports either about yourself or others,
nor regulate your
views and actions according to such distortions of the
truth. To be always
hankering to know what people say of us is to set up a
false standard,
which will assuredly lead us astray; and, at the same time,
we shall expose
ourselves to the keenest mortification when we find, as we
probably shall
find, that they do not take us at our own valuation, but
have thoroughly
marked our weaknesses, and are ready enough to censure
them. We have
an instance of patience under unmerited reproof in the case
of David when
cursed by Shimei (II Samuel 16:11), as he, or one like
minded, says
(Psalm 38:13), “I, as
a deaf man, hear not; and I am as a dumb man
that openeth not
his mouth. Yea, I am as a man that heareth not, and in
whose mouth are no
reproofs.” Corn. a Lapide comments in
words to
which no translation would do justice, “Verbaenim non aunt
verbera;
aerem feriunt non hominem, nisi qui its attendit mordetur,
sauciatur.” Lest
thou hear thy
servant curse thee. The servant is
introduced as an
example of a gossip or calumniator, because he, if any one,
would be
acquainted with his master’s faults, and be most likely to
disseminate his
knowledge, and blame from such a quarter would be most
intolerable.
Commentators appositely quote Bacon’s remarks on this
passage in his
‘Advancement of Learning,’ 8:2, where he notes the prudence
of Pompey,
who burned all the papers of Sertorius reread, containing,
as they did,
information which would fatally have compromised many
leading men in
22 “Oftentimes also thine
own heart knoweth that thou thyself
likewise hast cursed others.” The appeal to a man’s own conscience
follows. The fact that we often speak ill of others should
make us less open
to take offence at what is said of ourselves, and prepared
to expect
unfavorable comments. The Lord has said, “Judge not, that ye be not
judged; for with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be
judged; and with what
measure ye mete, it shall be measured unto you” (Matthew 7:1-2).
This is a universal law. “Who is he,” asks Ben-Sira, “that
hath not offended
with his tongue?” (Ecclesiasticus. 19:16). Septuagint, Ὅτι
πλειστάκις
πονηρεύσεταί
σε καὶ
καθόδους πολλὰς
κακώσει
καρδίαν σου
ὄτι ὡς καίγε
σὺ κατηράσω
ἑτέρους - Hoti pleistakis ponaereusetai se kai
kathodous pollas kakosei kardian sou oti hos
kaige sukataeraso heterous –
For many times he [thy servant] shall act ill to thee, and in many ways shall
afflict thine heart, for even thou also hast cursed others. This seems to be
a combination of two renderings of the passage. “It is the praise of perfect
greatness to meet hostile treatment, without bravely and within mercifully
some things are more quickly dismissed
from our hearts if we know our own
misdemeanors against our neighbors.
For whilst we reflect what we have been
towards others, we are the less
concerned that others should have proved such
persons towards ourselves, be cause
the injustice of another avenges in us
what our conscience justly
accuses in itself” (St. Gregory, ‘Moral.,’ 22:26).
In vs. 23-29, though further insight into essential wisdom
was not
obtainable; Koheleth learned some other practical lessons,
viz. that
wickedness was folly and madness; that woman was the most evil thing in
the world; that man
had perverted his nature, which was made originally
good.
23 “All
this have I proved by wisdom: I said, I will be wise; but it was
far from me.” All this have I proved by wisdom; i.e. wisdom was the
means by which he arrived at the practical conclusions
given above (vs.1-22).
Would wisdom solve deeper questions? And if so, could he
ever
hope to attain it? I
said, I will be wise. This
was his strong resolve. He
desired to grow in wisdom, to use it in order to unfold
mysteries and
explain anomalies. Hitherto he had been content to watch
the course of
men’s lives, and find by experience what was good and what
was evil for
them; now he craves for an insight into the secret laws
that regulate those
external circumstances: he wants a philosophy or theosophy.
His desire is
expressed by his imitator in the Book of Wisdom of Solomon
(9.), “O God
of my fathers,… give me Wisdom, that sitteth
by thy throne.... O send her
out of thy holy
heavens, and from the throne of thy glory, that being present
she may labor with
me.” But it was far from me. It remained in the far
distance, out of reach. Job’s experience ( ch.28.) was his.
Practical rules of life
he might gain, and had mastered, but essential, absolute
wisdom was
beyond mortal grasp. Man’s
knowledge and capacity are limited.
24 “That
which is far off, and exceeding deep, who can find it out?”
The broken, interjectional style of the original in this
passage is better brought
out by translating, “Far
off is that which is, and deep, deep: who can find it out?”
Professor Lewis renders, “Far off! the past, what is it?
Deep — a deep — oh,
who can find?” and explains “the past” to mean, not merely
the earthly past
historically unknown, but the great past before the
creation of the universe,
the kingdom of all eternities with its ages of ages, its
worlds of worlds, its
mighty evolutions, its infinite variety. We prefer to
retain the rendering,
“that which is,” and to refer the expression to the
phenomenal world. It is
not the essence of wisdom that is spoken of, but the facts
of man’s life and
the circumstances in which he finds himself, the course of
the world, the
phenomena of nature, etc. These things — their causes,
connection,
interdependence — we cannot explain satisfactorily (compare
ch.3:11; 8:17).
In the Book of Wisdom of Solomon (7:17-21) Solomon is supposed
to have
arrived at this abstruse knowledge, “for,” he says, “God hath
given me certain
knowledge of the
things that are (τῶν ὄντων γνῶσιν
ἀψευδῆ - ton onton
gnosin apseudae),” and he proceeds to enumerate the various departments
which
this “universitas literarum” has opened to him. The
Septuagint (and virtually the
Vulgate) connects this verse with the preceding, thus: ‘I said, I will be wise,
and it (αὔτη – autae – that which) was far from me, far beyond what was
(μακρὰν
ὑπὲρ ο{ η΅ν – makran huper ho aen – was far away), and deep depth:
who shall find it out?” (For the epithet
“deep” applied to what is recondite
or what is beyond human comprehension, compare Proverbs 20:5; Job 11:8)
25 “I applied
mine heart to know, and to search, and to seek out
wisdom, and the reason of things, and to
know the wickedness of
folly, even of foolishness and madness:” I applied mine heart to know;
more literally, I turned myself, and my
heart was [set] to know. We have the
expression, “tamed
myself,” referring to a new investigation in ch.2:20 and
elsewhere; but
the distinguishing the heart or soul from the man
himself is
not common in
Scripture (see on ch.11:9), though the soul is
sometimes
apostrophized, as in Luke 12:19 (compare Psalm 103:1;
146:1). The writer
here implies that he gave up himself with all earnestness to the
investigation.
Unsatisfactory as his quest had been hitherto, he did not
relinquish the
pursuit, but rather turned it in another direction, where
he could hope to
meet with useful results. The Septuagint has, “I and my heart traveled
round (ἐκύκλωσα – ekuklosa) to know;” the
Vulgate, Lustravi universa
animo meo ut scirem. And to search, and to seek out wisdom. The
accumulation
of synonymous verbs is meant to emphasize the
author’s devotion to his self-
imposed task and his return from profitless
theoretical investigation to
practical inquiry. And
the reason of things. Cheshbon (v. 27; ch.9:10) is
rather “account,”
“reckoning,” than “reason “ — the
summing-up of all
the facts and circumstances rather than the elucidation of
their causes.
Vulgate, rationem; Septuagint, ψῆφον – psaephon –
to compute. The
next clause ought to be rendered, And to know wickedness as (or, to be)
folly, and foolishness as (to be) madness. His investigation led
him to this
conclusion, that all
infringement of God’s laws is A MISJUDGING
ABERRATION — a willful desertion of the requirements of right
reason —
and that mental
and moral obtuseness is a physical
malady which may be
called MADNESS! (compare ch.1:17; 2:12; 10:13).
26 “And I
find more bitter than death the woman, whose heart is snares
and nets, and her hands as bands: whoso
pleaseth God shall escape
from her; but the sinner shall be taken by
her.” One
practical result of his
quest Koheleth cannot avoid mentioning, though it comes with a
suddenness
which is somewhat startling. And I find more bitter than death the woman.
Tracing men’s folly
and madness to their source, he finds that they arise
generally from the seductions of the female sex. Beginning with Adam,
woman has continued to work
mischief in the world. “Of the woman came the
beginning of sin, and through her we all die”
(Ecclesiasticus. 25:24); it was
owing to her that the punishment of death was inflicted on
the human race.
If Solomon himself were speaking, he had indeed a bitter
experience of the
sin and misery into which women lead their victims (see I
Kings 11:1, 4, 11).
It may be thought that Koheleth refers here especially to “the strange woman”
of Proverbs 2:16, etc.; 5:3, etc.; but in v. 28 he speaks
of the whole sex without
qualification; so that we must conclude that he had a very
low opinion of them.
It is no ideal personage whom he is introducing; it is not a personification
of vice or folly; but woman in her totality, such as he knew
her to be in
Oriental courts
and homes, denied her proper position, degraded, uneducated,
all natural affections crushed or undeveloped,
the plaything of her lord, to be
flung aside at any moment. It is not surprising that Koheleth’s impression of
the female sex should
be unfavorable. He is not singular in such an opinion.
One might fill a large page with proverbs and gnomes
uttered in
disparagement of woman by men of all ages and countries.
(We hear a lot
of Macho-men, and they/we will have to stand in judgment, but let not
the modern woman of the National Organization of Women,
refuse to
take her place, as a woman of collective and cumulative
history – CY –
2013) Men, having
the making of such apothegms, have used their license
unmercifully; if the maligned sex had equal liberty, the
tables might have
been reversed. But, really, in this as in other cases the
mean is the safest;
and practically those who have given the darkest picture of
women have not
been slow to recognize her
brighter side. If, for instance, the
Book of Proverbs
paints the adulteress and the harlot in the soberest, most
appalling colors, the
same book affords us such a sketch of the virtuous matron
as is unequalled
for vigor, truth, and high appreciation (Proverbs
31:10-31). And if, as in our
present chapter, Koheleth shows a bitter feeling against
the evil side of woman’s
nature, he knows how
to value the comfort of married life (ch.4:8), and
to look upon a good wife as one who makes a man’s home
happy
(Ibid. ch. 9:9). Since the
incarnation of our blessed Lord Jesus
Christ, “the Seed of the woman,” we have learned to regard woman in her
true light, and to assign her that position to which she is
entitled, giving
honor unto her as the weaker vessel, and, at the same time,
heir with us of
the glorious hope and destiny of our renewed nature (I
Peter 3:7 – one of
my favorite scriptures in all the Bible – CY – 2013). Whose heart is snares
and nets; more
accurately, who is snares, and nets in her heart;
Septuagint,
“The woman who is
a snare, and her heart nets;” Vulgate, Quae laqueus
venatorum est, et
sagena cot ejus. The imagery is obvious
(compare Proverbs 5:4,
7:22; 22:14; Habakkuk 1:15); the thoughts of the evil woman’s heart are nets,
occupied in meditating how she may entrap and retain victims; and her outward
look and words are snares
that captivate the foolish, Μὴ ὑπάντα
γυναικὶ
ἑταιριζομένη -
Maeupanta gunaiki
etairizomenae - Lest
thou fall into her
snares. (Ecclesiasticus 9:3).
Plautus, ‘Asin.,’ 1:3. 67 —
“Auceps
sum ego;
Esca est
meretrix; lectus illex est; amatores aves.
“The
fowler I;
My bait the
courtesan; her bed the lure;
The birds
the lovers.”
So ancient critics, stronger m morals than in etymology,
derive Venus from
venari, “to hunt,”
and mulier Item mollire, “to soften,” or malleus, “a
hammer,” because the devil
uses women to mold and fashion men to his
will. And her hands as bands, Asurim, “bands”
or “fetters,” is found in
Judges 15:14, where it is used of the chains with which the
men of
embraces. Whoso
pleaseth God (more literally, he who is good before
God) shall escape from her. He whom God
regards as good
(ch. 2:26, where see note) shall have grace to avoid these seductions.
But the sinner
shall be taken by her; בָּהּ,“in her,” in the snare which is
herself. In some manuscripts of Ecclesiasticus (26:23) are
these words;
“A wicked woman is given as a portion to a wicked man; but
a godly woman is given to him that feareth the Lord.”
27 “Behold,
this have I found, saith the preacher, counting one by one,
to find out the account:” Behold, this have I found. The
result of his search,
thus forcibly introduced, follows in v. 28. He has carefully
examined the
character and conduct of both sexes, and he is constrained
to make the
unsatisfactory remark which he there puts forth. Saith the preacher.
Koheleth is here
treated as a feminine noun, being joined with the feminine
form of the verb, though elsewhere it is grammatically
regarded as
masculine (see on ch. 1:1). Many have thought that, after
speaking so
disparagingly of woman, it would be singularly
inappropriate to introduce
the official preacher as a female; they have therefore
adopted a slight
alteration in the text, viz. אָמַר
חַקֹּחֶלֶת instead
of אָמְרָה
קֹהֶלֶת,
which is simply the transference of he from the end
of one word to the
beginning of the next, thus adding the article, as in
ch.12:8,
and making the term accord with the Syriac and Arabic, and
the
Septuagint, εϊπεν ὁ
Ἐκκλησιαστής - eipen ho
Ekklaesiastaes – says
the Preacher. The writer here introduces his own designation
in order
to call special attention to what is coming. Counting one by one. The phrase
is elliptical, and signifies, adding one thing to another, or weighing one
thing after another, putting together various facts or marks. To find
out
the account; to
arrive at the reckoning, the desired result.
28 “Which
yet my soul seeketh, but I find not: one man among a
thousand have I found; but a woman among
all those have I not
found.”
Which yet my soul seeketh, but I find
not; or, which my
soul hath still sought,
but I have not found. The conclusion at which he did
arrive was something utterly different from what he had
hoped to achieve.
The soul and the ego are separately regarded (compare v. 25); the whole
intellectual faculties were absorbed in the search, and the
composite
individual gives his consequent experience. One man (Adam) among a
thousand have I
found. He found only one
man among a thousand that
reached his standard of excellence — the ideal that he had
formed for
himself, who could be rightly called by the noble name of
man. The phrase,
“one of a
thousand,” occurs in Job 9:3; 33:23;
Ecclesiasticus 6:6 (εϊς
ἀπὸ χιλίων -
eis apo chilion – one in a thousand, as in the Septuagint here). Adam,
the generic term, is used here instead of ish, the
individual, to emphasize the
antithetical ishah, “woman,” in the following
clause, or to lead the thought
to the original perfection of man’s nature. So in Greek ἄνθρωπος – anthropos –
man - is
sometimes used for ἀνήρ – anaer –
fellow; man; husband; sir -, though
generally the distinction between the two is sufficiently
marked. But a woman
among all those
have I not found; i.e.
not one woman in a thousand who was
what a woman ought to be. Says the Son of Sirach, “All
wickedness is but little
to the wickedness of a woman; let the portion of a sinner
fall upon her”
(Ecclesiasticus. 25:19). So the Greek gnome —
Θάλασσα
καὶ πῦρ καὶ
γυνὴ κακὰ τρία.
Thalassa kai pur
kai guaen kaka tria
“Three
evils are there — sea, fire, and woman.”
Solomon had a thousand wives and concubines, and his
experience might
well have been that mentioned in this passage.
Bad Women a Curse to Society (vs. 25-28)
It is generally considered that in this language we have
the conclusion
reached by Solomon, and that his
polygamy was largely the explanation of
the very unfavorable opinion which he formed of the other
sex. A monarch
who takes to himself hundreds of wives and concubines is
scarcely likely to
see much of the best side of woman’s nature and life. And
if marriage is
divinely intended to draw out the unselfish,
affectionate, and devoted
qualities of feminine nature, such a purpose could not be more effectually
frustrated than by an arrangement which assigns to a
so-called wife an
infinitesimal portion of a husband’s time, attention,
interest, and love. For
this reason it is not fair to take the sweeping statement
of this passage as
expressing a universal and unquestionable truth. What is said of the
bitterness of the wicked woman, and of the mischief she does
in society,
remains for ever true; but there are states of society in which good women
are as numerous as are good men, and in which their
influence is equally
beneficial.
PRINCIPLE THAT THE ABUSE AND CORRUPTION OF GOOD
THINGS IS OFTEN THE CAUSE OF THE WORST OF ILLS.
THEIR HABIT OF ENSNARING THE FOOLISH; FOR THEY WILL
NOT AND CANNOT SIN ALONE.
TEMPTATION TO WHICH MEN ARE LIABLE, AND THE GREAT
TEST BY WHICH THEY ARE TRIED.
SUGGEST THE EXCELLENCE OF THE VIRTUOUS AND THE
PIOUS, AND MAY PROMPT TO A
GRATEFUL RECOGNITION OF
THE INDEBTEDNESS OF SOCIETY TO HOLY AND KINDLY
FEMININE INFLUENCES.
Degradation and Elevation (vs. 23-28)
The words of the Preacher painfully remind us of the
familiar story of
Diogenes and his lantern.
(Diogenes is depicted in art carryhing a lantern
with which he is said to have vainly hunted by daylight for
an honest man.)
Whether we are to ascribe this pitiful conclusion
respecting woman to his own
infirmity or to the actual condition of Oriental society,
we do not know. But
there was, no doubt, so much of realism about the picture
that we may learn a
very practical lesson. It is twofold.
created by God to be a
helpmeet for man, and so admirably fitted, as she
is at her best, to comfort his
heart and to enrich and bless his life —
that
woman should be spoken of in
such terms as these, is sad and strange
indeed. It would be unaccountable but for one thing. The
explanation is
that man, in his physical strength and in his spiritual weakness,
has
systematically degraded
woman; has made a mere tool and instrument of
her whom he should have treated as his trusted companion and
truest
friend. And if you once
degrade any being (or any animal) from his or her
true and right position, you
send that being down an incline, you open the
gates to a long and sad descent.
You take away self-respect, and in so
doing you undermine the
foundation of all virtue, of all moral worth.
Dishonor any one, man or woman,
lad or child, in his (her) own eyes, and
you inflict a deadly injury. A very vile woman is probably worse than a
very bad man, more inherently
foul and more lamentably mischievous; it is
the miserable consequence of man’s folly in wishing to displace her from
the position God meant her to hold,
and in making her take a far lower
position than she has the faculty
to fill. To degrade is to ruin, and to ruin
utterly.
the impossibility of seriously
writing such a sentence as that contained in
the twenty-eighth verse, in this
age and in this land of ours! Now and here
it certainly is not more
difficult to find a woman worthy of our admiration
than to find such a man. In the Churches of Jesus Christ, in the homes of
our country, are
women, young and old and in the prime of their powers,
whose character
is sound to the center, whose spirit is gracious, whose
lives are
lovely, whose influence is wholly beneficent, who are the
sweetness and
strength of the present generation, as they are the hope and
promise of the
next. And this elevation of woman all
comes of treating her
as that which
God meant her to be — giving to her her rightful position,
inviting and enabling her to
fill her sphere, to cultivate her powers, to do
her work, to take her heritage.
Ø
It is easy as it is
foolish and sinful to degrade; assume the absence of
what God has given and deny the
opportunity which should be
offered, and the work is
speedily done.
Ø
It is quite possible
as it is most blessed to elevate; treat men and
women, wherever found and
at whatever stage in worth or
unworthiness they may be
taken, as those God meant to be His
children, and they will
rise to the dignity and partake the inheritance
of “the sons and daughters of the living God” (II Corinthians 6:18).
29 “Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made
man upright;
but they have sought
out many inventions.” Lo, this only (or, only see! this)
have I found. UNIVERSAL CORRUPTION was that which met his wide
investigations, but of one thing he was sure, which he proceeds to specify —
he has learned to trace the degradation to its
source, not in God’s agency,
but in man’s PERVERSE WILL! That God hath made man upright. Koheleth
believes that man’s original constitution was yasbar, “straight,”
“right,”
“morally good,” and possessed of ability to choose
and follow what was just
and right (Genesis 1:26, etc.). Thus in the Book of Wisdom of Solomon 2:23
we read, “God created man to be immortal, and made him an image of His
own nature” Nevertheless, through envy of the devil, came death into
the world,
and they that are his
portion tempt it.” But they (men)
have sought out many
inventions (chishshebonoth);
II Chronicles 26:15, where the term
implies works of invention, and is translated “engines,” i.e. devices,
ways
of going astray and deviating from original righteousness.
Man has thus
abased his free-will, and employed the inventive faculty
with which he was
endowed in excoriating evil (Genesis 6:5). How this state
of things
came about, how the originally good man became thus wicked,
the writer
does not tell. He knows from
revelation that God made him upright; he
knows from experience that he is now evil; and he leaves the matter there.
Plumptre quotes, as illustrating our text, a passage from
the ‘Antigone’ of
Sophocles, vers. 332, 365, 366, which he renders-
“Many the
things that strange and wondrous are,
None
stranger and mere wonderful than man....
And lo,
with all this skill,
Wise and
inventive still,
Beyond
hope’s dream,
He now to
good inclines,
And now to
ill.”
We may add AEschylus, ‘Choeph.,’ vers. 585, etc. —
“Many fearful plagues
Earth
nourishes…
But man’s
audacious spirit
Who can
tell?”
Horace, ‘Carm.,’ 1:3. 25 —
“Audax omnia perpeti
Gens
humans ruit per vetitum nefas.”
“The race
of man, bold all things to endure,
Hurries
undaunted to forbidden crime.”
Vulgate, Et ipse se infinitis miscuerit quaestionibus,
“And he entangled
himself in multitudinous questions.” This refers to
unhallowed curiosity and
speculation; but, as we have seen, the passage is concerned
with man’s
moral declension, declaring how his “devices” lead him away from
“uprightness.”
"Excerpted text Copyright AGES Library, LLC. All rights reserved.
Materials are reproduced by
permission."
This material can be found at:
http://www.adultbibleclass.com
If this exposition is helpful, please share
with others.