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ECCLESIASTES 

A  NEW  TRANSLATION 
by  the 

Rev  John  Noble  Coleman 


SECOND  EDITIOI^^ 


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ECCLESIASTES 


A  NEW  TRAKSLATIOK 


WITH   NOTES   EXPLANATOEY,   ILLUSTEATIVE,   AND    CEITICAL. 


ECCLESIASTES 


A   NEW   TRAN8LATI0ISI 


WITH     JVOTES     EXPLANATORY,    I  L  L  L  ST  K  AT  I  V  E, 

AND     CRITICAL. 


SECOND    EDITION,    REVISED    AND    ENLARGED 


BY    THE 


KEY.  JOHN  l^OBLE  COLEMAN,  M.A. 


LATE  INCUMBENT  OF  VENTNOK. 


EDINBURGH 
ANDREW   ELLIOT,   17   PRINCES   STREET 

1867. 


EDINBUEGH  :     T.    CONSTABLE, 
PEINTEE  TO  THE  QUEEN,   AND  TO  THE  UNIVERSITY. 


Eo  tijc  fEcmorg  of 
MARGARETTA   ELEONORA  MARELLA  COLEMAN 

A  BELOVED  WIFE 

TRANSLATED   FEUM   THE    CONFLICTS    OF  TIME 
TO   THE  GLORIES   OF   IMMORTALITY 

THIS  VOLUME 

IS  MOURNFULLY  AND  AFFECTIONATELY  INSCRIBED 

BY  THE  AUTHOR. 


PREFACE. 


THE  INSPIRATION  OF  ECCLESIASTES. 

Christianity  receives  as  Divine  the  canon  of  the  Old  Testament 
transmitted  by  the  Jews,  the  only  nation  of  all  the  peoples  of  the 
earth  chosen  of  old  by  God  to  be  the  depository  of  His  revealed 
will,  and  acknowledges  both  this  canon  of  the  Old  Testament  and 
the  New  Testament  Scriptures  to  be  God's  Word  written,  to  which 
Word  man  must  not  add,  and  from  which  Word  man  must  not 
subtract.  The  Jews  divide  the  Old  Testament  into  three  parts,  the 
Law,  the  Prophets,  and  the  Hagiographa.  Christ  Himself  recognised 
this  threefold  division  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  declared  that  all 
three  parts  were  prophetical  of  Him  (Luke  xxiv.  44).  Being  pro- 
phetical of  Christ,  all  three  parts  must  have  emanated  from  the 
inspiration  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  book  called  Ecclestastes  is 
embodied  in  the  Hagiographa,  and  therefore  constitutes  an  integral 
portion  of  Divine  revelation, — of  '  all  Scripture  given  by  inspiration 
of  God,  profitable  for  doctrine,  for  reproof,  for  correction,  for  instruc- 
tion in  righteousness,  that  the  man  of  God  may  be  perfect,  thoroughly 
furnished  unto  all  good  works.' 

the  author  of  ECCLESIASTES. 

The  authorship  of  Ecclesiastes  is  explicitly  ascribed  by  inspira- 
tion unto  Solomon.     '  The  words  of  Khoheleth,  son  of  David,  reigning 


viii  PEEFACE. 

in  Jerusalem  :  I  am  Khoheletli,  reigning  over  Israel  in  Jerusalem.' 
No  other  son  of  David  but  Solomon  ever  reigned  in  Jerusalem  over 
Israel.  Furthermore,  the  author's  ascription  to  himself  of  pre-eminence 
of  wisdom — 

'  I,  behold,  I  have  increased  and  advanced  wisdom 
Beyond  all  who  have  been  in  Jerusalem  before  me  ;' 

of  pre-eminence  of  architectural  erections  and  wealth — 

'  1  erected  works  of  magnificence  ;    .    .    . 
More  magnificent  was  I  and  more  opulent 
Than  all  who  have  been  in  Jerusalem  before  me  ;' 

and  of  pre-eminence  in  the  composition  of  provei'bs — 

•  He  had  pondered,  and  investigated,  and  arranged  many  proverbs/ 
demonstratively  proves  that  Solomon  is  the  sole  and  exclusive  author 
of  Ecclesiastes. 

Hence  to  afi&rm,  in  opposition  to  the  consent  of  antiquity,  as 
Grotius  and  very  many  modern  writers  have  affirmed,  that  Ecclesiastes 
was  written  in  whole  or  in  part  by  some  other  author,  and  not  by 
Solomon,  is  to  contradict  the  teaching  of  Omniscience,  and  virtually 
to  deny  the  inspiration  of  this  book.  If  we  admit  the  inspiration 
of  Ecclesiastes,  we  must,  as  the  necessary  consequent,  admit  that 
Solomon  was  the  author.  No  diversity  of  style,  real  or  imaginary, 
can  justify  or  even  palliate  man's  presumptuous  contradiction  of  God's 
revealed  will.  '  God  is  not  a  man  that  He  should  lie.'  '  Let  God  be 
true,  and  every  man  a  liar.'  The  inspiration  and  Solomonic  author- 
ship of  Ecclesiastes  are  indissolubly  linked,  and  must  stand  or  fall 
together.  Incontrovertible  is  the  judgment  of  the  renowned  Professor 
of  Divinity,  the  learned  Witsius,  that  the  author  of  Ecclesiastes,  if  not 
Solomon  himself,  was  the  greatest  liar  that  ever  disgraced  humanity, 
— omnium  mortalium  mendacissimus. 

As  inspiration  authoritatively  declares  that  Solomon  was  the 
author  of  Ecclesiastes,  so  inspiration  clearly  indicates  that  he  wrote 
it  on  the  very  verge  of  life,  not  long  before  he  entered  the  dark  valley 
of  the  shadow  of  death,  after  he  had  amassed  his  immense  wealth, 
had  completed  the  magnifical  temple  and  all  his  splendid  edifices, 


PREFACE.  ix 

his  extensive  parks,  gardens,  and  plantations,  his  utilitarian  reser- 
voirs for  the  supply  of  Bethlehem,  Jerusalem,  and  his  plantations 
with  water,  and  had  experimentally  learned  that  '  vanity  of  vanities, 
all  is  vanity,' — that  nothing  can  satisfy  the  soul  of  man,  or  impart 
abiding  felicity,  but  saving  faith  in  the  promised  Seed  of  the  woman, 
who  by  covenant  engagement  was  to  bruise  the  serpent's  head. 

In  our  authorized  version  Solomon  is  called  the  preacher,  the 
supposititious  meaning  affixed  to  the  Hebrew  word  Khoheleth  both 
in  the  English  and  in  the  ancient  versions.  The  root  and  derivatives 
of  this  word  occur  170  times  in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  and  in  no 
one  passage  ever  signify  to  preach  or  to  teach,  nor  are  they  ever  so 
rendered  in  the  authorized  English  version,  except  in  the  seven  texts 
in  Ecclesiastes,  Avliere  Khoheleth  occurs  in  the  Hebrew  original.  The 
sole  signification  of  the  term  in  all  the  other  passages,  except  these 
seven  texts,  is  to  gather  or  convene  assemblies.  Solomon  was  not 
A  preacher,  nor  yet  a  convener  of  assemblies.  But  the  whole  tenor 
of  this  book  demonstrates  his  contrition  and  penitence.  His  decease 
at  the  early  age  of  fifty-eight,  possibly  somewhat  earlier,  after  he  had 
reigned  forty  years,  proves  the  premature  decay  of  his  constitution. 
Josephus  rej^resents  Solomon  to  have  been  only  fourteen  years  of  age 
when  he  began  to  reign.  If  he  reigned  forty  years,  he  must  have  died 
at  the  early  age  of  fifty-four,  according  to  this  statement.  The  reader 
is  referred  to  the  Critical  Appendix  for  a  justification  of  the  rendering 
of  the  term  Khoheleth  adopted  throughout  this  volume. 

Much  may  he  alleged  in  vindication  of  the  authors  of  our  English 
version.  They  were  not  at  full  liberty  in  all  things  to  follow  their 
own  judgment,  being  under  restrictions  in  several  respects  to  adopt 
pre-existing  translations.  The  authority  of  the  ancient  versions  was 
in  their  days  over-estimated.  The  Rabbinical  Hebrew  punctuation 
was  then  considered  an  integral  part  of  the  original  text,  though 
systematically  excluded  from  all  synagogue  rolls  of  the  Pentateuch 
and  Esther,  and  extant  on  no  one  Hebrew  coin  (see  Madden's  History 
of  the  Jewish  Coinage),  and  in  no  Samaritan  manuscript.  The  defects 
of  the  Eeceived  Texts  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  had  not  then 
been  proved  by  the  collations  of  Kennicott  and  De  Rossi,  nor  by  the 

h 


X  PREFACE. 

discrepancies  now  known  to  exist  between  uncial  and  cursive  manu- 
scripts. The  importance  of  the  Arabic  and  other  Semitic  languages 
to  illustrate  the  Old  Testament  was  then  very  imperfectly  understood. 
The  Lexicons  of  Castell,  Meninski,  Golius,  Richardson,  Willmet,  and 
Freytag,  and  the  grammars  of  Erpenius  and  Baron  de  Sacy,  and  many 
others,  had  not  then  been  published.  The  exegetical  writings  of 
Schultens,  Reiske,  Michaelis,  Lee,  Dathe,  and  Rosenmliller,  and  other 
critics,  were  posterior  to  their  time.  And  the  Arabic  Syntax,  which 
defines  the  form  of,  and  stamps  significancy  on,  the  word  Khoheleth, 
was  then  almost  unknown  in  Europe.  But  that  any  one  in  the 
present  day,  when  such  a  flood  of  light  has  been  poured  upon  Scrip- 
ture, should  NOW  represent  Solomon  to  have  been  a  preacher,  does 
seem  passing  strange. 

Whoever  now  advocates  that  Khoheletu  should  be  rendered 
PREACHER  should  adduce  some  one  text  where  the  word  in  any  of  its 
forms  bears  this  acceptation,  and  should  show  when  and  where 
Solomon  ever  preached.  If  it  be  said  that  Solomon  preached  by  his 
writings,  we  reply,  that  Solomon  so  preached  in  common  with  all 
the  other  writers  of  Scripture,  and  that  this  cannot  be  the  meaning 
of  Khoheleth,  which  is  a  distinctive  term,  predicated  by  Solemon 
of  himself,  and  pre-eminently  significant  of  him  as  contradistinguished 
from  others.  Any  rendering  of  the  word  Khoheleth  which  represents 
Solomon  to  have  been  a  preacher  or  a  convener  op  assemblies,  is,  in 
the  author's  judgment,  alike  contradictory  to  historic  verity  and  to 
common  sense. 

The  inspiration  of  Ecclesiastes  proves  that  Solomon  was  the 
author  of  this  book.  The  authorship  of  Ecclesiastes  proves  the  salva- 
tion of  Solomon,  and  rectifies  the  misconception  of  fathers,  rabbis, 
Abulpharagius,  and  many  other  writers,  ancient  and  modern,  who 
have  either  doubted  or  denied  that  he  was  a  sinner  saved.  Can  any 
instance  be  adduced  of  any  writer  of  any  book  of  the  Old  or  New 
Testament  having  failed  of  salvation  ?  Jehovah  employs  worldly 
men  to  effect  His  providential  designs,  but  has  exclusively  raised  up 
men  of  God  to  write  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  Who 
shall  dare  affirm  that  Solomon  is  the  solitary  exception  to  this  rule  ? 


PREFACE.  xi 

The  three  books  of  Proverbs,  Canticles,  and  Ecclesiastes,  and  the  peni- 
tential contents  of  tlie  latter  book,  indisputably  prove  that  Solomon's 
apostasy  was  pardoned,  that  he  was  possessed  of  genuine  repentance 
and  saving  faith,  and  that  at  death  he  entered  into  that  rest  which 
remaineth  to  the  people  of  God. 

THE  TEACHING  OF  ECCLESIASTES. 

This  book,  by  the  plural  noun  the  Most  High  Ones  (chapter  v. 
verse  8),  and  by  the  plural  noun  Creators  (chapter  xii.  verse  1),  teaches 
a  plurality  of  persons  in  the  Godhead,  in  antagonism  to  Jewish  and 
Mohammedan  monotheism,  and  in  accordance  with  the  ancient  creed  : 
'  Hear,  0  Israel,  Jehovah  thy  Gods  are  one  Jehovah.' 

This  book  teaches  the  sovereignty  of  God  in  grace  and  providence, 
controlling,  directing,  and  regulating  all  hearts  and  all  events  to  fulfil 
His  prophetic  will,  and  to  work  together  for  good  to  them  who  love 
Him,  and  are  the  called  according  to  His  purpose. 

This  book  teaches  that  death  is  a  final  separation  of  the  dead  from 
the  living,  until  death  itself  shall  be  swallowed  up  in  victory — that 
the  dead  have  no  cognizance  of  human  affairs — that  tlie  dead  return 
not  to  the  living.  This  teaching  sheds  some  light  on  the  theory  of 
admonitory  and  premonitory  dreams  and  apparitions.  Dreams  and 
spectral  apparitions,  when  divinely  sent,  are  essentially  distinct  from 
erratic  phantasies  of  the  mind  during  sleep.  Nevertheless  they  are 
not  emanations  from  the  dead,  but  are  mysterious  manifestations  of 
the  Divine  will,  veiled  in  impenetrable  mystery,  until  the  saints  in 
plenitude  of  glory  and  knowledge  shall  take  the  kingdom  and  possess 
the  kingdom  for  ever.  Solomon,  in  this  didactic  poem,  speaks  only  of 
common  dreams,  or  the  erratic  phantasies  of  the  mind  during  sleep. 
Divine  dreams  were  communicated  by  God  under  the  old  dispensa- 
tion, and  will  be  renewed  to  God's  children  as  premonitory  signs  of 
the  second  Advent,  when  the  prophecy  of  Joel  shall  be  fulfilled,  and 
God's  servants  shall  see  visions  and  dream  dreams.  See  statement  of 
eight  remarkable  dreams  in  note  on  chapter  ix.  5,  6. 

This  book  exhibits  prophetic  portraitures  of  the  regal  fatuity  of 


xii  PREFACE. 

Relioboam,  of  the  transient  popularity  of  Jeroboam,  of  the  fickleness  of 
the  ten  tribes,  and  of  the  entire  extirpation,  root  and  branch,  of  the 
posterity  of  Jeroboam,  who  himself  perished  death-stricken  by  God. 
The  Chaldee  thus  paraphrases  the  first  two  verses  of  Ecclesiastes  : 
'  The  words  of  prophecy,  which  Khoheleth,  that  is  Solomon,  son  of 
David,  the  King,  who  was  in  Jerusalem,  prophesied.  When  Solomon 
King  of  Israel  foresaw  by  the  spirit  of  prophecy  that  the  kingdom  of 
Rehoboam  his  son  would  be  divided  with  Jeroboam  the  son  of  IS'ebat, 
and  that  Jerusalem  and  the  holy  Temple  would  be  destroyed,  and  that 
the  people  of  the  children  of  Israel  would  go  into  captivity,  he  spake 
according  to  this  word  :  "  This  world  is  vanity  of  vanities.  All  wherein 
I  have  laboured,  and  wherein  my  father  David  hath  laboured,  is  vanity 
of  vanities.     It  is  altogether  vanity."  ' 

This  book  authoritatively  declares  the  paramount  supremacy  of 
God's  Word  written  over  all  the  writings  of  man,  its  procession  from 
the  Shepherd  and  Bishop  of  souls,  its  inspiration  by  the  eternal  Spirit, 
its  design  to  make  wise  to  salvation,  and  its  infallibility,  constituting 
it  a  perfect  standard,  whereby  all  human  books  should  be  tested,  and 
according  to  agreement  or  disagreement  with  which  all  human  opinions 
should  be  summarily  accepted  or  rejected. 

This  book  recommends  to  God's  children  contentment,  placidity  of 
mind,  and  cheerful  enjoyment  of  those  temporal  blessings  which  Provi- 
dence hath  conferred  upon  each.  The  wise  king  was  no  misanthropist, 
no  cynic,  no  ascetic.  Even  when  his  soul  was  humbled  in  the  dust 
from  contemplation  of  the  apostasy  of  which  he  had  been  guilty,  and 
heart  and  flesh  were  failing,  he  admonishes  each  believer  to  rejoice 
before  God  in  the  station,  and  rank,  and  circumstances  of  life  wherein 
the  providence  of  God  has  placed  him.  As  Solomon  in  this  poem 
forecasts  the  future,  and  manifests  inspired  prescience  of  Rehoboam, 
Jeroboam,  and  the  ten  tribes,  may  not  this  commendation  of  matri- 
mony and  social  enjoyment  be  referred  to  the  Divine  prescience 
and  condemnation  of  Papal  Rome's  forbidding  to  marry,  and  of  the 
unutterable  cruelties  and  impurities  of  monasticism  ?  May  not  this 
commendation  have  been  designed  to  be  a  salutary  warning  against 
brotherhoods  and  sisterhoods,  modern  revivals  of  mediasval  obliquities  ? 


PREFACE.  xiii 

The  sum  and  substance  (if  this  book  is,  that  vanity  is  inscribed 
on  all  sublunary  pursuits  and  concerns,  and  that  there  is  nothing  in 
the  world  worth  living  for  but  Christ  and  His  salvation.  The  faith  of 
Solomon  was  faith  in  the  predicted  Messiah,  '  the  son  of  David,  the 
son  of  Abraham.'  The  hope  of  Solomon  was  anticipation  of  Messiah's 
redemption, '  mighty  to  save.'  The  object  of  Solomon  in  writing  Eccle- 
siastes  was,  that  this  book,  as  well  as  the  Mosaic  Law,  might  be  a 
pedagogue  or  scholastic  conductor  unto  Christ,  the  great  Prophet  of 
the  Church,  so  that  every  reader,  savingly  profiting  thereby,  might 
attain  to  the  full  assurance  of  faith,  hope,  and  understanding,  having 
the  promise  of  the  life  that  now  is,  and  of  that  which  is  to  come. 

Every  attentive  reader  must  be  struck  by  the  absence  of  all  ctm- 
dem nation  of  idolatry,  and  indeed  of  all  reference  thereto,  throughout 
the  Book  of  Ecclesiastes  from  the  beginning  to  the  end,  remembering 
that  Solomon  was  guilty  of  sanctioning  by  his  presence,  and  by  the 
erection  of  idolatrous  high  places  and  altars,  if  not  by  guilty  partici- 
pation, the  rites  practised  by  his  strange  wives  to  their  strange  gods. 
To  what  cause  can  we  attribute  this  i-eticence  ?  May  we  infer  there- 
from that,  when  Ecclesiastes  was  w^ritten,  these  idolatries  were  con- 
fined to  the  court  of  Solomon,  had  not  vitiated  the  people  of  Israel, 
and  had  not  estranged  them  from  the  worship  of  Jehovah  ?  May  not 
this  reticence  have  been  an  especial  designed  adaptation  of  this  book 
to  the  infirmities  and  ignorance  and  blindness  of  the  neighbouring 
nations,  to  secure  its  wider  circulation  and  more  ready  reception, 
aiid  to  win  them  gradually,  as  they  were  able  to  bear  and  receive 
the  truth,  to  the  sole  worship  of  the  one  living  and  true  God  ?  The 
non-condemnation  of  idolatry  in  this  didactic  poem  seems  to  merit 
further  investigation  than  it  has  yet  received. 

It  is  also  remarkable,  though  Solomon  in  his  old  age  went  after 
Ashtoreth  the  goddess  of  the  Zidonians,  and  after  Milcom  the  abomi- 
nation of  the  Ammonites,  and  built  an  high  place  for  Chemosh  the 
abomination  of  Moab,  and  for  Moloch  the  abomination  of  the  children 
of  Ammon,  and  for  the  fiilse  gods  of  all  his  strange  wives,  who  liurnt 
incense  and  sacrificed  with  their  gods,  that  there  is  no  record  (jf  any 
temple  or  altar  liaving  been  erected  to  any  Egyptian  deity,  or  of  the 


xiv  PEEFACE. 

introduction  of  any  Egyptian  idolatry  into  Judea,  though  his  marriage 
with  Pharaoh's  daughter  was  one  of  the  first  acts  of  his  reign.  Indeed 
Solomon  is  recorded,  after  his  marriage  with  Pharaoh's  daughter,  to 
have  'loved  the  Lord,  walking  in  the  statutes  of  David  his  father' 
(1  Kings  iii.  3).  May  we  not  infer  therefrom,  that  this  daughter  of 
Pharaoh  was  a  convert  to  Judaism,  and  that  she,  like  the  eunuch  of 
Queen  Candace,  joined  in  the  worship  of  the  God  of  Israel  ?  It  is  a 
singular  fact,  that  none  of  the  hieroglyphics  yet  deciphered  refer  to  the 
Pharaoh  whose  daughter  Solomon  married.  They  throw  no  light  on 
the  lineage  of  this  Pharaoh,  nor  on  the  place  he  holds  in  the  history 
of  Egypt. 

I.  This  Book  of  Ecclesiastes,  by  inculcating  a  plurality  of  persons 
in  the  Godhead,  condemns  all  denial  of  the  Divinity  of  the  Son  and  of 
the  Personality  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  all  rejection  of  the  triune  Jehovah, 
the  omnipotent  Creators,  Preservers,  Administrators  of  the  universe, 
in  and  through  whom  all  live,  and  move,  and  have  their  being. 

II.  This  book,  by  affirming  that  all  Scripture  is  the  voice  of  the 
good  Shepherd  to  His  Church,  and  that  it  is  the  ingatherer  of  souls 
unto  Him,  condemns  all  denial  of  plenary  inspiration,  whereby  men  of 
old  wrote  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost. 

III.  This  book,  by  commending  matrimony  and  social  enjoyment, 
condemns  enforced  celibacy,  monastic  institutions,  and  monastic  aus- 
terities. 

IV.  This  book,  by  teaching  that  the  departed  have  no  cognizance 
of  mundane  affairs,  and  that  they  return  no  more  to  this  vale  of  sin 
and  misery,  condemns  the  awful  profanity  of  table-turning,  and  all 
operations  of  spiritualism  to  effect  intercommunications  between  the 
dead  and  the  living, — Satan's  revival  in  the  present  day  of  the  witch- 
craft of  Endor,  and  of  necromantic  divination.  To  seek  responses 
from  the  dead  is  to  be  guilty  of  the  self-same  criminality,  wherewith 
Saul  filled  up  the  measure  of  his  iniquities,  and  sealed  his  doom. 


PREFACE.  XV 


THE  DICTION  OF  EOGLESIASTES. 


One  peculiarity  especially  characterizes  this  book,  the  entire 
absence  therefrom  of  the  word  Jehovah,  the  incommunicable  name  of 
the  self-existent,  eternal,  and  only  true  God.  The  cause  of  the  reti- 
cence of  this  Name  in  this  Book  is  veiled  in  deep  mystery.  We 
must  not  only  search  the  Scriptures,  but  receive  them  with  childlike 
docility,  as  God  has  seen  fit  to  reveal  them. 

It  has  ever  been  a  controverted  question,  whether  this  book  should 
be  rendered  as  verse  or  as  prose,  or  as  written  partly  in  verse  and 
partly  in  prose.  I  have  no  doul)t  that  it  is  a  didactic  poem  from  the 
beginning  to  the  end.  It  is  more  easily  divisible  into  hemistichs  than 
many  portions  of  Isaiah  and  other  })ropliets,  and  is  equally,  if  not 
more  poetical.  The  transitions  from  one  subject  to  another  are  not 
more  abrupt  than  those  which  constantly  occur  in  Hosea,  the  alpha- 
betical Psalms,  and  other  poetical  portions  of  the  Old  Testament.  The 
authoi"  of  Khoheleth  remarks,  that  '  Ecclesiastes,  besides  the  figurative 
and  proverbial  expressions  to  be  found  in  no  other  part  of  Scripture, 
is  undoubtedly  metrical,  and  consequently  the  grammatication,  in 
many  places,  not  a  little  perplexed,  from  the  frequent  ellipses,  ab- 
breviations, transposition  of  words,  and  other  poetic  licenses  allowed 
in  all  languages.'  The  subject-matter  of  the  poem  will  account  for  its 
sombre  cast. 

Ecclesiastes  is  not  once  directly  quoted  or  referred  to  in  the  New 
Testament.  Neither  are  Ezra,  Nehemiah,  Esther,  the  Lamentations  of 
Jeremiah,  Obadiah,  or  Zephaniah.  Yet  all  these  books,  as  well  as 
Ecclesiastes,  were  received  by  the  Jewish  Church  as  canonical  Scrip- 
tures, and  have  the  sanction  of  Christ  and  His  apostles. 

The  received  Hebrew  text  of  Ecclesiastes  is  perhaps  more  perfect, 
and  has  suffered  less  by  transcription  and  transmission,  than  the  text 
of  any  other  book  of  the  Old  Testament.  Of  the  various  readings  com- 
piled by  Kennicott  and  De  Rossi  from  569  Hebrew  manuscripts  and 
165  printed  editions  of  this  book,  which  have  been  collated,  few  atfect 
the  sense,  and  those  only  very  slightly.     What  a  contrast  between  the 


xvi  ■  PREFACE. 

almost  perfect  received  text  of  Ecclesiastes,  and  the  erroneous  and 
defective  texts  of  the  alphabetical  psalms,  and  the  transpositions  in 
the  Lamentations  of  Jeremiah  ! 

Two  causes  may  be  assigned  for  the  Aramaic  diction  and  foreign 
idioms  of  this  book  : — 1.  Solomon's  continuous  intercourse  with  the 
daughter  of  Pharaoh,  and  with  his  other  wives  taken  from  the  Moabites, 
Ammonites,  Edomites,  Zidonians,  and  Hittites.  2.  The  importation  of 
foreign  words,  customs,  and  idioms  by  his  mercantile  marine  from 
Ophir,  Arabia,  Egypt,  the  coasts  of  the  Mediterranean,  and  Tarshish. 
As  grace  does  not  obliterate,  but  sanctifies  the  natural  character,  so 
inspiration  does  not  eradicate,  nor  of  necessity  transmute,  but  dedicates 
the  intellectual  faculties  to  God's  service  and  glory.  It  Avould  seem 
that  the  dialect  of  this  didactic  poem  was  the  language  commonly 
spoken  in  Judea  in  the  latter  days  of  the  reign  of  King  Solomon  by 
the  great  mass  of  the  Jewish  people. 

The  Aramaic  cast  of  this  didactic  poem  would  render  it  both  more 
intelligible  and  more  acceptable  to  the  neighbouring  nations.  As  the 
prophecies  of  Balaam  were  communicated  to  Moab  and  Midian  before 
they  were  made  known  by  inspiration  to  Israel,  so  is  it  not  possible, 
yea,  is  it  not  probable,  that  the  book  called  Ecclesiastes,  simultaneously 
with  its  communication  to  Israel,  may  have  been  widely  circulated 
among  the  peoples  and  nations  in  treaty-alliance  with  Solomon,  and 
among  those  who  were  swayed  by  his  regal  influence,  or  were  admirers 
of  his  pre-eminent  wisdom  ?  May  we  not  conclude  that  this  didactic 
poem  was  read  by  many  at  Sheba,  at  Ophir,  at  Tarshish,  and  in  Egypt, 
and  that  many  in  those  regions,  as  well  as  in  Judea,  savingly  profited 
thereby  ? 

PLAN  OF  THE  WORK. 

The  division  of  the  Bible  into  chapters  and  verses  is  the  fallible 
work  of  fallible  man,  and  is  no  part  of  inspiration.  In  the  most  ancient 
manuscripts  of  the  Bible,  both  Hebrew  and  Greek,  even  the  letters  are 
generally  not  divided  into  words.  The  division  of  the  Old  Testament 
into  chapters  was  begun  by  Cardinal  Hugo  about  the  middle  of  the 
thirteenth  century,  was  improved  by  Eabbi  Nathan  in  1438,  and  was 


PREFACE.  x^-ii 

completed  by  the  enumeration  of  verses  in  the  edition  of  the  Hebrew 
Bible  edited  by  Athias,  1661.  The  division  of  the  IS'ew  Testament 
into  verses  was  accomplished  by  Robert  Stephens  during  a  journey  on 
horseback  from  Paris  to  Lyons,  and  first  appeared  in  his  edition  of  the 
Greek  Testament,  1551.  Defective  as  this  work  of  Robert  Stephens 
may  be,  few  perhaps  of  the  present  day  would  have  made  a  better 
or  more  accurate  division,  in  such  haste,  and  amidst  such  singular 
obstructions  and  impediments.  Moreover,  this  division  into  chap- 
ters and  verses  was  designed  rather  to  facilitate  the  composition  and 
use  of  Concordances  than  to  elucidate  the  sense  of  the  original.  The 
didactic  poem  of  Ecclesiastes  in  this  volume  is  separated  into  twenty- 
one  parts  or  sections,  according  to  the  sense,  as  a  substitution 
for  its  division  into  twelve  chapters  by  Cardinal  Hugo  and  Rabbi 
IN'athan. 

Each  part  or  section  is  prefaced  with  an  introductory  analysis. 
The  translation  is  made  from  the  received  text  of  Yander  Hooght, 
J  705,  except  where  otherwise  expressed  in  the  Critical  Appendix. 
This  new  translation  is  not  designed  to  supersede  the  authorized 
version,  or  to  be  a  substitute  for  it,  but  to  express  in  unambiguous 
English  idiom  what  the  author  believes  to  be  the  genuine  sense  and 
Divine  teaching  of  the  inspired  original.  The  notes  which  follow  are 
simply  explanatory  and  illustrative,  designed  to  elucidate  the  obscuri- 
ties of  this  ancient  didactic  poem,  and  to  render  both  its  diction  and 
allusions  clear,  perspicuous,  and  intelligible  to  the  English  reader. 
Ecclesiastes,  in  the  author's  judgment,  is  sufficiently  experimental 
and  practical  to  render  all  further  comment  superfluous  and  unneces- 
sary. When  its  obscurities  are  elucidated,  and  its  Orientalisms  are 
explained,  this  poem  is  its  own  best  commentary. 

The  map  of  Africa  is  designed  to  exhibit  to  the  reader  a  bird's- 
eye  view  of  the  relative  lengths  of  the  two  voyages  from  Ezion-geber 
to  Tarshish — the  one  by  the  circumnavigation  of  Africa,  the  other  by 
the  transit  of  the  ancient  canal  of  Sesostris,  alias  Rameses  ii. 

The  sketch-map  of  the  ancient  canal,  from  the  Nile  to  Suez, 
exhibits  the  vestiges  thereof  yet  remaining,  traced  in  a  doul)le  red 
line,  and  its  supposititious  continuation,  where  the  vestiges  are  doubt- 

c 


XVlll 


PREFACE. 


fill  or  no  longer  visible,  in  a  single  red  line.  The  line  of  the  French 
canal,  from  the  Mediterranean  Sea  to  the  south  of  Lake  Ballah,  is  copied 
from  Annales  du  Genie  Civil ;  Paris,  Sept.  1866. 

Of  the  four  coins  of  Carteia^  subjoined,  the  first  three  are  in  the 
author's  cabinet.  He  also  possesses  another  coin  of  Carteia,  having 
the  obverse  of  No.  I.,  and  the  inscription  of  the  reverse  of  jSo.  III., 
but  with  a  figure  somewhat  different.  These  Eoman  colonial  coins 
are  all  brass,  and  are  all  anterior  to  the  Christian  era.  No  gold  or 
silver  coins  of  Carteia  are  known,  nor  any  with  inscriptions  in  Phoeni- 
cian characters.  The  coins  of  Carteia  are  numerous,  and  exhibit  at 
least  thirty  types,  differing  more  or  less  in  obverse  or  reverse  from  the 
four  here  engraved.  The  plates  of  these  coins  are  here  given  for  three 
reasons  :— r.  Because  Carteia  was  an  ancient  Phoenician  colony  before 


FIG,  1. 


it  was  subjugated  by  Eome,  as  is  evident  from  the  identity  of  the 
effigy  on  the  obverse  of  these  coins  of  Carteia  with  the  most  ancient 
coins  of  Tyre  and  Sidon.     Compare  the  obverse  of  these  coins  with 

1  These  coins  of  Carteia  seem  to  attest  the  fact,  that  the  pendent  or  hinged  rudder  was  known  to 
the  Phoenicians  centuries  before  it  was  used  by  other  nations.  Eckhel  and  Mionnet  describe  the 
reverses  of  types  2,  3,  and  4  to  be  rudders.  That  these  rudders  do  not  represent  the  long  paddle-oars, 
but  a  short  hinged  guhernamlum  navis,  seems  to  me  evident.  These  coins  must  have  been  struck  in  the 
lifetime  of  Drusus  and  Germanicus,  before  the  Christian  era ;  whereas  James  Smith,  Esq.  of  Jordanhill, 
refers  the  adoption  in  Europe  of  the  hinged  rudder  to  '  about  the  end  of  the  thirteenth,  or  early  in  the 
fourteenth  century.'  The  ship  in  which  St.  Paul  was  wi-ecked,  having  a  crew  of  276,  was  steered  by  two 
paddles  or  large  oars.     Sub  judice  Us  est.     On  this  controverted  subject  let  the  reader  judge  for  himself. 


PREFACE.  xix 

the  coins  of  Tyre  and  Sidon  in  the  thirty-fourth  table  of  Gesenius' 
Phoemcian  Remains,  Leipsic,  1837.  ii.  Because  Carteia,  situated  in 
a  commodious  bay  immediately  contiguous  to  the  promontory  of 
Gibraltar,  must  have  been  a  convenient  harbour  of  refuge,  Avherein 
the  Phoenician  1  vessels  could  safely  shelter  themselves  and  await  fair 
wind  and  weather,  previous  to  the  navigation  of  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar, 
and  the  prosecution  of  their  voyage  for  tin  to  Britannia  (daughter  of 
tin),  the  Cassiterides  of  antiquity,  the  Ultima  Thule  of  Tyrian  com- 
merce. III.  Because  of  the  supposition  entertained  by  some,  that 
Carteia  was  the  Tarshish  of  Scripture,  from  the  similarity  of  the  names 
tAKTessus  cARTeia.  The  identity  of  Carteia"  and  Tarshish,  asserted 
by  Pliny,  if  it  could  be  established,  would  explain  why  the  British 
Isles  are  designated  in  prophecy  '  the  ships  of  Tarshish,'  because  Eng- 
land's possession  of  Gibraltar  gives  her  the  command  both  of  the 
Straits  and  of  the  adjacent  bay. 

The  sea-port  in  Spain,  to  which  the  fleet  of  Solomon  triennially 
resorted  for  silver,  iron,  tin,  lead,  etc.  (Ezekiel  xxvii.  12),  was  doubtless 
called  Tarshish,  after  the  name  of  the  grandson  of  Japhet,  w^hose 
descendants  originally  colonized  it.     The  meaning  of  the  word  Tarshish, 

1  The  extraordinary  extent  of  Phoenician  colonization,  and  the  consequent  expansion  of  Pha-niciau 
commerce,  have  been  greatly  under-estimated.  Phoenician  inscriptions  have  been  found  in  Cyprus, 
Carthage,  Tugga,  Numidia,  Tripoli,  Malta,  and  the  island  of  Gerbe.  Coins  with  inscriptions  in  the 
Phoenician  language  exist  of  the  twenty-five  following  places,  namely,  of  Tar,sus  in  Cilicia ;  of  Acre, 
Aradus,  Beyroot,  Carne,  Laodicea,  Marathus,  Sidou,  and  Tyre,  in  Phcenicia ;  of  Heraclea,  Motya,  Pauor- 
mus,  and  Syracuse,  in  Sicily ;  of  Cossura  now  Pantalaria,  and  Gaulos  now  Gozo,  in  the  Mediterranean  ; 
of  AcbuUa,  Ooea,  sea-port  of  Tripoli,  Sabratha  now  Tripoli,  Siga,  and  Vacca  in  Africa ;  of  Abdera  now 
Adra,  Belo  now  Bolonia,  Cadiz,  Malaga,  and  Sextus  in  Spain ;— stretching  from  Marathus  on  the  shore 
of  Palestine  to  Cadiz  in  Spain.  To  these  twenty-five  must  be  added  Carteia,  originally  colonized  by 
the  Phoenicians,  though  uo  coins  of  Carteia  with  Phoenician  legends  are  now  known.  The  multitude  of 
some  of  those  coins,  and  the  variety  of  their  types,  attest  the  wealth  and  large  population  of  the  colonies 
where  these  coins  were  struck.  The  following  brass  coin  of  Ocea  is  most  rare,  and  was  unknown  to 
Gesenius.     The  letters  are  Phoenician,  and  signify  Ooja.     The  head  of  Tiberius  is  mo.st  exquisite. 


-  May  not  Carteia  (\S-nip)  have  been  so  designated,  because  built  on  a  peninsula  or  promontory, 
to  distinguish  it  from  other  seaports?     (^S,  insula,  island,  isle. — Jeremiah  xlvii.  4.) 


XX  PREFACE. 

as  the  proper  name  of  the  great-grandson  of  Noah,  is  unknown.  But 
in  later  Hebrew  its  signification  is  patent.  The  first  syllable  in  the 
Chaldee  of  Daniel  signifies  a  rock.  This  same  word,  signifying  heigut, 
HILL,  ROCK,  etc.,  occurs  in  Saxon,  Irish,  and  Welsh,  and  in  many  English 
names  of  high  places,  for  instance  in  Glastonbury  Tor.  Tyre  itself 
derives  its  name  from  the  fact  that  insular  Tyre  was  built  on  a  rocky 
island.  The  second  syllable  signifies  white  marble,  alabaster 
(1  Chronicles  xxix.  2,  Esther  i.  6,  Canticles  v.  15).  The  word  Tarshish, 
significant  of  the  white  cliffs  or  Albion,  is  the  prophetic  designation 
of  the  British  Isles. 

But  whatever  may  have  been  the  cause  why  inspiration  attributes 
to  Great  Britain  the  prophetic  designation  of  Tarshish,  that  designation 
evidences  the  predestined  glorious  destiny  of  our  country,  as  God's 
commissioned  messenger-people,  to  restore  expatriated  Israel  by  sea  to 
the  shores  of  Palestine,  when  Jerusalem  shall  no  longer  be  trodden 
down  of  the  Gentiles,  and  the  times  of  the  Gentiles  shall  be  fulfilled. 

David  predicts — 

'  The  kings  of  Tarshish  and  of  tlie  isles  shall  bring  presents, 
The  kings  of  Sheba  and  Seba  shall  offer  gifts.' — (Psalm  Ixxii.  10.) 

Zephaniah  predicts — 

'  My  suppliants  from  beyond  the  streams  of  Cusii, 
Shall  bring  the  daughter  of  my  dispersion  an  offering  to  me.' — 
(iii.  10.) 

Isaiah  predicts — 

'  And  he  shall  set  up  an  ensign  for  the  nations, 
And  shall  assemble  the  outcasts  (lost  ones,  Coptic)  of  Israel, 
And  gather  together  the  dispersed  of  Judah 
From  the  four  corners  of  the  earth. 
The  envy  also  of  Ephraim  shall  depart. 
And  the  adversaries  of  Judah  shall  be  cut  off", 
Ephraim  shall  not  envy  Judah, 
And  Judah  shall  not  vex  Ephraim. 

And  they  shall  fly  upon  the  shoulders  (in  the  ships,  lxx.,  Coptic, 
Arabic)  of  the  westward  Philistines.' — (xi.  12,  13.) 


PREFACE.  xxi 

'  Surely  the  isles  shall  wait  for  Me, 
And  the  ships  of  Tarshish  first, 
To  bring  thy  sons  from  far, 
Their  silver  and  their  gold  with  them, 
Unto  the  name  of  Jehovah  thy  God, 

Even  to   the   Holy  One   of  Israel,  because  he   hath  glorified 
thee.'— (Ix.  9.) 

1 '  Oh,  land  of  the  perpetual  shadow  of  sails. 
Which  art  beyond  the  streams  of  Cush, 

2  Accustomed  to  send  ambassadors  (missionaries)  by  sea. 

Even  with  fabrics  of  papyrus^  (Bibles,  eVto-xoXa?  /3t/3XtW?,  lxx.)  upon 

the  waters, 
Go,  ye  swift  messengers,  to  a  nation  scattered  and  peeled. 
To  a  people  wonderful  from  their  beginning  and  onward, 
A  nation  expecting,  expecting,  and  trodden  ulider  foot. 
Whose  land  the  streams  have  devastated. 

3  All  ye  inhabitants  of  the  world  and  dwellers  on  earth. 
When  He  lifteth  up  an  ensign  on  the  mountains,  see  ye. 
And  when  He  bloweth  a  trumpet,  hear  ye. 

4  For  thus  hath  Jehovah  said  unto  me, 

"  I  will  sit  still  (but  I  will  keep  My  eye  upon  My  prepared  habi- 
tation). 
As  the  parching  heat  just  before  lightning, 
As  the  dewy  cloud  in  the  heat  of  harvest." 

5  For  afore  the  harvest,  when  the  bud  is  coming  to  perfection, 
And  the  blossom  is  becoming  a  juicy  berry, 

He  will  cut  off  the  useless  shoots  with  pruning-hooks, 

And  the  luxuriant  branches  He  will  take  away.  He  will  cut  down. 

6  They  shall  be  left  together  to  the  ravenous  bird  of  the  mountains. 
And  to  the  wild  beasts  of  the  earth  ; 

And  upon  it  shall  the  ravenous  bird  summer. 

And  all  the  beasts  of  the  earth  upon  it  shall  winter. 

7  At  that  time  a  present  shall  be  brought  unto  Jehovah  of  hosts, 

'  The  word  v3  occurs  309  times  iu  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  and  never  signifies  a  sailing  vessel, 
ship,  or  boat. 


xxii  PREFACE. 

Of  a  people  scattered  and  peeled, 

Even  of  a  people  wonderful  from  their  beginning  and  onward, 

A  nation  expecting,  expecting,  and  trodden  under  foot, 

Whose  land  the  streams  have  devastated. 

Unto  the  place  of  the  name  of  Jehovah  of  hosts.  Mount  Zion.' — (xviii.) 

Isaiah,  in  chapter  xviii.,  defines  the  locality  of  England,  beyond 
and  remote  from  the  Persian  Gulf,  the  Eed  Sea,  and  the  Indian 
Ocean,  the  three  ocean-streams  which  encircle  Arabian  Gush  on  the 
east,  the  west,  and  the  south.  Isaiah  defines  the  characteristics  of 
England  as  a  pre-eminently  naval  state,  whose  ships  navigate  every 
sea,  and  trade  with  every  people  ;  as  a  missionary  kingdom,  sending 
forth  heralds  of  mercy  to  Jews,  Mohammedans,  and  Pagans,  and  Bibles 
in  every  tongue  and  to  every  land ;  as  the  predestined  messenger- 
people,  divinely  commissioned  to  restore  expatriated  Israel  to  Palestine. 
And  Isaiah  predicts  the  present  and  future  colonial  and  naval 
scPERiORiTY  of  England,  to  enable  her  to  fulfil  this  glorious  commission 
amidst  the  impending  crash  of  nations,  and  God's  final  judgments  on 
an  apostate  world. 

The  implacable  hostility  so  generally  manifested  to  Christology,  more 
especially  to  the  Christology  of  the  Psalms,  prognosticates  the  rejec- 
tion of  the  Messianic  interpretations  of  chapters  vii.,  viii.,  and  ix.  pro- 
posed in  this  volume.  To  see  Christ  prefigured  in  the  Old  Testament, 
where  writers  in  general  have  not  discerned  Him  ;  to  represent  the 
man  Christ  Jesus  '  one  above  a  thousand,'  where  others  have  only  seen 
the  700  wives  and  the  300  concubines  of  Solomon  ;  to  substitute  sub- 
mission to  the  sceptre  of  Messiah  in  place  of  subjection  to  the  powers 
that  be,  is  a  high  crime  and  unpardonable  misdemeanour  in  these  last 
days  of  Laodicean  lukewarmness.  Morbid  feelings  cause  many  to  rest 
self-satisfied  with  anti-Messianic  renderings  and  interpretations,  how- 
ever obscure  or  unintelligible  they  may  l)e.  Unlike  Augustine  and  the 
Augustinian  Fathers,  they  have  no  wish  to  discern  Christ  in  the  Bible 
where  some  may  not  have  discerned  Him.  They  see  no  beauty  in  these 
Messianic  manifestations,  that  they  should  desire  them.  If  however, 
these  proscribed  Messianic  prefigurations  remove  any  obscurities  in 
this  confessedly  obscure  book,  ought  not  the  reader  to  pause  before 


PREFACE.  xxiii 

he  reject  them,  until  he  can  adduce  some  other  interpretation 
which  shall  render  equally  intelligible  that  which  is  now  obscure  ? 
Well  does  the  author  recollect  the  joyful  ecstasy  of  his  most  highly 
esteemed  and  venerable  friend,  the  Rev.  T.  T.  Biddulph,  of  Bristol, 
when  Bishop  Horsley's  work  on  the  Psalms  was  first  published. 
Rarely  did  that  man  of  God  appear  on  any  platform  without  quoting 
or  referring  to  this  work,  so  grateful  to  his  soul.  But  Augustine  the 
renowned  Bishop  of  Hippo,  Kennicott  and  Horsley,  Biddulph  and 
Julius  Bate,  Jones  of  Nayland  and  Parkhurst,  and  Fry  rector  of 
Desford,  etc.  etc.,  have  entered  into  their  rest.  Their  mantle,  it  is 
feared,  has  ftxllen  on  few.  By  the  many  their  Messianic  renderings 
are  unheeded  or  rejected.  Another  generation  have  arisen,  who  be- 
hold with  complacency  the  Davidical  application  of  Psalm  xxii.,  and 
the  ascription  to  the  royal  Psalmist,  as  God's  .just  recompense  to  David, 
'  the  Lord  hath  recompensed  me  according  to  my  righteousness,  ac- 
cording to  the  cleanness  of  my  hands  in  his  eyesight'  (Psalm  xviii,  24), 
a  perfection  solely  fulfilled  and  manifested  by  Immanuel,  Jehovah  our 
righteousness,  and  certainly  not  pertaining  to  one  who  had  been  guilty 
of  adultery  and  murder. 

Bad  books  poison  the  soul,  as  bad  food  poisons  the  body.     J^Tovels, 
designated  in  modern  nomenclature  tales  of  fiction  (some   expressly 

DESIGNED,     PRINTED,     AND     PUBLISHED    FOR    SaBBATH     READINg),    SCUSational 

volumes,  tomes  antagonistic  to  truth  both  Divine  and  human,  the 
characteristic,  the  bane,  the  curse  of  the  present  age,  poison  the 
intellect,  debase  the  soul,  alienate  from  God,  and  cause  multitudes  to 
see  no  beauty  in  Christ  that  they  should  desire  Him.  Yet  Christ  is 
'the  true  bread,  the  life-giving  bread,  the  bread  of  God,  the  bread  of 
life,  the  bread  which  cometh  down  from  heaven,  that  all  may  eat 
thereof,  and  not  die.  If  any  man  eat  of  this  bread,  he  shall  live  for 
ever.'  As  food  is  the  nutriment  of  the  body,  so  is  Christ  the  nutriment 
of  the  soul.  Christ  is  the  sum  and  substance  and  acme  of  Divine 
revelation,  which  from  Genesis  to  Revelation  testifies  of  Him,  '  la  Via, 
la  Verita,  e  la  Vita,' — '  the  Way,  the  Truth,  and  the  Life.'  Hence  to 
search  the  Sciiptures  intellectually,  prayerfully,  experimentally,  with 
an  earnest  desire  to  discern  Christ  wherever  Christ  is  therein  revealed, 
is  the  paramount  duty  and  requirement  of  the  present  day. 


xxiv  PEEFACE. 

The  Divine  mandate  is  not  merely  to  read,  but  to  search,  the 
Scriptures.  As  miners  find  few  nuggets  of  gold  on  the  surface,  but 
excavate  immense  treasures  from  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  so  Divine 
truth  is  sufficiently  patent  in  the  Scriptures,  that  the  wayfaring  man 
shall  not  err  therein,  whilst  the  Bible  contains  a  recondite  and  inner 
sense,  heavenly  treasures.  Messianic  manifestations,  and  unfathomable 
depths,  even  '  the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ,  sought  out  of  all  them 
that  have  pleasure  therein,'  into  which  God's  children  are  privileged 
to  delve  in  humility,  faith,  and  prayer,  that  they  may  extract  there- 
from the  mind  of  the  Spirit  in  the  volume  of  revelation. 

If  this  volume  shall  elucidate  any  difficulties  or  reconcile  any 
apparent  discrepancies  in  Ecclesiastes,  the  most  obscure  and  enigmatical 
of  all  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament — if  it  shall  shed  any  light  on  the 
reign,  the  commerce,  the  character,  or  the  writings  of  the  wisest  of 
men — if  it  shall  render  more  clear  and  conspicuous  than  heretofore 
Solomon's  contrition,  repentance,  and  salvation,  to  God  be  all  the 
glory.  As  a  labourer  in  God's  vineyard  I  have,  however  unworthily, 
sown  the  seed.  May  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  vouchsafe  His  blessing, 
and  grant  an  abundant  increase  !  and  may  the  study  of  the  Book  of 
Ecclesiastes  be  as  abundantly  sanctified  to  the  reader  as  through  grace 
it  has  been  sanctified  to  the  author  !  As  far  as  this  volume  is  accor- 
dant with  the  Divine  will,  may  the  God  and  Father  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  and  in  Him  the  God  and  Father  of  His  people,  crown  it  with 
His  blessing;  to  the  edification  of  His  Church,  the  elucidation  of  His 
word,  the  manifestation  of  His  truth,  and  the  repression  of  error ! 
Whatever  therein  may  be  defective  or  erroneous,  may  the  covenant 
God  of  all  grace  pardon  the  writer  and  obliterate  from  the  mind  of  the 
reader !  And  may  the  great  Shepherd  and  BishojD  of  souls  prepare 
both  writer  and  reader  for  whatever  events  may  be  coming  on  the 
earth,  arm  them  with  the  whole  armour  of  God,  cause  them  to  rejoice 
with  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory  in  anticipation  of  the  speedy 
advent  of  Christ,  King  of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords,  and  enable  each  of 
them  to  realize  the  gracious  promise,  'Be  thou  faithful  unto  death,  and 
I  will  give  thee  the  crown  of  life!' 

Eyde,  June  1867. 


ECCLESIASTES. 


CHAPTER  L— VEESES  1-11. 

The  vanity,  instability,  fluctuations,  and  unsatisfactoriness  of  all  earthly 
pui-suits  and  labours.  Nothing  secular  can  satisfy  the  immortal  soul.  Nothing 
suljlunary  can  constitute  the  chief  good  of  man. 

1  The  words  of  Khoheleth,  son  of  David,  reigning  in  Jerusalem. 

2  Vanity  of  vanities,  saitli  Khoheleth, 
Vanity  of  vanities,  all  is  vanity. 

3  What  profit  is  there  to  man 

From  all  his  labour  wherein  he  laboureth  under  the  sun  ? 

4  One  generation  passeth  away,  and  another  generation  cometh, 
But  the  earth  abideth  for  ever. 

5  The  sun  also  riseth,  and  the  sun  setteth, 

And  hasteth  to  its  place  from  whence  it  riseth. 

6  The  wind  bloweth  toward  the  south,  and  veereth  about  toward  the 

north. 
It  veereth  round  and  round  continually, 
And  ever  revolveth  on  its  circuits. 

7  All  water-currents  flow  into  the  ocean. 
Yet  the  ocean  does  not  overflow. 

Unto  the  place  from  whence  the  water-currents  flow. 
Thither  do  they  again  return. 

8  All  words  fail,  man  has  not  the  power  of  utterance. 
The  eye  cannot  be  satisfied  with  seeing, 

JSTor  can  the  ear  be  satiated  with  hearing. 

9  That  which  hath  been  is  that  which  shall  be. 

And  that  which  hath  been  done  is  that  which  shall  be  done  : 
And  there  is  nothing  new  under  the  sun. 


2  ECCLESIASTES.  [chap.  i. 

10  Does  anything  exist  of  which  it  is  said,  See,  this  is  new  ? 
It  hath  ah'eady  been  in  the  ages  which  were  before  us. 

11  There  is  no  remembrance  of  those  who  have  lived  aforetime, 
JSTeither  shall  there  be  any  remembrance  of  those  who  shall  live 

henceforth. 
With  those  who  will  exist  thereafter. 

Verses  1  and  2. 

.  The  Heljrew  word  Kiioheleth,  the  distinctive  appellation  which  Solomon  appropriates 
to  himself  throughout  this  Book,  signifies  in  the  Arabic,  a  sister  dialect  of  the  Hebrew 
language, '  the  eepentant  invalid,' — a  signification  most  suitable  to  his  penitential  sorrow 
of  soul  and  premature  bodily  decay,  causing  his  decease  at  the  age  of  fifty-eight,  possibly 
somewhat  earlier.  This  word  would  be  understood  to  sigirify  the  repentant  invalid  in  the 
kingdom  of  Sheba,  at  Ophir,  and  throughout  all  the  peninsula  of  Arabia,  annually  coasted  for 
commercial  intercourse  and  traffic,  by  the  merchant  ships  of  Solomon.  Solomon  is  not  re- 
corded to  have  preached,  on  any  one  occasion,  or  to  have  convened  any  assembly,  except  the 
one  preparatory  to  the  dedication  of  the  Temple.  See  Preface,  and  Critical  Appendix  at  the 
end  of  the  volume. 

Vekse  1. 

Solomon  was  the  son  of  David  by  Bathsheba :  '  David  the  king  begat  Solomon  of  her 
that  had  been  the  wife  of  Urias'  {Matthew  i.  6).  ■ 

Solomon  wrote  this  Book  by  Divine  inspiration.  Ecclesiastes  is  an  integral  part  of  the 
Old  Testament,  which,  as  well  as  the  New  Testament,  '  is  given  by  inspiration  of  God' 
(2  Timothy  iii.  16).  Solomon  and  all  the  other  writers  of  Scripture  spake  and  ^vl•ote  '  as  they 
were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost'  (2  Peter  i.  21). 

Verses  2  and  3. 
Man,  by  the  fall,  hath  subjected  himself  and  aU  things  under  the  sun  to  vanity  ;  so  that 
vanity  is  stamped  on  all  things  pertaining  to  humanity.     The  words  under  the  sun  restrict 
this  vanity  and  unsatisfactoriness  to  secular  works,  springing  from  secular  motives,  and  done 
for  secular  ends. 

Verse  4. 

'  The  generations  of  men  upon  the  earth  resemble  leaves  upon  an  evergreen  tree.  The 
earth  bears  the  human  race,  as  the  tree  bears  its  many  leaves,  and  is  full  of  men,  some 
dying,  and  others  by  birth  succeeding  to  their  places.  The  tree  is  always  evergreen,  and 
replenished  with  leaves.  But  look  beneath  the  crust  of  the  earth.  Consider  over  how  many 
dead  leaves  you  constantly  walk.' — Augustiiie. 

David  asserts  the  sempiternity  of  the  earth  in  Psalm  civ.  5  : — 
'  Wlio  laid  the  foundations  of  the  earth, 
That  it  should  not  be  removed  for  ever.' 
And  again  in  Psalm  cxix.  90  : — 

'  Thou  hast  established  the  earth,  and  it  abideth.' 


VER.  1-11.]  ECCLESIASTES.  3 

In  Psalm  xxxvii.  this  coveuaut- promise,  the  only  verse  of  the  Bible  quoted  by  ISIahomet  in 
his  Koran,  is  given  and  repeated  five  times  : — 

'  The  righteous  shall  inherit  the  earth, 
And  shall  dwell  thereon  for  evee.' 

In  Revelation  v.  10  is  recorded  the  song  of  the  Church  triumphant: — 'Thou  hast  made 
us  unto  our  God  kings  and  priests,  and  we  shall  reign  ox  the  earth.'  This  earth  was  once 
deluged  with  w'ater  to  pxmish  the  sins  of  the  antedilu\'ians.  It  will  undergo  a  deluge  of  fire 
to  renovate,  and  purify,  and  prepare  it  for  the  habitation  of  the  glorified.  The  Noachian 
deluge  did  not  destroy  this  globe,  neither  will  the  imiversal  conflagration,  yet  to  be,  annihilate 
it.  God  created  this  earth  for  His  glory.  From  the  Fall  until  now  the  earth  hath  not  sub- 
served the  glory  of  God,  and  from  the  present  time  untU  the  second  Advent  will  not  subserve 
His  glory,  Satan  being  the  god  of  this  world,  and  ruling  in  the  children  of  disobedience.  But 
the  deposition  of  Satan  from  his  usurpation  A^-ill  usher  in  the  universal  reign  of  Immanuel, 
Kiun-  of  kinss,  and  Lord  of  lords.  Then  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord  shall  cover  the  earth,  as 
the  waters  now  cover  the  sea.  Then  Jehovah  shaU  be  glorified  throughout  all  creation. 
Then,  at  the  name  of  Jesus,  everj'  knee  shall  bow,  in  heaven,  in  earth,  and  under  the  earth, 
and  every  tongue  shall  confess,  yea,  the  tongues  of  devils  and  damned  spirits,  that  He  is 
Jehovah,  to  the  glory  of  God  the  Father.  For  the  elect,  its  destined  lords,  this  earth  was 
created.  For  the  elect  this  earth  is  di\'inely  administered,  that  all  things  may  work  together 
for  good  to  those  who  love  God,  and  are  the  called  according  to  His  purpose.  Of  the  glorifi- 
eation  and  reign  of  the  saints,  this  earth  will  be  the  theatre  at  the  restitution  of  all  things. 
'  Do  ye  not  know  that  the  saints  shall  judge  the  world  ?  Know  ye  not,  that  we  shall  judge 
■angels  ?' — (1  Corinthians  vi.  2,  3.) 

Verse  5. 

The  Bible  is  the  poor  man's  book,  and  its  language  is  for  the  most  part  addressed  to 
every  capacity.  The  object  of  the  Bible  is  not  to  teach  science,  but  to  make  wise  unto 
salvation  by  the  manifestation  of  Christ  to  the  soul  through  the  illumination  of  the  Spirit. 
Solomon  writes  of  the  sun,  according  to  its  appearance  in  the  heavens,  in  the  popular 
language  of  daily  hfe ;  not  in  the  technical  terms  of  astronomical  science.  Solomon  writes, 
and  modern  astronomers  speak,  of  the  '  risixg'  and  '.SETTING'  of  the  sun,  just  as  the 
unscientific  and  vulgar  do.  Astronomical  accuracy  would  have  been  unintelligible  to  the 
poor,  to  whom  the  gospel  must  be  preached  both  orally  and  by  the  circulation  of  Scripture. 
Yet  the  Bible,  rightly  interpreted,  never  contradicts  scientific  truth.  There  is  far  more  of 
science  in  the  Bible  than  pliilosophers  have  ever  dreamt  of.  The  Hebrew  word  employed  by 
Solomon,  rendered  '  sun,'  in  many  passages,  if  not  always,  signifies  the  solar  light,  in 
contradistinction  to  the  SOLAK  ORB.  In  1  Samuel  xi.  9,  we  read :  '  To-morrow  by  that  time 
the  SUN  BE  HOT,  ye  shall  have  help.'  It  is  self-evident  that,  in  this  passage,  the  heat  of  the 
SUN  must  signify  the  heat  of  the  solar  radiation  ;  not  the  heat  of  the  solar  orb.  And 
thus  Joshua  x.  12,  13  ought  to  be  understood:  'Solar  light,  stand  thou  stiU'  (be  thou 
stationary)  '  upon  Gibeon ;  and  thou,  lunar  light,  in  the  valley  of  Ajalon.  And  the  solar 
light  stood  .StiU'  (was  stationary),  'and  the  lunar  light  stayed'  (was  stationary),  'until  the 
people  had  avenged  themselves  upon  their  enemies.'  To  tlie  Hebrew-speakmg  Israelites  this 
teaching  of  Solomon  would  imply,  that  the  solar  light  riseth  in  the  east  and  setteth  in  tlie 
west,  and  daily  reappeareth  in  the  east  by  continuous  revolution. 


4  ECCLESIASTES.  [chap.  i. 

'  Th'  unwearied  sun,  from  clay  to  day, 
Does  his  Creator's  power  display, 
And  publishes  to  every  land 
The  work  of  an  Almighty  hand  ! ' 

Veese  6. 

In  this  verse  Solomon  affirms  the  rotation  of  the  winds.  This  rotatory  motion  of  aerial 
currents  results  from  the  revolution  of  the  earth  on  its  axis,  and  from  its  periodical  circuit 
round  the  sun,  both  affecting  the  diffusion  of  the  solar  heat  and  the  temperature  of  the 
crust  of  the  earth.  Hence  arise  ocean-currents,  trade-winds,  monsoons,  tornados,  cyclones,  and 
rotatory  gales.  A  comparison  of  the  inspired  language  of  Solomon  with  that  of  Theophrastus, 
Pliny,  and  Aristotle  on  the  winds,  will  demonstrate  the  superior  scientific  accuracy  of  Scrip- 
ture to  the  scientific  researches  of  Greece  and  Eome.  But  nothing  warrants  the  belief  that 
Solomon,  pre-eminent  as  he  was  in  jDolitical  wisdom  and  arcliitectural  skill,  understood  the 
planetary  system,  the  motions  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  the  rotation  of  the  earth  on  its  axis,  or 
the  innumerable  discoveries  which  modern  optical  instruments  and  astronomical  science  have 
brought  to  light.  To  what  cause,  then,  must  we  refer  Solomon's  correct  scientific  phraseology  ? 
To  that  supernatural  wisdom,  whereby  he  was  inspu-ed  to  write  this  book  for  the  edification 
of  the  Church  in  every  age  and  every  clime,  and  to  employ  language  the  full  force  of  which 
was  neither  understood  nor  appreciated  either  by  himself  or  by  his  contemporaries.  To  this 
verse  our  Lord  seems  to  have  had  some  allusion  (liowever  distant),  when  he  said  to 
Nicodemus, '  The  wind  bloweth  where  it  listeth,  and  thou  hearest  the  sound  thereof,  but  canst 
not  tell  wlience  it  cometh  and  whither  it  goeth :  so  is  every  one  born  of  the  Spirit.'  This 
allusion  will  appear  more  striking,  when  we  bear  in  mind  that  in  the  Aramaic  tongue,  as  well 
as  in  Greek,  the  same  word  sifrnifies  both  wind  and  spikit,  the  meanin"  being  determined 
solely  by  the  context.     (See  the  Peshito-Syiiac  version  of  John  iii.  8.) 

Verse  7. 

Tlie  Hebrew  word  rendered  avater-curkents  is  a  generic  term  comprehending  both 
rivers  and  minor  streams  of  water,  including  wadys  or  winter-torrents  of  the  East.  In  the 
index  to  Tristram's  Land  of  Israel,  forty-two  wadys  are  enumerated ;  in  the  index  to  Stanley's 
Sinai  and  Palestine,  forty-eight ;  and  in  the  index  to  Wilson's  Lands  of  the  Bible,  not  less 
than  eighty-five.  In  the  three  elaborate  volumes  of  Eobinson's  Eescarchcs  in  Palestine,  the 
word  wady  is  of  constant  occurrence.  This  Hebrew  word  rendered  water-currents  is 
translated  in  the  Septuagint,  and  in  our  authorized  version,  in  both  acceptations,  as  significant 
both  of  rivers  and  minor  streams  of  water. 

There  is  no  word  in  the  Hebrew  language  answering  to  our  generic  term  ocean,  com- 
prehending  the  waters  of  the  Indian,  Atlantic,  Pacific,  Arctic  and  Antarctic  oceans,  of  which 
ocean  the  IMediterranean  and  Eed  Seas  are  only  oceanic  branches.  The  statement  of 
Solomon  implies  the  ocean,  though  in  Hebrew  he  could  not  express  the  precise  term,  and 
the  Chaldee  Targuni  renders  it :  '  The  ocean  which  encircles  the  world.'  The  proposition 
of  Solomon  is  universal,  affirming  that  the  mighty  ocean  is  the  grand  receptacle  of  all  the 
rivers  and  minor  streams  and  wadys  of  this  terrestrial  globe.  The  water-currents  return 
again,  ascending  by  evaporation,  and  redescendiug  in  rain.  '  The  abyss  and  the  sea  are 
synonymous  terms,  by  which  the  great  assemblage  of  oceanic  waters  is  alike  designated.' — 
Faher. 


VER.  1  11.]  ECCLESIASTES.  5 

Verse  8. 

'  AI  thinges  are  so  hard  to  be  knowen  that  uo  man  can  expresse  them.' — Cranniera 
Bible,  1549;  and  Tlie  Bishops'  Bible,  1595. 

ilan  is  never  satiated  with  the  things  of  time  and  sense,  althougli  ntterly  unable  fully 
to  comprehend,  explain,  and  appreciate  them. 

Verse  9. 

Solomon  does  not  affirm  that  there  shall  be  nothing  new  under  the  sun,  but  that  there 
IS  nothing  new. 

'  Does  anything  exist  of  which  it  is  said.  See,  this  is  new  ? 
It  hath  already  been  in  the  ages  which  were  before  us.' 

Tlie  phenomena  of  nature  were  in  Solomon's  time  what  they  had  heretofore  been.  Nor 
have  we  reason  to  suppose  that  there  were  any  important  discoveries  in  ai-t  and  science  made 
by  Solomon,  which  had  not  heretofore  been  known.  Solomon  does  not  deny  that  such  dis- 
coveries should  be  made  in  subsequent  ages.  The  invention  of  gunpowder,  the  art  of  print- 
ing, the  mariners'  compass,  magnetism,  electro-magnetism,  and  electro-telegi-aphy,  steam- 
navigation,  raikoad-travelling,  photography,  ironclads,  submarine  electric  wires,  gun-cotton, 
rifled  cannon,  breech-loading  muskets,  tubular  and  other  iron  bridges,  the  pendulum,  the 
telescope,  astronomical,  geological,  and  innumerable  other  scientific  discoveries,  are  all 
posterior  in  time  to  the  declaration  of  Solomon  that  there  is  nothing  new  under  the  sun,  and 
are  the  fulfilment  of  the  prophecy  of  Daniel,  that  'at  the  time  of  the  end  many  shall  run 
to  and  fro,  and  knowledge  shall  be  increased'  (Daniel  xii.  4). 

Augustine  remarks,  that  Solomon  teaches  in  this  verse, '  that  aU  things  have  been  already 
accompHshed  in  the  predestination  of  God,  and  that  therefore  there  is  nothing  new  under  the 
sun.'  And  Jerome  says, '  All  things  which  shall  be  have  been  ordained  by  the  prescience  and 
predestination  of  God.  Even  they  who  were  chosen  in  Christ  before  the  foundation  of  the 
world,  as  to  election  have  had  a  pre\'ious  existence.'  On  this  verse  Maimonides  comments  : 
'  Our  wise  men  affirm  of  all  miraculous  deviations  from  tlie  ordinary  course  of  natiu'e,  which 
have  occurred,  or  which  are  predicted  to  occur  hereafter,  that  they  have  originated  from  the 
Divine  will  which  ordained  them  on  the  six  days  of  creation,  and  that  when  they  do  occur 
they  are  not  really  new,  but  have  been  pre-ordained.     There  is  nothing  new  under  the  sun.' 

The  heresies  which  now  assail  and  infect  the  Church  are  but  reiterations  and  reappear- 
ances of  ancient  apostasies.  The  sin  of  the  apostate  apostle  was  identical  with  that  of  the 
apostate  prophet.  Both  lusted  after  the  wages  of  iniquity ;  both  loved  gold  more  than  God  ; 
both  had  a  liresentiment  of  eternal  misery ;  both  went  to  the  same  place,  the  place  of  perdi- 
tion. ]\Iodern  spiritualism  is  Satan's  revival  of  the  fictitious  miracles  of  Jannes  and  Jambres, 
and  of  the  witchcraft  of  the  cave  of  Endor.  Modern  ritualism  is  Satan's  revival  of  the 
abominations  of  the  Chaldeans  portrayed  in  vermilion,  detailed  and  condemned  in  the  eighth 
chapter  of  Ezekiel.  Papal  Rome,  in  the  symbolic  imagery  of  the  ApocalyjDse,  is  the  resurrec- 
tion and  personification  of  Pagan  Babylon.  Voltaire,  Eousseau,  Paine,  Strauss,  Eenan,  the 
fallen  star  of  Africa,  and  the  many  sceptics  and  semi-sceptics  of  the  present  day,  are  mere 
resuscitations  and  adaptations  to  the  nineteenth  century  of  Simon  ilagus,  Cerinthus,  Celsus, 
Porphyry,  Julian  the  Apostate,  etc.,  and  of  them  that  held  the  doctrine  of  Balaam,  the 
Nicolaitans,  the  Gnostics,  the  Manichaeans,  etc.,  Satan's  ancient  emissaries  to  oppose  the 
gospel  and  to  plunge  men  into  endless  perdition.  There  is  no  new  heresy  under  the  sun. 
The  prophet  Jeremiah  thus  graphically  depicts  these  heretics  : — 


ECCLESIASTES.  [chap.  i. 

'  They  are  all  of  them  the  dross  of  revolters. 
Passing  with  a  fraudulent  currency  : 
Brass  and  iron  aU  of  them, 
Instruments  of  adiilteration  are  they. 
The  bellows  are  burned  liy  the  fire, 
The  lead  is  entirely  spent ; 
The  refiner  hath  melted  in  vain, 
For  the  bad  are  not  separated. 
Eeprobated  silver  call  ye  them, 
For  Jehovah  hath  reprobated  them.' 

Cliap.  vi.  28-30. — Blayncys  translation. 


11. 

CHAPTEE  L— VERSES  12-18. 

The  past  experience  of  Solomon.  Solomon,  the  wisest  of  men,  sought  felicity 
of  soul  and  stability  of  peace  in  wisdom,  philosophy,  and  the  scientific  investigation 
of  the  ways  and  Avorks  of  man,  of  all  things  done  under  the  sun.  Personal  experi- 
ence painfully  taught  him,  that  secular  wisdom  and  human  knowledge,  however 
excellent  in  themselves,  without  Divine  illumination  from  the  Holy  Ghost,  can  only 
result  in  vanity  and  vexation  of  spirit. 

12  I  am  Khoheletli,  reigning  over  Israel  in  Jerusalem. 

13  And  I  gave  my  heart  to  seek  and  search  out  by  wisdom 
All  things  which  have  been  done  under  the  sun  ; 

This  grief-ful  toil  hath  God  assigned  to  the  children  of  Adam  to 
toil  therein. 

14  I   have  considered   all  the  works  which  have  been  done  under 

the  sun  ; 
And,  behold,  all  are  vanity  and  vexation  of  spirit. 

15  That  which  is  crooked  cannot  be  made  straight ; 
And  that  which  is  defective  cannot  be  estimated. 

16  I  communed  with  my  ow^n  heart,  saying, 

I,  behold,  I  have  increased  and  advanced  wisdom 

Beyond  all  who  have  been  in  Jerusalem  before  me  ; 

Yea,  my  heart  has  had  great  experience  of  wisdom  and  knowledge. 

17  And  I  gave  my  heart  to  know  wisdom. 
And  to  know  madness  and  folly  : 

I  perceived  that  this  also  is  vexation  of  spirit. 


vEE.  12-18.]  ECCLESIASTES.  7 

18  For  in  much  wisdom  is  much  solicitude  ; 

And  he  who  increaseth  knowledge  increaseth  care. 

Verse  12. 

Khoheleth,  that  is,  the  repentant  invalid  (see  Note  on  i.  1,  2).  The  rendering 
I  AJi  Khoiieletii,  is  fully  warranted  by  the  authority  of  our  English  version,  wherein  the 
Hebrew  verb  is  so  rendered  in  the  present  tense  in  five  passages,  and  many  others  (see 
Critical  Note  in  Appendix).  The  fuU  meaning  of  the  Hebrew  is  :  I  have  been,  and  now  am, 
Khoheleth,  the  repentant  invalid.' 

Verse  13. 

God  hath  assigned  to  man  this  mental  labour  in  mercy,  to  humble  his  soul  in  the  dust, 
and  to  reveal  to  him  his  absolute  need  of  Divine  teaching.  If  man,  by  his  own  wisdom, 
cannot  thoroughly  comprehend  secular  truth,  how  much  less  can  he  understand  spiritual 
truth,  without  the  illiunination  of  the  Spirit  of  God  ? 

In  this  and  eight  other  verses  of  Ecclesiastes  (namely,  ii.  3,  8  ;  iii.  10,  18,  19  ;  viii.  11 ; 
ix.  3,  12),  Solomon,  writing  under  Divine  inspiration,  affirms  that  mankind  are  the  children 
OF  Adam,  the  one  universal  progenitor  of  the  whole  human  race.  Jerome  asserts  that, 
throughout  the  whole  Book  of  Ecclesiastes,  and  throughout  the  Scriptures  generally,  men 
universally  are  designated  in  Hebrew,  the  children  of  Adam.  No  variety  of  colour,  phy- 
siognomy, stature,  external  appearance,  or  language,  can  warrant  the  negation  of  this  Divine 
truth,  explicitly  stated  in  these  nine  verses,  and  reiterated  twelve  times  in  other  books  of  the 
Old  Testament.     In  Psalm  xxxiii.  13,  14,  we  read: 

'  Jehovah  looketh  from  heaven  ;  He  beholdeth  all  the  children  of  Adam. 
From  the  place  of  His  habitation  He  looketh  upon  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth.' 

The  parallelism  of  the  Hebrew  estabKshes  that  all  the  children  of  Adam  and  all  the 
inhabitants  of  the  earth  are  identical  expressions.  To  the  children  of  Adam  exclusively 
Ecclesiastes  is  addressed.  For  their  edification  solely  all  Scripture  is  inspired.  To  them 
alone  the  Comforter  is  promised  to  regenerate,  sanctify,  and  make  meet  for  the  inheritance 
incorruptible,  that  fadeth  not  away.  And  for  the  children  of  Adam,  and  for  none  else, 
Christ  the  second  Adam  lived,  and  died,  and  rose  again,  for  their  redemption,  justification, 
present  salvation,  and  everlasting  glory.  Even  the  sceptical  writer  of  the  Vestiges  of  the 
Natural  History  of  Creation  candicUy  admits,  that  '  the  evidence  which  physiology  and 
philology  present  seems  to  him  decidedly  favourable  to  the  idea  of  one  local  origin.'  '  All 
researches,'  \vrites  Professor  Eadie  in  his  Biblical  Cyclopmdia,  '  in  physiolog}',  ethnography, 
and  comparative  philology,  prove,  more  and  more  conclusively,  that  men  have  sprung  from 
one  pair.  Varieties  of  form,  colour,  and  language,  are  produced  by  numerous  causes  and 
circumstances.  Man  is  but  one  species,  essentially  one,  though  externally  modified.'  An 
eminent  scientific  inquirer  has  stated  his  disbelief  that  the  Negro  and  the  Mongol  have 
descended  from  Adam,  because  they  differ  from  Caucasians  in  colour,  physiognomy,  contour, 
and  language,  and  his  belief  of  a  pre- Adamite  human  race,  who,  armed  with  flint  hatchets, 
'  contended  for  many  generations  with  the  mammoth,  the  woolly  rhinoceros,  and  cave- 
bear.'  AVliat  he  disbelieves  has  Scripture  warrant,  beuig  implied  or  asserted  twenty-one 
times  in  the  Old  Testament.  Wliat  he  believes  is  so  impracticable,  that  Onmipotence  alowe 
could  effect  it,  and  the  declaration  of  Omniscience  could  alone  justify  its  belief  Scepticism 
strains  out  the  gnat,  but  willingly  swallows  the  camel.     Scepticism  attributes  the  supernatural 


8  ECCLESIASTES.  [chap.  ii. 

to  puiiy  man,  whose  breath  is  in  his  nostrils,  but  denies  the  supernatural  to  the  omnipotent, 
omniscient  Creator,  Preserver,  and  Administrator  of  the  universe.  Eevelation  only  extends 
from  the  Adamic  creation  to  the  second  Advent.  Nothing  is  revealed  anterior  to  this 
creation.  Subsequent  to  the  second  Advent,  we  have  only  distant  glimpses  of  Christ's  glory, 
the  glorification  of  the  saints,  and  the  restitution  of  aU  things.  Whenever  scientific  facts  do 
not  concur  with  the  apparent  letter  or  spirit  of  Eevelation,  the  discrepancy  should  be  attri- 
buted to  man's  defect  of  knowledge  and  comprehension.  Inferences  from  these  facts  in 
derogation  of  the  plenary  inspiration  of  Scripture  are  presumptuous  acts  of  high  treason 
against  the  Majesty  of  heaven.  Tlie  volume  of  Eevelation  and  the  book  of  Natui-e  emanate 
from  the  same  Divine  Author,  and  can  never  contradict  each  other. 

Veese  14. 

All  works  which  have  been  done  under  the  sun  have  been  perverted  to  secularize  the 
human  mind,  and  to  divert  it  from  the  one  thing  needful,  by  the  machination  and  temptations 
of  him  who  is  the  god  of  this  world,  and  ruleth  in  the  children  of  disobedience.  Thus,  by 
Satan's  instigation,  temporal  blessings,  bestowed  on  the  human  race  by  a  beneficent  Creator 
to  testify  His  love,  and  to  sweeten  man's  pilgrim-state  here  below,  become  sources  of  evil, 
and  sinners  accumulate  transgression. 

Veeses  16  AND  17. 

The  Book  of  Ecclesiastes  was  composed  by  Solomon  in  his  declining  years,  after  he  had 
been  reclaimed  from  that  apostasy  into  which  he  had  unhappily  lapsed.  This  Book  is 
a  record  of  his  personal  experience  during  that  apostasy,  of  liis  vain  pursuit  of  ideal  wisdom 
and  true  happiness,  of  his  accumulation  of  wives  and  concubines,  horses  and  chariots,  exces- 
sive wealth  and  architectural  edifices,  which  he  stigmatizes  as  vanity  of  vanities,  and  justly 
pronounces,  that  all  is  vanity.  Solomon  was  guilty  of  the  excessive  multiplication  of  wives, 
of  horses,  and  of  silver  and  gold,  contrary  to  the  Mosaic  prohibition  in  Deuteronomy  xvii. 
16,  17:  'The  king  shall  not  miiltiply  horses  to  himself,  nor  cause  the  people  to  return  to 
Egypt,  to  the  end  that  he  should  multiply  horses :  forasmuch  as  the  Lord  hath  said  unto  you, 
Ye  shall  henceforth  return  no  more  that  way.  Neither  shall  he  multiply  wives  to  himself, 
that  his  heart  turn  not  away  ;  neither  shall  he  greatly  multiply  to  liimself  sUver  and  gold.' 

Veese  18. 

The  wisdom  and  knowledge  here  mentioned  are  secular,  pertaining  to  the  tilings  of  time 
and  sense, — not  the  hypostatic  wisdom  predicted  in  Proverbs,  nor  that  wisdom  from  above, 
which  maketh  wise  unto  salvation  through  faith  in  Christ.  Of  this  secular  wisdom,  Henry 
pithily  remarks  :  '  Great  scholars  make  themselves  great  mourners.' 

The  more  intimate  knowledge  the  child  of  God  possesses  of  the  world,  of  the  things  of 
the  world,  and  of  the  men  of  the  world,  the  more  intensely  will  his  soid  be  grieved  by  man's 
apostasy,  and  the  dishonour  done  to  God,  and  the  stronger  will  be  his  heart's  response  to  the 
language  of  Augustine :  '  The  more  the  love  of  God  abounds  within  you,  the  more  will  you 
mourn  over  the  sinner,  not  in  anger,  but  in  grief  and  lamentation  for  liim.' 


VER.  Ml.]  ECCLESIASTES. 


III. 
CHAPTER  II.— VEESES  1-11. 

The  past  experience  of  Solomon.  Solomon,  having  in  vain  sought  for  the 
supreme  good  in  secular  wisdom  and  knowledge,  and  a  philosophic  investigation  of 
mundane  concerns,  again  prosecutes  the  same  inquiry,  and  seeks  it  in  mirth  and 
hilarity,  in  the  acquisition  of  riches  and  architectural  erections  ;  combining  intellec- 
tual gratification  with  luxurious  refinements.  Painful  experience  again  inculcated 
the  same  lesson,  and  practically  taught  Solomon,  that  vanity  and  vexation  of  spirit 
are  inscribed  on  all  things  here  below,  and  that  nothing  terrestrial  can  savingly 
benefit  the  soul. 

1  1  SAID  in  my  mind, 

Come  now,  I  will  prove  thee  with  mirth,  and  enjoy  thou  pleasure, 
And,  lo,  this  also  is  vanity. 

2  I  said  of  laughter,  What  insanity  ! 
And  of  mirth,  What  does  this  avail  ? 

3  I  revolved  in  my  mind  that  I  would  cherish  my  body  with  wine. 
Yet  training  my  mind  in  wisdom, 

And  that  I  would  comprehend  folly,  until  I  could  discover 

What  is  best  for  the  children  of  Adam  which  they  should  do  under 

the  sun 
During  the  term  of  the  days  of  their  life. 

4  I  erected  works  of  magnificence,  I  built  for  myself  houses, 
I  planted  for  myself  vineyards, 

5  I  made  for  myself  gardens  and  parks, 

And  I  planted  in  them  fruit  trees  of  every  kind. 

6  I  made  for  myself  reservoirs  of  water. 

To  water  therewith  the  wood  germinant  of  trees. 

7  I  procured  men-servants  and  maid-servants, 
And  had  servants  born  in  my  house. 

I  had  also  large  herds  of  gi-eat  and  small  cattle, 
Above  all  who  have  been  in  Jerusalem  before  me. 

8  I  also  amassed  to  myself  silver  and  gold, 

And  treasures  the  most  rare  of  kings  and  countries  ; 
I  procured  for  myself  men-singers  and  woinen-singers. 
And  the  delight  of  the  sons  of  Adam,  a  wife  and  wives. 

9  More  magnificent  was  I  and  more  oi)ulent 

B 


10  ECCLESIASTES.  [chap.  ii. 

Than  all  who  had  been  in  Jerusalem  before  me, 
And  my  wisdom  stood  me  in  good  stead. 

10  Nothing  also  which  my  eyes  desired  withheld  I  from  them, 
From  no  gratification  restrained  I  my  heart, 

For  my  heart  was  gratified  with  all  my  labour  : 
And  this  was  my  portion  from  all  my  labour. 

11  Then  1  again  reverted  to  all  the  works  which  my  hands  had  wrought 
And  the  labour  which  I  had  laboured  to  accomplish, 

And,  behold,  all  was  vanity  and  vexation  of  spirit, 
For  nothing  under  the  sun  can  profit. 

VeESES  1  AND  2. 

'  At  length  tliou  'It  find 
That  all  the  mighty  expectatious  raised 
By  Pleasure,  sweet  enchantress,  with  her  train 
Of  Laughter,  Jest,  and  Song,  the  sumptuous  feast. 
Full-flowing  bowl,  and  midnight  roar,  will  end 
Like  crackling  thorns,  beneath  a  caldron  placed, 
Which  blaze  awhile,  but  soon  reduced  to  smoke.' — Kholidcih} 

Verse  4. 

Of  all  the  magnificent  erections  of  Solomon,  the  substructure  of  the  present  wall  <jf  the 
Haram,  from  north-east  to  south-east,  facing  the  Mount  of  Olives,  and  overlooking  the  brook 
Kedron,  is  a  remnant,  being  his  masonry.  Pierotti  himself  examined  different  portions  of 
this  substructure,  and  from  his  own  observation  has  confirmed  this  interesting  fact.  See 
Pierotti's  Jerusalem,  p.  66,  and  his  Plate  No.  X.,  representing  the  different  styles  of  masonry 
of  Solomon,  Nehemiah,  Herod,  the  Eomans,  and  the  Saracens.  Whether  we  call  the  Hebrew 
stone-dressing,  bevel,  eabbet,  chisel-deapt,  or  l'appareil,  or  whatever  may  be  our  opinion 
of  the  conclusiveness  or  inconclusiveness  of  Pierotti's  statement,  the  fact  is  indisputable,  that 
.  Josephus  attributes  to  Solomon  the  building  of  this  substructure,  of  400  cubits  altitude  ;  and 
that  history  nowhere  records  the  demolition  of  this  substructure,  either  by  convulsion  of 
nature  or  by  the  hand  of  man.  Such  demolition  must  have  destroyed  the  eastern  fortifica- 
tions of  Jerusalem,  if  not  part  of  the  city  itself.  We  therefore  infer  that  the  existing  sub- 
structure is  the  masonry  of  Solomon,  substantially  now  remaining  as  he  built  it.  When  our 
Lord  foretold  to  His  disciples,  that  one  stone  should  not  be  left  upon  another,  He  spake  of 
the  parts  of  the  Temple  visible  to  the  disciples  from  the  Moimt  of  Olives,  not  of  its  imseen 
foundations.  Josephus  thus  describes  the  height  of  the  substructure  and  of  the  superstructure 
of  the  cloister  Solomon  erected  upon  it :  '  These  cloisters  belonged  to  the  outer  court,  and 

1  The  name  of  this  talented  translator  of  Ecclesiastes  into  blank  verse  has  irrecoverably  perished.  He  seems 
to  have  been  known  to  Rev.  John  Wesley,  who  informs  us  in  his  Journal  that  he  was  a  Turkey  merchant,  and 
that  he  was  preserved  in  the  dreadful  earthquake  at  Lisbon  by  part  of  the  house  falling  so  as  to  block  up  the 
entrance,  whereby  he  was  shut  in  and  his  life  was  saved  ;  all  who  had  run  out  of  the  house  having  been 
dashed  to  pieces  by  the  fulling  edifices.  His  name  has  perished,  but  he  has  left  '  jnonumenium  cere  perennius,' 
most  higlily  extolled  by  Rev.  John  Wesley,  Dr.  Adam  Clarke,  and  Dr.  Lee,  Regius  Professor  of  Hebrew  in  the 
University  of  Cambridge.  The  first  edition  of  this  translation  of  Ecclesiastes  into  blank  verse  is  Lu  quarto,  and 
bears  date  1768.     See  Preface  of  Nathaniel  Higgins  to  his  edition,  printed  in  Svo  at  Whitchurch,  Salop. 


VKR.  1-11.]  ECCLESIASTES.  11 

were  situated  in  a  deep  valley,  and  had  walls  that  reached  400  cubits.  This  cloister  deserves 
to  be  mentioned  better  than  any  other  under  the  sun.  For  while  the  valley  was  very  deep, 
and  its  bottom  could  not  be  seen,  if  you  looked  from  above  into  the  depth,  the  immense 
additional  elevation  of  the  cloister  stood  upon  tliat  height,  insomuch  that  if  any  one  looked 
down  from  the  top  of  the  battlements,  down  both  these  altitudes,  he  would  be  giddy,  while 
his  sight  coidd  not  reach  to  such  an  immense  depth.'  Besides  the  magnifical  Temple, 
Solomon  budt-- 

1 .  His  own  house,  the  erection  of  which  occupied  thirteen  years. 

2.  A  house  for  Pharaoh's  daughter. 

3.  Millo,  and  the  fortifications  of  Jerusalem. 

4.  The  house  of  the  forest  of  Lebanon,  and  its  splendid  porch. 

5.  Tadmor  in  the  wilderness,  and  store-cities  at  Hamath. 

6.  Gezer. 

7.  Bethhoron  the  Uppei',  1  ,    ,,    „         ,    .,. 

^    , ,  ,     ^  >-  lioth  ieuced  cities. 

8.  Bethhoron  the  Lower,  ) 

9.  Baalath,  and  store-cities  adjacent  thereto. 

10.  Hazor. 

11.  Megiddo. 

1 2.  Cities  for  chariots  and  horsemen. 

At  Tadmor,  magnificent  ruins  are  yet  visible,  but  it  is  uncertain  when  or  by  whom  they 
were  erected.  Of  all  Solomon's  buildings  not  one  certain  undoubted  vestige  now  remains, 
except  the  substructure  ali'eady  named,  the  reservoirs  or  pools  of  water  at  Urtas,  and  the 
recently  discovered  baths  of  marble  adjacent  thereto. 

Verse  6. 
Solomon's  three  reservoirs  or  pools  of  water,  and  the  aqueduct  he  constructed  to  convey 
water  from  them  to  Jerusalem,  yet  remain,  though  not  in  their  pristine  condition.  The  three 
pools  are  situated  south-west  of  Bethlehem,  and  are  distant  from  the  Jaffa  Gate  six  miles 
and  five  furlongs.  Solomon's  aqueduct  j)assed  through  Bethlehem,  and  by  a  tortuous  course 
of  twelve  miles  and  two  furlongs  conveyed  water  to  an  immense  cistern  beneath  the  Temple. 
These  three  huge  reservoirs,  which  irrigated  the  gardens  in  the  vaUey,  and  supplied  Bethlehem 
and  Jerusalem  with  water,  are  biult  of  large  square  stones,  well  cemented,  and  measure  as 
follow  : — 

1.  Upper  pool,  length  380  feet. 

„         „      breadth,  east  end,  236  feet. 
„         „  „       west  end,  229  feet. 

„         „       depth  at  east  end,  2.5  feet. 

2.  Middle  pool,  length  423  feet. 

„         „  breadth,  east  end,  250  feet. 
„         „  „       west  end,  160  feet. 

„         „  depth  at  east  end,  39  feet. 

3.  Lower  pool,  length  582  feet. 

„         „       breadth,  east  end,  207  feet. 
„         „  „       west  end,  148  feet. 

„         „       depth  at  east  end,  50  feet. 

See  Robinson's  Palestine,  vol.  i.  p.  474-6,  Tristram's  Land  of  Israel,  p.  399,  and  the  accurate 
delineation  of  these  pools  in  Plate  x.  of  Pierotti's  Jerusalem.     Since  the  above  was  Avritten, 


12  ECCLESIASTES.  [chap.  ii. 

the  Pasha  of  Jerusalem  has  increased  the  fall  of  water  from  Urtas,  has  converted  the  three 
pools  or  reservoirs  into  two,  and  has  repaired  the  aqueduct,  so  that  water  again  flows  into  ■ 
Jerusalem  from  the  pools  of  Solomon. 

Josephus  states  that  Solomon  daily  resorted  to  Etham,  the  ancient  name  of  the  village 
near  to  these  reservoirs,  now  called  Urtas  :  '  There  was  a  certain  place  about  fifty  furlongs 
distant  from  Jerusalem,  which  is  called  Etham  ;  very  pleasant  it  is  in  fine  gardens,  and 
abounding  in  rivirlets  of  water.  Thither  did  Solomon  xise  to  go  out  in  the  morning,  sitting 
on  high  in  his  chariot.' — Antiquities,  viii.  7.  8. 

A  recent  discovery  has  been  made  of  a  most  magniiicent  reservoir,  twenty  yards  square, 
and  of  a  bath,  both  faced  with  marble  slabs ;  also  of  a  bath  of  intermediate  size  connected 
with  the  reservoir,  and  of  shafts  and  richly  carved  capitals,  all  of  pure  white  marble,  in  the 
eastern  portion  of  the  garden  cultivated  by  Mr.  MeshuUam,  near  to  these  pools  or  reservoirs. 
Who  but  King  Solomon  could  have  erected  these  magnificent  baths,  and  these  magnificently 
sculptured  pillars,  resembling  those  in  the  substructure  of  the  Temple  ?  Can  we  doubt  that 
Solomon  erected  them  and  used  them  ? — See  Tristram's  Land  of  Israel,  page  400. 

The  WOOD  GEEMiNANT  OF  TKEES  signifies  nurseries  of  seedlings. 

Veese  8. 

The  greater  part  of  the  treasures  of  gold  and  silver  amassed  by  Solomon  was  imported 
into  Palestine  by  liis  two  fleets.  Solomon  is  not  recorded  to  have  built  any  ships  except  at 
Ezion-Geber.  Some  of  these  ships  sailed  to  Tarshish.  The  only  Tarshish  of  the  Old 
Testament  is  a  sea-port  on  the  coast  of  Spain.  Of  Solomon's  two  fleets,  one  coasted  the 
peninsula  of  Arabia,  and  imported  the  greater  part  of  the  gold,  also  almug  trees,  and  spices. 
That  this  fleet  traded  as  far  as  India,  or  that  Solomon  had  any  dikect  intercourse  with  India, 
has  never  yet  been  proved.  The  other  fleet  of  Solomon  went  to  Tarshish  (2  Chronicles 
ix.  21),  and  is  therefore  called  the  Navy  of  Tarshish  (1  Kings  x.  22),  and  brought  back 
triennially  a  freight  of  'gold,  silver,  ivory,  apes,  and  peacocks;'   or,  as  I  prefer  to  render, 

'  GOLD,  SILVER,  ELEPHANTS'   TEETH,   TRUNKS   OF  TREES,   AND    MASTS   FOR   SHIPS.'      Now,  that   the 

ancient  merchant  ships  built  by  Solomon  should  have  triennially  circumnavigated  the  whole 
of  Africa  from  the  Eed  Sea  to  near  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar,  rounding  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope, 
seems  an  absolute  impossibility.  Hence  we  conclude  that  this  merchant  fleet  passed  through 
the  canal  of  Sesostris  or  Eameses,  descended  the  Nile,  and  coasted  the  Mediterranean  Sea  to 
Tarshish,  a  commercial  emporium  of  the  Phoenicians  on  the  Atlantic  coast  of  Spain,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Boetis  or  Guadalquivir,  not  far  from  the  ancient  Gades,  now  Cadiz.  See  note 
postfixed  to  the  Map  of  Africa,  explanatory  of  this  ancient  canal,  of  its  navigation  by  the 
Tarshish  fleet  of  Solomon,  and  of  the  freight  imported  by  that  fleet. 

A  WIFE,  his  principal  wife,  the  daughter  of  Pharaoh,  King  of  Egj'pt. 

Wives,  his  seven  hundred  wives  and  three  hundred  concubines. 

'  What  a  lovely  train 
Of  blooming  beauties,  by  connubial  ties. 
Or  gift  of  neighbouring  kings,  or  spoils  of  war. 
Or  made  by  purchase  mine.' — Khoheletli. 

The  prominent  distinction  made  by  Solomon  in  this  verse  between  the  daughter  of 
Pharaoh,  his  first  wife,  and  his  other  seven  hundred  wives  and  three  hundred  concubines, 
clearly  manifests,  that  when  he  composed  this  didactic  poem  he  had  realized  in  his  own 
heart,  that  the  original  institution  of  marriage  was  the  marriage-union  of  one  man  and  one 


VER.  1-11.]  ECCLESIASTES.  13 

woman,  and  that  polygamy  ami  divorce  were  mysteriously  conceded  to  the  Jews  on  account 
of  the  hardness  of  their  hearts.  This  prominent  distinction  seems  also  to  imply  his 
penitential  lament  for  his  idolatrous  apostasy,  resulting  from  these  idolatrous  intermarriages. 
Polygamy  and  divorce  are  condemned  by  Genesis  ii.  24 :  '  They  twain  shall  be  one  flesh.' 
The  word  twain  is  an  integral  portion  of  inspiration,  being  the  reading  of  the  Samaritan 
Pentateuch,  of  all  the  ancient  versions,  and  of  Matthew  xix.  5,  Mark  x.  8,  1  Corinthians 
vi.  IG,  and  Ej^hesians  v.  31,  and  has  the  divine  sanction  of  Christ  Himself  The  existence  of 
polygamy  in  New  Zealand,  and  in  our  other  mission-fields,  demonstrates  the  practical 
importance  of  the  word  twain  in  Genesis  ii.  21.  The  authority  of  Christ  for  the  insertion  of 
this  word  is  paramount  over  its  omission  in  every  known  Hebrew  manuscript.  The 
unwarrantable  omission  of  this  word  TWAIN,  whether  intentional  or  unintentional,  and  the 
unwarrantable  addition  of  1  John  v.  7  in  the  New  Testament,  by  whomsoever  introduced, 
besides  other  instances  of  addition  and  omission  which  might  be  adduced,  prove  the  absolute 
necessity  of  some  revision  of  the  authorized  English  version,  that  obedience  may  be  I'endered 
to  the  Divine  mandate :  '  Ye  shall  not  add  unto  the  word  which  I  command  you,  neither  shall 
ye  diminish  aught  from  it,  that  ye  may  keep  the  commandments  of  the  Lord  your  God  wiiich 
I  command  you'  {Dcutcyonomy  iv.  2).  Super-excellent  as  the  English  authorized  version 
is,  its  excellence  must  never  be  placed  in  competition  with  the  integrity  of  God's  Word  as 
originally  written,  to  which  no  man  may  add,  and  from  wliich  no  man  may  subtract. 

Vekse  10. 
AU  the  labour,  erections,  and  accumulations  of  Solomon  were  merely  things  cjf  time 
and  sense,  pertaining  only  to  this  life.  They  were  his  portion  in  time.  They  were  his 
gratifications  and  the  joy  of  his  soul  whilst  he  was  in  apostasy  from  God.  The  men  of  this 
world  have  their  portion  also  in  this  life,  and  in  this  life  only.  May  we,  like  the  saints  of  old, 
have  our  afl'ections  elevated  above  the  things  of  time  and  sense,  and  desire  a  heavenly  country, 
'  that  God  may  be  called  OUK  God,  because  He  hath  prepared  for  us  a  city'  (Hebrevjs  xi.  1(5). 

Verse  11. 
Nothing  under  the  sun   is  a  substantial  good.     Christ   alone,  realized  by  faith,  can 
savingly  benefit  the  soul,  and  impart  abiding  peace  and  permanent  felicity. 


IV. 

CHAPTER  II.— VEPuSES  12-26. 


The  past  experience  of  Solomon.  Solomon,  having  prosecuted  a  fruitless 
research  after  true  and  enduring  happiness  in  secular  wisdom  and  knowledge,  in 
mirth  and  hilarity,  in  riches  and  architecture,  in  intellectual  gratification  and 
luxurious  refinement,  lays  down  the  axiom,  that  the  same  destiny  of  death  and 
oblivion  awaits  the  wise  man  and  the  fool,  and  that  he  himself  must  leave  his 
earthly  possessions  and  scientific  achievements  to  his  successor,  of  Avhose  wisdom 
he  had  no  guarantee,  of  whose  want  of  wisdom  he  had  too  clear  a  foresight. 
Solomon  concludes  his  personal  experience  by  the  acknowledgment  of  God's 
sovereignty  in  the  administration  of  human  afiairs.     The  recognition  and  realization 


14  ECCLESIASTES.  [chap.  it. 

of  God's  sovereignty  in  grace  and  providence  can  alone  impart  joy  and  peace  in  be- 
lieving.   Apart  from  this  sovereignty  all  under  the  sun  is  vanity  and  vexation  of  spirit. 

12  Moreover,  I  again  reverted  to  the  contemplation  of  wisdom,  and  of 

madness  and  folly. 
For  what  can  any  man  effect  who  comes  after  the  king  ? 
Even  that  which  hath  been  already  done. 

13  Then  1  saw  that  wisdom  excelleth  folly, 
As  much  as  light  excelleth  darkness. 

14  The  eyes  of  the  wise  man  are  in  his  head  ; 
But  the  fool  walketh  in  darkness. 

Yet  I  also  perceived,  that  the  same  destiny  awaiteth  them  both.     ■ 

15  Then  1  said  to  myself, 

As  is  the  destiny  of  the  fool,  so  the  same  destiny  befalleth  me  ; 
To  what  purpose  then  am  I  wiser  than  he  ? 
Therefore  1  said  to  myself,  that  this  also  is  vanity. 

16  For  there  will  be  no  remembrance  of  the  wise  man  more  than  of 

the  fool  for  ever  ; 
In  the  length  of  days  to  come  both  will  have  been  forgotten  : 
And  how  dieth  the  wise  man  ?  even  as  the  fool. 

17  Therefore  I  hated  life  ; 

Because  grievous  unto  me  was  the  work  that  had  been  done  under 

the  sun  : 
For  all  is  vanity  and  vexation  of  spirit. 

18  Yea,  I  hated  all  my  labour  wherein  I  had  laboured  under  the  sun  ; 
Because  1  must  leave  it  to  the  man  who  shall  be  after  me. 

19  And  who  knoweth  whether  he  will  be  a  wise  man  or  a  fool? 
Yet  shall  he  be  lord  over  all  my  labour  wherein  1  have  laboured. 
And  wherein  I  have  showed  myself  wise  under  the  sun. 

This  also  is  vanity. 

20  Yea,  I  again  caused  my  heart  to  despair 

Concerning  all  the  labour  wherein  I  had  laboured  under  the  sun. 

21  Because  there  is  a  man  whose  labour  is  with  wisdom,  and  know- 

ledge, and  dexterity  ; 
Yet  to  a  man  who  hath  not  laboured  therein  he  must  leave  it  to  be 

his  portion. 
This  also  is  vanity  and  a  great  evil. 

22  For  what  resulteth  to  man  from  all  his  labour  and  his  disquietude 

of  heai't. 


VER.  12-26.]  ECCLESIASTES.  15 

Wherein  lie  labouretli  under  the  sun  ? 

23  Verily  all  his  clays  are  sorrows,  and  his  travail  grief ; 
Yea,  his  heart  taketh  not  rest  in  the  night. 

This  also  is  vanity. 

24  Man's  happiness  consisteth  not  in  eating  and  drinking. 
And  in  his  soul  experiencing  delight  in  his  labour. 
Yet  even  this  I  perceived  to  be  from  the  hand  of  God. 

25  For  without  Him  who  can  eat  and  who  can  enjoy  pleasure  ? 

26  Verily  He  giveth  to  a  man  good  in  His  sight  wisdom,  and  know- 

ledge, and  joy  : 
But  to  the  sinner  He  assigneth  toil  to  amass  and  heap  up, 
That  he  may  resign  it  to  him  who  is  good  in  the  sight  of  God. 
This  also  is  vanity  and  vexation  of  spirit. 

Verses  12  and  13. 
This  seems  to  be  secular  wisdom  and  skill  which  Solomon  contrasted  with  folly,  that 
from  the  comparison  he  might  elicit  where  the  sumjium  bonuji,  the  sovereign  good,  could  be 
found.     He  again  prosecuted  this  investigation  for  his  own  satisfaction,  and  for  the  informa- 
tion of  posterity,  because  none  could  expect  to  surpass  the  research  of  the  wisest  of  men. 

Verses  14,  15,  and  16. 
The  same  destiny  as  to  the  vicissitudes,  sorrows,  and  afflictions  of  Life,  as  to  tlie  separation 
by  death  of  the  soul  from  the  body,  as  to  the  termination  of  man's  prolmtion  on  earth  ;  but 
not  the  same  destiny  as  to  eternity.  Death  is  the  termination  of  equality  of  destiny.  Death 
consigns  the  body  to  the  grave,  and  the  soul  of  each  indixidual  to  incipient  happiness  or 
misery.  Immediately  after  death,  the  rich  man  lifted  up  his  eyes  in  torment.  Immediately 
after  death,  Lazarus  reposed  on  Abraham's  bosom.  To  the  penitent  tliief  Christ  graciously 
promised,  ■  To-day  shalt  thou  be  with  me  in  Paradise.'  '  Blessed  are  the  dead  which  die 
in  the  Lord,  immediately,  perfectly  (dn-aprt) :  Yea,  saith  the  Spirit,  for  that  they  rest  from 
their  labours,  and  their  works  do  follow  them'  {Apocalypse  xiy.  13).  Life  is  the  seed-time 
for  eternity.  He  that  sowetli  to  the  flesh  shall  of  the  flesh  reap  corruption.  He  that  soweth 
to  the  Spirit  shall  of  the  Spirit  reap  life  everlasting. 

Verses  17  and  18. 
I  hated  life,  my  past  Life  of  apostasy  from  God,  and  of  conformity  to  the  love  of  this 
evil  world,  and  I  hated  all  the  magnificent  works  I  had  erected  fi'om  pride  and  ostentation, 
but  not  to  the  glory  of  God. 

Verse  1 8. 
The  man  ivho  shall  be  after  me — my  son  and  successor  Eehoboam. 

Verses  19,  20,  and  21. 

Solomon   anticipated   that   his    successor  would  act  as   men    heretofore   generally  had 

acted,  namely,  make  a  bad  use  of  the  splendid  inheritance,  and  that  thus  all  the  fruits  of  his 

super-eminent  wisdom  and  scientific  labour  would  ultimately  be  dissipated.     What  Solomon 

foretold,  Eehoboam  fulfilled.     By  his  impolitic  severity  he  alienated  the  affections  of  tlie  ten 


16  ECCLESIASTES.  [chap.  hi. 

tribes,  and  caused  the  dismemberment  of  his  kingdom,  according  to  the  prediction  of  Ahijah ; 
and  bj^  liis  sin  against  God  he  caused  the  invasion  of  his  kingdom  by  Shishak,  king  of  Egypt, 
and  the  spoliation  of  his  royal  palace  and  of  the  temple  of  Jehovah,  built  and  dedicated  by 
his  father  Solomon. 

Verses  22  ajid  23. 

The  expression  under  the  sun  limits  the  vanity  and  misatisfactoriuess  here  predicated 
to  secular  labours  resulting  from  secular  motives,  and  performed  for  secular  ends.  Works 
springing  from  faith,  done  with  a  single  eye  to  the  glory  of  God,  to  promote  the  spiritual 
or  temporal  good  of  man,  will  never  lose  tlieir  reward  of  grace.  '  Behold,  I  come  quickly,' 
says  Christ,  '  and  My  reward  is  with  Me,  to  give  to  every  man  according  as  liis  work  shall 
be'  (Apocalypse  xxii.  12). 

Verse  24. 

Man's  real  everlasting  happiness  does  not  consist  in  eating  and  drinking,  nor  in  physical, 
nor  even  in  intellectual  enjoyments.  God,  whose  mercies  are  over  all  His  works,  hath 
conferred  on  the  sons  of  men  intellectual  and  physical  enjoyments  to  sweeten  their  time-state 
here  below,  and  to  stimulate  their  gratitude,  that  they  may  never  forget  the  hand  from  whence 
their  mercies  flow.  Secular  blessings,  both  intellectual  and  corporeal,  are  alike  conceded  to 
the  just  and  to  the  unjvist,  to  him  that  feareth  God,  and  to  him  that  feareth  Him  not.  They 
are  temporal ;  they  are  evanescent.  And  by  God's  children,  after  the  example  of  the  holy 
Patriarch  Job,  they  ever  should  be  sanctified  by  the  Word  of  God  and  prayer. 

Verse  26. 
God  giveth  wisdom  to  make  wise  unto  salvation,  and  imparts  spiritual  knowledge,  and 
joy,  and  peace  in  believing,  to  all  whom  the  Lord  our  God  shall  call.  But  he  assigneth  toil 
to  amass  and  heap  up  to  the  incorrigible  sinner,  to  the  apostate  who  abideth  in  the  state  of 
nature's  darkness,  whose  sins  have  not  been  forgiven,  whose  person  has  not  been  justified, 
whose  soul  has  not  been  saved.  The  travail  of  this  sinner  to  amass  and  heap  up  is  vanity 
and  vexation  of  spirit. 


V. 

CHAPTEE  III.— VERSES  1-15. 

God's  foreknowledge  and  predestination  of  the  human  race,  of  the  birth  and 
death  of  each  individual,  and  of  every  occurrence  which  shall  befall  man  in  his  pas- 
sage through  the  quicksands  of  time  to  the  ocean  of  eternity.  Immutability  of  the 
Divine  counsels  contrasted  with  the  mutability  and  vicissitudes  of  man,  and  with 
the  constant  revolution  of  all  things  human.  Known  unto  God  are  aU  His  works 
from  the  beginning  of  the  world.  '  AU  the  wheels  of  providence  subserve  the  pur- 
poses of  grace.'  '  God  is  a  rock,  His  work  is  perfect'  Joy  and  peace  in  believing 
result  from  God's  sovereignty  in  the  administration  of  human  affairs  felt  and 
realized  by  faith  in  the  heart.  All  the  past  acts  of  human  hands,  and  all  the 
secrets  of  human  hearts,  will  be  revealed  on  the  great  day  of  judgment,  when  God 


VEK.  1-15.]  ECCLESIASTES.  17 

will  rectify  the  misjudgmeuts  of  man,  will  recompense  His  afflicted  saints,  and  will 
render  to  every  man  according  to  his  works. 


1  To  every  individual  there  is  an  appointed  time, 
And  there  is  a  time  for  every  purpose  under  heaven  : 

2  A  time  for  birth,  and  a  time  for  death  : 

A  time  to  plant,  and  a  time  to  root  up  that  which  has  been  planted  : 
8  A  time  to  kill,  and  a  time  to  heal  : 

A  time  to  break  down,  and  a  time  to  build  up  : 

4  A  time  to  weep,  and  a  time  to  laugh  : 
A  time  to  mourn,  and  a  time  to  dance  : 

5  A  time  to  cast  away  stones,  and  a  time  to  gather  stones  together  : 
A  time  to  embrace,  and  a  time  to  refrain  from  embracing  : 

6  A  time  to  get,  and  a  time  to  lose  : 

A  time  to  keep,  and  a  time  to  cast  away  : 

7  A  time  to  rend,  and  a  time  to  sew  together  : 
A  time  to  be  silent,  and  a  time  to  speak  : 

8  A  time  to  love,  and  a  time  to  hate  : 

A  time  for  war,  and  a  time  for  peace  : 
9.  What  is  the  profit  thereof  ?     The  Creator  Himself  in  whomsoever 
He  worketh. 
10.  I  have  considered  the  toil  which  God  hath  assigned  to  the  children 
of  Adam  to  toil  therein, 

11  Everything  He  ordaineth  is  beautiful  in  its  season  ; 
Moreover,  He  hath  imparted  His  intelligence  to  their  heart. 
Without  which  no  man  can  find  out  the  work 

Which  God  doeth  from  the  beginning  to  the  end. 

12  I  discerned  that  there  was  no  happiness  for  them. 
But  for  a  man  cheerfully  to  do  good  in  his  life  : 

13  Yea,  moreover,  that  every  man  should  eat  and  drink, 
And  should  experience  delight  in  all  his  labour  : 
This  is  the  gift  of  God. 

MI  discerned  that  all  which  God  doeth. 

The  same  shall  continue  for  ever  : 

To  it  can  no  man  add. 

And  from  it  can  none  subtract  ; 

And  God  so  doeth  that  men  should  fear  before  Him, 

15  That  which  is  now  was  long  since, 

c 


18  ECCLESIASTES.  [chap.  hi. 

And  that  which  is  to  be  was  long  since  ; 
And  God  will  disclose  the  past. 

Vekse  1. 

God's  foreknowledge  and  predestination  of  man  are  explicitly  stated  by  Solomon  in  this 
verse,  and  in  chapter  vi.  10.  This  predestination  is  an  emanation  of  love  and  mercy,  being- 
God's  election  to  life  everlasting, — sovereign,  gratuitous,  immutable,  and  unmerited.  Few,  if 
any,  believers  exist,  whose  experience  does  not  accord  with  that  of  John  Newton :  '  If  God 
Iiad  not  chosen  me,  I  should  never  have  chosen  Him.'  Christ  authoritatively  says, '  Ye  have 
not  chosen  Me,  but  I  have  chosen  you.'  So  entire  is  the  innate  depravity  of  the  hearts  of  all 
men,  and  so  universally  is  tlie  wliole  human  race  spiritually  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins,  that 
I  cannot  understand  how  there  can  be  salvation  in  time,  unless  there  has  been  election  in 
eternity.  Moreover,  predestination  to  life  exalts  the  love  of  God,  humbles  the  pride  of  man, 
and  ex'cludes  aU  boasting.  But  predestination  to  life  does  not  warrant  the  inference  of  pre- 
destination to  condemnation,  which  many  deduce  therefrom.  Predestination  to  condemnation 
is  not  revealed  in  Scripture,  and  is  not  asserted  in  the  Thirty-nine  Articles.  It  was,  indeed,  main- 
tained by  Augustine,  by  Calvin,  by  other  Reformers,  and  by  several  post-Eeformation  writers, 
and  was  embocUed  in  the  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith.  Humanum  est  errarc.  But  let  the 
magnates  of  our  Church  beware  how  they  assail  the  Kirk  of  Scotland  for  excess  of  faith. 
Wliat  multitudes  of  our  Bishops,  Priests,  and  Deacons  have  untruthfully  subscribed  their 
assent  and  consent  to  the  1 7th  Article,  the  doctrine  of  which  was  as  alien  from  their  belief 
as  the  adventures  of  Don  Quixote  or  the  marvels  of  Baron  Munchausen !  If  the  Kirk  of 
Scotland  believed  too  much,  this  clerical  multitude  believed  too  little.  They  who  live  in  glass 
houses  would  be  wise  not  to  throw  stones  at  their  neighbours.  Perversions  to  Papal  Eorae 
have  been  one  characteristic  of  the  present  age.  Can  one  clerical  pervert  be  adduced,  who 
believed  the  1 7th  Article  in  its  literal  and  grammatical  sense  ?  The  doctrine  of  the  1 7th 
Article,  however  misrepresented,  exploded,  and  maligned,  is  conservative  of  truth,  and  pre- 
servative against  error,  but  not  essential  to  salvation. 

Verse  4. 

The  practice  of  dancing  in  Judea  was  essentially  different  from  the  practice  of  dancing 
in  modern  times.  The  Book  of  Ecclesiastes  was  primarily  addressed  to  the  Jews  ;  hence 
the  word  dancing  in  this  verse  must  be  interpreted  in  the  same  sense  wherein  it  was  prac- 
tised and  understood  by  God's  ancient  people. 

'  Dancing,  which  with  us  is  confined  to  the  purposes  of  recreation,  formed  among  ancient 
nations,  and  especially  those  of  the  East,  an  element  of  religious  worship.  There  is  a  natural 
tendency  to  exhibit  strong  feelings  of  the  mind  by  energetic  movements  of  the  body ;  and  this 
tendency  is  most  powerful  among  the  impulsive  inhabitants  of  warmer  climates.  Among  the 
Jews,  in  early  times,  dancing  was  associated  with  a  religious  festival  (Jvdt^cs  xxi.  19);  but 
after  the  reign  of  David,  this  practice  seems  to  have  declined,  since  dancing  is  not  again 
mentioned  in  Scripture  under  such  circumstances.' — Cassell's  Bihk  Dictionary. 

'  From  a  collation  of  all  passages  in  Scripture  in  reference  to  dancing,  it  may  be  inferred — 

1.  That  dancing  was  a  religious  act,  both  in  true  and  also  in  idol  worship. 

2.  That  it  was  practised  exclusively  on  joyful  occasions,  such  as  national  festivals  or 

great  victories. 

3.  That  it  was  performed  on  such  great  occasions  only  by  one  of  the  sexes. 


VEK.  1-15.]  ECCLESIASTES.  19 

4.  That  it  was  performed  usually  iu  the  day-time,  in  the  open  air,  in  highways,  fields, 

and  groves. 

5.  That  mex  who  perverted  dancing  from  a  sacked  use  to  purposes  of  amuse- 

ment WERE  deemed  infamous. 

G.  That  no  instances  of  dancing  are  found  upon  record  in  the  bible  in  which 

THE    two    sexes    UNITED    IN    THE    EXERCISE,   EITHER    AS    AN    ACT    OF    WORSHIP    OR 

amusement. 
Lastly.  That  there  are  no  instances  upon  record  in  the  Bible  of  social  dancing  for 
amusement,  except  that  of  the  "  vain  fellows,"  void  of  shame,  alluded  to  by  J\Iichal ; 
of  the  religious  families  described  by  Job,  which  produced  increased  impiety  and 
ended  in   destruction ;  and   of  Herodias,  which  terminated  in  the  rash  vow  of 
Herod  and  the  murder  of  John  the  Baptist.' — Eadie's  Biblical  F>ui/do2Mdia. 
'  The  practice  of  what  is  called  promiscuous  dancing — dancing  performed  conjointly  by 
men  and  women — appears  to  have  been  nearly,  if  not  altogether,  unknown  in  the  East.' — 
Fairbairn's  Imperial  Bible  Dictionary. 

The  Hebrew  verb  employed  liy  Solomon  in  this  verse,  rendered  to  dance,  occurs  nine 
times  in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  but  only  signifies  to  dance  iu  three  other  texts  besides  tliis. 

Verse  9. 

What  is  the  profit  resulting  to  man  from  these  divinely-ordained  fluctuations  and  vicissi- 
tudes of  mundane  affairs  ? — The  manifestation  of  God  to  the  believer's  soul,  as  Creator  and 
sovereign  Administrator  of  the  universe,  as  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  in  Him 
our  God  and  Father,  even  the  inhabitation  of  God  by  the  Spirit,  who  worketh  in  the  believer 
to  will  and  to  do  according  to  His  pleasure.  These  vicissitudes  of  life,  sanctified  by  the 
Spirit,  con\'ince  of  sin,  bring  to  remembrance  past  sins  of  omission  and  commission,  produce 
humiliation  and  contrition  of  soul,  wean  from  the  world,  and  guide  to  God. 

Verse  11. 

God  created  the  world  with  infinite  wisdom,  power,  and  goodness.  God  administers 
the  government  of  the  world  by  the  unseen  intervention  of  His  providence  to  fidfil  to  His 
people  His  everlasting  covenant  in  aU  things  ordered  and  sure.  He  doeth  all  things  well. 
"Whatever  mars  the  beauty  of  creation  is  the  effect  of  the  fall  of  man,  and  of  sinfulness  result- 
ing from  the  fall. 

The  Hebrew  word,  rendered  world  in  the  authorized  version,  signifies  in  the  Arabic 
language  intelligence,  and  would  be  so  understood  in  the  kingdom  of  Sheba,  in  Ophir,  and 
throughout  the  whole  peninsula  of  Arabia,  annually  coasted  and  visited  for  commercial  pur- 
poses by  the  merchant  ships  of  Solomon.  Gaab,  Spohn,  Hitzig,  and  Moses  Stuart,  all  render 
the  Hebrew  term  by  intelligence,  and  affirm  that  this  is  the  only  meaning  appropriate  to 
this  passage.  Moses  Stuart  adds,  '  that  we  may  resort  to  a  kindred  dialect,  as  to  the  Arabic 
here,  to  illustrate  the  meaning  of  a  word  which  common  Hebrew  analogy  does  not  explain,  is 
conceded  on  all  hands,  and  is  often  done.  There  are  a  goodly  number  of  words  in  Hebrew, 
which  are  best  illustrated  in  this  way.'  This  argument  is  a  full  justification,  on  Moses 
Stuart's  own  admission,  of  the  proposed  interpretation  of  the  term  khoheletii  by  the 
repentant  invalid,  the  signification  thereof  in  the  AraVac  language. 

The  word  his  is  not  expressed,  but  implied,  in  the  original  by  the  prefix  of  two  definite 
articles  to  the  word  rendered  intelligence. 


20  ECCLESIASTES.  [chap.  hi. 

Verses  12  and  13. 
Solomou,  though  near  the  close  of  his  earthly  career,  and  bowed  down  with  bodUy 
infirmity  and  penitential  sorrow  for  his  past  apostasy,  nevertheless  recommends  to  God's 
children  equanimity  of  mind  and  cheerfulness  of  disposition  in  the  daily  transactions  of  life, 
and  in  the  dedication  of  their  talents  unto  God. 

Verse  15. 
In  Cranmer's  Bible,  1549,  and  the  Bishops'  Bible,  1595,  the  last  line  of  the  verse  is 
rendered:  'God  restoreth  agayne  the  thynge  that  was  paste.'     This  version  gives  an 
excellent  sense,  and  admirably  accords  with  the  context.     It  seems  derived  from  the  Vulgate, 
which  see  in  Critical  Appendix. 


VI. 

CHAPTER  III.  VERSE  16  TO  CHAPTER  IV.  VERSE  6. 

Prevalence  of  wickedness  and  injustice  on  the  earth.  Universality  of  sin, 
and  of  death  the  punishment  of  sin.  Separation  by  death  of  the  soul  from  the 
body.     Immortality  of  the  soul,  and  its  return  to  God  who  gave  it. 

Oppressions  exercised  in  foreign  nations  render  to  many  death  preferable  to 
life  in  respect  to  the  body  and  the  things  of  time  and  sense. 

Jealousy  and  envy  are  the  usual  concomitants  of  successful  industry.  Con- 
tentment with  the  lot  Providence  appoints  is  man's  true  wisdom,  and  confers 
greater  happiness  than  excessive  exertion  or  baneful  indolence. 

16  Moreover  also  I  saw  under  the  sun  the  place  of  judgment,  where 

was  wickedness, 
And  the  place  of  justice,  wliere  was  wickedness. 

17  1  said  in  my  mind, 

God  will  judge  the  righteous  and  the  wicked, 
Because  He  hath  ordained  an  appointed  time  for  every  purpose 
and  for  every  work. 

18  I  said  in  my  mind  concerning  the  estate  of  the  children  of  Adam 
That  they  should  seek  after  God,  and  know  that  in  themselves 

they  are  beasts. 

19  For  the  destiny  of  the  children  of  Adam  is  also  the  destiny  of  beasts. 
There  is  even  one  destiny  for  them  : 

As  the  one  dieth,  so  dieth  the  other. 

Yea,  there  is  one  breath  (of  life)  to  all. 

So  that  man  hath  not  pre-eminence  above  a  beast, 

For  both  are  vanity. 


VER.  16-iv.  6.]  ECCLESIASTES.  21 

20  All  go  to  one  place, 

All  sprang  from  the  dust, 
And  all  return  to  dust  again. 

21  Who  understandeth  the  spirit  of  the  children  of  Adam  ? 
Doth  it  ascend  upward  ? 

And  (who  understandeth)  the  spirit  of  beasts  ? 
Doth  it  descend  downward  to  the  earth  ? 

22  Wherefore  I  perceived  that  there  is  nothing  better,  than  that  man 

should  delight  himself  in  his  works, 
Because  this  is  his  allotted  portion. 
For  Avho  can  bring  him  back  to  see  that  which  after  him  shall  come 

to  pass  ? 

IV. 

1  So  I  returned  to  the  contemplation  of  all  the  oppressions 
Which  have  been  done  under  the  sun  : 

And  behold  the  tears  of  the  oppressed, 

And  there  was  none  to  comfort  them. 

And  power  was  on  the  side  of  their  oppressors. 

And  there  were  none  to  depose  them. 

2  Therefore  I  esteemed  (the  state  of)  the  dead  who  had  long  since  died. 
Better  than  that  of  the  living  who  are  now  alive, 

3  And  better  than  both  of  them  (the  state  of)  him  who  hath  not  yet 

existed. 
Who  hath  not  seen  the  working  of  wickedness  which  hath  been 
wrought  under  the  sun. 

4:  Again  I  considered  all  labour  and  every  successful  work, 
That  for  this  a  man  is  envied  of  his  neighbour, 
This  also  is  vanity  and  vexation  of  spirit. 

5  The  fool  foldeth  his  hands  together, 
And  consumeth  his  own  flesh. 

6  Better  is  a  handful  with  quietness 

Than  two  handsfiil  with  toil  and  vexation  of  spirit. 

Chapter  hi.  verses  18,  19  and  20. 

Men  are  compared  to  beasts,  and  are  said  to  liave  the  same  destiny  as  beasts,  in  respect 
to  their  time-state  here  below,  in  respect  to  the  bre\'ity  and  transientness  of  tlicir  lives,  and 
the  certainty  of  their  deaths.     In  regard  to  brevity  of  life  and  certainty  of  deatli  man  has 


22  ECCLESIASTES.  [chap.  ni. 

no  pre-eminence  over  beasts.     '  Man,  being  in  honour,  abideth  not :  he  is  like  the  beasts  that 
perish.' 

Verse  21. 

Solomon  here  clearly  intimates  a  distinctive  difference  between  the  spirit  of  man  and 
the  spirit  of  beasts ;  between  the  spirit  of  man,  wliich  is  immortal,  and  returns  to  God  who 
gave  it  (xii.  7),  and  the  spirit  of  beasts,  which  is  terrestrial,  and  returns  to  earth.  Solomon 
does  not  here  define  the  locality  of  spirits  separated  from  their  frail  tenements  of  clay.  He 
defines  not  the  locality  of  paradise,  where  the  human  soul  of  Christ  and  the  soul  of  the 
repentant  thief  met  on  the  day  of  the  crucifixion,  nor  the  locality  of  Abraham's  bosom,  the 
consociation  of  the  father  of  the  faithful  and  of  Lazarus,  nor  the  localitj^  of  the  place  of 
torments  from  whence  the  rich  man  entreated  Abraham's  intercession.  Not  a  ray  of  light  is 
thrown  by  this  verse  on  the  intermediate  state  of  departed  spirits  in  the  interval  between  the 
severance  of  body  and  soul  by  death,  and  the  reunion  of  body  and  soul  by  the  resurrection. 
The  question  is  asked,  but  the  answer  is  not  given.  '  By  the  "  ascending  upwards  "  of  the 
children  of  Adam,  I  understand  simply  subsisting  and  retaining  immortality,  just  as  "  de- 
scending downwards"  seems  to  me  to  mean  lapsing,  falhng,  becoming  lost.' — Calvhi's 
Fsychopannychia,  p.  462. 

The  distinction  established  by  Solomon  between  the  spirit  of  man  and  the  spirit  of 
beasts,  affirms  the  immortality  of  the  souls  of  aU  men,  both  saved  and  lost.  The  sempiternity 
of  the  worm  that  never  dieth,  and  of  the  fire  that  never  shall  be  quenched,  hath  been  assailed 
in  these  last  days  perilous  to  the  souls  of  men.  This  soul-destroying  heresy,  revived  by  the 
intellectual  Essayist  of  Bristol,  spreads  like  wild-fire  in  visible  Churches,  Episcopal  and  Pres- 
byterian. But  if  future  punishment  be  not  eternal,  then  glory  is  not  eternal,  heaven  is  not 
eternal,  God  is  not  eternal,  and  our  hope  in  Christ  is  in  this  life  only,  and  we  are  of  all  men 
most  miserable.  To  deny  this  article  of  revelation  is  to  contradict  the  truth  of  God,  and  the 
advocates  of  this  denial  merit  that  which  Jehovah  hath  affirmed,  and  they  have  blasphem- 
ously denied. 

'  Man  was  born 
To  die,  nor  aught  exceeds,  in  this  respect, 
The  vilest  brute :  both  transient,  frail,  and  vain 
Draw  the  same  breath,  alike  grow  old,  decay. 
And  then  expire :  both  to  one  grave  descend. 
There  blended  lie,  to  native  dust  resolved — 
The  nobler  part  of  man,  'tis  true,  survives 
This  frail  corporeal  frame ;  BUT  who  regards 
The  difference?' — Klwhckth. 

Verse  22. 

'  Be  glad  in  the  Lord,  and  rejoice,  ye  righteous ;  and  shout  for  joy,  all  ye  that  are  upright 
in  heart'  {Ps.  xxxii.  11);  'Eejoice  in  the  Lord,  0  ye  righteous'  {Ps.  xxxiii.  1);  'Let  the 
righteous  be  glad,  let  them  rejoice  before  God'  {Ps.  Lxviii.  3) ;  '  Light  is  sown  for  the  right- 
eous, and  gladness  for  the  upright  in  heart:  Picjoice  in  the  Lord,  ye  righteous'  (Ps.  xcvii. 
11-12) ;  'Eejoice  in  the  Lord  alway ;  and  again  I  say,  Eejoice.  Be  carefid  for  nothing'  {Phil. 
iv.  4-6). 

Joy,  equanimity,  and  tranquillity  of  mind  constitute  the  portion  which  God  has  graciously 


VER.  16-iv.  6.]  ECCLESIASTES.  23 

bestowed  iipou  His  people  during  their  pOgrimage  in  tliis  world,  from  wliicli  death,  common 
to  them  and  to  the  bi-ute  creation,  will  finally  remove  them.  After  death  they  wiU  receive 
their  reward  of  grace,  that  glory  which  eye  hath  not  seen,  which  ear  hath  not  heard,  and 
which  it  has  not  entered  into  the  heart  of  man  to  conceive. 

Who  can  raise  the  dead  to  life  ?  Who  can  impart  to  the  dead  the  knowledge  of 
what  shall  occur  after  their  dissolution  ?  This  seems  to  imply  that  the  dead  have  no  cognis- 
ance of  human  affairs.     See  note  on  ix.  5-6. 

Chapter  iv.  vkkse  i. 

Oppression  in  Judea  Solomon  possessed  the  power  and  the  will  to  repress  with  iron  hand. 
The  oppressions  condemned  in  this  verse  and  in  chap.  v.  8  were  those  perpetrated  in  foreign 
countries  beyond  liis  regal  control.  Of  the  oppressions  practised  under  the  sun,  foremost  stand  the 
unjust  expatriation  and  final  extirpation  of  Pagan  aborigines  by  civilized  man.  The  windward 
islands  of  the  West  Indies  were  once  densely  peopled  by  the  red  Caribbee  Indians,  of  whom 
not  one  survivor  now  exists,  not  one  vestige  now  remains.  The  Pagan  aborigines  of  the  other 
islands  in  the  West  Indies,  once  so  numerous,  are  now  extinct.  Of  negroes,  myriads  have 
been  exiled  from  Africa  by  slave-dealers,  alias  men-stealers,  and  have  prematurely  perished 
under  the  curse  of  slavery.  The  prophecy  of  Noah  foretold  God's  retributive  justice,  but  does 
not  justify  man's  iniquity.  Dark  as  is  the  picture  of  the  oppression  of  Pagans  in  time,  far 
darker  are  the  lineaments  of  its  results  in  eternity.  Leaving  out  of  consideration  moral 
Paganism,  what  will  be  the  eternal  state  of  Pagans  immersed  in  every  vice  and  polluted  with 
every  iniquity  which  can  disgrace  humanity,  many  of  whom  have  been  hurried  to  premature 
death  by  European  cupidity  and  avarice '  Jehovah  is  a  holy  God,  heaven  is  a  holy  place, — 
none  unholy  can  enter  there.  Yet  the  soid  of  the  Pagan  is  as  sempiternal  as  the  soul  of  the 
Christian.  Wliat  then  wiU  be  the  final  destiny  of  adult  sinful  Pagan  idolaters,  whom  St.  Paid 
pronounces  to  be  '  without  excuse,'  to  many  of  whom  no  revelation  has  ever  been  vouchsafed, 
and  who  have  never  heard  of  that  only  name  whereby  man  can  be  saved  ?  The  responsibility 
of  men-stealers,  persecutors,  and  murderers  of  Pagans,  by  whatever  name  they  may  be  called, 
or  whatever  I'eligion  they  may  profess,  is  as  clear  as  the  sun  at  noon-day.  But  the  deep 
mystery  of  Pagan  responsibility  who  can  fathom  ?  Jeliovah  Himself  wiU  justify  His  ways 
with  man — 

'  Because  He  will  Ining  every  work  into  judgment, 
With  respect  to  every  secret  matter, 
Whether  it  be  good,  or  whether  it  be  evil.' 

Verses  2  and  3. 

Solomon's  alleged  preference  of  death  to  life,  and  of  him  that  never  existed  to  tlie 
living,  is  restricted  by  the  words  under  the  sun,  and  has  reference  ordy  to  this  world, 
to  the  things  of  time  and  sense.  Thus  interpreted,  it  accords  well  with  chap.  ix.  4.  Any 
other  interpretation  would  be  contradictory  to  the  statement  of  St.  Paul :  '  I  reckon  tliat 
the  sufferings  of  this  present  time  are  not  worthy  to  be  compared  with  the  glory  wluch  shall 
be  revealed  in  us'  {Rom.  viii.  18). 

Verse  4. 
To  envy  and  malign  otliers  for  having  done  right  worlcs  is  right  down  diabolism. 


24  ECCLESIASTES.  [chap.  iv. 


Veese  6. 

Contentment  and  placid  assiduity  in  the  daily  duties  of  life  are  extolled  by  Solomon 
above  envious  and  competing  toil  on  the  one  hand,  and  above  sloth  and  blamable  inactivity 
on  the  other.  '  Diligent  in  business,  fervent  in  spirit,  serving  the  Lord,'  is  the  sum  and  sub- 
stance of  this  lesson  inculcated  by  Solomon,  of  this  warning  against  envy,  idleness,  and 
disquietude  of  mind. 


VII. 

CHAPTEE  IV.— VEESES  7-12. 

Condemnation  of  the  solitary  avaricious  miser,  who  heapeth  up  riches,  and 
cannot  tell  who  shall  gather  them. 

Commendation  of  marriage,  of  social  intercourse,  and  of  fraternal  consociation. 

7  I  AGAIN  contemplated  a  vanity  under  the  sun. 

8  There  is  a  single  man,  and  none  connected  with  him  : 
Yea,  he  hath  neither  child  nor  brother, 

Yet  is  there  no  end  of  all  his  toil  ; 

Neither  are  his  eyes  satisfied  with  riches  ; 

Neither  (saith  he)  For  whom  do  I  toil  and  bereave  myself  of  good  '? 

This  also  is  vanity,  yea,  it  is  a  wicked  work. 

9  Two  are  better  off  than  one. 

Because  they  have  a  good  reward  for  their  labour. 

10  For  if  they  fall,  the  one  will  raise  up  his  fellow, 
But  woe  to  him  who  is  alone  when  he  falleth. 

For  there  is  not  a  second  person  to  raise  him  up  again. 

11  Also,  if  two  lie  together,  then  they  shall  be  warm  : 
But  to  one  alone  how  shall  there  be  warmth  ? 

12  And  should  any  one  overpower  one  (of  the  two)  when  alone, 
The  two  shall  stand  firm  against  him, 

And  a  threefold  cord  is  not  quickly  broken. 

Verses  7  and  8. 

A  striking  illustration  of  this  portraiture  of  real  life,  so  graphically  drawn  by  Solomon, 
occurred  to  my  own  observation.  In  the  parish  of  Holwell,  in  the  county  of  Somerset, 
where  I  long  resided,  died  a  wealthy  penurious  farmer,  who  left  neither  relative  nor  near 


VER.  7-1 2.J  ECCLESIASTES.  25 

coimexion.  I  was  present  at  his  funeral.  "When  the  rector  of  Holwell  had  concluded  the 
burial  ser\dce — a  service  most  sublime  in  itself,  but  most  inappropriate  to  him  over  whose 
remains  it  had  been  read, — whilst  the  mourners  and  bystanders  encircled  the  grave,  and  pen- 
sive and  silent  looked  down  on  the  coffin,  a  Wesleyan  preacher  said,  in  an  imder  tone  audible 
to  all,  '  He  heapeth  up  riches,  and  cannot  tell  who  shall  gather  them.'  These  words,  so  fitly 
spoken,  penetrated  every  heart.  In  deep  melanclioly  all  retired  from  the  grave  of  this 
wretched  miser,  who  in  the  whole  course  of  a  very  long  life  was  never  known  to  have  done 
one  act  of  charity,  nor,  beyond  the  purchase  of  one  gold  ring  and  one  solitary  volume,  to  have 
expended  an  iota  on  self-gratification,  beyond  what  was  essential  to  the  sustentation  of  life. 

Verse  9. 
'  It  is  not  good  that  man  should  be  alone'  {Genesis  ii.  18). 

'  "WTiat  so  sweet, 
As  the  connubial  state,  ordained  by  Heaven, 
Source  of  domestic  joys,  where  souls  unite 
In  mutual  love  !     Did  not  th'  aU-bounteous  Lord, 
"Who  knows  our  frailties  and  om-  wants,  foresee 
That  man,  amidst  ev'n  Paradise  itself, 
Still  wanted  something  to  complete  his  bliss. 
And  therefore  gave  an  helpmate,  who  might  share 
His  toils,  with  soft  endearments  soothe  his  cares. 
If  cares  he  had,  and  double  all  his  joys  ? 
Such  are  the  fruits  of  social  life  !     And  such 
E'en  now  the  man-iage  state  attend. 
Hence  chiefly  let  the  chaste  endearing  wife. 
Best,  sweetest  gift  of  Heaven,  delight  thy  soul. 
Nor  ever  from  her  part ;  to  her  alone 
Let  thy  affections  be  confined.' — Rhoheletk. 


VIII. 
CHAPTEE  IV.— VEESES  13-16. 


Unpopularity  of  King  Solomon  in  his  latter  clays,  as  contrasted  with  the 
popular  expectation  of  Jeroboam's  reign.  Solomon's  prophetic  foresight,  that  the 
popularity  of  Jeroboam  the  son  of  Nebat,  who  made  Israel  to  sin,  would  ])e  tran- 
sient, and  that  in  the  next  generation,  during  the  reign  of  his  son  Nadab,  his  throne 
would  l)e  subverted,  and  his  family  extirpated. 

13  '  An  indigent  but  wise  youth  is  better  than  an  old  and  foolish  king, 
Who  hath  made  known  that  he  will  be  no  more  admonished, 

Ii  Even  though  he  goes  forth  from  the  house  of  exiles  to  reign, 
Because  that  in  his  kingdom  he  was  born  a  poor  man.' 

D 


26  ECCLESIASTES.  [chap.  iv.  13-16. 

15  I  have  seen  all  the  living,  who  walk  under  the  sun, 

(Taking  part)  with  the  youth,  with  the  next  in  succession,  who  shall 
stand  in  his  place. 

16  There  is  no  end  of  all  the  people,  of  all  above  whom  he  is, 
Yet  their  successors  shall  take  no  delight  in  him, 
Surely  this  also  is  vanity  and  vexation  of  spirit. 

Verses  13  and  14. 

The  iudigent  but  wise  youth  was  '  Jeroboam  the  son  of  Nebat,  au  Ephvathite  of  Zereda, 
Solomon's  servant,  whose  mother's  name  was  Zeruah,  a  widow  woman,  even  he  lifted  up  his 
hand  against  the  king'  (Solomon)  (1  Kings  xi.  26).  These  two  verses  were  the  rebellious 
clamour  of  many  Jews  towards  the  conclusion  of  the  reign  of  Solomon,  and  evidence  the  then 
rising  spirit  of  insurrection  against  Solomon,  especially  among  the  ten  tribes. 

Verse  15. 

'  When  all  Israel  saw  that  the  king  hearkened  not  unto  them,  the  people  answered  the 
king,  saying,  Wliat  portion  have  we  in  David  ?  neither  have  we  any  inheritance  in  the  son  of 
Jesse :  to  your  tents,  O  Israel :  now  see  to  tliine  own  house,  David.  So  Israel  departed  unto 
their  tents.  So  Israel  rebelled  against  the  house  of  David  to  this  day'  (1  Kings  xii.  1(5-19), 
taking  part  with  the  youth  Jeroboam,  who  was  next  in  actual  succession  to  Solomon  over 
Israel,  reigning  after  him  over  the  ten  tribes. 

Verse  16. 

'  Go,  tell  Jeroboam,  thus  saith  the  Lord  God  of  Israel,  I  will  bring  evil  upon  the  house 
of  Jeroboam,  and  will  cut  off  from  Jeroboam  every  male,  and  him  that  is  shut  up  and  left  in 
Israel,  and  wiU  take  away  the  remnant  of  the  house  of  Jeroboam,  as  a  man  taketh  away  dung, 
tiU  all  be  gone.  Him  that  dieth  of  Jeroboam  in  tlie  city  shall  the  dogs  eat ;  and  him  that 
dieth  in  the  field  shall  the  fowls  of  the  air  eat:  for  the  Lord  hath  spoken  it'  (1  Kings  xiv. 
7,  10,  and  11).  'And  Baasha  the  son  of  Ahijah,  of  the  house  of  Issachar,  conspired  against 
him  (Nadab,  the  son  of  Jeroboam),  and  Baasha  smote  him  at  Gibbethon,  which  belonged  to 
the  Philistines.  Even  in  the  third  year  of  Asa  king  of  Judah  did  Baasha  slay  him,  and 
reigned  in  his  stead.  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  he  reigned,  that  he  smote  all  the  house  of 
Jeroboam,  he  left  not  to  Jeroboam  any  that  breathed,  until  he  had  destroyed  him'  (I  Kings 
XV.  27,  28,  and  29). 


XI. 

CHAPTEE  v.— VERSES  1-7. 


Ikjunction  of  circumspection  and  profound  reverence  in  public  worship.  The 
oblation  of  praise  and  prayer  and  contrite  confession  of  sin  is  an  essential  part  of 
devotion  never  to  be  omitted.  Addresses  to  the  Deity  should  be  in  language  select, 
flowing  from  the  heart,  and  without  vain  repetitions. 


CHAP.  V.  1-7.]  ECCLESIASTES.  27 

All  vows  to  God,  especially  vows  of  self-dedication,  should  be  made  with  great 
deliberation,  and  be  carefully  considered,  because,  whatever  man  vows  to  his  Maker 
he  is  obliojated  to  fulfil. 

1  Keep  thy  foot  when  thou  enterest  into  the  house  of  God  ; 

For  drawing  nigh  to  hear  is  better  than  sacrifice,  the  oblation  of 

fools  ; 
For  they  know  not  to  be  contrite. 

2  Be  not  rash  with  thy  mouth, 

JN"or  let  thy  heart  be  in  haste  to  utter  a  word  before  God  ; 
For  God  is  in  heaven  and  thou  art  upon  earth  ; 
Therefore  let  thy  words  ])e  few. 

3  Truly  a  dream  is  associated  with  a  multitude  of  incidents  ; 
So  is  the  voice  of  the  fool  with  a  multitude  of  words. 

4  When  thou  vowest  a  vow  unto  God, 
Defer  not  to  perform  it. 

For  He  hath  no  pleasure  in  fools  : 
Perform  that  Avhich  thou  hast  vowed. 

5  Better  is  it  that  thou  shouldest  not  vow, 

Than  that  thou  shouldest  vow,  and  not  perform  it. 

6  Suffer  not  thy  mouth  to  bring  jninishment  on  thy  flesh  ; 
JN'either  say  thou  before  the  Angel  that  it  was  an  oversight, 
Wherefore  should  God  be  provoked  by  thy  voice. 

And  blast  the  work  of  thy  hands  ? 

7  Truly  in  a  multitude  of  dreams,  so  in  many  words,  are  there  vani- 

ties ; 
Therefore  fear  thou  God. 

Verse  1. 

The  sacrifices  enjoined  by  the  Mosaic  ritual  were  designed  to  be  a  symbolic  teaching  t(j 
the  Jewish  people,  significant  and  premonitory  unto  them  of  good  things  to  come.  The 
whole  ritual  prefigured  the  promised  Messiah,  and  was  given  to  the  Jews  to  be  their  peda- 
gogue or  scholastic  conductor  to  Clu'ist,  the  great  prophet  and  teacher  of  His  people  of  e^•e^y 
age  and  every  cbme.  On  some  of  these  sacrifices  the  offerers  were  permitted  to  feast  in  whole 
or  in  part.  Solomon's  admonition  to  the  worshippers  in  the  Temple  was  an  injunction  to  offer 
the  oblation  of  prayer,  praise,  and  thanksgiving,  from  their  hearts ;  and  in  their  sacrificial 
feasts  in  the  outer  courts  to  have  their  minds  intent  on  the  inward  spiritual  grace  rather  than 
on  the  outward  visible  signs.  Solomon's  admonition  is  a  solemn  warning  to  all  Jews  and 
Christians  to  enter  God's  house  with  preparedness  of  mind,  devotion,  and  reverential  awe,  and 
to  offer  to  Him  heartfelt  oblations  of  prayer  and  praise. 


28  ECCLESIASTES.  [chap.  v. 

'  When  ye  approach  God's  altar,  on  your  lips 
Set  strictest  guard,  and  let  yom-  thoughts  be  pure, 
Fervent  and  recollected :  thus  prepared,  , 

Send  up  the  silent  breathings  of  your  souls 
Submissive  to  His  will ;  for  He  looks  down 
From  heaven,  and  with  paternal  care  prevents 
Our  real  wants,  before  we  ask.' — Khohddli. 

Tlie  Peschito-Syriac  version  renders  this  verse :  '  Keep  thy  foot  when  thou  goest  into  the 

house  of  God,  and  draw  nigh  to  hear :  this  is  better  than  the  sacrificial  victims  which  fools 

oifer,  for  they  know  not  to  do  that  which  is  right.' 

The  Hebrew  word  rendered  to  be  contrite  has  the  same  signification  in  chap.  vii.  3, 

namely,  dejection  and  contrition  of  countenance. 

Verse  2. 

Christ  exemplified  the  exhortation  '  Let  thy  words  be  few'  in  the  beautiful  form  of  prayer 
He  gave  to  His  disciples — a  universal  prayer,  designed  for  all  nations,  languages,  tongues, 
and  people — a  daily  prayer  for  daily  liread  for  soul  and  for  body — a  special  prayer  for  all 
who  by  realizing  faith  can  call  God,  Aljba,  Father,  being  His  children  by  regeneration,  adop- 
tion, and  grace. 

Solomon  does  not  condemn  all  long  prayers,  for  Christ  our  exemplar  prayed  all  night ; 
but  careless  heartless  prayers,  prayers  for  ostentation,  vain  repetitions  of  Paternosters  and 
Ave  Marias  by  tale. 

Verses  3  and  7. 

The  dreams  which  are  here  termed  '  vanities '  are  simply  and  exclusively  the  erratic 
phantasies  of  the  mind  during  sleep,  when  the  imagination  is  awake  and  the  judgment 
slumbers,  and  are  carefiddy  to  be  distinguished  from  admonitory  and  premonitory  dreams 
and  apparitions.  That  premonitory  dreams  and  visions  are  not  the  result  of  any  return  or 
re-appearance  of  the  dead  to  the  living,  see  the  Preface,  and  note  on  chap.  ix.  5  and  6. 

Verse  4. 

The  spiritual  Israel  are  obligated  by  baptismal,  confirmation,  and  sacramental  vows 
to  self-dedication  unto  God,  to  consecrate  all  the  faculties  of  their  minds  and  all  the  mem- 
bers of  their  bodies  unto  Him,  whose  they  are  and  whom  they  serve. 

Verse  6. 

The  angel  of  the  everlasting  covenant;  the  angel  who  spake  to  Moses  out  of  tlie 
burning  bush  ;  the  angel  who,  in  the  pillar  of  fire  and  the  pillar  of  cloud,  conducted  Israel 
out  of  Egypt ;  Jehovah  the  angel,  both  God  and  man,  the  Mighty  God,  the  Father  of  the 
Everlasting  Age,  the  Prince  of  Peace  ;  the  word  of  God,  the  wisdom  of  God,  the  messenger 
OF  God,  the  mediator  between  God  and  man ;  the  personator  of  Jehovah,  whereby 
Jehovah,  invisible  in  His  own  nature,  in  human  nature  appeared  to  man.  Thus  Jehovah 
manifested  Himself  to  Adam,  Cain,  Enoch,  Noah,  Abraham,  Hagar,  Isaac,  Jacob,  Moses, 
Manoah,  etc.  Wherever  in  the  Old  Testament  the  angel  of  the  Lord,  or  the  angel  of 
God,  is  recorded  as  appearing  to  man,  that  Angel  is  God  Himself  in  human  form. 

According  to  correct  construction,  and  the  parallelism  of  Hebrew  poetry,  the  angel  in 
the  former  hemistich,  and  God  in  the  latter  hemistich,  must  signify  one  and  the  same  person. 


VER.  8-vi.  9.J  ECCLESIASTES.  29 

The  angel  here  named  is  no  priest  nor  priestly  messenger  coming  to  claim  the  eleemosynary 
(jffering,  but  God  Himself,  tlie  Second  Person  of  the  eternal  Trinity,  the  man  Christ  Jesus, 
He  who  is  the  brightness  of  His  Father's  glory  and  the  express  image  of  His  person.  The 
Septuagint,  Syriac,  and  Arabic  versions  render,  before  God. 


CHAPTER  V.  VERSE  8  TO  CHAPTER  VI.  VERSE  9. 

Oppression  is  a  dark  page  in  providence,  calling  for  the  exercise  of  faitli  and 
patience.  It  is  some  alleviation  to  reflect  that  the  ruler  is  subject  to  the  superior 
jurisdiction  of  his  monarch,  and  that  both  monarch  and  ruler  are  not  only  respon- 
sible to,  but  under  the  providential  control  of,  Him  by  whom  kings  reign  and  princes 
decree  justice. 

Avarice  chains  down  the  heart  to  the  things  of  time  and  sense,  de.spoiIa  man  of 
the  lawful  enjoyments  of  life,  expels  the  love  of  God  from  the  soul,  and  verifies  the 
Divine  sentence, '  If  any  man  love  the  world,  the  love  of  the  Father  is  not  in  him.' 

Contentment  of  mind,  resulting  from  fiducial  reliance  on  God's  sovereignty  in 
the  administration  of  human  afSiirs,  is  man's  highest  wisdom  and  truest  happiness. 
It  realizes  the  faithfulness  of  Jehovah,  humbles  the  pride  of  man,  alleviates  the 
sorrows  of  time,  and  devolves  our  cares,  sorrows,  and  conflicts  on  Him  who  doetli 
all  things  well. 

8  If  thou  shalt  see  in  a  country  oppression  of  the  poor,  and  perversion 

of  judgment  and  justice, 
Be  not  dismayed  concerning  the  matter  ; 
For  one  higher  than  him  in  authority  overlooketh  ; 
And  the  most  High  Ones  are  supreme  over  them  and  over  the 

eminent  of  the  earth. 

9  He,  the  King  of  the  earth,  is  to  be  served  above  all. 

10  He  who  loveth  money  will  not  be  satisfied  with  money. 
Nor  he  who  loveth  Avealth  with  its  accumulation. 

This  also  is  vanity. 

11  With  the  increase  of  goods,  they  who  consume  them  are  increased. 
And  what  advantage  is  there  to  the  owners  thereof. 

Saving  the  beholding  of  them  with  their  eyes  ? 

12  Sweet  is  the  sleep  of  a  labourer,  whether  he  eat  little  or  much  ; 
But  the  abundance  of  the  rich  man  suffers  him  not  to  sleep. 


30  ECCLESIASTES.  [chap.  v. 

13  There  is  a  grievous  evil  I  have  seen  under  the  sun  : 
Kiches  treasured  up  for  the  owner  thereof  unto  his  harm, 

14  And  these  riches  perish  through  some  adverse  traffic, 
And  he  begetteth  a  son,  and  there  is  nothing  in  his  hand. 

15  As  he  came  forth  from  the  womb  of  his  mother, 
JSTaked  shall  he  again  depart  as  he  came  ; 

And  when  he  dieth,  there  is  nothing  in  his  hand  which  he  hath 

acquired  by  his  labour. 
IG  This  also  is  a  sore  evil,  that  in  all  points  as  he  came,  so  shall  he 

depart  ; 
And  what  profit  hath  he  that  he  hath  laboured  for  the  wind  ? 

17  Yea,  all  his  days  he  eateth  in  gloom. 

And  in  much  sorrow,  and  infirmities,  and  indignation. 

18  Behold,  I  have  considered  that  it  is  good,  that  it  is  comely. 

That  a  man  should  eat,  and  drink,  and  experience  delight  in  all  his 

labour. 
Wherein  he  laboureth  under  the  sun, 
During  the  number  of  the  days  of  his  life  which  God  hath  assigned 

him  : 
Truly  this  is  his  allotted  portion. 

19  Yea,  to  every  man  to  whom  God  hath  given  riches  and  wealth, 
And  hath  enabled  him  to  eat  thereof. 

And  to  sustain  his  allotted  portion,  and  to  rejoice  in  his  labour ; 
This  is  the  very  gift  of  God. 

20  Let  him  remember  that  the  days  of  his  life  will  not  be  many. 
That  God,  by  the  joy  of  his  heart,  answers  his  prayers. 

VI. 

1  There  is  an  afflictive  evil  which  I  have  seen  under  the  sun, 
And  heavily  does  it  press  upon  man  : 

2  A  man  to  whom  God  hath  given  riches,  wealth,  and  honour, 
And  he  wanteth  nothing  for  himself  of  all  which  he  desireth, 
Yet  God  enableth  him  not  to  eat  thereof, 

But  a  stranger  eateth  it. 

This  is  vanity,  yea,  it  is  a  grievous  afiliction. 

3  If  a  man  shall  beget  an  hundred  children, 
And  shall  live  many  years, 


vKR.  8-vi.  9.]  ECCLESIASTES.  31 

And  many  shall  be  the  days  of  bis  years  ; 
Yet  himself  shall  have  no  enjoyment  of  that  prosperity, 
And  moreover  to  him  there  shall  be  no  burial  : 
I  say,  an  untimely  birth  is  better  off  than  he. 
4:  For  it  comcth  forth  in  vain,  and  goeth  away  in  darkness, 
And  its  name  is  buried  in  darkness, 

5  Moreover,  it  hath  not  seen  the  sun,  nor  had  any  perception. 
To  it  there  is  more  tranquillity  than  to  him, 

6  Tea,  though  he  should  live  a  thousand  years  twice  told. 
And  enjoy  no  prosperity. 

Do  they  not  both  go  to  the  same  place  ? 

7  All  the  labour  of  man  is  for  his  mouth, 
And  yet  desire  cannot  be  satisfied. 

8  Then  what  advantage  is  there  to  the  wise  man  over  the  fool  ? 
What  advantage  to  the  indigent  man,  who  hath  understanding  to 

struggle  against  life  ? 

9  That  which  the  eyes  behold  is  better  than  the  wandering  of  desire. 
This  also  is  vanity  and  vexation  of  spirit. 

Verses  8  axd  9. 

The  king  is  supreme  over  all  in  authority  and  office  under  him,  and  will  overlook  them, 
and  bring  them  to  account.  The  triune  Jehovah  (called  by  Solomon,  the  JIost  High 
Ones,  and  the  King  of  the  earth)  are  supreme  over  angels  and  men,  over  all  kings 
and  all  their  subordinates,  and  will  visit  their  transgressions  by  retributive  justice  in 
time,  or  by  never-ending  punishment  in  eternity.  A  king  cannot  rule  a  country,  nor  reign 
over  a  people,  without  subordinates  in  office,  whose  evil  deeds  he  may  be  ignorant  of,  or,  if  he 
know  them,  may  not  possess  the  power  of  prevention,  or  of  punishment.  Witness  David's 
dying  charge  to  Solomon  (1  Kings  ii.  9).  No  government,  civil  or  ecclesiastical,  is  to  he 
censured  because  it  is  not  faultless  in  all  its  details.  Perfection  of  government  will  wxer 
be  attained,  ixntil  the  will  of  God  shall  be  done  universally  and  perfectly  on  earth,  as  it  is 
now  done  universally  and  perfectly  in  heaven,  until  the  saints  shall  be  kings  and  priests,  and 
reign  with  Christ  upon  the  earth,  until  the  twelve  ajDOstles  shall  sit  upon  twelve  thi'ones, 
judging  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel. 

Verse  10. 

The  progressive  baneful  effect  of  the  love  of  money  on  the  luunan  heart,  impelling  it  to 
increase  of  worldliness,  and  to  increasing  apostasy  from  God's  word  and  will,  is  ]iainfully 
exemplified  in  Balaam,  Judas  Iscariot,  and  Demas.  Balaam,  the  rmregenerate  propliet  of 
Jehovah  to  the  Gentile  world,  twice  courteously  received  the  messengers  of  Balak,  the  king 
of  the  idolatrous  Moabites,  and  t\vice  sought  Divine  direction  concerning  their  message,  though 
he  foreknew  that  their  solicitations  were  contradictory  to  God's  eternal,  inniiutable  decree. 
He  covetously  desired,  and  daringly  essayed,  to  curse  whom  God  had  not  cursed,  and  to  defy 
whom  God  liad  not  defied.  He  counselled  Moab  to  tempt  Israel  to  fornication  and  idolatry, 
and  he  perished  amidst  God's  enemies,  without  hope  and  without  salvation,  ami  with  a  full 


32  ECCLESIASTES.  [chap.  v. 

presentiment  of  eternal  condemnation,  according  to  his  own  prediction :  '  I  shall  see  Him,  but 
not  NOW  ;  I  shall  behold  Him,  but  not  NIGH.'  He  loved  gold  more  than  God,  the  wages  of 
divination  more  than  the  path  of  duty.  Judas  Iscariot,  one  of  the  delegated  twelve,  the  con- 
stant companion  of  Christ  in  His  ministerial  circuits,  a  witness  of  His  stupendous  miracles, 
of  mercy,  cognisant  that  the  winds  and  the  waves  obeyed  Him,  and  that  all  nature  was 
subject  to  his  control,  sold  his  Master  for  thirty  pieces  of  silver,  and  when  he  saw  Him  led 
as  a  lamb  to  the  slaughter,  as  a  sheep  dumb  before  his  shearers,  hanged  himself  in  self- 
despair,  and  went  to  his  own  place,  the  place  of  perdition.  From  the  beginning  he  was  a 
thief  He  loved  the  wages  of  iniquity.  Tliis  apostate  apostle  preached  to  others  the  gospel 
which  he  had  never  experimentally  felt  in  his  own  heart.  He  did  many  wonderful  works. 
To  him  Christ  will  say  at  the  last  day :  '  Depart  from  Me,  thou  worker  of  iniquity.'  Demas 
was  one  of  the  earliest  preachers  of  Christianity.  Of  Demas,  St.  Paid  writes :  '  Demas  has 
forsaken  me,  having  loved  the  present  world.'  '  If  any  man  love  the  world,  the  love  of  the 
Father  is  not  in  him.'  Of  all  such  backsliding  apostates,  the  Spirit  emphatically  declares : 
'  If,  after  they  have  escaped  the  pollutions  of  the  world  through  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord 
and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  they  are  again  entangled  therein,  and  overcome,  the  latter  end  is 
worse  with  them  than  the  beginning.  For  it  had  been  better  for  them  not  to  have  known 
the  way  of  righteousness,  than,  after  they  have  known  it,  to  turn  from  the  holy  commandment 
delivered  unto  them.  But  it  is  happened  unto  them  according  to  the  true  proverb  :  The  dog 
is  turned  to  his  own  vomit  again ;  and  the  sow  that  was  washed,  to  her  wallowing  in  the 
mire'  (2  Peter  ii.  20-22.) 

It  is  a  question  of  grave  import,  Avhether  traffic  in  Church  preferment  for  lucre's  sake  is 
not  a  branch  of  that  sin  which  characterized  Balaam  and  Judas  Iscariot.  Cures  of  souls  are 
disposed  of  by  the  aiictioneer's  hammer.  Patrons  sell,  clergymen  buy,  newspapers  insert 
advertisements  of  sale,  and  church  agents  negotiate  the  unhallowed  bargains.  The  popula- 
tions of  those  cures  of  souls  are  bought  and  sold  fok  lucre's  sake  as  veritably  as  sheep  in 
their  pen  or  cattle  in  their  stalls.  Has  not  traffic  in  the  souls  of  men  been  legalized  by  the 
three  estates  of  the  realm,  and  sanctioned  by  the  silence  of  the  Episcopate  ?  From  all  mer- 
chandise of  the  souls  of  men,  speedily,  good  Lord,  deliver  this  Church  and  nation  ! 

Verse  15. 
This  translation  of  the  last  hemistich  of  this  verse  is  an  accurate  representation  of  the 
original  Hebrew,  and  simply  states  that  the  destitute  man  at  his  death  had  nothing  in  his 
hand,  possession  or  power.  The  authorized  version  manifestly  cannot  be  right,  because  it 
implies,  or  at  least  seems  to  imply,  that  the  dead  may  carry  away  something  from  this  world 
to  another.  In  no  other  text  of  the  Old  Testament  is  this  Hebrew  verb  in  the  same  con- 
jugation rendered  to  carry  away.  But  every  Hebrew  Lexicon  I  possess  affirms  one  of  its 
significations  to  be,  to  depart,  or  to  die. 

Verses  18  and  19. 

'  What  thou  hast. 
With  cheerfulness  enjoy,  and  as  becomes 
Thy  station :  reap  the  fruit,  whilst  Heaven  permits. 
Of  all  thy  honest  labours ;  and  since  life 
Is  but  a  span,  let  not  suiDcrfluous  cares 
Or  gloomy  thoughts  contract  its  narrow  space  ; 
For  'tis  thy  portion  here.     This  sage  advice 
Reason  and  nature  dictate.' — Khoheleth. 


VEK.  8  VI.  9.]  ECCLESIASTES.  33 

Verse  20. 

God  answers  the  prayers  of  His  people  by  causing  all  things,  even  the  most  adverse,  to 
work  together  for  the  spiritual  and  eternal  good  of  all  who  love  Him,  of  all  who  are  the  called 
according  to  His  pui-pose,  of  all  who  are  His  children  by  adoption  and  grace. 

Chapter  vi.  \tekse  3. 

The  Hebrew  word  rendered  burial  signifies  also  in  several  texts  burial-place.  The 
nieaniug  is,  that  the  individual  has  no  funeral  obsecpiies,  none  of  the  pomp  and  ceremonial 
usually  practised  in  Oriental  funerals. 

Verse  6. 
T]t,c  same  place — the  state  of  the  dead,  that  bourne  from  whence  no  traveller  returneth. 

Verse  7. 
'  In  the  sweat  of  thy  face  shalt  thou  eat  bread'  (Genesis  iii.  19). 

Verse  8. 

What  advantage  has  the  one  over  the  other  in  respect  to  enjoyment  of  life  and  exemp- 
tion from  death  ?  The  same  mundane  vicissitudes,  and  the  same  ultimate  destiny  befall  both, 
and  are  common  to  both. 

Verse  9. 

Reality  is  preferable  to  castles  in  the  air,  the  phantom  of  restless  minds.  This  maxim 
of  Solomon  should  teach  all  God's  children  to  be  content  with  their  allotted  portion  ;  not  to 
be  anxious  about  futurity,  but  to  trust  in  the  Lord  Jehovah,  for  in  the  Lord  Jehovah  is  ever- 
lasting strength. 

The  vicissitudes  of  human  affairs,  and  the  occurrence  of  the  same  destiny  to  the  wise  and 
to  the  unwise,  to  him  who  feareth  God  and  to  him  who  feareth  Him  not,  constitute  the  vanity 
and  vexation  of  spirit  experienced  and  declared  by  Solomon. 


XL 

CHAPTER  VI.  VERSE  10  TO  CHAPTER  VII.  VERSE  14. 

God's  eternal  predestination  of  man.  Man's  duty  of  implicit  submission  to 
God's  sovereignty  in  grace  and  providence. 

Many  events  apparently  calamitous  are  essential  to  man's  real  good,  and  are 
designed  by  an  overruling  providence,  through  the  sanctification  of  the  Spirit,  to 
edify  the  soul,  and  to  fulfil  God's  gracious  puiposes  of  love  and  mercy.  Content- 
ment, resignation  to  God's  will,  and  patient  continuance  in  well-doing,  are  our 

E 


34  ECCLESIASTES.  [chap.  vi. 

required  duties,  and  are  essential  to  growth  in  grace,  communion  with  our  Maker, 
and  preparedness  for  death  and  judgment, 

10  Whatever  occurs  was  long  ago  called  by  name, 
And  man  was  foreknown  what  he  should  be, 

So  that  he  is  unable  to  contend  with  Him  who  is  more  mighty 
than  he. 

11  Seeing  there  be  many  things  which  increase  vanity, 
What  is  the  advantage  of  them  to  man  ? 

12  Who  indeed  knoweth  what  is  good  for  man  in  life 

During  the  days  of  his  vain  life  which  he  spendeth  as  a  shadow  ? 
Who,  verily,  can  tell  man  what  liis  futurity  shall  be  under  the 
sun  ? 

VII. 

1  A  good  name  is  better  than  fragrant  perfume, 
And  the  day  of  death  than  the  day  of  one's  birth. 

2  It  is  better  to  go  to  the  house  of  mourning  than  to  go  to  the  house 

of  feasting. 
Because  that  is  the  end  of  all  men, 
And  the  living  will  lay  it  to  his  heart. 

3  Better  is  sorrow  than  laughter. 

Because  by  dejection  of  countenance  the  heart  is  made  better. 

4  The  heart  of  wise  men  is  in  the  house  of  mourning, 
But  the  heart  of  fools  is  in  the  house  of  merriment. 

5  It  is  better  to  listen  to  the  rebuke  of  a  wise  man 
Than  for  a  man  to  listen  to  the  song  of  fools  : 

6  For  as  the  crackling  of  thorns  under  a  pot, 
Such  is  the  laughter  of  the  fool  : 

This  also  is  vanity. 

7  Surely  oppression  woundeth  a  wise  man. 
And  bribery  corrupteth  the  heart. 

8  Better  is  the  end  of  a  law-suit  than  the  beginning  thereof  : 
Better  is  forbearance  of  spirit  than  haughtiness  of  spirit. 

9  Be  not  hasty  in  thy  spirit  to  anger, 
For  anger  resteth  in  the  bosom  of  fools. 

10  Say  not  thou.  Why  is  it  that  former  days  were  better  than  these  ? 
For  thou  dost  not  inquire  concerning  this  with  wisdom. 

11  Wisdom  is  as  good  as  an  inheritance. 


VER.  lo^vii.  14.J  ECCLESIASTES.  35 

Yea,  a  greater  good  to  tliem  who  see  the  sun. 

12  For  wisdom  is  a  defence,  and  money  is  a  defence  : 

But  the  superiority  of  knowledge  is,  that  wisdom  giveth  life  to  them 
who  have  it. 

13  Contemplate  the  work  of  God  ; 

Whether  any  one  can  make  straight  that  which  He  hath  made 
crooked. 

14  In  the  day  of  prosperity  be  occupied  in  that  which  is  good, 
And  in  the  day  of  adversity  meditate  : 

God  hath  indeed  appointed  the  one  to  balance  the  other, 

In  order  that  no  man  shall  at  all  discover  what  his  futurity  shall  be. 

Veese  10. 

The  finite  cannot  contenil  with  the  Infinite.  He  whose  days  are  as  a  shadow  cannot 
contend  «ith  Him  who  is  eternal,  from  everlasting  to  everlasting.  Man,  who  sees  through  a 
glass  darkly,  cannot  contend  with  the  omnipotent,  omniscient,  omnipresent  Jehovali,  whose 
predeterurinate  counsel  and  foreknowledge  govern  all  things  in"  heaven  and  iu  eartl:. 

Chapter  vn.  veese  1. 

The  day  of  death  is  better  than  the  day  of  bii-th  to  him  whose  good  name  is  better  than 
fragi-ant  perfume  ;  whose  sins  are  forgiven ;  who  hath  been  justified  by  the  righteousness  of 
Messiah ;  who  hath  been  born  from  above,  having  been  baptized  by  one  Spirit  into  one  body ; 
whose  name  is  written  in  heaven ;  who  is  a  fruit-bearing  branch  of  the  True  Vine,  a  member 
of  that  mystical  body  of  which  Christ  is  the  head.  But  the  day  of  death  is  not  better  than 
the  day  of  birth  to  any  who  die  unregenerate,  unjustified,  unsaved.  The  day  of  death  was 
not  better  than  the  day  of  birth  to  Nimrod,  to  Balaam,  to  Xabal,  to  Saul,  to  the  rich  man  who 
lifted  up  his  eyes  in  torment,  to  Judas  Iscariot,  to  Simon  Magus,  to  Herod,  whom  the  angel 
of  the  Lord  smote,  because  he  gave  not  God  the  glory,  nor  to  the  wicked  members  of  the 
Jewish  Sanhedrim,  who  suborned  false  witnesses,  and  nefariously  accomplished  the  crucifixion 
of  Jesus.  That  the  day  of  death  is  better  than  the  day  of  birth  is  not  an  universal  proposition, 
l)ut  is  restricted  and  limited  by  the  preceding  hemistich,  is  self-evident.  The  day  of  death  is 
not  better  than  the  day  of  birth  to  '  the  fearful,  the  unbelieving,  the  abominable,  nor  to 
murderers,  whoremongers,  sorcerers,  idolaters,  liars.'  '  There  shall  in  nowise  enter  into  the 
new  heaven  and  new  earth  anything  that  defileth,  neither  whatsoever  worketh  abomination  or 
maketh  a  Ue ;  but  they  who  are  written  in  the  Lamb's  book  of  life.'  God  is  holy,  heaven  is 
holy ;  no  one  unholy  shaU  enter  there. 

For  the  literal  meaning  of  the  Hebrew  word  rendered  peefujie,  see  note  on  x.  5. 

Verses  2,  3,  and  4. 
Solomon,  in  the  third  chapter  of  this  book,  writes : — 

'  There  is  a  time  for  every  purpose  under  the  sun  ; 
A  time  to  weep,  and  a  time  to  laugh : 
A  time  to  mourn,  and  a  time  to  dance  : 
A  time  to  embrace,  and  a  time  to  refrain  from  embracinc.' 


36  ECCLESIASTES.  [chap.  vii. 

This  statement  proves  that  Solomon's  object  in  this  chapter  was  not  to  condemn  ALL  feasting, 
ALL  laughter,  and  ALL  merriment ;  but  to  teach  that  death,  and  mourning,  and  sorrow,  are 
mercies  in  disguise,  afflictions  graciously  sent  by  God  to  humble  our  soids  in  the  dust,  to 
bring  our  past  sins  to  remembrance,  to  wean  us  from  earthly  vanities,  to  prepare  us  for  death 
and  judgment,  to  remind  us  that  this  is  not  our  rest.  Blessed  are  they  who  by  sanctified 
affliction  are  elevated  above  the  things  of  time  and  sense,  and  have  their  hopes  and 
affections  there  fixed,  where  true  joys  are  to  be  found.  Christ  imparted  joy  and  felicity  to 
the  marriage-feast  in  Cana,  and  wept  at  the  grave  of  Lazarus.  '  There  is  a  time  to  weep,  and 
a  time  to  laugh.' 

Veese  7. 

Cranmer's  Bible,  1549,  and  the  Bishops'  Bible,  1595,  translate  this  verse — 
'  The  wise  man  hateth  wrong  dealing  ; 
And  abhorreth  the  heart  that  coveteth  rewardes.' 

Vekse  8. 

The  Hebrew  word,  here  rendered  lawsuit,  has  this  signification. — Exodus  xviii.  IC,  22  ; 
x.xiL  8  (9);  xxiv.  U. 

Veese  10. 

Do  not  under-estimate  present  mercies.  Do  not  derogate  from  nor  lightly  esteem  God's 
providential  administration  of  the  universe.  Attempt  not  to  unravel  the  hidden  mysteries  of 
Providence. 

Veese  11. 

To  them  who  see  the  sun ;  that  is,  to  all  men. 


XII. 
CHAPTER  VII.— VEESES  15-2C. 

The  brevity  of  the  lives  of  saints,  the  prolonged  existence  of  sinners,  and  the 
manifold  vicissitudes  of  human  life,  result  from,  and  ought  ever  to  be  ascribed  to, 
the  sovereign  will  of  the  omnipotent  and  all-wise  Administrator  of  the  universe, 
supervising  and  controlling  the  volitions  and  passions  of  puny  man.  Separation 
from  the  ways  and  maxims  of  the  ungodly,  and  assiduous  pursuit  of  divinely- 
enjoined  righteousness  and  wisdom,  constitute  man's  commanded  duty  and  true 
happiness. 

Consciousness  of  our  own  defective  obedience  should  teach  us  not  to  expect 
perfection  in  man,  and  to  be  lenient  to  tlie  frailties  of  others. 

The  fall  of  man  is  a  profound  mystery  which  none  can  fathom.  Its  sinful 
mamfestations,  co-extensive  with  the  human  race,  culminate  in  and  through  female 
depravity. 


VER.  15-26.]  ECCLESIASTES.  37 

15  Both  these  cases  have  I  seen  in  the  days  of  my  vanity  : 
There  is  a  righteous  man  who  dieth  through  his  righteousness, 
And  there  is  a  wicked  man  Avho  prolongeth  his  life  through  his 

iniquity  (saying), 

16  '  Be  not  righteous  overmuch. 
Neither  make  thyself  overwise  ; 
Why  shouklst  thou  destroy  thyself?' 

17  Be  not  overmuch  wicked, 
Neither  be  tliou  foolish  ; 

Why  shouklst  thou  die  eternally  ? 

18  As  it  is  good  that  thou  shouklst  retain  hold  of  this, . 
So,  also  from  that  withdraw  not  tliine  hand  : 

For  he  who  feareth  God  shall  come  forth  with  them  both. 

19  This  (maxim  of)  wisdom  will  be  confirmed  to  a  wise  man, 
By  any  ten  rulers  who  have  been  in  a  city, 

20  That  there  is  not  upon  earth  a  righteous  man. 
Who  doeth  good  and  never  sinneth. 

21  Therefore  give  not  heed  to  all  words  which  are  spoken  ; 
Lest  thou  overhear  thy  servant  revile  thee  : 

22  For  oftentimes  also  thine  own  heart  is  conscious 
That  thou  thyself  likewise  hast  reviled  others. 

23  All  this  (matter)  have  I  tested  by  wisdom  : 
1  resolved  I  would  be  wise  ; 

24  But  it  (wisdom)  was  remote  from  me. 

That  which  hath  been  is  remote  and  mysterious  ; 
Mysterious,  who  can  find  it  out  ? 

25  I  revolved  again  in  my  heart 

That  1  would  ascertain,  and  investigate,  and  seek  out  wisdom  and 
knowledge  ; 

And  that  I  would  seek  out  the  wickedness  of  folly  and  the  foolish- 
ness of  madness  : 

26  Then  I  find  more  bitter  than  death  the  woman 
Whose  heart  is  snares  and  nets, 

And  whose  hands  are  fetters  : 

He  who  is  good  in  God's  sight  shall  be  delivered  from  her  ; 

But  the  sinner  shall  be  entrapped  by  her. 


38  ECCLESIASTES.  [chap.  vii. 

Vekse  15. 
The  frequent  prosperity  of  the  wicked,  aud  adversity  of  the  righteous,  is  a  topic  which, 
in  every  age,  lias  exercised  tlie  faith  of  God's  children,  and  caused  the  infidel  and  sceptic  to 
deny  Jehovah's  providential  administration  of  the  universe.  The  prominency  given  by  the 
wise  king  of  Israel  to  this  incontrovertible  fact  seems  to  be  designed  to  elevate  the  soul  of 
the  reader  above  the  vanities  of  time  and  sense,  to  the  contemplation  of  the  glories  and 
realities  of  eternity.  Solomon  in  this  didactic  poem  teaches  by  implication  as  well  as  by  direct 
assertion.  This  verse  inferentially  inculcates  the  immortality  of  the  souls  of  all  men,  and  a 
final  universal  judgment  and  retribution  of  the  whole  posterity  of  Adam,  when  the  supreme 
Judge  will  compensate  the  inequalities  of  time,  and  will  vindicate  the  ways  of  God  with  man. 

Verses  1 6  and  1 7. 
Two  reasons  may  be  assigned,  which  demonstratively  prove,  that  Solomon  could  never 
have  admonished  others  '  not  to  be  righteous  overmuch,  and  not  to  be  overwise : ' — 

1.  To  be  righteous  overmuch  is  impracticable  and  impossible,  a  perfection  never  attained 
by  any  child  of  Adam  since  the  faU.  In  many  things  we  offend  all.  In  our  flesh  dwelleth  no 
good  thing.  Our  righteousnesses  are  as  filthy  rags.  If  God  were  to  enter  into  judgment  with 
lis,  we  could  not  answer  him  a  word.  Man's  unrighteousness  needeth  to  be  robed  in  the 
righteoiisness  of  INIessiah,  that  he  may  be  justified  before  God.  Perfection  of  righteousness 
is  impossible  without  perfection  of  sanctification  and  perfection  of  glory. 

To  be  overwise,  as  respects  the  wisdom  which  is  above,  is  equally  an  impossibility. 
Man's  wisdom  is  not  innate,  but  the  gift  of  God.  Obscuration  of  understanding  is  common 
to  all  the  human  race.  We  now  see  through  a  glass  darkly,  more  especially  in  matters  per- 
taining to  God.  Perfection  of  heavenly  wisdom  can  never  be  obtained  iintil  we  see  face  to 
face.  Superfluity  of  righteousness,  as  well  as  superfluity  of  heavenly  wisdom,  is  an  imaginary 
phantom,  an  ignis  fatuus,  a  mnage,  a  nonentity,  which  never  has  existed,  and  never  can  exist. 

2.  To  counsel  men  '  not  to  be  righteous  overmuch,  and  not  to  be  overwise,'  is  antagonistic 
to  the  former  teaching  of  Solomon  in  the  Book  of  Proverbs,  and  to  other  portions  of  God's 
revealed  will.  '  Wisdom  is  better  than  rubies ;  and  all  the  things  that  may  be  desired  are  not 
to  be  compared  to  it'  {Proverbs  viii.  11).  '  The  price  of  wisdom  is  above  rubies,  the  topaz  of 
Ethiopia  shall  not  equal  it,  neither  shall  it  be  valued  with  pure  gold'  {Job  xxviii.  18,  19 ;  see 
also  Proverbs  iv.,  vii.,  and  xxiii.  23).  '  In  the  way  of  righteousness  is  Ufe,  and  in  the  pathway 
thereof  there  is  no  death'  {Proverbs  xii.  28).     See  Proverbs  viii.,  x.,  and  xi. 

This  worldly  maxim  is  the  counsel  of  the  wicked  man,  not  the  maxim  or  teaching  bf 
Solomon.  The  meaning  of  the  passage  is  clear  and  perspicuous  hy  the  insertion  of  the  word 
SAYING.  This  word  is  inserted  by  our  translators  in  Ecclesiastes  iv.  8 ;  Psalm  ii.  2 ;  xxii.  7, 
etc.  etc.,  as  essential  to  the  sense,  though  not  expressed  in  the  Hebrew.  The  aiithority  of  our 
translators,  manifested  in  these  three  passages,  and  the  exigentia  loci,  fully  warrant  the 
insertion  of  the  word  SAYING  at  the  end  of  verse  15. 

The  very  parallelism  of  the  Hebrew  seems  to  imply  that  verse  17  is  a  counter-maxim  to 
verse  1 6  ;  that  if  verse  1 7  be  the  inspired  maxim  inculcated  by  Solomon,  then  verse  1 6  must 
be  the  maxim  of  the  wicked  man,  who  prolongeth  his  life  through  his  inic[uity. 

Verse  17. 
'  Be  not  overmuch  wicked,'  that  is,  do  not  add  to  original  or  birth-sin  actual  transgres- 
sions, rejection  of  God,  and  contempt  of  His  word  and  will. 

Verse  IS. 
Pietain  hold  of  righteousness,  and  from  wisdom  withdraw  not  thy  hand,  for  he  who 


VER.  15-26.]  ECCLESIASTES.  39 

feareth  God  shall  come  forth  and  enter  into  life,  possessing  both  righteousness  and  wisdom, 
which  shall  regulate  liis  conduct  throughout  his  earthly  pilgrimage. 

Veese  26. 

'  To  deliver  thee  from  the  strange  woman,  even  from  the  stranger  which  flattereth  with 
her  words,  wliich  forsaketh  the  guide  of  her  youth,  and  forgetteth  the  covenant  of  her  God, 
for  her  house  inclineth  unto  death,  and  her  paths  to  the  dead'  {Proverbs  ii.  16-18).  '  Tlie  lips 
of  a  strange  woman  drop  as  an  honeycomb,  and  her  mouth  is  smoother  than  oil :  but  her  end 
is  bitter  as  wormwood,  sharp  as  a  two-edged  sword.  Her  feet  go  down  to  death,  her  steps 
take  hold  on  hell'  {Proverbs  v.  3-6).  Eead  the  graphic  portraiture  of  chapter  vii.,  concluding 
with  the  words :  '  She  hath  cast  down  many  wounded :  yea,  many  strong  men  have  been  slain 
by  her :  her  house  is  the  way  to  hell,  going  down  to  the  chambers  of  death  ;'  and  read  chapter 
ix.  14-18,  '  The  foolish  woman  sitteth  at  the  door  of  her  house,  on  a  seat  in  the  high-places  of 
the  city,  to  call  passengers  who  go  right  on  their  wa}-.  "VVTioso  is  simple,  let  him  turn  in 
liither ;  and  as  for  him  that  wanteth  understanding,  she  saith  to  him :  Stolen  waters  are 
sweet,  and  bread  eaten  in  secret  is  pleasant.  But  he  knoweth  not  that  the  dead  are  there,  and 
that  her  guests  are  in  the  depths  of  hell'  He  who  would  thoroughlj-  imbibe  this  teaching  of 
Solomon,  and  would  understand  by  what  name  the  place  of  the  damned  was  expressed  in  the 
Old  Testament  before  the  captivity  of  Babylon,  whilst  the  first  Temple  was  standing,  should 
read  the  discourse  of  Joseph  Mede  on  Proverbs  xxi.  16.  Mede  thus  applies  his  text:  'He 
that  goeth  astray  from  the  M^ay  of  understancUug,  i.e.,  from  the  law  and  discipline  of  God, 
must  one  day  go  to  his  fellow-giants,  who  were  destroyed,  because  they  had  no  wisdom,  and 
perished  through  their  own  foolishness.' 

These  warnings  of  Solomon  in  the  Book  of  Proverbs  and  in  this  verse  indisputably  prove, 
that  the  licentiousness  of  Jerusalem  in  the  days  of  Solomon  was  what  the  licentiousness  of 
London  now  is.  Jerusalem  had  her  unfortunates  as  London  now  has.  The  streets  and 
thoroughfares  of  Jerusalem  were  traversed  by  moral  pests,  as  the  pave  of  London  now  is.  The 
warnings  of  Solomon  are  addressed  to  aU  times,  all  places,  and  all  classes,  to  the  seducer  and 
to  the  seduced,  to  Jew  and  Gentile,  to  liigh  and  low,  rich  and  poor,  one  with  another. 

In  regard  to  this  criminality,  a  distinctive  difference  exists  between  the  days  of  Solomon 
and  our  own  times.  Systematic  efforts  are  now  made  to  reclaim  the  fallen,  to  communicate 
to  them  the  gospel,  to  rescue  their  bodies  from  premature  decay,  and  their  souls  from  eternal 
perdition.  Such  efforts  to  evangelize  were  not  made  in  the  days  of  Solomon,  and  evince  that, 
in  this  respect,  former  times  were  not  better  than  our  own, — that  this  age  enjoys  pri%Tleges 
unknown  in  the  days  of  David  and  Solomon. 

The  good  in  God's  sight  are  identical  with  the  regenerate,  the  justified,  the  sanctified. 


XIII. 

CHAPTEE  VII.  VEESE  27  TO  CHAPTEE  VIII.  VEESE  1. 

Solomon's  discovery,  after  long  and  continuous  pursuit,  of  the  predicted 
Messiah,  perfect  Man  as  well  as  perfect  God,  '  The  chiefest  among  ten  thousand,' 
the  Angel,  the  Intercessor,  One  above  a  thousand,  wlio  mauifesteth  unto  man  His 
righteousness,  and  saith  :  '  I  have  found  a  ransom.' 


40  ECCLESIASTES.  [chap.  vii. 

Solomon's  discovery,  that  the  burut-offerings  and  other  sacrifices  ordained  by 
the  Mosaic  ritual  were  only  shadows  of  good  things  to  come,  symbolic  representa- 
tions of  the  perfect  sacrifice  of  the  promised  Eedeemer,  and  that  they  could  not  in 
themselves  put  away  sin,  or  make  satisfaction  for  man's  transgression. 

God  created  man  holy  and  happy.  From  man's  fall  and  apostasy  have  ger- 
minated all  the  false  religions  of  the  world,  the  devices  of  Satan  to  destroy  immortal 
souls. 

27  Behold,  this  have  I  found,  saith  Khoheleth, 
(Adding)  one  fact  to  another  to  find  out  the  conclusion, 

28  Which  my  soul  had  hitherto  sought,  but  which  I  had  not  found. 
A  Man,  One  above  a  thousand,  I  have  found, 

But  an  offering  made  by  fire  for  every  curse  I  have  not  found. 

29  Besides,  lo  !  this  have  I  found, 
That  God  hath  made  man  upright, 

But  they  themselves  have  sought  out  many  devices. 

VIII. 

1  Who  resembles  the  wise  man  ?  and  who  understands  the  interpre- 
tation of  the  oracle  ? 
The  wisdom  of  that  man  will  enlighten  his  countenance. 
And  the  confidence  of  his  countenance  will  be  doubled. 

Veese  27. 

Khoheleth,  that  is,  the  repentant  invalid  (see  note  on  i.  1,  2,  also  Preface,  and  Critical 
Appendix). 

Vekse  28. 

The  difficulties  of  the  authorized  version  of  this  passage  have  been  generally  felt  and 
acknowledged.  The  authorized  version  represents  that  among  one  thousand. Solomon  found 
one  man  but  not  one  woman.  If  the  supposed  ellipsis  be  supplied,  an  ellipsis  unexampled  and 
without  precedent,  the  statement  will  be,  that  among  one  thousand  Solomon  found  one  right- 
eous man,  and  not  one  righteous  woman.  From  this  statement  several  questions  naturally 
result.  Of  whom  did  the  thousand  consist  ?  Of  men  exclusively  ?  Of  women  exclusively  ? 
Or  was  it  a  miscellaneous  assemblage  of  men  and  women  ?  Of  women  exclusively  it  could 
not  consist,  because  Solomon  found  a  man  among  them.  Of  men  exclusively  it  could  not  con- 
sist, or  Solomon  would  not  have  sought  for  a  woman  among  them.  Nor  can  the  thousand 
have  any  reference  to  Solomon's  seven  hundred  wives,  and  three  hundred  concubines,  because, 
as  an  able  critic  has  well  remarked,  among  these  occupants  of  his  harem  Solomon  would  never 
have  sought  for,  and  could  never  have  found,  a  man.  Furthermore,  disguise  it  as  we  may, 
from  tills  version,  results  the  corollary,  that  Solomon  found  more  pure  reUgion  in  the  male 
than  in  the  female  sex,  a  position  contradictory  to  all  and  every  Christian  experience.  Had 
our  translators  any  inkling  of  a  Messianic  interpretation  by  the  marginal  reference  to  Job 
xxxiii.  23,  wherein  Elihu  affirms  a  Mediator,  an  Intercessor  'to  deliver  man  from  going  down 
to  the  pit  (of  destruction),  and  to  find  a  ransom  and  an  atonement'  (for  him),  wherein  Elihu 
describes  the  Mediator  in  the  self-same  words  which  Solomon  has  here  repeated,  '  as  one 


VER.  27-viii.  1.]  ECCLESIASTES.  41 

AMONG  (above)  A  THOUSAND*  ? — Or  has  tliis  marginal  reference  been  added  subsequently  to 
the  first  edition  (1611)  of  our  authorized  English  version  ? 

One  ABOVE  a  thousand  I  consider  a  title  of  Christ  Jesus,  predicated  of  Him  by  Job  in 
chap,  xxxiii.  23,  and  by  Solomon  in  this  verse.     Both  passages  are  parallel  to  Canticles  v.  10  : 

'  My  BELOVED  IS  THE  CHIEFEST  AMONG  TEN  THOUSAND.' 

An  offeking  made  by  fire  is  a  generic  term  for  every  offering  and  oblation.  Hence  the 
affirmation  of  Solomon,  that  sin  cannot  be  remitted,  nor  God  propitiated,  by  the  mere  oblation 
of  sacrifice. 

Every  curse  is  eveiy  denunciation  of  Divine  wrath  against  every  transgTC.ssion  of  man. 

Hence  the  meaning  of  the  version  I  have  submitted  wiU  be :  Solomon,  having  sinned 
against  light  and  knowledge,  and  having  by  idolatry  apostatized  from  God,  earnestly  sought 
for  some  method  of  reconciliation  to  God, — some  way  of  salvation.  Ultimately,  by  faith  he 
obtained  an  experimental  knowledge  of  the  predicted  Messiah,  the  man  Christ  Jesus,  mighty 
to  save,  and  experimentally  discovered  that  all  the  Mosaic  sacrifices  were  shadows,  not 
realities, — symbolic  representations  to  the  spiritual  Israel  of  the  only  name  under  heaven 
whereby  man  can  be  saved. 

Verse  29. 
'  God,  the  author  of  nature,  not  of  sin,  created  man  upright.     But  man,  self-depraved  and 
justly  condemned,  begat  a  depraved  and  condemned  posterity.     We  were  all  in  Adam,  when 
he,  the  father  of  the  human  race,  corrupted  all,  having  lapsed  into  sin  through  the  woman, 
who  was  created  out  of  Adam  before  sin  was  in  the  world.' — Augustine. 

Chapter  viii.  verse  i. 
The  hemistichs  (chap.  viii.  1)  which  conclude  this  section  of  the  didactic  poem  intimate 
the  existence  in  this  paragraph  of  some  deep  mystery,  which  spiritual  wisdom  alone  can 
unravel,  the  knowledge  of  which  imparts  confidence,  joy,  and  peace  in  believing.  This  mystery 
is  the  incarnate  Son  of  God,  the  end  of  all  revelation,  a  light  to  lighten  the  Gentiles,  and  the 
glory  of  His  people  Israel.  Solomon  beheld  the  gospel  in  its  germ,  we  are  privileged  to  live 
under  its  fuUy  expanded  flower. 


XIV. 
CHAPTER  VIII.— VERSES  2-8. 

Solomon,  after  his  restoration  from  that  apostasy  into  which  he  had  fallen,  by 
example  and  precept  commands  obedience  to  King  Messiah,  '  the  root  and  offspring 
of  David,  the  bright  and  morning  star,'  and  enjoins  to  all  men  prompt,  passive,  and 
willing  submission  to  all  Messiah's  commands, — man's  highest  wisdom  and  true 
interest.  Solomon  further  admonisheth  not  to  rest  in  the  means  of  grace,  but  to 
seek  the  presence  of  Messiah  therein  by  the  manifestation  of  the  Spirit. 

Messiah,  Lord  of  life  and  death,  Head  and  King  of  the  Church  militant  and 
of  the  Church  triumphant,  translates  from  the  conflicts  of  times  to  the  glories  of 

F 


42  ECCLESIASTES.  [chap.  viii. 

immortality  each  believer,  when  he  has  fulfilled  the  mission  for  which  he  was  sent  into 
the  world,  each  grain  of  wheat  when  it  has  been  divested  of  chaff  and  is  fit  for  the 
garner,  that  all  the  saints,  now  one  in  Christ  in  grace  and  time,  may  be  one  in 
Christ  in  glory  and  eternity,  to  whom  on  the  day  of  judgment  he  will  say  :  '  Come, 
ye  blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit  the  kingdom  prepared  for  you  before  the  founda- 
tion of  the  world.' 

2  I  MYSELF  keep  the  King's  commandment  ; 
Yea  (keep  it),  in  regard  of  the  oath  of  God. 

3  Withdraw  not  hastily  from  His  presence, 
Persist  not  in  a  wrong  matter, 

For  He  doeth  whatsoever  pleaseth  Him. 

4  Where  the  edict  of  the  King  is,  there  is  power, 
And  who  can  say  to  Him,  What  doest  Thou  ? 

5  Whoso  keepeth  the  commandment  shall  experience  no  evil. 

Moreover,   the   heart   of  the   wise   man   expecteth    the   time    of 
judgment, 

6  For  there  is  a  time  of  judgment  for  every  matter. 
Because  the  wickedness  of  man  is  great  upon  him. 

7  Verily,  no  man  knoweth  what  shall  come  to  pass. 
For  what  shall  come  to  pass,  who  can  tell  him  ? 

8  No  man  hath  control  over  the  spirit  to  retain  the  spirit, 
And  no  man  hath  control  over  the  day  of  death. 

For  there  is  no  discharge  in  this  warfare, 

Neither  shall  wickedness  deliver  those  who  connnit  it. 

Verses  2,  3,  i,  and  5. 

Critics,  commentators,  and  students  of  Scripture  have  all  acknowledged  tlie  manifest 
incongruity,  that  .Solomon,  tlie  wisest  and  most  absolute  of  monarchs,  should  in  this  section 
have  inculcated  loyalty  and  submission  to  regal  authority  in  general,  without  any  reference  to 
his  own  royal  dignity  and  autocracy.  The  reader  of  the  Hebrew  original  is  startled  by  the 
unwonted  ellipsis  of  tlie  words  counsel  thee,  introduced,  contrary  to  Oriental  idi(.)m  and  all 
propriety  of  language,  into  the  English  version,  of  which  words  neither  trace  nor  intimation 
exists  in  the  Hebrew.  The  line :  '  Whoso  keepeth  the  commandment  shall  experience  nu 
evil,'  interpreted  as.  promising  exemption  from  evil  to  him  who  obeyeth  the  mandate  of  an 
earthly  sovereign,  is  a  c7-ux  inierprdum,  which  admits  of  no  solution.  Nor  is  there  any  con- 
nexion between  obedience  to  kings  and  universality  of  death.  But  the  reference  of  this 
section  of  the  didactic  poem  to  King  Messiah  solves  every  difficulty,  and  evidences  the  reality 
of  the  connexion.  Even  the  Chaldee  Targum,  the  production  of  a  Christ-denying  Eabbi, 
declares  King  Messiah  to  be  the  sum  and  substance  of  these  verses.     He  writes :  '  In  the 


VEK.  2-8.]  ECCLESIASTES.  43 

time  of  the  auger  of  tlie  Lord,  cease  not  to  pray  before  Him  :  liasteninto  His  presence  :  go  and 
pray,  and  seek  mercy  from  Him,  that  tliou  persist  not  in  any  evil,  for  Jehovah  the  Lokd  of 
ALL  WORLDS  -will  do  whatsoever  He  pleasetli.  "Wlien  the  edict  of  the  King  who  rules  the 
whole  world  is  decreed,  it  is  speedily  executed.'  Jerome  thus  interprets  the  passage  : 
'  I  consider  Solomon  now  to  speak  of  the  King,  of  whom  Da\dd  says :  "  The  King  shall 
joy  in  thy  strength,  0  Lord"  {Psalm  xxi.  1).  And  in  another  passage,  which  signifies  the 
one  kingdom  of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son,  the  Scripture  saith :  "  Give  the  King  Thy  judg- 
ments, O  God,  and  Thy  righteousness  unto  THE  King's  Son."  "  The  Father  judgeth  no  man, 
but  hath  committed  all  judgment  unto  the  Son."  This  King,  the  Son  of  God,  is  the  Son 
of  the  Father,  who  is  King.' 

])Ut  tlie  question  recurs,  Would  the  word  King  convey  to  the  -Jewish  reader  of  the  Book 
called  Ecclesiastes,  in  the  time  of  Solomon,  the  idea  of  King  Messiah  ?  We  reply,  that  the 
Psalms  of  Da\id  were  sung  in  the  Temple  erected  by  Solomon,  and  that  in  many  of  the  Psalms 
the  word  King  indisputably  signifies  King  Messiah  : — 

Psalm  ii.  6. 
'  Yet  have  I  set  My  King  upon  my  holy  hiU  of  Zion.' 

Psalm  xlv. 

Celebrates  the  mystical  union  between  Christ  and  His  Church.     The  King  of  this  Psalm  is 
King  Messiah. 

Psalm  xlvii.  6  and  7. 
'  Sing  praises  unto  our  King,  sing  prai.ses,  for  God  is  the  King  of  all  the  earth.' 

Psalm  lxxii. 

The  King  of  this  Psalm  is  King  Messiah  :  Verse  11,  'All  kings  shall  fall  down  before 
Him,  all  nations  shall  serve  Him  ;'  Verse  19,  'Let  the  whole  earth  be  filled  with  His  glory. 
Amen,  and  Amen.' 

Psalm  lxxxix.  18. 
'  The  Lord  is  our  defence,  and  the  Holy  One  of  Israel  is  om-  King.' 

Psalm  xcviii.  6  and  9. 
'  Make  a  joyful  noise  before  the  Lord  the  King,  for  He  cometh  to  judge  the  earth.' 

Psalm  cxlix.  2. 

'  Let  the  children  of  Zion  be  joyful  in  their  King.' 

In  regard  to  tfic  oath  of  God :  '  The  Lord  hath  sworn  and  will  not  repent,  Thou  art  a 
priest  for  ever,  after  the  order  of  Melchizedek.'     Messiah  is  our  Prophet,  Priest,  and  King. 

Verse  8. 

The  day  of  the  death  of  every  individual  is  appointed  from  all  eternity  by  King  Messiah, 
the  Son  of  God  and  Son  of  Man,  the  Lord  of  the  spirits  of  all  men,  the  sovereign  arbiter  of 
human  affairs,  who  openeth  and  no  man  shutteth,  who  shutteth,  and  no  man  openeth,  and 
who  commandeth  all  the  children  of  Adam,  Jew  and  Gentile,  '  Be  ye  also  ready,  for  in  siich 
an  hour  as  ye  think  not  the  Son  of  ^lau  cometh.' 


44  ECCLESIASTES.  [chap.  viii. 

XV. 
CHAPTER  VIII.  VERSE  9  TO  CHAPTER  IX.  VERSE  12. 

The  temporal  prosperity  of  the  wicked,  the  frequent  oblivion  of  the  righteous, 
the  maladministration  of  human  affairs,  and  the  equality  of  destiny  which  alike 
befalls  the  whole  human  race,  all  demonstratively  prove  a  future  state  of  rewards 
and  punishments,  a  sempiternity  of  misery  to  all  Chiistless  sinners,  and  a  sempiter- 
nity  of  glory  to  all  the  regenerate,  the  justified,  the  sanctified — 
'  Where  the  wicked  cease  from  troubling, 
Where  the  weary  are  at  rest.' 

All  our  blessings  flow  through  Christ  from  the  Father  of  mercies  and  God  of 
all  consolation,  undeserved  and  unmerited  by  any.  These  should  eUcit  adoration 
of  the  good  and  gracious  Giver,  and  self-dedication  of  ourselves  and  talents  unto 
Him,  whose  we  are,  and  whom  we  are  obligated  to  serve  with  every  faculty  of  our 
mind,  and  with  every  member  of  our  body. 

9  All  this  have  I  contemplated, 

And  have  applied  my  heart  to  every  work 

Which  has  been  done  under  the  sun, 

Even  when  one  man  ruleth  over  another  man  to  his  own  hurt. 

10  Yea,  truly,  I  have  seen  the  wicked  buried. 

And  that  they  have  gone  in  and  out  of  the  holy  place. 

Whilst  they  who  have  acted  right  have  been  forgotten  in  the  city  ; 

This  also  is  vanity. 

11  Because  sentence  against  an  evil  work  is  not  speedily  executed. 
Therefore  the  heart  of  the  children  of  Adam  is  fully  set  in  them  to 

do  evil. 

12  Though  a  sinner  do  evil  an  hundred  times,  and  (God)  is  long-suffer- 

ing to  him, 
Yet  surely  I  know  that  it  shall  be  well  with  them  that  fear  God, 
Because  they  fear  before  him. 

13  But  it  shall  not  be  well  with  the  wicked  man,  nor  will  (God)  be 

long-suffering ; 
His  days  are  as  a  shadow,  because  he  feareth  not  before  God. 

14  There  is  a  vanity  which  is  acted  upon  the  earth, 
That  there  are  righteous  men  to  whom  it  happens 
As  if  they  had  done  the  work  of  the  ungodly. 
And  there  are  ungodly  men  to  whom  it  happens 


VER.  9 -IX.  12.]  ECCLESIASTES.  45 

As  if  they  bad  done  the  work  of  the  righteous  ; 
I  considered  that  this  also  is  vanity. 

15  Then  I  commended  enjoyment, 

Because  there  is  no  happiness  under  the  sun  to  man, 

But  to  eat  and  to  drink  and  to  be  joyful. 

And  that  this  should  continue  with  him  in  his  labour  during  the 

days  of  his  life 
Which  God  hath  given  him  under  the  sun. 

16  When  I  applied  my  mind  to  learn  wisdom, 

And  to  contemplate  the  toil  which  has  been  undergone  upon  the 

earth. 
For  that  by  day  and  by  night  man  enjoyeth  no  sleep  with  his 

eyes, 

17  Then  I  contemplated  all  the  work  of  God, 
That  no  man  can  discover  the  work 
Which  has  been  done  under  the  sun, 

Because  though  a  man  may  labour  to  iind  it  out,  yet  he  shall  not 

discover  it. 
Yea,  though  a  wise  man  think  that  he  knows  it. 
Yet  he  will  not  be  able  to  discover  it. 

TX. 

1  For  all  this  I  have  laid  to  heart,  even  to  investigate  all  this, 

That  the  righteous,  and  the  wise,  and  their  w^orks  are  in  the  hand 

of  God  ; 
Also  love  and  hatred. 
No  man  can  at  all  discern  that  which  is  before  him  : 

2  All  things  come  alike  to  all  ; 

There  is  one  destiny  to  the  righteous  and  to  the  wicked, 
To  the  good  and  to  the  evil,  to  the  pure  and  the  impure, 
To  him  who  sacrifices  and  to  him  who  doth  not  sacrifice  ; 
As  is  the  good  man,  so  is  the  sinner. 
And  the  swearer  as  he  who  feareth  an  oath. 

3  This  evil  exists  in  everything  which  has  been  done  under  the  sun, 
That  there  is  one  destiny  to  all. 

Yea,  also  the  heart  of  the  children  of  Adam  is  full  of  evil. 
And  madness  is  in  their  heart  while  they  live,  and  after  they  go  to 
the  dead. 


46  ECCLESTASTES.  [chap.  vin. 

4  Verily  for  him  who  is  joined  to  all  the  living  there  is  hope  ; 
Because  a  living  dog  is  better  than  a  dead  lion. 

5  For  the  living  know  that  they  must  die, 
But  the  dead  are  cognizant  of  nothing  ; 

And  moreover  to  them  there  is  no  further  reward  : 
Truly  their  memory  is  forgotten. 

6  Also  their  love,  and  their  hatred,  and  their  jealousy,  have  long  ago 

perished, 
Neither  have  they  participation  any  more  for  ever 
In  all  that  is  done  under  the  sun. 

7  Go,  eat  thy  bread  with  gladness, 

And  drink  thy  wine  with  a  cheerful  heart ; 

For  God  has  long  since  graciously  accepted  thy  works. 

8  Let  thy  garments  be  at  all  times  white, 
And  let  thy  head  not  lack  perfume. 

9  Enjoy  life  with  thy  wife  whom  thou  lovest. 

All  the  days  of  thy  transitory  life  which  He  hath  given  to  thee 

under  the  sun  : 
For  this  is  thy  portion  in  life. 
And  in  thy  labour  wherein  thou  labourest  under  the  sun. 

10  Whatsoever  thy  hand  findeth  to  do,  do  it  with  thy  might ; 

For    there    is   no   work,    nor   device,    nor   knowledge,   nor    wis- 
dom, 
In  the  abode  of  the  dead,  whither  thou  art  going. 

11  I  have  often  observed  under  the  sun. 

That  the  race  is  not  always  won  by  the  swift, 

Nor  the  battle  by  the  strong, 

Nor  yet  sustenance  by  the  wise, 

JS[or  yet  wealth  by  men  of  understanding, 

Nor  yet  favour  by  men  of  skill ; 

But  that  doom  and  destiny  h-appen  to  them  all : 

12  For  that  no  man  knoweth  his  doom. 
As  fishes  that  are  taken  in  a  lethal  net. 
Or  as  birds  that  are  caught  in  a  snare. 

So,  like  unto  them  are  the  children  of  Adam  ensnared  in  a  lethal 

time, 
"When  it  falleth  suddenly  upon  them. 


VER.  9-ix.  12.]  ECCLESIASTES.  47 

C'HArTER  VIII.  VERSE  9. 

'  ^^^lat  Imrt  men  do  to  others  will  return  in  the  end  to  their  nwn  hurt.' — Henry. 

Verse  11. 

The  followiug  anecdote  exemplifies  this  apophthegm  of  Solomon,  and  teaches  that  if  crimi- 
nality be  not  promptly  visited  with  condign  punishment,  the  heart  will  hecome  so  hardened, 
and  the  conscience  so  seared,  as  frequently  not  to  discriminate  good  from  e\'il.  The  captnin 
of  a  Bristol  slave-ship  was  coasting  the  shores  of  Africa  for  traffic.  On  landing,  a  slave-dealer 
offered  him  for  sale  two  female  slaves,  each  having  an  infant  in  her  arms.  The  captain 
refused  to  buy.  The  slave-dealer  with  surprise  inquired  why  he  landed  if  he  would  not  purchase. 
The  captain  olijected  to  the  children.  The  slave-dealer  asked  if  ho  woidd  buy  the  mothers 
without  the  children.  The  captain  consented,  and  the  price  was  settled.  The  slave-dealer 
then  dashed  out  the  brains  of  the  two  little  innocents  against  a  neiglibouring  tree,  and  the 
captain  embarked  the  weeping  bereaved  mothers.  The  captain  himself  told  this  tale  with 
perfect  sang  froicl  at  a  dinner-party  in  Bristol,  and  remarked  that  the  slave-dealer  seemed 
unconscious  that  he  had  committed  any  crime.  My  informant,  one  of  the  guests,  said  to  the 
captain — 'Are  you  not  aware,  that  you  yourself  are  a,paHiccps  criminis,  for  if  you  had  not 
consented  to  buy,  the  two  innocents  would  not  have  been  murdered?'  My  informant  was  a 
most  eminent  solicitor  in  the  city  of  Bristol,  universally  respected  for  his  strict  probity,  sterling 
integrity,  and  unimpeachable  veracity,  and  was  tlie  professional  adviser  of  my  family  for  nearly 
half  a  century. 

Verses  12  and  13. 

'  If  God  love  a  righteous  man,  as  certainly  He  does,  he  is  happy  though  the  world  frown 
upon  him ;  and  if  He  hate  a  wicked  man,  as  certainly  He  does,  he  is  miserable  thougli  the 
world  sniUe  upon  him.' — Henry. 

Verse  15. 

Solomon  qualifies  his  statement,  that  there  is  no  happiness  to  man  but  to  eat  and  to  drink 
and  to  be  joyful,  by  the  words  under  the  sun  ;  as  much  as  if  he  had  said,  that  these  consti- 
tute man's  earthly  happiness,  man's  physical  corporeal  good,  not  the  good  of  his  soul,  which 
is  peace  with  God,  residting  from  an  assurance  of  an  individual  interest  in  Christ's  salvation. 
Solonioii's  object  iii  this  and  similar  passages  is  to  recommend  cheerfulness  of  disposition, 
contentment  of  mind,  and  avoidance  of  excessive  anxiety  and  carefulness,  casting  all  care  upon 
Him  who  hath  loved  His  people  with  an  everlasting  love,  and  who  delighteth  to  do  them 
good  according  to  His  eternal  covenant  on  their  behalf,  in  all  things  ordered  and  sure. 

Verses  1G  and  17. 

The  contemplation  of  Solomon  embraced  both  the  multifarious  labours  of  man  antl  (idd's 
providential  administration  of  the  universe.  This  contemplation  was  not  superficial,  but  pro- 
tracted and  erudite,  yet  failed  in  botli  particidars.  If  man  cannot  fully  comprehend  the  works 
of  his  fellow-men,  much  less  can  his  intellect  grasp  the  deep  mysteries  of  Divine  providence, 
only  partially  discerned  in  time,  and  in  their  fulness  inscrutable  until  we  attain  perfection  of 
knowledge  and  glory. 

Chapter  ix.  verse  1. 

The  love  and  hatred  of  our  fellow-men  towards  us  are  regulated  by  the  interventiun  ol 
Divine  providence.     No  man  can  foresee  his  futurity,  that  which  hereafter  shall  befall  him 


48  ECCLESIASTES.  [chap.  viii. 

ill  his  pHgrimage  here  below ;  but  all  things,  eveu  man's  love  and  hatred,  are  foreknown  to 
God,  and  by  Him  are  regulated  with  infinite  wisdom  according  to  the  counsel  of  His  own 
will. 

Verse  3. 

As  death  leaves  man  so  eternity  will  find  him.  There  is  no  change  of  heart  after  death. 
He  who  dies  in  a  state  of  unregeueracy  will  remain  unregenerate  through  the  countless  ages 
of  eternity.  He  who  dies  a  Christless  sinner  will  remain  a  Christless  sinner  for  ever  and  ever, 
As  God  has  loved  His  people  with  an  everlasting  love,  shedding  His  abiding  love  in  their 
hearts,  that  in  life  and  after  death  they  may  love  Him  who  first  loved  them,  so  hatred  to 
Christ,  His  people,  and  His  gospel,  survives  the  grave,  and  abides  in  Christless  sinners 
permanent  and  inextinguishable  throughout  eternity.  The  madness,  which  instigated  rejec- 
tion of  Christ  in  time,  wQl  endure  when  time  shall  be  no  more,  as  immortal  as  the  never-dying 
soul  itself. 

Vekse  4. 

This  aphorism,  an  ancient  proverb  current  in  the  language  and  peninsula  of  Arabia, 
inferentially  teaches  that  life  is  the  seed-time  for  eternity,  that  unless  salvation  shall  be 
obtained  during  life,  it  can  never  be  realized  after  death.  May  we  not  also  deduce  therefrom, 
that  they  who  have  been  quickened  from  death  in  sin  to  life  in  righteousness  by  the  regene- 
ration of  the  Spirit,  whatever  may  be  their  state  or  condition,  are  more  precious  in  the  Divine 
estimation  than  those  who  abide  in  nature's  darkness,  however  honoured  in  their  day  and 
generation,  or  whatever  benefits  they  may  have  conferred  on  their  families,  their  country,  or 
the  world  ?  Did  Solomon  select  this  aphorism  from  the  proverbs  of  Arabia,  or  did  the 
Arabians  borrow  it  from  the  book  of  Ecclesiastes  ?  The  Arabic  prefix  7  seems  to  indicate 
that  it  had  its  origin  in  Arabia. 

Veese  5. 

By  the  declaration,  that  '  the  dead  have  no  further  reward,'  Solomon  teaches,  that  God 
will  render  to  every  man  according  to  the  deeds  done  in  the  body.  Death  is  alike  the 
termination  of  man's  probation  and  of  man's  laboirr  in  God's  vineyard.  'Whatsoever  thy 
hand  fiudeth  to  do,  do  it  with  thy  might,  for  there  is  no  work,  nor  device,  nor  knowledge,  nor 
wisdom  in  the  grave  (the  abode  of  the  dead),  whither  thou  goest'  {Ecclesiastes  ix.  10). 

Verses  5  and  6. 
The  dead  are  not  cognizant  of,  nor  have  any  participation  in,  mundane  affairs : — 

'  By  death  transported  to  th'  eternal  shore, 
Souls  so  removed  revisit  us  no  more.' 

They  wlio  sleep  in  Jesus  are  indeed  in  rest,  joy,  and  felicity,  and  repose  with  Abraham  in  the 
Paradise  of  God.  But  they  return  not  again  to  this  world,  until,  rising  in  Christ's  likeness, 
they  shall  take  the  kingdom,  and  possess  the  kingdom,  and  shall  reign  with  Christ  ON  earth. 
'  His  sons  come  to  honour,  and  he  knoweth  it  not ;  and  they  are  brought  low,  but  he  per- 
ceiveth  it  not  of  them'  {Joh  xiv.  21).  'Doubtless  thou  art  our  Father,  though  Abraham  be 
ignorant  of  us'  {Isaiah  Ixiii.  16). 

Calvin,  in  his  Instihitcs  (iii.  20,  24),  thus  writes :  '  When  the  Lord  withdrew  the  dead 
from  our  society.  He  left  to  us  no  mean  of  intercourse  with  them ;  nor,  as  far  as  we  can  pos- 
sibly conjecture,  has  He  left  to  them  any  mean  of  intercourse  with  us.'  See  page  520  of  the 
original  French  edition,  published  at  Geneva  in  1564,  the  very  year  the  great  Eeformer  died. 


VER.  9ix.  12.]  ECCLESIASTES.  49 

'  WHiat  fruit  of  earthly  toils  when  from  life's  stage 
Withdrawn  ?     Are  they  not  strangers  then  to  all 
That  passeth  here,  tlieir  very  names  forgot 
By  the  survivors  ?     Xor  imports  it  whom 
They  loved  or  hated,  since  none  court  their  smiles 
Or  dread  their  frowns ;  this  busy  world  to  them. 
They  to  its  joys  and  griefs,  for  ever  lost.' — Khohdeth. 

Scripture  in  tliis  and  other  passages  authoritatively  denies  the  return  of  the  dead  to  the 
earth,  and  consequently  tlieir  re-appearance  to  the  living ;  but  Scripture  nowhere  denies  the 
reality  of  admonitory  and  premonitory  dreams  and  apparitions.  Indeed,  God  foretells  the 
seeing  of  visions  and  dreaming  of  dreams  by  the  saints  to  be  one  sign  of  the  near  approach  of 
the  Second  Advent.  That  dreams  and  spectral  apparitions  divinely  sent  do  occur  is  evident 
from  the  dream  or  apparition  seen  by  the  Rev.  Samuel  Medlicott.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Sirr  stated 
this  dream  to  me  orally,  and  has  inserted  it  in  the  very  words  of  Rev.  S.  IMedlicott  in  his  life 
of  the  last  Archbishop  of  Tuam, pages  7G2,  763  :  'I  was  at  my  brother's  in  Wiltshire,  whither 
I  made  my  first  move  in  search  of  health,  early  in  March  last  year  (183U).  There,  at  a  very 
early  hour  one  morning  (I  think  four  o'clock),  the  dear  Archbishop  (I  shall  never  forget  his 
sweet  face,  though  pale  as  death,  and  head  uncovered)  stood  at  the  foot  of  my  bed  and  said, 
"  I  am  tired  of,  and  I  will,  or  I  have  left  Tuam ;  and  I  will  never  return  there."  This  greatly 
disturbed,  and  of  course  roused  me.  I  thought  I  had,  as  it  were,  seen  a  vision ;  and  mentioned 
what  I  do  here  to  Mrs.  Medlicott  as  she  awoke.  But  how  was  I  indeed  disturbed,  how  pain- 
fully cast  down,  -u-hen  in  due  time  the  heartrending  tidings  reached  me,  that  ON  that  very 
p.\Y  .\ND  AT  THAT  VERY  HOUR  HIS  Gr.we  HAD  DEPARTED  THIS  LIFE  !'  The  occurrence  of  Divine 
dreams  and  apparitions  is  also  evident  from  the  dream  of  Dr.  Milner  before  he  was  made 
Dean  of  Carlisle,  narrated  by  his  niece ;  from  the  dream  or  vision  whereby  Colonel  Gardiner 
was  converted,  recorded  by  Dr.  Doddridge ;  and  more  particularly  from  the  prophetic  dream 
of  Frederick  the  ^^'ise,  Elector  of  Saxony,  reported  by  D'Aubigne,  in  the  very  words  of  Spalatin, 
in  liis  HistorY  of  the  Reformation.^  This  dream,  foreshadowing  in  visions  of  the  night  the 
world-wide  influence  of  Luther's  writings,  the  ire  of  the  Popedom,  and  the  spread  of  the 
Reformation,  was  thrice  vouchsafed  to  the  Elector  on  the  night  preceding  31st  October  1517. 
Early  in  the  morning  of  this  day,  the  Elector  related  this  dream  to  his  Ijrother  and  co-Regent, 
I  )uke  John,  and  to  his  Chancellor ;  and  on  tliis  very  day  Luther  aifixed  his  theses  to  the  door 
of  the  church  of  Wittemberg,  the  first  act  and  commencement  of  the  glorious  Reformation. 
We  shall  never  know  till  the  revelation  of  the  last  day  how  much  this  dream  secretly  influ- 
enced the  Elector  to  protect  the  monk,  whose  iron  pen,  reaching  from  Wittemberg  to  Rome, 


'  '  I  dreamt  that  the  Ahuiglity  sent  me  a  monk,  who  was  a  true  sou  of  PaiJ  the  apostle.  He  was 
accompanied  by  all  the  saints,  iu  obedience  to  God's  command,  to  bear  him  testimony,  and  to  assure  me  that  he 
did  not  come  with  any  fraudulent  design,  but  that  all  he  should  do  was  conformable  to  the  will  of  God.  They 
asked  my  gracious  permission  to  let  him  WTite  something  on  the  doors  of  the  Palace  Chapel  at  Wittemberg,  which 
I  conceded  through  my  Chancellor.  Upon  this  the  monk  repaired  thither  and  began  to  write  ;  so  large  were  the 
eliaracters  that  I  could  read  from  Schweinitz  what  he  was  writiug.  Tlie  pen  he  used  was  so  long  that  its  extremity 
reached  as  far  as  Eome,  where  it  pierced  the  ears  of  a  lion  which  lay  there,  and  shook  the  triple  crown  on  the 
Pope's  head.  All  the  cardinals  and  princes  ran  up  hastily  and  endeavoured  to  sujiport  it ;  you  and  I  both 
tendered  our  assistance.  I  stretched  out  my  arm  ;  that  moment  I  awidie  with  my  arm  extended,  in  great  alarm, 
and  very  angry  with  this  monk  who  could  not  guide  his  pen  better.  I  recovered  myself  a  little.  ...  It  was 
only  a  dream. 

'  I  was  still  h.ilf  asleep,  and   once  more  closed  my  eyes.     The  dream  came  again.     The  lion,  still  disturlied 


50  ECCLESIASTES.  [chap.  viii. 

caused  the  Papal  Lion  (Leo.  X.)  to  roar ;  uor  how  much  this  dream  contributed  to  the  final 
triumph  of  Reformation  light  over  Papal  darkness. 

These  four,  to  which  others  might  easily  have  been  added,  are  indubitable  facts.  They 
are  amply  sufficient  to  verify  the  sparse  occurrence  in  bygone  years  of  premonitory  dreams, 
which  Joel  foretells  will  be  more  frequent  before  the  Second  Advent.  Other  authenticated 
di-eams,  some  witliin  my  own  knowledge,  might  have  been  adduced.  Of  these  I  feel  obligated 
to  subjoin  three,  which,  I  believe,  will  greatly  interest  the  reader. 

On  Sunday,  14th  January  1838,  my  father  communicated  to  Mrs.  Coleman,  to  whose 
memory  this  volume  is  dedicated,  a  dream  he  had  on  the  preceding  night,  in  which  ■  three 
texts  were  impressed  on  his  mind  :  1st, '  Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  aud  thou  shalt  be 
saved;'  2d,  'Be  thou  faithful  unto  death,  and  I  will  give  thee  the  crown  of  life;'  3d,  '  It  is 
finished.'  My  father  considered  this  dream  a  premonition  of  his  approaching  dissolution,  and 
gave  me  the  names  and  addresses  of  four  friends  to  whom  I  was  to  communicate  his  death  as 
soon  as  it  should  occur.  On  Monday,  2 2d  January,  a  physician,  a  particular  friend,  came 
from  Eyde  to  Ventnor  to  spend  the  day  with  us :  he  examined  my  father,  considered  he 
was  suffering  from  a  slight  cold,  and  pronounced  that  he  would  soon  be  well.  My  father 
expressed  to  him  an  opposite  opinion.  On  leaxnng  the  house  the  physician  said  to  me, '  Don't 
be  alarmed,  your  father  will  soon  recover.'  Early  in  the  morning  of  Thursday,  25th  January, 
my  father  said  to  the  maid-servant  who  sat  up  with  him,  'What  sweet  sleep  I  have  had!' 
He  turned  in  his  bed.  After  a  short  interval,  the  servant,  not  hearing  him  breathe  as  she 
had  pre\'iously  done,  rushed  into  om*  room.  Before  Mrs.  Coleman  and  myself  could  step 
from  one  bedchamber  to  the  other  the  vital  spark  was  extinct,  and  my  father  was  a  corpse. 
He  died  in  his  sleep  at  half-past  two  o'clock  on  that  morning. 

Mrs.  Coleman  herself  had  a  very  singular  dream  some  time  before  our  marriage.  She 
dreamt  that  she  attended  a  chapel,  the  minister  of  which  gave  out  as  his  text  Psalm  Ixviii.  1, 
'  Let  God  arise,  let  His  enemies  be  scattered,'  and  that  in  the  course  of  his  sermon  he 
remarked  that  the  text  was  mistranslated,  and  ought  to  have  been  rendered  :  '  God  shall 
arise.  His  enemies  shall  be  scattered.'  She  mentioned  this  dream  at  the  breakfast-table  on 
Sunday  morning.  A  lady  present  exclaimed :  '  I  am  so  struck  with  your  dream,  that  I  must 
accompany  you.'  They  went  together  to  the  chapel.  The  minister  gave  out  his  text.  Psalm 
Ixviii.  1,  and  stated  in  his  sermon  that  the  Hebrew  was  in  the  future  tense,  aud  that  the  true 
interpretation  was :  '  God  shall  arise.  His  enemies  shall  be  scattered.'  The  lady  remarked — 
'You  have  had  some  private  intercourse  with  the  minister.'  'No,'  replied  Mrs.  C,  'he  is  a 
perfect  stranger  to  me.  I  have  never  had  any  intercourse  with  him,  written  or  oral.'  On 
Psalm  Ixviii.  Mrs.  C.  in  her  Bible  wrote  this  marginal  note :  '  This  Psalm  refers  to  Christ 
Jesus,  MY  ONLY  Saviour.'  And  her  prayer,  written  in  the  same  Bible,  concludes  with  these 
words :   '  May  I  look  vmto  Jesus  for  pardon,  and  receive  it,  for  heaven,  and  enjoy  it,  so  that 

liy  the  pen,  began  to  roar  with  all  his  might,  until  the  whole  city  of  Rome  aud  all  the  States  of  the  Holy  Empire 
ran  up  to  know  what  was  the  matter.  The  Pope  called  upon  us  to  oi>pose  this  monk,  and  addi-essed  himself 
]iarticularly  to  me,  because  the  friar  was  living  in  my  dominious.  I  again  awoke,  repeated  the  Lord's  Prayer, 
entreated  God  to  preserve  his  Holiness,  and  fell  asleep. 

'  I  then  dreamt  that  all  the  princes  of  the  Empire,  and  we  along  with  them,  hastened  to  Rome  and 
endeavoured  one  after  another  to  break  this  pen  ;  but  the  greater  our  exertions,  the  stronger  it  became ;  it 
crackled  as  if  it  had  been  made  of  iron ;  we  gave  it  up  as  hopeless.  I  then  asked  the  monk  (for  I  was  uow  at 
Rome,  now  at  Wittemberg)  where  he  had  got  that  pen  and  how  it  had  came  to  be  so  strong.  "This  pen,"  replied 
he,  "belonged  to  a  Bohemian  goose  a  hundred  years  old.  I  had  it  from  one  of  my  old  schoolmasters.  It  is  so 
strong  because  no  one  can  take  the  pith  out  of  it ;  and  I  am  myself  quite  astonished  at  it."  On  a  sudden  I 
heard  a  loud  cry.  From  the  monk's  long  peu  had  issued  a  host  of  other  pens.  I  awoke  a  third  time.  It  was 
daylight.' — D'Aubigng's  History  of  the  Reformation,  Book  iii.  Chapter  4. 


VER.  9  IX.  12.]  ECCLESIASTES.  51 

my  compassionate  Saviour  may  be  truly  precious  to  my  soul,  constraining  me  to  thank  Thee, 
0  Lord,  for  thy  written  word,  as  a  true  light,  and  a  sure  guide  in  the  path  of  peace.  My  God. 
my  God,  hear  the  cry  of  my  heart,  answer  tlie  desire  of  my  soul,  for  Jesus  Christ's  sake.  Amen 
and  Amen.' 

The  following  dream  is  remarkalJe,  as  it  foreshadowed  the  lamentable  riots  and  incendiary 
fires,  which  occurred  in  Bristol  in  the  year  1831,  and  began  in  Queen's  Square.  A  gentleman 
resided  in  that  square,  with  wliom,  and  with  his  family,  I  had  some  intercourse  in  the  Isle  of 
Wight.     One  morning  this  gentleman,  whilst  breakfasting  with  his  family,  said :  '  I  h.we 

HAD  A  REMARKABLE  DREAM,  THAT  QuEEN'S   SQUARE  WAS  IN   FLAMES,  AND   THAT   THE   MIDDLE   OF 

THE  SQUARE  WAS  FILLED  WITH  SOLDIERS.'  After  leaxdng  the  breakfast-table  he  again  referred 
to  his  dream,  when  his  wife  said,  '  I  hope  we  shall  not  suffer  ? '  He  replied,  '  You  will  all 
BE  preserved,  but  I  SHALL  BE  SAFE  LANDED.'  Shortly  after,  he  was  walking  with  a  relative 
of  mine,  and  proposed  going  over  Prince's  Street  Bridge,  along  the  New  Cut,  towards  Clifton. 
She  declined  to  go  farther,  observing,  '  What  a  very  dark  cloud ' — rain  must  be  coming.' 
He  was  silent  a  few  minutes,  whilst  they  stood  observing  this  cloud,  and  then  said,  in  answer 
to  her  remark :  '  There  is  a  MUCH  darker  cloud  ! — sojie  very  heavy  calamity  hanging 
over  Bristol  !'  The  dream  which  he  had  seen  in  the  visions  of  the  night  was  literaU}- 
fulfilled.  He  died  suddenly,  six  weeks  before  the  riots  commenced.  His  widow,  as  a 
measure  of  precaution,  was  removed  from  the  house.  But  she  and  all  the  family  were  pre- 
served, and  his  house  was  exempted  from  that  conflagration,  which  consumed  the  new  prison, 
the  two  toll-houses,  the  bridewell,  and  Lawford's  Gate  prisons,  the  bishop's  jialace,  the 
mansion-house,  the  Custom-house,  the  Excise  OfEice,  and  nearly  fifty  dwellings  and  warehouses 
in  Queen's  Square  and  streets  adjacent,  and  destroyed  property  to  the  amount  of  £100,000. 
This  cjentleman  was  remarkable  for  reticence  and  habitual  reserve.  In  conversation  his 
language  on  all  occasions  was  deliberate  and  concise.  My  relative  communicated  to  me  in 
writing  these  identical  words  spoken  by  him  at  his  own  breakfast-table  and  during  their  walk. 
I  would  also  refer  the  reader  to  '  The  Voice  in  the  Dream ;  a  Tale  of  Age,'  originally 
written  by  my  deceased  friend,  Eev.  John  East,  Incumbent  of  St.  Michael's,  Bath,  wherein  is 
narrated  a  dream  or  spectral  vision  vouchsafed  on  three  successive  nights  to  a  dying  votary 
of  pleasure,  which  dream  was  instrumental  of  her  conversion,  and  premonitory  of  the  blessing 
of  Mr.  East's  ministry  to  her  soul.  '  The  Scripture  claims  the  dream  as  a  medium  through 
which  God  may  speak  to  man.  The  Scripture  declares,  not  as  any  strange  thing,  but  as  a 
thing  of  course,  that  the  influence  of  the  Spirit  of  God  upon  the  soul  extends  to  its  sleeping 
as  well  as  its  waking  thoughts.' — Smith's  Dictionary  of  the  Bible. 

'  Truly  God  speaketh  once. 
Yea,  twice  to  him  who  regardeth  it  not, 
In  a  dream,  the  vision  of  the  night. 
When  deep  sleep  falleth  upon  men, 
In  slumberings  upon  the  bed  : 
Then  He  openeth  the  ears  of  men 
And  sealeth  their  instruction.'-  -Joi  xxxiii.  14-16. 

Verses  7,  8,  and  9. 

This  admonition  is  not  addressed  to  the  unregenerate,  the  Christless,  or  the  worldling, 
but  exclusively  to  God's  children.  It  is  God's  voice  of  love  to  all  who  possess  saving  faith 
in  Christ,  mercifully  to  warn  them  against  excessive  anxiety  concerning  the  tilings  of  time 


52  ECCLESIASTES.  [chap.  ix. 

aud  seuse.     It  is  an  incentive  to  them  to  use  the  world,  not  abusing  it.     It  is  a  promise  to 
them  of  the  life  that  now  is,  as  well  as  that  which  is  to  come. 

'  Go  then,  whilst  Heav'n  permits,  and  taste  the  sweets 
Of  life  :  vex  not  thy  soul  with  anxious  cares 
And  terrors  vain ;  nor  from  the  world  expect 
More  than  it  can  afford,  or  God  design'd ; 
And  if  thy  works  are  such  as  He  approves. 
With  cheerful  heart  enjoy  what  He  bestows.' — Khohddh. 

Verse  10. 
The  Hebrew  word,  unhappily  rendered  grave  in  our  version,  does  not  signify  the  recep- 
tacle of  the  body,  but  the  receptacle  of  the  soul,  the  uuder-world,  the  world  of  the  dead. 

'  The  Hebrew^  word  (slicol)  signifies  the  place  appointed  for  the  habitation  of  depaeted 

SOULS,  IN  the  interval  BETWEEN  DEATH  AND  THE  GENERAL  RESURRECTION.     The  Word  describes 

this  place  as  the  object  of  universal  inquiry,  the  unknown  mansion,  about  Avhich  all  are 
anxiously  inquisitive.  The  Sheol  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  Hades  of  the  New,  is  indeed  the 
Hell  to  which  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  according  to  the  Apostles'  Creed,  descended.  It  is  the 
paradise  to  which  he  conveyed  the  soul  of  the  repentant  thief.  It  is  the  place  whither  His 
soul  went  and  preached  to  the  souls,  not  in  prison,  as  Ave  read  in  our  English  Bible,  but  m 
SAFE  KEEPING,  which  ONE  WHILE  HAD  BEEN  disobedient ;  but  as  the  expression  one  while  had 
BEEN  implies,  were  at  length  recovered  from  that  disobedience,  probably  by  the  preaching  of 
Noah,  and  before  their  death  had  been  brought  to  repentance  and  faith  in  the  Redeemer  to 
come.  To  these  souls  our  Lord  went  in  His  soul  and  preached.  But  what  could  He  preach 
to  them  ?  Not  repentance.  They  had  repented  of  their  disobedience  before  they  were  sepa- 
rated from  the  body  by  death,  or  they  had  not  been  found  in  the  bundle  of  life.  But  if  He 
went,  and  proclaimed  to  them  the  glad  tidings,  that  He  had  actually  offered  the  sacrifice  of 
their  redemption,  and  was  now  about  to  enter  into  glory ;  this  was  a  preaching  that  would 
give  new  animation  and  assurance  to  their  hope  of  the  consummation,  in  due  season,  of  their 
bliss.  And  this,  by  the  way,  I  take  to  be  the  true  sense  of  this  text  of  St.  Peter.' — Bishop 
Horsley,  Biblical  Criticism,  vol.  ii.  pp.  329,  330. 

Verse  11. 
'  Thus  the  wicked  worldlings  are  deceived,  attributing  to  fortune  that  which  is  ordered  by 
the  secrete  providence  of  God ;  for  that  the  reward  according  to  men's  doings  is  not  in  this 
life,  but  chiefly  in  the  life  to  come.' — Bishops'  Bible. 


XVI. 

CHAPTER  IX.  VERSE  13  TO  CHAPTER  X.  VERSE  15. 

A  PARABOLIC  manifestation  of  Messiah,  bruiser  of  the  serpent's  head,  Eedeemer 
of  the  spiritual  Israel,  during  His  incarnation  despised  and  rejected  of  men,  now 
regnant  at  the  right  hand  of  the  Majesty  on  high,  whilst  Satan,  the  god  of  this  rebel 


vKu.  13-x.  15.]  ECCLESIASTES.  53 

world,  reigneth  in  the  children  of  disobedience,  who  see  no  beauty  in  Messiah  that 
they  should  desire  Him. 

Christ,  incarnate  wisdom,  clearly  predicted  in  the  Book  of  Proverbs,  more 
(jlAScurely  shadowed  forth  in  this  book,  is  the  sum  and  substance  of  revelation,  even 
of  the  words  of  the  wise,  who  wrote  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost. 

Expediency  of  submission  to  the  j^owers  that  be.  Perfection  not  to  be  expected 
in  rulers,  nor  in  the  distribution  of  their  patronage. 

There  is  a  retributive  justice,  which  even  in  this  life  frequently  visits  men  for 
their  transgressions,  and  which,  in  the  world  to  come,  will  visit  those  who  know  not 
God,  nor  the  gospel  of  His  grace,  and  will  for  ever  exclude  them  from  the  kingdom 
of  His  glory,  the  city  not  made  with  hands,  whose  maker  and  builder  is  God. 

13  This  wisdom  have  I  also  contemplated  under  the  sun, 
And  it  has  greatly  influenced  me  : 

14  There  was  a  small  city,  and  few  men  within  it, 

And  there  came  a  powerful  king  against  it,  and  besieged  it. 
And  built  great  towers  against  it. 

15  And  there  was  found  therein  a  poor  wise  man, 
And  he  by  his  wisdom  saved  the  city ; 

Yet  no  one  remembered  that  self-same  poor  man. 

16  Then  thought  I  that  wisdom  is  better  than  strength. 
Although  the  wisdom  of  that  poor  man  is  despised. 
And  his  words  are  not  obeyed. 

17  The  words  of  wise  men  obeyed  with  humility. 

Are  better  than  the  shout  of  one  who  ruleth  over  fools. 

18  Better  is  wisdom  than  weapons  of  war. 

One  sinner  destroy eth  much  good. 
X.  1  Dead  flies  cause  the  oil  of  the  perfumer  to  ferment  and  become 
fetid, 
(So)  doth  a  little  folly  him  who  surpasseth  in  wisdom  and  honour. 

2  The  heart  of  a  wise  man  is  at  his  right  hand, 
But  the  heart  of  a  fool  is  at  his  left. 

3  Yea,  even  in  the  pathway  when  the  fool  walketh. 
His  wisdom  faileth  him, 

And  he  proclaims  to  every  one  that  he  is  a  fool. 

4  If  the  spirit  of  the  ruler  be  roused  against  thee,  abdicate  not  thy 

office. 
For  submission  pacifies  great  offences. 


54  ECCLESIASTES.  [chap.  tx. 

5  There  is  an  evil  I  have  observed  under  the  sun, 

Which  looked  like  an  oversight  which  proceeded  from  the  ruler. 

6  Folly  is  placed  in  many  high  stations, 
And  the  rich  sit  in  degradation. 

7  I  have  seen  servants  upon  horses, 

And  princes  walking  as  servants  on  the  ground. 

8  He  who  diggeth  a  pitfall  himself  shall  fall  into  it, 

And  he  who  breaks  down  a  wall  a  serpent  shall  bite  him. 

9  Whoso  removeth  stones  shall  be  hurt  therewith, 

And  he  who  cutteth  down  trees  shall  be  endangered  thereby. 

10  If  the  iron  instrument  be  blunt. 
And  he  has  not  sharpened  the  edges. 
Then  he  must  put  .forth  more  strength  ; 
But  superiority  of  success  pertains  to  skill. 

11  Surely  the  serpent  which  has  not  been  charmed  will  bite. 
And  a  babbler  is  no  better  (than  an  uncharmed  serpent). 

V2  The  words  of  a  wise  man's  mouth  are  grace, 
But  the  lips  of  the  fool  destroy  himself. 

13  The  beginning  of  the  words  of  his  mouth  is  folly, 
And  the  end  of  his  speech  is  grievous  madness. 

14  Yea,  the  fool  multiplieth  words, 

The  result  of  which  no  man  knoweth. 

And  what  shall  be  the  consequence  thereof,  who  can  tell  him  ? 

15  The  labour  of  the  foolish  wearieth  every  one  of  them. 
Because  he  hath  not  understanding  to  go  to  the  city. 

Chapter  ix.  verse  14. 

The  small  citv  is  ;i  syinbul  of  tliu  invisible  and  spiritual  Ohurcli,  aud  the  few  men 
WITHIN  IT  of  the  few  choseu,  the  elect  of  the  Father,  the  redeemed  of  the  Son,  and  tlie  sancti- 
fied of  tlie  Holy  Ghost,  who  have  entered  by  the  strait  gate,  and  walk  in  the  narrow  Avay. 

The  powerful  king  is  Satan,  the  prince  of  the  power  of  the  air,  who  said  to  Christ 
concerning  the  kingdoms  of  this  earth  :  '  These  are  mine,  and  to  whomsoever  I  wiU  I  give 
them.'  He  is  the  enemy  and  accuser  of  the  saints,  who  goeth  about  seeking  wliom  he  may 
devour,  intent  to  destroy  their  consolations,  if  he  cannot  destroy  their  souls.  '  They  had  a 
King  over  them,  which  is  tlie  angel  of  the  bottomless  pit,  whose  name  in  the  Hebrew  tongue 
is  Aliaddon,  but  in  the  Greek  tongue  hath  his  name  ApoUyon  (destroyer).' — Apocalyi^se  ix.  1 1 . 

Verse  15. 
'  Ye  know  the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  though  He  was  ricli,  yet  for  your 


VER,  13-x.  15.]  ECCLESIASTES.  55 

sakes  He  became  poor,  that  ye  through  His  poverty  might  be  rich'  (2  Corintliians  viii.  9). 
'  The  foxes  have  holes,  and  the  birds  of  the  air  have  nests,  but  the  Son  of  Man  hath  not  where 
to  lay  His  head'  {Mattlinv  Vm.  20).  They  parted  His  garments,  and  cast  lots  upon  His 
vesture.  He  was  buried  in  another  man's  sepulchre.  The  Hebrew  word  here  rendered  poor 
occurs  only  in  the  Book  of  Ecclesiastes,  and  in  this  book  four  times,  namely,  iv.  13,  and 
thrice  in  this  passage. 

Vekses  U,  1.5,  AND  16. 

'  The  Catholic  expositors  generally  affirm  that  Solomon  speaks  metaphorically  ;  tiiat  by 
THE  CITY  we  are  to  understand  the  church,  by  the  besieging  king  the  devil  and  his 
FOLLOWERS,  by  THE  POOR  WISE  MAX  CHRIST  HIMSELF,  who  led  a  life  of  poverty,  and  by  His 
wisdom  delivered  from  the  power  of  the  devil  His  people,  all  who  are  in  Him,  and  tliat  no 
one  remembers  that  same  poor  man,  because  few  are  tlie  grateful,  many  are  the  ungrateful.' — 
Niclwlas  (h  Li/ra. 

Verse  17. 

The  words  wise  men  are  here  employed  in  the  same  acceptation  as  in  xii.  11,  namely, 
to  signify  the  writers  of  Scripture,  who,  by  inspired  wisdom  imparted  to  them,  make  others 
wise  unto  salvation.  The  contrast  is  between  Scripture  impressed  on  the  heart  by  the  still 
small  voice  of  tlie  Spirit  and  the  ephemeral  blatant  vociferation  of  the  sceptic  and  infidel. 

Chapter  x.  verse  1. 

(Jil  impregnated  with  aromatics.  Olive  oil  was  an  essential  ingredient  in  tlie  hoi}- 
anointing  oil,  described  in  Exodus  xxx.  23-38,  wherewith  the  vessels  of  the  sanctuary,  and 
prophets,  priests,  and  kings  were  anointed,  and  is  largely  used  in  the  perfumes  compounded 
in  the  East.  The  Hebrew  word  here  rendered  oil  is  the  same  which  is  translated  perfume, 
chapter  vii.  1 .  It  is  so  translated  \n.  1 ,  because  that  verse  refers  to  the  fragrance  of  the  per- 
fumed oil.  It  is  here  rendered  oil,  because  x.  1  refers  to  the  substance  of  the  oil  effervescing 
from  the  admixture  of  dead  flies.  'A  little  leaven  leaveneth  the  whole  lump.' — 1  Corinthians 
V.  6,  and  Gnlatians  v.  9. 

Verse  2. 

The  wise  act  with  dexterity,  fools  in  their  actings  resemble  left-handed  men. 

Verses  8  and  9. 

The  infliction  of  retributive  justice  upon  nations,  families,  and  individuals  for  sins  com- 
mitted, is  a  fact  most  patent  to  observation,  though  too  generally  unheeded  or  ignored.  I 
have  been  conscious  of  it  in  my  own  experience,  and  have  clearly  discerned  in  the  lives  and 
vicissitudes  of  others,  that  whatever  men  sow  that  they  shall  also  reap.  The  confession  of 
Adoni-bezek  is  the  heartfelt  experience  of  multitudes  in  every  age,  and  every  cKme  :  '  As  I 
have  done,  so  God  hath  requited  me'  {Judges  i.  7).  There  is  no  day  of  judgment  for  nations, 
however  responsible  monarchs  and  their  counsellors  may  be  hereafter  for  blood  shed  in 
unrighteous  wars.  Whatever  injustice  men  sow  to  others,  they,  sooner  or  later,  will  generall}- 
reap  in  their  own  bosoms,  or  in  their  posterity.  God  does  now,  by  secular  infliction,  visit  the 
sins  of  fathers  upon  their  children.  If  God's  children  transgress,  they  will  be  chastised,  for  a 
manifestation  of  His  holiness  and  their  sanctification  ;  but  His  loving-kindness  will  He  not 
utterly  take  from  them,  nor  nullify  His  everlasting  covenant,  in  all  things  ordered  and  sure. 


56  ECCLESIASTES.  [chap.  ix. 

How  many  believers,  misguided  and  infatuated  from  ignorance  or  neglect  of  prophetic  truth, 
advocated  Catholic  emancipation,  whereby  England  apostatized  from  her  Protestant  consti- 
tution, and  gave  political  power  to  Apocalyptic  Babylon  !  That  generation  sowed  the  seed, 
this  generation  is  reaping  the  harvest.  That  generation  sowed  to  the  wind,  this  generation  is 
reaping  the  whirlwind.  Two,  eminent  in  rank  and  prominent  in  piety,  who  have  long  since 
entered  into  bliss,  seem  to  have  been  retributively  punished  in  their  posterity.  The  parents 
voted  in  Parliament  for  Eome.  Their  children  are  gone  to  Eome.  Nathan  said  unto  David, 
'  The  Lord  hath  put  away  thy  sin.'  Nathan  also  said,  '  The  sword  shall  never  depart  from 
thy  house.'     Of  Papal  Eome,  I  would  say  with  Petrarch : — 

'  Thou  hell  on  earth  !  a  marvel  huge  'twould  be, 
If  Christ  at  last  pour  not  His  wrath  on  thee.' 

The  reader  will  find  ample  illustration  of  God's  retributive  justice  in  the  celebrated  dis- 
course of  Joseph  Mede  on  Adoni-bezek's  confession  of  God's  retributive  punishment  upon  him. 
And  the  remark  well  merits  attention,  made  by  an  old  inhabitant  of  Bristol,  that  the  families 
in  that  city,  which  had  acquired  wealth  by  the  slave-trade,  lost  that  wealth  as  rapidly  and 
mysteriously  as  it  had  been  acquired.     '  Be  sure  your  sin  will  find  you  out.' — Numhers  xxxii.  2.3. 

Vei!SE  10. 
•  Arte  helpeth  nature.' — Bishops  Bible. 

Verses  12-15. 

The  FOOLISH  man  delineated  by  Solomon  in  this  paragraph  does  not  signify  one  deficient 
in  intellect  and  natural  understanding,  but  one  destitute  of  the  saving  knowledge  of  God  and 
of  Jesus  Christ  whom  He  has  sent ;  one  destitute  of  saving  faith,  abiding  in  the  same  nature's 
darkness  wherein  he  was  born,  unregenerate,  unjustified,  unsanctified,  and  imsaved,  without 
hope  and  without  God  in  the  world.  In  this  sense,  the  words  FOOL,  foolish,  FOOLISHNESS,  and 
FOOLISHLY,  are  to  lie  understood  wherever  they  occur  in  the  Book  of  Psalms.  '  The  FOOL  has 
said  in  his  heart.  There  is  no  God.'  The  baneful  effect  upon  the  souls  of  men  of  vain  words 
and  foolish  babblings  against  Divine  truth  the  FOOL  knoweth  not  in  time,  and  none  can  tell 
him.  But  the  Day  of  Judgment  will  reveal  the  souls  deluded  to  perdition  by  his  instrumen- 
tality, and  man  on  the  Day  of  Judgment  will  be  responsible  both  for  his  own  disbelief  and 
for  every  communication  of  that  disbelief  to  the  souls  of  others. 

Verse  15. 

The  city,  '  whose  builder  and  maker  is  God '  {Hebrnvs  xi.  10) ;  the  city  of  glory  which 
God  hath  provided  for  His  saints  (Jlebrews  xi.  1 6) ;  the  continuing  city,  the  city  to  come, 
which  all  God's  children  wish  for  and  earnestly  desire  (Hcbrcivs  xiii.  1 4)  ;  the  city  into  which 
nothing  shall  enter  that  defUeth,  neither  whatsoever  worketh  abomination,  or  maketh  a  lie, 
but  they  which  are  written  in  the  Lamb's  Book  of  Life  (Apocalypse  xxi.  27) ;  the  city, 
'  without  which  arc  dogs,  and  sorcerers,  and  whoremongers,  and  adulterers,  and  idolaters,  and 
whosoever  loveth  and  ruaketh  a  lie'  (Apocahjpsv  xxii.  15) ;  the  city  from  wliich  all  who  are 
fools,  in  the  Divine  estimation,  shall  for  ever  be  excluded.  They  who  are  not  memliers  of  the 
kingdom  of  grace  shall  never  inherit  the  city  and  kingdom  of  glory.  The  fool  knoweth  not 
the  way  to  this  city  and  kingdom  of  glory,  being  blinded  and  led  astray  by  Satanic  devices 
of  false  religion,  by  the  deceitfulness  of  his  own  heart,  the  fascinations  of  the  world,  and  the 


VER.  13X.  15.]  ECCLESIASTES.  57 

inacliinations  of  the  devil.  He  lives  and  dies  in  the  same  state  of  uatui-e's  darkness  in  which 
he  was  born  into  the  world,  and  dies  uuregenerate,  unsanctified,  unsaved.  '  Good  were  it,' 
for  every  such  Christless  sinner,  'if  he  had  never  been  horn.'—  3farJc  xiv.  21. 

'  And  a  highway  shall  be  there,  and  a  path, 
And  it  shall  be  called  the  holy  way  ; 
No  unclean  person  shall  pass  through  it, 
But  He  Himself  shall  be  with  them  walking  in  the  way. 
And  the  simple  shall  not  mistake  the  path.' 

Isaiah  .\..\.\v.  8,  h/j  Barnes. 


XVII. 
CHAPTER  X.— VERSES  16-20. 

The  infelicity  of  the  ten  tribes  as  governed  liy  the  former  servant  of  Solomon, 
J.eroboam,  the  son  of  Nebat,  who  made  Israel  to  sin,  contrasted  with  the  prosperity 
of  the  twelve  tribes  during  the  reign  of  King  Solomon. 

Solomon's  prophetic  intimation  of  the  faU  of  the  royal  house  of  Jeroboam,  and 
of  tlie  utter  extinction  of  his  posterity,  to  the  great  joy  of  the  ten  tribes,  abounding 
in  provisions,  wine,  and  riches. 

Solomon's  admonition  to  the  disaffected  to  muzzle  their  tongues,  to  keep  a 
strict  guard  over  their  words,  and  to  abstain  from  seditious  language. 

16  Woe  be  unto  thee,  0  land,  whose  king  wa.s  a  servant. 
And  whose  princes  feast  in  the  morning. 

17  Blessed  art  thou,  0  land,  wliose  king  is  the  son  of  nobles, 

And  whose  princes  feast  in  due  season,  for  refection  and  not  for 
revelry. 

18  Through  much  indolence  the  roof  falleth  in. 

And  through  remissness  of  hands  the  house  drippeth  through, 

19  To  the  joy  of  those  possessing  provisions  and  wine,  which  cheers  life, 
And  money,  which  supplies  all  things. 

20  Revile  not  the  king,  no,  not  in  thy  thought. 

Even  in  the  recesses  of  thy  bedchamber  revile  not  the  rich  man. 

For  a  bird  of  the  air  shall  carry  the  report, 

And  that  which  hath  w4ngs  shall  publish  the  matter. 

Verse  16. 
Jeroboam,  who  had  been  SERVANT  to  King  Solomon. 


58  ECCLESIASTES.  [chap.  xi. 

Verse  17. 

The  prosperity  of  the  nation  during  the  whole  reign  of  Solomon  is  thus  described  in 
1  Kings  iv.  24,  25  :  '  Solomon  had  dominion  over  all  the  region  on  this  side  of  the  river,  from 
Tiphsah  even  to  Azzah  (that  is,  from  Tliapsacus  on  the  Euphrates  to  Gaza  on  the  coast  of  the 
Mediterranean,  the  most  southern  seaport  of  Phoenicia)  over  all  the  kings  on  this  side  the  river : 
and  he  had  peace  on  all  sides  round  about  him.  Arid  Judah  and  Israel  dwelt  safely,  every 
man  under  his  vine  and  under  his  fig-tree,  from  Dan  even  to  Beer-sheba,  all  the  days  of 
Solomon.' 

'  Solomon  is  said  to  be  of  noble  and  royal  extraction,  being  the  son  of  David,  King  of 
Israel.  His  princes  are  said  to  feast  in  due  season,  tliat  is,  "  They  eat  to  live,  but  do  not 
live  to  eat.'" — Henry, 

Verse  IS. 
The  falling  in  of  the  flat  roof  of  the  house,  and  fissures  in  its  walls  admitting  rain,  betoken 
the  entire  and  utter  destruction  of  the  whole  edifice,  the  symbol  of  the  demolition  of  the  royal 
house  of  Jeroboam,  who  made  Israel  to  sin. 

Verse  20. 

Even  Mendelssohn  is  compelled  to  admit  that  the  four  last  lines  of  this  chapiter  are 
undoubtedly  poetry.  If  these  four  lines  are  poetry,  on  what  principle  is  it  denied  that  the 
rest  of  the  Book  of  Ecclesiastes  is  poetry  ?  These  lines  teach  us,  that  known  unto  God  are 
all  human  acts  and  saj-ings,  however  veiled  in  deepest  mystery.  In  His  own  time,  when  it 
seemeth  Him  good,  by  His  unseen  Providence  He  will  bring  to  light  tlie  hidden  things  of 
darkness,  and  unveil  the  secrets  of  human  hearts. 

'  Treason  can  not  be  wrought  so  secretly,  but  it  will  be  knowen.' — Bishops  Bihlc. 


XVIII. 

CHAPTEE  XL— VEESES  1-6. 


Injunction  of  chanty  to  the  souls  and  bodies  of  men,  with  the  promise  an- 
nexed thereto,  that  the  seed  sown,  the  instruction  given,  and  the  charity  bestowed 
iu  faith,  shall  not  return  void,  but  shall  ultimately  accomplish  those  eternal-  pui^ 
poses  of  love  which  God  hath  graciously  designed.  They  who  sow  in  faith  shall 
reap  in  joy. 

As  the  clouds  by  their  down-pour  of  rain  fertilize  the  earth,  and  as  a  tree  in 
whatsoever  position  it  may  fall  remains  the  property  of  the  owner  to  his  benefit,  so 
wealth  expended  to  promote  the  glory  of  God  and  the  salvation  of  immortal  souls 
is  treasure  laid  up  iu  heaven  imperishable  and  everlasting. 

1  Cast  thy  bread-corn  upon  tlie  surface  of  the  waters, 
For  after  many  days  thou  shalt  find  it. 

2  Give  a  portion  to  seven,  and  even  to  eight, 


VER.  1-6.]  ECCLESIASTES.  59 

For  thou  knowest  not  what  evil  existeth  upon  the  earth. 

3  When  the  clouds  are  full,  they  pour  down  rain  over  the  earth, 
And  when  a  tree  falleth  toward  the  south  or  toward  the  north, 
In  the  place  where  the  tree  falleth  there  it  lieth. 

4  He  who  observeth  the  wind  will  not  sow, 
And  he  who  regardeth  the  clouds  will  not  reap. 

5  As  thou  understandest  not  how  the  wind  bloweth, 

As  (thou  understandest  not)  how  the  bones  grow  in  the  womb  of 

the  pregnant, 
Even  so  thou  canst  not  understand  the  work  of  God, 
Who  worketh  all  things. 

6  In  the  moi'uing  sow  thy  seed. 

And  in  the  evening  let  not  thine  hand  rest. 

For  thou  canst  not  tell  which  shall  succeed,  this  or  that, 

Or  whether  they  both  shall  be  alike  prosperous. 

Verse  1. 

The  same  Hebrew  word  is  rendered  hrcad-corn  in  Isaiah  xxviii.  28.  The  imagery  of  this 
verse  seems  derived  from  the  practice  of  sowing  rice  and  other  vegetable  seed  upon  water 
covering  and  irrigating  the  soil.  As  the  water  subsides,  the  seed  strikes  its  roots  into  the 
moistened  earth,  and  produces  au  abundant  harvest.  Sir  John  Chardin  thus  describes  the 
manner  of  planting  rice :  '  They  sow  it  upon  the  water,  and,  before  sowing  it,  wliile  the  earth 
is  covered  with  water,  they  cause  the  ground  to  be  trodden  by  oxen,  horses,  and  asses,  who  go 
mid-leg  deep,  and  this  is  their  way  of  preparing  the  ground  for  sowing.'  '  Blessed  are  ye  that 
sow  beside  (upon)  all  waters,  that  send  forth  thither  the  feet  of  the  ox  and  the  ass'  (Isaiah 
xxxii.  20).  The  triennial  ti'ansit  of  the  fleet  of  Solomon  outwards  and  homeward  through  the 
canal  of  Sesostris  from  Suez  to  the  Xile,  and  down  the  Nile  to  the  coasts  of  the  ^lediterraueau 
Sea,  would  render  familiar  to  the  crews  of  these  vessels  the  Egyptian  method  of  irrigating  and 
sowing  their  lauds,  and  would  render  this  imagery  intelligible  to  very  many  Israelites,  who 
had  heard  from  these  sailors  how  the  Egyptians  fertilized  and  cultivated  the  soil  of  the  ^'alley 
of  the  Nile.  Sir  Gardner  Wilkinson,  in  his  Modern  Egypt  and  Thrhcs,  affirms  the  follo^^■ing 
productions  to  be  sown  in  Eg}'pt  during  the  inundation  of  the  Nile, — rice,  Indian  corn,  millet, 
sugar-cane,  cotton,  coffee,  indigo,  madder,  water-melons,  onions.  To  this  enumeration  of  the 
existing  products  of  modern  Egypt  I  cannot  forbear  adcUng  the  remark,  that  Herodotus, 
.  Theophrastus,  Diodorus,  Pliny,  and  Lucian,  all  attest  the  superabundant  growth  in  ancient 
times  of  the  Papyrus  Nilotica,  the  Papyrus  antiquorum,  the  Cyperus  papyrus  of  Linnasus,  the 
paper-reed  of  Egypt.  Indeed,  throughout  Western  Asia  and  the  Roman  Em^aire,  paper  was 
generally  manufactured  from  this  native  product  of  Egypt  unto  the  days  of  St.  John,  and 
even  after.  This  is  evident  from  the  Coptic  version  of  2  John  12,  where  the  Greek  word 
PAPER  is  rendered  by  the  identical  word  which  in  Isaiah  xviii.  2  signifies  the  papyrus  both  in 
Hebrew  and  the  Coptic  tran.slation.  Nevertheless,  not  one  plant  either  of  the  papyrus  or 
lotus  (both  which  plants  were  formerly  so  admired,  valued,  and  abundant)  now  exists  either 
in  the  Nile  or  in  the  marshes  of  Egypt.     This  is  the  statement  of  the  late  William  Arnold 


60  ECCLESIASTES.  [chap.  xi. 

Bromfield,  M.D.,  of  Eyde,  a  first-rate  botanist,  who  traversed  the  Nile  from  Alexandria  to 
Khartoun,  a  distance  of  two  thousand  miles,  and  the  lake  Menzaleh,  in  quest,  but  found  none. 
See  pages  180  and  235  of  his  Letters  from  Egypt  and  Syria  (kindly  presented  to  me  by  his 
sister),  printed  for  private  circulation  only.  This  entire  extinction  of  the  papj-rus  throughout 
the  land  of  Egypt  is  corroborated  by  Sir  Gardner  Wilkinson :  '  As  far  as  my  own  observation 
goes,  and  from  what  I  can  learn  from  the  people,  the  Cyperus  papjTus  is  now  unknown  in 
Egypt.' — Modern  Egypt  and  Tliehcs,  vol.  i.  p.  441.  The  papyrus,  though  extinct  throughout 
the  length  and  breadth  of  Egypt,  now  flourishes  in  Sicily,  in  the  lakes  and  rivers  of  Central 
Africa,  near  Khan  ilinyeh,  in  a  stream  to  the  north  of  Jaffa,  and  most  luxuriantly  in  the 
impenetrable  morasses  which  on  all  sides  encircle  the  waters  of  Merom.  See  Tristram's  Land 
of  Israel,  Livingstone's  Zambesi,  and  Hayter's  Report  upon  the  Herculaneum  Manuscripts, 
1811,  containing  most  splendid  coloured  plates  of  the  papyrus  growing  in  Sicily.  The  dis- 
appearance from  Egypt  of  tlie  papyrus  and  lotus,  the  lily  of  the  Nile,  so  abundant  and  valued 
when  Herodotus  visited  the  land  of  Mizraim,  is  the  fulfilment  of  the  prophecy  of  Isaiah 
xix.  6,  7 :  '  The  reeds  and  the  flags  shall  wither.  The  paper-reeds  by  the  brooks,  by  the 
mouth  of  the  brooks,  .  .  .  shall  wither,  be  driven  away,  and  be  no  more.' 

The  beauty  and  pertinency  of  this  imagery  of  casting  bread-corn  upon  the  surface  of  the 
waters  will  be  self-apparent,  when  we  consider  that  watees  is  the  prophetic  symbol  for 
'  peoples,  and  multitudes,  and  nations,  and  tongues'  {Aj)ocalypse  xvii.  15). 

'Thy  bread-corn'  signifies  that  which  is  thine  own,  and  has  been  honestly  acquired. 
Henry  justly  remarks,  '  It  is  no  charity,  but  injury,  to  give  that  winch  is  none  of  our  own  to 
give.'  Our  bread-corn  should  be  seed-corn.  Our  mercies  should  be  imparted  in  charity  to 
others,  that  others  may  share  with  us  in  the  bounties  of  heaven. 

The  covenant-promise  made  in  this  verse  to  tlie  spiritual  sower  of  seed  in  God's  vineyard 
is  not  the  assurance  (jf  a  present,  but  of  a  future  harvest  of  souls.  Instantaneous  conversions 
and  present  revivals,  blessed  be  God,  do  indeed  occur,  but  they  form  the  exception,  not  the 
rule.  As  the  cereal  seed  cast  into  the  ground  remains  latent  in  the  earth  before  the  appear- 
ance of '  first  the  blade,  then  the  ear,  and  after  that  of  the  full  corn  in  the  ear,'  so  in  general 
the  seed  of  the  gospel,  sown  by  man  and  implanted  by  the  Spirit  in  the  human  heart,  first 
imperceptibly  progresses  and  matures,  and  secondly  takes  root  downwards,  and  bears  fruit 
upward  to  God's  glory,  and  man's  eternal  salvation. 

Verse  3> 

As  the  clouds,  saturated  with  moisture  by  evaporation,  pour  down  rain  to  irrigate  and 
fertilize  the  earth,  so  believers,  recipients  of  spiritual  and  temporal  blessings  from  their 
Heavenly  Father,  are  obligated  with  those  blessings  to  benefit  the  souls  and  bodies  of  men.  As 
a  tree,  in  whatever  direction  it  may  fall,  remains  the  property  of  the  owner ;  so  wealth 
employed  to  God's  glory  is  not  treasure  lost,  but  will  receive  its  reward  of  grace  in  the  world 
to  come. 

Verse  4. 

To  understand  the  application  of  this  verse,  we  must  bear  in  mind  that  in  Judea  there 
are  only  two  seasons,  winter  and  s\immer.  Winter,  or  the  wet  season,  commences  with  the 
early  rain,  which  generally  falls  in  October,  is  characterized  by  continuous  wet,  with  brief  inter-, 
missions,  and  terminates  with  the  latter  rain,  which  falls  in  April  or  ^lay.  From  May  to 
October  is  the  dry  season,  dui-ing  which  the  sky  is  cloudless  ;  there  is  no  rain,  but  very  heavy 
dew.     The  early  or  sprouting  rain  moistens  the  arid  earth,  qualifies  it  for  cultivation  and 


VER.  1(3.]  •  ECCLESIASTES.  61 

sowing,  and  causeth  the  seed  sown  to  take  root  downward  and  bear  fniit  upward.  The  latter 
or  luii-vest  rain  fills  and  plims  the  ears  before  the  ingathering  of  tlie  seed-crops.  Hence  the 
agriculturist  of  Judea  must  be  prompt  to  plough  and  plant  his  land  immediately  after  the 
early  rains,  lest  the  subseciuent  heavy  showers  of  winter  should  ariest  field-operations ;  and 
must  quickly  gather  into  his  gamer  the  precious  bread-corn,  as  soon  as  the  fields  are  white 
and  ripe  for  tlie  hai'vest.  See  Eobinson's  Physical  Geography  of  the  Holy  Land,  pp.  263-268. 
The  two  fi.xed  and  determinate  seasons  of  Palestine  essentially  differ  from  the  variable  uncer- 
tain climate  of  the  British  Isles.  The  imagery  of  this  verse  is  derived  from  the  climate  of 
Palestine,  not  from  the  climate  of  England.  The  moral  taught  by  this  Palestinian  imagery  is, 
that  God's  children  should  be  always  ready  to  every  good  work,  to  promote  the  spiritual  and 
tempoi'al  interests  of  man,  knowing  that,  in  due  season,  they  shall  reap,  if  they  faint  not ; 
that  their  labour  shall  not  be  in  vain  in  the  Lord  ;  that  Christ  will  say  to  them  :  '  Inasmuch 
as  ye  have  done  it  unto  one  of  the  least  of  these  My  brethren,  ye  have  done  it  unto  me.' 

Verses  1-6. 

These  six  verses,  chiefly  and  almost  exclusively  admonitory  of  charity  to  the  soul.s  of 
men,  seem  a  special  exhortation  to  God's  children  to  be  faithful  witnesses  for  Christ.  1 
suggest  this  paraphrase  : — • 

Make  known  Messiah,  the  bread  of  life,  to  sinners  of  mankind,  because  labour  for  Clirist 
shall  not  be  in  vain  in  the  Lord.  Sow  the  seed  of  the  gospel  broadcast,  for  thou  knowest  not 
the  extent  of  evil  in  the  world.  As  the  clouds  saturated  with  moisture  irrigate  and  fertilize 
the  earth,  and  as  a  tree  prostrated  by  storm  remains  the  propertj-  of  the  owner,  so  the  seed  of 
the  gospel  you  sow  in  faith  shall  prosper  whereunto  God  hath  sent  it.  As  he  who,  after  the 
early  rain,  delays  to  plough  and  sow,  as  he  who,  after  the  latter  rain,  omits  to  reap,  so  baneful 
are  procrastination  and  unfaithfulness  in  God's  vineyard.  None  can  trace  the  course  of  the 
wind,  whence  it  cometh  and  whither  it  goeth,  none  can  understand  the  gi'owth  of  the  embryo 
in  the  womb  of  the  pregnant,  so  above  the  ken  of  human  perception  is  every  one  born  of  the 
Spirit.  In  the  morning  of  life  propagate  the  gospel,  in  the  evening  of  life  labour  for  God  in 
season  and  out  of  season,  and  be  thou  faithful  unto  death  ;  for  thou  knowest  not  which  of  the 
twain  shall  most  promote  God's  glory  and  man's  salvation. 


CHAPTER  XI.  VEESE  7  TO  CHAPTEE  XII.  VERSE  8. 

Cheerfulness  and  enjoyment  of  life  are  recommended  to  youth,  who  at  the 
same  time  are  solemnly  warned  against  the  deceit  and  sinfulness  of  the  human 
heart,  and  are  reminded  that  God  will  judge  all  men,  and  will  bring  into  judgment 
every  act  of  every  man,  whether  it  be  good  or  evil. 

Solomon  enjoins  the  young  to  dedicate  their  youth  to  God,  to  walk  in  His 
faith,  and  fear,  and  love,  and  to  prepare  for  death  and  judgment,  that  when  death 


62  ECCLESIASTES.  •  [chap/xi. 

shall  sever    their   souls  from  their  bodies,  they  may  enter  into  that  rest  which 
remaineth  to  the  people  of  God. 

Graphic  and  inimitable  allegorical  portraitures  of  old  age  and  death,  and  of 
their  premonitory  symptoms. 

7  Sweet  indeed  is  the  light, 

And  cheering  to  the  eyes  to  behold  the  sun. 

8  Therefore,  should  a  man  live  many  years,  let  him  rejoice  in  them  all, 
Yet  let  him  remember  the  days  of  darkness,  that  they  may  be 

many ; 
All  that  occiirreth  is  vanity. 

9  Rejoice,  0  young  man,  during  thy  youth, 

And  let  thy  heart  cheer  thee  during  the  days  of  thy  youth, 

But  0  thou  that  walkest  according  to  the  ways  of  thine  heart,  and 

according  to  the  sight  of  thine  eyes, 
Know^  thou  that  for  all  these  things 
God  will  bring  thee  into  judgment. 
10  Therefore  remove  sorrow^  from  thine  heart, 
And  dispel  evil  from  thy  body  ; 
For  childliood  and  the  morning  of  life  are  vanity. 

XII. 

1  Remember  now  thy  Creators  in  the  days  of  thy  youth, 
Before  the  days  of  evil  come, 

And  the  years  draw  nigh,  wherein  thou  shalt  say, 
'  I  have  no  pleasure  in  them.' 

2  Before  the  sun  and  the  light  both  of  the  moon  and  of  the  stars  are 

obscured, 
And  before  the  clouds  return  after  rain  ; 

3  In  the  day  when  the  guards  of  the  house  shall  tremble, 
And  the  men  of  might  shall  bow  themselves, 

And  the  grinders  shall  cease  because  they  are  feAv, 

And  those  that  look  out  of  the  windows  shall  become  dim, 

4  And  the  two-leaved  street-doors  shall  be  closed. 
When  the  sound  of  grinding  shall  be  low. 

And  he  shall  start  up  at  the  chirping  of  a  bird, 
And  all  the  daughters  of  song  shall  be  brought  low. 

5  Also  he  shall  be  afraid  to  ascend  a  height,  and  fears  shall  be  in 

the  way, 


VKK.  7-xii.  8.]  ECCLESIASTES.  63 

And  the  almond  shall  disgust,  and  the  locust  shall  be  loathsome, 

And  concupiscence  shall  cease, 

For  man  goeth  to  his  everlasting  home, 

And  the  mourners  go  about  the  streets. 

6  (Remember  now  thy  Creators  in  the  days  of  thy  youth), 
Before  the  silver  cord  is  paralysed, 

And  the  golden  balls  are  sunken  down. 
And  the  bucket  is  broken  at  the  spring. 
And  the  coiled  rope  is  run  off  at  the  well  : 

7  Then  shall  the  dust  return  to  the  earth  as  it  was, 
And  the  spirit  shall  return  unto  God  who  gave  it. 

8  Vanity  of  vanities,  saith  Khoheleth, 
Vanity  of  vanities,  all  is  vanity. 

Chapter  xi.  vekses  7-9. 

'  Solomon  does  not  coudemn  science,  prudence,  mirth,  riches,  honours,  etc.,  but  only  their 
abuse,  viz.,  the  useless  studies,  unreasonable  pursuits,  and  immoderate  desires  of  those  who 
pervert  God's  blessings  to  their  own  destruction.' — Khoheleth. 

Vekse  10, 

I  consider  that,  by  metonymy,  sorrow  and  evil  are  here  substituted  for  the  causes  of 
sorrow  and  evil,  and  that  the  meaning  of  the  verse  is :  '  Abstain  from  sin,  especially  from 
youthful  lusts,  which  will  bring  sorrow  to  thine  heart,  and  evil  and  suffering  to  thy  body.' 

Chapter  xii.  verse  1. 

The  Hebrew  word  rendered  creators  is  plural  in  305  Hebrew  manuscripts,  more  than  a 
moiety  of  all  the  Hebrew  manuscripts  of  Ecclesiastes  which  have  been  collated.  This  plural 
term  CREATORS,  implying  a  Trinity  in  Unity,  that  creation  was  the  work  of  three  Persons  in 
one  Godhead,  God  the  Father,  God  the  Son,  and  God  the  Holy  Ghost,  is  substantiated  by  the 
three  following  texts,  according  to  the  Hebrew  verity  :  Gen.  i.  26,  'Let  Us  make  man  in  Our 
image,  after  Our  likeness.'  Isaiah  liv.  5, '  Thy  Makers  are  thy  husbands,  Jehovah  of  Hosts  is 
His  name.'  Psalm  cxlix.  2, '  Let  Israel  rejoice  in  his  Creators.'  See  chapter  v.  8,  wlaere  the 
High  Ones  is  predicated  of  God,  and  see  Note  thereon  in  the  Critical  Appendix.  Cocceius, 
Parkhurst,  and  Julius  Bate  all  render  the  word  Creators  in  the  plural.  That  many  scribes 
should  have  substituted  the  singular  noun  in  the  place  of  the  plural,  and  that  the  ancient 
versions  should  have  rendered  Creator  instead  of  Creators,  need  excite  no  surprise,  when 
we  consider  the  ignorance  of  this  sublime  mystery  in  many  Israelites,  and  the  implacable 
liostibty  against  it  in  many  others.  But  that  any  monotheistic  scribe  should  have  written 
the  plural,  unless  the  plural  was  the  reading  of  his  protograph,  seems  an  utter  impossibility. 
Though,  for  some  inscrutable  reason,  Jehovah,  the  incommunicable  name  of  God,  nowhere 
occurs  in  Ecclesiastes,  yet  the  mystery  implied  in  the  combination  of  the  singidar  noun 
Jehovah  with  tlie  Hebrew  plural  Elohim  (God)  is  clearly  indicated  in  this  passage. 

Baj/s  of  Evil. — '  The  continuing  of  life  is  but  the  deferring  of  death.'—  Henry. 


64  ECCLESIASTES.  [chap.  xi. 

VeESE  2,  LINE  1. 

Obscuration  and  defect  of  mind,  intellect,  imagination,  and  memory,  which  enlighten  man 
as  the  sun,  and  the  moon,  and  the  stars  enlighten  the  universe. 

Verse  2,  line  2. 
Incessant  succession  and  recurrence  of  pains  and  griefs,  of  mental  and  bodily  infirmities, 
as  in  humid  regions  rain  incessantly  follows  rain. 

Vekse  3. 

The  guards  of  the  house — the  arms  and  hands. 
The  men  of  viic/ht — the  thighs,  legs,  and  feet. 

'  When  the  firm  columns  bend 

Beneath  its  weight,  unable  to  support 

The  tottering  ta,hvic.'--Khohehih. 

Tlie,  f/rinders — the  teeth. 

Those  that  look  out  of  the  windoivs — the  eyes  looking  through  their  orbits. 

Verse  4. 

The  two-leaved  street-doors — the  lips. 

The  soitnd  of  grinding — mastication  from  defect  of  teeth  is  noiseless  and  defective. 
(S'Art//  start  iqj  at  the  clLirping  of  a  bird — sleep  unsound  and  distui'bed. 
Baiightcrs  of  song — deafness  arising  from  the  ears  imperfectly  conveying  sounds  of  music 
or  voice. 

'  Music  itself  hath  lost  its  charms,  no  more 
The  sweetest  voice  or  tuneful  instrument 
Affect  the  deafen'd  ear.' — Khohcleth. 

Vekse  5. 

The  almond  and  the  loeust. — Appetite,  mastication,  and  digestion  fail  in  old  age.  The 
almond-fruit  and  the  edible  locust,  so  desired  and  palatable  in  youthful  days,  are  in  old  age 
loathed  and  rejected.  Leviticus  xi.  22  proves  that  the  species  of  locust  named  by  Solomon  in 
this  verse,  miscalled  in  our  version  thereof  and  in  Leviticus  a  grasshopi^er,  was  eaten  by  the  Jews. 

Niebuhr  recounts  four  species  of  locusts  eaten  by  the  Moslem  Arabs  and  Jews,  but  not 
by  the  Turks.  He  remarks  :  '  Europeans  do  not  understand  how  the  Arabs  can  eat  locusts 
with  pleasure.  The  Arabs,  who  have  had  no  intercourse  with  Christians,  in  their  turn  cannot 
believe  that  Christians  can  esteem  as  delicacies  oysters,  crabs,  shrimps,  lobsters,  etc.  etc' 
Niebuhr  states  that  in  all  the  towns  from  Babelmandeb  to  Bosra,  locusts  are  brought  to  market 
strung  together.  And  he  enumerates  many  different  methods  of  cooking  locusts  for  food  in 
Arabia. — Description  de  VAraiie,  par  ]\L  Niebuhr,  p.  151. 

'  The  locusts  are  an  agreeable,  Avholesome,  and  nutritious  aliment.  They  are  eaten  as 
meat,  are  ground  into  flour,  and  made  into  bread.  They  are  even  an  extensive  article  of 
commerce.' — Kitto's  Biblical  CycJopccdia. 

'  Locusts  are  here  an  article  of  food,  nay,  a  dainty  :  and  a  good  swarm  of  them  is  begged 
of  heaven  in  Arabia  no  less  fervently  than  it  woidd  be  deprecated  in  India  or  in  Syria.  The 
locust  of  Arabia  is  a  reddish-brown  insect,  twice  or  three  times  the  size  of  its  northern 
homonym,  resembling  a  large  prawn  in  appearance,  and  as  long  as  a  man's  little  finger,  which 


VKR.  7-xii.  S.]  ECCLESIASTES.  65 

it  equals  also  in  thickness.  This  locust,  when  boiled  or  fried,  is  said  to  be  delicious,  and 
boiled  and  fried  accordingly  they  are  to  an  incredible  extent.' — Palgrave's  Arabia,  vol.  ii. 
p.  138. 

'  Locusts  have  been  eaten  from  olden  times  as  well  as  the  carob-pod.  The  acridophagi 
were  locust-eaters,  and  locusts  have  been  and  still  are  objects  of  commerce,  and  are  esteemed 
a  delicacy  with  many  from  Morocco  to  the  Persian  Gulf — Cassell's  Bible  Dictionary. 

That  locusts  were  eaten  by  the  ancients  is  evident  from  the  sculptures  from  Konyunjik, 
now  in  the  British  Museum.  See  plate  of  men  bearing  dried  locusts  fastened  on  sticks,  from 
these  sculptures,  in  Fairbairn's  Imperial  Bible  Dictionary,  vol.  ii.  p.  106.  Diodorus  Siculus, 
Pliny,  Shaw,  Eawulf,  Price,  Jackson,  Burckhardt,  etc.  etc.,  testify  to  the  same  facts. 

Vekse  6. 

The  silver  cord — the  silvery  or  white  shining  tendons  or  ligaments,  by  which  the  muscles 
are  attached  to  the  bones,  and  by  the  elongation  or  contraction  of  which  the  limbs  are  moved. 

The  golden  balls — the  eye-balls  sunken  or  pressed  down  in  their  sockets,  and  dimmed  as 
regards  their  lustre  or  brightness.  Golden  may  refer  to  the  yellow  cadaverous  hue  which  the 
eyeballs  assume  in  death. 

The  bueket,  used  in  drawing  water,  alternatively  filled  and  emptied — the  heart,  which 
draws  up  the  blood  from  the  body  by  tlie  veins,  empties  the  lilood  into  the  lungs,  aird  thence, 
when  the  blood  has  received  its  vitalizing  power  from  the  absorption  of  oxygen,  receives  back 
the  vital  stream  of  life,  and  pours  it  through  the  arteries  again  into  the  body. 

The  spring — the  lungs,  the  fountain  or  source  of  life,  oxygenating  the  blood  by  scattering 
it  in  innumerable  ramifications  over  the  bronchial  cells,  and  thus  exposing  it  to  the  air. 

The  coiled  rope,  or  rope  coiled  round  the  windlass— -the  circulation  of  the  blood  in  the  body 
figuratively  denominated  the  well.  From  the  body  the  venous  blood  is  drawn,  and  into  the 
body  is  again  returned  in  never-ceasing  circuitous  flow,  whilst  life  remains. 

This  allegory,  thus  interpreted,  signifies  : — 

Before  the  sih'er  tendons  are  paralysed, 

And  the  limbs  have  lost  their  power  of  motion, 
And  the  bright  eyeballs  are  sunken  in  their  sockets, 

And  light  and  .•^ight  are  extinguished  in  them. 
And  the  heart  no  longer  fills  with  the  stream  of  life, 

Because  breath  is  excluded  from  the  lungs, 
And  the  lieart  no  longer  pulsates, 

And  circulation  ceases  in  the  body. 

Thus  sadly,  yet  oh  how  truthfully,  does  Khoheleth  describe  the  baptism  of  death,  the 
putting  off  the  earthly  tenement  of  clay,  the  separation  of  the  corruptible  from  the  incorrup- 
tible, the  four  stages  of  decay  culminating  in  death,  namely  : — 

Loss  of  power  in  the  limbs, 

Loss  of  sight  in  the  eyes. 

Loss  of  breath  in  the  lungs  and  of  pulsation  in  the  heart, 

Loss  of  circulation  in  the  body. 

Then  the  vital  stream  being  witlulrawn,  the  materials  of  the  body  corrupt  and  fall  to 
pieces,  separating  into  the  elementary  atoms  of  dust,  from  which  the  tenement  of  clay  wa.s 

I 


G6  ECCLESIASTES.  [chap.  xi. 

constructed,  whilst  the  soul  (i'vxv)  takes  its  flight  to  uukuown  space,  and  the  spirit  {irvevfj-a) 
returns  to  God  who  gave  it — 

Till  the  Lord  of  life  has  spoken, 

Till  the  chains  of  death  are  broken, 

Then  to  the  body  raised  in  might 

The  Lamb  shall  give  eternal  light 

And  a  well  of  water  flowing 

To  His  branches  endless  growing. 

Grafted  in  the  heavenly  tree. 

Saviour !  let  us  live  in  Thee. 
Then  shall  the  Alpha  and  Omega,  tlie  Beginning  and  the  Ending,  the  Eesurrection  and 
the  Life,  who  is  before  all  things,  and  by  whom  all  things  consist,  reunite  the  scattered 
elements  of  dust,  and  build  again  the  bones,  and  lay  sinews  (the  silver  cord)  upon  them,  and 
bring  flesh  upon  them,  and  cover  them  with  skin,  and  put  breath  into  them ;  and  all,  who 
have  been  planted  together  in  the  likeness  of  Christ's  death,  shall  be  planted  together  in  the 
likeness  of  Christ's  resurrection. 

This  allegorical  language  of  the  Book  of  Ecclesiastes  manifestly  indicates  the  circulation 
of  the  blood,  discovered  by  the  illustrious  Dr.  WiUiam  Harvey,  and  first  published  by  him  at 
Frankfort,  A.d.  1628.  But  this  fact  does  not  warrant  the  supposition  of  Dr.  John  Smith,  that 
Solomon  was  himself  acquainted  with  this  mystery  of  the  economy  of  the  human  frame,  that 
Solomon  discovered  it,  and  that  Dr.  Harvey  re-discovered  it.  Solomon  and  all  the  other 
writers  of  Scripture  wrote  as  they  were  moved  by  the  omniscient  Spirit.  But  the  inspired 
writers  have  handed  down  mysteries  for  our  illumination,  on  whom  the  ends  of  the  world  are 
come,  with  the  full  import  of  which  they  themselves  were  but  imperfectly  acquainted.  We 
have  no  warrant  to  assert  that  Solomon  practised  anatomy,  or  that  he  possessed  that  intimate 
knowledge  of  the  structure  of  the  human  body  which  can  only  be  acquired  by  dissection. 
Though  the  Bible  contains  the  germs  of  true  science,  it  was  not  designed  to  teach  scientific 
truth,  but  to  make  men  wise  to  salvation.  These  germs  of  science,  interspersed  in  Scripture, 
demonstrate  the  omniscience  and  prescience  of  God. 

For  a  full  explanation  of  Solomon's  allegorical  portraiture  of  old  age  and  death,  the  reader 
is. referred  to  the  ornate,  concise,  and  classical  volume  of  Dr.  Mead,  the  elaborate  dissertation 
of  Dr.   John   Smith,   and   the   philosophical,   soul-stu-ring   sermon   of  Bishop  Horsley  on 

Ecclesiastes  xLi.  7. 

Vekse  7. 

Man  consists  of  two  parts,  of  an  immortal  soul  and  an  organized  mortal  body.  Union  of 
soul  and  body  is  life.  Separation  of  soul  and  body  is  death.  Ee-animation  and  resurrection 
of  the  body,  and  its  reunion  with  the  soul,  is  resurrection-life, — when  God's  children  shall 
arise  in  Christ's  likeness,  and  shall  be  ever  with  the  Lord.  '  We  all  look,  not  only  for  the 
calorification  of  our  souLS,  but  of  our  bodies  in  the  life  to  come.'— (Joseph  Mode.)  To  all  whose 
names  are  written  in  the  Lamb's  book  of  life,  free  from  every  defilement  of  soul  and  from  every 
infirmity  of  body,  possessing  reunion  with,  and  recognition  of,  aU  who  have  died  in  the  Lord, — 
to  them  will  ever  be  perfection  of  sanctificatiou  and  plenitude  of  glory,— 'what  eye  hath  not 
seen,  what  ear  hath  not  heard,  and  what  it  hath  not  entered  into  the  heart  of  man  to  conceive.' 

Universality  of  death  is  the  result  of  universality  of  sin.  Both  evidence  man's  need  of 
a  Mediator,  mighty  to  save.  Messiah  is  the  resurrection  and  the  life.  Messiah,  the  good 
Shepherd,  'laid  down  His  life  for  the  sheep'  {John  x.  15),  for  all  their  sins,  both  original  and 
actual.     Messiah,  'the  propitiation  for  the  whole  world'  {I  John  ii.  2),  'tasted  of  death  for 


VER.  7-xii.  8.]  ECCLESIASTES.  67 

every  man'  {Hcbmvs  ii.  9),  having  made  a  full,  perfect,  and  sufficient  sacrifice,  oblation,  and 
satisfaction  for  the  original  or  birth-sin  of  every  child  of  Adam,  of  the  lost  as  well  as  of  the 
saved,  so  that  the  whole  human  race  have  a  beneficial  interest  in  Christ's  redemption,'  and  all 
who  die  in  infancy,  before  they  attain  the  knowledge  of  good  and  evil,  are  redeemed  from 
eternal  perdition.  Thus  far  more  than  a  moiety  of  the  human  race  have  been  redeemed  by 
jVIessiah's  vicarious  blood-shedding  from  sin  and  death  and  hell,  and  have  been  saved  with 
an  everlasting  salvation. 

Verse  8. 

Kliohdeth,  that  is,  the  REPENTANT  INVALID.     See  note  on  i.   1,  2,  Preface,  and  Critical 
Appendix. 


XX. 

CHAPTER  XIT.— ATEESES  9-12. 

The  design  of  Solomon  in  writing  this  book  was  to  impart  spiritual  knowledge 
in  sententious  Oriental  diction,  primarily  adapted  to  Jewish  tastes  and  feelings. 

This  book  was  written  under  the  inspired  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  is, 
in  common  with  all  the  other  canonical  Scriptures,  the  voice  of  the  good  and 
gracious  Shepherd  to  all  nations,  languages,  tongues,  and  peoples. 

In  this  book  God  speaks  to  man.  From  this  book  man  should  seek  Divine 
admonition.  In  exact  proportion  as  human  writings  contradict  this  or  other 
portions  of  the  Bible,  so  far  they  emanate  from  him  who  was  a  liar  and  a  murderer 
from  the  beginning,  and  ought  summarily  to  be  rejected  by  aU. 

9  Furthermore,  because  Khoheleth  was  wise, 
He  again  taught  the  people  knowledge, 
For  he  had  pondered,  and  investigated,  and  arranged  many  proverbs. 

10  Khoheleth  sought  to  find  out  acceptable  words, 
And  to  write  righteousness,  even  words  of  truth. 

11  The  words  of  the  wise  resemble  goads, 
And  resemble  plantation-fences, 
They  are  sent  forth  from  one  Shepherd 
To  be  ingatherers  (unto  Him). 

12  And  further,  by  these,  my  son,  be  thou  admonished  : 
Of  making  many  books  there  is  no  end. 

And  much  study  is  a  weariness  of  the  flesh. 

Verses  9  and  10. 
Klwhckth,  that  is,  the  REPENTANT  invalid.     See  note  on  i.  I,  2,  Preface,  and  Critical 
Appendix. 


68  ECCLESIASTES.  [chap,  xit: 

Vekse  9. 

Was  wise— was  of  the  mimber  of  those  who  were  not  only  recipients  of  heavenly  wisdom 
to  their  own  salvation,  but  who  were  inspired  to  write,  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy 
Ghost,  Holy  Scriptures,  which  make  wise  unto  salvation  through  faith  in  Christ  Jesus. 

ITe  agai7i  taught. — He  had  previously  instructed  the  people  in  the  books  of  Proverbs  and 
Canticles.  This  Book  was  his  third  appointed  task,  to  testify  to  them  of  Messiah,  to  teach 
them  how  to  live  and  how  to  che,  to  edify  their  souls,  and  make  them  wise  unto  salvation. 

The  Hebrew  word  rendered  Pkoverbs  signifies  also  Pakables,  and  therefore  compre- 
hends both  the  Book  of  Proverbs  and  also  the  Parable  or  Allegory  of  the  Canticles.  The 
remark  of  Jerome  is  very  striking :  '  For  the  instruction  of  the  people  Solomon  composed 
proverbs  and  parables,  which  present  an  external  signification,  but  convey  also  an  internal 
recondite  sense.  That  parables  teach  more  than  the  patent  meaning  of  the  words  is  evident 
from  the  fact,  that  our  Lord  spake  to  the  multitude  in  proverbs  and  parables,  but  privately 
expounded  their  meaning  to  His  disciples.  Hence  it  is  self-evident,  that  the  teaching  of  the 
Book  of  Proverbs  is  not,  as  simple  folk  imagine,  always  externally  patent,  but,  as  gold  is 
extracted  from  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  as  the  kernel  is  found  inside  the  nut,  as  chestnuts  are 
enveloped  in  rough,  hirsute,  prickly  pericarps,  so  in  the  Book  of  Proverbs  the  Divine  teaching 
is  to  be  laboriously  and  diligently  investigated  and  sought  out.' 

Verse  10. 
To  write  righteousness  is  to  write  the  righteous  words  of  God,  to  write  God's  righteous 
will  indefectibly,  without  human  addition  or  subtraction.  Solomon  coidd  not  so  have  written 
unless  he  had  been  enlightened  by  the  inspiration  of  the  eternal  Spirit.  Furthermore, 
Solomon  clothed  the  righteous  will  of  God  in  scripture  acceptable  to  man,  in  idiomatic  lan- 
guage, perspicuous  and  appropriate  both  to  the  Jews  and  to  the  neighbouring  nations. 

Vekse  11. 

AH  the  words  of  Scripture  emanate  from  the  Shepherd  and  Bishop  of  Souls,  who  by  the 
Spirit's  infallibility  enlightened  and  guided  all  the  writers  of  the  canonical  Scriptures,  so  that 
Scripture,  as  it  came  from  the  Deity,  is  gold  seven  times  purified  in  the  fire,  free  from  all  dross 
and  all  human  adulteration,  defect,  or  error.  Equality  of  inspiration  pertains  to  every  portion 
of  God's  Word.  The  Old  Testament  is  as  much  inspired  as  the  New  Testament.  Biblical 
history  is  as  much  inspired  as  prophecy.  The  Epistles  are  as  much  inspired  as  the  four 
Gospels,  as  the  very  words  recorded  to  have  been  spoken  by  Christ  during  His  incarnation. 
These  words  stinmlate  the  slothful,  the  indolent,  the  lethargic,  to  faith  and  obedience,  and 
fence  and  guard  from  sin,  the  world,  and  the  devil,  the  trees  of  righteousness,  which  God  hath 
planted.  The  words  of  Scripture  impressed  on  the  heart  by  the  Spirit  are  God's  instriunent 
to  ingather  soids  into  the  kingdom  of  grace,  and  to  prepare  them  for  the  kingdom  of  glory. 
As  in  verse  9  Solomon  calls  himself  wise  in  reference  to  the  wisdom  manifested  inliis  inspired 
writings,  so  in  verse  1 1  he  applies  the  term  wise  to  all  the  other  writers  of  the  canonical 
Scriptures. 

The  exclusion  of  the  Scriptures  from  the  national  schools  of  Ireland,  and  from  Govern- 
ment education  in  India,  is  national  dishonour  to  the  God  of  the  Bible.  England's  sin,  unless 
departed  from  and  .repented  of,  will  cause  England's  punishment.  Education  from  which  tlie 
Bible  is  systematically  excluded  is  not  from  above,  but  from  beneath. 


VER.  9  12.]  ECCLESIASTES.  69 

Vehse  12. 

'  Rabbi  Solomon  interprets  the  words  "  by  these,  my  son,  be  admonished,"  of  the  books 
of  sacred  Scripture.  He  writes  :  "  And  furtlicr  by  the  books  of  sacred  Scripture,  my  son,  be 
admonished."  ' — Nicholas  dc  Lyra. 

Seek  instruction  primarily  from  the  Word  of  God.  Test  aU  human  writings  by  this 
iufalUble  standard :  '  To  the  hxw  and  to  the  testimony :  if  men  speak  not  according  to  this 
word,  it  is  because  tliere  is  no  light  in  them'  {Isaiah  vui.  20).  How  much  error  is  current 
in  the  world,  because  men  draw  their  rehgiou  from  the  turbid  streams  of  human  invention, 
in  preference  to  the  pellucid  fountain  of  eternal  truth,  the  Word  of  God ! 

Nothing  human — not  books,  nor  arts,  nor  literature,  nor  science — can  impart  salvation. 
Xone  can  sincerely  and  experimentally  say  :  '  This  God  is  my  God  for  ever  and  ever,  He  shall 
be  MY  guide  unto  death,'  '  Behold  God  is  my  salvation,  I  will  trust  and  not  be  afraid,'  but 
they  who  have  been  born  from  above,  who  have  been  taught  and  enlightened  by  the  Spirit, 
who  by  regeneration  have  been  grafted  into  Christ,  who  by  the  sovereignty  of  Divine  grace 
have  been  made  fruit-bearing  branches  of  the  true  Viue,  having  the  law  of  God  written  upon 
the  fleshly  tablets  of  their  hearts.     Instated  in  the  everlasting  covenant, 

'  These  all  to  the  end  shall  endure. 

As  sure  as  the  earnest  is  given : 

More  hap2)y,  but  not  more  secui-e, 

The  glorified  spirits  in  heaven.' 


XXL 

CHAPTER  XIL— VERSES  1.3,  U. 

The  final  section  of  this  didactic  poem  inculcates  three  fundamental  truths  :- 

1 .  That  the  fear  oi  the  Lord  is  the  beoinnino-  of  wisdom. 

2.  That  this  fear,  implanted  in  the  heart  by  the  Spirit,  will  ever  be  jjroduc- 
tive  of  prompt  obedience  to  God's  will,  and  of  the  discharge  of  all  prescribed  duties 
to  God  and  man. 

3.  That  the  judgment-day,  when  '  the  dead,  small  and  great,  shall  stand  before 
God,'  when  '  the  books  shall  be  opened,'  when  '  the  dead  shall  be  judged  out  of  those 
things  written  in  the  books,'  will  be  a  day  of  universal  revelation,  universal  retri- 
bution, universal  separation  of  the  sheep  from  the  goats,  universal  consignment  to 
sempiteruity  of  glory  or  sempiternity  of  misery. 

13  To  the  conclusion  from  this  whole  disquisition  let  us  be  obedient, 

'  Fear  thou  God,  and  obey  His  commandments,' 

Because  this  (conclusion)  every  man  (should  obey), 
14:  Because  God  will  bring  every  work  into  judgment, 

With  resj^ect  to  every  secret  matter, 

Whether  it  be  good  or  whether  it  be  evil. 


'70  ECCLESIASTES.  [ohaf.  xii.  13,  14. 

VeKSES  13  AND  H. 

'  Here  let  us  end 
The  great  inquiry.     Since  not  wealth  nor  power, 
Nor  pleasure's  tempting  charms,  nor  even  those 
Of  science,  still  more  luring,  better  skilled 
To  flatter  human  pride  ;  in  fine,  since  nought 
Below  the  sun  can  sohd  bliss  afford, 
Where  shall  we  find  tliat  sovereign  good,  for  which 
The  soul  is  ever  panting  ?     Hear  the  sum 
Of  our  instructions  :  Whatsoe'er  the  wise 
In  every  age  have  taught,  is  all  compressed 
In  one  short  precept :  let  an  awful  sense 
Of  God's  almighty  power  and  boundless  love 
Influence  thy  life,  and  keep  His  righteous  laws  ; 
Thou  need'st  to  seek  no  farther ;  this  the  soul 
And  substance  of  religion ;  all  beside. 
An  empty  shadow  :  For  this  end  alone 
Was  man  created  ;  his  whole  happines.'j 
On  tliis  depends.' — Khoheleth. 


Si^a-n!;„30- 


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PROOFS  THAT  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS  EXCAVATED  A  NAVIGABLE  CANAL 
FEOil  THE  NILE  TO  THE  EED  SEA,  AND  THAT  THE  NAVIGATION  OF 
THIS  CANAL  WAS  THE  ONLY  ROUTE  WHEREBY  THE  MERCHANT  FLEET 
OF  SOLOMON  COULD  SAIL  FROM  EZION-GEBER  TO  TARSHISH,  AND 
FROM  TARSHISH  TO  EZION-GEBER  EVERY  THREE  YEARS. 


The  larger  portion  of  the  treasures  of  gold  and  silver  amassed  by  Solomon  was 
imported  into  Palestine  by  bis  two  fleets,  built  at  Ezion-geber  on  tbe  Red  Sea.  One 
fleet  navigated  tbe  lengtb  of  tbe  Red  Sea  and  of  tbe  Persian  Gulf,  saiUng  round  tbe 
peninsula  of  Arabia,  and  coasting  and  traflicking  witb  tbe  entire  sea-sbore  of  tbe 
kingdom  of  tbe  Queen  of  Sbeba.  Tbis  fleet  imported  tbe  greatest  part  of  tbe  gold, 
also  almug-trees  and  precious  stones.  Wbetber  tbis  fleet  traded  as  far  as  Hindostan 
writers  are  not  agreed.  To  tbe  best  of  my  knowledge  no  proof  bas  ever  been 
adduced  tbat  tbe  mercantile  marine  of  Solomon  ever  traded  witli  India,  or  tbat  tbe 
wise  and  royal  autbor  of  Ecclesiastes  bad  any  direct  communication  witb  any 
country  or  people  eastward  of  tbe  river  Indus.  Tbe  otber  fleet  'went  to  Tarshish' 
(2  Cbrou.  ix.  21),  and  is  tberefore  called  'a  navy  of  Tarshish'  (l  Kings  x.  22), 
and  brougbt  back  triennially  a  freigbt  of  '  gold,  silver,  ivory,  apes,  and  peacocks.' 
I  prefer  to  render  '  gold,  silver,  elephants'  teeth,  trunks  of  trees,  and  masts 
FOR  ships.'  Tbe  commodities  represented  by  tbe  two  last  nouns  were  constituent 
parts  of  tbe  freigbt  or  cargo  imported  into  Ezion-geber  by  tbe  Tarsbisb  fleet.  Apes 
and  peacocks,  if  sometimes  brougbt  for  amusement  or  exbibitiou,  could  scarcely  be 
designated  part  of  tbe  triennial  freigbt.  A  writer  of  tbe  past  generation  sbrewdly 
asks  :  '  Would  Solomon's  dealing  in  sucb  commodities  bave  been  any  proof  of  bis 
wisdom  V  We  would  also  remark,  tbat  gold,  silver,  ivory,  apes,  and  peacocks  were 
not  of  l)ulk  suflicient  for  tbe  freigbt  of  a  single  sbip,  mucb  less  of  tliis  navy  of 
Tarshish.  Lexicograpbers  bave  concocted  derivations  of  tbese  two  words  from 
tbe  languages  of  India,  languages  altogetber  unknown  to  Solomon.  Tbese  terms 
occur  only  in  Kings  and  Cbronicles,  and  are  confessedly  aud  by  universal  consent 
foreign  nouns  embodied  in  tbe  Hebrew  Scriptures.  Botb  nouns  occur  in  Coptic, 
wbicb   was   botb   tbe  motber   tongue  of  tbe  daughter  of  Pbaraob,  tbe  first  wife  of 


72  ECCLESIASTES. 

King  Solomon,  and  the  language  of  Lower  Egypt,  traversed  by  this  Tarshiah  fleet. 
They  exactly  correspond  with  the  Hebrew  terms  in  Kings  and  Chronicles.  The 
former  noun  will  be  found  in  page  1 1 4  of  the  Coptic  Lexicon  of  La  Croze  and 
Scholtz,  edited  by  Woide,  namely,  'Xllv4,  o-reXexo?,  aebor  truncus  caudex,'  and 
in  page  2  72  of  the  Coptic  Lexicon  of  Peyron,  where  it  is  rendered  '  irvefn-iv,  ramus, 
PALMES,  a-reXexo'i,  TRUNCUS.'  The  secoud  noun  occurs  in  page  25  of  the  Coptic 
Lexicon  of  La  Croze  and  Scholtz,  namely, '  GUIR,  malus,  arbor  navis,'  and  in  page 
5 1  of  the  Coptic  Lexicon  of  Peyron,  where  it  is  rendered  '  malus  navis.' 

I  could  have  wished  to  corroborate  the  meaning  of  these  two  Coptic  terms  by 
reference  to  the  dialect  of  Upper  Egypt,  but  a  good  Sahidic  lexicon  is  yet  a  desi- 
deratum. Dr.  Ford,  Principal  of  Magdalen  Hall,  Oxford,  whilst  editing  the  remains 
of  the  Sahidic  New  Testament,  prepared  a  Sahidic  lexicon  for  the  press,  and  showed 
it  to  me  a  few  weeks  before  his  decease,  stating  his  intention  to  publish  it,  and 
also  a  Sahidic  version  of  Job.  After  the  death  of  Dr.  Ford,  I  called  on  his  son 
Frederick  Ford,  Esq.,  but  could  obtain  no  information  respecting  this  manuscript. 
The  disappearance  of  this  Sahidic  lexicon  is  an  irreparable  loss  to  Oriental  literature. 
This  manuscript  Sahidic  lexicon  filled  a  quarto  "book  about  the  size  of  the  Arabic 
Grammar  of  Erpenius,  edited  by  Golius.  It  was  most  carefully  written.  AVhilst  1 
was  turning  over  its  pages  Dr.  Ford  stated  that  it  was  quite  ready  for  the  press, 
and  that  on  receipt  of  letters  he  expected  from  Germany,  he  meant  to  pul)lish  both 
this  Sahidic  lexicon  and  the  Sahidic  version  of  Job.  The  next  intelligence  I 
received  of  Dr.  Ford  was  the  announcement  of  his  decease.  This  did  not  surprise 
me,  as  when  I  called  he  received  me  in  his  study,  in  his  dressing-gown  and  slippers, 
being  (Bger.  Never  will  be  erased  from  my  memory  his  condescending  kindness 
in  so  freely  conversing  with  me,  then  an  undergraduate,  on  Oriental  literature,  and 
showing  me  his  literary  treasures,  especially  the  subscription  copy  of  Walton "s 
Polyglott,  formerly  belonging  to  Bishop  Butler. 

Prime  mast-timber  was  more  essential  to  ancient  than  to  modern  ships. 
Ancient  ships,  even  carrying  600  men,  were  almost  entirely  propelled  by  one  large 
square  sail  suspended  on  one  mast.  As  the  strain  of  the  mast  on  the  hull  rendered 
it  necessary  to  frap  or  undergird,  and  ropes  for  frapping  were  an  essential  part  of 
the  ship's  gear,  so  the  strain  of  the  huge  square  sail  on  the  mast  required  the 
hoicest  and  toughest  wood  for  the  mast.  The  import  of  mast-timber  into  Ezion- 
geber  would  be  far  less  expensive  than  the  land-carriage  of  trees  from  Lebanon  to 
Ezion-geber.  If  it  be  objected  to  this  proposed  rendering  from  the  Coptic,  that 
the  ancient  versions  and  our  authorized  version  concur,  we  reply,  that  no  writer  has 
ever  followed  implicitly  and  in  all  things  the  ancient  versions.  Do  not  the  ancient 
versions  designate  Solomon  A  preacher,  who  never  preached  one  sermon  in  all  his 
life? 

The  supposition  of  a  Tarshish  in  the  Indian  Ocean  is  a  myth.  No  Tarshish  in 
the  Indian  Ocean  is  recorded  in  any  history,  sacred  or  profane,  nor  is  there  any 
historic  mention  of  ships  having  been  built  by  King  Solomon  on  the  shores  of  the 


c 


& 


ECCLESIASTES.  73 

Mediterranetan  Sea.  The  transportation  by  land  of  the  'navy  of  Tarshish'  from 
the  Red  Sea  to  the  Mediterranean,  and  from  the  Mediterranean  to  the  Eed  Sea, 
seems  utterly  impracticable.  These  are  groundless  inventions  concocted  to  evade  a 
difficulty,  and  to  explain  away  the  Scriptural  assertion,  that  ships  were  built  at 
Ezion-geber  to  sail  to  Tarshish.  The  very  building  of  this  fleet  at  a  port  of  the  Red 
Sea  evidently  shows  that  the  Red  Sea  was  its  home-station.  If  its  voyages  termi- 
nated on  the  coast  of  the  Mediterranean,  why  did  not  Hiram  construct  it  at  Tyre, 
and  thus  obviate  the  Herculean  labour  of  transportation  ?  The  only  Tarshish  of 
Scripture  is  a  seaport  on  the  coast  of  Spain,  not  for  from  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar, 
and  the  only  two  courses  whereby  a  fleet  could  sail  from  the  Red  Sea  to  Tarshish, 
are  by  the  circumnavigation  of  Africa,  or  by  the  transit  of  the  ancient  canal  of 
Sesostris,  aliaa  Rameses  ii.,  from  Suez  to  the  Nile,  descending  the  Nile,  and  coasting 
the  southern  shores  of  the  Mediterranean  to  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar.  (See  Map  of 
Africa.)  The  Periplus  of  Hanno,  and  other  recorded  attempts  to  circumnavigate 
Africa,  demonstrate  the  utter  impracticability  of  the  former  course  trieunially  Ijy 
any  merchant  fleet  of  antiquity.  The  length  of  the  outward  and  homeward  voyage, 
circumnavigating  Africa,  would  exceed  30,000  miles — more  than  the  cii'cumference 
of  the  earth  ! ! !  The  length  of  the  voyage  forwards  and  backwards  by  the  canal  of 
Sesostris  would  be  less  than  5500  miles,  of  which  the  distance  from  Suez  to  the 
Mediterranean  would  be  inland  navigation  in  smooth  water. 

In  this  age,  when  infidelity  so  lamentably  prevails,  difficulties  in  the  inter- 
pretation of  Scripture,  which  may  be  stumbling-blocks  to  sincere  inquirers,  demand 
investigation  and  solution.  The  Scriptures  state  that  Solomon  built  his  fleets  at 
Ezion-geber,  and  ascribe  to  him  no  other  port  of  ship-building.  They  likewise 
assert,  that  one  of  his  merchant-fleets  traded  triennially  with  Tarshish.  The  pro- 
blem how  ancient  merchant-ships  built  on  the  Red  Sea  could  be  navigated  to  Spain 
has  ever  been  a  crux  interpretum.  The  transit  by  the  canal  of  Sesostris  solves  the 
problem,  and  demonstrates  the  practicability  of  what  the  Scriptures  assert.  The 
merchant-ships  of  Solomon,  especially  those  of  his  Tarshish  fleet,  were  doubtless  of 
the  finest  build  and  of  the  largest  size  then  constructed  by  the  ancients,  yet  were 
solely  and  exclusively  employed  as  coasting-vessels.  Both  fleets  continuously 
hugged  the  shore,  and  probably  never  on  any  one  occasion  sailed  out  of  sight  of  land. 

If  it  be  asked,  how  it  can  be  proved  that  the  Tarshish  fleet  of  Solomon  navi- 
gated the  canal  of  Sesostris,  the  reply  is  that  1  Kings  ix.  26  asserts  that  Solomon 
built  his  ships  at  Ezion-geber,  and  2  Chron.  ix.  21  asserts  that  the  king's  ships 
WENT  TO  Tarshish  ;  and  2  Chron.  xx.  3  6  teaches  that  Jehoshaphat  built  ships  at 
Ezion-geber  '  to  go  to  Tarshish.'  The  word  of  God  cannot  be  broken.  To  effect 
this  voyage,  the  author  submits,  there  are  only  two  courses, — one  by  the  circum- 
navigation of  Africa,  rounding  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope ;  the  other  by  the  transit  of 
this  canal.  The  former  course  was  impracticable  to  the  merchant-ships  and  seaman- 
ship of  antiquity.  Hence  of  necessity  results  the  conclusion,  that  Scripture  implies, 
though  it  does  not  specifically  state,  the  adoption  of  the  other  course,  namely,  the 

K 


U  ECCLESIASTES. 

navigation  of  the  canal  of  Sesostris  1jy  this  merchant  fleet  of  Solomon.  Had  not 
this  fleet  passed  through  Egypt,  and  communicated  to  Israel  the  Egyptian  method 
of  irrigation  and  agriculture,  how  could  the  imagery  of  chap.  xi.  1,  '  Cast  thy  bread 
uuon  the  waters,  and  thou  shalt  find  it  after  many  days,'  have  been  intelligible  to 
the  Jews  in  the  days  of  Solomon  ? 

It  would  be  most  singular,  should  the  engineering  skill  of  ancient  Egypt  in 
the  days  of  Sesostris  surpass  in  efficiency  the  skill  of  the  engineers  displayed  in  the 
construction  of  the  French  canal  from  the  Mediterranean  Sea  to  Suez.  The  level 
of  the  Mediterranean  is  ordinarily  the  same  as  the  level  of  the  Red  Sea.  Hence  the 
French  canal  must  be  a  gigantic  dike  filled  with  stagnant  water.  The  Egyptian 
canal,  on  the  contrary,  having  its  course  from  the  NUe,  which  empties  itself  hj  rapid 
currents  into  the  Mediterranean,  had  a  continuous  flow  of  water  from  the  Nile  to 
Suez.  The  Egyptian  canal  was  most  eflicient  for  navigation,  and  only  required 
occasional  excavation  to  remove  the  sand  which  had  drifted  or  fallen  into  it.  Time 
will  show  whether  the  French  canal  wUl  prove  as  efficiently  navigable  as  that  con- 
structed by  Sesostris  ;  and  wiU  manifest  the  relative  advantages  and  disadvantages 
of  a  staanant  canal  contrasted  with  those  resulting  from  a  current  stream. 

Strabo,  Pliny,  Aristotle,  and  other  authorities,  aftirm  the  existence  of  this 
canal,  and  refer  its  formation  to  Rameses  ii.,  Sesostris,  or  other  ancient  Pharaohs. 
Herodotus  ascribes  its  original  excavation  to  Pharaoh-Necho,  misled  by,  or  mis- 
uilderstandiug,  his  Egyptian  informant,  and  attributes  to  Pharaoh-Necho  credit 
which  solely  pertains  to  Sesostris,  alias  Rameses  ii.,  who  originated  this  canal, 
whereas  Pharaoh  Necho  merely  cleansed  it  from  accumulations  of  sand,  and  restored 
its  pristine  navigation.  Some  parts  at  least  of  this  canal,  now  filled  with  the  sand 
of  the  desert,  were  in  use  long  after  the  Christian  era.  Solomon's  marriage  with 
Pharaoh's  daughter  would  secure  him  its  free  and  uninterrupted  navigation. 

The  length  of  this  canal  must  have  exceeded  one  hundred  miles  from  its 
circuitous  route,  traces  of  which  are  now  in  many  parts  visible  from  Suez  to  the 
north  of  Belbays.  From  Suez,  the  direction  was  north  through  the  ancient  Bitter 
Lakes,  and  then  by  a  detour  its  course  was  westerly,  passing  by  or  near  to  Shekh- 
Hanaydik,  El-Rigabeh,  and  Ras-el-Wadi,  to  the  Nile.  (See  the  sketch-map  of  this 
ancient  canal.)  Herodotus  states  that  the  navigation  of  this  canal  occupied  four 
days.  Now  Strabo  informs  us  that  the  current  always  flowed  from  the  Nile  to  the 
Red  Sea,  whereby  the  water  of  the  Bitter  Lakes  was  sweetened,  and  fish  and  water- 
fowl, previously  unknown  in  the  lakes,  abounded.  As  Herodotus  obtained  his 
information  in  Egypt,  it  seems  to  follow  that  the  navigation  of  four  days  was  with 
THE  CUERENT  from  the  Nile  to  the  Red  Sea;  but  that  against  the  current, 
from  the  Red  Sea  to  the  Nile,  the  navigation  would  occupy  a  proportionably  longer 
time. 

The  width  of  this  canal  Herodotus  affirms  to  have  been  sufficient  for  the  pas- 
sac^e  of  two  triremes  side  by  side.  The  existing  mounds,  from  one  and  two  feet  to 
fifteen  and  twenty  feet  in  height,  are  generally  from  thirty  to  forty  yards  apart, 


ECCLESIASTES.  75 

caused  by  the  flilliug  in  of  the  sand  from  each  side.  The  canal  was  doubtless  of 
different  widths  according  to  local  requirements,  but  appears  in  every  part  to  have 
been  sufficiently  wide  and  deep  to  admit  the  navigation  side  by  side  of  two  of  the 
largest  vessels  of  antiquity  throughout  its  whole  extent. 

Vestiges  of  ancient  towns  built  on  the  borders  of  this  canal  are  now  clearly  to 
be  traced.  Among  the  debris  of  Abookesayd  or  E-Sagheea  (probably  Heroopolis) 
Sir  Gardner  Wilkinson  discovered  a  monument  bearing  the  sculptures  and  name  of 
Rameses  11.,  otherwise  called  Sesostris,  the  original  projector  and  excavator  of  this 
canal. 

See  Herodotus  11.  158. 

Strabo  xvn.  1,  25,  26. 

Zach's  Monatl.  Correspondenz,  vol.  xxvi.  p.  385. 

Wilkinson's  Ancient  Egyiitians,  vol.  i.  p.  69. 
„  Egypt  and  Thebes,  vol.  i.  p.  310. 

Robinson's  Palestine,  vol.  i.  pp.  586,  588. 
See  also  Gesenii  Thesaurus  Linguce  HebrcBCB  under  K'^ti'iri,  and  Vitringa  on 
Isaiah,  in  which  elaborate  commentary  the  author  establishes  two  positions — 
1.  That  the  Tarshish  of  the  Old  Testament  is  a  seaport  on  the  coast  of  Spain  ; 
and  2.  That  the  circumnavigation  of  Africa  was  impracticable  by  the  merchant- 
ships  of  Solomon. 

Solomon,  by  his  two  merchant-fleets  Ijuilt  at  Ezion-geber,  annually  imported 
from  Ophir  and  Tarshish  into  Judea  six  hundred  and  sixty-six  talents  of  gold. 
Exodus  xxxviii.  25  and  26  proves  that  the  weight  of  the  Jewish  talent  exceeded 
one  hundred  pounds  Troy  weight.  Each  pound  of  pure  gold  without  alloy  would 
be  worth  full  fifty  pounds.  So  that  Solomon's  importation  of  gold  greatly  exceeded 
three  millions  of  pounds  sterling.  This  computation  is  grounded  on  the  supposition, 
that  the  Hebrew  talent  of  gold  was  equivalent  in  weight  to  the  Hebrew  talent  of 
silver.  ]\Iadden  and  other  authors  of  eminence  infer  from  a  passage  in  Josephus, 
which,  however,  admits  of  a  different  interpretation,  that  the  talent  of  gold  was 
double  the  weight  of  the  talent  of  silver,  and  Madden  estimates  its  weight  at 
1,290,000  grains.  According  to  this  calculation,  the  value  of  gold  annually 
imported  by  Solomon  was  more  than  doulile  the  amount  I  have  stated  above.  To 
this  yearly  import  into  Judea  of  six  hundred  and  sixty-six  talents  of  gold,  be 
the  value  more  or  less,  we  must  add  Solomon's  importation  from  Arabia,  Lower 
Eg'}qDt,  North  Africa,  and  Spain,  of  silver,  ivory,  precious  stones,  spices,  and 
timber — the  precious  metals  he  purchased  from  chapmen  and  others  who 
trafficked  on  their  own  account  (1  Kings  x.  15,  and  2  Chronicles  ix.  14) — the 
presents  and  contributions  he  received  from  neighljouring  monarchs  and  princes 
— and  the  taxation  he  levied  on  Judea  (1  Kings  xii.  and  2  Chronicles  x.)  Thus, 
in  wealth  chiefly  acquired  by  this  lucrative  commerce,  as  well  as  in  adminis- 
trative wisdom,  Solomon  surpassed  all  his  contemporaries,  and  was  incomparably 


76  ECCLESIASTES. 

the  richest  and  wisest  monarch  who  ever  swayed  a  sceptre.  By  this  prosperity 
Satan  blinded  his  eyes,  secularized  his  heart,  and  caused  his  backsliding  and  tem- 
porary apostasy.  Few  men  can  bear  prosperity.  The  fall  of  Solomon  should  warn 
all  to  watch  and  pray  against  sin,  the  world,  and  the  devil.  '  Wherefore  let  him 
that  thinketh  he  standeth,  take  heed  lest  he  fall'  (1  Corinthians  x.  12).  '  What  I 
say  unto  you  I  say  unto  all.  Watch  '  {Mark  xiii.  37). 


CRITICAL    APPENDIX. 


DE  CARMINE  DIDACTICO. 

Alterum  est  Salomonis  opus  ad  hanc  speciem  Didacticam  pariter  referendum, 
cui  titulus  nSnp,  sive  Concionator  ;  vel  potius  fortasse  Sapientia  Concionatrix  :  in 
quo  quanquam  multte  sint  passim  intersperste  disjuuctse  sententise,  multis  parabolee, 
alia  tamen  est  totius  ratio,  alius  color,  longe  dispar  stylus.  Etenim  una  est  universi 
operis  forma,  unum  et  simplex  argumentum,  De  rerum  liumanarum  Vanitate,  sub 
persona  Salomonis,  in  perdifficili  qusestioue  dubitantis,  in  utramque  partem  dis- 
putantis,  et  ex  ancipiti  cogitandi  cura  sese  tandem  expedientis.  Stylus  autem 
hujusce  operis  plane  singularis  :  dictio  est  laumilis  plerumque  et  submissa,  sed  im- 
primis obscura,  s-iepe  laxa,  et  dissoluta,  et  sermoni  proprior ;  nee  in  compositione 
et  structura  multum  viget  poeticus  character  :  QU^  forsan  videri  possunt  argu- 
MENTi  NATUR.E  ALTQUATENUS  TRiBUENDA.- — Lowth,  De  Sacra  Pocsi  ffebrcBorum. 

Metricum  sane  esse  bunc  librum,  pariter  ac  Davidis  Psalmos,  Proverbia, 
EccLESiASTEN,  Canticum  Canticorum,  confessa  res  est. — Medica  Sacra,  Auctore 
Eichardo  Mead,  M.D. 


KHOHELETH. 

Chapter  i.  1,  2,  12  ;  vii.  27  ;  xn.  8,  9,  10. 

On  the  same  principle  as  D7SJ  is  rendered  by  Hitzlig,  and  other  eminent  critics, 
INTELLIGENCE,  from  the  Arabic,  because  the  significations  of  that  noun  in  Hebrew 
are  inappropriate  to  Ecclesiastes  iii.  1 1  ;  and  as  D^Sp  and  D"'''Dri  are  interpreted  from 
foreign  languages,  because  they  occur  not  in  Hebrew  ;  so  I  give  to  rhrip,  Khoheleth 
(the  appellation  Solomon  predicates  of  himself),  its  signification  in  Arabic,  because 
Solomon  was  neither  a  preacher  nor  a  convener  of  assemblies.  Khoheleth  is  indeed 
a  noun  '  d'unite  ou  plutot  d'individualitiS,'  deriving  its  form  from  the  Arabic. 
'  II  semble  que,  le  i'  ajoute  h,  la  fin  de  ces  adjectifs  verbaux  soit  destine  il  les  trans- 
former en  des  noms  d'individualite  en  sorte  que  ij^  signifieroit  proprement 
UN  savant  unique  en  son  GENRE.     On  a  observe  avec  beaucoup  de  justesse  que 


78  ECCLESIASTES.  [ceitical 

cette  forme  intensitive  paroit  avoir  aussi  ete  admise  dans  la  langue  Hebraique,  et 
qu'elle  rend  raison  de  I'espece  d'anomalie  du  mot  TVHp,  qui,  sous  une  forme  en  appar- 
ence  feminine,  est  toujours  en  concordance  avec  des  verbes  du  genre  masculin,  et 
est  efi'ectivement  employe  comme  attribut  de  Salomon,  et,  par  consequent  comme 
un  nom  ou  adjectif  masculin.' — Grammaire  Arabe  par  A.  I.  Silvestre  de  Sacy. 
Castell  in  his  Heptaglott  Lexicon  gives  this  signification  to  the  verb  in  Arabic  : 
'  I.  conj.  exaruit  cutis  pec,  ex  midta  spirituali  exercitatione.  V.  couj.  exaruit  cutis 
pec,  ex  multa  spirituali  exercitatione,  lente  incessit,  infirmo  statu  fuit,  marcuit. 
VII.  conj.  Debilis  fuit'  And  Freytag,  in  his  Arabic  Lexicon,  renders  the  verb  : 
'  I.  Aridus  fuit  multo  religiose  cultu.  V.  Lente  et  infirmis  passibus  incessit.  VII. 
Marcuit,  debilis  fuit,  conciditque  ob  senectutem.'  This  verb  occurs  not  in  the  Koran, 
nor  in  the  Consessus  of  Hariri,  nor  in  Arabscah's  Life  of  Tamerlane.  May  it  not 
have  been  brought  into  Juclea  by  the  Queen  of  Sheba,  or  by  Solomon's  mercantile 
marine  from  Ophir  or  some  other  Arabian  port  ?  Schroeder  derives  and  interprets 
it  from  the  Arabic  :  '  nSnp  proprie  p^enitentia,  ut  videtur,  per  metonymiam 
sumtum  pro  homine  p^nitente,  quo  nomine  Salome  in  Ecclesiaste  se  insiguivit.' 
—  See  his  Hebrew  Grammar,  p.  306. 

Professor  Lee  asserts,  that  '  the  Hebrew  n  and  the  Arabic  *  added  to  nouns, 
supply  a  sort  of  superlative  power,'  equivalent  to  singular,  excellent,  in 
English.     See  his  Hebrew  Lexicon,  p.  145,  and  under  JlSnp,  Khoheleth,  p.  525. 

As  nbnp  is  confessedly  a  form  derived  from  the  Arabic,  why  should  it  not 
be  rendered  according  to  its  signification  in  Arabic,  which  signification  is  alone 
appropriate  to  the  character  and  circumstances  of  Solomon  ? 

The  authority  of  Castell,  Schroeder,  Baron  de  Sacy,  Professor  Lee,  and  Frey- 
tag, is  an  ample  justification  of  the  interpretation  of  Khoheleth  proposed  in  this 
volume — an  interpretation  strictly  accordant  with  Oriental  idiom  and  historic 
verity. 


Chapter  l  verses  1  and  12. 
"!7D  drops  the  formative  1  in  the  Benoni  participle. 

Chapter  i.  verse  7. 

The  Hebrew  verb  nbti  is  rendered  to  overflow  (Joshua  iii.  15).  The  sub- 
stantive derived  from  this  verb  signifies  in  Syriac  fluxus,  impetus  aquarum, 
inundatio,  illuvies. — CasteU's  Heptaglott  Lexicon. 

Chapter  l  verse  8. 
xSl  is  the  reading  of  twenty  MSS.,  two  editions  of  fifteenth  century,  lxx., 
Arabic,  Syriac,  and  Chaldee. 


APPENDIX.]  ECCLESIASTES.  '  79 

Chapter  i.  verse  11. 

The  two  Hebrew  words  D'^JE'NT  aud  D^iinN  are  interpreted  of  persons,  not 
of  things,  both  in  the  Syriac,  Arabic,  and  Chaldee,  and  ought  to  be  so  rendered 
wherever  they  occur  alone  without  substantives.  Job  xviii.  20  amply  justifies  the 
rendering  of  this  verse. 

Chapter  i.  verse  12. 

Schroeder  affirms  in  his  Hebrew  Grammar  that  the  Hebrew  preterite  frequently 
answers  to  the  English  present  tense  :  '  Prseteritum  ssepe  de  eo  quod  quis  facere 
solet,  vel  quod  omni  tempore  eodem  modo  se  habet  aopta-ro)^  usurjjatur,  atque  per 
nostrum  prcesens  commode  exponitur'  (p.  334).  Eodiger  states  that  'a  frequent 
secondary  use  of  the  prgeter  tense  of  the  Hebrew  is  to  indicate  a  state  of  being, 
which,  beginniug  at  some  former  period,  still  continues  to  exist  at  the  time  of  nar- 
ration.' mn  is  thus  rendered  in  our  English  authorized  version  in  the  following 
texts  :  '  And  now  I  am  become  (^n^H)  two  bands'  (Genesis  xxxii.  10);  '  I  am 
(*n'^n)  in  derision  daily'  (Jeremiah  xx.  7);  'I  am  (^H^Tl)  like  a  drunken  man 
(Jeremiah  xxiii.  9)  ;  '1  am  (TI^^H)  a  father  to  Israel'  (Jeremiah  xxxi.  9)  ;  '1  am 
(Tl'^n)  like  a  broken  vessel'  (Psalm  xxxi.  12). 

Chapter  i.  verse  13. 

CSCJTl  is  the  reading  of  six;ty-one  MSS.,  one  edition  of  fifteenth  century,  Syriac, 
Chaldee,  aud  Vulgate. 

Chapter  i.  verse  16. 

75?  is  here  rendered  in  in  all  the  ancient  versions,  and  by  Noldius  in  very 
many  texts. 

Chapter  ii.  verse  3. 

E'DE'n  is  the  reading  of  two  Hebrew  MSS.,  Lxx.,  Syriac,  Vulgate,  and  Arabic. 
Under  the  sun  occurs  twenty-five  times  in  Ecclesiastes.  Under  heaven  occurs 
only  once  (iii.  l). 

Chapter  ii.  verse  25. 
13&0  is  the  reading  of  eight  Mss.,  lxx.,  Syriac,  and  Arabic. 

Chapter  hi.  verse  1. 
Every  individual— so  Chaldee  and  x.  3. 

Chapter  iii.  verse  12. 

Cheerfully  to  do  good.  '  It  is  a  frequent  case  in  Hebrew  that  when  two  verbs 
immediately  follow  each  other,  either  with  or  without  the  copula  between  them,  the 
first  of  them  serves  merely  to  qualify  the  second,  and  must  be  rendered  adverbially.' 
— Moses  Stuart's  Hebrew  Grammar,  p.  370. 


80  ECCLESIASTES.  [critical 

ChAPTEE  III.  VERSE  15. 

The  Vulgate,  which  seems  followed  in  Cranmer's  and  the  Bishops'  Bibles, 
reads  :  '  Et  Deus  instaurat  quod  abiit.' 

God  ivill  disclose  the  past.  In  vindication  of  this  rendering,  see  the  note  of 
Schultens  on  Job  iii.  4. 

Chapter  hi.  verse  21. 

'iSI  is  the  rendering  of  sixty-six  MSS.,  two  editions  of  fifteenth  century,  one 
edition  1518,  Lxx.,  Syriac,  and  Arabic. 

In  rendering  these  passages  interrogatively,  and  in  translating  n  an  num,  I 
am  supported  by  the  Chaldee,  lxx.,  Syriac,  and  Arabic  versions.  To  descend  to 
THE  earth  is  synonymous  with  destruction,  annihilation  (Jeremiah  xiii.  18  ; 
Ezekiel  xxvi.  11). 

Chapter  iv.  verses  1,  7. 

11^  in  Kal,  followed  by  another  verb,  denotes  to  do  again  what  is  expressed 

by  the  latter  verb. 

Chapter  v.  7,  8. 

DTQi,  THE  Most  High  Ones,  is  plural,  like  Creators,  xii.  1,  and  Psalm  cxlix. 
2,  and  like  'Thy  Makers  are  thy  Husbands,'  Isaiah  liv..5.  and  like  Elohim passim. 
These  plural  nouns  and  the  following  texts  manifestly  prove  a  plurality  of  Persons 
in  the  Godhead  :  Genesis  iii.  22,  xi.  7,  xx.  13,  xxxi.  53,  xxxv.  7  ;  Deuteronomy  iv.  7, 
V.  26;  Joshua  xxiv.  19;  1  Samuel  iv.  8;  2  Samuel  vii.  23;  Psalm  Iviii.  12; 
Proverbs  ix.  10,  xxx.  3 ;  Job  v.  1 ;  Isaiah  vi.  3  and  8 ;  Jeremiah  x.  10,  xxiii.  36 ;  Daniel 
iv.  5,  6,  15  (8,  9,  18),  vii.  18,  22,  25,  27  ;  Hosea  xi.  12  (xii.  l)  ;  Malachi  i.  6. 

P"in^  occurs  nine  times  in  Ecclesiastes,  and  nowhere  else.  The  rendering  the 
EMINENT  is  by  the  substitution  of  the  concrete  in  place  of  the  abstract,  a  usual 
poetic  license. 

In  the  translation  presented  to  the  reader,  the  seventh  verse  comprehends  the 
two  first  words  of  the  eighth  verse. 

Chapter  v.  verse  9. 

Xin  is  the  reading  of  the  Keri,  and  of  eighteen  of  the  MSS.  collated  by  Kenni- 
cott.  '  The  word  TH^  has  no  article,  because  pX  has  none,  and  both  mean  sub- 
stantially the  same  thing.' — Moses  Stuart. 

"2  dignitatis  seu  pretii  pro  magis  quam,  1  Chron.  v.  2,  1  Chron.  xi.  21.' — 
Noldii  Gone.  Heb.  Part.,  p.  157. 

Chapter  v.  verse  12. 
h'^yy  is  the  reading  of  LXX.,  Syriac,  and  Vulgate. 

Chapter  vi.  verse  i. 
nSin  is  the  reading  of  twenty-three  MSS.,  some  very  ancient,  and  of  two 
editions. 


APPENDIX.]  ECCLESIASTES.  81 

Chapter  vi.  verse  12  and  vii.  14. 
'  inx  post.  Proprie  subsecutio.     Est  nomen.' — Sclmltensii  Gram.  Heb. 

Chapter  vii.  verse  1. 
A  striking  paronomasia. 

Chapter  vii.  verse  6. 
A  striking  paronomasia. 

Chapter  vii.  verses  17,  18. 

The  translation  die  eternally  is  obtained  by  transferring  the  letter  3  to  the 
beginning  of  verse  18,  and  making  verse  17  to  terminate  with  Jiy  xSl.  As  the 
most  ancient  manuscripts  are  not  generally  di\dded  into  words,  both  Kennicott 
and  Horsley  consider  a  division  of  letters  into  words  different  from  the  received 
text  to  be  not  only  justifiable,  but  not  even  to  amount  to  a  different  reading.  I 
consider  Jiy  xSi  employed  to  signify  that  the  death  against  which  Solomon  warns 
the  wicked  man  was  not  temporal  but  eternal  death,  not  the  separation  of  the  soul 
from  the  body,  but  the  condemnation  both  of  soul  and  body  to  the  second  death, 
sempiternity  of  punishment  for  ever. 

Chapter  vii.  verse  25. 

''l^l  is  the  reading  of  eighty-five  Mss.,  one  edition,  Chaldee,  Vulgate,  Symma- 
chus,  and  of  the  Greek  version  published  by  Villoison. 

Chapter  viil  1. 

njSJ'''  is  the  reading  of  fifteen  mss.  of  Kennicott,  and  of  many  mss.  of  De  Rossi, 
and  of  one  edition,  Chaldee,  and  Vulgate. 

Chapter  viil  2. 

The  insertion  of  counsel  thee  in  our  authorized  version  is  a  violation  of  all 
propriety  of  language,  and  without  any  precedent  in  tlie  Hebrew  Scriptures.  It  is 
true  that  the  formative  1  is  wanting  in  the  Benoni  participle  laiC  but  how  often 
is  the  mater  lectioiiis  "1  defective  from  the  addition  of  the  Hebrew  punctuation  1 
1J3^  indeed,  generally,  drops  1  in  the  Benoni  participle.  The  Vulgate  correctly 
renders  :  '  Esjo  os  re^is  observo.' 

Chapter  viii.  5  and  6. 

A  time  of  judgment,  by  hendiadys  (see  Btxiavt's  Hebrew  Grammar,  pages  272 
and  382).     The  literal  rendering  would  lie  a  time  and  judgment. 

Chapter  ix.  2. 

5J1^"1,  and  to  the  evil,  is  sanctioned  by  all  the  ancient  versions,  but  has  not 
been  found  in  any  Hebrew  ms.  It  is  absolutely  essential  to  the  integrity  of  the 
text. 

L 


82  ECCLESIASTES.  [critical 

Chapter  ix.  9. 

Seven  Hebrew  mss.,  lxx.,  and  Chaldee  omit  "|73n  "'12''  Sd,  the  insertion  of 
which  is  an  evident  error  of  the  scribes. 

Chapter  ix.  18  and  xil  1. 
"I  Redundat.    Non  sunt  pauca  hsec  rediindantia. — ^Noldii  Go7i.  Heb.  Part. 

Chapter  x.  9. 

ypm  is  the  reading  of  seventy-five  mss.  and  of  three  editions  of  the  fifteenth 
century. 

Chapter  xi.  9. 

0  thou  that  walkest. — The  Hebrew  word  "jSn  is  rendered  a  traveller  in 
2  Samuel  xii.  4,  and  would  bear  that  acceptation  if  considered  as  the  Benoni  parti- 
ciple with  the  formative  1  defective,  as  it  is  defective  in  many  Hebrew  words,  and 
is  generally  defective  in  the  Benoni  participle  of  "TTTl,  or  it  may  be  so  rendered  with 
tJ'^K  understood.  The  same  meaning  is  obtained  in  either  case.  I  consider  the 
noun  to  be  in  the  vocative  case.  This  translation  obviates  all  necessity  of  the  sup- 
position of  irony,  and  makes  a  clear  distinction  between  innocuous  hilarity  and 
devotion  to  the  sinful  impulses  of  the  unregenerate  heart.  The  unauthorized 
addition  of  a/Acu//o?  into  the  text  by  the  lxx.,  closely  followed  by  the  Arabic, 
shows  how  clearly  they  discerned  the  difficulty,  and  how  anxious  they  were  to 
evade  it. 


Chapter  xii. 


13. 


INT'V — This  verb  is  in  the  singular  in  five  of  Kennicott's  Hebrew  MSS.,  which 
the  exigentia  loci  evidently  requires. 

Chapter  xil  5. 

ya^  signifies  to  disgust,  to  loathe,  to  reject,  but  never  signifies  to  flourish 
as  rendered  in  our  version. 

Chapter  xii.  5. 

7DnDS  shall  he  loathsome.  Gesenius  thus  renders  the  passage  :  '  Molesta  est 
seni  locusta,  quia  segre  ab  Ulo  manducatur  et  concoquitur,  quanquam  grati  saporis.' 
(See  his  Thesaurus  linguoe  Hehrcece,  p.  444). 

Chapter  xil  6. 
On  the  three  last  lines  of  this  verse  Dr.  Mead  thus  comments : — '  Tria,  quae 
concionem  concludunt,  incommoda  revera  sunt  aenigmata,  et  (Edipi  conjectoris 
indigent.'  The  translation  of  xii.  6  is  from  the  pen  of  an  eminent  physician,  con- 
versant with  Hebrew,  and  therefore  well  qualified  both  to  interpret  Solomon's 
enigmatical  language,  and  to  describe  the  bodily  infirmities  culminating  in  death 
figuratively  signified  thereby. 


APPENDIX.]  ECCLESIASTES.  83 

bin — Societas  liominum  tauquara  fune  coUigata. — Fuerstii  (June.  Heh. 

Funis,  funiculus  quo  ligatur  (ut  Arab.  S}t.  Chald.) — Sinionis  Lex.  Heh. 

A  cord  or  rope  by  which  things  are  bound. — Pa]-khurst's  Heh.  Lexicon. 

To  bind  as  with  a  rope. — Lee's  Hebrew  Lexicon. 
hx^^ — Res  vohibilis,  quaj  continuo  volvitur. — Simonis  Lex.  Heh. 

Res  vohibihs,  qu£e  cito  et  continuo  volvitur. — Gesenii  Thesmcrys  Philo- 
logicus. 

Anything  round,  revolving. — Lee's  Hebrew  Lexicon. 

Matter  in  circulation. — Bate's  Critica  Hebroea. 

Chapter  xii.  8. 

The  words  vanity  of  vanities  repeated  in  the  second  hut-  is  the  reading  of 
seven  Hebrew  MSS.,  and  of  the  Syriac,  and  is  essential  to  the  parallelism  of  the 
stanza. 

Chapter  xii.  9. 
Ipm  is  the  reading  of  eleven  MSS.  and  of  one  edition. 

Chapter  xir.  13. 

The  four  last  words  of  this  verse  have  presented  an  insuperable  difficulty  to 
the  authors  of  the  ancient  versions  and  to  modern  critics.  The  words  are  elliptical. 
The  ellipses  are  natural,  and  when  supplied,  tlie  meaning  is  clear  and  perspicuous. 
I  supply  S|1D  from  the  first  hemistich,  and  llOtJ''  from  the  second  hemistich,  and  read 

010^''')  man  h^  (fjiD)  n>  *3. 


LIST  OF  AUTHORS  QUOTED  IN  THIS  WORK. 


Herodotus,                 .              .              .              74 

Kitto, 

64 

Josephus,      .              .              .               10,  11,  12 

Lee, 

78,  83 

Strabo,          .      '        .               .              .               74 

Lowth,  Bishop, 

77 

Septuagint,   .              .              .     xx.,  xxi.,  29,  82 

Madden, 

ix.,  75 

Peschito-Syriac  Version,           .              ,       28,  29 

Maimonides, 

5 

Coptic  Version,           .              .               .      xx.,  59 

Mead,  M.D., 

66,  77,  82 

Chaldee  Targum,        .              .                xii.,  4,  43 

Mede,  Joseph, 

39,  56,  66 

Arabic  Version,           .              .              .      xx.,  29 

Nicholas  de  Lyra, 

55,  69 

Vulgate,        .              .              .              .       80,  81 

Niebuhr, 

64 

Cranmer's  Bible,                                        5,  20,  36 

Noldius, 

79,  80,  82 

Bishops'  Bible,            .          5,  20,  36,  52,  56,  58 

Palgrave,     . 

6.5 

Augustine,    .              .               .              2,  5,  8,  41 

Parkhurst,  . 

83 

Jerome,         .              .              .            5,  7,  43,  68 

Petrarch,    . 

56 

Barnes,         .              .              .              .               57 

Pierotti, 

10,  11 

Bate,  Julius,               .              .              .              83 

Kobinson,    .    . 

.   4,  11,  61 

Blayney,        ....                 6 
Bromfield,  M.D.,        ...               60 

Rodiger, 
Sacy,  Baron  de. 

79 

77,  78 

Calvin,          .              .              .              .       22,  48 

Schroeder,  . 

78,  79 

Cassell,         .              .              .              .       18,  65 

Schultens,    . 

81 

Oastell,          .              .              .              .               78 

Simon, 

83 

Chardin,  Sir  John,     ...               59 

Sirr,  D.D., 

49 

Coptic  Lexicon  of  La  Croze  and  Scholtz,            72 

Smith  of  Jordanhill, 

xviii. 

Coptic  Lexicon  of  Peyron,        .               .              72 

Smith's  Dictionaiy  of  the  Bible, 

51 

D'Aubignd,  .              .              .              .       49,  50 

Stanley, 

4 

Eadie,           .              .              .              .          7,  19 

Stuart,  Moses, 

19,  79,  80,  81 

East,            ....              51 

Tristram,     . 

4,  11,  12,  60 

Faber,           ....                 4 

Vestiges  of  the  Natural  History 

of  Creation,        7 

Fairbairu,     .              .              .              .        19,  65 

Vitringa,     . 

75 

Freytag,       .              .              .              •              78 
Fuerst,         .              .              .              .              83 
Gesenius,      .               .              •       xix.,  75,  82,  83 

Wesley, 
Witsius, 
Wilkinson,  Sir  Gardner, 

10 

viii. 
59,  60,  75 

Hayter,         ....               60 
Henry,          .              .              .8,  47,  58,  60,  63 

Wilson, 

4 

Honsley,  Bishop,        .              .              .        52,  66 

Khnheleth,  Author  of,             .              .     xv.,   10, 

12,  22,  25,  2S,  32,  49,  52,  6.3,  64,  70 

Kennicott,  ]  theii-  c 
De  Rossi,    )       *'™ 

ullatious  of  Hebrew  MSS.  pas- 
in  the  Critical  Appendix. 

WORKS    BY    THE    SAME    AUTHOR. 


Imperial  8vo,  price  Twelve  Shillings. 

PSALTERIUM  MESSIAFICUM  DAVIDIS 
REGIS  ET  PROPHETiE. 

A  EEVISION  OF  THE 

AutlLorized  Englisli  Yersions  of  the  Book  of  Psalms, 

With  QUOTATIONS  from  PRE-REFORMATION  WRITERS, 

vindicating,  in  accordance  with  the  interpretation  of  the  new  testament, 
David's  prophetic  manifestation  of  messiah,  the  alpha  and  omega, 

THE    shepherd,    PROPHET,    PRIEST,    AND    KING,    THE    PATTERN    AND 

EXEMPLAR  OF  ALL  THE  BLOOD-BOUGHT  SHEEP  OF  IMMANUEL, 

OF    EVERY   AGE    AND    OF    EVERY   CLIME. 


'  This  is  a  most  praiseworthy,  laborious,  and  learned  work.  It  has  evidently'  been  to  the  author 
a  labour  of  love.  The  work  bears  marks  of  close,  diligent,  and  reverential  study  throughout.  The 
author  is  an  excellent  Hebraist,  and  has  a  thorough  acquaintance  with  both  patristic,  mediaeval,  and 
Refonnation  Theology.' — The  Record. 

'  In  preparing  his  work,  the  author  merits  commendation  for  the  labour  which  he  has  bestowed 
upon  the  collation  of  manuscripts,  editions,  and  versions,  and  for  his  industry  id  collecting  passages  from 
many  authors  of  all  periods.  On  these  accounts  the  volume  will  be  useful  to  the  critic  and  the  expositor, 
who  will  find  in  it  much  curious  matter  worthy  of  attention.' — Journal  of  Sacred  Literature. 

'  The  title  of  this  valuable  work  is  accurately  indicative  of  its  contents.  To  appreciate  the 
excellence  of  this  book,  it  must  be  not  only  read,  but  studied.  The  quotations  from  the  writings  of  the 
ancient  Christian  and  Jewish  authors,  with  reference  to  the  Psalms  which  BIr.  Coleman  views  as  pro- 
phetical of  the  futui'e  exaltation  of  Christ  in  the  Millennial  kingdom,  and  of  the  events  by  which  its 
establishment  is  to  be  preceded,  are  intensely  interesting.  The  work  is  beautifully  printed  in  a  large 
and  clear  type.' — Aehill  Missionary  Record. 

'  A  very  valuable  edition  of  the  Psalms,  peoving,  that  which  has  long  been  with  us  a  settled  con- 
viction, that  they  are  all  Messianic' — 27te  Rainbow. 


Post  8vo,  price  Seven  Shillings  and  Sixpence. 

A  MEMOIR  OF  THE  REV.  RICHARD  DAVIS. 

FOR  THIRTY-NINE  YEARS  A  MISSIONARY  IN  NEW  ZEALAND. 


'  Hitherto  we  have  had  but  little  in  the  way  of  authorship  from  New  Zealand,  and  nothing  that 
has  appeared,  for  fulness,  variety,  and  completeness  of  information,  is  for  a  moment  to  be  compared 
with  this  well-filled  volume.  It  does  for  New  Zealand,  already  an  interesting  colony,  and  destined  to 
occupy  a  chief  place  in  the  south,  what  the  missionary  enterprises  of  John  Williams  did  for  the  grou]is 
of  which  he  treated.  It  is  thoroughly  a  missionary  work,  and  a  great  addition  to  the  missionary 
library.' — Dr.  Campbell's  British  Standard. 


LONDON:    JAMES   NISBET    AND   CO.,    18G5. 


^in^m^ 


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