COMMENTAKY ECCLESIASTES, WITH OTHER TREATISES. BY E. W. HENGSTENBEEG, DD., FBOFESSOS OF THEOLOQT, BKELIN. TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN By D. W. SIMON. PHILADELPHIA: SMITH, ENGLISH, & CO., No. 23 NOETH SIXTH STREET. NEW YORK: SHELDON AND COMPANY. BOSTON: GOULD & LINCOLN. MDCCCLX. CONTENTS. Page commentary on ecclesiastes, 1-268 prolegomena to the song of solomon, . . . 269-305 the book of job, 307-339 the prophet isaiah, 341-365 the sacrifices of holy scripture, . . . 367-409 the jews and the christian church, . . . 411-478 indexes- Index I. Hebrew Words Explained, ... . . 479 Index II. Passages of Scripture Explained and Illustrated, . 480 Index HI. Principal Subjects treated of, or incidentally discussed, . ... ... 482 INTRODUCTION. It is of great importance accurately to determine the circum- stances of the time at which this Book was wi-itten. In this way, not only will a sure foundation be laid for investigations respecting its authorship, but a point be secured from which we may start in endeavouring to unfold its meaning. For this latter purpose the inquiry is a specially pertinent one, inasmuch as the book evidently, in the first instance, took its occasion from passing events, was addressed to a particular generation of men, and intended for their admonition and comfort. The Author has studiously maintained a certain tone of reserve in respect of the circumstances of his time ; and of designi rather glanced at them, than entered into details. Tliis explains wh}^ so many false views have been entertained of the situation of affairs, to the great prejudice of the interpre- tation and practical application of the book. He had two reasons for restricting himself to bare allusions to the events of his time. In the first place, he felt that though writing primarily for his own generation, his book was destined to form part of the Canonical Scriptures, and, consequently, to be of service to the Church of God in aU ages. This conscious- ness he gives express utterance to in chap. xii. 1 1 : "The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd." This being the case, the writer would naturally endeavour to give pro- minence to that which was general and eternal in its character, over that which was special and temporary, only lightly glanc- ing at the latter, in order that his teachings might be easier i.f universal application. The Psalms were generally composed oQ the same principle. Though connected with, and owing A 2 INTRODUCTION. their origin to certain historical events, as a general rule they allude so sparingly and gently to actual occurrences, that a microscopical investigation is required to bring them out with any degree of clearness, precision and fulness. A second reason for his reticence is expressly assigned by the Author himself in chap. x. 20 : " Curse not the king, no not in thy thought : and curse not the rich in thy bed-chamber : for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall carry the matter." According to this, it would seem to have been dangerous for the Hebrews to use plain language concerning things, because of the numerous spies and informers employed by their tyrannical heathen rulers. Despite this reserve, how- evei', by gathering up and combining scattered traits we may form a tolerably accurate and complete picture of the period to which the book of Ecclesiastes owes its origin. First of all, let us bring into view the detached and frag- mentary hints which the work itself gives relative to the ex- ternal circumstances of the people of God at the time of its composition. Evidently they were in a state of deep misery, and had fallen a prey to vanity ; for in chap. i. 2-11, the writer holds up to the view of his nation the worthlessness of this entire earthly existence, intending thus to bring his fellow-country- men to regard the wretched lot under which they were gi'oaning in a more favourable light. If misery is the destined portion of man, if man is born to evil, as it is said in Job v. 7, it surely cannot be of great consequence whether his lot be a shade brighter or a shade darker. For one whose sufferings are peculiarly severe, there is sweet consolation in the thought, that to a certain extent, or rather, that in all the essential characteristics of his condition, all men are his associates. If all is vanity, why need we vex ourselves so much about having a handful or so more of it ? This was a time when all the splendour of the age of Solomon had passed away : for, from chap. i. 1 2, to the end of chap, ii., the writer labours to show that that also was vanity, hoping thus to console and tranquillise under their loss, the minds of those who were consuming themselves with looking back upon, and yearning for bygone glories. Van- ished also was the radiant wisdom of the generation of Solo- INTRODUCTION. 3 mon; for in chap. i. 12-18, those are cheered who were bewailing the j^ast : vanished, according to chap, ii, were its great works and projects, its rich possessions, its brilliant relations, its glorious and joyous life, for the author takes the greatest pains to show that it was all " vanity and vexation of spirit," to the end, that the people might feel less keenly its present lack of wealth and enjoyment. From chap. iii. 1-1 5, we learn that for Israel there had begun a time of death, of the uprooting of what was planted, of the breaking down of what was built up, of mourning, a time when God had gone far away from them and withdrawn His help and grace. The nation was persecuted, was being tried in the furnace of affliction, was under the dominion of heathen rulers. Chap. iv. 1-3, teaches us that the earth was then a scene of injustice and of violence : the times were such as to force on men's minds the thought that it is better to die than to live, nay more, that it had been best never to have been born. In chap. iv. 4-6, the writer seeks to console his miserable fellow- countrymen by the consideration that, at all events, they have not to bear the heavy burden of envy. , This consolation im- plies of course, that they were in anything but an enviable condition. According to chap. iv. 7-1 2, Israel was then a poor people in contrast with their rich heathen tyrants. The ob- ject of the author in pointing this out was to lead his nation to form a just estimate of that which the heathen 'possessed, and of which they were destitute, to counteract the envy of the riches of the world to which their own circumstances ren- dered them so liable. From the 7th to the 1 2th verse, he consoles the people in their beggary for the loss of their pos- sessions ; from the ] 3th to the 1 6th verse, in their bondage for their loss of liberty. The heathen tyranny under which the people of God lay groaning, constitutes the point of departure for chap. v. 7-8. According to ver. 7, the Inheritance of the Lord, destined originally to universal dominion, but now degraded to the rank of a mere province, was the scene of oppression of the poor and of perversion of justice and judgment. In chap. V. 9-19, and chap, vi., the nation, sighing beneath the extortions of the Gentiles, is asjain comforted for the loss 4 INTRODUCTION. of earthly good ; the rich man represents the Gentile, the poor man Israel. According to chap. vii. Israel was then in the house of mourning, the heathen, on the contrary, sat in the house of feasting (ver. 2), in the house of mirth (ver. 4), had the upper hand, and were floating on a sea of pleasures and delights (ver. 5). The times were such as to incline men strongly to deem the day of death better than the day of birth (ver. 1). These were times when men asked, " What is the cause that the former days were better than these ?" (ver. 1 0) — when Israel was compelled to listen to the rebukes of the wise, who took occasion from their misery to reproach them for their sins (ver. 5) — when the temptation to cherish a bitter and discon- tented spirit lay especially near (ver. 9) — when there was abundant opportunity of exercising the virtue of patience (ver. 8) — when no signs were discernible of the victory over the world promised to the Church of God, but in that respect it was left entirely to faith and hope (ver. 6, 8). According to verses 11, 12, Israel was then without possessions, and had fallen into the hands of death. Every other portion which should belong, and once had belonged to the people of God, was now taken away, and it was reduced to the one inherit- ance of the wisdom coming from above — an inheritance, how- ever, the author teaches, which must bring all other bless- ings in its train, inasmuch as it was itself the good of chief value at 'that time. In verses 19 and 20, also, power is represented as being entirely on the side of the heathen, whilst to Israel there remained only its inalienable prerogative and birthright of wisdom. Verses 15-18 complain that Israel is unfortunate, despite its righteousness, and that, on the con- trary, the heathens, or the heathen tyrants, are fortunate, notwithstanding their wickedness. According to verses 21 and 22 Israel was forced to listen without reply to the curses and slanders heaped upon them by the Gentiles ; and those held the upper hand who, of right, and by God's ordination, should have been the bondsmen of the nation which, from its very commencement, was exalted to the throne of the world. From chap. viii. 9 we learn that it was a time when " one man ruled over other men to their hurt" — when the wicked had in their possession Jerusalem, "the place of the holy" INTRODUCTION. 5 (ver. 1 0) — when this state of things had already lasted long (ver. 1 2) — when the earnestly expected decree of their heavenly king against the usurpers had been long delayed (ver. 11). / (Throughout the entire book no other king than the heavenly I one is spoken of as their own ; and it is a very characteristic ' feature that He is without hesitation designated " tlie king" (viii. 2). Everywhere the Gentiles are introduced as holding external earthly rule over the people of God.) The commencement of chap. ix. gives us to understand that the present position of affairs proved a serious stumbling- block in the way of faith, and caused men to err in respect to God and the righteousness of His rule in the earth, as they saw how the lot of the righteous was interwoven and con- founded with the lot of the wicked. So truly hopeless and forlorn did the condition of the covenanted people appear to those who looked on it with eyes of flesh alone that they were in danger of utterly despairing. Whilst in other and hap- pier days the men of God regarded it as their bounden duty to counteract frivolity, and to draw attention to the earnestness of life, the author of this work strives, on the contrary, with all diligence to impress on his readers the lesson, " Eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a meny heart" (ix. 7) — a plain proof that his generation was in great danger of yield- ing to a gloomy and discontented spirit, and that their life was threatened with the loss of all that made it desirable and joyful. The desperate nature of their circumstances is clear also from the earnestness with which the writer warns them against listless inactivity (ix. 1 0 ; xi. 4-6). Sluggish hands are to be found wherever men's circumstances seem hopelessly bad ; see Isa. xiii. 7 ; xxxv. 3 ; Ezek. vii. 1 7 ; Job. iv. 3. Characteristic of the posture of affairs are the words of chap. X. 6, 7 : " Folly (which is everywhere set forth in the book as the soul of Heathendom) has been set on gi'eat heights, and the rich (;i.e., those who, according to God's word and pro- mise, should be rich) sit in a low place. I saw servants (i.e., those who by right, and by God's law, ought to be servants) on horses, and princes (i.e., members of the nation whose vocation it is to rule over the world, Exod. xix. 6), walking on foot like servants." The condition of the power which then ruled the world is depicted in chap. x. 11-20. It pre- 6 ■ INTRODUCTTON. sented a spectacle at once of wickedness and folly (iv. 11-15); tlie king and his nobles had surrendered themselves to rioting and drunkenness (iv. 16, 17); nowhere had morality any hold ; rottenness, wantonness, and gold prevailed everywhere, consequently ruin was inevitable. Now, the picture thus drawn corresponds to no period but that when the Persians held dominion over the people of God. During the time embraced by the canonical books of the Old Testament, this was the only power to whose tyranny the people of God was subjected in its own land, the temple at the same time standing, and the worship thereof being kept up (compare chap. v. 17). The time of the Persian rule corresponds to the descrip- tions given in this book, not only as respects the external, but also as respects the internal condition of the people. Con- siderable importance must be attached to the fact, tliat idola- try, the temptation to which had beset the nation so strongly from the days of Solomon to the Babylonish exile, never appears in the delineation of internal evils. During the resi- dence in Babylon false gods seem to have lost their attrac- tions for Israel. On the other hand, however, we find them assailed by enemies and dangers which, from other sources, we know to have been peculiar to the time which succeeded the exile. Malachi, the last of the prophets, delivered his pro- phecy during the Persian dominion, and in particular during the reign of Artaxerxes, and his warnings and attacks are directed to the same evils as those set forth in this book. Israel's temptation, then, was to Pharisaism — to a resting contented with a hollow righteousness which sought to sup- /ply the lack of living fear of God and spiritual devotion by beggarly outward works, sacrifices (iv. 17), long prayers, and the like. We encounter here, as in Malachi, that moroseness which ever accompanies unspiritual religion and soulless mo- rality, when the expectations on which they were based prove to be a delusion, and when painful experience teaches the lesson that godliness is not an affair of gain. Covetousness also is here, which can only be uprooted in a soul that rises steadily and truly towards God, and which a Pharisaical piety, instead of destroying, stimulates and fosters. By this sin men are especially tempted, in times of distress ; then we fall INTRODUCTION. 7 very easily into a habit of scratching and scraping for gain. Finally, in chap. viii. 11, our attention is drawn to the exist- ence of a power tempting men to utter apostacy from God and law, to transgress into the way of the wicked ; and from this also w^e should judge the period to have been one of heavy misfortune. If such were the external and internal circumstances of the people of God, the idea cannot for a moment be entertained that the book dates from the time of Solomon, and that he was himself the author. For a long time this opinion pre- vailed both in the Jewish and Christian Church. The true interpretation of the work thus suffered serious detriment, for its practical significance depends in great measure on our clearly and distinctly understanding the historical cir- cumstances to which it owed its origin, and in adaptation to which it was written. The first step towards the overthrow of this prejudice was taken by the Chaldee Paraphrast. It is true, he holds to the opinion that Solomon w^as its author, but at the same time supposes that through the spirit of pro- phecy he was transported to, and described the time when, Jerusalem was destroyed and the nation was carried away into exile.'"" We may remark also in passing, that those who start with. the groundless prejudice that David composed all the Psalms, resort to a similar mode of explanation in regard to several whose contents it is plainly impossible to \mder- stand from the events and circumstances of that particular period. To Grotius belongs the merit of having first clearly recognised the invalidity of the opinion that Solomon wrote this book.t He failed, however, to enter into a closer discussion of the main argument for his view, namely, the hints given by the book itself regarding the historical circumstances in the midst of which it was composed. The only gTOund urged by him w^as the chai'acter of the style and language, which indicated a later period. But he erroneously maintained that * He gives the following pharaphrase of chap. i. 2 : Cum viderct Salomo rex Israel per spiritum propheticum, regniim Roboam filii sui divisum iri cum Jeroboam, filio Nebat, Jerusalem etiam domumque sanctuarii destructum iri, et pop\ilum filiorum Israel cxulaturum, dixit in verbo suo, " vanitas," &c. t Ego tamen Salomonis nou esse puto, sed scriptum serins, sub illius regis tanquam pcenitentia ducti nomine. Argumenta ejus rei habeo raulta vocabula quce non alibi quam in Daniele, Esdra et Chaldi3eis interpretibus reperias. 8 INTRODUCTION. it was written under the name of Solomon as the Penitent. In this respect he followed too closely in the footsteps of the older commentators of the Church, who looked upon Ecclesiastes as the fruit of Solomons repentance. Grotius found an ad- herent of his view in the marvellous Hermann, v.d. Hardt {de libro Coheleth, 1716), who, however, was quite incom- petent to bring convincing evidence of the correctness of his opinion. Both these men were justly a scandal to the theo- logy of the Church, and, in respect of this question as M^ell as of others it has maintained an attitude of coolness towards them. The Church should take shame to itself for having left Rationalism to make good the truth as to the composition of this book, especially as its very commencement is decidedly against the prevalent prejudice ; to its honour, however, be it said that on its revival it gave willing ear to the truth, and since then only a few isolated and unimportant attempts have been made to return to the lower position. In the present work, by more carefully examining the historical relations of the book, we have endeavoured to lay a firmer foundation for the more coirect view, and hope thus to render impossible a revival of the old prejudice. The only argument which is urged with any force in favour of the authorship by Solomon, is the one drawn from the fact that he is named as the author in the title, and is intro- duced as speaking in the work. The nullity of this argument we shall endeavour to show at chap. i.'l. We shall prove that Solomon is not only not the direct author of the book, but that it does not even profess to be by him, that, on the contrary, the very first words indicate him not to have writ- ten it. Evidence against the authorship of Solomon has been im- properly drawn from chap. i. 12-16, ii. 7, where it is said that the fictitious character of the work is for the moment thrown aside ; see the remarks on the passage. On the other hand, it is inconsistent with the composition of the book by Solomon that he is represented in chap. ii. 3, 9, as prosecut- ing his search after sensual enjoyments, possessions, and renown, in the manner of a philosophical experimenter. Solo- mon is evidently here introduced, not in his actual historical character, but as an ideal person, as the ideal of wi.sflom. INTRODUCTION. 9 Tlie tacit allusion in chap. ii. 12, 18, 19, to Solomon's evil successor, would lead also to the conclusion we are advocating. Besides, the author, in designating himself "a wise man" (chap. xii. 9), gives up any pretence of being personally iden- tical with Solomon. Hand in hand with the evidence against Solomon drawn from the historical circumstances of the work, goes that which is derived from peculiarities of style and language. These are undeniably not those of the time of Solomon, but of the later post-exile period, as we shall show in specific instances in our commentary. Compare, for example, our observations on niyi and jryn, chap. i. 14; p pn, in the sense of " be- sides" chap. ii. 25 ; on nriD, chap. v. 7 ; on mm b]!, in the sense of "in order that," chap. vii. 14 ; on "i^^s, chap. viii. 1 ; on pta^i:^, chap. vii. 4 ; on pn, chap. viii. 10 ; on DJna, chap. viii. 11 ; on j'oij, chap. x. 8 ; on jnn, chap. x. 20; and on hoi, chap. xii. 3. Finally, the position the book occupies in the Canon is a proof that Solomon was not its author — it stands, namely, separated from the writings of that period, and is placed after the " Book of the Lamentations " of Jeremiah, with which last of all the poetical books it is directly associated. It comes also immedicxtely before those writings whose history and prophecy find their explanation in the circumstances of the time succeeding the exile. Had the collectors of the canonical books regarded this as the work of Solomon they would certainly not have given it a place between " Lamen- tations " and " Esther." For remarks on the arrangement of the third part of the Canon and the Hagiographa, see the " Christology of the Old Testament," pt. iii. If we may consider it proved that the book originated within the period of the Persian dominion, our next duty is to examine whether we can determine more exactly the precise date of its composition. In doing this we must be principally guided by the fact that the nation which held the supi'emacy is represented as deeply deteriorated, as having fallen a prey to folly (chap. x. 1), as demoralised by the exer- cise of despotic power (chap. vii. 7), as sunk in sloth, luxury, debauchery, and mammonism, and as everywhere exhibiting symptoms of the speedy downfall of the entire edifice of the ] 0 INTRODUCTION. state (chap. x. 18-19, vii. 1-6). These representations do not permit us to think of the time of Cyrus, but at the same time do not necessitate us to look beyond Xerxes, during whose reiga internal corruption and external decay had made the mightiest advances. In these historical circumstances we find then a significant 'point d'appui for the conviction running through the entire book, that a terrible catastrophe was shortly to befal the Persian empire. From looking beyond the period of Xerxes and Ai-taxerxes we are prevented by the consideration that then the collection of the canonical scriptures was finally completed ; and no book or part of a book can be shown to have had a later origin. Another circum- stance also leads us to fix on this time, namely, that this book has strong points of afiinity with other productions which then appeared, especially with the prophecies of Malachi, who flourished during the reign of Artaxerxes. The peculiar resemblance between Ecclesiastes v. 5, and Malachi ii. 7, is in itself startling. But of much more decided importance is their agreement in reference to the inner condition of the people. Both wiiters draw attention to the superficial and external spirit, the self-righteousness, and to the germs of Pharisaism which were then in operation, so that in this respect no two others stand so nearly related to each other as these. With the remarks 'we have made in reference to Ecclesiastes compare our observations on Malachi in the " Christology," part iii., which are to the foilowiDg efiect : " Immediately after the reproaches uttered by the Prophet follows regularly an inquiry on the part of those who are upbraided as to how they have merited such treatment : and then comes the Prophet's further and fuller exposition. To regard punishment in this light is essentially the tendency of that Pelagian blindness which knows neither God nor itself No better delineation of the constancy with which this ten- dency remains true to itself could be given than that which is afforded by the repetition of the same question through the whole book. Pharisaism, in its main features, was already in existence when Malachi spoke. Consider only the predominance of the priestly order, the total w^ant of deeper knowledge of the nature of sin and righteousness, the boasting of external obedience to law, the thirst after judg- INTRODUCTION. 1 1 ments on the heathen, who are alone regarded as the object of divine retribution, and, lastly, the murmurs against God, and the truth of our remarks will be apparent." The words, "Be not righteous overmuch" (chap. vii. 16), find their - proper comment in Malachi iii. 7, where the people are re- presented as replying to the summons, " Keturn to the Lord," and saying, "Wherein shall we return?*' on which Abar- banel remarks — impudenter dicitis acsi nesciatis peccatum. aut iniquitatem. In Malachi the people consider themselves clear as to their own performances, it is only God who is behind-hand in His. To the reproach (chap. v. 3-5) regard- ing the bad fulfilment of vows — a thing perfectly natural in such a condition, seeing that a dead orthodoxy can never overcome a living selfishness — corresponds what Malachi says chap i 8. " And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, i^ it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil?" i. 1 4, also, " Cursed be the deceiver which hath in his flock a male, and when he hath a vow sacrificeth unto tlie Lord a corrupt thing." Moroseness and discontent with the arrange- ments of God's providence we encounter in Malachi ii. 17, " You weary the Lord with your words : yet ye say, wherein do we weary Him? In that you say, — every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord and He delighteth in them ; or, where is the God of judgment ?" How strong a hold avarice had taken of their souls is clear from Malachi iii. 8, where they are accused of having cheated God in the matter of tithes and offerings. Finally, with the unfavour- able picture of the interaal condition of the nation drawn ftom the book of Ecclesiastes accords perfectly the super- scription to the prophecies of Malachi — " This is the burden which the Lord vitters against Israel by Malachi :" a super- scription which would not be at all appropriate to those of Haggai and Zechariah, the immediate predecessors of Malachi. In equal accordance also is the circumstance that Malachi so emphatically announces the approaching judgment. Ewald-has advanced a twofold argument against assigning the composition of this book to the time of Ezra and Nehe- miah, and in favour of, "the last century of the Persian dominion." The first is, that the writer complains, " in an entirely new and unheard of manner, of an excess of book- 1 2 INTRODUCTION. making and reading." It cannot, however, be shown, that a difference in this respect existed between the last century and the last but one of the Persian rule : and to a time subse- quent to this, it is by no means allowable to look. For fur- , ther remarks, we refer to our comments on chap. xii. 1 2. The \ second reason urged, is that " such harrowing pain, and des- perate cries of agony did not characterise the earlier period of the Persian inile." It must have become, Ewald thinks, in its last years, more oppressive and violent. On this matter, how- ever, history furnishes no authentic information. Nor must we allow ourselves to be led away by the special mention made, in the canonical records of the time, of occasional brighter spots in the history of the nation whilst subject to the Persian yoke ; — such as, for example, the permission given by CyAis to rebuild the Temple, and that accorded by Artax- erxes for the building of the wall of the city. It was rather in accordance with the peculiar purpose of these books, to lay stress on such things, in proof that the Jews were still the chosen people, and that God's grace continued to watch over them. If we keep in mind that what is said in chap. x. 20, indicating that writers were obliged to maintain a certain degree of reserve, holds true also of other works composed during the time of the Persian dominion ; and if we carefully gather up scattered hints, it will appear that the people were from the commencement in an extremely oppressed position, that they led a cramped existence, that deep sadness fiUed all hearts, and that to sink themselves in God was the only remedy against despair. The characteristic tone of those " Pilgrim Songs," whi«h belong to the time immediately subsequent to the deliverance from exile, to the years when the building of the Temple was interrupted, is one of deep sadness, which has found consola- tion in God. In Psalm cxxiii. 3, 4, we read, " Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us ; for we are exceedingly filled with contempt. Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease, and with the contempt of I the proud." The proud and such as live in security, are no f other than their Persian tyrants. Again, in Psalm xxv. 3, we read, '" For the sceptre of wickedness shall not rest on the lot of the righteous, lest the righteous put forth their hands unto IKTRODUCTION. 1 3 iniquity." The sceptre of wickedness is the Persian dominion, ■■ which was so pertinacious and cruel in its outrages and pro- vocations, that the chosen people were sorely tempted to fall into utter perplexity about God's dealings, to apostatise from Him their Lord, and to become partakers in the wickedness of the wicked. The very same temptation presents itself to our notice in chap. viii. 1 1 of this book. In Psalm cxxvi. 5, 6, it is said, " They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. They who go forth weeping bearing the seed-train come again with re- joicing, bringing their sheaves with them." Those who sow in tears are themselves. The present has only tears : joy belongs to the future, to the region of hope. Finally, Psalm cxxx. begins with the words, " Out of the depths do I cry unto thee, O Lord." Not without cause has the Church set this apart as a funereal Psalm. It is the cry for help sent up by Israel when encompassed with the bands of death. The words of chap. vii. 7, "a gift destroyeth the heart," and of chap. x. 19, "Money answereth all things," find their explanation and justification in chap. iv. 5 of the book of Ezra, where the Persian officials are clearly charged with being open to bribes ; — " and hired counsellors against them to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus King of Persia, even until the reign of Darius,"on which Michaelis remarks, " mercede conducebant, qui pecunm a Cuthosis accepta auctoritate sua effecerunt ne Judads nunc pergere liceret" And in chap. ix. 7, of the same book, the state of the Jews under their heath- enish oppressors, which still continued, is described as one of extreme wretchedness : — " they were delivered over to spoil and confusion of face;" through the mission of Ezra they received a little life in their bondage. " We are bondsmen," it is said in ver. 9, " but our God has not forsaken us in our bondage." According to Nehemiah i. 3, news is brought to Nehemiah from Jerusalem, "that the remnant in the country are in great afiiiction and reproach." What utter poverty was the result of the oppressive tribute, from which, according to Ezra vii. 24, only the Priests and Levites were exempt, is plain from Nehemiah v. 4, where such as had been reduced to personal bondage by the usurers, address Nehemiah in the words " We have borrowed money for the king's taxes on our 1 4 INTRODUCTION. lands and vineyards ;" — their produce consequently was not sufficient to pay the high imposts. In chap. v. 15, Nehemiah relates that "the former governors who had been before him" — ^who were without doubt Gentiles, for, as it appears, Seru- babel and Nehemiah were the only Jews who had held that office — "had been burdensome to the people, and had taken from them bread and wine, besides forty shekels of silvei', (daily ;) their servants also had used violence towards the people : but so did not I because of the fear of God." 1LD^E^' Dj?n ^y compai'e Ecclesiastes viii. 9, "a flay when one man exercises power over another to his hurt." In chap. v. 18, Nehemiah says, "The bread of the governor have I not required, because the service was heavy upon this people : " it was already heavily enough burdened with the taxes which it had to pay to its tyrant rulers. At the solemnization of the Feast of Tabernacles under Nehemiah, we read (chap. viii. 9,) that 'Ezra, said to the people, " this day is holy to the Lord your God : therefore mourn not, nor weep." For all the people, it is observed, wept " when they heard the words of the law," — words which had found such a sad fulfilment in their present misery. The description given in Nehemiah ix. 36-37, is of itself a sufficient proof that the circumstances alluded to in Ecclesiastes are in no respect more sad and glocmiy than those of the time of Ezra and Nehemiah. There the existence of the people appears to be entirely precarious : they have only so much as is left them after the utterly lawless, unjust and arbitrary exactions of their oppressors. Not only does the produce of their lands stand at their disposal, but the cattle, and even the men themselves must do service whenever their heathen tyrants please to claim it : " and over our bodies do they rule, and over our cattle, as they please, and we are in great distress." In consequence o^f their wretched condition, religious indifference had gained gTound amongst the people ; the spirit of sacrifice had died out ; and the portion of the Levites was not given to them, so that they fled, every man to his own lands, and the house of God was forsaken, (Neh. xiii. 1 0-1 1 ;) the Sabbath was in many ways desecrated (xiii. 15-22,) and an usurious disposition gained the upper-hand amongst the people, in that every man believed himself forced to care for himself, (chap, v.) INTRODUCTION. 1 5 The Book of Esther presents a picture of the Persian Em- pire in a state of deep moral degradation, the direct result of which was " oppression," (Eccles. vii. 7,) and violence. Every- thing was dependent on the humours of the king and his great officers. All moral considerations were disregarded ; and there was recognised no higher standard than the pleasure of the king. The Book of Esther furnishes vouchers for the complaints in Ecclesiastes of the drunkenness of the tyrants, of the unbounded influence of money : Haman urged as a reason for the destruction of the Jews, that it would bring ten thousand talents of silver into the treasury. The arguments brought forward by Ewald to prove that this book was written towards the close of the Persian rule, are thus shown to be untenable, unsound. On the other hand, even Ewald himself is compelled to acknowledge that " of all biblical books Malachi's prophecies bear the closest resemblance to Ecclesiastes." What are we to say now regarding the plaii of the book, which under such circumstances was meant to exercise an influence on the people of God ? Herder has given the right answer to this question. " Theologians," says he, " have taken great pains to ascertain the plan of the book ; but the best course is to make as free a use of it as one can, and for such a purpose the individual parts will serve." A connected 1 and orderly argument, an elaborate arrangement of parts, is as little to be looked for here as in the special portion of the Book of Proverbs which begins with chapter x., or as in the alphabetical Psalms. Such matters of plan and connection have been thrust into the book by interpreters who were incapable of passing out of their own circle of ideas, as by degrees became evident from the fact that no one of these arrangements gained anything like general recognition, but tha.t on the contrary each remained the sole propBrty of its originator and of his slavish followers. Cax£zov betrays a narrow estimate of Inspiration when, in his " Introduction," he speaks of it as necessarily implying and producing the " ordo concinnus!' The same limitation of view is charge- able also upon certain more recent writers, who think that a definite plan must be found in the book in order to save the credit of the author. It is a part of the peculiarity of 1 G INTRODUCTION. the "book to have no such plan : and this characteristic greatly conduces to the breadth of its views and the variety of its modes of representation. The thread which connects all the parts together is simply the pervading reference to the cir- cumstances and moods, the necessities and grievances of the time. This it is that gives it unity : and its author sets a good example to all those who are called to address the men of our own generation in that he never soars away into the clouds, nor wastes his time in general reflections and com- mon-places, but keeps constantly in view the very Jews who were then groaning under Persian tyranny, to whose sick souls it was his first duty to administer the wholesome medicine with which God had entrusted him : by ever fresh strokes and features he depicts their condition to them, little by little he communicates the wisdom that is from above, and in the varying turns of his discourse sets before them constantly the most important and essentially saving truths. It is quite misleading to represent the work as occupied with a single nari'ow theme, as for example Knobel does when he says that "the affirmation of the vanity of human life and human en- deavours forms the subject of the book." Such also is Keil]s mistake, who says (see Havernick's " Introduction,") " The aim of the book is to teach how to enjoy life truly, that is, how to realise in life that solid pleasure of which content- ment and piety are constituent elements." A superficial glance at its contents will amply show that they are of far too rich and varied a nature to be comprehended under one such single theme. And if we are determined that the book shall have one leading topic, we must give it as wide and general a scope as the author himself does in the words of chap. xii. ] 8, " Fear God." To further the fear of God and life in Him is the great purpose of the writer in all that he advances : * hence his assertion of the vanity of all earthly things, for he alone can fully appreciate what a precious treasure man has in God, who has learnt by living experi- ence the truth, " Vanity of vanities, all is vanity." Let us now pass to a more careful examination of the con- tents of the book. Written in the midst of circumstances such as have been just described, its tone is partly one of consolation, and partly one of admonition and reproof, so that INTRODUCTION. 1 7 in it maybe discerned "the rebuke of the wise," (chap. vii. 5.) Nor is it by accident that the author girds himself first of all to the discharge of his office as a comforter, using therein all diligence. His prime object was to turn the hearts of the people again to God, for notwithstanding its great weaknesses it was still God's heritage, and in its midst God had His dwelling-place. Only when this end had been attained could a hearing be gained for admonitions and reproofs. The people had fallen into error regarding God and His ways, and this was the real root of their moral corruption, — on this account were the hearts of the children of men fully set to do evil, (chap. viii. 11.) The manner in which the author opens his mission of con- solation may at first sight strike us as somewhat singular: from all sides there rose the complaint, " vanity of vanities," — how evil are our times compared with earlier ones, especially as compared with the glorious days of Solomon? Then the writer breaks in with the proclamation, that the life of man is altogether vanity, that this world is a vale of tears, that the difference between happy and troublous times is much less decided than it appears on a superficial examination, (chap. i. 2-11.) The cross is much easier to bear when it is seen to be the universal destiny of man. From chap. i. 1 2, to the end of chap, ii., Solomon, whom the writer introduces as the speaker, shows from his own example and experience, the emptiness of everything earthly. He begins with wisdom. This was one of the splendid possessions of the age of Solomon, upon which the after-world looked back in astonished admira- tion and with painful yearnings : and all the more earnestly, because this had been imposing, even in the eyes of that Gen- tile world, beneath whose contempt and scorn they now sighed. From wisdom, Solomon then turns to the possession and en- joyment of the good things of this world. Eveiywhere the author discovers the hollo wness which lies concealed beneath glitter and show, the pain which is covered by the mask of pleasure. In this way, he tears up envy and discontent by the roots, and exhorts his fellow countrymen to seek elsewhere their happiness, to draw it from those inexhaustible eternal fountains, which even at that time were open to all who chose to come. 1 8 INTRODUCTION. In other places also the author offers to his unhappy con- temporaries the consolation which is derivable from a just estimate of earthly possessions. He exhibits most earnestness and keenness in unmasking the hollowness of those riches for the sake of which the Gentile world was an object of envy. "Man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth," is the theme of which he treats in chap, vi. 4 ; — " Riches expose to envy and involve in uneasiness" is the text of chap. iv. 7-12, chap. v. 9-19, and of the whole of chap, vi. Here are to be found the properly classical pas- sages of Holy Scripture, on which may be based a trae esti- mate of riches. Nowhere else is the vanity of riches exposed with such depth of penetration, with such fulness of detail, with such caustic pungency. After laying bare the vanity of riches, he proceeds to show the prevalence of folly and falsity in the government of kingdoms, (chap. iv. 13-16.) Hand in hand with the exposure of the vanity of what was mourned as lost, attention is directed to sources of joy still remaining open to the people of God, even in its poverty- stricken state, and out of which it is bound thankfully to draw. Life itself is a noble possession,, (chap. xi. 7, 8 ;) and the godly heart may still always find in it a multitude of lesser joys, of which it is its duty, living only for the present moment, to avail itself in freedom from care and covetousness, (chap. ii. 24 ; iii. 12, 22 ; viii. 15 ; xi. 9, 10.) Despite all their losses in wealth and power, they may continue to " eat, drink and be glad." But that consolation which springs from setting a true value on earthly happiness and earthly endowments is not sufficient by itself For on the one hand, however little importance is to be attached to earthly good in itself, God gave a pledge to His people in the earliest days of its existence, that He would never forsake nor neglect it, even as regards external matters, and it must therefore give rise to doubts of God's omnipotence and love if no evidence can be adduced of the fulfilment of His promises. And, on the other hand, it was not a question here merely of lower blessings and possessions. The real sting of the gxief was the prostrate position of the people of God, the crying contradiction existing between its inward idea and its outward manifestation, between the word INTRODUCTION. 1 9 of God and the realities around them. Koheleth must there- fore open up new fountains of comfort if his mission of con- solation is to be satisfactorily fulfilled. In chap. iii. 1-15, he comforts the poor and wretched who seek water and find it not, by directing their thoughts to the all-superintending providence of God, "who maketh everything beautiful in its time," who even in days of suffei'ing has thoughts of peace, from whom it behoves to accept everything without reluctance because whatever He does is done well, whose beneficent hand is upon us even when we fail to see it, and who will at last bring all things to a glorious termination. The writer exhorts men also in chap. vii. 13, 14, to commit themselves to the fatherly care of God who proceeds ever on the wisest method. So repeatedly and emphatically does the author refer to an exaltation of Israel impending in the immediate future, to the revelation of the retributive righteousness of God, to the change of relative positions which their king was about to introduce on a large scale, that we may regard it as one of the prominent ideas of the book. In chap. iii. 16, 17, he expatiates on the thought that so certainly as there is a righteous God in Heaven, who watches over the maintenance of His laws and order upon earth, so certainly must the disorder which charac- terised the tyrannies of heathendom come to an end, and Israel, which, notwithstanding the false seed that had been mixed up with it, was stiR God's people, the congregation of the "righteous" and "upright," lift up its head amongst the nations. In chap. V. 7, 8, he teaches that the heavenly King and Judge will bring all things again into order at the proper time. According to chap. vii. 5-10, the prosperity of the world is the precursor of impending destruction : the people of God on the contrary will receive its best portion at the end, if it only exercise patience and wait on the leadings of divine providence. According to chap. viii. 5-8, and 9-18, God will one day deliver His own, punish their oppressors, and no power in the world will be able to interrupt the course of His judg- ments. According to chap. ix. 7-10, God takes pleasure in the works of His own people, and therefore at the proper time the now failing recompence will be effected. In chap. ix. 11, 1 2, we are reminded that sudden catastrophes very frequently 20 INTRODUCTION. cast down to the ground that which had exalted itself. In chap. X. 5-1 0, it is foretold that at some future day God will take away the reproach which is offered by the humiliation of His own people, and by the triumph of the world. Several pas- sages hint still more definitely at the imminent downfall of the Persian Empire : as for example, chap. vi. 2, where the stranger who will consume the wealth of the rich man, is the successor of the Persian on the throne of the world ; and chap. vi. 3, where the words " and he shall have no burial," set before the Persians the prospect of a mighty and bloody over- throw ; and chap. vii. 6, where the prosperity of the Per- sians is compared to a fire of crackling thorns which blazes violently up, but is quickly extinguished; and ver. 7, where the demoralization of the Persians, a result of their exercise of tyrannical power, is represented as the herald of their speedy destruction. Of the same tendency are chap. x. 1-3, where the writer dwells on the thought, that whenever folly prevails as it did at that time amongst the Persians, ruin cannot be far off: also chap. x. 11-20, where the moral decay of the Per- sians, which had now reached its extreme point, is conceived to portend a swift extinction ; and lastly, chap. xi. 3, which teaches that the storm of divine wrath will soon uproot and cast down the haughty tree of the Persian Empire : " When the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth ; and if a tree falls, be it in the south or be it in the north, in the place where it falleth there shall it be." That a great change would at some future day take place in the position of affairs, the people of God might hope with the gi-eater confidence, because they continued to possess the wisdom which is from above — not the glittering and bril- liant wisdom of the age of Solomon, but the secret and hidden wisdom peculiar to the children of God, of which they alone amongst all the nations of the earth were the depositaries. This advantage over others was of itself a pledge of their future victory over the world. The Gentile nations are fool- ish because they are left to the guidance of their own reason, and are cut off from the source of all wisdom. But in the midst of Israel, on the contrary, the nation of revelation, to which God had made known His nature and will, thus de- livering it from the sophistries by whose chains the natural INTRODUCTION. 21 man has been completely bound ever since the Fall, wisdom has established its abode. At the fitting time, too, power must certainly follow in the footsteps of wisdom. According to ciiap. vii. 11, 12, wisdom and Ufe go hard in hand. On this ground, Israel may comfort itself even in death. Accord- ing to chap. vii. 19, 20, wisdom is the only defence against divine judgments, because it alone preserves fi^om sins which inevitably draw judgments in their train. In chap. ix. 1 3-1 8, the theme is discussed, — wisdom, the treasure that remains, is nobler than the strength which is lost: "wisdom is better than weapons of war, and one sinner destroys much good." Still, to point attention merely to a future reconciliation to be brought about between reahzation and idea, between the destiny assigned to the people of God and its actual visible condition, was not a full discharge of the writer's mission of consolation. His business was further to open to his fellow- countrymen an insight into the causes of the temporal dis- turbances of the true and normal relations of things, for until it was shown to have an adequate gTOund and reason, it would be impossible to look forward with any confidence to a final restoration. If God is capable in any sense or degree of being unrighteous and hard towards the people of His choice, towards those whom He had pledged himself to love, the fear that He might continue so to the end would present itself again and again with fi-esh force. The fii-st thing to be learnt is to recognise in temporal afflictions the ordainments of that divine righteousness which cannot leave even the sin of its own children unpunished; — nay more, which must discover itself especially in its treat- ment of them, as those who by God's gi-ace "know how to waUc before the living," (chap. vi. 8.) Tliis is as certain as that the servant who knows his Lord's will and doeth it not shaU be beaten with many stripes; as that God will fulfil what is said in Leviticus x. 3 : "I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me;" as that it is said (Amos iii. 2): "You only have I known of all the famihes of the earth, therefore I visit upon you aU your iniquities," and "Judgment mvist begin at the house of God." The author leads his sorrowing and afflicted people to this at once painful and consolatoiy point of view in chap. vii. 21, 22. He works also indirectly 22 INTRODUCTION. towards this end whenever he lays bare their sins before the eyes of the people. Their duty was to be content with God, to see light and justice in His providential arrangements, in the same degTee in which they were dissatisfied with them- selves. When the writer, in chap. iv. 17 — v. 6, reproaches the nation with a superficial piety, which sought to satisfy God by sacrifices instead of honouiing Him with obedience to His laws, which endeavoured to substitute high sounding words for the lacking devotion, and which acted frivolously in respect of vows: and when further, in chap. vii. 15-18, he demonstrates that the pretended " righteousness " of Israel, that foundation of its proud claims, when more closely exa- mined proves to be but another form of godlessness, and points to the open apostacy of which they were at the same time guilty, he furnishes the people with the key to their troubles, and throws light upon the arrangements of God, which hitherto through the want of self-knowledge had been enshrouded it darkness. He thus treads in the footsteps of Moses, who drew an exalted picture of such a Theodicy in Deut. xxxii, where his theme was: "God is faithful and without iniquity, just and upright is He. Hath He acted corniptly towards His people ? The blot is on His sons, a perverse and corrupt generation." The second thing to be learnt is to recognise in sufiering an ordainment of divine love — to see that it is grace concealed under the form of severity, that there dwells in it a refoniia- tory virtue for all those who love God, that it is an indispens- able means of progress of which God cannot without cruelty deprive His children. " Whom the Lord loveth, He chastiseth." Where is there a father who does not chastise his son? Koheleth directs the attention of his sorrowing people to this sweet kernel which lay hidden within the bitter husk of affliction, in chap. vii. 2-4: " It is better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting. Soitow is better than laughter, for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth." Suffering gives the peaceable fruit of righteousness to such as are exercised thereby. The same purpose is subserved by chap. iii. 18, "I said in my heart, For the sake of the children INTRODUCTION. 23 of men such things happen, in order that God may purify them, and in order that they may see that by themselves they are beasts." Suffering is a means of refinement to the people of God, serving especially to strip them of all pride and to lead them to humility. Purification is the general aim of tribulation : but special mention is here made of pWrfe as the root and foundation of sin. That such is its character is evident even from the words which the Old Serpent whis- pered in his temptation of our first parents : " In that day ye shall be as God ;" and by which he caused them to fall. The greater the privileges vouchsafed by God to the nation to which He specially revealed himself, the more liable was it to this particular form of sin. From the same point of view, namely, as a means of " hiding pride from man," (Job xxxiii. 1 7) are afilictions regarded also in chap. vii. 13, 14. God permits evil days to alternate with good, " in order that man may not find anything behind himself;" in order that he may not be able to fathom in any measure that which lies behind his present condition, and still less arrange any nart thereof according to his own will ; and finally, in order that thus he may be fully conscious of his dependence, may become a little child and thoroughly humble. In this manner did the writer of Ecclesiastes fulfil his mis- sion as a comforter. Many things may be missed here, speci- ally any definite reference to Christ, the central point of all consolation, and to that future glory with which the suffer- ings of this present time are not worthy to be compared, but which the Lord will bestow on his own followers. We must bear in mind, however, that the Scriptures are an organic whole consisting of very different members, and that it is therefore preposterous to expect to find the same thing every- where. To " wisdom," in the narrower sense of that word, but a limited sphere was assigned amongst the Israelites. Its business lay not with what was hidden but with that which was manifest, not with the proper mysteries of the Faith, which, under the Old Covenant, belonged to the domain of prophecy, but with the truths which had already become thoroughly a part of the consciousness of the community. With these the mind of thoughtful Israelites occupied itself; these it sought to make clear, and bring home to the under- 24 INTRODUCTION. standing and tlie heart* The prophecies of Daniel, and of the three post-exile prophets, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi, constitute the nearest supplement to Koheleth. The human side of this book, as to which it belongs to the sphere of sacred philosophy, — for the writer does not profess himself to be an organ of immediate divine revelations, — is brought to view especially in chap. vii. 23-29, where the author himself reflects on the way and manner of his acquaint- ance with higher truth. Compare particularly verse 25: "I apphed myself with my heart to know and to search and to seek out wisdom and thoughts," and verse 27: " Lo, this have I found, said Koheleth, one by one, finding thoughts." His method he describes to have been that of taking separ- ately single thoughts, and by meditation drawing out their fulness and significance. This is the reflective and speculative method, not that of direct intuition. That there is a higher degree of wisdom in its more general sense, the degree to which a Moses or an Isaiah arose, who received truth by direct revelation, the writer himself confesses in chap. vii. 28. But he does not for this reason relinquish the claim to be inspired: his inspiration must be conceived specially as pre- serving, purifying, and heightening the natural powers of his mind. In chap. xii. 11, he expressly co-ordinates his work with the sacred writings, the distinguishing characteristic of which in relation to all other literary productions is, as he himself states, " that they are given by the one shepherd," who ever relieves the wants of his people, who feeds them in green pastures, and leads them by the fresh waters, and in consequence are living and mighty, laying hold of heart and spirit in their inmost depths. With this expression of the author all will agTee whom God's Spirit has qualified for forming a judgment in this sphere. What Picus of Mirandola * Oehler, in his "Prolegomena zur Theologie des Alten Testaments." justly characterises most of the Hagiographa as " the product of the Israelitish mind, partly, when endeavouring, by feeling, to penetrate into the depths of the divine revelation and the experiences to which that revelation gave rise in life, and partly when musing on the same," (page 92) and deduces their origin (pages 88, 89) " from the struggle of Hebrew intellect to enter into the task assigned to, and the view given of, life by Mosaism, the effort to appropriate inwardly, and to attain to a thorough understanding of, the substance of revelation, and by reflection to solve its enigmas and contradictions." INTRODUCTION. 2o says of the entire sacred Scriptures, holds perfectly true of this book: " Nothing so strongly affects both heart and judg- ment as the reading of Holy Scripture, and yet they are but simple words without art, which thus overpower us. These words, however, are full of life, soul, and fire, — they penetrate deeply into the spirit, and transform the whole man."* In agreement with the circumstances of the time \visdom walks here in the form of a servant, and in the utterly unadorned garment of poverty; but its words are as goads and nails^ and there dwells in them a power to refresh and sanctify the spirit and heart. The writer's peculiar use of the name of God furnishes a noteworthy indication that he deliberately purposed to con- fine himself to a circumscribed sphere of thought. Amongst the Hebrew names of God Elohim had the most general signification : and this name occurs in the book no fewer than thirty-nine times, seven times with, and thirty- two times without the article. Nowhere do we meet with another de- signation ; especially, be it remarked, we do not find the name Jehovah, which answered to the fully developed religi- ous consciousness, and the use of which absolutely predomi- nates in the Prophets who preceded and were contempo- rary with Koheleth. The writer thus emphatically shows that he makes no pretensions to be an organ of direct revela- tions from God, but that his purpose is to unfold a sacred philosophy. That the author refrains from employing the designation Jehovah has been ascribed b}^ some to the superstitious fear which the later Jews had of giving utterance to that name. Such dread, however, belonged to the post-canonical period : within the canon itself there is nowhere a trace of it. Within the canon the use of the names of God is everywhere deter- mined by their inherent difference of signification, and it was a matter for the free choice of the several writers which of the two names was employed. It is so in the Pentateuch : it is so in the Psalms.t To the use of these names here, that of the book of Job bears the nearest resemblance : and with it * V, Raumer, Geschichte der Padagogik, p. i., s. 49. t Compare my Commentary, part iv. 26 INTRODUCTION. Koheleth was without doubt well acquainted * In the Pro- logue to the book of Job nin"' is generally used ; — as also in the Epilogue and in the historical remarks which are in- terspersed. In the discourses of Job and his friends, on the contrary, the general names of God, Eloah, El, &c., are em- ployed, with the single exception of chap. xii. 9, where we find Jehovah. The problem before the writer is considered from the point of view of Natural Theology with the aid of experience, and of reason as purified by the Spirit of God. If the author's intention was to treat his subject from the point of view afforded by that consciousness of God which is common to men in general, then it was perfectly natural that he should confine his speakers to the corresponding divine name. Once only does he permit Job to break through this rule, and then in order that the avoidance elsewhere of the name Jehovah might be more distinctly seen to be inten- tional, and might not be traced to any merely external rea- sons. The Book of Nehemiah, which was nearly contempo- raneous with Ecclesiastes, also furnishes an analogy. The facts of the case are presented as follows by Kleinert in the Dorpat Beitrdge zu den Theologischen Wissenschaften," 1. §. 182. " In the entire Book of Nehemiah," (i.e., in chapters i.-vii. and xi.-xiii.; for chapters viii. -x. were written by Ezra, and only adopted into his work by Nehemiah), " the name Jehovah occurs only once, namely, in chap. i. 5, in conjunc- tion with Elohim : besides, Adonai occurs only twice : and elsewhere Nehemiah always designates God by the term Elo- him." In the Book of Ezra, on the contrary, and in chapters viii.-x. of Nehemiah, which, as was observed before, are by Ezra, the name Jehovah predominates. Nehemiah wrote as a layman, as a politician mixed up with the aflfairs of the world. His humility did not permit him frequently to take God's holiest name upon his lips. In all these cases, and in Ecclesiastes as well, there was no absolute necessity for ab- staining from the use of the name Jehovah ; other reasons might have decided for its employment ; but the authors * Hitzig remarks in his Commentary, " The Book of Job, which, as to its general views and tendency, is so nearly related to Ecclesiastes, must undoubt- edly have been read by Koheleth," v. 14, vii. 28. (The other passages adduced by Hitzig, viz., vi. 3, vii. 14, 16, are less certain). INTRODUCTION. 517 were giiided by such considerations as seemed to them to favour their abstinence. It J3eing the purpose of the writer to expound a sacred philosophy, and not to touch upon the sphere of the mysteries ofthe faith, we might thence explain why nothing was said about immortality and eternal life, if this were actually the case, as Rationalistic interpreters with one voice affirm. In the course of our Commentary we shall plainly show that such is not the case. According to chap. iii. 11, God has put eternity into the heart of man : according to chap. iii. 21, the spirit of man rises upwards at death, whilst the souls of beasts perish with their bodies ; according to chap. xii. 7, the spirit of man returns at death to God who gave it, in order that it may receive that which its deeds have deserved (chap, xii. 14). It is, however, so far correct that the author main- tains a gentle reserve in respect of this doctrine, limiting himself to slight though distinct and unambiguous hints, in ^rder thus not to pass the boundary line which separates " wisdom " from prophecy. The comparison of Isaiah xxv. 7, 8, xxvi. 1 9, and of Daniel xii 2, 3, wiU throw light on this distinction. Thus far we have occupied ourselves only with the conso- latory part of the mission of Koheleth : let us now turn our attention to its admonitory and punitive aspect. Several of the admonitions of the Preacher are so general in their character, that they are equally well adapted to aU times. In chap. xii. 13, he exhorts to the fear of God and the keeping of his commandments. This he describes as a duty universally binding upon men, and as the only preser- vative from the judgments of God who cannot permit that man, whom He made in His own image, should emancipate himself from Him. That, says he, is the conclusion and sum of the whole matter ; this is the Alpha and Omega of an up- right life, the starting-point and basis of all the special teachings and exhortations of the book. " Fear God " — in these two words he sums up, in chap. v. 7 also, all that he has to say to his readers. Hand in hand with this goes another brief saying which applies to the faithful of all times, namely, " Do good," (chap. iii. 1 2, with which compare chap, vii. 20). "Remember thy Creator :" such is the writer's ex- 28 INTRODUCTION. hortation in chap. xii. 1, and the strongest motive he can uro-e for the following of his advice is, that those who refuse to listen to it, being separated from God, the source of all health, will have to mourn in this world a misspent existence, and -after death will fall under Divine judgment. The author makes repeated and emphatic reference to the judg- ment of God both in this life and in that which is to come, which visits inevitably every deed however secret ; and he shows himself to be most livingly penetrated by the thought that God will recompense to every man according to his works (compare chap. vii. 16, 17, xi. 10, xii. 7, 14). Along with general exhortations like these we find such as have a special bearing on the circumstances and tendencies of the time. The writer lays bare the evils of the time, and seeks to effect their removal, not after the manner of the Prophets by raising his voice in trumpet tones against them, but by calmly reasoning and exposing their preposter- ous character. At all periods in which the powers of this world have weighed oppressively on the people of God, the temptation has been peculiarly strong to approve and adopt the worldly wis- dom which prevailed amongst the surrounding heathen nations. The danger lay very near of coming, in that manner, to terms with the world, and seeking thus to be on equal footing with it. Against this false heathenish wisdom, which seeks out many inventions, (chap. vii. 29,) and which should be regarded as the great foe of their welfare and safety, the writer utters his warning in chap. vii. 25, 26 ; he further admonishes the Israelites to offer energetic resistance to its attacks upon themselves. In chap. xii. 1 2, he warns them against famili- arising themselves with worldly literature. In opposition to the false foreig-n wisdom he sets before them the genuine, viz., their own native wisdom, which " knows the meaning of things," which leads men to a knowledge of their true nature, and thus affords the basis for a right practical conduct in rela- tion to them. With the manifold divisions of heathendom which though ever learning never comes to a knowledge of the truth, he contrasts their own book of books, (chap. xii. 11,) which, whilst seeming to have many authors had in reahty but one, even the Shepherd of Israel, and the words thereof INTRODUCTION. 29 are consequently as goads and nails, penetrating heart and spirit and laying hold of their inmost depths. Hand in hand with the temptation to adopt the wisdom of the heathens went that of falling into their sinful way of life. Those who saw miseiy weighing heavily on the people of God, and on the contrary all things going well and happily with the heathen in their life of sin : those who saw how these latter "tempted God and escaped," and how the "doers of crime were established," (Mai. iii. 15,) must have felt a strong temp- tation to doubt and despair of God, and to let the evil desires of the heart have full and free play. Against this danger the author warns men in chap. viii. 1-4, 11 ; vii. 17. Still even these temptations were by no means the most dangerous. The most critical and suspicious elements of the present condition of the Jews, were those which prepared the way for the later Pharisaism. The prime evil of the time, was that righteousness which owed its origin to speculations on the advantages it would bring, which was full of claims, full of merits, and full of mur- murs against God, who refused to honour the drafts drawn on Him. In chap. vii. 1 5-1 8, he enters the lists against this destruc- tive tendency, which at a later period gTCW so much more hardened and decided that the Lord was driven to utter, against those who in His day were its representatives, the terrible words : " ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how ct»-n ye escape the damnation of hell?" This counterfeit right- eousness which then gave itself such pretentious airs, he des- cribes as but another form of ungodliness, running parallel with open apostacy ; and he shows, that so far from ensuring salvation, it involves us in the divine condemnation : for God cannot allow himself to be put off with such a hollow and heartless piety, but demands, and must have genuine fear and faith. In chap. viii. 14, 15, the book speaks out against the hire- ling spirit which was bound up with such an evil righteous- ness. Godliness ought not to be a question of gain, nor right- eousness to originate in speculations of future good. Tlierefore are the ways of the recompensing God quite darkened : and things go very differently from men's fancies. If they went according to men's thoughts, that is, in other words, if for 30 INTRODUCTION. every work really or apparently good, and for every evil deed, the reward were forthwith weighed and measured out piece by piece, there would soon be no genuine uprightness left on earth, for true righteousness is the daughter of hearty and un- selfish love. The happiness of life must not then be regarded as a hireling regards his wages ; it must not have this basis. Our duty is rather cheerfully to enjoy in the present what God graciously bestows, to use the present moment and not to speculate on the future. Moroseness also is inseparably conjoined with false righteous- ness, as was cleaiiy shown in the example of Cain at the very commencement of the human race. The punishment inflicted on sin, where there is defective knowledge of the sin itself, produces dark despondency, and discontent with God's arrange- ments, (Isaiah Iviii. 3 ; Malachi iii. 14.) With this spirit of gloom, dejection and ill humour the self- righteous had more or less infected the whole people. This too was the one amongst the chief evils of the age, which even the really righteous were least able to resist. To the healing of this disorder the author has directed his special attention. See chap. ii. 24; iii. 12, 22; viii. 15: "Then I commended mirth because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat and to drink and be merry : " compare also chap. ix. 7 ; xi. 8-1 0. Koheleth is from his heart an enemy to extravagant mirth and sensual feasting. He says to laughter, " thou art mad, and to mirth, what doest thou?" (chap. ii. 2.) "The heart of fools is in the house of mirth," (chap. vii. 4.) Indeed the entire book, and in particular chap. vii. 1-5, breathes the intensest earnestness. In chap. xii. 1, he points out how devotion is the foundation of all happiness, of all joy, and in chap xi. 9, warns the extravagant and dissolute that God wiU bring all their doings and ways into judgment. At the same time, he recommends that cheerful confidence in God which does not allow itself to be led astray by the aspect of affairs at the present moment, but waits joyfully in hope of a better future : and enjoins an unbroken courage which can proceed steadily forward in the path of duty, and can calmly wait until the actual arrangements of this world are once more brought into agreement with the word and nature of God. He warns against thanklessly despising that which God gra- INTRODUCTION. 31 cioLisly offers. The Saviour set His seal of confirmation to the utterances of this book, when, with a reference to it, he said, " the Son of man is come eating and drinking." And the offence which the Pharisees took at His manner of life, proves that in them was still perpetuated the tendency against which the author of this book directs his observations. In conjunction with this morose and melancholy spirit were found a slothful feebleness and timidity. Men had no courage or pleasure in doing anything, because they regarded it all as useless. Against such conduct the author raises his voice in chap. ix. 10, and again in chap. xi. 4-6. Precisely in dark and troublous times ought we to be the more earnest in ful- filling the vocation wherewith God has called us : we should sow incessantly in tears that we may reap in joy. Tlie religious superficiality of the age, the want of a living fear of God, manifested itself not only in self-righteousness, and in the gloomy discontent and hopeless inactivity which it produced, but also in a disposition to put off God with soul- less sacrifices instead of honouring Him by obedience, in the efforts made to cover the absence of a heart which constantly seeks and supplicates God by the show and pretence of offering long prayers, and finally, in the extreme readiness to vow vows in the fulfilment of which they showed little conscien- tiousness, and the obligations of which they thought them- selves able to discharge by a mere formality. Against such things the writer speaks in chap. iv. 1 7 ; v. 6. It is not a superficial piety that can give in arduous circum- stances the precious pearl of peace of soul, and preserve from that irritability, whose inevitable result is a heightening of our suffering. Only a deep and hearty godliness, which sees in all, even in the most afflictive events a Father's hand, and submits itself with quiet resignation, can do this. Against that dangerous enemy irritability the author warns his fellow- countrymen in chap. x. 4. Side by side with this we may place his recommendation of patience, (chap. vii. 8.) The Pharisees, as the New Testament says, were covetous. Covetousness flourishes most luxuriantly where a religiousness which is merely external, and changes not the heart, presents it with a covering of fig leaves. When men conclude a peace with God by means of services which do not flow from the 3 2 INTRODUCTION. heart, their darling inclinations come all the more freely into play. In battling with this enemy of the divine life, the book displays peculiar zeal — a plain proof that it was then specially dangerous. They are the same passages as those in which the author opposes the prevalent envy of the riches of the heathen ; and envy has the same root as avarice, (chap. iv. 7-12 ; v. 9- 19; vi.) The preacher rightly discerned the signs of the times. He saw that a great catastrophe drew nigh, that a time approached when the " the peoples will rage and the kingdoms be moved" (Psalm xlvi. 7). Whilst teacliing how men should make pre- parations for this, so that they may^feel that they have a gracious God through it all, he sets in opposition to the bosom sin of the age, namely, covetous narrow-heartedness, that generous-minded liberality which is closely allied with a true love of God and is a proof that we are his children (chap, xi. 1-3). In this manner has the writer discharged the mission of reproof and admonition, with which, as well as with that of consolation, he was intrusted. Various judgments have been passed upon this book. As the representative of the theology of the Church let us hear what Luther says about it. He styles it — " This noble little book, which for good reasons it were exceedingly worth while that it should be read of all men with great carefulness every day." "The main point (or more correctly, a main point) in this book," says he, " is, that there is no higher wisdom on earth under the sun than that every man should fill his post industriously and in the fear of God, not troub- ling himself whether or no his work turn out as he would fain have it, but contenting himself, and leaving the ordering of all things great and small entirely to God. In fine, that he be contented, and abide by that which God gives him at the present moment, taking for motto the words, 'The Lord's behest will turn out best.' And thus a man should not worry and question and trouble himself how things will or should turn out in the future, but think within himself — God has entrusted me with this office, with this work, and I am resolved to discharge it diligentlj^ : if my counsels and plans do not succeed as I expected, let God dispose, ordain, INTRODUCTION. 33 and nile as He will." Even on profounder minds, who held a freer position in relation to Holy Scripture, this book has exercised an attracting influence. Herder, for example, says y' — "No ancient book that 1 am acquainted with describes more fully, impressively, and concisely the sum of human life, the uncertainty and vanity of its business plans, specula- tions and pleasm-es, along with that in it which is alone true, lasting, progressive, and compensatory." On the con- trary, the soulless, spiritless, vulgar Rationalism has been capable of little sympathy with the book. A. Th. Hartman - gave most open expression to his antipathy to it.'" He de- scribes it as "the work of a morose Hebrew Philosopher, com- posed when he was in a dismal mood, and in places thoroughly tedious." Even at an early period objections were raised against this book amongst the Jews. In the Talmud, in Tractate Schab- bath, f. 30, b., it is said that the wise men wished to suppress the book of Koheleth, because it contains contradictions. "But why have they not suppressed it? Because its beginning and its end are words of the law." According to the Mid- rasch, the wise men wished to suppress Koheleth, because all its wisdom ended in the injunction of chap. xi. 9 : "Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth, and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes," which passage contradicts Numbers xv. 89. Inasmuch, however, as Solomon has added, "But know thou that for all these things God will bring thee into judg- ment," therefore, they said, "Solomon has spoken well," noW "iiox nsv Jerome has reported similar words as uttered by Jews ; for which see the quotation given at chap. xii. 1 4. Some have supposed that by the " wise men " are meant the collectors of the Canon — but wrongly. Had these been meant they would have been more distinctly designated. We have before us reflections on the book as one which had already had its place assigned to it in the Canon. A distinction should further be drawn between the thoughts and their dress, between the mode of saying and the thing said. The thought is, that examining the book only super- * Linguistical Introduction to the Book of Koheleth in "Winer's Zeits- chrift," 1 s., 29 f. C 34 INTRODUCTION. ficially it awakens hesitations, but these vanish after deeper consideration. The opinion is not, that we should be content to put up with the offensive passages for the sake of such as are of an edifying nature, but that the latter should be our guide in investigating and understanding the former. The assertion which Augusti, Schmidt, and, in part also, Knobel have ventured to make, that the author of the " Book of Wisdom " attacks Koheleth in chap, ii., has so little founda- tion that it is not worth the trouble of examining and refuting. Early in the Christian era also single individuals raised their voices against this book. Philastrius in his " Hcer. 130" speaks of heretics who reject Solomon's Ecclesiastes, because, after having declared all things to be vanity, he leaves but one thing worth caring for, namely, to eat, drink, and gratify one's own souL Knobel has, last of all, summed up the rationalistic attacks, bringing against the book the reproach of fatalism, moral scepticism, and moral Epicureanism. "All the moral lessons and admonitions of Koheleth," he maintains, "end in recom- mending ease and enjoyment in life." Ewal^d has already given a partial, though a very striking refutation of this assertion : a complete one is contained in the investigation of the contents which has preceded, and in the commentary which follows. Such charges it would be impossible to ad- vance but for the low state to which exegesis has been re- duced. But in face of such attacks we feel ourselves able confidently to say, " Come and see." Against any such profane view of the book as brings it into conflict with the remaining Old Testament canonical literature one fact is by itself a sufficient argument, viz., that the author stands in a most friendly relation thereto. The passage of most importance in this respect is chap. xii. 11, where the writer incorporates his work with the other can- onical Scriptures of the Old Testament, ascribes to it a deeply penetrating influence, and finds its origin in that divine in- spiration which constitutes the boundary line between the literature of revelation and the literature of the world, against which latter, moreover, he gives an emphatic warning in the following verse. In chap. xii. 7 and in chap. v. 8, 4, he re- INTRODUCTION. 35 fers to the Pentateuch ; to the book of Job in the passages aheady adduced ; to Psalm cxviii. 1 2, in chap. vii. 6 ; to Psalm cxxxix. 15, in chap. xi. 5 ; probably to Psalm xli., in chap. xi. 1-3; to Proverbs xxii. 1, in chap. vii. 1; to j Zechariah iv. 3, in chap. xii. 6. A guide to a true estimate of the book may be found in the numerous links of connection between it and the New Testament — especially in the frequent allusions made to it in the discourses of our Lord. Amongst the passages ad- duced from the New Testament by Carpzov in his Introd. ii., p. 212, which he supposes to have reference to Koheleth, only one will bear examination, namely John iii. 8, with which compare Eccles. xi. 5, "As thou knowest not the way of the wind." There are, however, other undeniable refer- ences which he overlooked. Compare with chap. i. 1 of Ko- heleth, Luke xiii. 34; with chap. ii. 1-2, Luke xii. 16-21 ; with chap. ii. 24, and its parallels, Matthew xi. 19 ; with chap. iii. 1, John vii. 30 ; with chap. iii. 2, John xvi. 21 ; with chap. iv. 17, Luke xxiii. 34; with chap. iv. 17, v. 1, James i. 19 ; Avith chap. v. 1, Matthew vi. 7, 8; with chap. v. 5, xii. 6, James iii. 6 ; with chap. vii. 18, Matthew xxiii. 23; with chap. ix. 10, John ix. 4. Through a too great dependence on exegetical works su<^h as that of Knobel, a respectable and esteemed representative and upholder of the theology of the church, Dr Oehler, has allowed himself in his Prolegomena to the Theology of the Old Testament and in his V. T. sententia de rebus post mortem futuris, to be led into views of this book which in reahty do endanger its canonical dignity, however strongly he may disclaim any such intention. According to his opinion the writer is involved in a conflict between faith and knowledge. "The contradiction between the divine perfection and the vanity of the world (more correctly, the sufferings of the people of God) is set before us without any reconciliation being effected. The latter is treated as a matter of undeni- able experience : the former is assumed as a religious postu- late. The only real wisdom, therefore, in life is resignation, which enables a man to use this vain and empty life as well as he can, and at the same time leaves all at the disposal of God." On the one hand, the author teaches that there is a 36 INTRODUCTION. providende and a retribution, and on the other hand, omnia vana et consilii expertia esse. From the point of view of faith, he teaches, in chap. xii. 7, that there is an etei-nal life : from the point of view of reason, he judges that the soul perishes with the body (chap. iii. 1 9), that between the good and evil in and after death there is no difference (chap. ix. 2 f ) On this view the book of Koheleth would be the work, and present us the picture, of a distracted heart, of a divided spirit, avrio bi-^vyjag, such as are produced in masses in our own time; and the Holy Scriptures themselves would thus be involved in the conflict they were destined to heal. Against this we would observe, that it is not correct to say that the book presents to us an unadjusted discord between faith and knowledge, idea and experience. There is of course no denying that, just as in the Psalms, the writer lets scepti- cism have its say. So far there is truth in the view which distinguishes in the work two voices : but wherever that of scepticism is allowed to speak, it is only for the purpose of at once overcoming it. Nowhere, as a sort of model for the Theology of a de Wette, do doubt and faith stand in front of each other, as forces equally entitled to hearing and existence, but everywhere when the voice of the flesh has spoken, the voice of the Spirit replies in confutation. Such is precisely the case in Psalm xxxix. This is most remarkably evi- dent just in that passage, (chap. ix. 1-10,) in which .scepti- cism pours itself forth like a mighty stream. The expression of " the mood of scepticism and of discontent with life" goes there only as far as ver. 6 : in verses 7-10, it is vanquished by the sword of faith. The pretended dualism in regard to the doctrine of eternal life is set aside by the observation that in chap. ix. 2, the voice of the flesh is allowed to be heard in order that immediately afterwards it may be judged and con- victed. Chap. iii. 21, when interpreted on correct philological principles, so far from containing a denial, is an express affirmation of eternal life. Nor is it just to maintain that the author knows of no higher wisdom in life than resignation. Without doubt he teaches that human life often presents difficult enigmas, that it is very hard to understand God's arrangements, and that not unfre- quently we find ourselves reduced to blind faith. In chap. INTRODUCTION. Si iii. 11, for example, lie says : " Man cannot find out the whole of the work which God doeth, neither beginning nor end ;" in chap. vii. 24 : " far off is that which w\as made, and deep, deep, who can find it?" in chap. viii. 17 : "Man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun ;" in chap. xi. 5 : " As thou knowest not what is the way of the wind, like the bones in the womb of her that is with child, even so thou knowest not the work of God, who doeth all." But who does not see that these are truths which apply still even to those who live in the light of the Gospel? It was not in vain and for nouo-ht that the Lord pronounced those blessed who see not ■ and yet believe. The Apostle recommends it to our considera- tion that we walk by faith and not by sight."" To recognise everywhere the causes of the divine arrange- ments, to thread the ways of God so often intricate, demands an eye clearer than the clearest possessed by man. Ever afresh is attention called to the fact that all our knowledge is but fragmentary. In the times of the writer of this book, it was specially important to give prominence to this side, for there were too many who were destitute of clearly seeing eyes, and above all, of that knowledge of sin which gives the key to the sanctuary of God to all those who desire to find there the solution of the problem of this earthly life. But he has not the slightest intention of leaving us altogether to blind faith. The idea never occurs to him of handing over the region of knowledge to unbelief " Wlio is as the, wise man," he exclaims in chap. viii. 1, " and who knoweth the interpretation of things ?" He believes, therefore, that there exists a wisdom which introduces men into the essence o* things, which espe- cially throws light into the dark depths of the cross, and justifies the ways of God. The consciousness that he himself, in struo-gling for wisdom, has attained to important results is expressed in chap. vii. 25, 27 : according to chap. xii. 9, he is, by God's grace, a wise man, and competent to instruct the people in a wisdom which harmonises with what was taught * Even the Christian Poet sings— » Da werd' ich das im Licht erkennen Was ich auf Erden dunkel sahj Das wunderbar und heilig nennen , Was unerforschlich hier geschah." 38 INTRODUCTION. by the wdse of former ages, who were all sent Jpy the one Shepherd, (chap. xii. 11.) How far the writer's counsels are from ending in simple " Resignation," to which none are limited but those whom God, because of unbelief, has forsaken, and to whom the gates of the sanctuary do not stand open, (Psalm Ixxii. 7,) is plain from the long series of passages in which he announces a termination to the sufferings of the people of God and their approaching victory, at the same time laying bare the causes of their present depression, and justifying it as ordered of the ordering of divine love and righteousness. COMMENTAET. THE SUPERSCRIPTION, CHAPTER I. ]. The luords of the Koheleth, the Son of David, the King in Jerusalem. It is not a question of words in general, but of the words. There exist no other words spoken by Solomon to the generation then existing. Only in virtue of this mission did he bear the title Koheleth, (compare under chap. xii. 9.) There can be no doubt whatever that Koheleth properly sig- nifies— " The Assembler," (in the feminine.) The Kal form of irij? does not occur otherwise. The participle in Kal must be employed here for the participle in Hiphil — a thing which might the more easily take place as it stands for the noun. The verb is always used of persons, never of things. It is the standing form employed for the calling together of the whole Israelitish community, of the entire people of God. Compare Deut. iv. 10, where we read — " On the day that thou stoodest before the Lord thy God in Horeb, when the Lord said unto me, gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words that they may learn to fear me :" Exodus xxxv. 1, — " And Moses gathered together all the congregation of the children of Israel, and said unto them, these are the words which the Lord hath commanded that ye should do them : Leviticus viii. 3, — " and gather thou all the congrega- tion together unto the door of the Tabernacle," (Numbers viii. 9 ; X. 7 :) 1 Kings viii. 1, "then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, &c." The fact of the person who speaks bear- ing the name Koheleth — which name was as to essentials cor- rectly explained even by Jerome* — indicates the ecclesiastical * Coeleth, id est Ecclesiastes. Eccl. autem Gra;co sermone appellatur, qui coetuin, id est ecclesiam congreget, queni nos nuncupare possumus conciunatorem, 40 CHAPTER I. 1. character of the book, and its high significance in relation to the entire church of God. In this respect it accords with the commencement of Psalm xlix. : " Hear this all ye people, give ear all ye inhabitants of the world : both low and high, rich and poor together. My mouth shall speak of wisdom, and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding." The wisdom of the Israelites was animated by a spirit moving its possessors to become witnesses of its excellence : it had a thoroughly popular character, it belonged not to the narrow limits of the school but to the spacious courts of the temple : it was a leaven intended to leaven the whole lump. Wisdom, within the Church, was to address itself not merely to a few peculiarly gifted individuals, but has something of importance to communicate to all alike. It is full of compassion like the God who is its fountain : it delights to seek out those who are lost : whereas the wisdom of this world cannot find a bridge over to the simple and ignorant, and has no disposition to interest itself in them. The tendency to association, which has its root in the wisdom coming fi-om above, belongs only to the Church, and therefore, outside its pale, and where its path has been forsaken, we find only isolation and infatuated dis- solution. The world is compelled to make the confession, " we all go astray like sheep, we turn, every one of us, to his own way," The name Koheleth occurs three times in the first chapter, namely, in verses 1, 2, 1 2j three times in the last chap- ter xii. 9, 10 : once in the middle, where it is joined with the feminine, whereas elsewhere it is joined always with the mascu- line. In chap. xii. 8, the article is joined with it : in the other places the word stands without article as an ideal proper name. That Solomon is intended to be designated by it is plain from the addition of the words, " Son of David, King in Jerusalem," the purpose of which evidently is to anticipate and prevent all doubt in this respect. But in what sense is this applied to Solomon, seeing that in reality it can signify nothing more than " The Assembler" (feminine) ? This is a matter of con- troversy ; but there can be no doubt whatever that the title, an explanation of which is given in chap. xii. 9, " Moreover Koheleth was a wise man, and taught the ^people knowledge" eo quod loquatur ad populum, et sermo ejus non specialiter ad unum, sed ad uiiiversos generaliter dirigatur. CHAPTER I. 1. 41 was applied to Solomon, because through him wisdom spake to the people of God, because he was regarded as wisdom per- sonified, besides being its mouth and organ. It is precisely on this ground that his discourses have so decided a signifi- cance and importance : for this reason do they bear a canoni- cal character; just as the words of the prophets derived their weight from the presence of the Spirit of Christ in them, (1 Peter i. 11,) from their speaking as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, (2 Peter i. 21,) and as the Apostles also, ac- cording to Acts XV. 28, were organs of the Holy Spirit. By his employment of this title, the author indicates that Solomon is not here regarded by him in the light of a philo- sopher, but as the representative of a higher spirit than his own — of that mind which is alone capable of uttering such things as are of thorough and lasting importance for the people of God. For this, as the only correct explanation of the term, the passage chap. vii. 27, is plainly decisive. There, a con- trast is drawn between the Koheleth and the stranger, the foreigner, i. e., philosophy and wanton seduction : and the evidently intentional construction of Koheleth with the feminine, can only be explained by its being descriptive of the wisdom which is from above. A further proof of the correctness of this view is afforded by a comparison with the first nine chapters of the Book of Proverbs, where in fact we have the true key to the designation. The writer would never have chosen this title had he not been able to calculate on readers who would look to those chapters of Proverbs for its meaning, for the solution of his enigma — for with an enigma we evi- dently have to do here. Those chapters form a kind of porch- way or introduction, and before an exposition was given of the particular doctrines of the wisdom which, by God's grace, had fixed its seat in Israel, they were intended to exhibit its real nature, and to kindle a love of it in the hearts of the readers : they were further meant at the same time, to unmask and stir up hatred of its rival false wisdom, the foreigner, which, by its seductive arts, was trying to gain admittance amongst the people of God. Wisdom is then introduced as a person, and as speaking to men.* In its character as Kohe- * Ch. B. Michaelis on Chap. viii. Quod sapientia liic non ut qualitas sed ut persona inducatur, non inde solum liquet, quod vox, labia, os aliaque, qux per- 42 CHAPTER I. 1. Ictli, as tlie Assembler, it is clearly brought forward in chap, i. 20, 21, "wisdom crieth without, she uttereth her voice in the streets. She preacheth in the chief place of concourse : she utters her words in the gates of the city : " further also in chap. viii. 1, ff From such a personification of wisdom there is but a step to its becoming as it were personal in an individual, as in this Book of Ecclesiastes. To assume such an embodiment of wisdom in a person here is matter of less diffi- culty, seeing that the like thing occurs undeniably in the New Testament. A comparison of Luke xi. 49, 50, with Matthew xxiii. 8 4, will leave no room to doubt that in the first passage Christ represents himself as the personal embodiment of wis- dom. That there is a connection between these passages and Solomon's appearance as Koheleth, was recognised already by Bengel in his time, and that the two stand in a certain measure on the same line. He says in his Gnomon, on Luke xi. 49, ;j 6o(pia Tou diou, scqnentia dei. Suave nomen. Koheleth COngregatrix. Chap. xiii. 84, itoGay.tc, rfiVknca hmffwu^ai to. rr/.m GOV. In these words from Matthew xxiii. 37, quoted by Bengel, Christ appears to allude to himself as the true Koheleth. The objections which have been urged against the explanation now given of the name Koheleth, especially of the feminine form of it, are untenable. Those who affirm that the author must have expressed himself much more distinctly had he intended to apply to Solomon the title Koheleth because of his standing as the representative of wisdom, overlook the fact that this explanation is involved in the relation existing between this book and the exordium of the book of Proverbs ; and further that we are driven to it by chap. vii. 27. When it is objected that a multitude of expressions do not at all correspond to what we might expect from the lips of Wisdom, as, for example, when the person speaking is represented as having contem- plated, sought to obtain, and actually gained possession of, wisdom, there is an overlooking of the consideration that Koheleth is not wisdom absolutely, but only so far as it has found an embodiment in Solomon : or, in other words, that sonarum potius quam rerum sint, ei tribuuntur, v. 1 sqq,, sed maxime ex consid- eratione illorum characterum, qui, v 22 sqq, expressi sunt, ad quos in prologo evangelii Johannis, ubi divina Christi natura adseritur, respectum fuisse, vix quisquara negabit. CHAPTER I. 1. 43 Solomon is designated Koheleth from the principle by which he was animated. We have thus also met the objection that Solomon always comes on the scene in the distinctest manner as an actual person, and not as the personification of an idea, and that accordingly reference is made to the experiences of a living person, to the fortimes of a definite individual. Ko- heleth is not, like Wisdom in the book of Proverbs, a "per- sonified idea," but Solomon himself, who is regarded as the representative, or so to say, as the incarnation of wisdom. The usual course has been to assume without further proof that Koheleth is a sort of surname of Solomon's. " He under- takes the office of a public teacher of truth, aifd the word Koheleth is intended to point out that he enters here on this definite vocation." A decisive gTound against this notion is, that the name is conjoined with the feminine in chap. vii. 27. The assumption that Solomon bears the title Koheleth as the representative of wisdom furnishes the only satisfaictory ex- planation of the alternating conjunction of the word with the masculine, which plainly predominates, and with the feminine. Moreover, on the view above mentioned the feminine form cannot be satisfactorily accounted for. Some appeal to the frequent employment in titles of office, of the abstract word, for persons. " The official is totus in the business assigned to him in life, and receives its name as his title." n^np signifies properly "preaching^' the office and business of a public speaker : it is then used also of the public speaker himself So some argue. There are however many difficulties in the way of this position. The feminine termination does un- doubtedly serve for forming abstract names (see Ewald, s. 1 6 6), but this never takes place with an active participle, and for a very simple reason. From iiy "blind," we may indeed form miy " blindness ;'•' from stsn " sinful," nSDH " sin, sin- fulness ;" but from hr\\) " the assembling one, " we cannot form n^np, in the sense of " preaching sermon." Then, no case can be actually adduced of a concrete word being made abstract, and afterwards again employed in a personal sense. For the question, who is the author of this book, it is of no little significance that Solomon does not appear here under his own name, but under that of Koheleth. All the other publi- cations of Solomon bear his usual name on their title-page : 44 CHAPTER I. 2-11. for example, " The Proverbs," whose inscription runs, " The Proverbs of Solomon, the Son of David, the King of Israel ;" the " Son of Songs ;" Psalms Ixxii., cxxvii. : and it is a per- fectly natural thing that he who wishes himself to be re- garded as the author of any work should employ no other de- signation than that by which he is already known. To use enigmas, and to play at hide and seek, would be little in place in such a matter. Consequently the writer of this work, in styling Solomon Koheleth pretty clearly indicates that it is only in an ideal sense he is introduced as the author, that he was concerned with the book only as a repre- sentative of Wisdom. The very name, which is strictly an impersonal one, shows that the person to whom it is ap- plied belongs to the region of poetry, not to that of reality. Thus we find that the only argument, with any show of reason, for Solomon's authorship, changes sides altogether as soon as it is more carefully examined. The book of Ecclesi- astes was not only not actually composed by Solomon, but does not even pretend to have been.* CHAPTER I. 2-11. Human life, according to the judgment pronounced on it in Genesis iii. 17-19, is at its best but brilliant misery. Our first parents felt this deeply even in their day. They named one of their two sons Hebel (Abel), that is to say, Vanity. The parents of Noah also confessed this, for they spake at his birth ; " this shall comfort us in our toil and work upon the earth, which the Lord hath cursed," (Genesis v. 29). In Genesis xlvii. 9, Jacob says, "few and evil are the days of my life :" in Psalm xc. 1 0, Moses says, " the days of our yeai-s are threescore and ten, and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow :" and in Psalm xxxix. 6-7, David exclaims, " Only to utter vanity was every man ordained. Only as a vain show walketh * What A. Fabricus says of the " Book of Wisdom " in the Bibl. Gr. 3, s. 736, holds quite good in the present instance, viz. : Perinde ut Salvianus nun- quam volitit existimari libros suos a Timotheo esse scriptos discipulo apostolorum, sed satis ipsifuit sub nobili hoc persona delituisse. CHAPTER I. 2-11. 45 every man : surely they disquiet themselves in vain ; he heapeth up and knowetli not who shall receive it." It is of great importance that this character of our earthly existence, depicted in so affecting a manner in the hymns, " Ah ! how empty! ah! how fleeting!" and "alas! what is the life of man f should become so distinctly a matter of consciousness, that men shall not seek to gild over their misery by vain fancies. Only thus can the vanity to which we are sub- jected have its right operation, answer its purpose, which is to drive us back to God whom we have forsaken, to bring us into the position of saying with entire truthfulness, " Thou alone, O Jehovah, remainest to me what thou art, in thee I put my trust." It is one of the principal aims of the extra- ordinary sufferings with which God visits His children, His whole church and individuals, to impress deeply on the mind this vanity of earthly things. It is, however, a difficult pro- cess : man proves herein a hard learner. He is ever slow to reconcile himself to the emptiness of earth ; he is easily brought to fancy his lot a peculiarly hard one, and he does all in his power to put an end to a condition of things which he deems exceptional. And when he finds it impos.sib]e to accomplish his design, he falls a prey to despair. This book is unintelligible except on the historical presupposition that the people of God was in a very miserable condition at the time of its composition. They were bondsmen in their own native land : heathens ruled over them : everywhere reigned degradation and misery. When the foundation of the second temple was laid, the people were moved to bitter tears, as they contrasted the present with the past. Vanity of vani- ties was the universal cry : alas ! on what evil days have we fallen ! They said one to another, " How is it that the former days were better than these T Ecclesiastes vii. 1 0. In parti- cular did they look back on Solomon and his day with the desperate yearnings of a Tantallus. And then on the ears of the people in such a condition bursts the proclamation of our author, that human life is altogether vanity. Thus on the one hand he administered the consolation lying at the basis of the words, dulce est solamen miseris socios habere malorum. The cross is much easier to bear when we see that it is the universal destiny of mankind. And on the other hand, he 46 CHAPTER I. 2-11. suggests powerful motives to a sincere return to God, whose very name Jehovah or Jahve, signifying " the One who abso- lutely is, Pure Being," constitutes a perfect contrast to the vanity with which every creature separated from Him is justly chargeable. Ver. 2. Vanity/ of vanities, said Koheleth, vanity of vani- ties ; all is vanity. Ver. 3. What profit hath man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun ? Ver. 4. One genera- tion passeth away and another generation cometh, and the earth abideth for ever. Ver. 5. The sun also riseth, and the sun goeth down, and (goeth) to his place where he eagerly riseth. Ver. 6. The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north, it whirleth about continually ; and the wind returneth again to its circuits. Ver. 7. All rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full : unto the place whence the rivers come, thither they return again. Ver. 8. All words become weary, none can utter it ; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. Ver. 9. The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be ; and that which has been done is that which shall be done, aud there is nothing at all new under the sun. Ver. 1 0. Is there a thing whereof it may be said, see this ts neiu ? It hath been already of old time ivhich was before us. Ver. 11. Ko memorial have they of old ; nor shall they who are to come have any remem- brance with those that shall corae after. Ver. 2. That it was the mission of this book to impress on the Church of God the vanity of all earthly things, to con- vince it that " the world is but a vale of tears, and that everywhere are to be found only needs, troubles, and fears," is externally indicated with sufficient clearness by the fact that the word ^an, "vanity," occurs in it thirty-seven times, whilst in the entire remaining portion of the Old Testament it occurs only thirty-three times. "Vanity of vanities," according to the well known usage of speech, signi- fies " the utmost vanity." The word " all " is more precisely defined afterwards as " all that is under the sun, whatever belongs to the sublunary world, to this poor earth." It does not include the Creator, whose very name Jehovah, signifying " Tlie self-existent One," " pure, true, absolute being," stands in the completest opposition to vanity : nor does it refer to CHAPTER I. 2-11. 47 union with Him and the joy which is sought in Him (compare chap. xii. 18), but to the poor creatures which since the time spoken of in Genesis iii. have been subjected to vanity (Ro- mans viii. 20). The earth can oifer nothing capable of afibrd- ing true satisfaction and contentment to man. Tlie assertion that " here at the beginning of the work its author gives strongest expression to the bitterness of his own spirit ;" rests on an utter misunderstanding. If that were true in this case, it would be equally true in the case of Thomas a Kempis, who commences his " de Iwiitatione Christi " with the words : Vanitas vanitatum et omnia vanitas prceter amare Deum et illi soli servire. Vanitas igitur est divitias peritiiius qucerere et in illis sperare. Vanitas quoque est Jionores ambire et in altum statum se extollere. Vanitas est carnis desideria sequi, etc. There can be no word of subjective bitterness, for the simple reason that the vanity of all the possessions of this world, and of the efforts spent upon them, is an undeniable fact. To recognize this is of the utmost importance, and who- soever helps us to gain this knowledge is an excellent preacher, for he prevents us seeking any longer happiness where it is not to be found, he moderates the pain we feel at losing and being deprived of what is in itself really worthless, and makes us intensely eager to attain to the true source of joy. Nega- tive wisdom is the condition and groundwork of positive. We cannot really see in God the highest good unless we have first of all discerned the vanity of that pretended good which is laid before us by the world. " Soul, why weariest thou thy- self with the things of this world f — such words constitute an admirable commencement when we wish to lead men to God. Vanity of vanities and aU is vanity, — to know that is the preliminary condition of a true enjoyment of those plea- sures which still spring up in the barren wastes of life. He who has given up making undue claims on life will be able to take with a contented and thankful spirit those joys which present themselves unsought on his path, he will be able to live for the present moment, free from cares and covetousness. " I have laid my account with possessing nothing, and there- fore the whole world is mine." Jerome asks the question how it is reconcileable with God's 48 CHAPTER I. 2-11. having created all things good, to say that all is vanity?* He did not find the proper answer to this question, nor did Luther, who supposes that the writer "does not say this against the creatures, but against the naughtiness of the human heart which will not rest, but makes for itself all kinds of sorrow and misfortune." He does not speak of God's works, " but of those wretched objects beneath the sun with which men are bound up as to their physical constitution, for whose sake they give themselves so much fruitless unrest, trouble and labour." To limit his words entirely to human efforts, contradicts the subsequent carrying out of the thought. Besides, the vanity of human efforts is specially grounded in the vanity of the sphere in which they are put forth. And that vanity is pre- dicable of the whole of that sphere in respect to which God spake the words " very good," (Genesis i.,) is evident from the sentence, "in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt die," — die a death whose crowning point is Death personally so designated. Other evidence to the same effect is borne by Romans viii. 20, according to which the irrational creation is subjected to vanity, and by James iv. 14, where our life is described as arfiig, the same word as that by which Aquila has translated hir\. Not only, then, are human efforts vain, but creation also, in its merely natural aspect, may be included under the description " all is vanity." The true solution of the problem lies here : — Between the words " and behold, every- thing was good," and those of our author, " all is vanity," the fall of man has intervened. With that, an entirely new order of things was inaugurated. To man in his degeneracy God's creation, though good in itself, was no longer fitted. Hence the complaint, " all is vanity," is not a charge against God, but, on the contrary, when we carefully consider the nature and constitution of man, rather a praise of God. It is just in the decreeing of punishment, and the establishment of the economy of the cross, that God specially manifests His glory and greatness. The Berleburger B^ble observes : " As it was said in the beginning, everything is good, everything is very * Si cuncta quaj fecit Deus valde bona sunt, quomodo omnia vanitas, et non solum vanitas, sed etiam vanitas vanitatum ? Ut sicut in Canticis Canti- corum inter omnia carmina excellens carmen ostenditur ita in vanitate vanita- tum vanitatis magnitude monstretur. CHAPTER I. 2-11. 49 good, so also will it once again be said regarding the creature, everything is preciovis and new, everything is very precious, good, and glorious." " All is vanity," — cannot be the end of God's ways : it can only be a point of transition. The end must correspond to the beginning. The words — "all is vanity," — will lose the sad truth they have as respects the present course of the world, in the " regeneration" of which our Lord speaks in Matthew xix. 28, in that blessed age de- picted by Isaiah in chap. xi. of his prophecies, and by Paul in Romans viii. As vanity is not the original, so can it not be the final character of the world's constitution and course. Death, the climax of vanity, entered into the world with sin, (see Genesis ii. 17; Komans v. 1 2.) And therefore when sin has been completely overcome, death also will cease, (1 Cor. xv. 54 f) and as it is said in Revelations xxi. 4, " God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes ; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away." All the descriptions of this future contained in the Scriptures, pre-sup- pose what is expressed in the words, " All is vanity," for they are intended to give courage to those who sigh and groan under vanity, and to save them from despair. So, for example, Isaiah xxv. 6-8, — " And in this mountain the Lord of Hosts prepareth unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. And He destroyeth in this mountain the face of the covering with which all nations are covered over. (The veil as the sign of soitow.) He destroyeth death for ever, and the Lord God wipeth away the tears from all faces." Further, Isaiah xxxv. 1 ft': " The wilderness and the solitary place will be glad, and the desert will rejoice and blossom as the rose. Then will the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing : for in the wilderness will waters break out and streams in the desert. The parched ground will become a pool, and the thirsty land streams of warer. Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the deaf be unstopped." But a fundamental condition of our pa - ticipating in this future glory, is that we attain to a clear and deep insight into the significance of the saying, " All is vanity," that we do not gild over our present misery. Only as tliis D 50 CHAPTER I. 2-11. truth is distinctly understood and intensely felt, will its effect be to drive us to God, who is our everlasting dwelHng-place, (Psalm xc,) and to arouse us to repentance, in that we estimate the extent of our guilt by the severity of the sufferings we have to endure. Such was the feeUng of Perthes when he wrote after the death of his beloved wife, " an immeasurable load of guilt must rest on us, seeing we have to suffer such a loss." De Wette brought against St Paul the reproach, that in his writings we encounter sometimes " the discordant tone of contempt of the world." He who with such eyes considers the words "all is vanity," will not onlyretain his share of trouble, for say what we may, the world is, and continues to be a vale of tears, notwithstanding that by our forced laughter we should fancy we have changed it into a house of gladness, — but will wantonly rob himself of the wholesome fruit of his sufferings. The bringing in of the new covenant has effected no alteration in that vanity of vanities which our author speaks of so em- phatically. The blessings which already accrue to us therefrom belong to an order of things entirely different from that which is here spoken of They spring not forth from the region beneath the sun but from the kingdom of heaven. The earth meanwhile continues its existence of vanity, and in this its character is a powerful motive pressing men to appropriate the heavenly treasures offered by the Church. Ver. 3. In ver. 3, is given the result which follows from ver. 2. If " aU is vanity," what profit hath man ? or strictly " the earthly one, (Geier, cum aculeo terrence fmgilitatis) of all the labour which he taketh under the sun?" There is much ado about nothing. One who has arrived at a know-* ledge of the true nature of this world receives a strange, yea even a tragicomical impression when he sees men running to and fro, and seeking to snatch the prey fi'om each other's grasp. The results, too, are in the end of scarcely greater* compass and importance than those of the movements of an anthill. And then joined with all this, the airs of importance, and the pompous phrases about progress and the like. The best commentary on this verse is furnished by the beautiful hymn of Grypliius beginning — " The glory of the earth, must at last become smoke and ashes." Interpreting these facts according to the mind of the Preacher the practical result CHAPTER I. 2-11. 51 would be to " quit the world, and honour, fear, hope, favour and learning, and to follow only the Lord, who will ever rule, whom time cannot' change, and who can confer upon us eternal blessedness." Ver. 4. The subject of discourse in the context is the vanity of everything earthly, and the consequent fruitlessness of human efforts. Ver. 4. would not at all suit the connection in which it stands, unless the earth be regarded as the scene of vanity and misery which it really is. The generations of men are continuallychanging, ceaselessly do fresh ones appear on the scene, but 0 ! misery ! the earth, against which the curse recorded in Genesis iii. 17-19 was pronounced, on which it is impossible to reahse permanent results, or to arrive at abiding happiness, and where men find themselves hemmed in on all hands — that remains. The new generations are compelled always to begin where the old ones ended. That old fable, the rolling of the Sisyphus-stone, is illustrated ever afresh.* ch)]h does not stand in contradiction Avith the doctrine of the impending termination of the present phase of the earth's existence found elsewhere in the Old Testament. As in Genesis vi. 4, nhj?, " Time far back beyond the memory of men," so here it designates a future of unmeasured extent : as Rambach has it, diutissivw tempore, cujus terminus nobis occuUus est Ver. 5. The sun here can only be employed as an image of human existence which is straitly confined within the limits of vanity. The natural event cannot, considered in itself, be treated as a subject of complaint, but only as one of joyous wonder and admiration, as is clear from Psalm xix. The mere natural rising and settino- of the sun would not form a suitable step in the development of the thought, " vanity of vanities," which is the subject of the writer's comments on to the 11th verse, and wliich must consequently furnish the test of the correctness of our explanation of all that occurs up to that point. The sun eagerly running through a long course, in order at last to return to the goal from which it started is a true image of human life shut up within the impassable magio- * Quite improperly says Jerome, " quid hac vanius vanitate, quam terram, manere, quaa hominum causa facta est, et ipsum hominem, terrae dominum, in pulverem repente dissolvi." 52 CHAPTER I. 2-11. circle of vanity. The human race seems unable to move a step. A new generation always begins where the old one ended. Notwithstanding all our much vaunted progress, we continue mainly such as we were of old, " burdened with an inheritance of sin, with weakness, with want and death." " That there is motion, cannot be denied : but it is motion in a circle, and consequently leads to no result," (Hitzig.) Following the example of the Chaldee version, of the Septuagint and of the Vvilgate Luther connects ixijy ioip» hii) — " And hasteth to his place that he may there rise again." But this mode of con- necting the words is contrary to the accents, according to which «iKVi^ must belong to what succeeds : and besides, without any justification from usage, it takes the word ISB^ in the signification of " to run, to hasten." The usual mean- ing of ix'^ is " to snap at, to hanker after, anything ;" in which sense it is employed here also — " And (coones then again) to its place ivhere it longingly arises." isic' corresponds to the expression found in Psalm xix. 6, " He rejoices as a hero to run his course." The first verb furnishes greater definiteness to the second; Ewald, § 285. A new generation advancing to life with fresh courage, resembles the sun in its longing, its joyousness, its eagerness, ^s includes the verb. Ver. 6. In this verse " is described the vanity of the wind, which is continually moving round and round in a circle, and through its swiftness does not succeed in passing beyond this circle." Here also it is quite plain that the author has no in- tention of blaming anything in the order and arrangements of nature — a thing which would have been revolting and ab- surd-— but that the wind comes under consideration only as a symbol of human existence revolving constantly in the circle of vanity and unable to transcend its bounds however mighty may be the efforts put forth. The entire verse has reference to the wind, and it is fruitless when the Septuagint, the Syriac, Geier, and others, try to refer the first clause to the sun : " which turns not towards the North." South and North are mentioned in the case of the wind, because East and West were used of the sun. The nu''3D of the wind are the turns which it has already made. Ver 7. As the water of brooks goes first into the sea and then returns back to the brooks, so is there in human affairs CHAPTER I. 2-11. 53 no real result, no progress, no overstepping of the limit of vanity : the old misery manifests itself ever afresh. Luther recognised the symbolical character of the verse, but did not altogether hit upon a right view of the thought contained in it. Says he, " we have in these words a subtle comparison : all men's proposals, all their devices, efforts, care, by which they hope to help the matter, rise with the sun, and go down again ; like the water, too, they flow hither and thither ; that is, being mere human thoughts, without God's work and fur- therance, they remain just what they were. Let that man whose thoughts either do not, or have not come to nought, blot out what Solomon says." That the sea never becomes full is a proof that the streams must return again to the place whence they came. We must render the words, " to the place from which the streams go out." Luther's translation is correct, " to the place whence they flow, they flow back again." The Construct State which causes the whole following sentence to be treated as a noun is employed in the same manner in Psalm civ. 8, " unto the place which thou hast founded for them." As to the way and manner in which the waters re- turn to their source commentators are not agreed. Luther thinks " the waters run without ceasing into the sea, and then by secret subterraneous passages or channels run from the sea as fountains and brooks filtering through the earth at their place, penetrating and running through mountains and rocks." It is, however, much simpler to assume that the streams return to their sources through the medium of the clouds. Compare Genesis ii. 6, " and there went up mists from the earth and watered the whole face of the gTOund :" Job xxxvi. 27, 28, " For he draws forth the drops of water, they pour down rain from the vapour thereof Thence run the clouds, distil much upon men." In respect of natural processes the Scriptures do not enter upon doubtful hypo- theses. They always confine themselves to that which pre- sents itself to the eye of the general observer, to that which is undeniable. Some have deemed it possible entirely to evade the consideration of the problem here presented, and they translate, " Whither the streams go, thither go they ever again :" i.e., they pursue incessantly the same course into the sea. Accordino- to this version there would be no refer- 54 CHAPTER I. 2-11. ence whateVer to the return of the rivers to their sources. In such a case, however, it is impossible to see what purpose is served by the words, " and the sea becomes not full." Ver. 8. In interpreting the first half of this verse all de- pends on whether we take nnai in the sense of things, in which it is employed in chap. vi. 11, vii. 8, or in that of words. The former view is adopted by Luther. He trans- lates, "All men's doing is so full of toil, that no one can utter it."* On this view the words would be more accurately rendered — " All things are so weary, that no one can utter it," that is, they are inexpressibly weary. Usage does not allow of any further meaning being given to yj'' than that of " weary." Tediousness or weariness in the things corresponds to ennui in the individual person. Nothing goes on with vigour and freshness : spur and whip are everywhere neces- sary : the world seems to have outlived itself, for ever since the time spoken of in Genesis iii., it has been under the ho-jXua rric, (p&ooag (Romans viii. 21). From Genesis iii. 17, "cursed be the ground for thy sake, with pain shalt thou eat of it aU the days of thy life," we should judge the ground itself to be weary : it no longer hastens to give unto man its strength : all has to be pressed and wrung from it by labour. This interpretation, though in some respects very admir- able, has against it the correspondence between Dn2T and "131 " to speak " — a correspondence which is scarcely to be denied. This would lead to the conclusion that the former word is employed here in the signification " words," which is the original one, besides being predominant in this book. Accordingly we should find a parallel to the whole of the first half of the verse in Psalm xl. 5, where it is said in re- spect of the wonderful works of God, "I will declare and speak of them ; they are more than can be numbered." What is unutterable, inexpressible, we are not here distinctly in- formed : but the context leaves us in no doubt on that matter, inasmuch as from verse 2 onwards nothing else is spoken of but human misery. Words fail to describe it, and however many we may employ, the description ever falls far * On this view Rambach gives the sense as follows : Dici non potest quan- tum laboris et defatigationis rebus et negotiis, humanis omnibus insit. Quid- quid dixeris, semper major restabit dicendi materia. CHAPTER I. 2-11. 55 short of the reality. Ever since the day referred to in Gene- sis iii. man has been the prey of an indescribable sorrow. The words, the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear with hearing, find their commentary in chapter iv. 8, where "lus eye is not satisfied with riches," describes an insatiable desire for them ; and further in Proverbs xxvii. 20, where the in- satiability of the eyes of men also stands for desire that con- not be satisfied ; " Hell and destruction are never full, so the eyes of man are never satisfied." That man never finds satis- faction in earthly things, but on the contrary is ever asking for yet more and more, is a sign of their emptiness. Such being their nature they can never fill the heart. It is in this respect that they come under consideration in this place, and the two halves of the verse agree therefore in the thought of the vanity of all things earthly. The first describes it as unutterable ; the second appeals for proof of the assertion to their inability to appease and fill the heart of man. Luther says, " an exemplification of this may be found in that re- nowned king and praiseworthy hero, Alexander the Great. In a very brief space of time (for in all he did not reign more than twelve years) he subjugated to himself a large portion of the whole world : and notwithstanding, once upon a time, when he heard a philosopher arguing that there are more worlds than one, he sighed deeply, and said, ' Alas ! that I have not as yet subdued more than one world f So, if he had at once gained ten other worlds, his heart would not have found rest : nay more, it would not have been satisfied with a thousand, or even with countless worlds." What we have already fails to please us, and we long for that which we have not. Knobel's view of the passage, that " the satis- fying of the eye and the filling of the ear describes the com- ing to a termination with the study and meditation of things," is opposed to the parallel place, besides being contrary to the natural meaning of such modes of speech. The eye is satisfied when we have no desire to see more, the ear is filled when we wish to hear no more. In the Berleburger Bible it is re- marked, " by the entrances of the soul so many thousands of objects or things are carried into the heart, that man wearies and distracts himself with them as with an infinite sandhill. Out of these his heart forms for him innumerable images which 56 CHAPTEK I. 2-]l. he contemplates and inwardly busies himself with. Thence arise the manifold thoughts and distracted feehngs of us miserable men. This is the caus^ that, through apostacy from the eternal good, from the Creator, our hearts go forth towards a multiplicity of objects, and, instead of desiring and laying hold on God alone, who would have been an eternally satisfying portion, long for and grasp at thousands of created objects, and still never realise contentment. It is indeed im- possible that the immortal soul of man should rest in crea- tures which are vanity. It seeks ever further and desires ever more : it is like a fire which burns on without ceasing, and would fain bring all within its grasp. But now that it is faint, and out of its true element and life, which is God, behold, the soul finds itself deceived, led astray and threat- ened with ruin by all creatures, finds that it has wasted its time and energies on things without use, and knows not an object to which it may cling." Ver. 9. Notwithstanding all the fancies and illusions re- garding new and glorious things which men bring forward it is now as it was of old. " That which is done" is here con- sidered in its results, and is consequently closely connected with that which is. Being (Seyn) continues ever what it was of old : consequently the results of doing, of action, cannot show any very important difference. Becavise the old was bad, it is a great evil that there is nothing new under the sun. There is no alternative but to recur ever to the words, " Cursed is the ground for thy sake." Man cannot escape out of the charmed circle into which he was driven by the sentence pro-, nounced in Genesis iii., be his exertions what they may. All progTess is but vain show and loose varnish. For example, the old covenant, " thou shalt die," still retains its force, not- withstanding all the progress that has been made in the heal- ing art. Luther remarks, " if we understand these words of the works of God, they are not true : for God works and ever produces something new : it is only men and children of Adam who effect nothing new." This is perfectly well grounded. We have here to do with Negative Philosophy, which searches into the nature of things apart from God. The author's intent is to show what is the matter with earthly and human affairs considered in themselves, to tear up by the roots the countless CHAPTER I. 2-11. 57 illusions to wliicli the natural man so readily resigns himself, and by which he frustrates the purpose of the divine judgment pronounced in Genesis iii. The vanity of earthly things can only lead men to God when it is thoroughly felt and under- stood. For parallels to the words, there is nothing new under the sun, reference may be made to Jeremiah xxxi. 22, " behold I create a new thing in the land," and to Isaiah Ixv. 17, "behold I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former shall not be remembered nor come into mind," (compare Ixvi. 22.) In Matthew xix. 28, the Lord promises the regen- eration or the renewal of the world. According to 2 Peter iii. 1 3, " we look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." In the Apocalypse, chapter xxi. 1, John sees a "new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away." He who sits on the throne says there, in verse 5, "behold I make all things new." According to chapter xxi. 2, " the holy city, the new Jerusalem, descends from heaven." At the bottom of all these passages lies the tacit presupposition that " there is nothing new under the sun." The assumption from which they start is that the old earth is a scene of vanity, that all efforts to change it, originating in and depending on its own resources, are utterly fruitless, and that a true alteration cannot be effected from below, but only from above. They comfort us also in the midst of the misery which is our lot, by the as- surance that a renewal from above ^vi]l in fact be accomplished. The new creation wiU begin at the point where vanity took its rise, even with man : " if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, old things are passed away, behold all things are become new," (2 Corinthians v. 17.) Thence will the renovation pass to the rest of creation. Nothing new is done under the sun — this should serve to bring do^vn the lofty imaginations which would gather grapes from the tliorns of this w-orld, but not to discourage the friends of the king- dom of God, whose true seat is not under the sim, but above it, and whose heavenly protector, by ever creating new things, furnishes materials for new songs, (Psalm xl. 8.) Ver. 10. Many an undertaking gives promise at its com- mencement of passing beyond the limits fixed by the old curse-laden world. The world exultingly shouts them wel- 58 CHAPTER I. 2-11. come. But very soon it becomes evident that in them also a worm is concealed, and they sink down to a level with that which our poor earth has produced in former ages. So was it with the happiness of the days of Solomon, in the background of which there lay decay and ruin, and whose end was such, that men were driven to exclaim, " Lord have mercy," and, " Oh ! that thou wouldest rend the heavens and wouldest come down !" It still remains a truth that "here is no true good to be found, and what the world holds in itself must vanish in a moment." Ver. 11. A fond dream of this world is to possess the im- mortality of renown. Even this barren consolation is here taken away, and so a conclusion is made to the development of the thought contained in ver. 3, that man has no profit of all the labour which he taketh under the sun. In accordance with the sentiment of tliis verse is the hymn by Joh. Pappus, "I have committed my cause to God;"* and another by Andreas Gryphius, of which verses are quoted below.-f- Con- trary to the divergent explanations of these verses, it is to be observed that D>:tJ'«"i and D''jnns are always " the earlier" and "the later," See Leviticus xxvi. 45 ; Deuteronomy xix. 14 ; Psalm Ixxix. 8 ; Isaiah Ixi. 4 ; xli. 4 ; Ecclesiastes iv. 1 6. "The earlier," (neuter gender,) is nutrsn in Isaiah xlii. 9. The parallel passages also in chap. ii. 16; ix. 5, serve to put aside eveiy other explanation. In chap. i. 12,-ii. 26, Koheleth demonstrates the vanity of earthly things, from his own example — from his own personal " Man tragt eins nach dem Andern hin Wohl aiis den Augen und aus dem Sinn Die Welt vergisset imser bald Sey jung oder alt Auch unserer Ehren mannigfalt." " Der Ruhm nach dem wir trachten Den wir unsterblich achten 1st nur ein falscher Wahn, Sobald der Geist gewichen Und dieser Mund verblichen Fragt Keiner was man hier gethan." CHAPTER I. 12-18. 59 He begins in chap. i. 12-18, with Wisdom. This was one of the brilliant possessions of the age of Solomon, as may be seen from 1 Kings x. 8, where the Queen of Sheba says, " Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee and behold thy wisdom," (compare Matthew xii. 42,) and back to it the after-world looked, with all the more astonished admiration and painfid long- ing, because even the heathen nations, under whose scorn and contempt they sighed, Avere struck by it with amazement. In the delineation of the glory of Solomon given in 1 Kings x., wisdom occupies the first place : then follows riches. Hitzig's account of the contents and connection of verses 1 2-1 8 is as follows : " the speaker tells who he is and how he has come thus to express himself. He has maturely reflected on the works and ways of men, and found that they are feeble and foolish, verses 12-15. Moreover, according to his experience, the wisdom which one may gain is not to be regarded as a good." The subject of the entire section is rather wisdom, and the vanity of earthly things and of human efforts comes under consideration only so far as it conditions the vanity of wisdom. In verse 13, the assertion is made, the thesis is maintained, that " wisdom is not a good but a plague." The following is the proof Earthly things which are the object of wisdom are vanity, and the more deeply we search, the more distinctly is their vanity seen. Wisdom destroys illusions. The possession of wisdom, therefore, can only bring distress and pain. The wiser a man is, the more unhappy. If the world is nothing and vanity, the wisdom, the science of this world cannot be of much value. Failing to see that this section has exclusive reference to wisdom, we shall also mistake the entire course of thought. In the following verses, there is a continuation of the proof of the vanity of earthly things from Solomon's own personal experience. Here wisdom is the subject : before, it was the possession and enjoyment of the good things of this world. Ver. 1 2. / Koheleth was King over Israel in Jerusalem. * Hieronymus : hue usque proefatio generaliter de omnibus disputantis : nunc ad semitipsum redit, et quis fuerit, quomodo experimento universa cognoverit docet. GO CHAPTER I. 12-18. Yer. 13. 'And I gave my heart to seek and search out hywis- doni concerning everything that is done under the sun : this is a sore travail tvhich God hath given to the sons of men, that they may exercise themselves therewith. Ver. 14./ saw all the xvorlcs that are done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and delusive effort. Ver. 15. That which is crooked cannot he m^ade straight, and that which is wanting cannot be reck- oned. Ver. 16. / communed with tnine own heart and said, Lo, I have increased and gotten more wisdom than all that tuere before me in Jerusalevi, and my heart saiu much ivisdom and knowledge. Ver. 1 7. And I gave m,y heart to knoiv wisdom and the knoivledge of madness and folly : I perceived that this also is delusive effort. Ver. 18. For in much ^visdora is much grief and he that increaseth knoivledge increaseth sorrow. Ver. 1 2. Kolieleth refers first of all to his royal position. For the matter in hand this is of no small importance. If the life of earth could oiFer genuine good it must undoubtedly have been at the command of the king.* Even in regard to wisdom his position has its advantages. He has a wide and extensive view of all that is done under heaven {ver. 13). The whole region of human life lies spread out before him. His position is much more favourable than that of the man who philosopliizes in a narrow corner. He is still more favoured as regards those regions which are spoken of in chap, ii 1 fi! Koheleth says — / vjas king. According to Ewald, Elster, and others, the preterite employed here is in- tended to indicate the historical point of view of the author, for which Solomon's life was so completely a something past and gone, that he involuntarily represents Solomon as speak- ing of his owTi life in the preterite. In point of fact, how- ever, the use of the preterite is no argument against Solo- mon's being the author of the book. Nor, if the composition is assigned to a later period, is it a proof of its fictitious char- acter that the writer in this place forgets himself. The pre- terite is very frequently employed in descriptions of a past which stretches forward into the present, and therefore is it * Cartwright, "ut nihil subsidii deesset, cujus beneticio, quod assectatus sum, assequerer." CHAPTER I. 12-18, 61 remarked, with perfect justice, in the Berleburger Bible — " I the preacher have been king thus far, and am one still : to him therefore there has been no lack of opportunity of trying- experiments and of getting experience." The words, In Jeru- salem, need not, as has been affirmed, be supposed to refer to another kingship which had not its seat in Jerusalem. They are meant to remind us that Koheleth had gone through the experiences of which he speaks in that very place whose com- plainings and sighings gave rise to the composition of this work. Ver\ 13. Koheleth informs us that his efforts to search - out the nature of things had yielded wretched results. Con- cerning the relation to each other of the two verbs \y-\-i and "iin Hitzig remarks—" That which withdrew itself from the gaze of the 'C^in, that which lay deeper, that which was secret he sought to explore!' But iin is not " search after, spy out," but " try thoroughly, test," (see Deuteronomy i. 33, Numbers X. 33, Ezekiel xx. 6) ; taken strictly it signifies "to follow the trace of things," as opposed to a decision which is arrived at from preconceived opinions. Hitzig says further — " It is not meant that he set himself to collect facts : he did not need to inquire what it is that takes place, but what is the nature of that which takes place." To this view we are directed not only by the word iin, here rightly explained, but further also by the construction with hv- Investigations are set on foot in respect of material lying ready to hand. The Vulgate translates nn^nn by sapienter ; Luther by " wisely." But this rather dissipates the force of the v/ord. It is wis- dom that is the catchword. "Nor is it without good reason that the word is pointed with the article. Wisdom is the instrument employed in carrying out the investigation. The object of the investigation is all that is done or happens under the sun. We are not to suppose, however, that it re- fers predominantly, much less exclusively, to the moral as- pects of human action, but rather, as appears from a comparison of ver. 1 5 with chap. vii. 1 3, mainly to the results thereof All that takes place beneath the sun belongs to the sphere which had its origin in the fall of man, is tainted Avith sin, and is attended by sin's fell train of suffering and punishment. Everywhere the earth shows itself to be a scene of vanity. 62 CHAPTER I. 12-18. " Ah ! how vain, how fleeting, are the days of man ! Like a stream that begins its flow and never stays in its course, so hurries our time away. Ah ! how vain, how fleeting are the joys of men ! As the hours and seasons, as light and dark- ness, as peace and conflict, so change our pleasures." The business of searching more deeply into earthly things by means of wisdom is described as a vexing misfortvme which God has apportioned to the sons of men that they may vex themselves with it. Following in the steps of the LXX. seve- ral commentators explain the words as follow — " that is an evil business which God has appointed to the children of men, that they may busy themselves with it." But njy elsewhere occurs only in the signification of " to suffer ;" for this reason therefore the word l^^V, which is never met with out of this book, and which here stands in the Stat, constr., can only signify " suffering, vexation." It has the same meaning also in chap. v. 2, and in all other places. In ver. 18 chagrin and pain correspond. Hitzig wishes to refer the words — This is a sore travail ^uhich God hath given to the sons of men that they may exercise themselves therewith — to that which happens, which is done. It is quite clear, however, that they refer to the search instituted by means of wisdom. The as- sertion that in this way verses 17 and 18 are anticipated rests on a mistaken view of the connection between the verses of this section. The words at the close — / recognised also that this is empty effort — manifestly take up again the theme of the commencement after proof has been advanced. To our mind verses 17 and 18 render it impossible to understand by the "sore travail" any thing but wisdom in search of truth. The affliction does not consist, as Clericus conceived, merely in the misuse of the gift, but in the gift itself. More deeply examined, however, it is a wholesome affliction. That which is bitter to the mouth is healthy for the heart. Tliat deeper view of the vanity of earthly things which wisdom affords drives us nearer to God. Thus we see that wisdom is a part of the great apparatus by which God humbles fallen man and prepares the way for his redemption. Wisdom pre- sents other aspects also for consideration besides that which lias here been noted. And even if that which has been here especially under view is but one side of the truth, it is stiU CHAPTER I. 12-18. 63 the most important side. Tlius much may be regarded as settled — that inasmuch as wisdom yields so melancholy a re- sult, it cannot be the highest good, it cannot be that good which will satisfy the wretched heart of man. Earthly things must be far other than they are, before wisdom can quicken and refresh the soul. Some have thought that the author's reason for calling the efforts put forth in search of wisdom a sore travail was, " that they do not afford distinct informal tion relative to the cause and connection of the processes of human hfe." This is however a mere guess. Koheleth in- forms us afterwards why he deems wisdom a sore travail. The only ground assigned by him is, that that which has only the effect of placing in a clearer light the vanity under which men groan, must itself also be vanity : that is, con- sidered simply in itself and apart from the service it renders as a means to another end, wisdom is not a good but a sor- row, is not at all a thing for whose sake Solomon and his age should be envied, for whose loss we should vex ourselves. It is thoroughly true, as has been said, that " a man is foolish who vexes himself about a handful of vanity when God pre- sents him with treasures which ever abide. If thy gains are counted by thousands why trouble thyself about a mite ?" Ver. 14. As part of the proof of his thesis — this is a sore travail, the author now asserts the vanity of the object with which wisdom is occupied. Ewald translates — " all the deeds which take place under the sun:" but m'V^ does not signify " deed" but " matter of fact." Of course " the ways of men" are referred to, but specially in respect to their consequences, to such facts as those which gave rise to the heathenish saying, " the Gods are envious," and which the Poet had in his eye when he wi'ote, " He who had shown himself as a Lion, who had AVi-estled with the Giant, was overcome by a little straw." The words myn and \V]}'^ are pecu- liar to Koheleth. The usage of speech in Chaldee from which they are evidently borrowed, decides their meaning. In Ezra V. 17, we find myn used in the sense of "will:" in Daniel several times in the sense of " thought." The derivation of the words is consequently sought in nyi, " to feed," then " to feed oneself on anything," " to busy oneself with anything ;" see Hosea xii. 1, " Ephraim feedeth on the wind, and hunteth B4l CHAPTER I. 12-18. after the East wind ;" Isaiah xliv. 20 ; Proverbs xiii. 20 ; xv. 1 4. An "empty striving, " (LXX. T^oal^sGig rrvivf^arog,) is a striv- ing without result, such a striving as brings no true genuine good to realization. Ver. 1 5. That wJdch is crooked cannot he brought into posi- tion : ipn does not signily " straight," but " to be in position," to " come into position," in Sjrriac, " to be arranged, to be ordered ;" LXX. dis(rr^ai/./Msvov oO duvrjGirai s'7rr/,o(rfj:,7}6r,]/ai. From the parallel passage, chap. vii. 13, it is evident that the writer speaks of imperfections, not only as seen in human ways, but also in the arrangement of the world, i. e. of those things in the order of the world which wear an appearance of imperfection as long as the fall of man is foolishly ignored. Hitzig gives the meaning therefore correctly as follows, — " Man cannot alter that which is unjust in the divine arrange- ment of the world ; he cannot bring it from a state of imper- fection to one of perfection." Knobel thinks that the writer here " betrays his fatalistic view of the world, according to which everything pursues so firm and unalterable a course that no modification whatever thereof is possible." The question here however is not one of opinion, but of undeniable facts. The world is actually a vale of tears, everywhere are wants, trouble, fears : and on this rock break all the attempts made to establish what men deem the best system of things. For the rest, the author is not discoursing of the "fixed and unalter- able course" of things in particular, but only of the general character of human afiairs and of earthly relations, which must necessarily, are by God intended to, reduce to despair those who seek their satisfaction in them : — " man is not to that end here that he may possess earth." That ivhich is wanting cannot he reckoned, which is as much as to say that, where nothing is nothing can be counted, human life consists entirely of nulls. In opposition to usage, several translate, " that which is wanting cannot be supplied." nj?o signifies only " to reckon, to count." Luther has several excellent remarks on this verse of which we must make mention. " Cicero writing from his own expeiience says, " Alas ! how constantly it hap- pens that as sure as anything has been devised and planned for the best, and with the greatest industry, it turns out so badly and so strangely!" God however herein does well, that CHAPTER I. 12-18. 65- He blows away and brings to nought whatever man meditates and undertakes. For as soon as any plan of us men succeeds a little, from that hour we begin to take the honour to our- selves. Forthwith ambition begins to stir within us, and we think to ourselves, this have I done, for this are my country and fellow men indebted to me ; and we grasp at the honour which belongs alone and entirely to God. Wherefore, if God is to continue Lord, and to assert and maintain His fii'st com- mandment, He must only suffer the lesser part of our thoughts to turn out well, and both in the courts and councils of kings and princes, and in all other aflairs, so soon as, and whenever anything has been deliberated and determined, show that the words "if God wills it" still retain their full force. Heathen and ungodly men, who alike fancy that it is enough if they themselves have resolved, must in this wise learn that there has been One absent from their counsels, who has a clear right to a voice therein, and His name is God. There- fore is it the best course and the highest wisdom, to leave and commend all to God, not to plague and worry ourselves too much with our own thoughts, but to follow the wise man who at last, after great experience declared — " Let things go as they go, for do what we may they will go as they go." And how frequently do we see that cunning and prudent rulers, and people who in other respects are exalted and wise, do the greatest mischief, whilst setting themselves with all earnest- ness, with great restlessness, labour and industry to make all things good. For on earth, under the sun, there never can be established a state of things so good that all will move on evenly, that there will not be still many imperfections, many faults. Wherefore, the best thing of all, is to build and con- fide heartily on God, to commit the ordering of all to Him, to let Him rule, to pray as the Lord taught us — " thy kingdom come"^ — and meanwhile patiently to bear and suffer all manner of wrong from the ungodly and wicked, leaving our case in the hands of the great Judge. — When, then, although thou art wise and holy, and pious, and remarkest that many things go wrong, thou hast notwithstanding no power to make aU straight that is crooked, do the work with which thou art entrusted, apply thyself with all industry to thy calling : all else that refuses to be rectified, leave to Him who is stronger 66 CHAPTER I. 12-18. and wiser than thou, to the good God in Heaven who can rule churches, country, people, princes, house, estate, wife and children better than thou." Ver. 1 6. The character of earthly things being such as is described in verses 12 and 15, that wisdom which busies itself with the understanding of their nature, cannot, as the author now shows, have the significance of the highest good, it cannot -truly satisfy the soul, but must rather increase its pains. Koheleth says here that in respect of wisdom he sur- passed all who came before him in Jerusalem. Gousset, Kam- bach, and others explain these words to be — " all the great in Jerusalem," of whom there were many in the days of Solo- mon and David. But it is clear from chap. ii. 7, that kings only are referred to. Jerusalem was the seat of a very ancient monarchy, a noble representative of which meets us even in the time of the Patriarchs. The title borne by these kings, namely. King or Lord of Righteousness, Melchizedek, Adoni- zedek, leads to the conclusion that they were animated by higher purposes and aims than many around them. Hitzig is of opinion that, " if the author does allude to the old heathen kings, there is something incongnious in it, and in this turn given to the thought, a later wiiter, one moreover not parti- cularly well versed in history, (!) seems to betray himself, to whose mind was present the series of kings who had reigned since Solomon." But if we attentively examine the passages in the " Books of the Kings," on which the author takes his stand, this comparison with heathen kings will no longer be found incongruous. In 1 Kings iii. 1 2, the Lord says to Solomon, " Lo ! I give thee a wise and an understanding heart, so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee." Hei'e the prerogative of wis- dom is ascribed to Solomon, not merely amongst the kings of Israel, as Clericus and others conceived, but amongst kings in general. Examples occurring in heathen countries are also included in the comparison. More distinctly still is the same thing seen from 1 Kings iv. 29, "and God gave Solo- mon wisdom and understanding, exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea-shore:" ver. 30, " and Solomon's v/isdom excelled all the wisdom of the children of the East country, and all the wisdom of Egypt:" ver. 81, CHAPTER I. 2-11. 67 " and he became wiser than all men : and his fame was in all the nations round about :" ver. 34, " and there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth which had heard of his wisdom." Then again in chap. x. 23-24, "So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and wisdom ; and all the earth sought the face of Solomon, to hear his wisdom which God had put in his heart." That there was in Solomon's wisdom an element, by virtue of which it might justly be compared with analogous phenomena of the heathen world, is plain even from the visit of the Queen of Sheba, as well as from the sphere within which, as we learn from 1 Kings iv. 33, it moved. His thoughts ran on natural things, on that which was under the sun. Kohe- leth's comparison of himself with heathen kings in regard to wisdom is an important item in the determination of the true idea of this wisdom : whence also we shall more clearly understand both the depreciatory judgment he pronounces upon it and the presupposition with which he starts, viz., that the people of God were at that time destitute of the wisdom. His intention was thus to comfort them on account of their loss, and to teach them not to set too high a value on the possession. A wisdom in respect of which it may be said that Solomon only had more than heathen kings could not be the wisdom which is from above, which had established its seat in the midst of the covenanted people, and the possession of which was inseparable from their existence : it could not be the wisdom which coincides with true piety, which affords true knowledge of God, and which in His light enables us to understand man and earthly things. No ! a wisdom which can bear such a comparison must be earthly, of this world. With this agrees what is said in verse 13 respecting the sphere of this wisdom. Its efforts are only directed to search out and fathom what takes place under heaven : the wisdom which Cometh from above strives, above all things, to pene- trate into the depths of the Godhead. That the wisdom of Solomon does not coincide with that which is described in James i. 5, that on the contrary it has a common basis with the wisdom of the heathens, being only distinguished there- from by the illumination which it receives from the light of revelation and of the Spirit of God, might be judged even 68 CHAPTER I. 12-18. from 1 Kings iii. 1 2. When it is in that place said, — " Lo ! I give thee a wise and understanding heart, so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee," — there is certainly no intention of set- ting Solomon above Moses, in contradiction to Numbers xii. and Deuteronomy xxxiv., nor even above David : the words rather imply that his wisdom was considered as essentially different from that possessed by men of God properly so called, and not to be brought into comparison with it * In this wisdom, so brilliant and splendid as even to attract the attention of Gentiles, but which, according to what follows, stood on a like level with the possession and enjoyment of this world's goods, Solomon held the first place. The present, so poor in every respect, had no alternative but to look up to him. But that that true wisdom which even children may possess, yet remained, is manifoldly and expressly asserted afterwards (compare chap. vii. 12, 13, 20, 21, x. 14-18). Ver. ] 7. Having attained to the highest pinnacle of wis- dom, and having by its aid searched into earthly things, Solo- mon now proceeds to investigate the instrument itself em- ployed in his researches, and arrives here at a humiliating result. The course pursued by Solomon, of inquiring into folly along with wisdom has its ground in the fact that his aim was to determine the worth of wisdom in relation to folly. Besides, as a general truth, contraries explain each other, as Hieronymus says contrariis contraria inielliguntur :\ for which reason also at the commencement of the Book of Proverbs, wisdom and folly are constantly contrasted with each other. * Seb. Schmidt remarks on this passage : Mosis enim Prophetarum et Apostolorum potior sapientia erat potius illuminatio immediata aut revelatio, quam sapientia cordis. Intelligitur sapientia acuti ingenii, omnia cum studio penetrantis quiu non sunt immediatae revelationis, sed scrutaminis et judicii, eaque infusa fait ratione perfectionis, non initii. A natural gift constitutes the basis, an inclination towards speculative inquiries which examines and seeks to penetrate into the nature of things. t Following the Septuagint, Luther translates: "Wisdom and folly and prudence" But that Vi'b'Z'^ in this place is only another mode of writing rVl73D "Folly," is so clearly evident from the parallel passages chap. ii. 12, vii. 25, X. 13, that one cannot conceive how it has been possible for Stier to keep to the translation " prudence." CHAPTEE I. 12-18. 69 Yer. 1 8. According to what has hitherto been advanced, the reason of the pain and discomfort which result from the possession of wisdom must be found in the fact that it lays bare the vanity of earthly things. When wisdom is looked upon as a means to higher ends, this is an advantage. To recog- nise the true character of earthly things can be wholesome only when we are thereby driven to lay hold on the one real Being, on God, who is an everlasting refuge in the midst of the vanities of earth. It shows, however, that wisdom, con- sidered in itself, in isolation from other and higher things, is but a comfortless sort of good. Luther saw the true reason of the discomfort and pain. His words are, " Great people who have a great understanding, and see further than others, who have had much experience, cannot help frequently being angry with themselves and thinking in gTeat disgust, how wicked and scandalous is the course of things in this world ! But whence does it arise that such persons are so impatient, and become so angry ? The answer is : where there is much understanding and wisdom, there is much dis- content ! For such people see and think much, and conse- quently find in the world all manner of crimes, wickednesses, falseness, unfairness, which others never see nor dream of : and that gives pain. Others who do not see so far, nor think so much, do not take it to heart : therefore also it causes them little trouble or pain. Whosoever, then, desires to be a good Christian and to lead a godly life, let him learn to endure patiently, and commit the ordering of things to God, let him learn to pray heartily the petition taught us by Christ, 'thy will be done;' otherwise he will only plague himself in vain, make his own life hateful to himself, and lose besides time and everything."]: We must interpret — \ Many commentators have missed the right sense through giving themselves up to mere guesses. So, for example, Hieronymus : Quanto magis quis sapien- tiam fuerit consequutus, tanto plus indignatur subjacere vitiis et procul esse a virtutibus, quas requirit. (According to verse 13, Wisdom applies itself to the consideration not merely of that which is within, but of all that takes place under heaven). Nisi forte et hoc intelligendum, quod sapiens vir doleat tam in abdito et profundo latere sapientiam, nee ita se prajbere mentibus ut lumen visiii ; sed per tormenta quiedam et intolerabilem laborem, jugi meditatione et studio provenire. Hitzig has "much discontent or chagrin;" namely, during the search for truth which is in many ways wearisome and often fruitless. 70 CHAPTER II. Whoso increases knowledge increases sorrow. iidI'' is, as a participial form, without example. In Isaiah xxix. 14, xxxviii. 5, also it is Fut Hiphil. CHAPTER II. From wisdom Koheleth turns to the pursuit of mirth, in order to see whether the true good is to be found in it, but here again he 'finds not what he sought, he finds nothing to still the cravings of his heart (ver. 1 and 2). After this pre- liminary survey there follows the fuller exposition. Taking the coarsest first, Koheleth tries what wine drinking will do, (ver. 8). Then he seeks pleasure in great works and improve- ments (verses 4-6), in rich possessions, brilliant connections, and in the manifold enjoyments of love (verses 7-8) at the same time not renouncing wisdom, but keeping it as his com- panion in all his undertakings, and letting it be their very life and soul, (ver. 9). He follows after mirth with aU eager- ness, intending thus to obtain a recompense for the great trouble caused him by the procuring of the material of plea- sure (ver. 10). On a closer examination, however, this pleasure also evades his gTasp, and so all his pains and efforts appear to him vain, (ver. II). The one thought alone that all that which he has effected by his wisdom will be inherited, to judge from the usual course of things in this world, by an evil successor, mixes gall with the satisfaction with which he regards his creations, (ver. 1 2). Reflecting on the matter more carefully he sees that wisdom has undoubtedly a con- siderable advantage over folly (verses 13-14a) ; but still this advantage is not of such a nature that a man can sincerely rejoice in it and its creations, that he can seek the happiness of his life in it and devote himself with all zeal to the pro- duction of such works. Wisdom is unable to protect us against many misfortunes, (verses 14 6-15). The same forget- fulness covers the wise man no less than the fool in the future ; and how sadly does death, to which the wise man is subject no less than the fool, destroy all joy in wisdom and its crea- tions, (ver. 16-17). And^ to recur to that which was antici- patorily mentioned in ver. 1 2, the thought of a wicked sue- CHAPTER IL 71 cesser stifles completely the satisfaction felt in the works efiected at the cost of so much labour and in the wisdom therein manifested (verses 18-21). Mirth being spoiled by such considerations, there remain behind only the manifold pains and disquiet occasioned to man by the production of that wherein he was to rejoice (verses 22-23). Surely, then it is better for man to renounce such a chase and hunt, to live for the present moment, and to take the enjoyments which offer themselves unsought. And yet such a cheerful enjoyment of the gifts of God is not in a man's own power : it comes from God, who must Himself make our hearts capable of enjoyment, and deliver us from the bonds of avarice (verses 24-26). The moral of all this is — look not back with painful long- ings to Solomon and his age, though so brilliant and though apparently so rich in pleasures. More closely considered its wealth of mirth was vanity. That unseen source of joy, from which Solomon actually drew whatever of pleasure he realized, is still open to you notwithstanding the needy position in which you find yourselves. Guard then against shutting yourselves out from it by a base and contemptible covetous- ness. Ver. 1. / said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth and look iqjon good, and behold, this also is vanity. Ver. 2. To laughter I said. Thou art mad ; and to rairth, What doeth it ? Ver. 3. / sought in mine heart to nourish my flesh with wine ; and nny heart prosecuted wisdom, and I purposed to lay hold on folly, till I might see what is good for the children of men, what they should do under heaven, the number of the days of their life. Ver. 4. / made me great tvorks ; I builded me houses ; I planted me vineyards. Ver. 5. / made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits. Ver. 6. / made me pools of water, to tvater therewith the wood that hnngeth forth trees. Ver, 7. / bought servants and muidens, and sen^ants ivere horn to me in my house : also I obtained cattle and sheep in multitude, more than all that were in Jerusalem before me. Ver. 8. I gathered me also silver and gold, and a treasure of kings and the provinces : I gat me men-singers and women- singers, and the delights of the children of men, plenty of all 72 CHAPTER II. soiis. Ver. 9. And I became great, and increased more than all that tvere before me in Jerusalem, and my wisdom re- mained to me. Ver. 10. And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour; and this was my por- tion of all my labour. Ver. 11. And I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour with which I had laboured to produce ; and, behold, all was vanity and empty effort, and is no profit under the sun. Ver. 1 2. And 1 turned myself to behold ivisdom and madness and folly. For what (will) the man (do) that shall come after the king? That which they have already done. Ver. 13. And I saw that wisdom has an excellency over folly, like the ex- cellency of light over darkness. Ver. 1 4. The wise man has his eyes in his head ; but the fool walketh in darkness. But nevertheless I kncnv that one event happeneth to them all. Ver. 15. Then said I in my heart, as it happeneth to the fool so also can it happen even to me, and luhy then have I been so very wise ? And I said in my heart, that this also is vanity. Ver. 1 6. For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever, seeing that in the days to come all is forgotten; and how dieth the wise man with the fool ? Ver. 17. And I hated life, for evil appeared to one the history which takes place under the sun ; for all is vanity and empty effort. Ver. 18. And I hated all my labour which I had laboured under the sun, because I should leave it to the man that shall be after me. Ver. 19. And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool ? Yet shall he have rule over all my labour wherein I have laboured, and wherein I have been wise under the sun : this also is vanity. Ver. 20. And I turned myself to cause my heart to despair of all the labour wherein I laboured under the sun. Ver. 21. For there is a man whose labour is in wisdom and in knowledge and in ability, and yet to a man that hath not laboured therein, must he give it for his portion ; this also is vanity and a great evil. Ver. 22. For what hath man of all his labour and of the striving of his heart, wherein he hath laboured under the sun? Ver. 23. For all his days are sorroivs, and discontent is his plague ; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This also is vanity. Ver. 24. Is it CHAPTER II. 73 not good for man that he eat and drink and make his soul see good in his labour ? I saw that this also cometh from the hand of God. Ver. 25. For who eateth and who has- teneth except me ? Ver. 26. For to the man that is good before Him giveth He wisdom and knoivledge and joy ; and to the sinner He giveth travail to gather and heap up, that he may give it to him that is good before God: this also is vanity and empty effort. Ver. 1-2. In these two verses the new experiment and its results are described in broad outline : in the third and fol- lowing verses these summary hints are carried out in detail. Not only for his wisdom was Solomon renowned, but also for his possessions and pleasures ; and in this latter respect also was his age an object of devouring yearnings to the people of God in their day of tribulation and oppression. Therefore does the author introduce Solomon with the confession on his lips that behind even that glory vanity lay hid. When the writer says, " I spake," the " I " is emphatic : " / spake." Some will have it that ^js frequently occurs in this book along with the first person of the verb superfluously even where no emphasis whatever is intended, as for example in chap. i. 16, ii. 11, 14, 18, iii. 17. In such cases, however, '•jx is by no means pleonastically used. It calls attention to the importance of the person who is speaking, who is declaring his experiences. An address to the soul similar to the one here may be found in Psalm xvi. 2. The heart is to be proved, whether perchance it feels itself contented and fully satisfied by this new object presented to it. The mirth is that which springs from posses- sions and pleasures. The words which follow immediately upon, and are directly connected with, these, namely, look upon good, (nsi signifying with 3 " look upon, to feed oneself upon,") show that verses 1 and 2 do not relate merely to a life of low and coarse .gratification, but that they have a moi'e comprehen- sive application. The laughter mentioned in ver. 2 is that which accompanies common sensual gratification : 'mirth or joy is not identical with laughter, but has a more comprehen- sive signification, as is clear from ver. 10. Extravagant mirth, the intoxication of the senses, at once shows itself to be vanity (ver. 3). But even the joy taken in earthly pro- jects and possessions does not stand the test. Ver. 1 1 forms 74 CHAPTER II. the comraent to the question, " Wliat doeth it f of ver. 2. Geier says : " Why dost thou thus befool men and lead them basely away from the true good f We should involve Ko- lieleth in self-contradiction were we to ascribe to him here the thought, that all joy is vain and despicable. He rather takes special pains to urge men to take pleasure in their life, to live for the present moment, and thankfully to enjoy what- ever it offers. That which he here condemns is mirth con- sidered as the highest good, as the end of life, and the too great eagerness displayed in its pursuit. Luther has seized exactly the right point of view : " that this is true, experience tells us. For many a man arranges all his affairs and puts forth much trouble and labour, that he may ensure to him- self quiet and peace in his old age : and yet God orders it otherwise, and involves him in things which give him his first true taste of disquietude. Many an one seeks his pleasure in lust and debauchery, and from that hour onwards his life is embittered. Therefore, if God does not give us joy and plea- sure, but we seek to contrive and create them for ourselves, nothing comes of it ; and on the contrary, as Solomon says, all is vanity and vexation of spirit. We can do nothing better then than willingly to accept and put up with that which God does to us and for us, and to accustom our heart to be satisfied and contented with that which God each mo- ment sends us, be it good or evil, sorrow or joy. If a wife is given thee, regard it as a gift of God, thank Him, and be cheerful and contented. But if thou settest thyself to go beyond this, and to add thereto thy human devices, thinking to secure only gratifications and joys, honeymoons, and merry- makings, thou wilt make for thyself sadness and sorrow of heart. For this reason, should we accustom ourselves to rest- ing satisfied with what God does and gives, with what He wills and intends, and not with what we will and intend. Solomon's intention, then, is not to induce all the world to turn hermits and monks, to cast away all joy, mirth, pastime, all rest, comfort, amusement : what he means to say is, that thoughts and proposals are nothing when we think by their help to make to ourselves rest and peace, recreation and good courage. The truest joy and merriment is that which we do not expressly seek (for when we plan beforehand a little CHAPTER II. hindrance may frustrate the whole), but which God sends us at the moment." In verses 1 and 2 we have undoubtedly the germ of the parable in Luke xii. lG-21. This may be seen from the similarity of the address to the soul which there occurs ; from the words h/jig ToXXa ayadd there as com- pared with the expression, " Look upon good," here ; from the word Juf ^a/s/ou compared with, " I will prove thee with mirth," a signifies in Arabic, robur, vehementia. From the same root is derived the Hebrew word nc' " the almighty." The adjoined plural marks the augmented force of the abstract conception : " multitude and great multitude." According to 1 Kings xi. 3, Solomon had seven hundred princesses to wife, and three hundred concubines. Those who commit the mis- take of not finding in the word iijyn a reference to Solomon's love of women — a thing which it was quite impossible to pass over in silence in an enumeration of all the things -svith which he surrounded his own person, and which related peculiarly to himself, have sought in a great variety of ways to import into the words nntJ''i mtr a reference to Solomon's women. J. D. Michaelis, in justification of his arbitrary explanation, says quite openly, " in this choice of meanings I have not looked so much to philological grounds, as to the consideration that it appears almost incredible that Solomon should have for- gotten women in the enumeration of his sensual pleasures." If we understand the words of Solomon's wives, the conjunc- tion of the singular and plural will appear strange " wife and wives." That the wives are here mentioned, because they swelled by their number the splendour of Solomon's court, and set him for whom such things were prepared in a bi'illiant light, is plain from the verse immediately following, which lays stress on the greatness of the king who gathered around himself all these resources. Ver. 9. And I became great, and greater than all those that were before me in Jerusalem, and my wisdom remained to Tne: Vulgate, perseveravit mecura. *70J? is used also in Chap, viii. 3, in the same meaning of "remain, continue." Inas- much as wisdom, that noblest of all possessions, remained to the king along with these other possessions, we should with the greater confidence expect him to have a contented and satisfied heart. The words which occur in verse 3, at the beginning of the description — " and my heart prosecuted wis- dom"— correspond to those which we find here, "and («ix the emphatic "and" indicates that an important addition is being made) wisdom remained to me." Ewald's explanation is, " served me;" Elster's is, " stood to me," which is as much as to so CHAPTER II. say "it supported, aided me," in gaining riches and renown. But TDy with ^ cannot have that meaning. Ver. 10. It cost Solomon labour, yea great labour (ver. 23) to raise himself to a position where he should be the central point of all. For this trouble, however, he felt himself at first repaid by the joy which he experienced at the thought that all had been effected by his own wisdom, belonged to him and contributed to his glory. But even of this satisfaction he was speedily deprived. It only lasted so long as he did not go to the very bottom of the thing. When the joy vanished there remained only the labour behind, and this was felt to be simple torture so soon as it distinctly showed itself to be fruitless. — According to verse 11 Solomon looked upon all his works and on all the labour he had spent on them, and " be- hold all was vanity." The expression, " and behold," points to the unexpectedness and startling nature of the fact. The gi'ounds of the general judgment here pronounced are after- wards detailed. Those who mistake this have recourse to conjectures. Thus Hitzig is of opinion that " the work had afforded him some gratification: but at last he had accom- phshed all and was unable to devise any further projects. So then the work came to an end, and with it naturally the en- joyment which it had afforded." Similarly Elster, who says: " the vanity of wearying ourselves in the pursuit of pleasure consists in this, that when the enjoyment is spent there is only the feeling of emptiness left behind." But these are the thoughts of the commentators themselves, of which there is no trace in the text. Besides, the matter in hand would not be served by any experience that might be ascribed to a hypo- chondriacal source : plain and palpable reasons are required, and such are advanced in the succeeding part of the book, from which the present verse may not be separated. " And there is no profit under the sun." If Solomon, with all his wisdom and with all the means at his disposal secured no profit, gained no real good, there surely must be none to be acquired, (Stier renders "profit," by "nothing abiding;" but the correctness of the common interpretation is guaranteed by verse 1 3 : the Hebrew word only occurs in this book, and it always signifies "profit, advantage.") The existence of true good is by no means denied. The author treats here only of CHAPTER II. gl such possessions as have their origin under the sun, and which man can acquire by his own efforts. The positive assertion correspondent to the negative one of the text is found in James l. 17— a-aj,a TBAsm cimdh sSTi xaTalSamv uto ro\J 'ffarpbg ruv (p'JJrojv In verse 12 the catchword WJQ "I turned myself," used m ver. 1 1 is again adopted, and for the purpose of indicating that wliat was there only hinted at will here be fully un- folded. Koheleth turns himself to behold wisdom and mad- ness and folly, i. e. to consider them in their relation to each other, and to estimate their relative worth. Wisdom, which Solomon did not lay aside when he gave his life a new direc- tion, but kept as his companion therein (ver. 9) applying it now to practical, as at an earlier period he had apphed it to speculative matters, is here brought forward as the very soul of his undertakings. Consequently, if the inquiry into the relation between wisdom and folly show the result that wis- dom is nothing, the works of which wisdom is the soul must also be nothing. At this place Hitzig makes the erroneous remark, that "after having discovered (ver. 11) that his works are nought, he finds out here that the wisdom which he has expended on them is also nought." Wisdom and the works rather constitute one whole, interpenetrating each other : wisdom is in the works as their animating principle. Kohe- leth next sets before us that which gave rise to his reflections on the relation between wisdom and folly, and which caused his perplexity as to the value of the former and of the works effected by its means. This was the simple fact that his suc- cessor would probably be a man of worthless character, who would disgracefully destroy what he had accomplished by his wisdom and by his great labours. Rehoboam! that is the thought which first presses itself on his mind. Then at verse 1 3 begins that comprehensive discussion which in verses 1 8 and 1 9 comes back again to the circumstance here anticipa- torily mentioned. The presumptive folly of his successor ap- pears here to constitute the motive to the investigation : in verses 18 and 19, which form a sort of commentary to the somewhat enigmatical words before us, this folly seems to be an important feature in the inquiry itself By the words " For what is the man ?" we may understand either — " what F 82 CHAPTER II. is he? what is it with him? or, what will he do?" supple- menting the meaning from what follows : " Wlio will come after the King," i. e. after me, the King, or who will succeed me in my kingdom ? The miserable answer to the question, "what will my successor do?" is — He will do "what they have already done." From the fact that folly is the custom of the world, arises the probability that his successor also will be foolish, so that Solomon with all his wisdom will appear to have laboured in vain, and to have spent his strength for nothing and vanity (Isaiah xlix. 4.) Ewald's explanation, namely, " what, i. e., of what kind is the man, who will suc- ceed the king, with him, i. e., as compared with him whom one has made before?" is characterised by gTcat harshness. The simple word with can never stand for compared tvith : besides, Solomon was not made king by men. The inquiry into the relation between wisdom and folly, together with the results of each, to which Koheleth is moved by the thought of his evil successor which presses itself upon him, leads in the first instance to the conclusion that wisdom has an unquestion- able advantage over folly, (verses 13,14 a.) Wisdom is like light, which preserves the man that walks in it from many dangers to which the darkness exposes him : or again, the wise man is like one who sees, and who can therefore avail himself of many advantages and avoid many inconveniences.* But still the advantage is not an unmixed, an absolute one : — "but nevertheless I know that one event happeneth to them all," (1 4 b.,) the wise man no less than the fool may break a leg, and is not less than others exposed to all possible acci- dents. If this be so, the question naturally arises — " why have I been then so very wise ?" If wisdom with its produc- tions has only a relative value, if it has no power to guard its possessor against even the very worst that can happen, it fol- lows surely that a man should not occupy himself too deeply with it, that he should not make it and its creations the real aim of his life ; it follows also, lastly, that an age in which wisdom flourishes less strongly, need not on that account grieve * Seb. Schmidt, — instituitur comparatio sapientis cum homine, cui oculi non ex capite eruti sunt, sed sani et salvi adsunt, qui proinde latlssime potest cir- cumspicere, periculosa fugere, ad proficua accedere, et in omnibus provide ac circumspccte agere. CHAPTER II. 83 over much. And I said in my heart that this also is vanity — this, the study of human wisdom, in respect of which the age of Solomon far surpassed later ages. The meaning found by Elster in these words, viz., " this arrangement of life itself, according to which the wise man experiences the same fortune as the fool, is characterised as vanity," does not suit the con- nection. Koheleth has no wish to blame the divine govern- ment of the world, his aim is to exhibit the vanity of human efforts and human possessions. The word " for," which follows, shows that it is wisdom which he considers to be vanity. If then even this noblest of earthly possessions is vain, how urgently should we feel ourselves summoned to unite ourselves the more closely and inwardly to God : compare Proverbs iii. 5, — " Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own- understanding." Luther remarks — " therefore is it better to commit the supreme government of all things to the King who has made us. Let every man discharge with all diligence the duties of his office, let him accomplish what- ever God gives him at the present moment to do : if all does not go on as he expected let him leave it to God. What God gives let him accept : if God hinders thee in any wise, take that also for a good. Whatever we can do we are called upon to do : what we cannot effect we must let alone : the stone which thou canst not lift thou must needs let lie." The affir- mation that "this also is vanity," in proof of which it is alleged in ver. 15, to be the fact, that wisdom affords no pro- tection against the manifold misfortunes of life, receives a new and doubly strong confirmation in ver. 1 6, from the forge tftd- ness, which in the future covers alike the wise man with his works, and the fool, and from the necessity by which both alike are bound to submit to death. If wisdom is incompe- tent to protect us against any of these troubles it surely should not be the object of such ardent longings. We ought rather to leave it and the pursuit thereof to Solomon and his age, and seek elsewhere the true happiness of life : " Seeing that in the days to come all is forgotten," — Vulgate: futuixt tempora obli- vione cuncta paritcr operient, — " and how dieth the wise man with the fool ?" That is the most unworthy and humiliating thing that can happen to the wise man, to be subjected no less than the mere fool to the disgraceful necessity of death. The 84 CHAPTER II. hatred of life itself, which, as we learn from ver. 17, arises within us when we consider things as they actually are and do not permit ourselves to be deceived by outward show and seeming, is by no means in itself true repentance. A clear proof thereof, is that such feelings are to be found frequently in the heart of the ungodly. They are notwithstanding for the well disposed a powerful motive to return to God. This is however not the precise point of view from which matters are examined here. The aim of all that is advanced is rather to deliver the men of that generation from their devouring yearnings after the glory of the age of Solomon by laying bare its true character before their eyes. Ver. 18-21. In these verses attention is once more turned to the evil successor who was expected to occupy the throne. Tlie "toil" alluded to in ver. 18 had its roots, in that which such an event would bring to pass. "For" (ver. 22,) on the grounds advanced in ver. 2] and previously, inasmuch as I must leave the fruits of my labour to an unworthy successor, since furthermore accidents befal alike the wise man and the fool, since the wise man is no less mortal than the fool, and the remembrance of both alike passes away, the question presses itself on the mind — " what has man ?" This is as much as to say, " man has nothing." On this view the word 12, at the commencement of ver. 23, appears quite appropriate. "Vexation is his torment," (ver. 23,) i. e., he is tormented thereby. From which the practical conclusion is that we ought not to busy ourselves with such distracting and perplex- ing matters, and that it should be a cause of gladness when our circumstances furnish no occasion and incentive to such a course. In fact it promises too little fruit, nothing is obtained thereby to compensate the expenditure in labour, anxiety and pain. Ver. 24. Seeing that such is the case with the works men undertake, our wisdom surely is to embark only in such enter- prises as are clearly necessary, and in this way to employ the present moment and live for the present moment — a thing which this needy present generation is as able to do as Solo- mon with all his glory, (ver. 24.) Against taking this ver. as a question — " Is it not good for man ?" — it has been objected that in such a case, i(h would be used instead of px. But the CHAPTER II. 85 cognate word j-'X is used interrogatively in 1 Samuel xxi. 9. To simple eating and drinking, the contrast is given in the wearisome labours some men undergo for the special advan- tage of their own person, and in order to secure to it the highest enjoyments life can offer. Labours for the advance- ment of the kingdom of God belong to an entirely different region, and form no pai-t whatever of the contrast which is here mentioned. The words — "let his soul see good" recom- mend joy in conjunction with, as distinguished from joy at our labours. Verses 2 and 3 stand in the way of an epicu- rean misintei-pretation of what is here said in regard to eating and drinking. No one who has been at all penetrated by the deep earnestness of the book can for a moment entertain the thought of such a profane interpretation. The last words of the ver., namely — " I saw that this also comes from the hand of God" — draw attention to the consideration that even such eating and drinking, such cheerful enjoyment of the gifts of God, are not in the power of raen by themselves, but must come from above, like every other good gift — that is in fact also a gift of God. How far this is so ver. 26 teaches us. The foe of such joy, avarice, which was one of the principal diseases of that age, — this foe can only be overcome by God. God alone can free the soul from his bonds, ver. 25. From his own experience Koheleth can say that he has richly enjoyed this gift of God. Between the enjoyment mentioned in ver. 10, and that referred to here, there is this difference, that the latter may be the portion of the man who has but small means. That {^in is used here in its usual, and alone clearly ascertained signification, "to hasten," is evident from Habakkuk i. 8, where it occurs in conjunction with " eating," and with the same meaning as here. In Psalm cxix. 60, "delay" forms the contrast to " haste." The next following words are a commen- tary on this verse. The avaricious man does not hasten to eat, for his eye is looking into the uncertain future, but he delays therein and stores up his pleasures against another day. p Y\r\ are nowhere else used in the Old Testament in the sense in which they are employed here ; frequently however in the Talmud and in the writings of the Rabbis. Hitzig translates ■ — "and who can delight himself except from him?" — and remarks, " Following the Septuagint, the Syriac, Jerome and 86 CHAPTER II. Ewald we read IJOO. In this form (^jno) the words are plainly more suitable as a basis for the first part of ver. 24 : whilst the reading i:oa corresponds admirably to the second half of the same verse." But according to the authenticated reading the words suit the whole verse : " for who has by God's gift." Independently, however, of the unwarranted alteration of the reading, it is against that explanation that K'ln can only mean " to hasten," and not " to delight oneself," or as others would have it "to drink;" and further that such an expression as " eat from God," can scarcely be employed. The reason of the double future which is here used, is that the matter is still going forward. Ver. 26. In this verse Koheleth refers back his own indi- vidual experience to a general ground. For to the man who is good before Him giveth He wisdom and knowledge, that his heart may not cling to the dead mammon, and, precisely in this way he receives also, joy, in that he enjoys what God has assigned him. To the sifmer, on the contrary, God in his righteous judgment giveth travail to gather and heap up ! That also is vanity and empty effort, even this gathering together; andthecircumstancesof the time rendered it peculiarly necessary to lay stress on the folly of such a, course : the less God bestowed, the more avaricious was it deemed necessar y to become. Hitzig thinks it is "the struggle to find happiness in sensual enjoyment enjoined in ver. 24." But that is too farfetched, is moreover wrong and in contradiction with the fundamental idea of the book. A discreet and solid enjoyment of that which God confers is everywhere earnestly recom- mended. Here we very plainly see that the refrain, "this also is vanity, &c.," by no means involves a complaint against God, but is a cry of warning to men who in the perversity of their hearts seek happiness where God has not willed that it be sought. CHAPTER III. In regard to the position and circumstances of the children of Israel to which this book owes its origin and character, the following data may be derived from the chapter now coming CHAPTER IIL 87 under notice. Israel was ecclesia pressa : it was in a state of persecution, (ver. 15.) It was being purified in the furnace of afiiiction (ver. 1 8.) Wickedness triumphed over righteous- ness : on Israel lay the yoke of heathen dominion, (ver. 1 G, 1 7.) It was for the chosen people a period of death, of the rooting up of what was planted, of complaint, of silence and so forth, (ver. 1-8.) In such circumstances they harassed themselves fruitlessly by their own toilsome and anxious undertakings, (ver. 9-18.) In view of such a situation the author proceeds further in his design of conferring weapons of defence against the attacks of despair. In chapters i. and ii. he developed the thought, that on earth, the scene of vanity, men may not seek true happiness, that times which seem most fortunate and happy are not so difierent from wretched ones as a superficial examination might lead us to think, and finally, that all earthly happiness is but glittering misery. In the present chapter, Koheleth seeks to comfort his suffering fel- low countrymen by directing their thoughts to the all-ruling providence of God. The theme of his discourse is the words of Jeremiah x. 23, — " I know, 0 Lord, that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. He labours to impress upon them the truth, that all prosperity and misfortune comes from God alone," and admon- ishes them to humble themselves beneath his mighty hand, that in his own good time he may exalt them. Everything has its season, and there is a time ordained by God, when every desire of the faithful shall be satisfied. Here then our duty is not to be careful and murmuring, and to harass ourselves, but to surrender and submit ourselves to, and patiently wait on God, (ver. 1-8.) "Nothing comes of being early and late at all my works: my care is in vain," (ver. 9, 10.) What God intends to do man cannot know, and consequently cannot conveniently order his doings : man is not set to work, but simply to wait, and meanwhile to take whatever good falls to his lot unsought, (ver. 11.) Instead therefore of being anxious and overworking ourselves, we should rather live for the present moment, cheerfully enjoy the pleasures it puts in our way, and at the same time do good, so that we may not hinder the grace of God, (ver. 1 2.) In conjunction with this, it is to be remarked, that the capacity of cheerful enjoyment 88 CHAPTER III. in life is a' gift of God, who alone is able to deliver the heart from cares, (ver. 13.) Our disquietudes and griefs, and self- inflicted pains cannot alter the eternal counsels of God, (ver. 14.) Everything comes just as God foreordained it, and that is a consoling reflection for the persecuted, inasmuch as in his own good time the Lord must again undertake their cause, (ver. 15.) When wickedness has risen to power and rule on the earth, we may cherish the hope that there will be a reve- lation of God's judgments, (ver. 16-17.)' But when God delays his judgments, it is in order that men may be purified and humbled, seeing that in such times of suffering, experience forces on them the conviction that they are as helpless as the beasts of the field, (ver. 18.) Man, w^ho so readily puffs him- self up is in one respect on a level with the cattle, in that, no less than they, he is exposed to all kinds of accidents, and must die and return to the dust, (ver. 19-20.) The difference between them, namely, that the spirit of man goes upwards to God, whilst the breath of the beast perishes with the body is one of a very subtle nature, and hard to be discerned in pre- sence of that outward resemblance in their fates which first presses itself on the attention, (ver. 21.) To give once more the summary of the whole argument — seeing the utter uncer- tainty of the future, man should not trouble himself about it, — "why should I then harass myself and think about that which is to come?" — but enjoy the present, (ver. 22.) Ver. 1. To everything there is a season, and a time to every desire under the heaven : Ver. 2. A time to bear and a time to die ; a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted : Ver. 8. A time to kill and a time to heal; a thne to break down and a time to build up. Ver. 4. A time to weep and a tivie to laugh ; a time to mourn and a time to dance. Ver. 5. A time to cast aivay stones and a tirne to gather stones together : a tmie to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing. Ver. 6. A time to seek and a time to lose ; a time to keep and a time to cast away. Ver. 7. A time to rend and a time to sew ; a time to keep silence and a time to speak : Ver. 8. A time to love and a time to hate ; a time of war and a time of peace. Ver. 9. What profit hath he that produceth in that wherein he laboureth ? Ver. 10./ have seen the travail luhich God hath given to the CHAPTER III. 8 a soQis of men to he exercised in it. Ver. 11. iTe makcth every- thing beautiful in his time, eternity also he hath set in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh, from the beginning to the end. Ver. 12. / hioiv that there is no good in them, but that one rejoice and do good in his life. Ver. 13. And also every man that eats and drinks, and sees good in all his labour, that is a gift of God. Ver. 14. J know that whatsoever God doeth it shall be for ever : nothing can be put to it and nothing can be taken from it : and God doeth it that they should fear before Him. Ver. 15. That which hath been is notu ; and that tvhich is to be hath already been, and God seeketh the persecuted. Ver. IG. And further saw I under the sun ; the place of judgment, tuickedness is there ; the place of righteousness, the wicked is there. Ver. 1 7. I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time there for every desire and about every work. Ver. 18./ said in mine heart, because of the children of men that God may purify them, and in order that they may see that in tJiemselves they are beasts. Ver. 1 9. For accident are the children of men, and accident are the beasts, and one accident befalls them, as the one dies so dieth also the other ; yea, they have all one breath, so that man hath no pre-eminence above the beast, for all is vanity. Ver. 20. All go unto one place, cdl are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. Ver. 2 1 . Who knoweth the spirit of the chil- dren of men, that goeth upivard, and the breath of the beast that goeth doivniuard to the earth ? Ver. 22. And I satv that nothing is better than that a man should rejoice in his oivn works, for that is his doing, for ivho shall bring hvm to see what shall take place after hhn ? Ver. 1. To everything there is a season : not one that is based on a blind fate, for that would be but a miserable con- solation, but one that is ordered by a God who is compas- sionate, gracious, long-suft'ering, of great love and ftiithfulness, who even in his anger never forgets mercy, who has thoughts of peace towards his people languishing in misery, and who, though he chastises them, never gives them over to the power of death. If things go ill all we have to do is to wait patiently for the hour of redemption, and at the end the people of God must receive that which is best for their per- 90 CHAPTER III. tion. Parallel with this are the words of Psalm Ixxv. S, " For I shall take a set time, then shall I judge uprightly." This set time is that which God has appointed for the accom- plishment of the counsels he has decreed. Compare also Psalm cii. 1 4, " Tliou shalt arise and have mercy upon Zion, for the time to favour her, yea the set time is come." To this time appointed by God we ought to direct our eye in the midst of our afflictions. This point of time will arrive when God's visitations of His Church have reached their final ter- mination (Isaiah x. 12). These visitations also have their season, and whoso knows this, whoso recognizes that in afflic- tions God's hand lies upon him, cannot surely fail to experi- ence joy and consolation. On this passage are based the words of John vii. 30, "They sought to take him; but no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come." Gesenius' explanation : " Everything lasts but for a time, nothing is permanent," is quite incorrect. Ver. 1 4 is sufficient to show this. The idea is rather this, that in misfortune we must learn to wait, inasmuch as man has no power to alter the times and seasons, and can take to himself nothing which is not given him from above. "Accept cheerfully, docile child, what it pleases God to send, and though the winds blow and are so tempestuous as to threaten everything with destruc- tion around thee, be comforted, for that which befalls thee is according to the will of God." Those also completely miss the right meaning of the words who suppose that they con- tain a direction to men to do whatever they have to do at the right time.'"" And a time for every desire under the * In opposition to this view, says Rambach — " ex quibus omnibus apparet, non hie voluisse Salomonem vitje regulas, de tempestivitate in actionibiis omni- bus observandas praescriberc ut tamen multi censuerunt : si quidem ea hie enarrantur qute non dependent ab hominis arbitrio et voluntate, ut nasci, mori, perdere, etc., unde hie prascepto de canta temporis observantia nullus locus relinquitur." J. D. Michaelis says : " Unless the proposition, so variously illustrated in verses 1-8, is to be explained as if it had no connection with what precedes and follows, and were thrown out at random, it is impossible that it should be a prescription to do everything at the right time : it must rather be intended to teach that everything happens and comes at a time definitely ap- pointed, be it prosperity or misfortune. The sense is clear from the following ninth verse, where Solomon draws from the proposition the conclusion — "What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboured ?" Since God deter- mines everything, a man's happiness Avill not depend on his own work, but how CHAPTER III. 91 heaven. It is usually assumed that ^sn is employed here in the sense of " thing, affair." Elsewhere, however, pn is always used to designate " favour, good pleasure." In this book also, as is universally allowed, it occurs several times in tliis sense (see chap. xii. 1-10, chap. v. 3) ; as also in the contemporane- ously written book of Malachi (see chap. i. 1 0). Consequently if at all practicable this meaning must be retained here, as well as in ver. 17, and chap. v. 7, viii. 6 ; here especially, because if we accept the signification " business," we shall have a mere tautology, for there is no difference whatever between ny and pT- This clearly ascertained meaning suits the connection also perfectly : }>sn denotes the desire which believers have to see the kingdom of God established. They thought it ought to come immediately, but they will be com- pelled to wait for the time which has been fixed in the coun- sels of God. Our wish is not fulfilled when we will, but when God wills. It is enough that it will one day be satisfied. The application of the words, " Every desire," is, of course, limited and defined by the character of the persons to whom the singer speaks. In reality he refers to the wishes of the people of God which longs for the coming of His kingdom. This limitation is absolutely necessary. Applied to the world, both the declaration here and Paul Gerhard's paraphrase of it, given below, would be utterly ftilse.t Luther's remarks on this place are as follows — " This then is to be understood, that everything has its time and every human purpose its brief season : i. e., there is a certain fixed hour for everything. As when kingdoms, lands, and principalities are to arise there is an hour for them ; if they are to fall there is also an hour for that ; for war and tumults there is a season : for peace be stands with God. At all events, I am not fortunate enough to be able to find any connection between an admonition to do everything at the right time, and the words of the above-mentioned ninth verse." t " Kommt's nicht heute wie man will Sey man nur ein wenig still 1st doch morgen auch ein Tag Da jlie Wohlfahrt kommen mag. Gottes zeit halt ihren Schritt Wenn die kommt, komrot unsre Bitt, Und die Freude reichlich mit." 92 CHAPTER III. also and 'quietude there is a season ; and when the time for these things is come, no wit of man can hinder or prevent it. Tliere was a set time for the Roman Empire and all great kingdoms to grow, and no thought of man rendered any help therein. Again, when the hour struck which was to see them decline and fall, no propping and supporting was of any use. All this is, therefore, directed against the free will of man, and against all human purposes and fancies, but especi- ally against the notion that it is in our power to determine seasons, and hours, and persons, and measures, and place ; that we can settle how the affairs of this world shall go, how its gi-eat potentates shall rise and fall, how joy and sadness, building up and pulling down, war and peace, shall succeed and take the place of each other, how they shall begin and end : it is to impress on us the fact that ere the hour arrives it is wasted effort for men to think, and their proposals are use- less and vain : in fine, we are taught that nothing comes to pass before the hour fixed for it by God. His doctrine the writer confirms by examples from all branches of human ex- perience, and says, " Building has its time and breaking down has its time," and so forth, from which he judges that all the counsels, the thoughts, the devices, and the efforts of men are but as shadows and mock-fighting, unless the thing is already determined on in Heaven. Kings, princes, and lords may take counsel and agree together upon all as they shall think fit, but whenever the hour strikes for any event whatever, it takes place and other matters remain standing and hinder each other ; and although it seems as if the well planned scheme must now be executed, nothing comes of it, and nothing can come of it till the predetermined hour has struck, even if all men on earth were to put forth the most violent efforts. God will not suffer the hands of his great clock to be pointed by the kings and princes and lords of the earth : He will Himself point them : nor may we take upon ourselves to inform Him what hour has struck : 'tis He who will tell us. Wherefore also Christ said, " mine hour is not yet come." And how many stern counsels, nay, how did all the efforts of the Pharisees and chief men of the Jews remain fruitless until that hour arrived. Wherefore also Christ spake further, " A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow be- CHAPTER III. 93 cause her hour is come." Thus hath the Lord fixed a season for everything, for being rich and poor, for Hving and dying, and for every other phase of human experience. In refer- ence to the words, "and a time to every desire under the Heaven," Luther remarks : "The Hebrew word Chephetz signifies that with which one is occupied, that wliich is the object of desire, love, purpose. Thus in Psahn i. it is said, ' those who have the desire and determination to keep God's law.' The writer includes under the term Chephetz every- thing which men would fain possess, to which their heart in- clines, after which their yearnings go forth ; and he intends to say here, because thereof they worry and afilict themselves, every man in his season : princes and lords vex themselves for great glory, power, reputation, and renown, and so forth; others for honour, possessions, luxury, and good days, and so forth. But their thoughts and cares will prove in vain, un- less they hit upon the appointed hour : and even though they may be the very persons who are destined to receive all these things, still their haste and anticipatory labours are use- less until God's gracious season arrives — then all is speedily effected. Therefore does it behove each of us in our several positions to do the work and. discharge the office entrusted to him, to commend all his ways to God, to use cheerfully that which God bestows on him at the present moment, and to leave the arrangement of the future to His Divine Wisdom. Whoso is of the mind to act otherwise, and determines in despedum Dei to i-ush on before the appointed hour, will reap nothing but misfortune and sorrow of heart for his pains, and, let him rage and murmur as long as he will, God heeds him not." To these excellent remarks of Luther's we have only one exception to take, namely, that, as is the case also with Melancthon, too little stress is laid on the special refer- ence to the people and kingdom of God. The general thought here expressed is further discussed in the succeeding seven verses, each of which touches upon two pairs of subjects. That the discussion contained in these verses has respect to the entire Church of God, and not merely to the experiences of individual believers, though of course bearing an analogous application to them, is evident at once from the words of ver. 2, " a time to bear," and of ver. 3, " a time to kill and a 94 CHAPTER III. time to heal." Such modes of activity can only be predicated, and therefore suggest the thought, of a great whole ; and be- sides, the highly important words in Deuteronomy xxxii. 39, " See now that I even I am he, and there is no God with me : I kill and I make alive, I wound and I heal : neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand," render it easy to con- ceive that by this great whole is meant the people of God. That national events are alluded to is implied also in the words, " Cast away stones, and gather stones together." Fur- ther, a guide to the just understanding of the whole is fur- nished by the concluding verse, the 8th, "A time for war and a time for peace." The parallel passages moreover in- volve this reference to the nation ; a view which, according to the testimony of Jerome, is exceedingly ancient.* Ver. 2. There is a time to bear and a time to die. The mistake with respect to the national reference of this passage led to the adoption of the meaning — " to be born," Vidgate, nascendi. The infinitive of n^*" occurs no fewer than twenty- four times, and always in the signification of " to bear," never in that of " to be born." An example of this is Genesis xxv. 24 — " and her days were full nihb to bear," not, " to be born :" another is found in Isaiah xxvi. 1 7, " Like as a woman with child that draweth near the time of her delivery." mh ny is "time of bearing, of delivery," in Genesis xxxviii. 27, in Job xxxix. 2 : Compare also Luke i. 17; rfj 8i EXiadlSir sTXriffdri 6 yjivoi Tou TiTiih auTrjv. In fact no instance whatever can be adduced in which the Active Infinitive stands for the Passive. In Proverbs xii. 7, to which Gesenius appeals, r\z>n signifies " they destroy," in xv. 22, nan signifies " they bring to nought." The people of God personified as a woman is not unfrequently said to "travail and bear," when in times of prosperity it grows and waxes strong, and the number of its members becomes greater. Thus for example in Isaiah liv. 1, "Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear ; break forth into singing and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child, for more are the Hebraji omne hoc quod de contrarietate temporum scriptum est, usque ad ilium locum in quo ait : tempus belli et tempus pacis, super Israel intelligunt. Explaining their meaning Jerome says — Tempus fuit generandi et plantandi Israelem, tempus moriendi et ducendi in captivitatem. Tempus occidcndi eos in -iEgypto et tempus de ^gypto liberandi. CHAPTER III. 95 children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord." See also Isaiah Ixvi. 7, " Before she travailed, she brought forth, before her pain came she was delivered of a manchild : " verse 8, " for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her sons." If our explanation of the words is correct, the reference to them which John xvi. 21 unmistake- ably bears, becomes perfectly clear. There the hour approaches for the woman who is to bear, and she is the image of the Church. In the main this is for her a time of gladness. The momentary pain which forms necessarily a point of transition therein, is a feature added by the Saviour. — In contradistinc- tion to bearing stands dying. Both however are in like man- ner under the superintendence of holy love. Both come from our faithful heavenly Father, who has thoughts of peace to- wards His people, who chastises them even unto death, but never gives them over into the hands of death. A very extensive use is made of death in the Old Testament as the symbol of the severe afflictions of the people of God. " My God and mine Holy One," cries Israel in Habakkuk i. I 2, " let us not die." In Psalm Ixxxv. 7, it is said — " Wilt thou not revive us again, and shall not thy people rejoice in thee ?" — In Psalm Ixxi. 20, "Thou which hast shewed me great and sore troubles shalt return and quicken us again :" — In Hosea yi. 2, " After two days he will revive us : in the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him." We find the most detailed employment of death to describe the degeneracy of the Church and of resurrection to express its restoration in Ezekiel xxxvii. The chief passage however is Deuteronomy xxxii. 39, " I kill and I make alive." Compare besides Psalm xlviii. 1 5, Ixviii. 21, Ixxx. 19. Israel was in a state of death when the author wrote. If it recognised God's hand working in this death it must prove an easy matter for it to rise to the hope of that life which the same God had promised in His word, and which stands ever at the termination of God's dealings with His people. Moreover death, although in itself bitter, becomes sweet to the man who is thoroughly penetrated by the conviction that he is in God's hands, and is drinking from God's cup. Luther says — "To behevers and Christians all this is very consolatory ; for they know that no tyrant's sword can kill or destroy them, and that before their hour 96 CHAPTER III. comes no creature whatever can harm them. Hence they do not trouble and worry themselves much about death, but when it comes they die unto the will of God as he pleases, like lambs and young children." — A time to plant and a time to pluck np that wJdch is planted. In this respect also the people of God experience change according to the holy purposes of their Lord, who sends them at one time the undeserved grace of prosperity, and at another time, as punishment merited by their ingratitude, he inflicts upon them the loss of everything. When these troubles befal us we must not murmur nor despair, but humble ourselves under the strong hand, repent and hope. Even to feel the angry hand of God upon us is a sweet com- fort. Compare Psalm xliv. 3, where, in regard to the period under Joshua so rich in signs of gTace, it is said : " Thou hast with thy hand driven out the heathen and planted them ;" also Psalm Ixxx. 9, " thou broughtest a vine out of Egypt : thou didst cast out the heathen and didst plant it." Compare further also what is written in Psalm Ixxx. 13, 14, in refer- ence to the plucking up of what was planted, which was effected by the power of this world, into whose hands de- generate Israel had been given over for punishment : " Why hast thou then broken down her walls so that all they which pass by the way do pluck her ? The boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it." Ver. 3. A time to Jcill and a time to heal. Here also again the principal passage is Deuteronomy xxxii. 39: "I kill and I make alive ; I wound and I heal." On it are based both the present words and those of Hosea vi. 1 : " Up and let us return to the Lord ; for he hath torn and he will heal ; he smites and he will bind us up." To the jnn of this place cor- responds there the "tearing and smiting." jin "to murder" is predicated of God in relation to His people in Psalm Ixxviii. 31, 34: "When he slew them, then they sought him and they returned and inquired after him," (compare Jeremiah xii. 3, vii. 34, xix. 6.) The state of the people must have been desperately bad, if God, who in his treatment of them is gracious and merciful, long-suffering, and of great kindness, finds himself compelled to resort to such temble means. Still, destruction is never the end of the ways of God with His CHAPTER III. 97 people. Only as a passage to life, does lie ordain death. In regard to the " healing" compare besides Exodus xv. 26, where the Lord describes himself as Israel's physician, (compare Isaiah vi. 10.) — A time to break doivn and a time to build up. pD signifies not " to destroy," but " to pull down." It is used especially of pulling down protecting walls and hedges. Com- pare Isaiah v. 5, where the Lord says in reference to the vine- yard of Israel : " Break down its hedges and he will tread it down ;" — Psalm Ixxxix. 4, " Thou tearest down all its hedges," (compare Ixxx. 13.) In chap. x. 4 the phrase is found in completeness. Nehemiah speaks in chap. ii. 13 of his book, of the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down, D''^~iD, and of its gates which were burned by fire, in consequence of the destruction by the Chaldeans : further in 2 Kings xiv. 1 3, it is said, "and he brake down of the wall of Jerusalem four hundred cubits" (compare besides Nehemiah iv. 1). This tear- ing down and building up may take place, in an outward manner, as it did at the time of the occupation of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, and after the return from the captivity, or it may take place spiritually, through the entrance of the Church on times of great degeneracy, and the restoration and elevation thereof to prosperity. Thus in Jeremiah xlii. 10, where we read — "if ye will settle again in this land, then will I build you and not pull you down, and I will plant you and not pluck you up," — persons are the object of the build- ing up and pulling down, which terms must therefore be un- derstood figuratively, as Michaelis takes them, longoevitate, liberis, opibus omnibusque bonifi vos aiicturus. The same thing is tnie also of Jeremiah xxiv. 6, " and I bring them again to this land ; and I will build them and I will not pull them down ; and I will plant them and not pluck them up : " and of chap. xxxi. 4, " Again I wiU build thee and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel." The second clause of Psalm li. 18 — "do good in thy good pleasure unto Sion, build thou the walls of Jerusalem," is explained by the first : — God builds the walls of Zion in that he furthers its well-being. The mere fact that it was composed by David forbids us taking the external view. In a material sense, the walls of Jerusalem were not destroyed in the days of David. In the same way are we to understand Psalm cii. 1 4, 1 5 : " thou shalt arise G 98 CHAPTER III. and have mercy upon Zion, for the time to favour her, yea the set time is come. For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and they grieve over its dust." Under the image of a building in ruins is brought before us the Church of God in its reduced condition. Consequently the time for pulling down is always present when God abandons his Church to inimical powers. Such a time of pulling down, for example, was that of the dominion of Rationalism. But the men whose hearts bleed during such a period should never forget that above and be- hind the destructive forces stands the Lord, and that in the long run his counsels, and his alone, shall be accomplished. After a manner very similar to that of this book are the diverse modes of God's action contrasted in Jeremiah i. 1 0. The pro- phet was commissioned on God's behalf to " destroy, to throw down, to build, and to plant." In Jeremiah xviii. 7-9, it is said in regard to Israel — " suddenly I shaU speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up and to pull down, and to destroy it : if that nation against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. And suddenly I shaU speak con- cerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant." The people of God has this privilege, however, that God always pulls down and destroys as a means and prepara- tion for buiiding, and that to this latter as a final aim the divine purposes are directed.* Hence in the kingdom of God it is possible to be joyous and contented, even when, for the moment, the season of pulling down is present. Up to this point commencement was made with the redemptive and bene- ficent aspect of human and divine activity : here it forms the conclusion. That the author intentionally makes it form the commencement and the close of the whole, is unmistakeable. It began with " bearing," and it ends with " peace." If then beginning is good, and end is good, we may reasonably be less anxious and careful about that which meanwhile befals us, and may look with a calm and cheerful mind on the changes now taking place around us. • Jerome : " Non possumus ffidificare bona nisi prius destmxerimus mala. Idcirco sic Jeremiae verbum a deo datum est, ut ante eradicaret et suffoderet et pp.rderet ; et postea asdificaret atque plantaret." CHAPTER III. 09 Ver. 4. A time to weep and a time to laugh. There are seasons when those who belong to the kingdom of God must weep, because the Lord hides his face from the house of Israel, (Isaiah viii. 1 7,) and there are also times when they can rejoice. Joy always comes last. ^ For this reason the weeping of the children of God is quite different from that of the world. It always has a background of hope. Theirs is not the anguish of despair ; it is a sadness which takes comfort. Our Lord alludes to this passage when He says in Luke vi. 21, fiaxdpioi 0/ xXaiovTsg vuv on yikasirt. In close connection also with this passage stands John xvi. 20 : afhri^i ai^nv "kiyu v/a/v or; xXaitfsrg xa/ 8priv7}SiTi vft^iTg^ 6 ds -/.6ff//,og ^aprjSSTS, vfisTg 8i XvrrridriOiSdi, aXX' jj XuTJj ii/j^uv iig ')(a.fav yivriGirat. When it is the time for weeping it is useless to try aijd force ourselves to laughter, as is the fashion of the world, which seeks to forget and gild over its misery until at last it falls a victim to despair. Our course should be that which is enjoined on us in 1 Peter v. 6, Tamt- vu9i^TS Q-jv hiTo TTjv xpuTaiocv ^iTpa To\j 6sou ha h/xag l/-4/W(T?j Iv aaipSj : Bengel — in tempore opportuno, when the season for laughter has arrived. This season however we may not endeavour to an- ticipate : our moods of feelings should go hand in hand with the various phases of divine providence : we should act in short like the children of Israel, who once in the days of their cap- tivity hung their harps on the willows and refused to sing the songs of Zion. A time to mourn and a time to dance. On these words it is remarked in the Berleburger Bible — " If any man at another time is visited by still severer misfortunes, then weeping will not suffice, but wailing must be added thereto, that is, a great and pubHc mourning must take place in that we wring our hands above our heads and express our lamen- tation in the gestures and attitude of sorrow." Ver. 5. A time to cast atuay stones and a time to gather stones together. What the Lord says in Mark xiii. 2, jSXsmig ravTag rag /xsydXag olzodofj^dg ; oh ihri d(pi&ri "ki&og srr} XidcfJ og ov fbri xarbcXvO^, holds good of the Church in all its periods of degen- eracy. When the Church ceases to be the true house of God, the time for the scattering of its stones is not far off With the scattering, however, the gathering always goes hand in hand. At the time when the old Temple of Jerusalem was destroyed, there rose up in its stead the glorious edifice of the 100 CHAPTER III. temple of the Christian Church. Previously God scattered stones by the hands of the Chaldeans : through his servant Cjrrus he gathered them together. — A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing. There is a season when the Lord embraces his people, and a season when he does not per- mit them the enjoyment of his love, but repels them from his presence. When He treats us in the latter way we should revolve in our hearts the words of Psalm xlii. : " Why art thou cast down, O my soul ? And why art thou disquieted within me ? hope thou in God ; " and we should beg and pray and acknowledge and express our sins until He becomes once more gracious. The expression " embrace" takes its rise in the " Song of Solomon," chap. ii. 6, where the bride, which is Zion, says — " His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me." That elsewhere also in Solomon's writings this transference of embracing to spiritual relations occurs, as for example in Proverbs iv. 8 ; v. 20, I have shown in my Commentary on that passage. The name Habakkuk is probably derived from the " Song of Solomon." It signifies " hearty embrace," and is used to describe the tender relation of love in which Israel and the Prophet, who is the nation's representative, stand to the Lord : as in fact Isaiah styles the Lord in chap v., inn and inn''. As to substance, Jeremiah xiii. offers a parallel : for there, in consideration of the close and living relation which subsists between them, Israel appears under the image of a girdle which the Lord lays around Him, and which He puts off in the time of His anger, only however to put it on again, when the season of wrath has passed away. Ver. 6. A time to seek and a time to lose. At one period the Lord interests Himself tenderly in His people : at another He lets them go to ruin, yet in such a manner, that in the midst of wrath He remembers mercy. " To seek " is generally predicated of believers who seek the Lord : but God also is said to " seek " when His retributive righteousness comes into play (Joshua xxii. 23), and when- in love He shows compas- sion : "God seeks the persecuted" (ver. 15). With the word ms^ Jarchi compares Leviticus xxvi. 38, " and ye shaU perish among the heathen, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up." A tim^e to keep and a time to cast away. Now, the Lord protects and preserves His people as a precious jewel: CHAPTER III. 101 then He casts it from Him as a despicable and hateful thing. Usually God's casting away signifies banishment from His presence. Thus in 2 Kings xiii. 23, it is wiitten in respect of the ten tribes, " and the Lord was gi-acious unto them, and had compassion on them, and had respect unto them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not -destroy them, and cast them not from his presence." Michaelis : ut postea factwrn est (xvii. 18-20), also in Jere- miah vii. 15, where the Lord says to Judah, "and / cast you from my presence, as I cast out all your brethren, the whole tribe of Ephraim." In Fsalm Ixxi. 9, also, where Israel, now growing old, cries, " cast me not off in the time of old age ; forsake me not when my strength faileth :" and in Psalm cii. 11, as here, the word Tj^^jj^n is employed alone. Deuter- onomy xxix. 27, furnishes an example of the use of the verb in regard to God, who in his anger casts out his people into a strange land. Ver. 7. A time to rend, and a time to sew. There is a time when the people of God must mourn, and again a time when they can rejoice. j;ip is used with special reference to the rending of the clothes, which in Israel was a sign of mourn- ing. When it is said in Genesis xxxvii. 34, " and Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days," we recognize in Jacob a type of the people of God and of the Church in all ages, a prophecy in the form of a fact which is being fulfilled ever afresh. Where there is the like cause, there is the like result. Was it neces- sary that the ancestor should be visited with severe afflic- tions on account of his sinfulness, for the same reason must his descendants also suflfer, and to preserve their heart from exalting itself God ordains that through much tribulation they shaU enter his kingdom, that times of refreshing from His presence shall alternate with times of sorrow, and His unchangeable love disguises itself in many ways and fre- quently appears under forms fitted to awaken terror. In Joshua vii. 6 we read, " and Joshua rent his clothes, he and the elders of Israel :" and in 2 Samuel xiii. 31, "and the king arose and rent his clothes and lay on the earth ; and all his servants stood by with their clothes rent." A time to keep silence and a time to speak There are times when silence 102 CHAPTER III. must be observed, as Jacob was compelled to keep silence when lie heard how Sichem had defiled Dinah his daughter, until his sons arrived (Genesis xxxiv. 5) : and then again come times when we may speak and stand up boldly in the presence of the enemies of God's people, as when the Lord spake to Paul in the vision by night, when the Jews of Corinth tried to force him to silence — " Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace," (Acts xviii. 9.) When the hour appointed by God arrives, the words of Psalm cxxvii. 5, "they shall not be ashamed when they speak with their enemies in the gate," come fully true. Till then we must cover our faces and keep silence. But it is notwithstanding a blessed silence, for it is attended by the conviction that a time to speak will inevitably come again. Ver. 8. A time to love and a trme to hate. There is a time when the Lord causes the world to incline in love to- wards His people : . and again a time when He gives them over to the world's hatred. In respect to the latter, and in connection with the period of Israel's residence in Egypt, it is said in Psalm cv. 25, "He turned their heart to Imte his people, to deal subtilly with his servants." In regard to the former compare Exodus xi. 3, where the Lord is represented as having given the people such favour in the sight of the Egyptians, that they offered them gifts ; also Psalm cvi. 46, where concerning the Asiatic oppressors of the nation, it is declared tiiat "he made them to be pitied also of all those that carried them captives," (compare 1 Kings viii. 50) ; further, Daniel i. 9, " and God brought Daniel into favour and tender love with the prince of the Eunuchs ;" and lastly, 2 Kings XXV. 27, according to which the Lord moved the heart of Evilmerodach to compassion towards Jehoiachin, The time at which this book was written might in the main be characterised as one of " hating," as the faithful were com- pelled to acknowledge by the painful experience of every day: but the word of God was pledged that a "time of love" should arrive, such as had never previously been witnessed, and in the hope of this, they found it easier to accept tempo- rary hatred from the same kind hand, that would one day bestow upon them love. The era was before the door, of which Isaiah prophesied when he wrote, " and kings shall CHAPTER III. 103 be thy nursing fathers and their queens thy nursing mothers," (chap. xlix. 23), and "thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck the breast of kings " (chap. Ix. 1 6), and thus saith the Lord ; behold I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like an ovei-flowing stream ; then shall ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her knees." Though Zion was still " deserted and hated " (Isaiah lx.l 5), it had no need to be very much concerned on that account. Here also we may apply the saying, " At the end comes the best." A tivie of war and a time of peace. The sweet name of peace, which is an object of such deep affection to the heart of the struggling Church, forms the conclusion to the whole. " Peace, peace, to him that is afar off, and to him that is near, saith the Lord." (Isaiah Ivii. 19.) Ver. 9. What 'profit hath he that produceth in that wherein he laboureth ? The conclusion which follows from the pre- ceding reflections is here drawn. Inasmuch as there is a time for everything, it follows that " all our toils, early and late, are for nought, all our care is in vain." The Berleburger Bible remarks, " for he can neither pass beyond nor alter the fixed limits set by divine providence, so as, for example, to be jojrful when the hour for mourning is come." All care and labour, all our exhausting eflbrts apart from God, (Cartwright. deo non aspirante, a quo rerum omnium effectio suspensa tenetur,) are pronounced fruitless. In this, however, are not included the " doing good," (ver. 1 2,) and " unwearied scatter- ing of seed," (chap. xi. 6,) with which we must go forward because of God's command, on whose will it depends whether it prove a blessing or not : much less is there any reference to the prayers of believers, which in fact are as strongly called for and enjoined, as our own anxieties and labours are forbid- den and excluded, by the word " there is a time for every- thing." Nay, it is even possible that prayer, if earnest, may alter the aspect of the times. If there is really a time for everything, then surely when things press us down as a leaden weight, we should lift up heart and hands to Him who can change the times and seasons."^"' Luther renders the words — * "Wenn wir in hochsten Nothen seyn Und wissen nicht wo aus noch ein, 104? CHAPTER III. •' what can a man do more, let him work as he will ?" and remarks on them — " it is just this, that till the hour arrives all our thought and labour are lost. Notwithstanding we must all work, each man in his office, and use diligence, for God commands this. If w^e hit the right moment, then the business succeeds : if we do not, nothing comes of it, and no device of man can be of the least use." Ver. 10. I have seen the travail which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it. The travail does not perhaps consist so much in the occupation of contemplating and inquiring into the government of the world, as, according to ver. 9, in the useless anxieties and exhaustive labours to which men subject themselves in that they desire, and yet are unable to effect anything, because everything comes to pass as it has been fixed and predetermined by God. On this Luther observes : " they who wish to anticipate God's appointed hour, weary themselves in vain, and reap only anxiety and trouble of heart." The faith which looks upward to God and leaves all to Him, which says : " why should I then distress myself? Heart, why art thou cast down ? Why dost thou trouble and pain thyself ? Trust in God thy Lord who made all things !" delivers us from this torment. But in this life even faith is liable to become weary and to change, and no sooner does the believer begin to be negligent therein, than he receives his share of the travail to which all the children of men are condemned, in a word, he begins to exhaust himself with cares and toils. And in truth, it is good for him to have his share thereof Tlie travail is a wholesome discipline. By such means the children of men are constrained to humble themselves, and to feel their own insufficiency. Care and toil begin, when faith Und finden weder Hiilf noch Rath Ob wir gleich sorgen friih und spat : So ist das iinser Trost allein Dass wir Zusammen insgemein Dich aurufen O treuer Gott Um Kettung aus der Angst und Noth," Compare also the remarks of Cartwright — " Non equidem ut ahjecto labor- andi studio desidia; et ignaviae se dedat : sed ne ita consilio et labori confidat, ut Dei opem et benedictionem precibus impetrandam neglectui habeat. Qui ut tempora et temporum momenta ia sua manu et potestate comprehensa habet, ita ilhi precibus suorum flexus, eorundem commodo dispensat." CHAPTER III. 105 and prayer cease : lout out of care and toil we rise again to faith and prayer. When the heart is emphatically broken by the sore travail to which God subjects the children of men, it obeys the injunction — "0 troubled soul, betake thyself to God." Ver. 11. He maketh everything beautiful in his time, eter- nity also he hath set in their heart, so that no man can find out the'work that God maketh from the beginning to the end. The principal thought of the verse is contained in the last words : " man cannot find out the work of God from begin- ning to end ;" which some interpret to mean — " man cannot perfectly comprehend God's doings ;" but which may be more appropriately explained — " To man the knowledge of the future is altogether denied ;" — as Luther has it — " neither beginning nor end." Inasmuch as, apart from revelations concerning the future which God communicates to his ser- vants the prophets (Amos iii. 7), man, as such, is and will remain destitute of this knowledge, to the end that he may learn to humble himself before God, it is impossible for him to order his doings with judgment, and he is consequently directed in all cases to trust not in himself but in God. The following remarks are found in the Berleburger Bible : " The conclusion which Solomon wishes to draw is, that no man can so order and arrange his afiairs for the future as that he shall be thoroughly happy in this world, but must leave them to time and destiny ; and should he seek by his own energies to secure to himself the object of his desires, his efforts will be useless, and at the end there will be still no other course open to him than to commend himself and his affairs to the fatherly care of God." A twofold subsidiary thought precedes this main idea of the passage. The first is — " He maketh every- thing beautiful in his time." That God's rule is one with a fixed aim and method is here expressly mentioned, in order to remove as far away as possible the notion of an almighty arbitrary ruler — a notion which might easily take its rise in the fact that the method of divine government is so con- cealed from our eyes that we cannot tell beforehand what He will do. According to the accents no'' is connected with inya. J. D. IVIichaelis remarks — " The words ' beautiful in his time,' according to the accentuation, are closely connected to- gether. And, in view of that which goes before, what other lOG CHAPTER III. meaning c'an be attached to them, than the following? — among the things mentioned in verses 2-8, there are, it is true, many that are unpleasant and evil, but at the time when God sends them they are not only good but even right beautiful." These things which in and for themselves are evil, must con- sequently occur in such a connection that they shall further the good purposes of God. Only at the fit seasop are they beautiful, and then they form an indispensable link in the chain of this world's events. Accordingly, that is not a bad saying of Raschi, that " at a good season to reward good works is beautiful : and at an evil season to punish evil works is also beautiful." The second accessory thought is contained in the words — " Eternity also hath he set in their heart." In the verse considered as an organic whole this thought occupies the following position : — God makes everything beautiful in his time, but man is unable to see it notwithstanding that God hath set eternity in his heart. "^^niD is to be taken in its usual signification of " without" (which "occurs moreover offcener than the Lexicons allow), "without that not finds,"* which is as much as to say, with this exception or with the exception, that not finds* how such knowledge of the future doings of God seems notwithstanding to follow from the fact that in the heart of man, and specially in the heart of his own people, He hath set eternity ; for apparently this latter gift stands to the former in the relation of the particular to the general. K God's nature is accessible to man, surely, one would think, God's doings will not remain hidden from him, especially as they follow a fixed plan. The commentary to the words, " and he set eternity in their heart," (Rambach : notitiam del aeterni), is furnished by Psalm xc. 1-5, where the fleeting character of our earthly life is contrasted with the eternity of God : com- pare especially ver. 2 — " Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting thou art God." And then we must compare also Romans i. 20 — to, ao^ara durou ditl zrlffius xo(ff/,ou roTg rroiriiiaei voo\j/j,iva xadooarai r\ri didiog uurov b'jvuaig xal SiioTYis. Accoi-ding to the Apostle's words, man has an intel- lectual intuition of God's eternal power and Godhead, or as it is here expressed, of the eternity which is manifested and * I have rendered the German literally oAwe dass nichtJiiKktr—Tii. CHAPTER III. 107 developed in the words of creation. So far as man springs from God, his eternity is inseparably bound up with that of God (chap. xii. 7). It is man's highest privilege to discern something eternal behind the transitory objects of the present world, and to be able to cling closely to this eternal substance. And ina'smuch as this eternity of God is set in his heart, it would appear reasonable to expect that the knowledge of the doings of God in time should be attainable by him. But at this point man stumbles all at once upon bars and bolts, and finds that God has reserved something for himself alone. Many interpreters explain D^iy by "world;" others by "philosophy," or by "worldly mind." But usage is against this. D^y is never used in the entire Old Testament in any other sense than of "unmeasured time," and of "eternity:" and in this book above all is it employed in the signification " eternity," (see chap. i. 4, ii. 16, iii. 14, ix. 6, xii. 5; "long time," chap. i. 10). There is also the additional objection that this expla- nation of the term gives no appropriate sense. The words, " except that, &c." would then be unsuitable. For the setting of the world in the heart of man, does not render it in any way probable that he will be able to command a knowledge of the ways of God : it may easily, however, and with justice, be regarded as something exceptional, and so to speak abnor- mal, that man, in whom there dwells the knowledge of the divine nature, should be refused the knowledge of the di\dne works. — In reference to the main idea of the verse, Luther observes, "Man cannot hit upon the work, which God does; that is, no man can know beforehand the hour which is ordained above ; and however much he may plague himself, he can never know when it will begin or come to an end. — It behoves us therefore to say, 0 Lord, to thee belongs the supreme direc- tion, in thine hand it rests entirely, to order and settle every- thing in the future : under thy control is my life and my death ; as I need my life, so long thou givest it and not a moment longer. And inasmuch as in respect of them, no care and thought is of any use, I will act thus in regard to other gifts, using them as they come ; care and anxiety I will cast to the winds, and commit the rest to thee." Ver. 12. I know that there is no good in them, but that one rejoice and do good in his life. Seeing that man is not the 108 CHAPTER in. lord of his o^Yn destiny, it follows that his best course is to let God act and arrange, and, in place of caring for the future, to enjoy the present, instead of labouring and scheming with a mind ever restless and ever looking for results, to do quietly what is given him to do * The Hebrew words which we have rendered " in (or with) them," that is " men," (dhs ''22 of ver. 10), are rendered by several commentators, most recently by Stier — "therein, m illis rebus omnibus." But that the former is the correct explanation is evident from chap. ii. 2-i, D^X3 31t£) px, and from chap. viii. 15, "it is not good" ms^, where for the 2, in this passage, h is employed. Joy forms the con- trast to restless care and useless worry : compare Matthew vi. 3-i: /AJ5 ouv [npiHiVYidiTi s/g rrjv avpiov. 7; yap avpiov /j,spt/j,vrj6ii rd iauTrjg. dpy.srov ryj Tj/j^spcf, tj zaxia avrl^g- Luther observes : " this is all the better understood from what goes before : he means to say, that because so many hindrances and mishaps in their busi- ness befal even those who are industrious and who wish to act well and truly, and because there is so much misfortune in the world, there is nothing better than cheerfully to use what God puts into our hands at the present moment, and not vex and distress ourselves with questions and cares about the future." Not to be careful, but to dare to trust in the Al- mighty, and consequently to be able to rejoice, is a precious privilege bestowed by God on the children of men (Psalm xxxvi. 8), of which they should take care not to rob them- selves by their own wickedness. Doing good should go hand in hand with a cheerful and thankful enjoyment of the bless- ings which the moment brings, in order that thus we may run in the way commanded by God, may preserve a good con- science, which is the necessary condition of all joy, and not shut but rather open the entrance for God's goodness and grace. To the " do good" of this verse, corresponds the " fear God and keep his -commands" of chap. xii. 13. Following Luther's example, several adopt the explanation, "Do good, act kindly, to thyself" Usage however decides against this view : and, in opposition to usage, such supposed parallel pas- * Rambach remarks : "Cum itaque tanta sit rerum humanarum vanitas, tanta hominis circa eas impotentia, ut hactenus ostensum, inde ego certum explora- tumquc habeo, etc." CHAPTER III. 109 sages as chap. ii. 24, iii. 22, v. 17, 18, are adduced to no pur- pose. Compare Psalm xxxiv. 15: " cease from evil and do good : seek peace and pursue it ;" Psalm xxxvii. 3, "Trust in the Lord and do good ;" and Isaiah xxxviii. 8, where Heze- kiah says — " I have done that which is good in thine eyes." Ver. 1 3. And every man that eats and drinks and sees good in all his labour, that is a gift of God. The word m refers to the whole sentence. Not only is it a gift of God that any man's sufferings are averted, but also that, despite suffering, whether present or threatened, he should be cheerful. It is in the power of God alone alike to bring us happiness and to quiet the heart and free it from cares. Our heart is as little in our own power as is our destiny. '''' The capability of en- joying divine blessings is called in chap. ii. 24-26, a gift of God, because the heart of the natural man is in bondage to avarice : liere the same thing is affirmed on the ground that it is bound by care with such bonds as human strength can never loosen. After the words just quoted Luther remarks further: "but that is just the art to be acquired: that we are able to do it at all is the gift of God. I myself, says Solomon, can teach and tell this to others, but I can give it neither to myself nor to others : the heart capable of doing this, God alone can bestow. Solomon thus teaches us, firstly, what we shall do, and secondly, where we are to get the ability to be thus minded and thus to act : that is, he teaches us, that we with our own thoughts, anxieties and cares, can make nothing better or other than it is : our part is to pray with all earnestness, and call upon God that He may deliver us from sadness and ■ useless cares, and give us a calm and believing heart.'' Ver. 1 4. 7 know that tvhatsoever God doeth it shall he for ever : nothing can he put to it mid nothing can he taken from it ; and God doeth it that they should fear hefore Him. No one can frustrate his plans : no one can hinder their fulfil- ment. Wherefore, " it behoves thee to trust the Lord, if it shall go well with thee. Witli care, dejection and self-inflicted ■* Cartwright says : " Quod non ita intelligi velim, acsi suo aut merito ant arbitrio hoc illis obveniret ; quando quidem quisquis est, qui edendo et bibendo ex labore suo commode vivit, illud ipsum (quantulumcunque hominibus videa- tur) dei est gratuitum bonum. 1 1 0 CHAPTER III. pains thoii canst gain nought from God ; — he must be sought unto." Compare Isaiah xlvi. 1 0, where God says — " my coun- sel shall stand fast, and all my will, will I accomplish :" Psalm xxxiii. 11, "The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever, the thoughts of His heart to all generations :" and further, Psalm cxxvii, — " it is in vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrow ; thus giveth He it to His beloved in sleep." In face of the eternal decrees of God, it is to no purpose that we resolve to carry any undertaking through : our part is to cast ourselves as a child into our Father's arms, and entreat Him to have pity on us. Of God's counsels, however, it is not true to say with the poet, that, " Bound by the brazen laws of eternity, men accomplish the cycles of their existence." God's counsels are undoubtedly unalterable from without ; no creature, let him commence as he will, can effect an encroachment upon them : but they do not stand above God himself as a foreign power, as a kind of fate ; so that it is not our prayers, but our own workings that are useless. " And God doeth it that they should fear before Him." Driven by sheer necessity, and feeling their absolute weak- ness, they cry out, in the words of Psalm cxxiii. 1-2, "unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens Behold as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look unto the Lord God until that he have mercy upon us." Luther's remarks on this subject are : " But why does God afflict men with such countless, varied, and gi-eat cares of government, of household, of trade, of busi- ness, compelling them to run and race, and ride and drive, and travel by land and water, and often to risk their lives, whilst He has kept in His own hands the right moment when any thing shall take place, and all the rest is in vain ? The answer .is : in order that men may fear Him, that they might keep his first commandment, that He may remain Lord and God, and that aU may recognise Him to be God : further, that we may all learn thorough and hearty obedience and humility, and begin nothing trusting to our own wisdom, thoughts, abihties ; as St Paul admonishes the Romans in chap. ix. 16, saying, — " it is not in him that wiUeth, nor in him that runneth, but in God, who sheweth mercy." Whoever beheveth that the CHAPTER III. Ill aforementioned things are not in his own power, will not un- dertake anything on his own responsibility, will not worry and vex himself too much, but let God rule in all things : what God gives, he uses, what God withholds he dispenses with ; if God takes aught away he endures it patiently. In this way God maintains fully His own divine honour, and at the same time restrains us from arrogance, inasmuch as no man. then can say — I am king, prince, lord, manager, governor, learned or otherwise, but must always confess that God also is Lord. That is the true fear of God, that is the highest, holiest and most suitable service of God, the service to which Solomon, David, and all the prophets earnestly summon men, namely to believe and be certain that God sees all our doings, and works all in all, (Ephesians i. 11.) Ver. 15. That which hath been is now and that which is to be hath already been, and God seeketh the persecuted. The commentary to these words is furnished by the parallel passages : Psalm cxxxix. 16:" Thine eyes did see me when I was yet imperfect, and in thy book were they all written, the days which should yet be, and none of them was there ;" on which I have remarked in my Commentary to the Book of Psalms, " if our whole existence from beginning to end is pre-ordained by God, how is it possible that anything should ever befal us, with which His hand was not concerned, which He did not see, and which in His own good time He did not help on 1 A further illustrative passage is Job xiv. 5, " His days are determined, the number of his months with thee." What was (or became) is already, existed already in the divine counsels before it was openly manifested, and hence we learn, that God's decrees decide everything, that in all the circumstances and ways of life we should look up to God, and that we may not look to our fellowmen, who are the companions of our weakness, and who, however much they may puff themselves, and however great pretensions they may make, are, in truth, but instruments in the hand of pro- vidence. The word is refers us to the timeless, the eternal nature of that which God pre-ordains, — which timeless ele- ment is able to represent itself in the form of the present. Knobel's explanation, " it is already, i. e., it is now," is inad- missible, for the simple reason that -ia3 cannot possibly mean 112 CHAPTER III. "already." ' The third member of the sentence, "and God seeks the persecuted," falls into harmony with the other two, so soon as it is perceived that the reference they contain to the divine preordination is intended as a consolation : " No- thing can happen to us which He has not sent, and which will not conduce to our blessedness." Of the accuracy of the translation given of the third clause of the sentence there can be no doubt.* Just in the same way is seeking ascribed in ver. 6 to God, who takes compassion on his forlorn and wretched children. In the only place where it occurs besides here, namely, in Lamentations v. 5, the Niphal form of iTi has the signification " be persecuted." The people of God there give utterance to the complaint iJSTij, "we are perse- cuted," and the Niphal form in itself would scarcely allow of being otherwise interpreted. This explanation is further con- firmed by verses 16-17, where we find exactly the same thought. To those verses this 15th verse forms a link of transition. Following the Vulgate (Deus instaurat quod ahiit) most modern interpreters assume that «n-i3 signifies " the past," and that the idea is, "the phenomena and events of life keep repeating themselves in a fixed circle." This idea, how- ever, would do violence to the whole connection, and be- sides, that t]ii: cannot signify " the past," is as certain as that iTi means " to persecute " and notliing else. Following the correct view, the Berleburger Bible remarks : " Therefore thou shouldst not so take ofience thereat as to allow thyself on its account to be drawn away from the highest good. For God will not leave unpunished the injustice and the vio- lence which are done to those that fear Him." We have in this passage the Old Testament basis for the words of our Lord m Matthew v. 10. : fiazdpioi o'l hhicayixhoi ivizsv dizaiosuvyig on avrojv ssriv rj (SasrAila raiv ovpavuv. Verses 16-17. These two verses comfort the people of God whilst gToaning beneath the unrighteous oppression of worldly * It may be found even in the Septuagint, •which has rightly conveyed the meaning of this verse, so often misunderstood by more recent interpreters : rb yivo/Msvov Tidrj ssri xai om rov yivi66a.i rjdrj ysyovs, xa/ 6 dihg ^rirriffsi rhv biuMfMivov : the same may be said also of the Syriac and of the Targum, Deus requiret obscurum et pauperem dc manibus improbi, qui persecutus fuerit eura. CHAPTER III. 113 powers by pointing them to the divine judgments which are shortly to be executed. Ver. 1 G. A ml fuTther saw I under the sun. In the previous ver. allusion is made to the overthrow of the people of God and the triumph of the world : here to the misapplication of authority to purposes of tyranny and oppression. The place of judgment, wickedness is there : the seat of judgment is the place whence, by divine appointment and legal sanction, justice should be administered, for Rulers and Judges govern and give sentence in God's stead (2 Chro- nicles xix. 6-7). notr signifies always " thither," never " there:" wickedness moves thitherwards, takes possession of the place. The wickedness is that of the heathen authorities. Parallel to this is Psalm xciv. 20, where, in view of the deluge of Chaldeans which overwhelmed the people of God, they ask — • " Is the throne of iniquity in fellowship with thee, which frameth misery by a law ?" — misery, which is the result of violence and wickedness. In Psalm cxxv., which like the present book was composed during the time of the Persian dominion, it is said (verses 2-3) : " The mountains are round about Jerusalem, and the Lord is round about his people from henceforth even for ever. For the sceptre of wickedness shall not rest on the lot of the rio-hteous, lest the righteous put forth their hands to iniquity." From beneath the yoke of their heathen oppressors will the people of God once again rise to the glorious liberty of children. The place of righte- ousness, the wnched is there. In Daniel iv. 27, Daniel says to Nebuchadnezzar — " break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by showing mercy to the poor." The righte- ous and the ivicked God vAll judge, (ver. 17). Here the righteous man is Israel : the wicked is the Heathen : and the ungodly in Israel as being degenerate are left unnoticed. By destiny, and at the core, Israel is the nation of the upright. Numbers xxiii. 10. In Habakkuk i. 13, it is written in re- ference to the Chaldean catastrophe : "wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and boldest thy tong-ue when the wicked devoureth him that is more righteous than he ?" i. e., him that stands opposed to the evil one, as being righteous. On this passage compare Delitzsch, who considers the merely relative view of righteousness untenable. The judg- ment of the wicked may be looked for with the greater conli- 114 CHAPTER III. dence, when they are found occupying the seat of law and justice, thence practising wickedness, and misusing their authority for injustice. The tribunal of justice is of God (Deuteronomy i. 17); whoever appears there appears before God (Exodus xxi. 6, xxii. 7-8.) For this reason it is impossible that God should leave unpunished the misuse of authority : a thought which is further carried out in Psalm Ixxxii. Our duty is to wait patiently for this judgment of God's. The more shame- lessly and wantonly their heathen rulers abuse their authority, the more certain may we be that it will come, and the more cheerfully may we wait. In 2 Thessalonians i. 5, Paul describes the persecutions and oppressions of believers as an hhnyiia rng di-Auiag xplesuc roij diov, " a notice, a proof, that God will shortly interpose." — For there is a time therefor every desire and about every work, with God, Psalm Iviii. 12:" and man says. Verily, the righteous has a reward : verily, God judgeth on the earth." Koheleth points as it were with lifted finger away from the earth, the seat of unrighteousness, to heaven. " There " is employed in the same way in Genesis xi., ix. 24. Ver. 18. The introductoiy words, "I said in mine heart," set this verse on the same footing as ver. 17, and show that the question raised in ver. 1 6, is here examined from another point of view. The problem is this — -How is the singular fact of the prosperity of wickedness to be explained and justi- fied ? The first answer is given in ver. 1 7, and the consider- ation is brought forward, that this prosperity is only temporal, and that by God's judgments the disturbed order will in due time be estabhshed. But this by itself is not fully satisfactory. There is the further and more difficult task of showing why the righteous, why God's own people, are visited with temporal misfortune. This is done here. The cross of the righteous is disguised mercy. It serves to purify them : specially does it help to purge them altogether from pride, and to lead them to humihty. Because of the children of men, do these things happen : for their sake does wickedness sit in the seat of judgment, and the wicked one in the place of righteousness. Koheleth speaks of the "children of men" in general, but has specially in view the children of Israel. We find a case exactly similar to this in Psalm xxxvi. 7-8. This designation is chosen because it expresses human baseness, the consciousness CHAPTER III. 1 1 5 of which, according to the close of the verse, is intended to be awakened by the cross. Knobel's explanation is as follows — " I thought in my mind on the relation of the children of men." But mm hv occurs in this book as »well as in the Chaldee portion of the Book Daniel, only in the sense of "Because of, on account of;" and then further the accents are decisive against this view.* The general and vague expression — " for the sake of the children of men," is more precisely defined to mean — "in order to purify them;" and then amongst the evils from which they are to be purged, special mention is made of pric^e. "113 signifies properly " to separate," (Ezekiel xx. 38,) and then "to purify." It occurs in a sense precisely correspondent to that of this passage in Daniel xi. 35 — "and some of them of understanding shall fall to try them, and to purge and to make them white for the time of the end." "nn stands there between fin^ and p^ " to make white, to make clear." The " time of the end," is the period when these visitations of God shall terminate. That such an end must of necessity come, is here taken for granted, in agreement with ver. 1 7. The process of purification is only a temporary one. "ni is employed also in Daniel xii. 1 0, " many shall be purified and made white and tried : " — Ch. B. Michaelis — per tyranni- cas illas afflictiones ex divina sapientia et directione a vitiis suis purgabuntur et a maculis albabuntur et velut metalla excoquentur midti, sell, intelligeydes quodj sequitur. Hitzig is disposed to give "n3 here the meaning of " try," but entirely without grounds that will bear investigation, and contrary to the remarkable agreement between this verse and the parallel passage in Daniel, in in chap. ix. 1, is not to be brought into comparison. It is rather a cognate of the word "IX3. And in order that they may see that in themselves they are beasts. That is the result to be gained by the purification. Substan- tially parallel is Job xxxvi. 8, 9, where it is said concerning the sufferings of the righteous — " and if they be bound in fet- ters and be holden in cords of afiiiction ; then he showeth them their works, and their transgression that they have * Rambach : qui cum consequentibus connectunt habent accentus faventes, secundum quos verba priora : dixi in corde meo, per majorem interstinctionem u seqq. separata, signum dicti, reliqua vero dictum ipsum continent. IIQ CHAPTER III. become proud." Among the stains from wLich we are to be cleansed by means of the cross, pride is the worst. r\Mrh is not so much " that he may see," as " that they may see," being convinced by facts, by stern and terrible realities. Here it is not as in Psalm Ixxii. 22, the hehaviour of beasts that is refer- red to, but their fate, that which happens to them, just as in Habakkuk i. 1 4, where the community of the Lord complains " thou makest men like the fishes of the sea, like the beasts, that have no ruler over them." Catastrophes in which men are treated as beasts, are well fitted to teach them their nothino-ness. Through the fall man received the disposition and feelings of an animal. In righteous retribution, therefore, and to cure him of the pride which occasioned his fall, the fate of mere animals befals him, and he is subjected to death like the beasts. But not content eVen with this, God allows catastrophes to befal His people from time to time, which bring men into still closer relation to the beasts, r^i^n stands for the verb, suhst. "are." Dn^, "in themselves," apart from God's protecting care, and when He does not extend to them his helping hand ; which is as much as to say, that they them- selves are as powerless to aid and protect themselves, as are the unreasoning beasts. When they see this, a thing which their pride causes them constantly to forget again, they turn to God saying — " Asshur shall not save us : we will not ride on horses ; neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, our God ! for in thee the fatherless find mercy. Then comes forth the divine answer : "I will heal their backslid- ing, I will love them freely," (ver. 5 ff) For, as he goes on in verse 1 9 to say, such is actually the state of the case : as a part of mere nature, in contrast to God, and apart from the bond uniting him with his creator, from that which becomes his through the life in God, who by breathing into him His Spirit raised him above the beasts of the field, (see Gen. ii. 7,) — man, godless man, is in truth no better than the cattle, mpo being in the stat. absol. can only be translated — " for haphazard are the children of men, and haphazard are the cattle," which is as much as to say that the children of men are no less haphazard than the cattle. Men themselves are designated chance, because they stand under the dominion of chance, of casualty. Chance or haphazard is opposed to the CHAPTER III. 1 1 7 free determination of one's own fate. Their lot is irresistibly determined and fixed /ro/Hwi^Aow^. mpo, "occurrence," from mp "to occur," in 1 Samuel vi. 9, is set in contrast or opposi- tion to that which arises out of the detemiined decree of the God of Israel : in the present passage, on the contrary, it forms the contrast to that which is the effect of the free self-deter- mination of man. It is used in a similar manner in 1 Samuel XX. 26, (viz. of pollution in accordance with Deuteron. xxiii. 11 ;) and in a strikingly similar way in Euth ii. 3, where, in regard to the most important event in the life of Ruth, which must certainly be looked upon as under the special leading of God, it is said — " and there happened to her an occurrence," that is, it happened accidentally. In that place also mpio designates "haphazard, chance" in one particular aspect thereof Similar also is Luke x. 81 : xam suyxvplav ds 'npsug, and so forth. " Accident," there, is put in contrast to the in- tention or purpose of the priest himself The words — " and one accident or chance befalleth them," i. e., they are both under the rule of the same chance, serve to explain the some- what obscure expression — "they are chance." Hitzig observes: " the author means, and, as we learn from what follows im- mediately after, can only mean, the same final fate, namely, death." But the relation of this to what follows is rather that of the general to the particular. The general is, that men, no less than the cattle, are subjected to a foreign power ; the ■special or particular is, that they must die. mpD is employed of fates in general in chap. ii. 1 5 also ; there is nothing to justify limitation of its application. And one breath have they all. nil signifies here " the breath of life," as in chap, viii. 8, and in Psalm civ. 29, where we read, "thou gatherest together their breath, they depart and return to their dust." See also Genesis vii. 21, 22. "And all flesh died that moves upon the earth, both fowl and cattle and wild beasts, and all men. All, in whose nostrils was the breath of the Spirit of life, died." The flood, that type of all other judgments, was a sublime confirmation of the indisputable truth here expressed. Tlien were the " heroes," " the men of name," compelled to ex- perience that everything on earth has the same breath. "No pre-eminence has man above the beast," that is, of course, in those ikspects which have already been brought under notice. That Ko- 118 CHAPTER III. heletli had not the remotest intention of setting man in general on a level with the brute creation is evident, both from ver. 11, where he makes man's exalted pre-eminence to consist in the eternity which God hath put in his heart, and further, from the entire relation in which Koheleth stood to the faith of Israel, of which faith, the likeness of man to God was so important an element. Luther says — " Why are we then proud and arrogant, we, who are no more certain of the hour of our death than the beasts or the cattle ?" — Tlie foundation of verse 20 is Gen. iii. 19, "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread, tiU thou return unto the ground ; for out of it wast thou taken ; for dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return." That is a truth which man is led ever afresh by his pride to forget. All go unto one place: in Job xxx. 23, Sheol is designated " the assembly house for aU living," i. e. for aU living men. Of that however the writer is not speak- ing here, but, as Hitzig remarks, " of the place whither the body comes (all was formed from the dust, and all returns to the dust). Beasts (Genesis ii. 19, i. 24) as well as men (Genesis ii. 7) are originally born of dust, and return to the dust. (Psalm civ. 29, Genesis iii. 19, Psalm cxlvi. 4). This holds good of the body in both spheres." — Ver. 21. In this verse Koheleth goes on further to say, that man has notwith- standing a great and glorious superiority over the beasts, in that, when his body crumbles to dust, the spirit returns to God who gave it (xii. 7) ; whereas the soul of the beast per-, ishes with the body. This pre-eminence is, however, hard to be perceived ; it is concealed beneath that which we have in com- mon with the beasts ; and the fact, that his pre-eminence is thus hidden, ought in itself to be sufficient to lead man to humility and extinguish in him aU proud thoughts. Who knovjeth the spirit of the children of men that goeth upivard ? Precisely as in Psalm xc. 11 (compare Isaiah liii. 1), the words ynr iq direct attention to the difficulty of discerning this superiority, which does not lie on the surface : whereas, on the contrary, the resemblance man bears to the beasts forces itself on our notice, n^yn is the participle with the article, which here, on account of the guttural that follows, is pointed with Kametz, instead of with Patach and a following Dao;esh, as in the coiTCsponding word mivn. The participle CHAPTER III. 119 with the article is often employed for the verb finif. with a relative : as for example " the ascending one," instead of, " he who ascends," (see Ewald, § 335). In regard to the word Nin Ewald's remarks, § 314, hold good: he says— "the most delicate manner of giving prominence to a person is by means of the pronoun Nin, avrog, Latin ipse; a person is thus specially referred back to, and distinguished from others. As s, and there is no ground for regarding "liiD in Zephaniah i. 14, as a participle, since it is often used as an infinitive with the signification "' hastily." Tliat "133 does not mean " long ago," but " already," and serves to define the preterite more strictly, is very clear in this passage. It forms the contrast to njny, contracted from njn IV, "stiU." Ver. 3. With increased force of expression the author here says that it is better not to have been bom at all than to live. Parallel with this is the passage (chap, iii.) where Job, who had no peace nor repose, and who was disturbed ever afresh, wishes for himself the lot of **an hidden untimely birth," and curses the day of his birth, or where in verse 20 of the same chapter he asks — " Wherefore is Kght given to him that is in misery, and life to the bitter in soul ?" So also when Jeremiah in chap. xx. curses the day of his birth, and in ver. 18 complains, " Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labour and soitow, that my days should be con- sumed with shame V In regard to such expressions, however, we must remark that so far as they occur in Scripture they contain only one side of the trath. In proof of which the same Jeremiah, in a passage immediately preceding the one just quoted, says : " Sing unto the Lord, praise ye the Lord, for he delivers the soul of the needy from the hand of the 12b CHAPTER IV. 4-6. e\dl doers.'" Such a feeling of human misery is not only natural, but is intended by God who brings us into circum- stances which call it forth. By thoroughly disgusting us with the world, and by making us realize its absolute vanity, God means to draw us to himself Only in this way can Jahveh, the true and absolute Being, become to us what he really is. Through much tribulation must our hold on earthly things be loosened and ourselves enter into the kingdom of God. CHAPTER IV. 4-6. The emptiness of earthly happiness betrays itself clearly in the fact that it is accompanied by envy (ver. 4) : "when any man has good fortune and good days, then envj^ is sure to rave and rage." We must not, however, suffer this sad experience to mislead us into inactivity (ver. 5). Still, in view of such a fact, we shall do well not to mix ourselves up too much with distracting affairs, and, on the contrary, re- joicing when they are not forced upon us, (like Israel at that time), be content with a humble lot in life (ver. 6). Ver. 4. And I considered all travail and all skill of ivork, that this is the envy of a man from his neighbour : this also is vanity and empty effort. Ver. 5. The fool foldeth his hands together and eateth his oivn flesh. Ver. 6. Better is one hand full of rest, than both fists full of travail and empty effort. Ver. 4. The word jntTD, which occurs only in Koheleth, is rendered by the LXX. here and in chap. ii. 21 by dvdpiia, virtus. Derived from -ijr:), " rectus fuit," it is used partly of " skill, ability in action," and partly of the "fortunate results" thereof In the latter signification, namely, " advantage, gain," it occurs in chap. v. 10 ; in the former we find it used in chap. ii. 21, in conjunction with wisdom and knowledge: " a man whose work is in wisdom and knowledge and Kish- ron (piB'^). There follow after, the words : " and to a man who has not laboured therein must he give it." According to the contrast here drawn ])-\^:: must refer to the labour, the activity itself, and not to the result. The matter of com- plaint is that the skill developed in labour has no higher pre- CHAPTER IV. 4-6. ] 27 rogative. pi'C'a is employed in the sense of " skill, tibility," here also. — Tliat this is the envy of a man from his neigh- hour : — the end of the whole matter is that a man is envied by his neighbour ; Vulgate, " eum patere invidi?e proximi." Following the example of the Decalogue inyiiD draws atten- tion to the baseness of the fact that the friend, of God and right, grudges him the successful results of his skilful labour. It is of course better to be envied than pitied, but still envy with all the hostile and pernicious acts flowing therefrom, and which frequently bring about the ruin of their object, is a great evil, and it is no small consolation for a man who, like Israel at the time, finds himself in an unenviable position, to know that he is not exposed to this torment. Several inter- preters think that here all distinctions are traced back to the principle of rivalry. That would be an incorrect thought : whereas it is a demonstrated truth that " men envy the happy." In Isaiah xi. 13, D>-iss nX3p is the jealousy felt by Ephraim of Judah, who was preferred : in chap. ix. 6, of this book, envy is conjoined with hatred. The verb also is frequently used to denote envy or jealousy of advantages. It is hard that a man's zeal should be interpreted by his neighbour to be an envious desire to surpass, to outstrip him. Then fur- ther, the connection with verses 5, 6 is decisive against this view. " Vanity and empty effort " are not usually predicated of labours which are morally worthless, but of such as bring no advantage (compare chap. ii. 17). Ver. 5. In • order to avoid envy we may not throw ourselves into the arms of in- activity. The only effect of that would be to ruin ourselves. To lay or fold the hands together is a gesture of laziness. To devour one's own flesh is to work one's own ruin (compare Isaiah xlix. 26). The principal passage is Proverbs vi. 9-11 : " How long wilt thou lie, O sluggard ? When wilt thou arise out of sleep ? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep. So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man." Ver. 6. Men are warned, however, by the bitter experience mentioned in ver. 4, to do well, and not to go beyond that which is strictly necessary. Taught by such an experience they will be satisfied with a humble and limited lot. ^oy and mi myi point back to ver. 4. " Both fists full of, etc," is as li'b CHAPTER IV. 7-12. imicli as "'both fists fall of good" which more carefully looked into, is after all only travail and empty effort. Israel then had the hand full of rest : the heathen power, both fists full of travail. To make Israel content with its lot by laying bare the vanity of that which it was destitute of, but which the world possessed, is the usually misunderstood main drift of verses 4-6. CHAPTER IV. 7-12. How little the life of a man depends on many possessions, the author shows in a picturesque description of the example of a rich man who has so completely isolated himself by his selfishness and avarice, that he stands alone and deserted, without enjoyment and without protection in life. The author repeatedly recurs to the subject of avarice and earnestly combats it. We may conclude therefore that it was one of the principal diseases of the time. It comes before us as such, also, in the other literary monuments of that period. " Ye run every man to his own house," says Haggai in chap. i. 9. Malachi complains in chap. i. that the worst offerings are presented to the Lord, and in chap. iii. 7-12, of dishonesty in the bringing of tithes and offerings. Nehemiah, also, accord- ing to chap, v., was compelled to resort to stringent measures against the usurous practices then in vogue. The temptation to avarice lay in the unsatisfactory nature of the general cir- cumstances, which exposed men to the danger of centering all their interest in their own private affairs : but then also further in the distress of the times, and in the exactions of the heathen authorities by which they were misled into clinging the more tenaciously to that which they already possessed. The description has however two sides. It is directed not only against avarice, but also at the same time against envy of the riches of the world, of their heathen tyrants. One ought not to vex oneself about " a handful of vanity ;" one should not allow oneself to be beguiled into discontent with the leadings of divine providence, into murmurings against God, for such a cause. The aim both of the preceding and following observations is to lead Israel to a just estimate of CHAPTER IV. 7-12. 129 that which the heathen possessed, and whicli they themselves lacked ; and taking both together, we may say that the pas- sage has a predominant reference to that side of the descrip tion last mentioned. Ver. 1-3 exhibits the misery of the covenant people: ver. 4-1 G opens up points of view from whicli their condition appears in a more favourable light. Ver. 7. And I returned and saw vanity under the sun. Ver. 8. There is one and not a second, he hath neither son nor brother, and there is no end of all his labour, his eyes also are not satisfied ivith riches, and for whom do I weary myself and bereave my soul of good ? This also is vanity and a sore plague. Ver. 9. Better the two than the one, be- cause they have a good reiuard in their labour. Ver. 10. For if they fall the one tvill lift uj:) his fellow, and woe to him, the one, ivho falleth and hath not a second to help him up. Ver. 11. Again, if tw'o lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be ivarm alone .? Ver. 12. And if he prevail against him, the one, two shall withstand him, and a three- fold cord is not quickly broken. Ver. 7. The words — " I returned and saw vanity," — indi- cate that a new species of vanity is now brought under consi- deration.— How far the possession of earthly wealth is from being in itself a good, the author shows in ver. 8 ff, by sketch- ing befoi'e us in a picturesque manner a scene from life which illustrates this truth in a most palpable manner. It is an entire mistake to assume, as Rarabach and others do, that the author's controversy is with celibacy, or with the " fuga vitse soci?e." Luther's remarks are substantially accurate ; " Greedy bellies are to be found yet, who hunt after money and pro- perty night and day and still do not want it." Ver. 9. There is one and not a second. Ice hath neither son nor brother. The second here mentioned is different from the son and from the brother. According to what follows there is one whom he might have, but has not through his own guilt. He has iso- lated himself by his own selfish avarice, has driven all com- panions away, and stands alone in the world. The words, " he hath neither son nor brother," are meant to bring clearly to light, on the one hand, the folly of blind passion — he stands alone in the world, has no one to care for, and consequently has no apparent reason for his avarice — and on the other hand I 180 CHAPTEE IV. 7-12. the wretcHedness of his position. He ought the more eagerly to seek to make to himself friends, seeing that he has no rela- tives of his own. Ver. 9. The tivo in this verse form a contrast to the one without second in ver. 8. Wherein the reward consists is de- tailed in ver. 10 ff. They afford each other protection and help, and mutually render life agreeable. The isolated man on the contrary must work in vain, since he is destitute of enjoyment in life, and without protection in danger. Ver. 10. When they fall, that is, either the one or the other. IX, " woe," occurs only here and in chap. x. 1 G ; the cognate word M in Ezekiel ii. 10: Elsewhere ^ix and iin are employed. Ver. 1 1 . Several commentators fancy that they find here a reTerence to the wife : but inappropriately. A wife the rich miser might have, and be a prey to the feeling of desertion which invariably accompanies an avaricious and selfish dispo- sition. It is sure to have its revenge. Lovelessness always finds its echo. Ver. 12. Tlie subject alluded to here is the enemy which must be supplied from the tone and circumstances of what is said, (Ewald § 294 b.) P)pn always means " to prevail against to overpower,'' never "to attack:" compare the adjective ti'^pn "powerful" in chap. vi. 10. "Him, the one," is as anuch as to say, him, in his isolation, or because of his isolation. The image of a " threefold cord," — in making a firm, strong cord, three threads were usually used, — is the more appropriate here, as the number two in general only represents plurality. The author must not be considered as arguing from the point of view of mere prudence. The m.oral abominableness of isol- ating selfishness and heartless mammon worship are brought clearly to light by the unhappy positions in which they set men. CHAPTER IV., 13-16. In the preceding part of the chapter, the writer has laid bare the vanity of possessions; now he proceeds to show the vanity of rulers, in order to console his fellow country- CHAPTER IV. 13-16. 131 men in bondage, who could not forget their own loss of dominion. Ver. 1 0. Better is a youth, poor and wise, than an old and foolish king, ivho knoweth no more to he admonished. Ver. 14. For out of prison he cometh to reign, whereas impover- ished is he that was horn in the kingdom. Ver. 15. / saiv all the living which walk under the sun, with the youth that stands in his stead. Ver. 1 6. There is no end to all the people, to all whom he precedes. Nevertheless those luho came after him shall not rejoice in him. For this also is vanity and empty effort. " Ah ! how vain and fleeting are the honours of men ! To- day we are compelled courteously to kiss the hand of the man whom to-morrow we tread under our feet in the grave." An illustration of these words is given here in the portrait drawn of the old king who is displaced by another ; and then in that of the upstart who is first extolled and courted, and at last loses the favour which exalted him to the throne. At his ascension, millions of voices cried, "Long live the King;" words which contain the " Pereat" of him who is deposed. But the scales are again turned. He becomes in the end as unpopular as his predecessor. " This rounded earth can afford no rest, for what it at one moment raises up, at the next it casts down." Because of the loss of such vanity we ought not to fall into inconsolable sadness. Every attempt at an historical exposition of this section is useless. That which appears to imply such a reference, is but minute and special portraiture, and not otherwise to be judged : it is like the picture given from life in ver. 8, where the general thought is not barely advanced, but clothed with flesh and blood. Ver. 1 3. " Better is a youth," not in a moral point of view, but because, notwithstanding his temporarily low position, he gains the kingdom which the other loses, and so is better off, So also D-inia in ver. 9, 31D in ver. 3. Ve7\ 1 4. The first half of ver. 1 4, gives the reason of the expression " better : " — " For out of prison he cometh to reign," — namely, " that youth." That nnion is a contraction of D^DNn, (Ewald § 86 b.) is plain from Judges xvi. 21 : " and he, (Samson) groaned a'•-)''D^« n"'23 (ver. 25 :) also Genesis xxxix. 20, where inon nu is explained by — " the place where the 132 CHAPTER IV. 18-16. king's prisoners were bound." The author appears to have borrowed this feature, that the youth rises to power out of prison, from the history of Joseph ; only, however, this one feature, for as to the other circumstances there is uo resem- blance. Whereas impoverished is he that was horn in his kingdom. The abasement of the governing king is the condi- tion of the rise of the youth. This sentence thus assigns the motive for that which is advanced in the preceding one. The catchword is "(712^. The Hebrew word rendered " whereas, although" means literally "also:" it is used however in the sense given. See Proverbs xi v. 20, Ewald §362b. Born in his kingdom : i. e., one who came to the possession of the kingdom, of his dignity as ruler, by birth : like the kings of the Philistines, who being hereditary, bore the title Abimelech, that is, king's father, and might therefore quite as well have been styled king's sons. U's is not a participle, but the pre- terite from ur^, and contains an allusion to Psalm xxxiv. 1 1 : " lions are impoverished and suffer hunger." It is evident from the whole connection that in Lm the old king is to be taken as the subject. Symmachus rightly expresses this : 6 hi taivip j3a« and not "'JX. We may take either niD or ns'' as an adverb, or even explain — "that it is good, comely." To eat, to drink, to see good (chap. ii. 24) forms the contrast to scraping avarice. To the securing of that which the wi-iter has recognised as good there needs no heaping up of treasures. The words — " the number of the days of his life," are meant CHAPTER VI. 149 to remind us that the shorter man's life is, so much the more ought we to be on our guard against seeking happiness where it is not to be found. Ve7\ 19. Also: that is, to say further this also, Ewald, 852 b. God gives him j^oiuer, in that He frees him by His Spirit from the bonds of avarice. This takes place, how- ever, only in connection with the divinely appointed means, only within the bounds of God's heritage. The heathen must serve mammon ; they are sold under his dominion, and for this reason their riches are not to be counted as good fortune. ^>h'^n always signifies "to make to rule," (Psalm cxix. 133 ; Daniel ii. 38-48). The object of the rule is either one's oivn ■heart, which the natural man, separated from God, has not in his own power : or riches, which without this action of God that makes free, are not* a good, but a torment. The Berle- burger Bible remarks : " made him Lord over it, that is, along with possessions has bestowed on him also a free and generous soul, so that he may not be a slave of maiumon, but understand how to use it freely and rightly." In the clause, " that is a gift of God," the emphasis does not lie on d'h^sx but on nriD, as is clear from the word ''3 at the commencement of ver. 1 9 — " it is a noble gift, for." The divine causality was prominently brought forward previously. Ver. 20. He thinhs not much of the days of his life, that is, they pass smoothly on. 1 Kings viii. 35, and 2 Chronicles vi. 26, furnish a sufiicient warrant for the meaning " answer" given to the Hiph. of nay. All other meanings are incap- able of proof. Berleburger Bible : " To the pure all things are pure (Titus i. 1 5), and so a pure man may undoubtedly use riches with purity ; and it will, therefore, chiefly depend on each one's o\^n heart, on how it stands before God. But if any person is unable to remain just as contented and calm, when house and home are burnt down, or when some other damage is done to his property, he proves himself to be not yet truly composed and satisfied : that is the test thereof" 150 CHAPTER VI. CHAPTER YI. The discussion of the theme — " the vanity of riches " — is here continued, with the intent, in the first instance, of repressing the envy felt at the advantage enjoyed by the heathen world in this respect, and then in order to undermine the prevailing covetousness which proceeded from the same root as envy, namely, the false estimate of earthly posses- sions. Ver. 1. There is an evil ivhich I have seen under the sum, and heavily does it weigh upon rtian. Ver. 2. A man to tvhom God giveth riches, wealth and honour, so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of alVthat he desireth, and God giveth him not poiver to eat thereof, for a stranger will eat it, that is vanity and an evil disease. Ver. S. If a man beget a hundred, and live many years, so that the days of his life be many, and his soul be not filled with good, and also that he have no grave : so, say I : an untimely birth is better than he. Ver. 4. For in vanity came it in, and it departeth in darkness, and with darkness is its name covered. Ver. 5. Moreover it satu not the sun, and knew it not : this hath more rest than that. Ver. C. And if one should live a thousand years twice, and should not see good : do not all go to one place ? Ver. 7. A II the labour of man is for his mouth, and yet the soul is not satisfied. Ver. 8. For what advantage hath the wise over the fool ? What, the miserable that knoweth to walk before the living ? Ver. 9. Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the soul : this also is vanity and empty effort. Ver. 1 0. What he is : long ago was his name named, and it is known that he is man and cannot contend with Him that is mightier than he. Ver. 11. For there are many things that increase vanity, what profit hath man ? Ver. 1 2. For who knoweth what is good for man in life, for the number of the days of his vain life, which he spendeth as a shadow : for who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun ? Ver. 1. nai may refer either to frequency (Septuagint, Vul- gate, " frequens ; " Luther ; " and it is common amongst men,") CHAPTER VI. 151 * or to size. In favour of the latter view are decisive the prin- cipal passage, Genesis vi. 5, and the parallel passages, chap. ii. 21; viii. 6, where nm nyi signifies "a great evil." That which on a superficial examination appears as a great good, turns out, on more careful inquiry to be a great evil. The author's commencing at once with such a description of the riches of worldly-minded men must have produced a great efiTect and given envy a severe blow. Ver. 2. The rich man is the Persian (chap. x. 20). One ought not to envy him his riches. He does not dare to enjoy his w-ealth, and the enemy will soon take it away from him. How is it possible that that should be a matter for envy which more closely viewed is but a vain show ? There were of course rich spendthrifts among the Persians also. But the example of the covetous rich man served as a proof that riches in themselves are not an enviable good. Riches and wealth and honour, are put together in this way also in 2 Chronicles i. 11. God gives hvm not power, that is, he de- livers him not from the bonds of avarice by which he is held bound ; (compare chap. v. 1 8). Tlie stranger is the successor of the Persian in the dominion of the world. n3: is quite generally used of such as belong to another nation and society (Deuteronomy xvii. 15), and that it is to be taken in this sense here is evident from the correspondence that exists be- tween the words, "a stranger will eat it," of this verse, and those of the 3d verse, " also he will have no grave." Refer- ences cautiously made to the impending catastrophe of the Per- sian empire may be found also elsewhere: see chap. xi. 1-3 ; ix. 1 8. The expression, " evil disease," which has much the same force as " an evil is like a disease," is taken from Deuter- onomy xxviii. 59. Ver. 3. Hundred, namely, sons. The phrase — "the days of the years," is constantly used, especially in the Pentateuch, to designate the time of one's life (Genesis xxv. 7 ; xlvii. 8, 9. Psalm xc. 10). The words, "his soul is not filled with good," correspond to the words, " God giveth him not power to eat thereof," of ver. 2 : and " he has no grave," to the words, " a stranger will eat it." mnp elsewhere signifies always "Grave," and therefore we must give it this meaning in the only pas- sage, namely Jeremiah xxii. 19, where the meaning "Burial" 152 CHAPTER VI. seeius to he required. The gi'ave of the ass is the flaying ground The preposition is omitted there, because the rela- tion is quite clear in itself. Allusion is here made to a cata- strophe like that depicted in Psalm Ixxix. 3, " their blood have they shed like water, and there was none to bury them." Compare parallel passages, such as Jeremiah viii. 2, where of the godless it is declared, " they shall not be gathered, nor be buried: dung shall they be on the field," ix. 21, xxv. 33; Isaiah xiv. 19, 20, and what is written of Jezebel in 2 Kings ix. Seb. Schmidt and Rambach explain incorrectly, " ex turpi tenacitate non audeat aliquid honestse sepulturse destinare." Better than the lot of such a rich man, — a life without enjoy- ment, and then not even a grave, — is the lot of an untimely birth, which, though it has enjoyed no good, has experienced also no suffering. Ve7\ 4, 5. On these verses it is remarked in the Berlebur- ger Bible, " the meaner and worse the condition of an untimely birth is made, so much the greater must also appear the misery of a covetous man." The last words of verse 5, " this has rest above that," give the ground of the judgment that " an untimely birth is better than he," (ver. 3). Rest, freedom froTTb suffering, it is in regard to which an untimely birth has the advantage over such an unfortunate rich man, who ought in fairness to be an object of pity, instead of being one of envy. Ver. 6. And if one a thousand years (which measure the lives of the first fathers of the human race nearly reached) shoidd live txvice over, (Jerome, " et non ut Adam prope mille sed duobus millibus vixerit annis") is he then to be counted happy? Do not all go to one place? Can he perhaps fetch up in Sheol, where all arrive in a like state of poverty, {o-jhh yap si GYjVi'y/.afisv slg rov x6a/j.ov, dj^Aov on ovds s^svsyxsi'v ri duvu/j^sda,, 1 Timothy vi. 7) that which he has lost on earth ? Ver. 7. All the labour of man is for his mouth, (falsely explained by Luther — " on every man is labour imposed in his measure"), which is easy to fill, and in the rich man is not larger than in the poor. The Berleburger Bible says : " Can they carry more than one garment on the body? Can they eat more than till they are filled?" The rational conclusion to be drawn from the fact presented in these words, is that which is given us in 1 Timothy vi. 8, 'i-i^ovng d's hcirpofag y.at GXi-rrd- CHAPTER VI. 153 ff/xara, rouroig apzi6(lr,6o!J.'Ja. But that still, notwithstanding its limited capacity of enjoyment, the soul of man is not satisfied, is very strange, and is a strong proof how greatly the human race has been under the dominion of sin and folly which pro- duce i'ridu/j,iag ToXXag diOTirovs -/.ai f3Xot,[3ipai (1 Timothy vi. 9), ever since the day spoken of in Genesis iii/"" Ver. 8. In this verse are advanced the grounds of the pro- position laid down w^ith such generality in ver. 7, " that the soul of man is not satisfied." So deep laid is tliat hereditary disease of the human race, avarice, that not even the covenant people, not even the congi-egation of the chosen, is free from it. Wisdom is invariably represented in this book as the pre- rogative of Israel, folly as belonging to the heathen. The wise man ought in all fairness to be free from such a disease. But in reality it is otherwise. Even in the midst of the cove- nanted people must the Lord preach : " Take heed that ye be not covetous, for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth." To a Timothy even, St. Paul felt it necessary to write : sv d=, w avdpoj-rrB rov &soj, ravra n does not signify " to keep in life," a thing which would fall under the category of shadow, and which gold, also in certain circumstances is capable of, but " to quicken, to call back to life." Israel had then fallen into the hands of death, but the treasure which they still retained, that wisdom from above which still dwelt amongst them, was the pledge of a joyful resurrection. Wis- dom quickens, gives life, because the grace of the living and life-giving God rests on the wise man. The principal passage on this subject is Deuteronomy xxxii. 89, where, in regard to Israel's restoration after severe tribulations, it is said, " I kill and I make alive, I wound and I will heal." In the Psalms we * Correctly Eambach : hac voce (inV) comparatio sapientiiE, cum hareditate ita continuatur ut sapientia illi etiam prajferatur." 170 CHAPTER VII. 13, 14. find nTi often used of the restoration to life of Israel when fallen under the power of death, as also of a merely external restoration: for example, Psalm Ixxi. 20; Ixxx. 18; Ixxxv. 6; cxix. 25, " My soul cleaveth to the dust, quicken thou me according to thy word." In Hosea vi. 2, it is said, " he wiU revive us after two days : on the third he will raise us up that we may live before him." In opposition to the funda- mental and the parallel passage, as well as against usage, Knobel explains as follows, — " the advantage of wisdom con- sists therein, that it gives us a contented and cheerful spirit," Elster, " an inner power, a rich and full spiritual life." Com- pare besides, Proverbs iii. 1 8 — " She (namely. Wisdom) is a tree of life to them that lay hold on her, and happy is every one that retaineth her : " according to which, the life which wisdom gives, is identical with happiness. CHAPTER VII. 13, 14. This also was a comfort for Israel, that in their sufferings no less than in their happiness they must recognize the arrange- ment of God, — one, too, proceeding from well considered counsel. Ver. 13. Consider the work of God, for who can make thai straight which he hath made crooked ? Ver. 1 4. In the day of prosperity be joyful and in the day of adversity : behold, God hath m^ade this even as that, to the end that man should not find anything which will come after him. Ver. 1 3. Behold the tvork of God, ; most men see it not In adversity their minds remain fixed on the natural causes, — hence their despair, their passionate excitement, and their futile attempts to help themselves. He who sees God's work attains at once the power of calm self-command and of quiet submission ; he says, " I keep silence because thou hast done it," (Psalm xxxix. 9). This summons to consider the work of God is then justified and enforced by a reference to its lofti- ness and significance : " for who can make that straight which he hath made crooked ?" (niy, " to make crooked," chap. i. 1 5 ; xii. 3). No one can withstand God or alter His determina- tions. And because no one can no one therefore should ivish CHAPTER VII. 1 3, 1 4. 171 it We ought to humble ourselves ivith joy beneath the almighty hand of God. For, as the Almighty One He is the sum and substance of all wisdom, all love, all righteousness. Almighty arbitrariness is inconceivable.* Ver. 1 4. " On the day of good be in the good," that is, be inwardly in a good state when thou art outwardly prosperous, be jpyful, mt22 = 31D n^n, chap. ix. 7, compare 1 Kings viii. The explanation, •' be prosperous, occupy thyself with it, enjoy it," lays too strong an emphasis on the word n\n. And in the day of adversity behold, instead of, " then also be thou con- tent, for behold." The correspondence between the two phrases, " in the day of good," and " in the day of evil," plainly impHes that what follows will teach, at all events, as to substance, how we ought to be in the day of adversity. This corre- spondence is unheeded by those who explain the Hebrew,* " when misfortune befals thee, consider, weigh," namely, what follows. Tlie words must be punctuated thus — " In the day of adversity, behold ;" not, " In the day of adversity behold" — that is, a comma should be inserted after " adversity." Ewald also errs in the same way when he explains, " And the day of adversity look upon, consider it, calmly." To con- tentment in suffering we must surely be aroused by the con- sideration that it comes from the same God who sends us our prosperity, as Job says — " do we accept the good from God, and shall we not also accept the evil ?" The sender being the same, there must be a substantial resemblance between the various things sent, notwithstanding external dissimilarity. God, when he lays the cross upon us, still remains God, still continues to be our heavenly Father, our Saviour, who has thoughts of peace concerning us ; what He does is well done, and however heavily the burden may weigh upon us, it must prove wholesome in the end. But the author is not content with merely directing the mind to the ordering of God whose name is in itself a balsam for the wounds of the heart. He hints also at the motives which dictate the infliction of sufier- * Cartwright says,—" Avis laqueo capta tanto arctius constringitur, quanto fortius ut se expediat luctatur. Si quis igitur dei laqueo irretitus teneatur,nihil illi tutius est, quam ut se totum dei voluntati permittat, maxime cum in suraraa ilia potentia, qua instructus est, nihil non juste, nihil non sapienter facit, Hi. xxxiv, 12." 172 CHAPTER VII. 1 5-1 8. ings. God causes evil days to alternate with good ones, to the end that man should not find anything ivhich will come after him, that is, in order that he may not be able to fathom anything which lies behind his present condition. (After hi7)i, so also chap, iii. 23, vi. 12). He is thus made thoroughly little, thoroughly submissive to God : he is thus prevented from setting his heart on transitory sources of happiness. If man cannot be certain of a single day of his life, he must surely be driven to look up to the Lord of life, mai hv which means strictly "on a matter," occurs in the sense "by reason of," in chap, iii. 1 8 ; viii. 2 ; here with a tj' following it signifies " by reason that = in order that." With precisely the same force we find n mm bv used in the Chaldee of Daniel ii. 30. Out of Koheleth there is no example in Hebrew of this usage. CHAPTER yn. 15-lS. At the time of the author bitter complaints were raised that Israel must suft'er, despite his righteousness, and that the heathen had the upper hand, notwithstanding their wickedness. He therefore proves that the righteousness which complained so loudly and bitterly because of the denial of its reward, was but another form of ungodli- ness alongside of a life of open sin ; he justifies God's with- holding of redemption, and teaches that those whose aim it is to become partakers of salvation must enter on a new way, even that of a true and genuine fear of God. Consolation and admonition here go hand in hand. There was nothing for Israel but to err with regard to his God, and thus sink into the abyss of despair, if he did not attain to a knowledge of the true nature of his fancied righteousness. If he did not learn to murmur against his own sin, he must murmur against God. Ver. 15. All things did I see in the days of my vanity : there is a just nnan that perisheth in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man that 'maketh it long in his wickedness. Ver. 16. Be not righteous overmuch, neither behave thou all too wisely, why wilt thou destroy thyself? Ver. 17. Be not overmuch wicked, neither he thou a fool, tvhy wilt thou die before thy time ? Ver. 1 8. It is good that thou shouldest take CHAPTER VII. 15-18. 173 hold of this, and also that from that thou shouldst not ivith- draw thine hand : he that feareth God shall escape from all. Ver. 1 5. All, is as to substance so much as "of all kinds, vari- ous." The word implies that sometimes strange enougli things, such too as one would scarcely have looked for, are true quid pro quos. Then follows a remarkable illusti-ation of the curi- ous things one meets with in life. In the days of my vanity : so Solomon describes the days of his life, because ever since the fall human existence has been subjected to vanity. This vanity is specially to be recognised in that which is adduced directly afterwards ; — namely, that so frequently a righteous- ness worked ovit with great labour produces notwithstanding no fruit. Several interpreters have been of opinion that 2 in the words ipnva and iny"i3 is the causative a, and that the sense consequently is, "througli his righteousness, through his wickedness." In support of their view they appeal to ver. 1 6, where righteousness is represented as the cause of destruction — "Whj^ wilt thou destroy thyself ?" The word iny"i3, in the sense — " through his wickedness," finds its explanation in the fact, that the Persian secured the stability of his rule by a wickedness, which esteemed all means to be good that served his ends. But that we must rather explain " in, with, along with his righteousness, or his wickedness," 2 being often used of the accompanying circumstances (Ewald, | 217, f 3), is evident, because the writer's intention is to advance a fact patent to the world, — " I saw" : — Such a fact was, the union of righteousness and adversity, of wickedness and pros- perity ; not so, however, that in righteousness lay the cause of adversity, and in wickedness, the cause of prosperity. Tliis is decided further by paralled passages in the contemporaneous Malachi, v.'hich exhibit a remarkable agTeement with this verse — passages wherein Israel complains that he is unfortunate, notwithstanding his righteousness, and that the heathen or the heathenish tyrants are prosperous nottvithstanding their wickedness. Compare chap. ii. 1 7 — " Ye weary the Lord with your words, and ye say, wherein do we weary him ? When ye say : Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delighteth in them ; or, where is the God of judgment?" 'further, also, chap. iii. 18-15, "Ye do me violence with your words saith the Lord, and ye say, what do we 174 CHAPTER VII. 15-18. speak then against thee ? Ye say, it is vain to serve God, and what profit is it that we keep his ordnance, and walk in filth before the Lord of Hosts." (The righteous perisheth in his righteousness). "And now we count the proud happy, built up are the workers of iniquity, they tempt God, and notwithstanding escape:" — the DHT, "the proud," that is, the heathen tyrants, corresponding to " the wicked," in this place. From these parallel passages we deduce the conclusion that under " the righteous," Israel is tacitly referred to, under " the wicked," the heathen ; and that the problem here discussed is the one so frequently and variously discussed and illustrated by Koheleth, namely, the sufferings of the people of God at the period of its oppression by the powers of the world, and specially under the yoke of the Persians, "jnxn signifies in 1 Kings iii. 1 4, " to lengthen ;" elsewhere it is undeniably employed in the sense of "to last long, or, to abide." So in Deuteronomy v. 16, "in order that thy days may last loiig ;" chap. vi. 2; xxv. 15. Numbers ix. 19, 22 ; and Koheleth viii. 1 2. There is no omission of D''D'' in the case, for even where it occurs, it is nothing more than the so-called accusal relativ. : so in Deuteronomy xxii. 7, "And that thou mayest last long in respect of days." Allusion is here made to the promise of long duration for the people of God given in the Pentateuch. That which in God's word is spoken to His people by way of encouragement becomes, as things actually are, a ground of complaint against them with the heathen. — If the righteous man perisheth notwithstanding his righteousness, there must be a fault therein, and to point out that fault is the aim of the present section. We must not take the righteousness as merely imaginary ; nor is the righteous man here spoken of one who deems himself righteous without reason. Even in Luke V. 32, where the Lord says oh-/. sXrjXvda xaXleai Bizalovg, aXka ai/.apru'ko-og dg /xirdvoiav, the righteous are not merely such as fancy themselves to be righteous. But in the righteousness of the Pharisees, as it existed in the time of the author, there was a double fault. I. They laid a one-sided stress on the mere external accordance of their actions with the law of God, whereas the heart also was claimed and in the original record of that law, the evil word of the mouth, and the evil desire of the heart, are no less forbidden than the evil action. They failed to CHAPTER VII. 15-18. 175 see that the law is spiritual (Romans vii. 1 4), that a man may, for example, give all his goods to the poor, and yet if he do it not from the impulse of love, he may be very far from true righteousness (] Corinthians xiii. 3). Everything, even in the law itself, is repeatedly and expressly reduced back to love, (compare Romans xiii. 1 0). II. They laid a one-sided stress on righteousness, forgetting that aU human righteousness is characterised by imperfection, that the righteous man is at the best but a poor sinner. The first fault is closely connected with the second. If we empty righteousness of all deeper significance, it is easy to come to imagine ourselves to be abso- lutely righteous : such a fancy, however, disappears as soon as we consider more narrowly ra ^apvripa roij v6,u,ov (Matthew xxiii. 23). In relation to publicans and whores the Pharisees were reaUy righteous ; so also the Jews in relation to the heathen : but in many respects the righteous, o'/rmg oO %^£/ai' i-;/ou<;i /j,sra- vo!a,g (Luke xv. 7), are worse than open sinners, because they do not see the need of repentance and regeneration, because they are filled with pride and presumption and are universally inclined to judge others, and so forth. Those who in one sense are actually righteous, in another sense are only fanciedly righteous, reputedly righteous, righteous in their own eyes (Job xxxii. 1). The nature of such a false righte- ousness shows itself in a peculiarly mischievous manner in days of severe suffering. It is mainly at the bottom of dis- content with God's leadings, and may very easily end in fatal error with regard to God, and an utter loss of Him.* The world presents a very perverted appearance. But when we examine more closely into righteousness, and into the end of the wicked, astonishment vanishes and we see that all is orderly. Even Isaiah proves (chap. Iviii.) that a pretended righteousness cannot lay the same claims as the true, and teaches that the latter will at once be followed by deliverance. Ver. 1 6. One is righteous overmuch, when one forgets one's own sinfulness, which calls for repentance, and when the prayer, iXded^Ti fioi rui a/xapraXw, (Luke xviii. 1 3,) which ought * Following the example of Seb. Schmidt, Eambach observes: "Prseceptnm de fugienda impatientia adhuc continuari, ita ut occupetur pernlciosissima opinio de propria justitiiB et sanctitate, qiioD homnies sub difficultatibus et adversitati- bus maxime reddit impatientes." 176 CHAPTER VII. 15-18. to express its prevailing feeling during this earthly life, dies out in the soul. Behind the jjIus of such a pretended right- eousness there lies concealed, a miserable minus. In Mat- thew v. 20, the Lord says — "unless your righteousness be better than that of the scribes and pharisees ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven." To the admonition, " be not righteous overmuch," Luke xviii. 1 1 forms the commen- tary : 6 (papiffat'og ffradslg irpog lavrh raZra Tp^erj-j^iro, 6 (r>sog iu^apiffTU 601, on ovx sifLl uS'-zsp o/ XoiTol Tuv dvdpu'nruv, apirayig, ahiy.oi, Ijjoiy^oi, r\ Tiai ug oZrog 6 rsXuivyjg : Acts xxvi. 5, may also be com- pared, where Paul describes Pharisaism as the aKpijSsardrTi a'ipiffig TTJg 7j/xsrspag QpriGxiiag. That the righteousness in which as to substance we are not to do too much, is one characterised by gTeat defects, that further the author has not the least in- tention of recommending moral laxity, is clear even from the parallel admonition — "be not wise overmuch" — that is, be- have not as such, do not make a loud profession of wisdom, do not employ all means in order to be considered a wise man, like those who are said in Matthew xxiii. 7, to love -/.aXue&ai brrh tuv dvdp'JJ'iruv, 'Pa.S/S/ 'Pa(3[3i. Except here, the Hithpael form of n^n, occurs only in Exodus i. 1 0, where it denotes " sapien- tem se gessit." Elsewhere the Hithp. of DDti' means always "to be alarmed, frightened, to be inwardly troubled:" here, on the contrary, it means " to be outwardly disturbed," and " to destroy." The signification of the mere word is the same. In Kal also are the meanings of " to be outwardly disturbed," and " to be disturbed in spirit," of " vastatus, desolatus est," and " stupuit," connected with each other. But in what sense does a one-sided handling of righteousness and wisdom produce disquiet ? Had merely the words — " be not righteous over- much," preceded, an exaggerated asceticism might be supposed to be referred to : but this idea is prevented by the other admonition, " be not overwise." What we must understand, therefore, is the divine curse which it draws down on itself by such perverted courses. Here we have the germ of the woe denounced by the Lord in Matthew xxiii. against the Phari- sees, and pharisaically disposed people, and of the detailed threatenings which follow the often repeated woe ! Ver. 38 contains words corresponding most closely to the question, CHAPTER VII. 15-18. 17 " why wilt thou destroy thyself ? " — namely, Idov d(p!i rai hixTi o Ver. 17. 'Be not overmuch ivicked: a little follows, alas! of itself, in man, who is born and conceived in sin, and whose thoughts and doings are evil from his youth upwards. Accord- ing to ver. 20, there is not on earth a just man who doetli good and sinneth not. So much the more earnestly, therefore, should we be on our guard against crossing the border-line which separates the righteous man who is still subject to weak- ness and sin, from the sinner; so much the more carefully should we watch lest we get amongst the number of the ap-raysg udixoi, /J.OIXO/, lest we fall into the evil company described in Psalm i. 1 ; so much the more earnestly should we strive to avoid the " path of the destroyer," (Psalm xvii. 4,) into which we may be so easily enticed if we do not walk with fear and trembling. Why rvilt thou die before thy time ? The wicked may indeed maJce it long, when it is God's will to use him as an insti-ument for the accomplishment of wise and holy pur- poses, (ver. 15,) but judgment will notwithstanding come. " The fear of the Lord prolongeth days, and the years of the wicked are shortened," (Proverbs x. 27 :) "Men of blood and of deceit shall not live out half their days," (Psalm Iv. 24.) The Egyptian, the Assyrian, the Chaldean, the Persian were compelled one after another to experience this. Ver. 18. It is good that thou shouldst take hold of this, and also that from that thou shouldest not withdraw thine hand: "this," namely, not to be a righteous man in that conderan- able sense, which was the specifically Jewish disease : " that," namely, not to lead a life of sin, which was specifically the disease of heathens; and was shared by all those who, hav- ing wandered into error concerning the God of Israel, now gave themselves up to heathen tendencies. Both alike must be carefully avoided : both alike are robberies of our gracious God, and both involve us in the judgments of the Righteous One. The Lord refers to these words in M.atthew xxiii. 23. And from the words employed by Him in His rebuke of the Pharisees, viz., ravra ds 'idn ToiriSai xaxs/Va /mtj dipi'svai, we may judge that He re- - garded this passage as a reproof of the Pharisaic tendency then in germ. WJioso feardlt God escapes cdl that, that is, aL these dano-erous things, the destruction which threatens on all M 178 CHAPTER VII. 19, 20. hands, x:?'' with the accusative signifies " to go out of, or from, anything ;" for example, T'J?n HK ^5V^ " to go out of the city," then '•p^^y^ ''J2 " my children leave me," (Jeremiah rs. 20 :) here it is used in the sense of " escape." By the fear of God we escape on the one hand the danger of Pharisaism, because firstly, it awakens in the heart a dread of all attempts to de- ceive God by the trappings of a heartless show of piety; and because further, an energetic knowledge of sin is inseparably bound up with a true fear of God, (Isaiah vi. 5 :) We escape, also, on the other hand, the danger of a life of sin, because we cannot really fear God without having also a keen dread of ofiending Him by our sins, (Genesis xxxix. 9,) and a lively wish to walk in the ways of His commands. CHAPTER YII. 19, 20. The good still retained by Israel, namely, wisdom, which, as an inalienable possession, accompanied the people of God even into the depths of their sufierings, (ver. 11.) is of greater value than the power which is on the side of the heathen world. For human sinfulness inevitably involves him in divine judgments who lacks wisdom. Wisdom, on the contrary, as was declared in ver. 1 3, gives life to him that hath it. For a parallel see, besides chap. vii. 12, 13, also chap. X. 3 4-18. Ver. 1 9. Wisdom is strong for the tvise more than ten mighty men who are in the city. Ver. 20. For there is not a just man upon earth that did good and sinned not. Ver. 1 9. JTj; signifies not " to strengthen," but " to be strong." Wisdom is strong for the wise, proves itself strong for his best interests. We must think of the mighty men as attended by their hosts. In respect of mere power heathen- dom had then an infinite superiority. Ver. 20. For there is — sinned not : hence the necessity for wisdom as a coiTCctive. He who lacks wisdom will inevi- tably be guilty of that which will involve him in divine judgments. But only in the midst of Israel has it its abode : in the heathen world folly has pitched its tent, (Deuteron. CHAPTER VII. 21, 22. 179 xxxii. 21.) In this fact is the pledge that Israel will finally be exalted to universal dominion. CHAPTER VII. 21, 22. The point of departure here also, is the misery of the people of God. In times of severe suffering it is of great importance to recognise that affliction is punishment which sin has merited. Light is then thrown on the otherwise dark providence of God : it stills also the tumults of the soul and awakens hope. When we see the footsteps of God in our tribulations, we gain a living confidence in his compassion. Ver. 21. Also take not to heart all ivords which they speak, so that thou rnayst not hear thy servant ivhen he curses thee. Ver. 22. For oftentimes also thine own heart knoweth that thou thyself likewise hast cursed others. Ver. 21. That this saying has a political reference is indi- cated by the word dj, " also." It shows that the same subject is being handled as before, to wit, the sufferings of the people of God, only from a new point of view. In accordance with this D3 the Septuagint translation runs — o'-ug XaXriXovffiv dailSsig, that is, " the godless, the heathen," (see Isaiah xxv. 2, 5; 1 Maccabees iii. 15; ix. 73; Suidas — aafSsig o'l 'rroXuduav n a6siav 6pr,a-Kivovrig^ The heathen tyrants mocked the miserably reduced Israelites because of their pretensions to be the people of God ; they said to them constantly — " where is now thy God ?" Their hatred, moreover, was stirred up by the pre- sumption of the Jews, seeming, as it did, to judge by results, to judge by their actual condition, to be utterly groundless and sheer impudence. The nature of their speeches we may ascertain more closely from the words, " thy servant." The children of Israel let the heathen see that they looked upon them as, according to God and right, servants ; and this pro- voked them. So that thou mayst not hear, as thou certainly wouldest, if thou shouldest give thine heart to it ; which is as much as to say, " and avoid hearing therefore." If we turn our heart away from that which we perceive with the outward car, it is as if we heard and yet heard not : for what is heard only with the outward ear is as good as not heard at all. In 180 CHAPTER VII. 21, 21. Psalm xxxviii. 14, 15, David says, when describing Lis patience under the assaults of his foes, — " and I as a deaf man hear not, and I am as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth. And I am as a man that heareth not, and in whose mouth is no reply." Such is the passionless calm to which every one attains, who sees in everything that befals him an appointment or a jiidgment of God. Thy servant when he curseth thee. The sei'%^ant of Israel is the heathen, here as in chap. X. 7, — " I saw servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth." It is implied in the idea of the people of God that it should have dominion over the ♦world. To give up this claim, is to give up itself A living piety which has not this thought is an impossibility. If the people of God has a low conception of itself, it has at the same time also a low view of its Lord. According to Genesis xlix. 1 0, " the obedience of the nations " is destined to the Shiloh, who should go forth from Israel. In Exodus xix. 6, Israel is de- nominated "a kingdom of priests:" and because priests of God who made .heaven and earth, the}^ are the legitimate lords of the world. " Thou shalt reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over thee," it is said in Deuteronomy xv. 6. According to Deuteronomy xxxiii. 29, Israel is a people "be- fore which its enemies must play the hypocrite, and which shall tread upon their high places." In Deuteron. xxviii. 1, we read — " and it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, the Lord thy ■ God will set thee on high above all the nations of the earth :" and in ver. 1 3, " and the Lord shall make thee the head and not the tail, and thou shalt be above and thou shalt not be beneath." Isaiah proclaims, in chap. xlv. 1 4, " thus saith the Lord, the labour of Egypt, and the merchandise of Cushsea and the Sabseans, the men of stature, shall come over unto thee, and they shall be thine, and shall walk after thee ; in chains shall they walk and fall down before thee, and make supplication unto thee — only in thee is God, and there is no God besides." At the commencement of his Lamentations Jeremiah complains — " she that should be queen amongst the heathen must now serve," and in chap. v. 8, — " Servants rule over them, and there is none that doth deliver out of their hand :" on which we have the annotat. uher., " qui nobis po- CHAFfER VII. 21, 22. 181 tius si pii fuissemus, servire debuissent." Tlie explanation — " that thou mayest not be compelled to hear thy servant curse thee," — is inadmissible : we must rather render the Hebrew, " that thou mayest not hear thy servant, who curseth thee," No longer to hear that, is the reward of turning away our heart from men, and returning to God. He who is without God in the world has the great torture of being compelled to bear the "killing in his bones" (Psalm xlii. 11). We first become free from this pain when we have learnt livingly to "wait upon God." Ver. 2 2. If such is the voice of conscience we must recog- nise God's chastising hand in that which our enemies inflict upon us. The heart then becomes tender towards those who offend, and can receive their injuries with indifference : this is the necessary and solid foundation of the love of enemies, and of prayer for those who despitefully use us and persecute us. We regard them as instniments of God, servants at once of His righteousness, and of that pitiful love which chastises at the right moment, to the end that it may not be compelled to give us up to death : we say also, " let them curse, for God has commanded it." "iK'x (where it happened) that, is used here in the sense of "where, there where," as in 2 Samuel xix. 25, and Genesis xxxv. 13, 15. Others, especially the heathen, whom Israel had so often wounded to the quick, by his haughty presumption and contempt of their prerogatives. CHAPTER VII. 23-29. Reviewing the course which he has pursued, Koheleth finds that although in his struggle for wisdom he has made many a gain, he still despite all remains far from his goal (ver. 23, 24). In his investigations concerning wisdom and folly he arrives at the result that the most dangerous enemy of the human race is false luisdom (ver. 25, 26). The difficulty of attaining true wisdom may be estimated from the fact that among men very few indeed have reached it, whilst among women not a single instance is to be found (ver. 27, 28). The reason whereof is, that men are no longer in their origi- i82 CHAPTER VII. 23-29. nal normal 'condition, but have fallen under the dominion of arbitrary and lawless habits of thought (ver. 2 9). Ver. 23. All this I proved by wisdom ; I said I will be wise, and it was far from me. Ver. 24. Far off is that which became (ward), and deep, deep, who can find it out ? Ver. 25. / turned myself with my heart to know, and to try, and to search out wisdom and thoughts, and to know wicked- ness as folly, and foolishness as madness. Ver. 26. And I find something which is more bitter than death ; the woman, which is nets and snares as to her heart, chains as to her hands : whoso pleaseth God shcdl escape from her, and the sinner shall be taken by her. Ver. 27. Behold, this found I, said Koheleth, one after the other finding thoughts. Ver. 28. After that my soul still seeketh, and I did not find it ; one m,an found I among a thousand, but a^mong all these, a, woman have I not found. Ver. 29. And behold, this have I found, that God hath made man upright, but they seek out many inventions. Ver. 23. Koheleth having operated a considerable time with wisdom begins now to reflect on his instrument. All this— that is, not merely what has immediately preceded, but all that has gone before from the commencement of the book — / proved by wisdom. The attempt is to be regarded as a successful one in relation to the results set forth : as an un- successful one in relation to the final aim, which is, absolute wisdom. In connection with all that he accomplished, there remained in the writer's mind the humiliating consciousness that he was still far distant from his goal : sk fiipoug yap yivuxsxo- fuv xal ix fjt,spoui '7rpo^7}rsuo/j,sv (1 Corinthians xiii. 9.) Of all human efforts, however successful and blessed they may be, the words of Phil. iii. 1 2, always hold good — ov^, on ridri sXa/Soi/, ri ribn TiTi'Kiiuiiai. Ver. 24. Far off^ is what became, or "what is." Tlie preterite rrri designates, a past stretching forward into the present. That wisdom cannot reach its aim — see the words, "it remained far from me," of the preceding verse — arises from the difficulty of approaching its object, namely, that which is (das Seyende). According to the Book of Wisdom, chap. vii. 17, wisdom is ruv ovtuv yvuffig: according to chap. i. 13 of this book, wisdom has to do with all that happens CHAPTER VII. 23-29. 183 beneath tlie sun. If absolute being (das Seyende) is far off, difficult of attainment, unapproachable, then must wisdom also necessarily be far off Parallel is chap. iii. 11:" Man cannot find out all the work that God doeth, neither begin- ning nor end :" — to the words, " all the work," there, corre- spond the words, " what is," here : compare also chap. viii. 1 7, " man cannot find out all the work that is done under the sun . . though a wise man should think to know it, yet he findeth it not." Further may be compared Job xi. 8,» where concerning the object of wisdom, namely, the nature and work of God, it is said — " deeper than hell what canst thou know?" — and Romans xi. 33, where we read, w; avs^spsvvrjra rd -/.pi/Mara aurou zai avi^r/jiaoTOi a'l odoi aurov. riTlB' no in chap. 1. 9 signifies, as here, "that which was;" in chap, vi. 1 0, it denotes, " that which is." To be rejected are the divergent explanations, first, of Luther and Stier — " it is far off", what will it be ?" then of Ewald — " far ofif is, what it may be," one cannot rightly see, what — ; and lastly of Hitzig, " what is far off and deep," which is inconsistent with tlie position of the words, and in opposition to chap. i. 9, where, as Hitzig himself is compelled to admit, " n^i is itself predicate," whereas here he would make it out to be only copula. What man has to do, and what the Lord his God requires of him, namely, the directly practical, is " no longer far off," since the light of divine revelation has shined into the darkness of human existence (Deuteronomy xxx. 11) : rather on the contrary, as Moses says to Israel in ver. 1 -i of the same chapter, " is this word very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in th}^ heart, that thou mayest do it." Of this, however, Koheleth does not here speak, but of the knowledge of things, and, in particular, of the deeper understanding of divine providence and God's method with His people on earth. That which in itself is clear seems in many respects dark to man because of his indwelhng sin, so that he is unable fully to enjoy the gift of God. Ver. 25. The words, / turned myself and my heart, are set in contrast to a merely suj^erjicial doing. No result is ever amved at where "^2^) cannot with truth be added. To seek out wisdom and thoughts : pacTi, " thought, musing, meditation," (compare chap. ix. 1 0, where t/tought is con- ] 84^ CHAPTER VII. 23-29. nected with work, the former being the spiritual element from which the latter proceeds forth) is put in opposition to the blind impulses and passions by which the common man allows himself to be led. That we must render the Hebrew — ivickedness as folly, and so forth — is clear even from the article in ni^^DH. To judge from the parallel passages (chap. i. 17; ii. 12, 13; X. 13) ytj^n might stand in the place of PDD, and ni^3D in place of ni^^in. ^D3 and ni^DDH too might be ' omitted without any material alteration of the sense — and to know wisdom and folly — in agreement with the first half of the verse, where the writer speaks merely of the knowledge of wisdom and thoughts. This verse forms merely the intro- duction to verse 26, where the author communicates tlie im- portant result at which he amved in the course of his studies on wisdom and folly. Ver. 26. There can be no doubt that by the wor)ian spoken of here, we are not to understand a common prostitute, but an ideal person, to wit, false wisdom, which kept constantly undertaking excursions and sallies from her proper home, the heathen world, into the territory of the Israelites. It does little honour to the exegesis of the present day that it has so frequently mistaken this plain and evident truth. The feel- ing for the allegorical element in Scripture is still, alas ! very little developed ; and a false occidental realism largely pre- vails no less amongst certain orthodox, than amongst ration- alistic interpreters. A woman in the common sense does not suit the connection : whereas the ideal does. Before and afterwards Koheleth speaks of the great difficulty of attain- ing to true wisdom. The ground whereof is specially that alongside of the wisdom that is from above, the eocpia amkv xaTipyjD/jj'svn, there is a fleshy wisdom, the I'Trlyuog, -^v-x^i-Kri, dai/j,oviu)Byig (James iii. 15), which entangles men in her snares and is the mother of the "inventions" alluded to in ver. 29. Then further, it must be remembered, an ideal female person, namely, Koheleth the Assembling One, is here speaking : and if this person warns us against another fepaale, as the most dangerous enemy of the human race, we may reasonably pre- sume that the latter is also ideal. But what is quite decisive in favour of the view now advocated is, that it alone enables us to account for the feminine connection of the word Kohe- CHAPTER VII. 23-29. 185 leth, wliicli occurs nowhere else in the whole book. Every- where else, the reference to the incarnation of the wisdom which is from above in the person of Solomon gave rise to the masculine connection ; here, however, a change is made on account of the opposition in which wisdom is set to philo- sophy and wanton seduction. And finally there can be no doubt that the woman here is identical with the (female) " stranger," the " foreigner," Avho is introduced in Proverbs as the dangerous foe of true wisdom : this can be the less ques- tioned, since, as has been already shown, Koheletli refers back to Proverbs. But now there are strong grounds for thinking that the woman of the Proverbs is the personifica^ tion of heathenish folly, putting on the airs of wisdom and penetrating into the territory of the Israelites : she is no other than the (pi\o(Son nn^iTlD that is " devised by the meditative." The word desig- nates here, properly, that which is " thought out," " excogi- tated," " subtilty," not malas artes, such as, " intrigues," " machinations," as Hitzig would explain it. The question in hand relates not to 'practice but theory, not to evil doing but to perverse thinking. The word describes rather those so often plausible and brilliant reasonings of the natural under- standing, which perplex the heart and lead away from the wisdom that is from above, those speculations of a heart turned away from God, which are perpetually penetrating into the Church fnmi the world, those jSiiS/jXovg -/.svoi^uviag xal avrid'esng rrig -vpsuSwi/j/^oy yvu)Gsug, against which the Apostle utters his warning in 1 Timothy vi. 20. Since the fall man has forgotten * Gesenius, — " cf. iiigenium, quod media latinitate ballistam pr. machinain ingeniose fabrefactam notat, unde dicebant ingeniareurbem, i.e., machinisoppug- nare, ingeniosus, ingeniator, gall, ingenleur," 190 CHAPTER VIII. 1-8. that lie shoilld in the first instance take up a receptive position, in relation to the hukv ffop/a, and that such a position is the only- right one ; but instead of that, he goes hunting after his own phantastic and high-flown thoughts. The only way of throwing off this severe disease, and of escaping from the bonds of one's own thoughts and imaginations, is to unlearn the serpent's lesson — "ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil," — to return to our dependence on God, to renounce all self-acquired knowledge, and, " leaving all our own fancies and conclusions to sink in Lethe's stream," to accept the divine teachings alone, according to our Lord's saying in Matthew xi. 25, — " I thank thee, 0 Father, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes." CHAPTER VIII. 1-8. Here too again the point of departure is the mournful con- dition of the people of God. After an introductory eulogy of wisdom, (ver. 1,) the author admonishes his fellow-country- men not to allow themselves by any means to be diverted from obeying their heavenly King, or to be seduced to evil courses, seeing that their Lord is almigJity both in action and in punishment, (ver. 2-4.) If the people of God only continue steadfast in obedience their sufferings will one day be removed from them : men, however mighty they may seem, are far too impotent to be able to hinder the course of the judgments which God at His own appointed time decrees for the good of His children, (ver. 5-8.) Ver. 1. Who is as the wise raan ? and who hiotveth the interpretation of things ? A man's wisdom maJceth his face to shine, and the harshness of his face is changed. Ver. 2. I ; observe the m,outh of the king, and that because of the oath of God. Ver. 3. Be not hasty to go out of his sight, stand not in an evil thing, for he doeth ^vhatsoever pleaseth him. Ver. 4. Because the word of the king is ruler, and who can say to him., ivhat doest thou ? Ver. 5. Whoso keejjeth the command shall experience no evil thing, and a ivise heart discerneth both time and judgment. Ver. 6. For every desire of man has a time and right ; for the adversity of man is CHAPTER VIII. 1-8. 191 heavy upon him. Ver. 7. For he hnoweth not that which shall be, for who can shoiv to him hovj it will be ? Ver, 8. There is no man that hath poiver over the spirit, to retain the spirit : neither hath he power over the day of death, and there is no discharge from that conflict, nor does wickedness deliver him that hath it. Ver. 1. As in chap. vii. 23-28, at the close of a series of wise sayings, the author institutes a consideration of wisdom itself, so also here, at the beginning of a new series of such sajdngs, he extols the high importance of wisdom, in order to prepare the spiritual ear for the reception of his utterances. Who is as the wise man ? No one is equal to the wise man : wisdom is the one precious pearl with which no possession on earth can be compared (Job xxviii. 18 ; Matthew xiii. 45, 46.) The ground of the importance of wisdom is assigned in the words — and who hnoweth the interpretation (I5fs the Hebrew word, occurs only here ; elsewhere the Chaldee form "IK'S is used, and that only in Daniel) of things ? inn, corresponds to the expression, "that which is," employed in chap. vii. 24 to designate the object of wisdom. Wisdom leads us into the nature, the essence of things, and thus furnishes a basis for right practical conduct. J. D. MichaeHs says — "By the solution of things, we are to understand nothing but the explanation of all that which is done in the world and of the design thereof: the evils of the world appear to us like letters without meaning, unintelligible ; but as soon as we consider their good results, their interpretation will be plain, we shall see why God permits them." The cross, whose dark depths are illuminated by wisdom, is no doubt, according to what follows, a special aspect of the gene- ral question which is here principally brought under con- sideration ; but J. D. Michaelis has had it too directly and exclusively in view. The statement of the high advantages of -svisdom is continued in the words — a mans tuisdom maketh his face to shine. By the illwniination of the face several commentators understand " the instruction and good guidance which wisdom confers on its possessor." That, however, is against usage, according to which the illumination of the countenance can only signify "to cheer, to enliven." The cognate phrase, " enlighten the eyes," means usually " to make 192 CHAPTER VIII. 1-8. brisk and cheerful :" misery and pain cause tbe eyes to be dull, gloomy, languid. Compare Psalm xix. 9, where " en- lightening the eyes" is set in parallelism with " rejoicing the heart." To the cheering of the countenance has reference the phrase v:3 T'sn, used of God : God's face beams, is radiant, in relation to those towards whom he is gracious. This expres- sion is not elsewhere employed of men ; yet in Proverbs xvi. 1 5, it is said, " in the light of the king's countenance is life." The reason of the joy afforded by wisdom may be found in the insight it gives into the nature of things, specially, into the providence of God ; and in the assurance and decision with which, as a consequence, we can regard the practical questions of life. And the strength of his countenance is changed. According to usage, " the strength of the counte- nance," can only mean, " hard and rigid features," as the expres- sion of boldness and impudence. In Deuteronomy xxviii. 50, D^JB TJ? ''13 is "a bold and impudent people." In Daniel viii, 23, a king cja rj; is a bold, impudent king. D'-JS Tj;n or n''3S3, "to make the face strong," is used of "boldness, impudence," in Proverbs vii. 13; xxi. 29. Consequently, the rendering, "rage, chagrin at the repugnant circumstances of life," must be rejected as erroneous. Jerome has given substantially the correct view — " Omnis hsereticus et falsum dogma defendens impudenti vultu est." So also the Berleburger Bible which says — " In order that the rigidness of his countenance, that is, his savage unfriendly crabbed stubborn nature, his wrinkled forehead and impudent face, may be changed ; that man may be no longer so harsh, so difficult of approach, nor be, as hitherto, refractory to human and divine commands. When, through the transforming power of wisdom, a heart of flesh has taken the place of the heart of stone, the inward pliancy and docility, the soul's fear of God and his commands, which then follow, become discernible in the countenance" Ver. 2. The simple " I" standing alone, is as much as, " I counsel thee," or, " wilt thou listen to my advice, then." At first sight the author seems here to be admonishing his fellow- countrymen to obey the secidar authorities, that is the heathen. Even Jerome remarks, " videtur prsecipere juxta apostolum regibus et potestatibus obsequium ;" but rightly adds, " this explanation is however to be rejected." Against this explana- CHAPTER VIII. 1-8. 193 tion there is at the very outset one objection, namely, that scarcely a passage is to be found in the Old Testament where obedience to the heathen tyrants is represented as a religious duty. Jeremiah xxix. 7, is not to be reckoned amongst them. Romans xiii. was written at the time of the dominion of the Romans, and therefore in essentially different circumstances. Wliat the Apostle says there of the authorities, as the guardians of law and right, is inapplicable to oriental monarchies, as is satisfactorily enough proved by this very book. The char- acteristic which distinguished the Romans from other heathen nations, namelj'', their sense of justice, is prominently referred to in 1 Maccabees viii. The king here, for whom obedience is claimed is rather the Heavenly one, as in chap. v. 8 : com- pare also Psalm xx. 10 ; v. 8 ; x. I 6. The author intention- ally abstains from saying expressly that he means the heavenly king. Wisdom loves to speak in " dark sayings," (Proverbs i. 6). It pursues its aim of sharpening the intellect even at the risk of misunderstanding. But prudence also rendered it advisable not to express himself here more clearly. The mouth being the organ of speech, it stands here for the words which proceed from it (compare chap. x. 13). lO'j' is the standing term employed to denote the observance of the com- mands of God : compare ni^'D "i»*^ in ver. 5. There is a dif- ference between the words here and the phrases usually em- ployed in relation to the heavenly king, e. g., nin'' ''3 "I3y (IN um. xiv. 41, and elsewhere), and mn'* ''2 nx HID (Numbers xx. 24, and frequently besides). And (indeed) because of the oath to God. A person's oath is, in all cases, either that which he makes (Psalm cv. 9 ; 1 Chronicles xvi. 16), or which is made to him (Habakkiik iii. 9, where " oaths of the tribes," are oaths which were made to the tribes, promises of God to Israel con- firmed by oath. Genesis xxiv. 8 ; Joshua ii. 17, 20 ; 1 Kings ii. 43), which therefore belongs to him, either as giver or re- ceiver. Accordingly, in this place, " the oath of God" can only be the oath which is made to God, and the explanation, " the oath by God," must therefore be rejected. But this does not prevent the words being referred also to earthly authorities. For in fact every oath by God must be looked upon as an oath made to God : — one swears to God, to perform this or that thing to this or that man. Compare Exodus xxii. 1 0 — N 194 CHAPTER VIII. 1-8. " the oath of the Lord shall be between them both :" — and 2 Samuel xxi. 7 ; 1 Kings ii. 43. The subject-matter in hand, however, forbids us referring the words to such an oath of allegiance : we can only think of the oath which bound the people of God to obedience to their heavenly King. Nebii- chadnezzar, it is true, made Zedekiah take an oath of faithful- ness to himself (2 Chronicles xxxvi. 1 3) : but there is nowhere to be found the slightest trace of an oath taken by the nation to its heathen tyrants. To their heavenly King, on the con- trary, the Israelites stood notoriously pledged by sacred cove- nant and oath to obey His laws and commands. In Deuter- onomy xxix. 12-1 5, it is said, "thou shalt enter into the cove- nant of the Lord thy God, and into his oath, which the Lord thy God maketh with thee this day. — Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath : but both with those who are here this day, and also with those who are not here." Ezekiel says, in chap. xvi. 5 0, to Judah — " I will deal with thee even as thou hast done, which despiseth the oath and breakest the covenant," on which Michaelis remarks, " quo te devovisti paciscens cum deo." It is of special importance, how- ever, to compare a passage which refers to the same period as the one now under notice, and is remarkably allied therewith, namely Nehemiah x. 30, where it is said of the people, "they entered into an oath and curse to walk in God's law, which was given by the hand of Moses, the servant of God, and to observe (ii^l^'h) and do all the commandments (nivo, compare ver. 5) of the Lord our God, and his judgments and his statutes." Ver. 3. Be not hasty to go out of his sight; compare Genesis iv. 16, "and Cain went out from the presence of the Lord ;" Jonah i. 3, " and Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord ;" and Hosea xi. 2, where "•jso l^n is used of apostacy from the living God (John vi. 6Q). When severe suffering beialls a man he is tempted to turn away from God : compare Job ii. 9, " then said his wife unto him. Dost thou still retain thine integrity ? Bless God and die." Job answers thereto — " As one of the foolish women speakest thou. Do we take good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive the evil?" "In all this," we read, " Job sinned not," although his circumstances rendered him exceed- CHAPTER VIII. 1-8. 195 ingly liable to sin." In chap, xxxvi. ] 3, Elihu speaks of the " impious, who heap up wrath," when God binds them, that is, when He visits them with heavy sufferings. "Their soul," says he, " dies in j^outh, and their life is among the degraded." Psalm xxxvii. 1, admonishes us not to "fret our- selves because of evil-doers," and warns us against being- seduced into apostacy from the living God, and into wicked courses, by the sight of the prosperity of the wicked and of the power which they wield. " O man, though thy cross press thee without end, though thy sufferings be ever so severe, become not a rebel against God :" thus would the writer address the covenanted people groaning beneath the hard yoke of the heathen world. Stand not in an evil thing. Several commentators explain, "remain not therein." But " remain " does not suit the connection. The idea evidently is, that we should not allow ourselves to be seduced by suffering into the paths of sin, into despair of God, into infrac- tions of his sacred ordainments, and endeavours to work out our own deliverance in our strength and way : compare Psalm xxxvii. 8 — "cease from anger and forsake wrath, fret not thyself in any wise to do evil :" on which J, Arnd re- marks— " many of them do evil things in wrath, revenge, and impatience, of which they repent in eternity." noy must consequently be understood here as in Psalm i. 1 — "Stand not in the way of sinners :" sin is represented as an evil spot on which we should not take our post. For he doeth ivhat- soever pleaseth him : into a worse situation it is impossible to be betrayed, than to make oranipotence, in the person of God, our enemy, as we inevitably do when we suffer our- selves to be carried away, by impatience, to evil things, in- stead of 'following the counsel, " Be silent to the Lord, and wait patiently for him." Referred to an earthly king, no satisfactory explanation can be given of this verse. How liW:le even the very first words suit such an application is evident from the frequent attempts which have been made to alter their sense, as, for example, by Knobel : " Be not hasty to revolt from him." Very few persons indeed ever got to see the face of an eastern king, and when they did, to go away or to remain, lay not in their choice. " Apud Persas," says Justinus i. 9, "persona regis sub specie majestatis occu- 196 CHAPTER VIII. 1-8. litur ; Xenophon says in liis Agesil. ix. 1, 6 /xb Usf^arig tm evaviifig opaadai hi/Mvvvsro ; according to Aristotle, " de Mundo," the Persian monarch was 'xavri doparoc, — compare Esther iv. 11 — and on this passage, Baumgarten, "de fide hist. Hbri Esthera?," 8 2. Moreover, an Israelite cannot say of an earthly monarch — "he doeth whatsoever it pleaseth him." It would be a denial of God on high. Nebuchadnezzar, it is true, says to Daniel's three companions — " Let us see who that God is that shall deliver you out of mine hand " (Daniel iii. 1 5) : but they answer, " Behold, the God whom we honour is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and out of thine hand, 0 king, will he deliver us." Overwhelmed by facts Nebuchadnezzar himself was forced to say of Jehovah — " his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation," (Daniel iv. 34). - Ver. 4. Because the word of the Icing is ruler. jid^K' is used to denote " ruler " in the Chaldee portion of Daniel : see chap. iii. 2, 3, " all the rulers of the provinces." The rank which they vindicate to themselves belongs, truly regai^ded, to the word of God. |1D^5J' must be regarded here and in vea\ 8 as introduced with the marks of quotation. It is employed ironically. And ivho can say to him, what doest thou ? S. Schmidt remarks on Job ix. 1 2 — '"est interrogatio in jus vocantis v. auctoritate superiore prohibentis. Desciibitur enim hie summum dei imperium et independentia a superiore." Knobel is compelled to observe, " The formula which consti- tutes the second clause is never used except to glorify the divine power." Compare Job ix. 1 2, " Behold he robbeth, and who shall drive him back, who shall say unto him, What doest thou?" and chap, xxiii. 1 3, " and he is one, and who shall drive him back ; and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth." See also the " Book of Wisdom " xii. 1 2, rlc yap ipu rt s'Troirjaag jj rig dvriffrrjffirai tui '/.^l/jjaTi gov \ Isaiah xlv. 9 ; Jonah L 14. Ver. 5. Whoso keepeth the command, that is, as much as, "whoso standeth not in an evil thing," (ver. 3). mVD is to be taken as a kind of nomen proprium, signifying, the com- mand absolutely, the divine command ; compare nivo "iDK', used n 1 Kings xi. 34, of the observance of the divine commands. Shall experience no evil thing : whoso avoids the evil of CHAPTER VIII. 1-8. 197 guilt, shall be spared the evil of imnishment. Knobel's explanation yT" " to know," " to make the acquaintance," yn "im, " of moral culpability," does not suit the second clause. He may fall into great sufferings, as the pious in Israel were now compelled to experience, — by way of consolation for the bearers of the cross are the words spoken — but only into such sufferings as are blessings, when more carefully examined, and as shall have a joyous termination : compare Romans viii. 28, o'ihaiMiv 6j, on roTg aywzuSi rov &iov, Taira evvipyi/'iig dyudov. And a wise heart discerneth both time and judgment. According to chap. iii. 1 , " the time " can only be the time of the inter- ference of God. " Judgment" consequently must refer to God's exercise of judgment and right. Time and judgment taken together, signify that God will judge at his own time. The meaning of the entire verse is as follows : As certainly as God in his own time shall judge righteously — a thing which is known to the wise heart — so certain is it, that those who hold God's commands, and therefore have God on their side, cannot be really and lastingly unhappy.* Ver. 6. For to every desire — (of wise and believing hearts after the establishment of the Kingdom of God,) — there is time and right, because the adversity of man is heavy upon him. Behind Tiian lies concealed the monarch of the tuorld. The ground whereof is, that the means of human chastisement in God's hand are very powerful, n " great," see on chap. vi. 1 . With all his power man is still not independent, but subject to the heavy blows of fate. Men therefore can oppose no resistance when God proceeds to exercise judgment for the good of His people. Ver. 7. For he hnovjeth not thcd which shcdl be : before one who does not know that, we should not be afi-aid ; to his temporary prosperity we should attach little importance. To-morrow it may be all over with him, however glorious and brilliant is his appearance to-day. If we only have God on our side, we may be calm and contented even in the midst of oppression. Ver. 8. There is no man that hath power over the spirit, * Gousset, "scit judicium postea venturum certum et inevitahile et ideo patiens est, si in juste a magistratu tractatur, v. si interea, dum summi regL= uiandata servat, aliquid adversi ei contingat." 198 CHAPTER VIII. 1-8. to retain the spirit. In this point also the monarch of the world lies hidden behind man. When the hour of death ap- pointed by God comes, he must away. In Psalm cxlvi., which was composed during the time of the Persian dominion, it is said, (ver. 3, 4,) " Put not your trust," (the Psalmist is ad- dressing the world, the great nation,) " in princes, in the son of man, in whom is no help. When his breath goeth forth he returneth to his earth : in that very day his thoughts perish." Jerome writes — " non est ergo lugendum, si . . . ssepe ab iniquis potentioribus opprimamur, quum morte omnia finiantur, et superbus et poteus qui cuncta populatus est, non valeat animam suam retinere quum rapitur." And there is no discharge in the conflict, which God carries on with man. When God has once begun the strife with any one, He does not let him free. He does not desist, until He has brought him to ruin. Illustrative of these words is the example of Pharaoh. The discharge does not refer so much to the imprisonnoent, as to the strife, the conflict itself: compare Genesis xxxii. 27, where one of the wrestlers addresses to the other the word "'jni'EJ', "let me go." Wickedness delivereth not him that hath it, notwithstanding that it puts powerful and apparently irre- sistible means at his disposal They have only importance until God's time and judgment draw nigh. The Berleburger Bible remarks, " he will not succeed in freeing himself in this matter, as he succeeded in freeing himself from God's law." CHAPTER VIII. 9-13. Here also again the author finds the occasion for his utter- ances in the sufferings of the people of God, in the tyi-anny with which they were burdened. The consolation, which is offered under a twofold head, (ver. 9 and 10, and ver. 11-13,) is the following — " Look to the end, (Psalm Ixxiii. 1 7,) in good time God's judgment will overthrow the wicked, and exalt the righteous." Ver. 9. All this saw I, in that I applied my heart to every history that takes place under the sun : there is a time ^vhen 'man ruleth over men to their misfortune. Ver. 10. And then saw I the wicked buried, and they carne, and from, the CHAPTER VIII. 9-13. 199 place of the holy, they ivent forth. And they were forgotten m the city, who had thus done. This also is vanity. Ver. 11. Because a sentence is not pronounced, the ivork of wicked- ness hasteneth : therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. Ver. 1 2. Let a sinner do evil an hundred times? and long endure ! Yet surely I knoiv that it shall be well with men that fear God, which fear before him. Ver. 13. But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither like the shadoiv shall he long endure, which feareth not before God. Ver. 9. All this, that is, all that can be classed under the same head as that which is specially mentioned immediately after, and which can be represented thereby ; — facts namely, wliich, when superficially examined may easily prove a stumb- ling block in the way of faith (compare chap. vii. 15.) Jerome says — " Dedi inquit cor meum, ut omne quod sub sole geritur intuerer, et hoc vel maxirae, quod homo accepit in hominem potestatem, ut quoscunque vult afiiigat atque condemnet.'' The suffix in i^ refers of course to the second mentioned man. The present verse sets forth the stumbling block : the following verse shows how it is to be removed. That a hint concerning the latter cannot be contained in the present verse is clear from the word pa in ver. 10, alone. Ver. 10. And then sato I the wicked buried. in''K"i serves here, as in ver. 9, to render the description more vivid and palpable. It is to be noted that Solomon here speaks, and not the author. They are experiences like those which are alluded to by Asaph in Psalm Ixiii., such as took their rise from the conflict between evil and good which raged in the midst of the covenant people itself In the backgi'ound how- ever stands the thought : thus will the Persian Empire also one day be borne to the grave. J33 " under such circum- stances," or since things are thus situated : as a Hebrew word it occurs, besides here, only in Esther iv. 1 6. Not to be buried, is frequently represented as a punishment of the godless : compare on chap. vi. 3. The untimely comparison of these two passages has led many commentators into the error of supposing that burial, which, on their own authority they have here converted into an honourable one, (Cartwright, for example, who says, " sepulturam, et illam quidem amplam 200 CHAPTER VIII. 9-13. et dignitatis plenam consequi, in benedictione dei jure numer- atur,") is represented as an advantage enjoyed by the wicked. But the wicked condemned by God are buried in Ezekiel xxxii. 23-24, xxxix. 11, also : so too the godless rich man of the Gospels, (Luke xvi. 22.) And they came. Whither, may be learnt from the preceding D"'n3p; namel5^, into the grave: and thus an end is put to all their prosperity, their wealth and their efforts to injure the righteous. And from the place of the holy went they forth, "la^n'' forms the contrast to IKl. They come into the grave and are thus removed from the place where their presence gave such offence. Worthy of note is it that Dipo stands in the stat. constr. It is not said, " from the holy place," but, " from the place of the holy," that is, the place to which the holy belong : " the holy" must here be re- garded as ideal persons. They must leave the place in which their existence and presence is something abnormal. The Holy are the true members of the Church of the Lord, (com- pare the remarks in my Christology on Isaiah iv. 3.) Paral- lel is Isaiah lii. 1, ''put on thy festival garments, O Jerusalem, thou holy city, for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean : " and chap. xlix. 1 7, " thy destroyers and those that laid thee waste shall go forth of thee." And they were forgotten in the city, tvho had thus done. Compare Proverbs x. 7, "the memory of the just is blessed, but the name of the wicked shall rot :" also Psalm Ixxiii. 19, 20, "how are they brought to desolation in a moment, they are utterly consumed with terrors. As a dream, when one awaketh, so dost thou in the city despise their image." Many commentators have been led into, an entirely mistaken view of the whole verse by the translation — " who have done justice," or, " who have rightly acted." It may still be fairly doubted whether p ever, as a neuter, signifies " rectum," and adverbially, " recte." In most of the passages adduced in favour of this rendering, the common and there- fore the simplest meaning " thus," is plainly the most suitable. Even in the two which seem most in its favour, namely in Numbers xxxvi. 5 ; xxvii. 7, the translation " thus,"^ — " thus speak they of the tribe of Joseph : thus speak the daughters, etc." — is rendered probable by a comparison of Matthew xxvi. 25, and John xviii. 37. When any one who is solicited for CHAPTER VIII. 9-13. 201 a decision, speaks of the petition as reported or as being inquired into, consent is implied. Here, however, in any case must p be taken in its usual meaning on account of the unmistakable reference to the foregoing p3. This also is vanity, to wit, that man should rule over man to his misfortune, — the doings of tyrants. It is vanity because of the sudden catastrophe which befals it, — vanity because it suddenly comes to nought and ends in horror. In regard to the prosperity of the wicked, of the heathen tyrants, it is said also in chap. vii. 6, "this also is vanity." The Berleburger Bible says, " O how foolish are men not to prove and judge such things more wisely, not to see how vainly they act !" Faith receives here as in Psalm Ixxiii. the victory, in that by the grace of God it discerns that the prosperity of the wicked as well as the sufferings of the righteous are only transitory. Ver. 11. Because a sentence is not pronounced — that is, because the heavenly edict is delayed — the tvork of wickedness hasteneth : that is, because they go unpunished the wicked are confirmed in their wickedness : compare Isaiah xxvi. 1 0, " Let favour be shov^ed to the wicked yet will he not learn righteousness. On the earth, where one should do right, he commits iniquity." DJna, signifying "word" in general, and then specially " mandate, edict," is probably of Persian origin, and it seems to have been used, as it were technically, for the edicts of the Persian kings : compare Esther i. 20 ; Ezra iv. 17 ; vi. 11 ; Daniel iii. 16. The only passage where the word elsewhere occurs in Hebrew is the one in Esther just quoted : otherwise it is only found in the Chaldee of Daniel and Ezra Here, as also in Daniel iv. 14, it is then transferred to the decrees of heaven. We must consider it as introduced with signs of quotation. DJDD occurs in connection with hk'V i^ Esther i. 20 also: "the edict of the king which he makes." Since ps means " it is not," njj'yj can only be a participle. Dins is here therefore treated as a feminine. The explanation — " the judgment on the work of wickedness," — is contrary to the accents : besides djhd is never elsewhere employed with the genitive of the object, and it is questionable whether it can be so employed, nino is properly a noun, signifying "haste :" it is so used in chap iv. 12 : see too Psalm cxlvii. 1 5, mnioa, " in haste." It is best to take it in this sense here 202 CHAPTER VIII. 9-13. also — "Haste," for, "hasty." The adverb "hastily," miglit veiy jfitly take the place of the adjective : see Ewald, § 296 d. Therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil, in that they are purposed to drive out \dolence with violence, and, falling into error concerning God, seek to secure prosperity for themselves, by the same means as the fortunate wicked. The "children of men" are those who suffer at the hands of prosperous wickedness, with special reference to Israel as oppressed by tne fortunate powers of this world. How the wicked are confirmed in their wickedness by their prosperity, and how the suffering are thereby tempted to apostatize from God, is vividly and to the life described in Psalm Ixxiii. The "heart becomes full" of evil inclinations, so full that they violently break forth in deeds of wiickedness ; compare the remarkably similar passage in Esther vii. 5 : then also Acts V. 3. Ver. ] 2. The author does not however let himself be de- ceived by that which is now visible. We may have to wait ■ for God's righteous decision, but in its own time it will cer- tainly come. itj'N, " (be it) that," which is as much as to say, "May it, let it, even" (be). A cognate use of the word is found in. Leviticus iv. 22 ; Deuteronomy xi. 27 ; xviii. 22, where -itj'N, signifies, " (supposing) that." To nso, must D^oys be supplied. For remarks on ^nxn compare chap. vii. 15. 1^ is the dat. comm. The word '•j assigns the reason why the writer does not gTudge the wicked his prosperity. Ver. 1 3. Inasmuch as long duration is a relative idea, the long duration previously attributed to the wicked does not contradict the assertion made here, that he will not endure long. Of the Persian Empire, which the author has here pri- marily in view, both assertions held at the same time good, — it lasted long, and yet it lasted a short time. All depends on the standard applied. As the shadoiu : fleeting, transitory as the shadow which vanishes with the setting sun, and leaves not a trace behind (compare Psalm cxliv. 4 ; Book of Wis- dom, ii. 5.) CHAPTER VIII. 14-17. 203 CHAPTER VIII. 14-17. The sufferings of the people of God constitute still the point of departure, as in verses ] -8 and in verses 9-1 3. Instead of racking our brains over their fate, we should rejoice at the good gifts of God which remain. Speculation and questioning conduct to no result, for the divine counsels are incomprehen- sible by man. Ver. 14. There is a vanity vjliich is clone upon earth, that there be just men to whom it happeneth according to the vjork of the wicked, and that there he wicked men to luhom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous : I said that this also is vanity. Ver. 15. And I commended mirth, that nothing is better for man under the sun than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry, and that abides with him in his labour through the days of his life, tuhich God giveth him under the sun. Ver. 16. When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the travail which takes place on the earth, that neither day nor night doth he see sleep tvith his eyes. Ver. 17. So I beheld the whole icork of God, that man cannot find out the luork that is done under the sun, for the sake of vjhich man labours to seek it out, and findeth it not; yea, further, though a wise man should think to knoiu it, he cannot find it. Ver. 1 4. That the lots of the righteous and the wicked are not seldom mixed up with each other, is a vanity, and is iiv- tended to be a vanity. Taking man to be what he now actu- ally is, these things go to constitute the best world we can conceive ; and Elster's remark, that " facts cannot fail to make a bitter and gloomy impression," holds good only of the natu- ral man in the believer : the spiritual man judges quite dif- ferently. Righteousness would too soon disappear if its re- ward were bestowed on it immediately, and, as it were, piece by piece. Godliness perishes as soon as it becomes a matter of trade : it is not meant that the righteous should find their satisfaction in an open and manifest recompence. If there existed nem righteous as they should be, righteous throughout, of one piece, then the experience here set forth would of course be suspicious. But as things actually are, wliilst sin dwells 204 CHAPTER VIII. 14-17. even in the righteous, so long as they need to be punished and guarded, so long as they wander too readily from the right path, and especially, so long as they are prone to serve God for hire, the facts under consideration offer no difficulty to those who stand really in righteousness. They may be and are not seldom fiercely perplexed and harassed thereby, but that is all. Really meant complaints at such experiences proceed only from such as, without authority or right, reckon themselves among the righteous ; — ^as may be clearly seen in Malachi. Without doubt, however, as is proved by a consi- derable number of declarations even from this book, the re- semblance between the fate of the righteous and that of the wicked, is but an external and partial one. All things must finally work together for the good of those who love God : the end will separate the righteous from the wicked. / said that this also is vanity; " this also" — this doubtful condition of the pious and the ungodly. Vanity, that is, it is to be counted as part of the misery and wretchedness of this life, to which even believers are subject and with which they must put up. He is, of course, a poor fool, who devotes himself to righteousness in order to become rich and honoured, in order to lose none of his family or friends, and so forth. Ver. ] 5. This onirth, is the cheerful enjoyment of those gifts of God which do not fail us even in circumstances of need, and is put in contrast to the habit of looking out for an open and splendid reward of righteousness — the consequence of the non-bestowal of which is gloomy discontent. Jewish speculators in righteousness thought that they must at once rule the heathen with a sceptre of iron ; and when they found that the exact contrary was the case, they hung their heads, refused to find anything more to their liking, and grew dis- satisfied with God and the world. The " mirth" spoken of here is quite consistent with the deep earnestness in life re- commended by Koheleth in chap. vii. Iff! It is a joy which is the direct outflow of a piety that thankfully accepts what God gives, and refuses to be disturbed in its enjoyment thereof by unfounded pretensions. The Berleburger Bible remarks — " Mirth, that is, a godly joyfulness and cheerfulness of heart ; in that, namely, the righteous, when he has anything to en- dure amidst the vanities of the world, which are universal. CHAPTER Vm. 1 -i-1 7. 205 and are saddled on all alike, maintains and displays by faith in God a spirit calm and free from cares ; and in all the divine arrangements proves himself prompt and lively. TJuit he should eat and drink and be merry, that is, that he calmly and with fitting cheerfulness enjoy what God bestows on him. This had been ah'eady said m chap. ii. 24; iii. ] 2, 22 ; it is here again repeated, and not without reason, but to serve an- other purpose, namely, as an answer to the objection just urged." Ver. 16. The travail here mentioned is that into which those fall who seek to fathom, and rack their brains about, the ways of God : wherein those are usually the most zealous "who are endowed with least capacity to answer the questions raised. The problem is in itself an exceedingly difficult one, but the solution becames enormously more difficult v,^hen at- tempted by those who lack knowledge of the depths of human sinfulness. And this was a characteristic fault of the author's age : hence was there so much murmuring and racking of brains. The .author turns his heart to know wisdom, and (in spirit) to see (in the light of wisdom) the travail. pjy can only mean " travail," " torment," not " business," as may be seen on comparing chap. ii. 26, and especially chap. iii. 10. Wliat " travail " is meant, we are informed in the words — " that he does not see ;" namely, that man, who is s]5oken of both before and afterwards, is unable to fathom the divine counsels in the distribution of fates, even though he apply himself earnestly to the work. Knobel explains quite in- correctly— " man who is restlessly busy, and through sheer activity gets no sleep." Ver. 1 7. The " travail " proves itself to be useless. We walk by faith and not by sight, and blessed are they that see not and yet believe. Therefore should we leave off worrying our minds. Blessed is the man who takes without question- ing what God sends him, in the firm confidence that, how- ever perverted it may appear, it is the right thing, and that all things must work together for the good of those who love God. Jerome says — " Subostendot tamen esse causas rerum omnium et justitiam, quare unumquod({ue sic fiat : sed in occulto eas latere et non posse ab hominibus comprehendi :" and Cartwright, " si enim opera, quae fecit Salomo, sapientem 206 CHAPTER IX. 1-10. reginam Sabse in admirationem ita abripiunt ut non esset amplius in ilia spiritus, quanto magis opera dei, omnem nos- tram intelligentiam superantia, nos in admirationem ejus ad- ducant ? Ut enim qiiisque est, ita sunt ejus opera." Then saw I the whole work of God : in what aspect he sees it and knows it, to wit, in respect of its unsearchahleness, we are informed by the words — that man cannot find, etc. In the Berleburger Bible we read — " 0 ye poor blind men, who think by your philosophy to fathom the grounds of the divine leadings, ye are justly cheated ! Ye disapprove of all that are beyond human comprehension, when ye ought rather to confess that the higher they transcend your conceptions, so much the diviner are they. The more pains you take to fathom the secrets of wisdom by your reflection, the farther are you from reaching your aim. Of the possession of true wisdom the best sign is when a man is assured that he cannot comprehend the mysteries of the divine dealings with souls." CHAPTER IX. 1-10. This section falls into two parts, the temj^tation which assails (verses 1-6), and the alleviation and comfort, {xal 1x6- 'zaffcv 6 avs/xog, xai sysviTO yaX^vri /jbsydXrj Mark iv. 39), (ver. 7-10). The temptation, in regard to which the author appears as the representative of the tone of mind then prevailing amongst the people, takes its rise in the same fact as that which was considered in the foregoing section, namely, in the sufferings of the people of God, Since God looks calmly on whilst the wicked swallows up him who is more righteous than himself (Habakkuk i. 18), it seems as if there were no retribution to be found on earth, as if the righteous were deprived of their reward (verses 1-3) : furthermore, the gloom and sad- ness which must take possession of the soul in consequence of such thoughts are deepened by the prospect of that which awaits us after this life (verses 4-6). Against such dark discontent, however, the sjyirit raises its voice in verses 7-10, and answers that God has pleasure in the works of his people, and that in good time the now failing retribution will come. In view of the glorious future the eye should be turned away CHAPTER IX. 1-10. 207 from the gloomy present, and we sliould be joyful through hope. Above all, should we not give ourselves up to a de- spairing inactivity, but call forth all our powers to fulfil the task which is set us for the present life. Ver. 1. For all this I took to heart and (indeed) thereby I fathomed all this — that the righteous and the ivise, and their works, are in the hand of God ; neither love nor hatred doth man knovj, all things are before them. Ver. 2. All things as to all : one event to the righteous and to the tvicked; to the good and to the clean and to the unclean ; to him that sacrificeth and to him that sacrificeth not : as the sinner, so the good : he that sweareth is as he that feareth an oath. Ver. 3. That is evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event to all : yea also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and folly is in their heart ivhile they live, and after that (they go) to the dead. Ver. 4. For tvho is preferred ? In all the living one may trust, for a, living dog is better than a dead lion. Ver. 5. For the living knoiv that they shall die, and the dead knoiv nothing at all : neither have they any more a reivard, for the meTiiory of them is forgotten. Ver. 6. Their love and also their hatred and their envy is vanished : neither have they any "more for ever a portion in anything that is done under the sun. Ver. 7. Go thy way, eat thy bread in joy and drink thy wine with a good heaii ; for God hath pleasure in thy works. Ver. 8. Let thy garments be always white, and let thy head lack no ointment. Ver. 9. Look upon life with the ivife whom thou lovest. all the days of thy vain life, tvhich he giveth thee under the sun : all the days of thy vain life, for that is thy portion in life, and in thy labour ivhich thou takest under the sun. Ver. 10. All that thy hand findeth to do by thy power, do, for there is no tvork nor device, nor knowledge, nor vAsdom in the hell ivhither thou goest. Ver. 1. The word " for" points to the connection between this discussion and that of chap. viii. 1 4-17. A further con- firmation is here set forth of the result there arrived at, to wit, of the unsearchableness of the ways of God. The righteous and the wise are in the hand of God, in His power, so that He does with them what He will. No one, by his own intentions and his own acts can determine his fate. That acts are not 208 CHAPTER IX. 1-10. spoken of here, in themselves, as acts, as if we were compelled, without any exercise of will, to do what God pleases ; but with regard to their results, in so far that the saddest fate may folloiu on the best deed, is clear from the whole context, in which only what befalls man, not what man does, is con- sidered. Ver. 2 especially, which may serve as a commentary to the present one, proves this. For the same reason what is said of love and haired cannot be referred to human affections, — as Hitzig does when he writes, " Inasmuch as man has not his acts in his own power, he does not know whether he will love or hate," — but only to the good and evil providential arrangements in which God's love and hatred seem to embody themselves. J. D. Michaelis justly observes, " In this world we cannot tell by the events of life whether God loves us or hates us, because to the righteous it happens as to the un- righteous ; nor can we even know whether God means to show us love by sending prosperity, or hatred by sending adversity." In all the last sections the historical occasion of the Author's words was the miserable fate of the people of God at the time of his writing. We read in Malachi i. 2, — " I love you, saith the Lord, yet ye say, wherein dost thou love us ? " "God loves us not, although we are worthy of His love," — that is the reproach against God, which the Prophet exposes at the very beginning ; and which we may therefore judge to have been a kind of watchword at the time. The translation of the Vulgate — " nescit homo, utrum amore an odio dignus sit," has quite missed the right sense. Complaints were raised that he who was worthy of the divine love did not experience it in God's leadings. Man, that is, in accordance with what precedes, more precisely, " the wise and righteous man : " a similar usage is found in Psalm xxxvi. 8, where the connection shows that by the children of men, we are to understand, the citizens of the kingdom of God. All things are before them, that is, may happen to them : the righteous man is not as- sured against anything. J. D. Michaelis remarks, "All things have they before them, that is, there is the same probability that a man will be loved as that he will be hated, that in prosperity he wiU experience proofs of God's grace, or in ad- versity pioofs of his disfavour. The one experience is as easy to be conceived as the other." CHAPTER IX. 1-10. 209 Ver. 2. The expression — all things as to all — presents no difficulty when it is borne in mind that in ver. 1, " Man," is used instead of, the wise and righteous, by way of intimating his absolute dependence on the heavenly powers. " All things" (happen to the wise and righteous,) " as to all," that is, as to the rest : they have no peculiar fate, such as was promised to Israel, who, in the Books of Moses, is represented as being put under God's most special providence and care ; — they share the universal destiny. A commentary on this intentionally short and enigmatical saying is furnished by what follows. Knobel has a specific against the temptations and difficulties which assailed the author so teriibly, and with which believers of all times have to wage fierce warfare, namely, " we must distinguish between the physical and moral order of the world ; physical evils are experienced by all without exception ; the pious cannot evade them because of their morality, and yet they have not to endure the special punishments of immor- ality." But if we make the " physical" independent of God, and thus strip God of his ti-ue Godhead, and we ourselves at the same time fall into semi-atheism, the remedy is worse than the disease. Event or accident, is not set in opposition to the divine ordainment, but to independent action on the part of the righteous, (compare ii. 14, 15 ; iii. 19.) 31D is prefixed to iiriD with the design of showing that the terms " clean, vmclean," are to be taken not in the juridical or levit- ical sense, but in the moral sense. A sufficient evidence of this is, that elsewhere one only is set in opposition to the other : besides, 31D occurs again, to show that in the first in- stance it serves the purpose of explaining or defining more clearly that which follows. He that sweareth — (under certain circumstances, be it observed, a man may swear and yet not be what is meant by the designation " swearer,") refers here to one who swears in a frivolous manner. The words stand in renip.rkable parallelism to Matthew v. 34. To fear an oath, is to look upon it with holy awe, so that only in cases of tiecessity and at the command of love can we be induced to take one upon ourselves. It is evident from chap. viii. 2, that the author has no intention whatever of rejecting oaths altogether. Cartwright says, " notandum etiam adjunctum, quo describit improbum, nempe quod jurat, id est juramentis 210 CHAPTER IX. 1-10. iissuetus est. Ciijus igitur ori juramenta et nominis divini usurpatio familiaris et trita est, ilium improbum esse constat : contra etiam observandum est, pium non eum appellari, qni non jurat, sed qui a juramento sibi metuit." Ver. 3. Regarding things from the point of view of natural reason and in a rough matter of fact way, judging them by the vulgar empirical method which he afterwards rejects, the author goes on to say, " that is evil ;" — he thus " sins with his tongue," as it is said in Psalm xxxix. 2. Parallel is Psalm Ixxiii. 1 6, where in reference to the same fact it is said — "and I considered in order to know it: a pain was it in mine eyes." But the Psalmist speaks thus only until he comes to the sanctuaiy of God : then a light suddenly breaks in upon him such as the natural reason cannot supply. Cart- wright compares Malachi iii. 1 4, ff , where the Jews are intro- duced as complaining, that it is in vain to serve God, and as resting their charge on the fact that they who fear God are unhappy and the heathen are prosperous : his remarks are as follows — " certe, si vere judicare velimus, hac tam impia et blasphema voce Deum esse negant. Nam qui illi justitiam suam adimit, is Deum a mundo tollit, nee enim Deus est nisi Justus." The manner of the Scriptures is to let doubts and murmurings have free and full expression, and then to van- quish them in open conflict with the sword of faith. Scepti- cism and despair cannot possibly bring forward anything stronger than what we find in the Holy Scriptures. And, iu fact, this openness and candour in setting forth doubts is one of the best means of overcoming them. Knobel is of opinion that this verse shows " that Koheleth did not believe in im- mortality and in retribution after death ; for had he held such a faith he might easily have taught that the recompence that was not made here would be made on the other side the grave." He, however, who has surrendered this woild, has ceased to attach much importance to the world to come : if God's ways here cannot be justified, we shall not be able really and livingly to beheve in a future retribution. The author therefore takes exactly the right course, when he, as the representative of his tried and tempted contemporaries, fights and strives above all things with the scepticism which envelopes in darkness the ways of God in the present world. CHAPTER IX. 1-10. 211 Tins task accomplished, the future becomes plain and clear of itself The words — amidst all that is done under the sun, point out that so far from being exceptional it is the usual course of this world that all things should come alike to all. With the expression — " the heart of the children of men is full of evil" — compare chap. viii. 1 1 , according to which by the " children of men," we are to understand those who up to that point had striven after better things. Parallel also is Psalm Ixxiii. 10," therefore turns he, (namely, the wicked,) his people hither;" by his impunity from punishment and his pros- perity he induces others to leave the right way and to come over to his manner of thinking. It is a melancholy consider- ation that external sufferings only too easily exert a demoral- izing influence. And folly is in their heart : — their heart is filled with foolish thoughts about God's government of the world, and with foolish proposals to help themselves by wrong, when God leaves them in the lurch. On the word inns com- pare chap. vi. 12; vii. 1 4 : after that he, namely, the righteous, has been thus visited by evils which, though external, bring alas ! moral ones also in their train ; behind themselves, tliat is, after such a mode of existence. Ve7\ 4. For ivho is jweferred ? The reason is given for the words — " And after that to the dead :" for death is the lot of all mortals, and the righteous forms no exception to the rule : as Gesenius renders, " quis enim qui electus sit, i. e , moriendi sorte exemtus." As the vowels belong to the man ginal reading, and as the Pual does not elsewhere occur, it is better to point as for Niphal, which is frequently employed in the sense of " chosen out, preferred :" see, for example, Jeremiah viii. 3 The unnecessary Masoretic conjecture offered by the marginal reading is most simply explained by Pam- bach and others as follows, " qui adsocietur, v. adsociari velit sub mortuis." The words, "who is excepted " (from this sad lot ?) " are dictated by the feeling that the lot of death is a sad one, and the reason for such a view is assigned by the author when he affirms that "in all the living one may trust." The verb non is used in conjunction with ^x, to de- signate one in whom confidence is placed, in Psalm iv. 6, xxxi. 7. pnD3 is not " hope," but " confidence, abandonment," see Isaiah xxxvi. 4. Only the Hving are capable of doing 212 CHAPTER IX. 1-10. anything. To be no object of confidence is a miserable condition. On the words — " for the living dog," (or strictly, "as far as the living dog is concerned, so is he") " better than the dead lion," Cartwiight remarks — " hsec vox pecudis potius quam hominis dicenda est." Tliis ob- servation agrees with Psalm Ixxiii. 22, where the writer brings against himself the charge of having behaved like the cattle, when the prosperity of the ungodly exposed him to temptation. Nor indeed can it be otherwise : when God vanishes from the present world the future is changed into a dismal night of death, by whose darkness all are alike covered. Ver. 5. The advantage of the living over the dead consists in this, that the former have consciousness. This conscious- ness is here individualised, and one of the forms in which it expresses itself is used to describe the whole. The living have consciousness ; they know, for example, that they shall die, which in comparison with utter unconsciousness is un- questionably a good, however sad may be the object of know- ledge. Such is the language of natural reason, to whose eye a-ll seems dark and gloomy that lies beyond the present scene, because it fails in this world to discern the traces of divine retribvition. The Spirit says on the contrary : " the spirit returns to God who gave it." Neither have they any more a reward : that God should recompense them is impossible, in- asmuch as the righteous who are dead have no self-conscious personality. To what extent this is the case is indicated by the words — " for their memory is forgotten ;" so little power have they to make good a position for themselves, so entirely are they deprived of all means of expressing their life, so completely have they disappeared. Ver. (3. Alongside of the hatred which is condemned, there is one that is allowed, and not only alloived, but even com- manded (see Psalm xxxi. 7, and Revelations ii. 6). Hatred is indeed to be condemned, but still his condition must be regarded as a degraded one who is unable to hate. Ver. 7. The voice of the flesh is here oppose;! by the voice of the spirit. It is exactly so elsewhere ; as, for example, in Psalm xxxix, where the Psalmist first strives with God and impatiently demands of Him to know the end of his life and CHAPTER IX. 1-10. 213 sufferings, but afterwards rises up and casts down discontent and doubt, to the ground. Here also we might say that in verses 1-6 the author speaks as the representative of the then prevailing spirit of the people; not, however, as though he appropriated views that were utterly strange to his own mind, but such as he also himself in his hours of weakness had been compelled to sympathise with. Now, on the con- trary, the writer sets himself in God to oppose the popular views and feelings. Calvin's remarks on Psalm xlii. 6 hold good of this place also : " David represents himself to us as divided into two portions. So far as he rests by faith in God's promises, he rises in arms, with a spirit of unconquer- able valour, against the feelings and will of the flesh, and con- demns at the same time his own weak and yielding conduct." Here, just as there, it is the spirit which is strong in God that enters the lists against the " weaker vessel," the timid fearful soul, which in the book of Job is introduced under the personification of Job's wife. There is undoubtedly a refer- ence to individual men, but still it is the " man Judah " of Isaiah v. 3, who is, in the first instance, addressed. This is evident from the entire context, of which the sufferings of the people of God form the point of departure. Eat thy bread in joy and drink thy wine with a good heart. " Joy and good heart," stand in opposition to the gloomy discontent which led them formerly to say, " Every one that doeth evil is good in the eyes of the Lord, and he delighteth in them, or where is the God of judgment?" (Malachi ii. 17). The contrast to eating bread and drinking wine is presented in such passages as 1 Samuel i. 7, where it is said of Han- nah, " she wept and ate not ;" Psalm xlii. 4, " My tears are my meat day and night ;" Psalm Ixxx. G, " Thou feedest them with the bread of tears, and givest them tears to drink in gTeat measure," (" Bread of tears," signifies bread that con- sists of tears), and Psalm cii. 10, Job iii. 24. God hath plea- sure in thy ivorks, (nvn with the accusative means, " to have pleasvire in anything,") and, therefore, in His good time thou wilt see the reward which thou now missest, and " ye shall discern again the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not," (Malachi iii. 1 8). We have in this verse the dis- 214 CHAPTER IX. 1-10. tinct negation of verse 1. There, by a hasty conclusion drawn from the fact of the temporal sufferings of the righte- ous, it was affirmed that man does not at all know whether he has grace before God or not, whether he may or may not expect love from God. The great sting of temporal suffering is, that we very easily get to fancy that it will last for ever, and that it is apt to lead us into erroneous thoughts about God's grace. We can only overcome this temptation b}'- rising in faith above the present. In Psalm Ixxiii. 1 7, " till I come to the sanctuaries of God, then will I look on their end." The thing first mentioned stands to the second in the relation of cause to effect. Having entered into the sanctuary of God, the Psalmist sees that the prosperity of the wicked and the sufferings of the righteous are only transi- tory, and thus he attains to an unbounded confidence in God's help and redemption. A real, if not a verbal, parallel to the T^ords, " God has pleasure in thy works," may be found in the commencement of Psalm Ixxiii: " only good is God to Israel, to those who are of a pure heart." God is good, and not evil as the righteous may well fancy when they are plagued continually, when they are chastened every morning, whilst the wicked live in prosperity. Luther remarks on the verse, " He means to say something like this — thou livest in the world where there is nothing without that, for there is much sorrow, heart suffering, misery, there is death and much vanity : make use then of life with love, and do not make thine own life sour and hard with anxious and fruitless cares. Solomon says what he says not to the secure and godless children of the world, but to such as truly fear God and believe. These he comforts, and would fain see them comfort themselves and rejoice in God. To them he gives the exhortation, to be glad ; he does not bid those to drink wine and eat, etc., who were beforehand too secure, and being god- less and lost, spent their lives in indolence and debauchery." Ver. 8. Let thy garments be ahvays white. White is in Scripture the colour of serene splendour symbolically shadow- ing forth glory: (compare my Commentary on Revelations iv. 4.) The Angel of Mark xvi. 5 appears in white clothes, as a sign that the rank of the angels is the same as that of the "saints," who are the glorious. The clothes of Christ be- CHAPTER IX. 1-10. 215 came white in His transfiguration, (Matthew xvii. 2, Mark ix. 8, Luke ix. 29.) White clothes are borne by the glorified in Revelations iii. 4, 5, vii. 9, as a symbol of glory. In this place white clothes were to be put on to express the confident hope of the future glory of the peoide of God. Spener, in testimony of his hope of a better future for the Church, caused himself to be buried in a white cofiin. The adoption of white clothes signifies here the anticipation of the future victory of the people of God. Analogpus is Revelations vi. 1 1, where in answer to their prayer, which could not yet be per- fectly fulfilled, each of the slaughtered receives provisionally a white garment. Tliere also the white garment has an anticipatory significance. Hand in hand with the white garment goes the oil on the head. This oil is the "oil of joy" mentioned in Psalm xlv. 8, and in Isaiah Ixi. 3. In joyful circumstances, on festive occasions men were accustomed to anoint themselves: such oil was an embodiment of festive joy, on which account the oil of gladness is opposed to sadness in Isaiah Ixi. 3. The true members of the people of God ought always to be in a festive, joyous mood, inasmuch as they rise by faith above the gloomy present to the glorious future awaiting them. Ver. 9. Look upon life, which is as much as to say, be happjr, in that thou turnest away thine eye from the sad present and fixest it on the glorious future, and in that thou enjoy est those little pleasures which God offers thee in the midst of this vain existence, and which thou niayest not sour and embitter by cares and vexatious questions. The woman appears here not as the source, but as the companion of joy; and the words, "with the woman whom thou lovest," may to a certain extent be regarded as a parenthesis, nji'x before |n3 refers to the days of life, (chap. vi. 17.) The connection is the following, "look upon life ... all the days of thy vain life, which He giveth thee under the sun, all the days of thy vain life." By the repetition of the last words we are expressly taught that, in the midst of the vanity and travail with which human existence is burdened (Genesis iii.), we are pressingly summoned not to seal up the sources of enjoyment which still remain open to us. t^in, "this," namely, to see life, to be pleased. 216 CHAPTEE IX. 1-10. Ver. 10. Despair carries with it the danger of a sluggisli inactivity. Against this, men are here warned. Luther remarks, "an admonition to the lazy. For when they see that so much pains and toil are lost, they are minded to do nothing but to let everything stand quite still." As to sub- stance, Hebrews xii. 12 presents a parallel, where to the severely tried and tempted it is said, dih rag '7rapsi,u.img %f//5ag zai TO, TapuXiXufisva yovara avopduiffars. "Sluggish hands" are ascribed to the suffering even in Job iv. 3, and Isaiah xxxv. 3. The saying, "my hand finds something," signifies, "I am capable of something," "I am in a position for something," "I have opportunity for something:" (compare Judges ix. 33, 1 Samuel x. 7, xxv. 8.) According to the accents, and the sense, inan belongs not to riB'y, but to what goes before. The duty of doing all that it is in any way possible to do is based, in the second part of the verse, on the consideration that what is here left undone never is done, that the tasks appointed by God for this life which are here unaccomplished remain vm- accomplished, and that the gifts and powers lent for this life should be used in this life. For there is no ivork, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisilom, in the hell whither thou goest : — it is not so in the intermediate kingdom, nor is it so in the kingdom of glory, (1 Corinthians xiii. 8). There are forms of knowledge and work which belong only to the present life, and he who does not empioy them, has buried his talent in the earth, and thus committed a heavy sin,-^a sin, the con- sequences of which will stretch into eternity. Even Jerome compares the saying of our Lord in John ix. 4, sfih di7 spyd^isdat rd ipya rov -Tri/jj-^avTog //,£ sag 7]fj,spa sfftlv ipyjrai vu^, oTs oudsig dumrai lpydti6^a.i. That there is a reference to the verse now under notice, can scarcely be called in question. It begins at once with the words "for no work" Even Liicke, although this passage was not in his mind, felt that the Lord made partial use of an already existing expression. "Day and night mark the fixed and bounded time of the earthly career of the earthly activity of our Lord." Feeling that death shortly awaited Him, Christ says, "there comes for me the night, when, as it is said, no man can work." What Jesus spake, alluding to the present verse, holds good for all believers. CHAPTER IX. 11, 12. 217 VERSES 11, 12. WTien the position of the people of God is a sad one, whilst on the contrary, the world triumphs, what we should do is to bear in mind that the destinies of men are decided in heaven, that their fortunes are not determined according to might, or according to weakness, and that a sudden catastrophe often lays low that which was highly exalted To have God as our friend is the main thing; all depends at last on that; and that alone decides. Ver. 11. I returned and saiu under the sun that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the heroes, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill : but time and chance happen- eth to them all. Ver. 12. For man also knoweth not his time, as the fishes that are fallen in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in a snare: like them are the children of men snared at the time of misfortune, when it falleth sud- denly upon therti. Ver. 11. The words, I returned and saiu under the sun, indicate that the writer takes up again the consideration of sublunary things, which had been interrupted, and turns his attention to a new subject. Compare iv. 1, 7. In the two passages just quoted nxnsi is used ; here we find the Infini- tive, which is more accurately defined by the verb, finit. which precedes. After the words, imder the sun, we must mentally add, " and indeed I saw." The point of departure here, also, is the tribulation of the people of God, but considered from a new point of view. The race is not to the siuift, for they may be hindered by something or other, — sometimes even by the very slightest obstacle, so that the less swift shall arrive sooner than they. Nor the battle to the heroes. This same view, which Rationalism looks upon as " fatalistic," (Knobel) David gave utterance to in the presence of Goliath, himself furnishino- a livincr illustration of the affirmation of the text. See 1 Samuel xvii. 47, "the battle is the Lord's, and he gives you into our hands:" fui-ther also, Psalm xxxii. 16, 17, "the Iving is not saved by his great hosts, a hero is not delivered 218 CHAPTER IX. 11, 12. by much strength. A horse is a vain thing for safety, neither doth he deliver by his great strength." Jahaziel the Prophet says in 2 Chronicles xx. 15, "Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God's." The point of view in these passages, (compare besides Jeremiah xlvi. 6, where speaking against Egypt the Prophet says — " the swift will not escape, nor the hero be delivered:" Proverbs xxi. 80, 31), as well as in the one we are now illustrating is that of consolation: if it de- pended on human strength the people of God must succumb. "Favour" means much the same as "preference, popularity." In connection with the words, for time and chance luq^peneth to them all, whose import is, " they all are subject to the in- fluence of time and chance," compare Psalm xxxi. 16, "my times are in thy hand, deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from my persecutors." That the fates of the Psalmist, as indeed of all men, are in God's hand, is repre- sented there as the ground of their hope of deliverance, as the light in the dark night of adversity. Chance here is not to to be regarded as a power alongside of and opposed to God : chance is that which happens to man withc)ut his co-operation, and the idea of the verse is that of Romans ix. 16 — apa, GUI' ou rou dsXovTog, ovBi tou rp's^ovTog, dXXa rou iXsouvrog 0£o-j* If everything depends on time and chance, we ought not to de- spair in view of the seeming omnipotence of the world, sup- posing God to be our friend. For to the friends of God belongs the future. All things human, let them be as proud and splendid as they may, let them boast and be puffed up as they may, are but loose chaff, which the wind of divine judgments will sweep away. Ver. 12. The general assertion, that everything mighty and distinguished is subject to chance, is gTounded on the particular fact which is here brought specially under notice, *the fact, namely, that no man is able to escape a catastrophe coming over him. In the backgTOund stands the thought — • the Persian also in his time will fall under such a catastro- phe, and in fact the powers of this tvorld generally : their apparent omnipotence will not deliver them. When Alex- ander came, the seal of divine confirmation was set to this declaration. According to the context, the " time " of man CHAPTER IX. 13-18. 219 must mean here, the time of his downM : elsewhere "day" is used in the same sense (Job xviii. 20). Man's ignorance of his time is brought here under consideration so far as it is determined by a power standing absohitely above him. Trap or snare is quite a common image of the divine judgments : Net is used for this purpose in Hosea vii. 12, "I will spread out my net over them ;" in Ezekiel xii. 1 3, " and I spread out my net over him, and he is taken in my snare ;" Ezekiel xxxii. 3, " and I spread over thee (Pharoah) my net in the assembly of many peoples, and they draw thee up with my snare." With regard to tj'pv the part. Pual compare Ewald, § 169 d. VERSES 13-18. * In the midst of all their misery one high prerogative has remained to the people of God, to' wit, wisdom, which is a nobler possession than the streng-th in which the world temporarily rejoices. That this wisdom is despised because it is in the form of a servant, detracts nothing at all from its wortli. "Were its voice only heard it would exert a wholesome and preservative influence even on the heathen world ; it would become a salt to it ; whereas now the heathen states being under the rule and direction of folly huriy unrestrainably to ruin. In the background, however, stands the conviction that the nation which possesses wisdom must of necessity in due season rise again to supremacy. In A^erses 13-15 a parable is set before us : in ver. 1 6 we have its interpretation. In verses 17-18 the thought is carried out into further detail. Ver. 1 3. This also saw I as wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great unto me : Ver. 14. J. little city and feiu men within it, and there came a great king against it and he- sieged it, and built great bulwarks against it. Ver. 15. And he found therein a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city, yet no man thought of this same poor man. Ver. 16. And I said. Wisdom is better than strength, nevertheless the wisdom of the poor man is despised and his words are not hectrd. Ver. 1 7. The words of the xvise heard in quiet are better than the cry of him that ruleth among 2lO chapter IX. 13-18. fools. Ver. 18. Better is wisdom than weapons of war; and one sinner destroyeth much good. Ver. 13. Even Luther and Mercerus saw that in verses 13-15 a parable is presented to us, and not an historical oc- currence. The poor man with his delivering wisdom is an image of Israel. The words, " this also saw I," as well as those just noticed, " I returned and saw ;" (ver. 1 1) introduce a new subject of consideration. It is not allowable to explain the words, " this also," as if they signified, " along with other evidences of wisdom which occur in the world," for no allu- sion has been previously made to such exhibitions of wisdom. Nor may we adopt the rendering — " this also saw I, (namely) wisdom under the sun ;" for the closing words describe the sphere of vision generally. The best explanation is rather the one given in the text, namely, "this also saw I as wisdom." n03n thus defines more closely the quality of that which, along with other things, he saw ; and the meaning would be, " this also saw I under the sun, — a wisdom which seemed to me great." Luther remarks, " he calls it here a great wisdom, for it is in truth a great wisdom, to deliver a little and poor city possessed of few resources from great and powerful enemies." Ver. 14. "I'l^O from IIV signifies in chap. vii. 26, (mi^O in chap. ix. 1 2,) " the implement of hunting, of snaring, the net ;" here it is used of " siege- works." Ver. 1 5. The subject of NVQ is, the Great King : Rambach remarks, " contra omnem opinionem expertus est." Ver. 16. This verse contains the practical application of the parable. On the words, And his words are not heard, Hitzig remarks, " In this particular case they had, it is true, not despised his wisdom, and they had listened to his words. But it was an exceptional case, necessity drove them thereto, and afterwards they forgot him." Cartwright says, " viri humilis conditionis sapientia, tametsi splendeat maxime, tamen pauperi..te tanquam nube interjecta ita obfuscatur, ut levi temporis momento omnium oculos a se aversos habens mem- oria excidat." Ver. 17. Attention is called, on the very face, to the close connection between this verse and the last, by the catchword D''J?»t:'j. The author's great aim throughout this whole con- nection being to console, he could not possibly rest satisfied CHAPTER IX. 1 3-1 8, 221 with the Httle consolatory matter advanced in ver. 1 6. More- over, the close connection referred to is required by the paral- lel passages, which allude to wisdom as the jewel still remain- ing to the people of God, and as the pledge of a joyful ter- mination of their present experiences. Heard in quiet : — that is the condition of their wholesome influence. Israel would have proved a salt to the heathen world if ear had only been given to the voice of wisdom dwelling in his midst. Hitzig remarks justly, that "the quiet hearing of words, promises their fulfilment, a thing which is here implied." In opposition to the passive state of quietly listening to the words of wisdom is set the activity developed in our own crying. He that ruletli among fools, namely, the world-monarch, is himself to be con- ceived as a fool. This is shown by his conduct in vehemently crying instead of calmly listening. Compare Isaiah xlii. 2, where it is said of the servant of God, " he shall not cry, nor call, nor cause his voice to be heard in the streets," in contrast to the clamorous and passionate conduct of a worldly con- queror, who thinks of nothing but carrying through his own win, and who blusters and rages when he meets with opposi- tion. Ver. 18. That tvisdom is better than vjeapons of ivar, would show itself in the example of the powers of the world, if they only lent an ear to its voice, and it wiU one day be proved in the experience of the nation whose privilege it is to possess wisdom, in that day when, notwithstanding its defence- less impotence, it is raised to universal dominion. One sinner, for example, the heathen world-monarch, destroyeth much good ; n^iD is not good in the moral sense, but " possession, property, prosperity," as in chap. v. 10-17 ; vi. 6. The truth of this assertion was first made clear in the wretched decline and sudden downfal of the Persian Empire. CHAPTER X. 1-3. Resuming the subject touched upon in the second half of chap. ix. 19, the writer cheers the people of God, gi-oaning under the tyranny of the world, by directing attention to the fact that their enemies, (in the fii'st instance the Persians,) 222 CHAPTER X. 1-3. were given up to folly and its destructive influences. Wliere folly rules, destruction cannot be far off, as it is said, " thou didst hide their heart from understanding, therefore shalt thou not suffer them to remain exalted," (Job xvii. 4.) Ver. 1. Dead flies cause through ijutrefaction, the cil of the perfumer to stink : the glorious in ivisdora and honour, a little folly. Ver. 2. A wise mans heart is at his right hand and a fool's heart is at his left. Ver. 3. Yea also in the way ivhich he goes is his heart lacking, and he saith of every one, he is foolish. Ver. 1. Not without significance is it said, " Flies of death," and not " dead flies," although these are meant. The effect described is not produced by flies as such ; but is so entirely connected with death, that instead of flies any other dead thing might have been mentioned. " Dead flies," are only specified because they find their way first of all to the salve pot, and because the author wished to addvice some small thing. Physical death is the more prominently referred to as its correspondent, in spiiitual things, is folly. The employ- ment of the singular of the verb C'^sn^ calls special attention to it. When special emphasis is meant to be laid on the second word in the stat. constr., the verb is accommodated to it. That the singular depends on mo was recognised even by Symmachus, /j^viuv Mvarog er^^n 'iXaiov svuiBsg [ivpz-^oZ. The oil of the perfumer is mentioned as being a costly, noble sub- stance, yia'' is added subsidiarily, for the purpose of indicating more distinctly the cause : " in that they cause to putrify," in consequence of the process of putrification which they com- mence. But that it serves only a subsidiary purpose is evi- dent, because ^>^y^ does not suit any but the second clause. "To make to stink," is used elsewhere for "to make con- temptible" in Genesis xxxiv. 30, (compare Exodus v. 21,) and in this sense it is to be repeated in the second clause, np^ signifies originally " dear, costly," and then " excellent," glor- ious, noble." Compare Jeremiah xv. 19, where idi "excel- lent" is opposed to ^^if " contemptible ;" and Lamentations iv, 2, " the sons of Zion, the glorious," (Psalm xlv. 1 0 ; Proverbs iii. 15 ; vi. 2G.) |o is used here causatively. At its com- mencement under Cyrus, the Persian kingdom was glorious in wisdom and honour : its praises were sounded not only by the CHAPTER X. 1-3. 223 profane, but also by the sacred writers. Geier remarks with regard to the two terms " wisdom and honour," " duo hsec vocabula duplicempretii causam indicant, sapientiauiethonerem, i. e., partim internani culturam partim externam hominum existimationem opes aut felicitatem gloriosam." A little folly : that is, folly which is little in proportion to the entire system and edifice of which it proves the ruin. Corresponding to the active cause here, namely, " the little folly," stands that which is acted upon, namely, "the much good" in chap. ix. 18. In the New Testament also the leaven is called little, not in rela- tion to a greater quantity thereof, but to the whole mass (oAoy pipa/xa :) see the parallel passages 1 Cor. v. 6 ; Galatians v. 9 Folly, sin, is so little and insignificant that on a supei-ficial consideration it is scarcely noticed, or at all events, is looked upon only as a bagatelle, a peccadillo. Yer. 2. The right hand being "the principal one, the dearest, the strongest hand, with which we chiefly grasp, work, wield our weapons, and so forth," we say of that which is as it ought to be, that it is at the right, whilst of things that are no longer in their normal state, we say that they are at the left. A comparison has rightly been instituted between this expression and our saying, "his heart is in the right place." Attention is drawn to the heart here, so far as in it are the roots of the understanding, which is always deter- mined and guided by inclination. Ver. 3. On the way which he goes, in his actions. When the heart has taken a perverse turn, the hands are unable to lay hold of anything rightly. He saith of every one, he is foolish. By a strange confusion of places, he speaks thus especially of those on whom God has bestowed the gift and privilege of wisdom. Hitzig says, "Himself he dare not hold for a fool: for therein would lie some truth, and a begixming of understanding: would have been made." CHAPTER X. 4. In the difficult circumstances in which they are placed, the people of God should be on their guard against irritahility, which would inevitably tend to increase their sufferings: and 224< CHAPTER X. 4. further, they should carefully guard that precious treasure of calmness of soul which is his portion who sees the hand of God in everything, even in that which is hardest to bear, and resigns himself patiently and humbly to the Divine Avill. Ver. 4. If the s]jirit of the ruler rise up against thee, leave not thy place, for yielding pacifieth great offence. The spirit of the ruler, to wit, of the foolish one, (chap. ix. 17, X. 1-3,) of the sinner, (chap. ix. 18.) Hitzig remarks, "the ruler here is one who, when angered, is capable of com- mitting great offences" against thee. The author addresses the covenant people, against whom the minds of the heathen rulers were greatly irritated, because they had got wind of the pretensions made by them to the privilege of wisdom, and to the future possession of the throne of the world. What the p)lace is for the people of God, is plain from the yielding, from the retiring gentleness, mentioned in the second clause, which is exclusively found amongst those who commit their cause to God. Through it Jacob overcame Esau, and David Saul, (1 Samuel xxvi.) The contrast to xdid is in Proverbs xiv. 80, r\\ii.^\> "anger, passion." Great sins, into which a pas- sionate tyrant inevitably falls, when he meets with resistance. To rage against the people of God is a great sin. Cartwright says, "hsec igitur animi submissio et patientia turbulentissimas perturbationum et animi motuum tempestates serenat tumidissimos et maxime inflatos affectuum fluctus tranquillat, et ex leone agnum reddit. Quamobrem connitendum, ut hac virtute imbuamur, qua cum deo, turn hominibus placeamus, etiam his, qui a pietate et humanitate procul remoti sunt." CHAPTER X. 5-10. Tlie humiliation of the people of God, and the triumph of the world, is a heavy stone of stumbling. But in His own good time God will remove this offence out of the way : those who have used violence will meet with recompence: and it is the less possible that they should escape ruin as they are utterly destitute of the corrective and preservative element of wisdom. Ver. 5. There is an evil luhich I saiv under the sun, as an error wldch proceedeth from the' ruler : Ver. 6. Folly ivas set CHAPTER X. 5-10. 225 on great heights, and the rich sit in low place. Ver. 7. / saw servants on horses and princes walking on foot as ser- vants. Ver. 8. He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it : and whoso hreaketh through a wall, a serj^ent shall bite him. Ver. 9. Whoso looseneth stones shall be hurt therewith, and he that cleaveth wood shall be injured thereby. Ver. 1 0. // the iron has become blunt, and he has not whetted the edge, he must put to more strength, and roisdom has the advantage of amendment. Ver. 5. The Ruler, absolutely is the heavenly one, even as in chap. v. 8, and chap. viii. 2, 4, the king is the heavenly king. Of the heavenly ruler, D''^tr is used in Daniel iv. 23, v. 21, also. The correct view is given by Jerome as communi- cated to him by the Jew of whose assistance h^ availed him- self, "Hebroeus potentem et principem a cujus facie, ignoratio videatur egredi, Deum exposuit, quod putent homines in hac insequalitate rerum ilium non juste et ut sequum est judicare." The n before nii^ is of great importance. It is not really an "error," it only has the seeming of one; it bears this appearance only to those superficial minds whose eyes are fastened on the present, and which are unable to survey the whole and take the end into view. Ver. 6. This verse sets before us "the evil," the apparent "fault" in providence. The matter treated of is the downfall of the people of God. According to what precedes, the "folly" spoken of must be that of the heathens, especially that of the Persians. By the "rich" we cannot understand such as are now actually so, for then they would not be sitting in a low place, but such as by right should be so. According to the divine destination, Israel was a rich people. To him the promise had been given, "there shall be no poor among you — (jVas forms a strict contrast to the word tik^j/ employed here) — ^for the Lord will bless thee," (Deuteronomy xv. 4 :) and further, "thou shalt lend unto many nations, and shalt borrow from no one; thou shalt reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over thee," (Deuteronomy xv. 6, xxviii. 11.) The prosperity meant for the Israelites was prefigured in the opulence which, through the divine blessing, was enjoyed by their forefathers, who walked in God's ways: compare Genesis xiii. 2. "And Abraham was very rich in cattle, in silver, and P 226 CHAPTER X 5-10. gold." It is true that the promise given in the law rested on the expressly specified condition of faithfulness in fulfilling the divine commands ; and failure therein must of course lead to suspension of the promise. But still the promise might not be for ever revoked; and because this seemed to be the case, it looked as if there were a fault in the divine government. This appearance is done away with by what follows. In connection with ^D'k^n compare verse 23 of Psalm cxxxvi. which was written during the dominion of the Persians, "who remembered us in our low estate, UPDirn." ?S^' is only used in these two passages. Ver. 7. A world turned upside down : Servants ride and masters wallc. Servants, — such, by right and l^y God's appointment, were the heathen ; for Israel was called to uni- versal dominion : him were the nations meant to obey, (Genesis xlix. 10.) The Jews were a kingdom of priests, (Exodus xix. 6 ;) before them their enemies would be com- pelled to play the hypocrite, and they should tread on their high places, (Deut. xxxiii. 29 ;) through them all nations were to be blessed, and as the dispensers of blessing, the latter must by consequence take up towards them the position of depend- ent petitioners, (Isaiah xhv. 5 ; xlv. 1 4.) " Thou shalt be above only and thou shalt not be beneath," (Deuteronomy xxviii. 13-43 :) So ought it to be according to their tiiie idea, and so must it some time really be : compare Daniel vii. 27, " and the kingdom and the dominion, and the power over the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High :" compare also Isaiah Ixi. 5, " and strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your ploughmen and your vine-dressers." And so in fact it is now as to the essential features : in Christ and His Church Israel has attained to dominion over the world. At the time, however, when the author wrote, the idea and the reality stood in most glaring contrast to each other. "We are servants," it is said in Ezra ix. 9. In Lamentations v. 8, exactly as here, those are styled servants who by right should be such, although they actually are not — " servants rule over us and there is none that delivereth out of their hand," on which Ch. B. Michaelis remarks, " qui nobis potius si pii fuissemus servire debuissent, Deut. xxviii. 48. CHAPTER X. 5-10. 227 Princes : that is, by right and according to God. The pas- sage of chief authority on this point is Lamentations i. 1 where Israel is called "the princess over the provinces." Ver. 8. Tlie writer now proceeds to advance considerations which may prove a consolation in such abnormal circum- stances. But whoso diggeth a ditch (|*aiJ is a pure Aramaic word) shall fall into it. It was the custom to dig ditches, which were covered with branches of trees, in order to catch lions and other wild beasts, and it might come to pass that a man should fall unwittingly into the ditch which he himself had dug. That which may happen in the external sense, does always and inevitaljly happen when any one digs a ditch in the moral sense. He who prepares mischief for his neighbour v/ill himself be overtaken by ruin : the conquering kingdoms of this world prepare their own downfall by that which they do to others ; but above all do they expose themselves to inevi- table divine vengeance who deal unfairly by the people of God. That is a sweet consolation for those who suffer wrong. Passages of greatest weight in relation to this mat- ter are Psalm vii 16, 17, "he hath made a pit and digged it, but he falleth into the ditch which he maketh. His mischief returns on his own head, and his wrong cometh down on his own pate." Psalm Ivii. 7, " A net have they prepared for my steps, they bent my soul, they digged before me a ditch, they fell into it themselves," (compare besides Proverbs xxvi. 27, Sirach xxvii. 29). Whoso hreaketh through a wall, a serpent shall bite him. Serpents often lurked in walls (Amos v. 1 9). He therefore who breaks through a common wall may easily get bitten by a serpent. That which happens sometimes physi- cally, takes place always morally. He who breaks through a wall in the moral world, he who makes attacks on the property of his neighbour, is bitten by the serpent of divine righteousness, so certainly as that God has spoken, "thou shalt not remove thy neighbour's landmarks " (Deuteronomy xix. 14), and "cursed is he who removes his neighbour's landmarks" (Deuteronomy xxvii. 17). The snake is used as an image of divine judgment also in Amos ix. 3. "ilJ and nmj designate in particular the walls built to protect vine- yards and other property. Ver. 9. Whoso looseneth stones (compare D''33X yon "to 228 CHAPTER X. 5-10. break stones loose" in 1 Kings v. 31) shall he hurt therewith (LXX., hia-TTovSyisirai h ahroTg^ tvhoso cleaveth tvood shall he in- jured thereby, *3p in the Chaldee, "periculo se exposuit," in Hithpael, "in periculo versari," connected with pD» "poor" in chap. iv. 13, ix. 15, 16 ; with m:3Da "poverty," in Deuter- onomy viii. 9 ; and with pDD " impoverished " in Isaiah xl. 20. In common life one may easily receive injuries whilst engaged in occupations requiring violent exertion. But he will inevitably receive injury who in the moral sphere carries on occupations involving violence, who does works, which in respect of force resemble the breaking of stones, and the splitting of wood. Vev. 10. The misery of the heathen world is that it does not possess in wisdom a corrective, that, in fact, it has no- thing on which the iron of their understanding may be whetted when its edge has become duU. In this respect the people of God has an infinite advantage over it. Whoso possesses such a corrective must be exalted, however deeply he may have sunk : he who possesses it not, must perish, to whatever height he may have risen. When the iron has hecome dull, nnp is only another mode of writing nna. Piel, however, is used there undeniably in an intransitive sense : and that the iron must be the subject here is clear from what follows : " and he," to wit, he whom it concerns, the owner of the hatchet ; whereas this could not well be if this owner did not already form the subject to r\r\p. D'':a signifies first "face" then "edge :" so in Ezekiel xxi. 21. \h\> " to be light," in the Pilp. form, " to make light," then " to sharpen ;" for this latter meaning we need adduce no examples, seeing that " to sharpen " is simply " to make light." D''^*n occurs elsewhere also in the sense of " powers ;" and "i23 in that of " to strengthen," (Zechariah x. 6, 1 2). He puts to, applies, more strength, but without attaining a satisfactory result. This holds good both of the physical and the spiritual sphere. The verb -lt^'D is used in the sense of " to be right " in Esther viii. 5 ; the substantive p-^B'a in that of " capacity, ability," in chap. ii. 21, iv. 4 of this book. On this ground we are justified in attaching to the word T'jj'an here, the meaning, " to make right, to amend, to correct," — a meaning, moreover, which suits the connection admirably. Others have adopted CHAPTER X. 11-20. 229 the less appropriate explanation, " ea est sapientise prsestantia, ut prosperum eventum consiliis suorum spondeat," appealing to the fact that '■\^:2 occurs in the sense of " prosper " in chap, xi. 6, and p-iK^a in that of " gain, advantage " in chap. v. 1 0. CHAPTER X. 11-20. In order to quicken in the minds of his fellow-countrymen the hope of an imminent termination of the rule of their tyrants, the author points out that their character is such as to render it impossible for them to continue long their present courses. Of that character wickedness and folly are funda- mental features, (ver. 11-15.) The king and his nobles are given up to drunkenness and debauchery, (ver. 16, 17.) The system of state is utterly destitute of moral vigour : speedy ruin is promised by the prevailing rottenness and sensual- ity, and by the omnipotence of gold, (ver. 18, 19.) In ver. 20, the author indicates the reason why, when treating of the events and relations of his time, he limits himself to gentle and enigmatical hints — a character which for the sake of clearness we have not kept up in our exposition of the con- tents of the book. Ver. 11. If the snake bites luithoid enchantment, so has the man of an evil tongue no advantage. Ver. 12. The words of a wise mans mouth are gracious, and the lips of the fool swallo'W up himself. Ver. 1 3. The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness, and the end^ of his mouth mischievous m^adness. Ver. 14. And the fool maketh many words ; man knoiueth not what shall be, and what will hap- pen after him, who could tell it ? Ver. 1 3. The labour of the fool wearieth him, because he knoweth not how to go to the city. Ver. 16. Woe to thee, 0 Land, tvhose king is a child, and whose princes eat in the morning. Ver. 1 7. Blessed art thou, 0 Land, whose king is a son of the noble, and whose princes eat in due season, for strength and not for gluttony. Ver. 18. Through great rottenness sinketh the beam, and through idleness of the hands drippeth the house. Ver. 1 9. Eating change they into laughter, and wine maketh glad the living, and money ansivereth all thiiigs. Ver, 20. Even in 230 . CHAPTER X. 11-20. tliy closet curse not the king, and in thy bed-chamher curse not the rich, for the birds of heaven carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter. Ver. 1 1 . When suftering under the evil tongue of the heathen, Israel is exhorted to look to the divine retribution, which will come not only on the works of the hands, but also on the works of the tongue, (Matthew xii. 36, 37.) He will thus see that the man who is sinned against with the tongue is in a better case than the man who sins with his tongue. The snake is here the sjoiritual snake, to wit, the man whose poisonous wickedness causes him to resemble the snake. In the New Testament the wicked pharisees are styled of£/;, ymriiMara i-x^ihujv. To the snake corresponds, in the second clause, the "owner of the tongue." Without enchantment ; this is never applied when it is foreseen that it will he fruitless. To enchantment, in the case of ordinary snakes, correspond supplicative prayers in the case of spiritual snakes. The main passage on this point is Psalm Iviii. 5,6: " Poison have they (the wicked) like the poison of snakes : like a deaf adder stoppeth he his ear. Which hearkeneth not to the voice of the charmer, of the enchanter, who can enchant well." The commentary to the words has no advantage is supplied by the declaration of ver. 1 2, " the lips of the fool swallow up him- self," and by that of ver. 8, " he that diggeth a ditch shall fall into it." The connection, referring as it does to serpents, defines the tongue, more precisely, to be the evil poisonous tongue. Psalm cxl. 12, supplied the foundation for the ex- pression, "the possessor of the tongue ;" — "the man of the tongue will not prosper in the land." The man of the tongue, is put there in contrast to the man of wicked and violent deeds. In ver. 3 of the same Psalm we read, " they sharpen their tongue like the serpent ; adder's poison is under their lips :" and this passage, along with Psalm Iviii, serves as a commentary on the figurative description of enemies as snakes. Ver. 1 2. jn is the grace that wins favour. Compare Pro- verbs xxii. 11," He that loveth pureness of heart, for the grace of his lips, the king is his friend." Psalm xlv. 2, " grace was poured out over thy lips." Luke ii. 52 ; iv. 22, " and all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words, (j-rri roTg Xoyoig 7r,g p^a^/roj,) whicb proceeded out of his mouth." La CHAPTER X. 11 --20. 231 Christ was fully verified the sajdng, " the words of the wise, that is, of the true Israelites, are giace :" by his grace, in which each of his servants participates, he draws the whole heathen world to himself The lips are used to represent speech, discourse, in the second clause. Tlie lips of the fool, of the heathen in his natural condition, and specially of the heathen tyrant and dominant nation, swallow them up, because they set them at emnity with God and man. Their thought was to swallow up others, to destroy others by their mischie- vous discourse : (compare Psalm v. 1 0, " their throat is an open sepulchre:") but instead of swallowing up others they swallow up themselves. Compare Proverbs xviil 7, " A fool's mouth prepares him horror, and his lips are a snare to his soul ;" and Psalm Ixiv. 9, " and they are cast down, over them Cometh their own tongue," so far, namely, as it draws upon them the punishment and judgment of God. Ver. 13. In the proportion in which we bring before our minds the entire extent of the foolishness of our enemy, in that proportion will our hope of final victory be lively. Such as are every inch fools cannot be far from ruin. The end of his mouth, which Hitzig rightly explains, " the end which his mouth makes with its discoursings." Mischievous madness, that is, madness which is hurtful first to others, but afterwards also to himself, so certainly as there is a divine retributioiL He is not a good-natured, harmless, but a mischievous, fooL Ver. 14. And the fool maketh many words : — words such as those of which James speaks in chap. iv. 1 3, of his Epistle, (compare also Luke xii. 18-20,) to wit, plans for the future, what he will then do, how he will live in splendour and merriness, how he will spread himself out in aU directions and humble all his foes. That this is the more precise import of the words is evident from what follows. It is, fui-thermore, of the nature of the " fool," to talk of such matters ; this therefore by itself would justify the explanation given. To all the high flying thoughts and proud words of the Persian the be was all at once given on the appearance of Alexander. That event proved the author of this book to be a wise man. Ver. 15. True religion aflbrds fine culture. Even Moses described the people of God as, by divine grace, the wisest among the nations, (Deuteronomy iv.,) and the heathen as a 232 , CHAPTER X. 11-20. foolish people, (Dent, xxxii.) That which in Genesis xlix. 21, is spoken primarily of Naphtali — " he giveth goodly words" • — is but an individualization, and holds good substantially oj entire Israel. The Persians appeared as coarse barbarians in comparison with the people of God : and it was impossible that the supreme power should remain long in the hands of such blunderers. Where the mind, the spirit is, there in the long run must be the authority. The work of the fool wearies Jiim ; and for the simple reason, that we can only carry on that business with pleasure and love, for which we have spiritual capacity, h'av is treated as a feminine for the sake of avoiding the violation of euphony which would be presented in the verb by the third masculine. Because he knoiveth not hotv to go to the city : compare Proverbs xiii. 16; xiv. 8, "the prudent man in his wisdom understandeth his way," and ver. 5, "the prudent man understandeth his step." Here,SLS ver. 3 shows, he cannot even find his way — he is at sea regarding it. The way into the city is specified, as being the most frequented. He who is unable to find that, must be sadly gnorant of the bearings of a district.* Ver. 16. Woe to thee, 0 Land, whose king is a child. Out of a prudent regard to his position and circumstances the author here uses indefinite and general language, (compare v. 20 :) at the same time it is clear enough from the context, (specially from ver. 3 9,) that he had in view the state of the Persian Empire. It is in reality as if he said — " Woe to thee, O Land of Persia, because thy kings are children ?" That -ij;3 refers, not to age, but to boyish childish character, is plain both from the context, (Geier says, " a stultitia absolute considerata pergit ad certam ejus speciem, ratione peculiaris subjecti, nempe in magistratu constituti ;") from the parallel passages here, and from the contrast drawn in ver. 1 7. In precisely the same manner is Rehoboam called "lyj in 2 Chronicles xiii. 7, although when he ascended the throne he was already forty- one years old : so also in Isaiah iii. 1 2, are bad rulers des- cribed as women and children, (compare further 1 Corinth. xiv. 20.) Not only had Xerxes a boyish character, but, * Rambach says, " Similitudo desumta est a viatore, qui ad urbem factiirus iter rectam ignorat viam atque proinde errabundus per avia et invia circa urbem vagatur." CHAPTER X. 11-20. 238 according to the Israelitish standard, according to the standard of God's law, even the better Persian rulers were more like boys than men. And whose jJrinces eat in the inorning, that is, at the time which ought to be devoted to serious and important business. Ver. 17. "A noble," not merely by birth, but in disposition and customs. The words for strength and not for drunken- ness, (or gluttony,) show clearly enough what the writer has in mind. He does not refer to invigoration, but to intemper- ate drinking, and the pleasures connected therewith. Ver. 1 8. Luther remarks — " he introduces a proverb, as if he meant to say, — in such a kingdom or land, where the great lords and mighty men seek their own profit, and the king is without sense, things go on as they do in the house of an idle man, who might frequently repair his roof and protect it against the weather for a penny, but lets the rain come through till at last the entire building is damaged. For where the master of a house is not industrious, always building and repairing, one damage is sure to foUow on the heels of another." The house is the edifice of state. Double rottenness, is great rottenness, as Kushan Rishataim, " double wickedness," means great wickedness ; in Ezekiel xlvii. 9, " the double stream" means "the strong stream," and as in Jeremiah 1. 21, D"'m» " double apostacy," signifies great apostacy. ni^DC' " low place," designates here, a miserable reduced condition. Ver. 1 9. Bread they make to laughter. Here it is quite clear that the author is not giving general observations, but depict- ing things as they really and truly existed. Hitzig says, " That which in ver. 1 6 was not affirmed, to wit, that the home of the speaker was such an unhappy country, is here added." Laughter is used in chap. ii. 2, for extravagant mer- riment. Elsewhere p)n'^b always means " to laughter," and consequently may not in this place be translated, "amidst laughter." If p^nzh H'-n signifies, " to become laughter," then will p)r\'^^ ntJ'y mean " to make to laughter," — to laughter, not in the passive, but in the active sense. Besides, nt'y along with ^ is employed in other places to designate that into which anything is made : compare Isaiah xliv. 1 7, " the re- mainder he maketh to a God," innsc' ^:^•y hi6. Bread, which should serve to give strength, serves them only as a vehicle of 234 CHAPTER X. 11-20. laughter. Their meal times are scenes of excess. And wine maketh glad the living. This is plainly a dictum taken from the mouths of the " merry carousers." It is a compendium of Isaiah xxii. 1 3, (compare 1 Cor. where the godless say, " let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die." A7id 'money answereth all things : njy with the accusative signifies " to answer," (Job xxxi. 35,) and then "to be answerable for," (Job. xxxiii. 1 3.) Money is the answer to all charges, the apology for aU crimes : lie who has money may allow himself any liberty, njy cannot signify "to afford, to confer." Ver. 20. The author now assigns the reason why, in the part immediately preceding, and in fact throughout the whole book, he had spoken of the circumstances of the Persian Em- pire in such a vague and indistinct manner. Openness under a tyrannical government is dangerous and ruinous. Ewald renders the sense as follows, " as well on account of the great danger of treachery, as in consideration that duty, (chap. viii. 2,) forbids it, we should never permit ourselves to curse our rulers even in the greatest secrecy." The advice, however, is rather a simple rule of prudence, and may be subsumed under that saying of our Lord's, ymak (pp6viij,oi ug o'l opig. Only a false explanation can find, in chap. viii. 2, a reference to the duty of which Ewald speaks. Nothing is said of such a duty in the entire book : on the contrary, the writer says the strongest possible things against the heathen tyrannical rule — covertly, however, and so that he could nowhere be laid hold of It would, in truth, have been perverse to judge an Asiatic tyranny by the principles laid down in Romans xiii ; — prin- ciples which even in our own day do not hold good for Greeks in relation to the Turks. The word J?10 belongs to the lan- guage in its post-exile period, and occurs elsewhere only in the sense "insight, understanding:" so also the Chaldee j;nJO from which it is derived. Here it is usually explained by "consciousness, thought." This meaning, however, besides being uncertain, does not appear to suit the connection ; the word hp shows that the writer is not treating of mere thoughts, — besides that, the sphere of thoughts is not acces- sible to espionage, which is here the sole subject of considera- tion. It is the simplest course to understand by yiD, " study;" just as in Latin, stud'mm is used both of studies, and of the CHAPTER XI. 1-3. 235 place where studies are carried on. The mention of " the study " cannot surprise, if we examine chap. xii. 12: it is moreover very suitably employed in connection with " bed- chamber," of which mention is made also in 2 Kings vi. 1 2, " Elisha, the prophet, telleth the King of Israel the words which thou speakest in thy bed-chamber." The rich man is the Persian, (compare chap. v. 11.) On the words, "for the birds of heaven, etc," the Berleburger Bible remarks, " it may come out by no visible medium, as quickly and marvellously, as if a bird flying by or seated before the window had picked it up." CHAPTER XI. 1-3. In view of the threatened judgments of God, which should soon cast down the proud tree of the Persian Empire, it be- hoved them not to iix their hearts on uncertain riches, but rather to seek by compassionate and benevolent conduct to gain the favour of God who is able to deliver his children from their troubles : — such is the admonition addressed by the author to his narrow-hearted, avaricious, and sordid con- temporaries. Ver. 1. Send thy bread on the tvater, for thou shalt find it after many days. Ver. 2. Give a portion to seven and also to eight, for thou hnowest not what evil shall he on the earth. Ver. 3. // the clouds be full of rain they empty them- selves upon the earth ; and if the tree fall, be it touurd the south or be it toward the north, in the place where it falleth, there it shall be. Ver. 1. In the presence of great catastrophes, earthly pos- sessions are of very httle value, for they may easily be over- whelmed therein ; on the contrary, that God should be gi-acious towards us is of the last importance. This the author admon- ishes us to secure by benevolence, and by putting completely away that covetous narrow-h carted ness, which, in times of dis- tress, so easily creeps into the heart. The image is boiTowed from sea-trading. In that, the temporary sacrifice of one's pro- perty brings in a rich reward, even though after a long inter- val: (according to 1 Kings x. 22, Solomon's vessels returned 236 CHAPTER XL 1-3. from Tarshish once in three years, bringing with them lich cargoes). So is it also in connection with benevolence : in His own good time the Lord restores that which may have been given to sufferers for His name's sake. If one casts one's bread on the water in the usual external sense, it may very easily itself become water should the ship perish ; it is in fact but a mere experiment : but when we cast our bread on the water in the spiritual sense, a return is certain ; that which we have staked is sure to come back again, even though after a long season. Jerome says, " cum dies judicii advenerit, multo amplius quam dederat recepturus :" and Cartwright, " tametsi enim non raro lit, ut deus compensationem in longum tempus rejiciat, tandem tamen mercedem in hac vita, certe quidem in futura reponet." We have here, in an abbreviated form, the comparison so frequently made, and which is, " whoso giveth alms is like a merchant who sends his property over the sea." Verse 2, which gives the real substance, the idea, contained in the figurative representation, shows that we must not limit our attention to the common kind of trade. n>D ^JS by is used of navigation also in Job xxiv. 18, where it is said of pirates — " swift is that one on the mirror of the water." Parallel in point of significance are the following passages : — Psalm xli. 1, 2, "Blessed is he who acts prudently towards the wretched : in the day of adversity shall the Lord deliver him. The Lord will preserve him and keep him alive, he is blessed in the land, and thou mayest not deliver him unto the will of his enemies :" — Proverbs xix. 1 7, " he that giveth to the poor lendeth to the Lord, and his gift will he pay him again:" — and 1 Timothy vi. 18, 19, where the apostle pre- scribes to the rich, ev/xiradoTovg ihai, xoivmiKoug, aTodrjffaupi^ovras, tavroTc, &i/MsXiov xaXov ug rh [I'sXkov. Luke vi. 38, xvi. 9 ; Gala- tians vi. 9. Ver. 2. Give a portion, that is, of thy bread (compare Isaiah Iviii. 7, 1 0.) The addition of the words, " also to eight," serves the purpose of indicating that the number seven did not mark the limit of the extent of our benevolence : — not, " at the utmost, seven," but, " seven and more." For thou hnoiuest not, etc., and there, all depends on making to thyself friends of the unrighteous mammon. Cartwright observes, "Ad hanc autem munificentiam te excitare debet rerum om- CHAPTER XI. 1-3. 237 nium Europaea veluti inconstantia et incertitudo, quid aut de te, aut divitiis, quas possides, fiet : ut illud merito in lucro deputes, quod in pauperum subsidium conferendo veluti e flamma et incendio eripueris." In point of thought the fol- lowing passages may be adduced as parallels ; Psahn cxii. 9, "he disperseth, he giveth to the poor, his righteousness en- dureth for ever, his horn is exalted with honour," — words which, by the way, belong also to the period of the rule of the Persians, and which teach the Jews that if they were per- vaded by a liberal spirit, they would at some future time cer- tainly rise to honour : — and then further Matthew v. 4 2, tcj ahovvri ffi d/Bov. Ver. 3. Clouds and rain are a usual image of the judg- ments of God, and of the troubles sent by him. Compare in respect of " clouds," Isaiah xix. 1 ; Psalm xcvii. 2 ; Psalm xviii. 1 0 ; Nahum i. 3 ; Jeremiah iv. 13; Revelations 1. 7 : in regard to " rain," compare Song of Solomon, ii. 11; Isaiah iv. 6 ; Matthew vii. 24, 25. Clouds and rain are employed as designations of troubles also in chap. xii. 2. The thought is identical with that expressed in the words of the Lord — ■ "where the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered to- gether." When the measure of sin is filled up, and the clouds of divine wrath are therefore gathered together, the storm wiU inevitably break ; in the day when such an outbreak is im- minent, every one should ask earnestly in his heart, " how shall I receive thee, and how shall I meet thee ?" in order that he may not be swept away by the wickedness of the world. — The connection between the first and second part of the verse is to be explained from the fact that in heavy storms trees are not unfrequently cast down by the lightning and gusts of wind (compare Psalm xxix.) The tree is here that of the Persian Empire. No human power will be in a position to delay its fall when it has once begun, or to raise it up again after it is down. He who is judged by God remains judged. Trees are a common symbol of the mighty. In Isaiah x. 18, the trees of Assyria are its great men. Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon is represented under the image of a proud tree in Daniel iv. 19 — "the tree art thou, O king." In Ezekiel xxxi. 3 ff , Assyria is introduced as a cedar of Lebanon, with goodly foliage, and its top reaching unto the clouds. See also Revelations vii. 1. *38 CHAPTER XI. 4-6. VEKSES 4-6. Tlie author now enters the lists to battle with the tempta- tion to despairing inactivity which arose out of the circum- , stances of the time. Their unfavourableness should move us on the contrary to redoubled activity. Ver. 4. He that observeth the wind shall not sow, and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap. Ver. 5. As thou knowest not what is the way of the wind, like the hones in the womb of her that is ivith child ; even so thou knowest not the ivork of God ivho maketh all. Ver. 6. In the morning soiu thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand : for thou knoiuest not ivhether shall prosper, either this or that, or ivhether they both shall be alike good. Ver. 4. The unfavourable circumstances of the time exerted a crippling influence. Men were dejected, and gave themselves up to listlessness and despair — they were incHned to lay their hands in their bosom and wait for better times. Against this the author here raises his warning voice. Under all circum- stances we should do our duty and let God care for us. Sow- ing and reaping are employed here after the example of Psalm cxxvi. 5, to designate activity. To the wind, which -may easily blow away the seed, and to the clouds which threaten to injure the harvests, correspond the unfavourable circum- stances of the time. In explaining the abbreviated comparison used by the author, Cartwright says, "whoso layeth his' hands in his bosom, because the circumstances of the time are un- favourable, perinde esse acsi agricola sementem facere recusaret, quia ventus paulo vehementius flat : unde fit ut de die in diem sementem proferens semiuandi tempus prseterfluat." With a special application to the preaching of the word, Jerome re- marks, " opportune, importune suo tenore Dei sermo est pi-se- dicandus, nee fidei tempore, adversariarum nubium consideranda tempestas. — Absque consideratione ergo nubium et timore ventorum in mediis tempestatibus seminandum est. Nee dicendum, illud tempus commodum, hoc inutile, quum ignor- emus, qu8e via, et quae voluntas sit spiritus universa dispen- santis." Ver. 5, Things turn out very often quite otherwise than CHAPTER XI. 7, 8. 289 the understanding of men anticipated. For this reason we should avoid puzzling our minds much with the circumstances of the time, we should do what God commands and leave results to him. There is no doubt that our Lord alluded to the first words of the verse, when he said in John iii. 8, of the wind oux olhag •rokv spx^rai xal rrov v-rrdysi. Like the hones, or, in other words, as it is with the bones. The only point of ^ comparison is the invisibility. The principal passage in this connection is Psalm cxxxix. 15, "My bones were not hid from thee when I was made in secret, when I was wrought in the depths of the earth." Bone is in the Hebrew so desig- nated from the strength which it has, and, as the most impor- tant part of the body, is used to represent the whole. Ver. 6. Be incessantly active ! Precisely in troublous and wretched times should we be most restlessly active, for then many things that we do may fail of success. The more doubtful the results of our undertakings, the less should we be disposed to lay our hands in our bosom. VERSES 7, 8. Better to be dead ! So were people exclaiming on all hands at the time of the author. He, on the contrary, insists on the importance of life as a noble gift of God, and warns against thanklessly regarding it in a mistaken light. Ver. 7. And sweet is the light, and a pleasant thing is it for the eyes to see the sun. Ver. 8. For if a man live many years, let him rejoice in them all ; yet let him remember the days of darkness that they shall he many : all that cometh is vanity. Ver. 7. However gTcat are the sufferings of this life, how- ever manifold is the vanity to which the world has been sub- jected since the day spoken of in Genesis iii., however sad are the circumstances of the time, it still remains true, that life is a good thing ; and when a gloomy and depressing mood gets the upper hand in the Church, it, is the task of the word of God to impress upon it this truth. Ver. 8. Christ has brought life and immortality to light. For him who is in Christ the argument has no longer the 240 CHAPTER XT. 9 XII. 7. weight it had under the old covenant : we can no more allow the light of this life to be darkened by the shadow of Sheol. To be weary of life is, however, still a sin, even under the new Covenant. A pious heart will seek out the bright sides of our earthly existence, and contemplate them with sincere thankfulness. CHAPTER XI. 9.— CHAPTER XII. 7. At a time when dark discontent had got the mastery over the minds of men, the Spirit of God exhorts them through the writer of this book to enjoy cheerfully divine gifts, admonish- ing them, however, in order to prevent carnal misunderstand- ings, to keep in view the account they will have one day to give to the Holy God, of all their doings : — he warns them to remember their Creator, who alone has the power to render their life prosperous and happy. In depicting the joylessness of the age, he shows how fitting it is to enter betimes on this path of self-surrender to the Creator, to consecrate even the bloom of youth to Him, lest when we arrive at the end of our days, after a miserable and curse-laden life — (and apart from fellowship with God there is nought but misery and curse) — ■ we should be compelled, looking back on a wasted existence, to cry in despair, " too late." The whole concludes with a reference to the judgment awaiting men after death. Chap. xi. 9. Rejoice 0 young man in thy youth : and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and lualk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes : hut know that for all this God will bring thee into judgment. Ver. 10. And remove discontent fro'in thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh : for youth and the dawn of life are vanity. Chap. xii. 1. And remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth, before the evil days come, and the years draw nigh, of vjhich thou shall say, I have no ]^leasure in them. Ver. 2. Before the sun be darkened, and the light, and the moon, and the stars, and the clouds return after the rain. Ver. 3. In the day ivhen the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are become few, and those that look out of the windows he CHAPTER XI. 9. XII. 7. 241 darkened. Ver. -i. And the doors are shut in the streets, in that the sound of the grind/lng is loiv, and he riseth^up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of song are bent down. Ver. 5. Also they are afraid of that which is high, and ter- rors, (are for them,) in the way, and the ahnond tree fiourish- eth, and the locust becometh burdensome, and desire faileth, because man goeth to his everlasting home, and the mourners go about in the street. Ver. 6. Before then the diver cord be removed, and the golden bowl haste avjay, and the pitcher be broken at the fountain, and the wheel be dashed to pieces at the cistern. Ver. 7. And the dust returneth to the earth as it %vas, and the spirit returneth to God who gave it. Chap, xi, 9. Tlie writer directs his discourse to the youth because he has still to choose his path in life, and good ad- vice is consequently most appropriate in his case. Let thy heart cheer thee : the heart is mentioned because it is the fountain from which cheerfulness is, as it were, diffused over the whole man: compare Proverbs xiv. 30, "a sound heart is the life of the body :" and chap. xv. 13, "a merry heart maketh. a cheerful countenance.'"* Many of the older com- mentators look upon this summons to cheerfulness as ironical; so that it would be substantially a dissuasion therefrom.f There is, however, no satisfactory reason for taking such a view, especially when we bear in mind that the disease of the age was not excess, but dull melancholy. It is furthermore inconsistent with a whole number of parallel passages, in which men are exhorted to the cheerful enjoyment of God's gifts. And lastly, in verse 10, to a very forced explanation of which that view would lead, by D^D, we should then be compelled to understand " passionateness," to which youth is specially inclined, and by nyn " badness " in general.:!; The * Geiersays : " Ex corde vel animo de amore dei certo redundet pia ac honesta refectio in totum corpus." t For example, Cartwright also observes: " In priore dehortatio adhibetur, primum tropo ironias exornata: et deinde simplici oratione exposita. . . Nee enim oleum igni addit sed contra frenum juveni injicit." X The fundamental idea of the book, to which the present verse owes its origin, was quite correctly perceived and admirably presented by Witsius in his Essay on chap. xii. 1, in the Misc. s. ii., p. 1G5, " toto libro nil nisi virtus docetur, non fucata ilia, austera, tetrica, qua; ex sordibus et illuvie ac d(peidice, Tov aui/MCCTog, laudem capiat. : sed ingenua, liberalis, hilaris qua; deprchensa renim cajterarum inanitate felicitatem suam quiErit et invenit in conscientia 242 CHAPTER XI. 9. XIT. 7. words, " walk in the ways of thine heart and in the sight of thine eyes," would be at variance with the passage, Numbers XV. 39, to which allusion is probably here made — " ye shall remember all the commandments of the Lord and do them, and ye shall not follow after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring" — were they not defined and limited by the succeeding warning — " but know, etc."* There is undoubtedly a difference between the two passages. In the one only unallowed merriness is forbidden : in the other permitted merriness is recommended, — to a gene- ration, namely, which had lost its joy in life, which was con- sumed by a murmuring disposition, and which tried to force God to redeem it by means of a gloomy and rigid asceti- cism. Cheerfulness, here, is not merely permitted : it is com- manded, and represented as an essential element of piety. Emphasis must be laid equally on the word " walk " and on the word " know." Even in Leviticus xiii. 1 2 and Deutero- nomy xxviii. 34, D^J''y nx"i!0 signifies that which we see with our eyes. The Masorites wished to change the plural, which refers to the multiplicity of the objects of sight, into the singular, because they falsely supposed nsio to denote the " act of sight." To walk in that which we see with our eyes is to be mentally occupied with it, to have pleasure in it, in contradiction to either a strict and gloomy asceticism or a dis- contented dullness and insensibihty. Into the judgment, which wiU be carried on according to the standard of God's revealed law. Whatever is in opposition to this must inevi- tably be expiated by punishment, — by punishment, too, which is executed not only in tlie future world, but aflfects the whole of our present life. For God is angry every day (Psalm vii 1 2). Ver. 1 0. The last verse exhorted to a divine cheerfulness : this verse dissuades from that which stands in its way. Dya signifies " discontent," that is, with God and his leadings. That poor age was rich in this particular (compare chap. vii. tranquilla ac Iseta et usu bonorum ex favore divino provenientium. Ita tamen ut memor fluxoe hujus ac lubrica; vitae et imminentis judicii omnia cum rever- entia summi Numinis peragat." " Jerome says, " rursum ne putaretur haec dicens hominem ad luxuriam provocate et in Epicuri dogma corruere, suspicionem banc abstulit inferens : Et scito, quoniam super omnibus his adducet te deus in judicium. Sic inquit abutere mundi rebus, ut scias te in ultimo judicandum." CHAPTER XI. 9 XII. 1-7. 243 9). We meet with it also in the contemporary Malachi : see chap. iii. 1 4, " ye say, it is vain to serve God, and what profit is it that we keep his ordinances and walk in tilth before the Lord of hosts?" And put away evil from thy body. Dis- content has the effect, at the same time, of rendering the body wretched (Psalm vi. 8). Schmidt remarks, " afflictiones et serumnas, quae ex tristitia animi in corpus redundant car- nemque consumunt." To this we must add the mortifications resorted to in order to extort redemption from God : compare the passage from Malachi just quoted and Isaiah Iviii. 3, "wherefore do we fast, and thou seest not, wherefore do we afflict our soul and thou knowest not?" The exhortation, not wilfully to rob themselves by dark melancholy of that which God graciously presents to them, is grounded on the consideration that youth, the time when men are most capable of enjoyment, is vain and quickly passes by. nnni;', " the time of dawn," "youth," occurs only here, and is a word that was pro- bably formed by the author himself. This is rendered probable by the preceding term nvh^ which serves as an explanation. Chap. xii. 1. And remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth. The Berleburger Bible remarks, " in the noble time of youth turn betimes to God, and do not sacrifice its bloom to the devil : do not devote merely the dregs of thy years to God and put off till late the work of conversion." In order to be happy, it is not enough that we form the re- solution to be cheerful (chap. xi. 9), and to put away discontent, (chap. xi. 10). With such a determination, a hearty piety must go hand in hand. Man could not be considered as bearing the image of God if it were pos- sible for him to spend a joyous existence without remembering his Creator, Truly rejoice can he only who is in his time ele- ment ; and man is only in his true element when he gives him- self up to devotion, and thus returns to the origin and source of his being. To this must be added, that whoso apostatizes from his Creator becomes necessarily involved in the divine judgments ; for the Lord must have ins due from aU who bear his image, either in their destruction or their vol- untary return to himself Divine condemnation renders cheerfulness impossible. The summons to " remember our Creator" does not stand in contrast to that other one, " let 244 CHAPTER XI. 9 XII. 1-7. thy heart cheer thee :" they rather go hand in hand with each other. Their relation might be expressed in this way — "and in order that thou mayest be able to rejoice, and to put away discontent, remember thy Creatoi\" Ewald renders wrongly — " yet think." The words, " thy Creator," give the reason why we should remember. It is unnatural not to think of Him in whom we live and move and have our being ; and such unnatural conduct brings its own punish- ment,— misery is its inseparable companion. In the Berle- burger Bible we read, " When the Preacher says, ' Remember thy Creator,' it is more than if he had merely mentioned God. He indicates quite distinctly the right that God has to man, the benefits which God has conferred on man, and man's consequent duty to recognise and act according to his entire dependence on God." The plural in T'^nu, in the same way as that in " Elohim," draws attention to the fulness and the wealth of the divine nature, to God's majesty and glory. For remarks on such plural designations of God, (as for ex- ample, Joshua xxiv. 19, where God is called D''tJ^*ip, and Pro- verbs ix. 1 0), see chap. v. 7. Before the evil days come, etc. What we are to understand by the " days of evil or suffer- ing," is made clear by the following verses. They stand for a joyless old, age. If we fail to remember our Creator in youth, the period between it and old age, the time when we are most capable of happiness, is taken up with misery, and after our susceptibility to pleasure has ceased, we are forced to look with soiTow on a wasted existence. Cartwright mistakes the right point of view when he says — " before old age reaches thee, which by reason of numerous weaknesses and burdens is less fitted for the learning or exercise of piety." As is expressly said, age is here brought under consideration, not because then the spiritual powers are deadened, but be- cause it brings on the " days of evil," because all joy in our earthly existence is then irrecoverably lost if not previously gained possession of — a thing which is impossible apart from the fear of God. Knobel's observation however is quite incor- rect:— "that we must not connect the second part of this verse exclusively with the admonition to fear God, but more par- ticularly with the summons to enjoyment about which Kohe- leth is here chiefly concerned, ' enjoy thyself before, etc., but CHAPTER XI. 9 XII. 7. 245 not in such a way that thou make thyself a fool.'" To such \nolent explanations are men driven who are incapable of grasping the thought, that Jehovah is the Alpha and Omega of our earthly existence, and that a right relation to him is the condition and foundation of all happiness and all joy. In the following verses a picture is presented of a joyless old age drawn in the lively colours of youth, in order that the exhort- ation to remember the Creator in the days of youth might sink the more deeply into the heart. How mournful a thing must it be to pass into the ranks of those who are here described, without having tasted of the feast of joys prepared by the Creator for all those who remember Him. Ve7\ 2. In the first half of this verse, age is brought for- ward as the time when sun, moon, and stars become dark. The lights of heaven really shine only for the hapjyy. When the eye is no longer sunlike, the sun is, as it were, gone down. For this reason in Old Testament delineations of ad- versity we so often read of the destruction of the heavenly lights. Isaiah, for example, when describing in chap. v. 30, the heavy sufferings which were about to fall upon the land because of its alienation from God, says — " the light is dark- ened in the heavens thereof" Jeremiah in chap. iv. 88, pic- turing the judgments which threatened Judah, says, " I beheld the earth, and lo, it was without form and void, and the heavens they had no lights :" (compare Ezekiel xxxii. 7, 8 ; Amos viii. 9, 10; Micah iii. 6; Revelations vi. 12.) With the sun is connected " the light," the Scripture symbol of sal- vation and happiness, for the purpose of indicating why the sun, moon, and stars are introduced, and what is their signi- ficance. In the second half of the verse, age appears as the time when clouds return after rain, that is, when one trouble succeeds to the other. Dark clouds are often used as an image of troubles : so also rain in Ezekiel xiii. 11-18 ; xxxviii. 22 ; Song of Solomon ii. 11. Luther observes that, "the Holy Scriptures call consolation and prosperity, light, and troubles, darkness or night. The author means therefore to say — before the age comes when neither sun nor stars shall shine on thee, when the clouds shall return after rain, that is, when one trouble shall follow on the heels of another. For young boys, for young men, for men who are in the very prime of life. 246 CHAPTER XL 9, XII. 7. there is still a measure of joy : in their case it is still a fact that, after rain comes beautiful sunshine; that is, in other words, although they have times of trouble, they have also again days of joy and consolation. But age has no joy : clouds come after the rain : one misfortune succeeds another, one storm follows another." The power to suffer is exhausted in old age, the heart is already broken : that is however not the only consideration here : God's will is to melt down his own people completely before the end of life, and to give to the wicked a foretaste of hell. That which is here said of age in general, holds especially good of the age of the godless, which the author had principally in view.* It did not, however, accord with his purpose, to mention, that as the lights of this world grow dark, the celestial divine light shines all the more brightly on a godly old age.-f- Ver. 3. The body in which the spirit dwells is elsewhere, also, represented under the image of a house : (see Job iv. 19; 2 Corinthians v. 1.) The watchmen of the house are the cn^ms, by which everything inimical and destructive is warded of J?1f in kal occurs only here and in Esther v. 9 : in the Chaldee it is frequently used. The strong men are the feet. These are inti'oduced as the seat of the strength of a man, also in Psalm cxlvii. 1 0, " he delighteth not in the streng-th of a horse, he hath no pleasure in the legs of a man," — and in their strength, — as we may add, supplementing from the first clause of the verse. The millers, (feminine,) or the grinders, are the teeth. The feminine form was chosen because grinding (with the handmill) was usually an occupation of women, (Exodus xi. 5 ; Isaiah xlvii. 2.) The teeth nnake holiday or cease, that is, are no longer able to fulfil their task, because they have become few : if they are to be properly active, their number must be full. bli2 as a Hebrew word, " to cease to make holi- day," occurs only in this place : in Aramaic it is frequently * Cartwright says, " quod quidera, ut fere senibus omnibus evenit, ita potis- simum his, qui luxu et libidine jnventutem transegerunt. Effoetum enim corpus et nauseabundum senectuti tradunt : ita ut in illis pluviam excipiat nubes, nu- bem grando, grandinem gelu, donee eum deus ad barathrum condemnationis detruserit. t Cartwright observes, " tametsi visibilis sol illis occidit, tamen sol justitise Christus illorum in animis adolescentiie exoriens, in senectuti altior in hujua vitse hemispherio assurgens, lumen suum duplicabit. Prov. iv. 18." CHAPTER xr. 9, XL 7. 247 found, (see for example, Ezra iv. 24.) The Piel of Bjfc is only- used here, and that with an intransitive meaning. The Piel denotes enhancement, very few. Those that look out of the windows, are the eyes. Hitzig remarks, "as at first, two masculines, which in conception belong to each other, namely, arms and legs, are connected ; so in the next place, two femi- nines, to wit, teeth and eyes ; as also in portions of the law, (Exodus xxi. 24 ; Deuteronomy xix. 21,) eyes and teeth, hands and feet, are co-ordinated with each other." Ver. 4. By the doors in the streets, some organ must here be designated, which is the medium of intercourse with the external world, — one, too, which is divided into two parts, as is clear from the use of the dual wrhx The mention of the eyes, which goes immediately before, would at once suggest the thought of ears .• this moreover suits admirably the con- nection with the voice — " in that the voice of the mill becomes weak" — they are less able to hear, and to make themselves intelligible. According to others, the mouth is intended, and the dual form DTi^T is chosen with reference to the two lips — a form which is used also of the jaws of the Leviathan in Job xH. 6. See the Berleburger Bible, where we read — " through the mouth man's heart goes forth and is seen and known by- means of what he utters." The image of doors is used also of the mouth in Micah vii. 5, " preserve the doors of thy mouth." On this view the words, " in that the voice of the mill becojnes weak," would assign the reason for the closing of the doors, as much as to say, " they scarcely open the mouth any more be- cause it has become difiicult for them to speak." But it is more appropriate to apply the description being shut to that hardness of hearing, which is so characteristic of old age that it can scarcely be absent. If the teeth are the grinders, the mouth must be the mill >StJ' is Infin. nominasc. from 7aK>, " to be low ; " signifying when used of the voice, to be, as it were, depressed, deadened, weak. The subject in Dip"' is " the old man," who is spoken of in the context. He rises at the voice of the bird, so soon as the birds begin to sing, that is, very early in the morning : age has no sleep.* The men- * Cartwright says, " summo mane, quum avicularum cantillationes incipiunt, iiTequietus senex, somni expers, membra levabit thoro, ceteraj etiam familiae 248 CHAPTER XI. 9, XII. 7. tion of the " voice of the bird" suggests the remark, that the old man has even lost all capacity for, and pleasure in song ; a remark which coincides with 2 Samuel xix. 35, where Bar- zillai says to David — " can thy servant still taste what I eat or drink, can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women?" The term "daughter" is used to designate that which belongs to a thing : for example, the daughters of Rabbah, in Jeremiah xlix. 2, are the places which belong to Rabbah. Here accordingly the qualities which belong to song, the singing qualities, are personified as the daughters of song : Aquila, 'xavra TO. rr^i uj^ni. Ver. 5. A Iso — to mention this further characteristic of their miserable condition — they are afraid of everything which is high, and terrors are in the way. Wliere there is little strength every height is dreadful, and defenceless impotence sees terrors wherever it goes and stands. And the almond tree blooms. That the almond tree is here used as a symbol of that watch- fulness with which old age is visited, is suggested even by the etymology, ^p!i', originally the name of the tree, not of the fruit, to which, strictly viewed, it is inappropriate, and can therefore be only secondarily applied, is a poetical designation of the almond : the real name in natural history is ti^. It is called properly the "waking tree," because it first awakes from the sleep of winter. Theophrastus says in Hist. Plant. i. ] 5, of the alum tree, 'Trpul jSXaaTdvu.f To this we may add that in Jeremiah i. 11, the almond tree is in like manner employed as a symbol of watching : — that passage may be re- garded as commentary to the present verse. Why mention is made of blooming, Pliny teaches us in the Hist. Nat. 16, 25 : according to him, the almond tree blossoms first of all trees, — " floret prima omnium amygdala mense Januari.o" According to the explanation just given, which is adopted by the Septuagint, (xal avd/isrj to d/j^vyBaXov,) by the Vulgate, (et florebit amygdalus,) and by the Syriac, r^P.J is the Hiphil form, and from fi3, which is used in the sense of "blossom," even in the quietem turbans. Nam uti intempestivus somnns, ita et intempestiva vigilia comites aut sequelic senectutis sunt." * Gesenius. "Tpj** amygdala arbor, ita dicta, quod om.nium arborum prima e somno hiberno expergiscitur et velut vigil ceteris plantis advigilat." CHAPTER XI. 9. XII. 7. 249 the Song of Solomon, (see chap. vi. 1 1 ; vii. 1 3.) These pas- sages agree too closely with the present verse to permit of a separation between them. To the blossoming pomegTanite trees there, corresponds the blossoming almond tree here. We need not be surprised at the k which has been interpolated : it is found elsewhere in the usage of a latter period, (see Ewald, § 83 c.) Objections which have been raised, do not touch the explanation in itself, but only the false turn given to it when the blossoming almond tree is made to represent the grey hair of old men. In such a case, there is of course the plain objection, that the blossom of the almond tree is not white. According to others, fxj^ is the Hiphil future of I^W, "to despise :" the toothless old man despises the pleasant tasted almond. But even as regards the form, there are diffi- culties in the way of this explanation ; — for example, the vowel point Kametz ; and the Hiphil, which occurs nowhere else :* — besides, the meaning of the verb yi^: does not suit, for J'W is not a simple refusal, but one connected with scorn and contempt. To this we may add, that the thought is rather too far-fetched. And the locust sJioivs itself trouhlesoTne. hnn, " to press heavily on any one," in Piel, (which does not occtir,) "to lay a burden on any one;" (Pual is used in Psalm cxliv. ] 4,) and in Hithpael, "to show oneself burdensome, to be troublesome," (compare Gesenius' Thesaurus.) Locusts must not be taken here, as Gesenius and others take them, in their proper sense, viz., in the sense of an excellent species of food, which the old man must renounce because he is no longer able to bear it.f For locusts were in any circumstances but poor nutriment, taken onlyby those who either had no other, orwished to mortify them- selves ; and then the expression, " become burdensome or troublesome," would be out of place. The locust must rather be emploj^ed figuratively, in correspondence with the predominantly ♦Hitzigis obliged to confess that the form as it hereliesbefore lis cannotbe derived from J^X3 — " the pointing is without doubt not intended for the Hiphil of t>X3j (that is for y^i instead of wj^y) which never occurs elsewhere, but for the Hiphil of |»^{3, to wit, J>y, as was also the view of the authors of the versions led astray by npt>> itself, (compare Numbers xvii. 23.)" t Molestaestseni locusta, quia aegre ab illomanducaturet concoquitur, quan- quam grati sapori^ 250 CHAPTER XI. 9. XII. 7. symbolical character of the entire description. If this is the case, there can be no doubt as to the sense. The most prominent characteristic of locusts, is " devouring ;" compare 2 Chronicles vii. 13, "I command the locusts, (3an, as here,) to devour the land." For this reason, wherever locusts are alluded to in a figurative sense in the Scriptures, they designate hostile rav- ages and destruction. Here accordingly we must understand by them, the forces hostile to life, which consume it especially in old age. And desire faileth : Luther gives the sense accurately as follows, " an old man has pleasure in nothing." ruV3S from nns, " to wish, to will," occurs nowhere else, but still the deri- vation is quite legitimate. To be rejected, is the limitation to one particular kind of desire.* The explanation, " caper," although widely spread, must still be characterised as without foundation.-f- The fact that some old translations have hit upon it, (the Septuagint, for example, which was followed by the SjTiac and the Vulgate,) offers no sure support for it. It has been sought, but in vain, to draw confirmations of this usage from the Talmud and the Rabbins.:]: ** Appetitus, con- cupiscentia," which is the simplest explanation, suits the con- text admirably, and is recommended also by the parallel expression of Barzillai, — " can I still distinguish between good and evil, can I taste what I eat and drink, etc.?" The Hip- hil form of "iiQ signifies elsewhere always " to reduce to nought, to destroy," and must not therefore here without further reasons be rendered, " become nought." Desire refusing its services, reduces the enjoyments to nought, which it might have afforded us. For man goeth to his eternal home; and of that all these things are forerunners — they are symp- toms that life is shortly to cease. || The eternal house can only be the grave, out of which there is never a return to this earthly life : compare Job vii * So the Chaldee, " prohibeberis a concubitu;" correctly on the contrary the Greek Venet., craiffjj ri opiB'?- Abulvalid renders, "cessabitconcupiscentia;" Kabbi Parchon explains the word by mxn. t Gesenius, "et irrita erit capparis, i. e., vim amplius habebit capparis, neqne in cibi desiderio movendo, neque in Veneris concupiscentia provocanda." X Compare for a contrary view, Winzer's Comra. on xi. 9, — xii. 7, in the " Comm. Theol." of Rosenmiiller, Fuldner and Maurer i, 1, p. 95. II Geier, " nee mirum est omnem evanescere appetitum, quia abit et raagis magisque sensim occidit ejusmodi homo." CHAPTER XI. 9. XII. 7. 251 10, "he will not return to his house, nor will his place know him again." We find the same expression used of it in Tobias iii. 6, also. A7id the mourners go about in the streets. id3D is the preter. jproph. That which is impending in the im- mediate future is anticipated in spirit. \Vliat is said here is equivalent to, "they will soon go about in the streets." The reference is to the mournings which took place at funerals, (compare Amos v. 16.) Ver. 6. Before the silver cord he removed. The words are connected with the admonition at the commencement of the chapter, "remember thy Creator." The cord denotes the thread of life, the continuity of existence. That the cord is of silver is a sign that life is a noble possession: compare chap xi. 7, "sweet is the light, and pleasant is it for the eyes to see the sun.""^^ The Niphal form of pm "to become far" is never used. As invariably happens in such cases, the vowels belong to the marginal reading. We must read P'lT^ "removed afar off, departed," Qonge recessit, discessit.) The Masoretic conjecture is the less to be trusted as the meaning, "be broken," ascribed to pmj, is by no means certain. The verb which signifies "to bind, to enchain," cannot, in Niphal, which otherwise never occurs, mean "to be unchained, torn loose," as Ewald would have it. pm, "to remove," and pn "to run, to haste away," correspond admirably to each other. — And the golden howl haste away. Many interpreters con- sider that pi here stands for )^n, "till the golden bowl be broken," Septuagint, xa/ swrpilSfi to uv&simov tov xP^a'm. Else- where, however, the spheres of both the verbs pn and yr\ remain distinct. Even in Isaiah xlii. 4, pi retains its mean- ing "run," (compare my Christology on that passage.) The former of the two verbs always signifies elsewhere "to break," never "to be broken." pi "to run, to escape," forms quite a suitable parallel with pm "to become far;" so also in the second half of the verse p3 "to be beaten to pieces" with nnti'J " to be broken." The use of p3 immediately after shows that pn may not be refeiTed back to y^i, for the recurrence of the same verb would be awkward, rhi means properly * Jerome says, " funiculus autem argenti caudidam banc vitam et spiramen quod nobis de coilo tribuitur, ostendit." 252 CHAPTER XI. 9, XII. 7. "source," and is equivalent to 7i in the Song of Solomon iv. 12. It is used in the same manner in Joshua xv. 19, and Judges i. 1 5. Then in Zeehariah iv. 3 it denotes the reservoir out of which the oil flows into the seven lamps of the candlestick, (the masculine form ^a in chap. iv. 2 is chosen only on account of the sufiix.) On that passage in Zeehariah, is based, as it would seem, the one now under notice. Cor- responding with the "cord," life, now, as the ground and source of all particular manifestations thereof, is represented under the image of an oil-bowl. Four figurative designations of life are connected together in this verse. In the passage adduced from Zeehariah the remark was made, "that the candlesticks being entirely of the noblest metal, namely of gold, indicates the glory of the church." Here also we are taught that the life which God has adorned with such noble gifts, and to which he has appointed such high tasks, is a noble possession, in that the oil-bowl is described as being golden. A nd the pitcher is"brohen to pieces at the well. The pitcher is the image of individual life, the well is the image of the general life. Hitzig justly compares with this the drawing of breath, although that is not the whole, but only one single act, by which we take to ourselves something out of the great general treasure from which all individuals are supplied with that which is necessary to their subsistence. And the wheel is hrohen to pieces at the cistern. The cistern, or fountain, is the world. Life is represented under the image of a wheel because of its rapid motion.* In James iii. 6 it is said of the tongue, 55 CxtXoxisa oKijv to (rw,aa, y.ai fXoyi^ovfta rbv rpo^ov rrjg yivsasojg- The first words are based on chap. v. 5 of this book, "Let not thy mouth make thy flesh sinful:" the second clause, referring back to the present verse, represents life under the image of a wheel, (ysvBffig, Bengel, "constitutio naturalis," i. 23 et vita, compare Judith xii. 19; Tuaag rug 7i/j,spag Ti^g yivioiug fjuov, Schneckenburger on the passage.) If the pitcher is one day inevitably to be broken at the well, and the wheel to be beaten to pieces at the cistern, it surely behoves us to seek earnestly and betimes for such a founda- • ?J?J) Gesenius, "res volubilis, quse cito et continue volvitur." CHAPTER XL 9. XII. 7. 253 tion of our life as shall not be subjected to such changes* The fear of death is legitimate so long as we have not reached this aim. The Berleburger Bible says, "the author having described here the accidents which precede death, and at the same time death itself: in the following verse he informs us what will become of body and soul after death." Ver. 7. The dust, that is, as the Berleburger Bible remarks, "this earthly body, which is so called in order to show partly its origin, and partly also its weakness and littleness." Allusion is made to Genesis iii. 19, "till thou return to the earth, for from it wast thou taken, for dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return." Tliis passage contains only part of the truth. Its design was to humble man to the dust, who wished to be equal with God: hence, of the two sides of which his nature is constituted, only the one, the earthly side, is specially mentioned. According to Genesis ii. 7, there is in man a divine element, a breath from* God, alongside of the earthly. Chap. i. 26 teaches that man is created in God's image, in distinction from all the rest of creation. In this aspect of his being he cannot be subjected to destruction, he must participate in the imperishableness of God. Wlien the author says, that the spirit returns to God who gave it, he advances nothing new, he does but complement Genesis iii. ] 9 from the two passages just adduced. That the spirit of man does not perish with the body is here, in agi'eement with chap. iii. 2, (compare also chap. iii. 11,) most decidedly taught. Conscious, however, of the boundary lines separating the pro- ductions of "wisdom" from the outpourings of prophecy, he does not enter further on the question.f An earnest mode of looking at sin and guilt, such as is characteristic of the entire Old Testament, and especially of this present book, does not tolerate the notion of a pantheistic diffusion and absorp- tion of the soul, which rationalistic interpreters find in this passage.^ Such foolish thoughts can only be cherished by * Cartwright, "danda igitur opera ut ipse salientem in se et perennem aquam habeat, quic ilium recreet, cum nee hydria, nee rota sibi consulere possit." t These limits are mistaken by Winzer -when he remarks, "si spes, quam nos foremus Itetissimam, EcclesiastiE, adfulsisset, non obiter ipse tetegisset et verbis ambiguis notasset rem maxinii momenti." X Hitzig, "That this particle of the divine breath poured out by God into the world and separated to an individual existence, will be drawn back again to its 254 CHAPTER XL 9. XII. 7. those who think lightly of sin. Those terrible words in Deuteronomy xxvii. 26, "cursed be he that keepeth not all the words of this law to do them," should effectually prevent them rising within us. The doctrine of the Old Testament is that righteousness and sin stamp an indelible character on the soul. It is impossible that the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, so emphatically insisted on, should at once be reduced to nought in the moment of death. Against such a view is decisive, moreover, the piercing seriousness with which the future judgment is announced everywhere, and especially in this book. On all these grounds, and on the ground, finally, of the emphasis laid on that retributive work of God with whose mention in verse 1 4 the whole book ter- minates, the return of the soul to God can only be such an one as that of which the apostle speaks in 2 Corinthians v. 10, "for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that every on^ may receive the things done in the body, according to that he hath done whether it be good or bad;" compare Romans xiv. 10, "for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ;" and Hebrews ix, 27, "it is appointed unto men once to die, and after death the judg- ment." After its departure the soul must present itself before Him from whom it had its origin, to receive from him its judgment. The Chaldee paraphrases the Hebrew as follows, "et spiritus animse redibit, ut stet in judicio coram deo, qui dedit ilium tibi." That is the Israelitish view. The other is a Japhetism of Bunsen's. Only on the view adopted by the Church, not on that of the Rationahsts, has the passage the significance which is called for by the context. No other meaning than this, "that the soul must one day return to God as its judge," is fitted to prepare the way for the admoni- tion, "remember thy Creator," which is the main feature of this entire section. Remember thy Creator, in order that thou mayest not have to bewail a misspent earthly existence when it is too late for remedy, and then after death come into judgment.* Tho Berleburger Bible says, "precisely for this source and so be united once more with God's breath, which is the soul of the world." * Cartwright says, "illudjuvenes cautos et consnltos reddat, quod illico ex bac vita migrantes apud judicem suum sistentur, ibi accepturi prout se gesserint." CHAPTER XI. 9. XII. 7. 255 reason should a man consider well how he lives and acts here, seeing that, do what he will, he cannot avoid appearing before God. Souls come out of eternity into this world as on to a theatre. There they exhibit their persons, their affections, their passions, that which they~ 's of evil and good in them. When they have as it were acted out their parts, they are forced to retire, to lay off the person in which they presented themselves, and to go naked, just as they are, before God for judgment. All men are convinced enough in their conscience that they cannot remain thus in their own nature, and that they cannot escape from, or pass by, God when they die, as the ungodly would fain do, being anxious even for the moun- tains and hills to cover them, if they can but remain without God. But, willing or unwilling, we shall all infallibly fall into the hands of our Creator. And one may see clearly that the greatest labour and anxiety of dying men arises from their feeUng that they are on the way to God. How the whole man trembles and shakes 1 Especially when he dare not comfort himself with the hope of a reconciled approach ! There is no exception to the declaration, that all men must return to God, but still there is a great distinction amongst them. Most men return to God as to their insulted Lord : some, however, as to a gracious and compassionate friend and father. Inasmuch, then, as our coming to God is certain and unavoidable, we should make it our first, as it is our most needed care, to see to it every moment that we be able to come unto God in a right manner." Much importance has been attached to this verse in connection with disputes con- cerning the origin of the soul. If the soul returns to God, such was the conclusion drawn by the advocates of Creation- ism, it must owe its origin to God and not to its human parents.* The defenders of Traducianism answer, that the return of the soul to God has relation to the creation of the first man.f This reply, however, can scarcely be regarded as * Jerome says, " ex quo satis ridendi, qui putant animas cum corporibus seri, et non a deo, sed a corporum parentibus generari. Quum enim caro revertatur in terram et spiritus redeat ad Deum, qui dedit ilium; manifestura est, Deum parentem animarum esse, non homines." t Cartwright, "hoc dico, eos qui ex hoc loco conantur traducem evertere, fnndamento parum firmo niti. Nan? liquidum est Eeclesiasten ad protoplasti 256 CHAPTEJ^XII. 8-14. satisfactoiy. ' The return of the individual soul to God is only satisfactorily accounted for on the view of Creationism, that it owes its origin directly to God. As far then as this passage is concerned, Creationism is in the right, although, an exami- nation of the weighty reasons advanced in favour of Traduci- anism must convince us that it only gives a part of the truth. The right course is to combine and reconcile the two apparently opposed theories. CHAPTER XII. 8-14. We have here the Epilog-ue of the book. At the com- mencement (ver. 8), and at the close (ver. 13, 14) the sum and substance of the book is set before us in a very con- densed and vigorous form. This epitome serves at the same time as a standard and test for the interpretation of the pre- vious portions. In the middle a recommendation is given of the book as containing wisdom offered by God to the Church, and as sharing, along with the other sacred writings, that all-pervading power which proceeds from inspiration (ver. 9, 11); then we find an admonition to the faithful use of those edifying truths and considerations which are set before men in this and the other sacred writings, together with a warn- ing against a too deep study of worldly literature (ver. 1 2). Ver. 8. Vanity of vanities, said Koheleth, all is vanity. Ver. 9. And there yet remains, that Koheleth tvas a wise man, he taught also the people wisdom, and gave heed and sought out and set in order many ^arables. Ver. 1 0. Kohe- leth sought to find out acceptable words, and uprightness was vjritten, words of truth. Ver. 1 1. The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails driven in are those who take ptart in the collection: they were given by one shepherd. Ver. 12. And further, my son, receive instruction from them : of making many hooks there is no end, and much eagerness is a tveari- ness to the flesh. Ver. 1 3. Let us hear the conclusion of the discourse, the whole matter : fear God and keep his commands; for this (^is the duty of) all men. Ver. 1 4. For every ivork formationem respicere, cum Deus animam inspiravit Adamo, sicut ex corporis figmento apparet, c^uod ex terra exstitisse dicitur." CHAPTER XII. 8-14. 257 sliall God bring into the judgment on every secret thing, whether it be good or tvhether it be evil. Ver. 8. The correspondence between this verse and the commencement of the book (chap. i. 2) shows that it is not to be connected with the preceding section, but is to be set at the head of the conclusion. There is, however, of course a certain connection between it and the close of the preceding section. If our earthly existence comes to the end described in ver. 7 it is vanity, and true good may not be sought in it.* This one sentence does not give us the quintessence of the entire book, for it contains many things which cannot be classed under such a head, and Knobel is quite wrong in say- ing that " the theme of the whole book is the assertion of the vanity of human life and struggles." What we have here is a single thought of prominent importance, which, as being such, it is the purpose of this concluding repetition to bring to notice. Verses 13 and 14, which are expressly announced as the true summary of the book, form the complement to verse 8. What is said in the latter leads and prepares the way for that which is said in the former. The knowledge of the vanity of earthly things conducts to the fear of God afterwards recommended. Since all things are vain, man, who is subject to vanity, should do all in his power to enter into a living relation to Him who is the true absolute Being, and through fellowship with him to participate, himself, in a true eternal being. All being vanity, man should not further vex himself about a " handful of vanity," — he should not care much whether he have to suffer a little more or a little less, but attach impoi-tance alone to that which either hinders or favours his fellowship with Him who is the true absolute, personal. Being. Ver. 9. "ini"' signifies generally "more" (chap, vi. 8, 11, vii. 11), here it means "remaining," as in 1 Samuel xv. 15. * Jerome — "post descriptionem interitiis humani pulchre exordium libri sui repetens, ait, vanitas vanitatum, dixit Ecclesiastes, omnia vanitas. Quum enim cunctus mortalium labor, de quo in toto volumine disputatum est, hue perven- iat, ut revertatur pulvis in terram suam, et anima illuc redeat unde sumta est, magnai vanitatis est, in hoc seculo laborare et nihil profutura conquirere." Rambach says, '-Patet igitur ex haetenus dictis atque imprimis etiam ex vita hominis natiirali tam brevi et misera, quod recte ab initio adfirniaverim, omnia quae soli subjecta sunt, vana, misera et caduca esse." R 258 ^ CHAPTER XII. 8-14. ' Tliere remains," that is, " it remains yet to be said." Luther, •who renders, " This same preacher was not only wise, but he also taught," and others, take "IDI"' in the sense of "besides;" compare ''JOD ini'' " besides me," in Esther vi. 6. The title Koheleth did not belong to Solomon as such, but as Salo'/no redivivus, as the ideal author of this book. (Compare what has already been said on this matter in chap. i. 1.) This is evident from this verse alone. . Of Solomon himself it was superfluous to say that he was a wise man, and taught the people wisdom. After what had been said about Solomon's wisdom in 1 Kings v. 9-11, such praise would sound rather cold. A wise man, of the kingdom of God ; not in the sense of the world, not of his own making, but of God's, (compare V. 11): this passage consequently does not contradict Pro- verbs xxvii. 2, " let another praise thee and not thine own mouth, a stranger and not thine own lips." He was an organ of that heavenly wisdom, of which it is said in the Book of Wisdom vii. 27, xara yswas iii -v^u^aj oGiag /jL£Ta(3amvsa, (plXoug Ssou xai rrpo(pyirag zarasxivui^n.'^ Koheleth did not limit him- self to being wise for himself, but he further (niy) taught the people wisdom. The title Koheleth of itself indicates this practical popular tendency. On the side of the readers there was the corresponding duty, to hear and to take to heart what was taught. The Piel of Jts, which only occurs here, is most simply explained by " hsten, hearken," after the example of Aquila, the Syriac and the Chaldee. The comparison of the Hiphil form is less remote than that of the noun D''JTSID, " scales," from which several have been disposed to derive the meaning, " to weigh, to consider." To attain to the truth of things we must listen ; especially shall we succeed in this pur- suit if we possess a hearing ear for God and his revelations: compare Psalm xlix. 5, " I will incline mine ear to the para- ble." "pn is separated from |TN andlpn by the accentuation and by the want of the copula. The two latter verbs desig- nate the means by which the )pn comes to pass. The verb, which occurs in chap. vii. 13, in the sense of "to make * Karahach, — " Ex numero scil. illorum sapientium quos Spiritus S. singula- riter ad docendum scribendumaBque instruxit, coll. v. 12, unde non verendum est, ut aut inutilia ac falsa hactenus monuerit, aut deiuceps v. 13, 14 moni turus sit." CHAPTER XII. 8-14. 259 straight," describes here not merely "the making complete," but at the same time also the skill or ability of the work. — If Koheleth is Solomon only in so far as he is the speaker in this book, then the " many parables," or proverbs, cannot be those mentioned in 1 Kings v. 1 2, of which a great part is con- tained in the Book of Proverbs, but must be those contained in the present book, which it is the aim to recommend. The book contains two hundred and twenty-two verses, which may be regarded as so many C^K'o. There is of course a reference to 1 Kings V. 1 2 : the ideal Solomon follows in the footsteps of the historical. Ver. 1 0. Koheleth strove to find out acceptable tvords : — naturally not for the earthly, but for the heavenly minded ; words which should go to the hearts of the true members of the Church of God. Schmidt remarks : " Quae jure meritoque desiderari et placere debent, tanquam divinse virtutis, et cer- titudinis." Cartwright says, " Verbi Dei encomium celebratur ab adjuncta dulcedine s. delectatione. Sunt etenim homini pio melle dulciora, Psa. xix., ut cibus famelico ut potus sitienti." And Ujjrightness was written, words of truth. The relation of the two halves of the verse to each other is wrongly estimated by Elster, who says, " his representation unites therefore artistic grace of form with inner truth of thought." Words are rather acceptable, because they are up- right and true, as in Luke ii. 52, %«V/5 is a consequence of Wisdom. n:^i, "uprightness," denotes everywhere that char- acter or condition which is adequate to the idea or standard. Wlierein this consists is more carefully described by the ad- dition, " words of truth." Truth is the quality which per- fectly corresponds to the norm. The adverbal view of "lE^ (Luther, " and wrote rightly the words of truth ") can scarcely be justified. The fundamental passage in this connection is ' Proverbs viii. 6-10, where wisdom says, "hear, for I speak noble things, and the opening of my lips is uprightness. For my movith speaketh truth, and wickedness is an abomination to my lips. All the words of my mouth are in righteousness, and there is nothing twisted or perverse in them. They are all plain to him that understandeth, and upright to them that find knowledge." That which is said there in regard to the Proverbs holds good also of this book, inasmuch as it is a 2(J0 « CHAPTER XII. 8-1 4. production of the same " wisdom from above," and not of weak, erring natural reason. Ver. 1 1 . From tlie praise of his own book, the author passes to the praise of the great whole, of which his work was destined to form a part, to wit, of the canonical books of the Old Testament. The luords of the wise, of the organs of the rivukv ffopicc, of the authors of the sacred books : to the number thereof the author of this book must be reckoned according to what has preceded.* The Berleburger Bible says, " in ver. 1 1 the reason is given for that which had been first affirmed : because, namely, he is one of the wise who are driven by the Spirit of God (2 Peter i. 21), whose words, therefore, have a deep meaning and importance." Hitzig observes, " an external connection is established between verses 10 and 11, by the fact that the words of truth in verse 1 0 proceed from one of the D''»3n (ver. 9 a). Hence, such words of the wise."-f- Are as qoads. pain, from am in the Arabic " to be pointed," denotes goad in general, and not specially " ox-goad." The point of comparison is only the power of piercing, penetrating deep : Gesenius ; " aculeorum instar alte descendunt in pectora homi- num iisque manent infixa." We should be led to this view also by the parallel comparison of Nails. Knobel says, quite incorrectly, "just as the ox-goad teaches the ox manners, and causes it to go rightly." And like nails driven in are the participators in the collection. yt33 means' strictly " to plant ;" it is used in Daniel xi. 45, in the sense "to drive in." The plural mnOB'D is here treated as a masculine : for remarks on feminines in n which are changed into masculines, see Ewald, 174 g. The plural D''"iODD occurs in Isaiah xli. 7, with which * Correctly Rambach, "Nam verba sapientium, atque ex illis maxime scrip- torum dfO'TvivSTCuv, Mosis, Samuelis, Josuae, Davidis, ex quibus et Ecclesiastes fuit, coll. V. 9." Incorrectly Elster, who says — " By the words of the wise are meant gnomic or didactic poems, which being brief and precise both as to thought and expression are specially fitted to have .such a lively, stimulating effect." According to the parallelism, "the wise" are the authors of the entire canouical books ; and that the excellence is not to be sought in the /b?-?«, but in the substance, in the thought, is clear from the fact that their origin is traced to the One Shepherd, or, in other words to Inspiration. t Schmidt and Rambach, "Ratio hie redditur ejus quod', ver. 10, dictum est gcriptam esse ab eo rectitudinem et verba veritatis h. e. firma et infallibilia. Jtatio nimirum est quia ipse sit ex illis sapientibus, Spiritu Dei uctis, quorum verba sint sicut stimuli, etc." CHAPTER XII. 8-14-. 261 compare 1 Chronicles xxii. 3. Tlie expression niBDK ''b]}2 has been most variously explained. It is therefore of the more importance to renounce all attempts at guessing, and to seek a solid groundwork. The form, niSDN, does not elsewhere occur, but the masculine form, D''DDS, does : this latter, there- fore, must be our guide, more especially as it is in use amongst the writers of the post-exile period, to whose usage that of Ko- heleth everywhere bears resemblance. D'^QOK, " that which is collected, collectse, collectanea," is used in 1 Chronicles xxvi. 15, 17, and Nehemiah xii. 25, of the stores of the sanctuary, in reference to which it is said, in 2 Chronicles xxv. 24, " silver and gold and all the vessels which were found in the house of God."* Now niDDX here has quite the same mean- ing as this D''DDS : — both signify, "collected things," "that which is collected." The sphere to which what is collected belongs, the nature of that which is collected, is more pre- cisely defined by the foregoing expression, " the words of the wise," to which niSDK ^^2 corresponds. Accordingly, the re- ference can only be to the national library : and the Baale or Associates of that which is collected can only be those who have taken part in the contents of the collection, to wit, the authors of the individual books contained therein, ^yn is any one who takes part in a matter : thus nnn '''?V2 are the associates of the covenant, (Genesis xiv. 13) ; yen 'b]:! are those who are participators in wickedness (compare Eccles. vii. 1 2) ; -cy '7]}2 are the associates of a city, that is, the inha- bitants : niD^n ''bv2, are the authors of the Talmud. The two clauses correspond exactly to each other : to the " words of the wise," con-espond the " associates of the collection," and to the goads, the Qiails driven in. Only in the second clause is the position of the words an inverted one, and the object of the inversion is to connect i:n3 immediately with niDDK ^^vn. All explanations different from the one given by us split on the meaning of niDDK just established. So for example that by which even Luther rendered the two difficult words — " as nails fastened in are the ' masters of assemblies,' " namely, the * Lightfoot, opp. i., p. 560, busies himself ex professo with these Asuppim, and under Nehemfah i. c. defines them as " certae apothecae, in quas thesauri et ohlationes tenipli coUigebantur et recondebantur, et quidem h. I. tales qua erant ad januas sitai." y 262 CHAPTER XII. 8-14. teachers who preside over the assemblies of the people, or that of Gesenius — " the associates of the (learned) assemblies." Apart from the fact that this meaning is unsuitable — teachers or learned men are quite out cf place here — niiDDX does not signify " assemblies." In the opinion of others mSDS ''^yn is not the subject, but is put in opposition, and describes nails more particularly : " qui ipsi clavi sunt domini a)llectionum, i. e., instrumenta v. media firmiter res combinantia," (Geier). This is thought to suit the expression, " the words of the wise," very well : since they not only enable the wise to collect their distracted minds, but also keep a whole Church together," (Berleb. Bible).* But even on this view a doubtful meaning is thrust on the word niSDX ; the thought drags, and the im- pression of the simple image of goads and nails, which was meant only to represent the piercing, deeply penetrating power, is destroyed, or else the nails are without reason separated from the goads ; and finally the correspondence be- tween the sentences, which requires that niSDK ""^yn, corre- sponding as it does to coan nm, must be the subject, is over- thrown. Hitzig refers the term, " flie collected ones," to " collected proverbs or sayings." In tiiat case, however, i^jya is unsuitable ; besides, the parallel expression, D"'»3n ''"in, has a wider signification ; and further, this book does not at all contain a "collection of sayings." According to the well- founded interpretation advanced above, the sense of the two clauses is the following — that the sacred writings of Israel are endowed with a deeply penetrating power, in distinction from all worldly literature, which can only produce a superficial impression, and is incapable of stirring the deepest depths of the mind and heart. A parallel passage is Revelations i. 16, which represents a sharp and two-edged sword as going out of the mouth of Christ. By this we are to understand in the first instance, not the power which the word has of penetrat- ing to, and healing the heart, but rather the destructive power it derives from the omnipotence which is its sourca This is clear even from chap. ii. 1 2, as compared with chap, ii. 1 6, where the two-edged sword is said to be directed against * Following the example of Cocceius, Vitringa says ; '' habent virtutem eccle- siam continendi in eodem sensu, quemadmodum clavi asseribus firmiter impacti aidiura partes apte consertas minime vacillare et hiare sinunt." CHAPTER XII. 8-14. 263 the fjilse seed which is in the Church ; and from chap. xix. 21, where it is said to bring down ruin on the anti- christian power of the heathen. But the power of the word to destroy, and its power to penetrate the heart with salvation, have one root. That root is the energetic Hfe it draws from God, who is the fount of all life and of all strength. We may say the same thing of the second parallel passage from the New Tes- tament, Hebrews iv. 12: " for the word is living and power- ful, and sharper than a two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." There also, " the living energy of the word from which it is impos- sible to escape," (Delitzsch), is directed in the first instance against its enemies and despisers, as is evident from the warn- ing reference made to facts of the time of Moses, when dis- obedience to the word was followed by death. Hand in hand, however, with this aspect of the energy of the word goes the healing and redemptive one specially mentioned in the pas- sage now under notice. A canon whereby to judge sermons has been justly drawn from this verse. They ought to have the characteristics of the Scriptures themselves : they are w^orth nothing if they cannot stand the comparison with goads and nails.* Here also have we a rule for the conduct of hearers towards sermons : — " they must not feel vexed if they leave their sting in the soul."-f- The words, " they were given by one shepherd," give the reason why such qualities are ascribed to the " words of the wise," and of the " associates of tlie collection;" — it is as if the writer said — "and indeed they are such because they were given."j Analogous is 2 • Jerome, " Simul et hoc notandum est, quod dicuntur verba sapientium pungere, iion palpare nee molli manu attrectare lasciviam sed errantibus et tardis pcenitentite dolores et vulnus infigere. Si cujus igitur sermo non piingit, sed oblectationi est audientibus iste non est sermo sapientis. Verba quippe sapientium ut stimuli. — Hoc stimulo, necdum Paulum, sed adhuc Saulum puto in via confossum erroris audisse ; durum tibi est adversus stimulum calcitrare." t Cartwright, «' Hoc nos admoneat tranquillo animo Ministrorum asperiores et acriores adhortationis morsus placide ferre, et eosdem ad Deum tanciuam autorem, non autem ad ministrorum morositatem (quod fieri solet) referre: denique hinc liquet scripturam ct sanam doctrinam non assentari hominibus, aut corruptam naturam nostram blandimentis dclinirc." J Cartwright, " Omnium antem verbi encomiorum nullum majus est, quodque omnium aliarum laudatissimarum virtutum fons et causa est, quod postremo iJ04< CHAPTER XII. 8-1 4. Timotliy iii. 1 6, Taca y^apj^, Siorrvsvirrog, xai utpiXi/iog Tpog dibaff- xaXiav, Tpog 'iKiyyov, etc., where the deeply penetrative influence of the Scriptures is traced to their divine inspiration. The subject of i:nj is firstly, " the words of the wise," and then "the associates of the collection:" in regard to the latter, compare Ephesians iv. 11 — "and he gave some apostles, etc." (see Stier on the passage). The " Shepherd'' can only be the Lord. God is first designated the Shepherd of Israel in Genesis xlviii. 15 ; xlix. 24 : in the last quoted place He is simply called "the Shepherd." Further in Psalm xxiii. 1, where not the individual believer but entire Israel says, " the Lord is my Shepherd : " (see also Isaiah xl. 11; Jeremiah xxxi. 10 ; Ezekiel xxxiv. 11, 12.) Israel the flock, the Lord the shepherd — this is a common image, especially in the post- exile writings. On any other mode of explanation we lose ourselves in a region of guesses. As a shepherd, as the lov- ing support of his Church, God has given it the Holy Scrip- tures.* In contrast to the plurality of the writers, which gave occasion to the words, " the associates of the collection," emphasis is laid on the oneness of the primal source of the Sacred Scriptures. Ver. 12. And for the rest. The offer is complete ; it now only remains that what has been offered be appropriated. My son : "dear reader, whoever thou art, whom I have sought to admonish as a fiither," (Berleburger Bible.) Take insiruction from them, nana refers to the preceding verse in which the entire scriptures are spoken of Elster's view consequently is incorrect ; "in verse 1 2 Koheleth advises his readers to be content with the simple truth contained in his own book." His own book is mentioned only as part of a comprehensive whole. "iriTJ was used in the sense of "to let oneself be admonished" in chap. iv. ] 3. We find it employed with the same force — " to let oneself be admonished by the Word of God," in Ezekiel iii. 21, xxxiii. 4, 5, 6. In Psalm xix. 12, to which there appears here to be a very distinct allusion, it loco ponitur: nempe quod omnes Dei sermones, utcunqiie per varia Prophet- arum organa et instrumenta ad nos perveniant, ab uno pastore Christo nobis donati sint." * Cartwright, " Est enim verbum dei pabulum et veluti tenera herba, qua pascuntur pii ad vitam aeternam." CHAPTER XII. 8-14. 265 is said of the revealed commands of God, " moreover, by them is thy servant ivarned."* Luther translates, " guard thyself, my son, against others more :" and this explanation was ap- proved by Gesenius. For the understanding of p inv appeal may be made to Esther vi. 6 ; for the meaning of the verb, to the Chaldee. But it is simplest to understand nnv as in verse 9 ; and the parallel passages are too decidedly in favour of the meaning assigned above to inii. The meaning, "to guard oneself," does not occur in Hebrew usage. After the exhorta- tion to the right use of the sacred Scriptures, follows a warning against the study of the literature of the world.-f Of making many books there is no end. It is the nature of the wisdom of this world never to arrive at a conclusion concerning the very highest questions, with which we have alone here to do ; never to come to certain results, never to get rest. It is ever learning and never coming to a knowledge of the truth. There is consequently no consolation for him who devotes himself to this literature with the expectation of finding in it the solution to the enigma of this earthly life : and Tnuch desire is a weariness to the flesh, yrh occurs only here. The verb signifies in Arabic " to be desirous." The reference to the thirst for knoivledge lies not in the word but in the con- text : " much desire for that multitude of heathen books." It is not in the interest of laziness that this warning against " weariness of the flesh" is uttered. One may meditate day and night on the law of God (Psalm i.) without experiencing this " weariness of the flesh." But one should subject oneself to such weariness only when some positive actual result is likely to be gained. In connexion with the literature of heathendom there was weariness of the flesh and nothing else ; it was a mere Sisyphus labour ; it brought no true gain to the God-descended spirit.:]: Some have maintained that the words, " of making many books, etc.," imply " that at this time the simplicity of the wisdom revealed by God had already begTin * " Unde et pater ejus banc laudem doctrinse Dei tribuit Psa. xix. quod Dei servus eadem cautus et comnionitus redditur." — Cartwright. t Jerome — "Exceptis his verbis qua; ab uno pastore sunt data, nihil tibi vindices. Alioqui, qurerenti multa, infinitus tibi librorum nuraerus occurret : qui te pertrahat ad errorem et legcntem frustra faciet laborare." X Cartwright — " Quorum exlectione prseter tsedium et tui ipsius fatigatimem, nullum fructum percept urus es." 266 CHAPTER XII. 8-14. to be spoiled by an unfraitful and jDrolix school-learning." But that the writer's attack is not directed against the native Hebrew literature, is evident, from the fact that for centuries long the dogmatical wisdom of the Rabbins was handed down solely by oral tradition ; and it is quite certain that at the date of this book, however late we set its origin, there existed no extended Rabbinical literature. From chap. vii. 26, as well as from the contrast drawn between Israelitish and heathenish wisdom even in the Book of Proverbs, it is evident that the author's polemic is with that false wisdom which was threatening to pass from the heathen world to the Jews. Others, who rightly refer the words to heathen literature, draw from them the conclusion that the book was not composed till the time of the Persian dominion. But it is impossible to prove that the heathen were more addicted to wi-iting many books at the end, than at the middle, of this period, Recent investigations have put beyond doubt that, in earlier times. Egyptian literature was both comprehensive and vain and un- fruitful. According to Diodorus, i. 49, over the sacred library at Thebes was the inscription, " pharmacy of the soul," -^vx/ig larpiTov. Ver. 13. The saying here, corresponds to the commence- ment of the Epilogue in ver. 8. There, all things earthly are represented as vain : here, our connection with God is set forth as the great essential. " the conclusion of the discourse, the whole, let us hear." The word, ^)D is never used by the writers of the pre-exile period, and indeed, as a Hebrew word, never occurs except in this book, in Joel, and in 2 Chron. xx. 16: it frequently occurs in the Chaldee portion of Daniel. Its meaning is not " the sum," but, " the whole." At the same time, only a thought of thorough importance is put at the end when expressly described as the end ; and we are afterwards distinctly told that the end is also the sum. "im is undoubt- edly the particular discourse set before us in this book. The article may be omitted, whenever " the context may be pre- sumed to define more precisely what is meant, and when there- fore, the article is considered superfluous," (Ewald,) b being strictly a noun, it should not be rendered, " of the whole dis- course : " bn is rather set in opposition, and informs us that in the termination of the discourse the whole is included ; — it CHAPTER XIL 8-14-. 267 expressly specifies that the closing thought is the main, the fundamental thought. We may also regard the oft-repeated exhortation addressed to murmurers, to enjoy life, as com- prehended under the last admonition — " fear God." For what is it but fear of God, wilHngly to bear what God has laid upon us, to rise above our trials with the exclamation, " the Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away," to live in freedom from care and fear to the present moment, and cheer- fully to enjoy what He offers. All murmuring is godlessness. J^DK'J is the pause form of the first plural future ; compare Joshua xxiv. 22 ; Jeremiah xlii. 6. "Fear God and keep his com- mandments, for that is (the duty of) all men. Many commen- tators explain, " for that is the whole man." Ewald says, — " for therein consists the whole man, or that, which is truly simple, which is sufiicient for the entire man, and in which everything else that is human is comprised." Elster say^, " therein lies man's whole nature, thereon depends his whole fate."* However attractive this explanation may be, we must still abide by Luther'-s translation, " For that belongs to all men." The phrases DIN ^3 and. DISH ^3 very often occur and invariably signify — "all men;" never, "the whole man."-f- Against this consideration the harshness of the ellipsis, " that (should) all men," is not at all worthy of mention. Such harsh modes of expression occur not unfrequently in the later form of the language, in which this book is written.^ To fear God and keep His commandments is the duty of all men, * The saying of Lactantius forms a good commentary on the words as thus Tiewed : he says in the Instit. vi. 1, "Id enim est hominis officium in eoque solo gumma rerum et omnis beataj vitre ratio consistit : quandoquidem propterea ficti et inspirati ab eo sumus, non ut caelum videremus ct solem, quod Anaxagoras putavit ; sed ut artifieem solis et coeli, Deum pura et Integra mente coleremus." t D"TS ^2 Leviticus xvi. 17 ; Job xxi. 33 ; xxxvi. 25 ; xxxvii. 7 : Psalm xxxix. 6, 12; Ixiv. 10: Jeremiah x. 14: etc. DlSn ^3 chap. vii. 2; Genesis vii. 21 ; Exodus ix. 19 ; Numbers xii. 3, xvi. 29-32 ; Judges xvi. 17 ; 1 Kings viii. 38. t Jerome, " aiunt Hebraji, quum inter caetera scripta Salomonis, quaj anti- quata sunt nee in memoria duraverunt, et hie liber obliterandus videretur, eo quod vanas assererit Dei creaturas ct totum putaret esse pro nlhilo, et cibum et potum et delicias transeuntes praferret omnibus, ex hoc uno capitulo meruisse auctoritatem ut in divinorum voluminum numero poneretur, quod totam dis- putationem suam et oninem catalogum hac quasi avaxitpaXaiudi coarctaverit et dixerit fir.em sermon um suorum auditu esse promt i^>simum nee aliquid in se hal)ere difficile, ut scilicet Deum timcamus ct ejus pra;cepta faciamus." 2G3 CHAPTER XII. 8-14. because all bear His image, and can have no true life or growth except in connection with the primal source of their existence : they must also be punished with destruction if they criminally and violently break this connection. This latter consideration is expressly and emphatically alluded to in ver. 1 4, where the motive of the admonition is given. " Into the judgment on every secret thing." ^y is very frequently used of the substratum or object: hence "on" is equivalent to " concerning, in respect of" That the judgment here is principally the future one, is clear from the corresponding ver. 7, where the appearance of the spirit separated from the body before God, in order to receive recompence for its works, was spoken of: (compare 1 Cor. iv. 5 ; 2 Cor. v, 10 ; Acts xvii. 31.) Still there is no reason for confining our thoughts entirely to the future judgment : we should rather think of judgment in its widest compass, as it is begun in time and perfected in eternity. The mere mention of "secret things" does not compel us to limit the words to the future judgment. For in Psalm xc. 8, it said of the judgment which is pronoun- ced and executed by history — " thou settest our iniquities be- fore thee, our secret sin in the light of thy countenance." Even Luther saw how comprehensive was the application of the expression : he remarks, " the author does not speak here only of the judgment at the last day, but, according to Scrip- ture usage, of judgment in general. There is a judgment and an hour for everything with God, and no one can escape. Wherefore Arius and all heretics are already judged. But at the last day it will be made still clearer in the presence of all creatures, angels and men, that even now in the day of visita^ tion, God the Lord has laid bare their sin and disgrace, that in a word, there is no more concealment." " O how exceeding necessary is it that our light and thoughtless nature should at all times remember, and be reminded of, the strict and unavoidable account awaiting us, so that we may never forget it ! How easily one or another may be called upon to render his account ere he is ready ! Should we not therefore be ever preparing, if we do not desii-e to be put to confusion, but to receive such a sentence as we desire and can count blessed." PROLEGOMENA TO THE SONG OF SOLOMON, BY PROFESSOR DR. HENGSTENBERG. PEOLEGOMENA THE SONG OF SOLOMON. I ON THE UNITY OF THE SONG OF SOLOMON. There are various views in regard to the composition of the Song of Solomon. Some writers look upon it as an aggregate or collection of single poems, composed by different authors and at different periods. Others, on the contrary, regard it as " a drama not intended for representation." These latter are at great pains to show that, from the beginning to the end, there is a regular progress, both of the thought and the action. Neither of these two views expresses the whole truth : the truth lies in the middle. The Song of Solomon is not a collection of poems by different authors ; nor is it a collection of unconnected poems by one and the same author : nor, further, is it by any means a thoroughly and regularly progressive whole. The book falls into two parts — the union and the reunion : and, in each of these two parts, we observe, not a " dramatic progress," but a series of groups of stanzas, in which the various aspects of the relation of love are exhibited to us. Analogies to this method may be found in various parts of Holy Scripture (compare my Commentary on the Book of Revelation, vol. ii. 2.) We may apply to the Song of Solomon what de Wette says of the Book of Daniel — " The book has a plan, and forms a whole, but it is so arranged that one and the same thing keeps recurring under different forms. 272 PROLEGOMENA TO THE presenting itself before the eye of the reader with ever increasing distinctness and clearness." Let us, in the first place, set forth the considerations which bear against the view of the Song of Solomon as an aggregate of poems originally unconnected. The superscription itself — " The Song of Songs" — charac- terises the book as a complete and internally connected whole. Even that interpretation of the words, which was invented for the very purpose of setting aside the testimony to the unity of the work furnished by the superscription — the explanation, namely, " The Song which consisteth of many songs," — tells in the same direction. For, an aggregate utterly destitute of internal unity could never be called a Song. But the unity is still more decidedly favoured by the only explanation which can be considered well-founded, to wit, " the most glorious song ;" an explanation which is in accordance with Solomon's own usage in 1 Kings viii. 27, where he describes the highest heavens, as " thfe heaven of heavens." Compare, also, D^ny ny, "the most glorious ornaments" (literally "the ornament of ornaments,") in Ezekiel xvi. 7, and Numbers iii. 32. This explanation is now universally recognised as the right one. Gesenius for example, says, " the expression, Song of Songs is unquestionably so much as, the most beautiful of songs." Ewald also says, "a song which is distinguished amongst songs, in comparison with which all others hide their heads." Magnus remarks, (page 1 3), " the explanation, the most beauti- ful song, is the only correct one, and is adopted with one accord by all the more recent expositors ;" he also allows that the author intended thereby to indicate that he regarded the work as a connected whole. Unless we force a meaning on the word, the singular n^t^', can only refer to a single song, that is, to a song which forms a connected whole. As the superscription, so also does the conclusion, (chap. viii, 13, 14) show, that we have one book before us. The formal arrangement of the book, shows that the " Song of Songs" is not a loose assemblage of separate songs, but an organised and connected whole, and leads us, therefore, to the same conclusion. The ten minor sections of the book are collected into two greater ones of five parts each : the subject of the one of these greater divisions is, the union ; of SONG OF SOLOMON. 273 the other, the reunion. The first part of the first greater division, embraces from chap. i. 2, to chap. ii. 7, and is divided into three stages. The second part consists of the decade in chap. ii. 8-17. The third part is chap. iii. 1-11, a decade, with a conchiding verse, divided into two series of five verses each. The fourth part is formed by the number seven in chap. iv. 1-7. The fifth, by the decade in chap. iv. 8 — v. 1. Of the second greater section, the first part begins with chap, v. 2, and ends with chap. vi. 3. The second part is the decade chap. vi. 4 — vii. 1, which is divided into two series of verses respectively numbering seven and three. The third part is the decade chap. vii. 2-11, divided into two series of five each. The fourth part comprises verses to tlie number of seven, chap. vii. ] 2 — viii. 4, divided into two series of three and four. The fifth part is the decade, chap. viii. 5-14, divided into two series of verses, respectively of the number of three and seven. In support of the unity of the book may be further urged the fact that the second part contains a succession of allusions to and interweaviiigs with the first, whose purpose is to indicate that the old relation which had been disturbed by discord is now fully re-established. This procedure reaches its cKmax in chap. vi. 5-7 as compared with chap. iv. 1-3 : compai^e besides, chap. v. 9 and vi. 1, with chap. i. 8: chap. vi. 11, with chap. ii. 12,13: chap. vii. 4 with chap. iv. 5 : chap, vii. 5 with chap. iv. 4 : chap. vii. 6 with chap. iv. 3 : chap, vii 12, 13,. with chap. ii. 12, 13 : chap. viii. 2 with chap. iii. 4: chap. viii. 3, 4 with chap. ii. 6, 7 : chap. viii. 5, with chap. iii. 6. The frequently recurring concluding formulas are, moreover, so many indications of the unity of the book. So also the thrice repeated charge to the daughters of Jerusalem not to awaken her love (chap. ii. 7, viii. 5, iii. 4.) A similar formula occurs in chap. ii. 1 7, viii. 1 4, with which compare chap. iv. 6 : then also in chap. ii. 1 6 and vi. 3, Even in the very title, Solomon is set before us as the centre of the whole poem. He appears in this character also at the close (chap. viii. 11.) In the course of the book he is mentioned in chap. iii. 7, i\ 1 1 : compare also chap. i. 4, 1 2, vii. 5, where he is referred to under the title of " the King." 274 PROLEGOMENA TO THE Throughout the whole work the lover is one and the same, to wit, the heavenly Solomon. The beloved one also is the same through the entire hook, to wit, the daughter of Zion, the Israelitish Nation. In the opening of the theme (see chap. i. 6) she complains against herself, for not having kept her vineyard ; and towards the close (chap. viii. 12), she promises faithfully to watch over her vineyard. Neither of these things has any meaning unless we suppose the beloved one to be Israel. Throughout the whole, mention is made of the daughters of Jerusalem, (see chap. i. 5) that is, of the heathen nations who were to be brought into the kingdom of God. Throughout the whole, the Church is represented under the image of the Mother of the heavenly Solomon, and of the Bride (cha.p. iii. 4, 11, vi. 9, viii. 2, 5) : the' Church appears also as a garden full of lovely trees and flowers (compare chap. V. 12-16, vi. 2, viii. 18, ii. 12, 18, vi. 11): lilies are the symbol of loveliness — especially of the loveliness of the nations who are to be received into the kingdom of the heavenly Solomon (compare chap. ii. 16, iv. 5, vi. 2, ii. 1, 2, v. 18, vii. 8) : the breasts are an image of the nutritive virtue of the Church (compare iv. 5) : the desert stands for the condition of the lost and unredeemed (compare chap. iii. 6, viii. 5)' : the dove is used as the symbol of the defenceless innocence of the Church (see chap. i. 15, ii. 14, iv. 1, v. 2, 12, vi. 9.) Within the narrow limits of the Song of Songs, as frequent mention is made of myrrh as in all the rest of the Old Testa- ment. Appletrees and apples are alluded to in chap. ii. 8, 5, vii. 9, viii. 5 : and in all the rest of the Old Testament only twice. Lebanon, with its cedars, seems to have stood con- stantly before the mind of the poet (see chap. iii. 9, iv. 8, 11, 15, vii. 5, i. 17, viii. 9.) He endeavours, too, throughout, to enumerate as completely as possible in his allegorical picture, the noble products in which Canaan was rich : he shows also a decided preference for local comparisons (see chap. vi. 11.) An examination of the points of agreement and difference between the sections, chap. iii. 1-5 and chap. v. 2-8, also confirms the unity. ,The language and style have throughout the same colouring: the author shows a strong preference for foreign elements — SONG OF SOLOMON, 275 especially for Ai-amaic elements. He regularly uses ^ for n{j»X, aud with a frequency without parallel in the entire Old Testament, with the exception of the Lamentations of Jeremiah : he uses the word n'»jn, " friend," (feminine) of the beloved one ; and of this there is no other example : he uses in, which signifies properly " love," of the " lover" (compare chap. v. 2, 4, 6, and many other passages; see also the similar use of the word " love " as a designation of the " Beloved One," in chap, ii. 7; iii. 5-10; vii. 7.) This latter usage is found elsewhere only in Isaiah v. 1, and is there probably borrowed from the Song of Songs, to which the entire passage, as well as the particular image of the vineyard, seems to allude. After all this, one may well be surprised at the shortsight- edness and confusion of interpreters, who could ever fail to see the unity of the Song of Songs, The refutation of those who maintain a "dramatic progTCss" can of course only be effected in the course of a commentary. But the mere fact that no two of the commentators who uphold this view, agi-ee, even in essential points, sufiiciently wan-ants the suspicion that the " dramatic progress" exists not in the book itself, but only in the inventive fancy of its advocates, the traces of whose busy activity any one may discover who will give his attention to the matter. Delitzsch, the most recent representative of this view, thinks that the goal of the whole first part up to chap. v. 1 is the marriage union ; and that the poet approaches gradually to this aim by a series of preparatory steps. But, in fact, every individual section of the first part culminates in the mamage union. Beginning with the very first, we see that each section terminates with presenting the love of the two lovers as having attained full satisfaction, and as having arrived at the very pitch of perfection (compare chap. ii. 6, iii. 5.) If we do justice to this plain and evident fact, the notion of a " dramatic progTCSs" disappears, and the " drama not intended for representation" becomes an empty fancy. II. THE AUTHOR OF THE SONG OF SONGS. The superscription to the Song of Songs is decisive in favour of the authorship of Solomon. He is expressly mentioned in 270 , PEOLEGOMENA TO THE it as the author. Suspicion has been thrown on the super- scription, because Tvi'X is used in it instead of ^^•, which else- wliere, throughout the whole book, is invariably employed : but this ground has no real importance. It is at once removed by the simple observation, that a> belongs to poetry, whereas the superscription is written, at all events formally, in prose. Positive arguments for the genuineness of the superscription are — I. Its enigmatical and pregnant character, and that mingling of description of the subject and of the author which is very probable and appropriate as emanating from the sacred poet himself, but not as emanating from a later glossarist. II. The circumstance, that at the beginning of the poem there would be no mention of its subject if the present super- scription be pronounced inaccurate. The evidence in relation to the author, furnished by the superscription, is further confirmed by the marked connection of the historical relations and allusions of the book with the age of Solomon. This is most decided and plain in such passages as chap. iv. 8 ; vii. 5. Chapter vi. 4, alludes to the time previous to the separation of the two kingdoms. So also chap. iv. 1, where Jerusalem appears as the metropolis of Gilead, as well as of other districts. The same period is sug- gested by the mode in which comparisons are drawn promis- cuously and indifferently from all parts of the monarchy of Solomon and David, which was evidently present to the mind of the poet as a united whole. See for example Jerusalem in chap. iii. 11; vi. 4 ; the Temple in chap. iv. 6 ; the tower of David in chap. iv. 4 ; Engedi in chap. i. 14 ; Sharon in chap, ii. 1 ; the valley of the Jordan in chap. ii. 1 ; Thirzah in chap, vi. 4 ; Gilead in chap. iv. J ; Heshbon in chap. vii. 5 ; Carmel in chap. vii. 6 ; Lebanon and Hermon in chap. iv. 8. Tlie age of Solomon is further suggested by the whole style and character of the work. Kleuker says, in his work on the Song of Songs (page 1 8), " the whole feeling, the whole tone of the book, and its manner, which is in part splendid, and in part beautiful and natural, lead us at once to think of the writer as belonging to the most flourishing period of the He- brew constitution and history." Dopke thinks that " the fresh and vigorous mind of a poet, who lived in free and flourishing times, to whose imagination a full supply of lovely and smil- SONG OF SOLOMON. 277 ing images presented itself unsought," expresses itself in tlie Song of Songs. The cheerful sunshine of the age of Solomon in-adiates even those portions which are in themselves obscure and dark : whereas even in the most joyous and exultant songs of a later period, the clouds, through which the light penetrates, are dis- tinctly visible — the countenance radiant with gladness shows traces of the tears which had been shed shortly before. The entire course of the thought of the poem could only have taken its rise in an age like that of Solomon. Even for such pastime as may be called sacred (and such is presented to us in the Song of Songs), there is no desire in times when misery presses heavily on the soul. Men then seek consola- tion and strength as directly as possible from God. The pas- sage, Jeremiah xxv. 1 0, " And I take from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride," (compare chap. vii. 34 ; xvi. 9), may be the more appropriately adduced in the present con- nection, as this book implies that at the time of its composi- tion songs of love even of the lower sort flourished in Israel. The Song of Songs is essentially a transformation of poetry — it is a noble growth of the spirit grafted on the wild stem of worldly love-songs. The account given of itself by the Song of Songs receives further confirmation from the fact that the mental and other peculiar characteristics of Solomon reappear in it. It breathes the high and lofty spirit attributed to Solomon in 1 Kings v. 9 K The title given to the book is "the Song of Songs" :— now we find it reported in the Books of Kings that Solomon was the author of numerous songs, D''"i''B^. This account alone shows, with suificient clearness, that Solomon may not, as some who have but one measure for all minds would have it, be limited to one sphere, — to that, namely, of wise sayings, whose char- acter is not at all that of songs, to which it is essential that they be sung. The assumption just alluded to, fails utterly of agreement with aU in the historical books, that bears witness to the universality of Solomon's genius. The Song of Songs could only have been written by a man whose experiences in connection with earthly love had been such as Solomon's. 278 PROLEGOMENA TO THE History, testifies to Solomon's pleasure in gardens. In Ecclesiastes ii. 4-6, we read, " I planted me vineyards. I made me gardens and pleasure-gardens (D''D'nD), and planted tliem with trees of every kind of fruit. I made me pools of water to water therewith the shooting forest of trees." Here we have the natural gToundwork of the allegorical description of nature contained in the Song of Songs.* Vineyards are men- tioned again in chap. i. 6, 1 6 ; ii. ] 5 ; vii. 1 3 ; viii. 1 1 ;•' and the allusion to the vineyard of heavenly Solomon at Baaljiia- mon is clearly based on an actually existing type. Gardens. are- mentioned in chap. iv. 12-15 ; v, 1, 13 ; vi. 2, 11 : pleasure- gardens in chap. iv. 1 3 : fruit-trees in chap. iv. 1 3, 16; ii.|l3 ; vi, 11 : and water-pools in chap. vii. 5, with which compear©' chap. iv. 12, 15 ; vi. 11. But Solomon's feeling for nature did not show itself merelj' in the pleasure he took in gardens. Accordmg to 1 King-s iv. 3 3, " he discoursed concerning trees, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall ; and he discoursed on cattle and birds and creeping things and of fishes :" that is, undoubtedly, in the proverbs and songs pre- viously mentioned. The whole context forbids us to suppose * This probably still remains even for the physical eye. Eitter says in his Erdkunde, Th. 16, 1 S. 280, "The blessing which everywhere in the East the system of irrigation dift'uses over the land is seen in peculiar fulness in the Paradisaic Etham, the now narrow, but yet lovely, valley of Wadi Urtas. This, in all probability, was the garden of Solomon so rich in pools of water, which is described in the Song of Songs as a pleasure-garden with the noblest fruit trees, and in tlie legends, as a walled garden planted by Solomon. Josephus, in his description of Solomon's buildings, magnificence and glory, narrates how the king was a lover of horses and chariots (then remarkable objects in Judea), and how he often, early in the morning, at break of day, to refresh himself, drove in a high chariot, surrounded by halberdiers of his life guard in gorgeous attire, with gold powdered hair, to his lovely garden of Etham, distant from Jerusalem about two schoeni (see Josephus' Antiquities, viii. 7, 3). — Robinson was cheered to find here that rarity in Palestine, a murmuring brook : Wilson's feeling was that the valleys above and below the Solomonic pools of water must, in consequence of the irrigation of their gardens and fields, have offered a lovely retreat to the citizens of Jerusalem who took pleasure in, and sought, the silence, solitude and beauty of nature, v. Schubert also, visiting this valley in March 1837, found the cherry and apricot trees in full blossom, and heard the turtle doves cooing in the groves. In March 1843 again, "Wilson was strongly reminded by the beauty of the opening spring, of the descriptions given in the Song of Songs (chap. ii. 11, 13), and was deeply moved by the evidences of the poet's truth to nature presented by his own native land." SONG OF SOLOMOX. 279 that formal treatises on natural history are referred to ; Solo- mon's wisdom being the only subject touched upon both before and after.* Now this peculiarity exists not only in Proverbs, but equally in the Song of Songs. Repeated mention is made of the cedars of Lebanon ; and along with them of cypresses (chap. i. 17), and of palms (chap. vii. 7.) From that height, tlie figurative contemplation of the world of plants descends to the liHes, and to the thorns amongst which they gi'ow (chap, ii. 2) ; to the myiTh and the camphire (chap. i. 13, 14); to the mandrakes (chap. vii. 1 3) ; and finally to the whole floral and vegetable world (chap. iv. 13, 14). Of the four-footed animals mention is made of horses in chap. i. 9 ; of sheep and kids in chap. i. 7, 8 (compare iv. 1,2); of hinds and roes in chap. ii. 7, 9, 17 ; iii. 5 ; viii. 14 ; of foxes in chap. ii. 15 ; and of lions and leopards in chap. iv. 8. Among birds, besides to doves, allusion is also made to turtle doves (chap. ii. 12), and to the raven (chap. v. 11). There is not a book in the whole of the Scriptures which contains in so brief a space so many allusions to natural objects. The point of most import- ance, however is that all these references to nature are made in the service of wisdom, — that they are so many touches in the allegorical picture of the experiences and course of the Church of God. All nature is as it were turned into spirit. Whoso has made the Song of Songs a part of his very flesh and blood, must look on nature with other eyes. Even the human body is glorified in this poem. Solomon " built houses," we read in Ecclesiastes ii. 4. Tlie manner in which he carried out his artistic ideas in the erec- tion of great buildings is set forth in detail in 1 Kings vi., vii. His taste for art shows itself in various ways in the Song of Songs. We may adduce, for example, the references made to the carpets of Solomon, (chap. i. 5 ;) to his chains and laces, (chap. i. 10, 11 ;) to his houses, whose beams were of cedar and whose floors were of cypress, (chap. i. 17;) to the bridal cliariot made of the wood of Lebanon, the pillars whereof were silver, the back gold, and the seat of purple, (chap. iii. 10, 11;) to the rings of gold and torquoises, and the bright ivory over- laid with sapphires, (chap. v. 14;) to the pillars of marble set * Even Josejihus recognised this : see his Arch. viii. 2, 5, 280 PEOLEGOMENA TO THE in sockets 'of gold, (chap. v. 15 ;) to the ornaments, the work of the hands of the master- workman, (chap. vii. 2 ;) to the tower of ivory, (chap. vii. 5 ;) and to the palace of silver (chap. viii. 9.) That which we have above exhibited in detail was hinted at by Kleuker in the following words — " let any one compare the accounts of Solomon's loves in the historical books, the taste for nature and magnificence displayed in all his thoughts and delineations thereof, and evidenced in his other remains, and it will be difiicult to conceive that any other than he wrote the Song of Songs." Tlie testimony in favour of the authorship of Solomon given by the superscription is further confirmed by the agi-eement between the Song of Songs and other of Solomon's productions. Foremost mention in this connection is deserved by Psalm Ixxii. This Psalm agrees with the Song of Songs, in showing that Solomon occupied his mind earnestly with the Messianic hopes of his nation. Throughout the whole of the Song of Songs, Messiah is en- titled Solomon, and the daughter of Sion Sulamith, (chap. vii. 1 ;) and her finding of peace, by means of the heavenly Solo- mon is represented as the very height of happiness and well- being, (chap. viii. 1 0.) In perfect agreement with this is the special stress laid on the peace to be brought by Messiah, in Psalm Ixxii. Nowhere is peace as a characteristic feature of the Messianic period, alluded to with such force and distinct- ness as in the two Messianic descriptions, headed — " By Solo- mon," the man of peace, whose peaceful reign foreshadowed Christ's Kingdom of peace. In Psalm Ixxii. we are expressly told that the kingdom of that great king, in contrast to that of his predecessors, will extend over the whole earth, that all kings will fall down before him, and all peoples serve him. This universality of the Kingdom of Christ is emphatically referred to in the Song of Songs. For example, at the very commencement we read, (chap. i. 3,) "therefore do the virgins love thee;" — by the image of the virgins we are to understand the nations, which are to be received into the Kingdom of Christ. In chap. i. 5, as well as in a number of other passages, mention is made of the daughters of Jerusalem, that is, of the heathen nations SONG OF SOLOMON. 281 who, in the day of redemption, will unite themselves to the Israelitish mother Church. In chap. iii. 9-11, a description is given of the marriage of the heavenly Solomon with a host of lovely virgins. " There are three-score queens, and four-score concubines, and virgins without number," we read in chap. vi. 8. This is, in a symbolical form, exactly the same as that which is said more literally in Psalm Ixxii., " and he rules from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth. And all kings worship him, and all Gentiles serve him." Particular points of coincidence between the two, are further, the mention of the cedars of Lebanon, (see Psalm Ixxii. 16,) and the very emphatic allusions to shooting out and flourishing, (Psalm Ixxii. 3, 7, 16.) Owing to the peculiarity of the purpose Solomon intended the Proverbs to serve, and of the species of literature to which they belong, the points of contact between that book and the Song of Songs, are necessarily fewer than between this latter and Psalm Ixxii. Common to both, however, is the pre- ference shown for imagery and enigma, and in a peculiar degTee for detailed personification and allegorical descriptions. This is a very marked feature of the Proverbs, whenever the subject under consideration is wisdom and folly. A whole series of separate and highly characteristic resemblances might further be adduced. See especially Proverbs i. 9, compared with chap. iv. 9 ; Prov. i. 28, compared with chap. v. 6 ; Prov. V. 15-18, compared with chap. iv. 12 ; Prov. v. 18, 19, compared with chap. iv. 5 ; Prov. vi. 30, 31, compared with chap. viii. 7 ; Prov. ix. 5, compared with chap. vii. 3 ; Prov. xvi. 24, compared with chap. iv. 11 ; Prov. xx. 13, compared with chap. v. 2^; Prov. xxiii. 31, compared with chap. vii. 10; Prov. XXV. 1 1 , compared with chap. i. 1 1 ; Prov. xxv., com- pared with chap. vii. 2. It is quite clear that these resem- blances are not limited to chapters i.-ix., which some wi'iters, carried away by mere presuppositions, wish to separate from Solomon's disconnected sayings, and refer to a later period; but are found throughout the whole of that portion of the Book of Proverbs which the supersci'iptions attribute to Solomon. The testimony of the superscription to Solomon as the author is finally confirmed by the reference to the Song of 282 PROLEGOMENA TO THE Songs found in the oldest prophets, specially in Hosea. See also Joel iii. 3 ; Obadiah ver. 5 ; and Isaiah v. 1, where we not only find a use of in quite peculiar to this book, and representations of higher love under the image of the lower, but also the symbol of the vineyard to describe the Church. A further confirmation, is, that Psalm xlv, which belongs to an early period, presupposes the existence of the Song of Songs, and is evidently a compendium thereof* We have the less reason for rejecting the testimony afforded by the superscription, confirmed as it is on all hands, because the character of the Song of Songs would alone naturally lead us to expect it not to ])e anonymous. As a general i-ule, which has of course its exceptions, in those spheres where individuality is allowed free play, (which, both in sacred his- tory, and in those Psalms which their authors wrote as the interpreters of the sorrows and joys of the whole nation, is less the case than elsewhere,) anonyraousness and mediocrity go hand in hand. The less comprehensive the literature, and the naiTower the compass of the land, the less frequently should we expect men in Israel to write anonymously. Kleuker says, (page 1 9,) " a common author could not by any means here remain concealed. In order to ^vritings being- received into the collection of sacred and honoured books, they were required to be produced by authors whose names were revered, admired, and loved. If this were only rightly con- sidered, the period of and after the captivity would not be made to seem so fruitful in the greatest literary works com- posed by Jews. Many works referred by an evil intention to this period, one might sooner expect to have been rained direct from heaven." Many an objection might of course be urged to the above remarks, but still so much is clear from them, that there is no reason for erasing the celebrated name which stands at the head of the Song of Songs. The arguments advanced against Solomon's authorship can- not in the least pretend to outweigh those advanced in its favour. Special stress has been laid on the objection from the lan- guage. The main thing in this connection is the frequent * For additional remarks see the Prolegomenon on the Interpretation of the Song of Songs. SONG OF SOLOMON. 283 employment of ^ for '\lt^)^. But that this is rather inten- tional than the result of the influence of the usage of his age on the author is clear, for the two following reasons : 1. In the superscription which is written in prose we find "ICN em- ployed : 2. "ii:^K does not once occur in the whole book. The only satisfactory way to explain this, is to say that the writer intentionally avoided it. In no other instance in which an author was determined to the use of ^ by the custom of his time, is it so exclusively employed as in this book. It is evident, therefore, that ^ can in no sense be taken as a guide in the determination of the time of the composition of the Song of Songs. The following is a probable explana- tion of the usage referi-ed to. As is now universally acknow- ledged, tr was used for n^x, even before the days of Solomon, though only scatteredly. In his mode of employing the word here, Solomon followed the example of the Phenicians " in quorum reliquiis," as Gesenius observes in his Thesaurus, "omnis aetatis nC'X nunquam, ^ perssepereperitur." Poetry in general betrays a preference for that which is foreign, rare, and removed from the intercourse of common life.* The uni- versalistic character of Solomon's tendencies, and the compre- hensiveness of his mind, must have inclined him strongly to this habit. The introduction of foreign words into sacred poetry stands on the same footing with his employment of Hiram, the artist of Tyre, for his sacred works, (1 Kings vii. 13, 14.) Further, the nature of the subject of the Song of Songs gave special occasion to this usage in two ways. It followed in the train of, and presupposed worldly love-songs ; a species of poetry which was undoubtedly cultivated with peculiar zeal by the surrounding heathen nations. It would therefore very readily occur to the author to indicate this con- nection between his own and preceding compositions, by the style in which he wrote. Besides, the endeavour after uni- versality of style and language, suits admirably the universal- istic character of the subject of the poem. What we have observed in regard to B>, holds good concem- * Tliis will explain the use of ^ in the Lamentations of Jeremiah, as well as its absence both from the Prophecies, and from the more rhetorical, than poet- ical, Proverbs of Solomon. 284 PROLEGOMENA TO THE ing the otlier foreign elements which occur in the book, and which either have been or may be adduced, as telling against Solomon's authorship. Of this kind are, for example, I^DTIT and D^nna, in chap. i. 17; "iSJ? in chap. ii. 9, and elsewhere ; ino in chap. ii. 11 ; inDD in chap. ii. 13, 15, vii. 13 ; pi-iDi< in chap. iii. 9 ; DTiS in chap. iv. 13; D''t2m in chap. vii. 6 ; and, considering the narrow limits, relatively much besides. Two considerations show that the author was not merely influenced by the tendency to Aramaic forms and idioms characteristic of a later period, but acted from intention and free choice. They are these : — I. With the exception of ^ scarcely any form is used which reappears in the usage of a later period; on the contrary, the foreign elements are almost entirely peculiar to tlie Song of Songs. II. The language has a youthful fresh- ness, such as is to be found in none of the productions of the age of the decline of the Jewish nation. Other grounds against the authorship of Solomon can only be regarded as argumenta ad hominem, having force only against those who have wandered away from the true method of interpretation. To defend the authorship of Solomon, whilst at the same time we give up the allegorical interpreta- tion, and see not that the Solomon of the Song of Songs is the heavenly Solomon, is a fruitless task. With perfect justice it is remarked by Dopke (page 25) : " Every one who reads chap. iii. 6, 11, and chap. viii. 11, 12, with an unprejudiced mind, must at once see that Solomon could not speak in such a manner respecting himself" This remark is still more appli- cable to chap. V. 10-16. Taken as self-praise, this passage is utterly incomprehensible, and in vain does Delitzsch attempt to make it comprehensible. But if the Solomon of the poem is the heavenly Solomon, then we may apply the words of Keil, in his continuation of Havernick's Introduction (page 474) : " Unquestionably Solomon had as perfect right to praise in song the love of this king, as he had to magnify his hing- dom of pecice in Psalm Ixxii." SONG OF SOLOMON. 285 III. THE HISTORICAL CIRCUMSTANCES IN WHICH THE SONG OF SONGS ORIGINATED. Our task here is, to show that the Song of Songs does not rest on air, is not a mere work of the imagination, but that its contents are connected at many points with the circum- stances and peculiarities of the time in it which was composed. As has been abeady observed, the book falls into two main divisions, — the one, the union ; the other, the re-union. The following are the principal points of the first division, which extends from chap. i. 1 — v. 1 : — I. The blessed appear- ance of Messiah bringing gladness and grace: II. That this Messiah bears the name, Solomon : III. That severe tribular- tions and woes, which consist especially in the reduction of the people of God to bondage by the powers of the world, and are the deserved reward of their unfaithfulness, will precede the appearance of Messiah (compare chap. i. 5, 6, 7, 8 ; ii. 8-17), These sufferings are represented under the images of sunburning (chap. i. 6), of winter and rain (chap. ii. 11), of dark nights (chap. iii. 1), and of the desert (chap. iii. 6). Ac- cording to chap. iii. 1-3, they are aggravated by the efforts of the nation to help itself, and to hasten forward the Messianic redemption by the means in its o^vn hand. IV. That with the appearance of Messiah is connected the reception of the heathen nations into the kingdom of Christ, through the in- tervention of the ancient covenanted people. Of this last con- sideration, the hint is given us in the words, " the daughters of Jenisalem." The subject of the second division is, firstly, the sin against the heavenly Solomon, and the judgment with which it is visited, secondly, the repentance and re-union brought about with the co-operation of the very daughters to whom Jerusa- lem herself, the mother, had previously brought salvation, — the com])lete re-establishment of the old relation of love, hav- ing as its consequence the re-occupation of the central position in the kingdom of God by the daughter of Zion, and the in- violableness of the newly formed covenant of love, in contrast to the mutability of the more ancient one. Now, every point of the first di\dsion may be shown to 286 PEOLEGOMENA TO THE have a basis in the historical circumstances of the age of Solo- mon. I. How hvely was the expectation of a personal Mes- siah, even in the days of Solomon, we may learn from the personal Messianic Psalms of David (ii., ex.), from that of Solo- mon (Ixxii.), and in like manner also from that of the Kora- hites (xlv.), which belongs probably to the time of Solomon. The historical foundation of this expectation was the promise made by Jacob in Genesis xlix. 10: " The sceptre will not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come, and the nations cleave unto him." This saying, combined with the prophetical announcement of the everlast- ing endurance of the reign of David's line, in 2 Samuel vii., constituted a complete objective basis and support for the sub- jective poetical representations of the Psalmists. By 2 Samuel vii. the eternity of dominion promised to Judah, in Genesis xHx., was transferred to David. To David's race, therefore, must belong that exalted person, in whom, according to Gene- sis xlix., the power of Judah was destined to reach its cul- minating point. II. The name, Solomon, accords completely with the contents of Psalm Ixxii., which sets Messiah before us as the true Prince shadowed forth in the imperfect type of Solomon, and His kingdom as the dominion of righteousness and peace. Light is, for the first time, thrown on the use of this name as a designation of Christ, when we understand how it came to be given to Solomon himself As we have remarked in another place, " there can be no doubt that David gave his son Solomon this name, because he hoped that his reign of right- eousness and peace would prove a type of the reign of Shiloh, even as under Solomon there was the first splendid fulfilment of what Jacob had prophesied respecting the lion-like spirit and power of Judah, respecting his sceptre and lawgiver. Here we have the counterpart to the fact, that the children of Israel, immediately after taking possession of the land, gave to the seat of their sanctuary the name Shiloh.* Both the name Solomon and the facts of his history remind us of * In the first passage in which Shiloh occurs as the name of a place, we find the complete phrase, " Thaanath Shilo;" that is, " the futui-e or the advent of the Shiloh." The subjection of the land, the rest which the Lord had given His people from all who were round about them, they considered to be a pledge and a prelude of the obedience of the nations generally, and of the perfect peace to be established on the appearance of the Shiloh. SONG OF SOLOMON. 287 Shiloli. As to the name, we may remark, that tliree out of the four letters composing the word Solomon are common to it and Shiloh. The meaning is exactly the same. So also the form. Both in Solomon (strictly Salomo) and in Shiloh* the terminal 3 is rejected, — a thing which very rarely occurs. In Ewald's Grammar (see § 163) Solomon and Shiloh are set in the closest juxtaposition. As respects the agreement of the facts of his history with the name Shiloh, we may refer to 1 Chron. xxii. 9, where Nathan says to David, " Behold a son is born t» thee, who will be a man of rest, and I give him rest from all his enemies round about, for his name will be Solo- mon, and peace and quietness will I give to Israel in his days." See also 1 Kings v. 4, where Solomon says to Hiram, " And now hath the Lord my God given me rest on every side, so that there is neither adversary nor evil occurrent:" Lastly, compare 1 Kings iv. 24 — " He had dominion over all the region on this side the river, from Tiphsah even to Gaza, over all the kings on this side the river, and had peace from all his ser- vants round about. And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig-tree, from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon." " But if any doubt whatever should yet remain, in respect * That Shilo is abbreviated from Shilon, we should judge, not only from the nomen gentile '•jp'^L^ (1 Kings xi. 29), but from the fact, that the ruins of the city which received its name from the Shilo in this passage, are still called " Seilun." Josephus also writes "Selun," as well as "Silo" (See Robinson's Travels : there is, finally, the analogj' of the name Solomon, or Salomo. The shortening of on into 0 only takes place in proper names, the meaning of whose derivative suffix is a matter of comparative indifference. (See Tuch's just re- marks). The only apparent exception is the word m3S " Hell," in Prov. xxvii. 20 : but this is not a real conception, for both there and elsewhere " Hell" is frequently personified (see Apocalypse xx. 13). This case, however, shows clearly that the proper names of Scripture must not be judged as our own are judged, but that a wider sphere is assigned to them. The Samaritan translator rightly retained the word Shiloh. As in this passage we first meet with the per- son of the Redeemer, so is Shiloh His first name, — a name quite expressive of His nature, corresponding to the names in Isaiah ix. .'5, and to the name Iramanuel in Isaiah vii. 14. In investigating the meaning of the name we mr.st bear in mind that the termination on is used to form adjectiva and ahstractn (see Ewald, § 163). That the form here has an adjectival significance, we should conclude from the analogy of the name Salomo, which is formed on the same model. Like Solomon, Shiloh designates the " man of rest," thus corresponding to the title " Prince of Peace," found in Isaiah ix. 5. Regarding it merely as a nomen projjrium, it is equivalent to the German name " Friedrich." 288 PROLEGOMENA TO THE to the tyjiical relation existing between Shlomo (Solomon) and Shilo (Shiloh), it will be set aside by Psalm Ixxii. Any fancy that Solomon might possibly prove to be more than a type, that he might himself be the Shiloh, was condemned by that Psalm, as also by David in his Messianic Psalms. In perfect agreement with the words of our Lord, in Matthew xii. 42, " Here is a greater than Solomon," Solomon, in Psalm Ixxii., teaches men to look out beyond himself His own i-ule of righteousness and peace he regards as a type of the kingdom of the Prince of Peace, v/ho, by his righteousness and love, will gain dominion over the world, whom all kings will re- verence, and all the heathen serve. Our attention is directed to the close connection between this psalm and Genesis xlix., even in Ezekiel xxi. 27, where the words, "till he come whose right it is ; to him I give it," are borrowed verbatim from these two passages : the words, " right," and " to him I give it," from the latter. Combining both passages, we see that they are intimately connected, and that Psalm Ixxii. may be regarded in the light of a commentary." If Solomon, then, derived his name from Christ, it is natural enough that he should transfer his own name again to Christ. III. We should almost inevitably expect severe tribulations to precede the appearance of Christ, especially when it is considered that every gTcat saving step in the earlier history of the people of God has been prepared and ushered in by sore sufferings. We may mention, for example, the troubles in Egypt, the fore- runners of the covenant given by Moses ; the sufferings in the desert, which prepared the way for their being led into Canaan by Joshua; and the calamities of the period of the Judges, which preceded the glorious age of David and Solomon. This is, however, not saying enough. We can show that David had a clear knowledge of the heavy trials which awaited his race, and which must of necessity precede its final glorification. In 2 Samuel xxiii. David, speaking on behalf of his seed, triumphs over the sore temptations to which it will be exposed in consequence of its future sufferings. David, however, exhi- bits this knowledge chiefly in his Psalms — specially in that cycle of Psalms, from the cxxxviii. to the cxlv., which give us the results of his meditations on the promise contained in 2 Samuel vii. In this prophetical legacy, which by no accident SONG OF SOLOMON. 289 is the conclusion of the series of his Psalms, David accom- panies his people through their history, and offers them the anchor which shall save them in the storms to which, as he knew through the enlightenment of the Spirit of God Irom the course of his own life, they would be exposed. All these Psalms rest on the supposition, that the seed of David, with which the destinies of the people of God were inseparably connected, had become degraded and corrupt. In the intro- duction to Psalm cxlii, in my Commentary, I remark, — " An adifnonition of David when he luas in the cave. David regards his own desperate condition when he was in the cave as a type of the future experiences of his own seed, and of the Church. His thoughts in the cave he lays before them as an admonition or instruction. He exhorts them not to despair, but to pour out their complaints before the Lord, even when they are in the very extremity of misfortune: — and to such extremities they will come, for what the fathers endured the sons also must expect to endure, — they also must expect to meet with their Saul." The cycle ends with P.salm cxlv., in which are expressed the praises and thanks which would be offered to God by the house of David and the Church, for His having enabled them to endure the afHictions brought upon them. We may find also, in this cycle of Psalms, a point of connection for what is said in chap. iii. 1-3 respecting the vain attempts of the nation to help itself On Psalm cxli. I made the following observation: — " David wishes to strengthen his successors on the throne against the severe inner temptations which would accompany the cross that awaited them, which had hardly beset himself during the troubles of the past, and the danger of which he knew from his own experience." Com- pare especially verse 4, " Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practise wicked works with men that work iniquity, and let me not eat of their dainties." " Whosoever has lost his faith, that God will righteously reward wickedness, is very open to the temptation, to endeavour to work out his own redemption by himself, and to employ craft and force instead of keeping within the troublesome limits and restraints of the Divine law." We may further remark that, everywhere in the pro- phets, there is the idea that Christ will appear at a time when the seed of. David and the Jewish nation are in a state of the 290 PROLEGOMENA TO THE deepest humiliation (see my Ghristology). IV. The knowledge that the heathen nations would share in the kingdom of Mes- siah, is as old as the very hopes themselves of the Messiah's advent. In Abraham's seed were all the nations of the world to be blessed : to Shiloh were the nations to cleave. For re- marks on the knowledge of the future reception of the heathen amongst the people of God, and under the sceptre of David, displayed in David's Psalms, see my Commentary. Even in the prayer of Solomon, at the consecration of the temple, we find hints of the future concourse of the heathen to the king- dom of God (compare 1 Kings viii. 41-43, 60). We have thus adduced, in connection with the first division, ample and satisfactory illustrations of the principle laid down. No featvire can be pointed out which did not form part of that prophetical picture of Messiah which may be shown to have existed even in 'the age of Solomon. The case is a somewhat different one with the second division. To the thought that a great part of the nation will despise the salva- tion offered in Christ, and thus fall a prey to the judgment, no completely correspondent parallel can be adduced either from the pre-Salomonic or the post-Salomonic period. Here, however, we may apply some observations which we have else- where directed against those who judge the Books of Moses not to be genuine, on the ground of the threats of exile which they contain. " The threats of exile were the necessary fruit of his experience of the corruption of the nation. Moses himself always starts from this basis. That it will manifest itself in a fearful manner in the future, he judges from its out- breaks in the present — a present, too, in many respects, highly favoured, " If they do such things in the green tree, what will they do in the dry ?' Compare, for example, Deuteronomy ix. 6, 7, "a stiff'-necked people art thou. Remember, forget not, how thou provokedst the Lord thy God to wrath in the wilderness ; from the day that thou didst depart out of the land of Egypt until ye came unto this place, ye have been rebellious against the Lord." Then follows an enumeration of particulars. Finally, they are told in ver. 24, "ye have been rebellious against the Lord from the day that I knew you." Compare further, Deuteronomy xxxi. 21," and it shall come to pass, when many evils and troubles befaU them, this song SONG OF SOLOMON. 291 will testify against them as a witness, for I know tlieir spiint, which they have even on this day, before I bring thoin into the land which I sware :" also ver. 26 and 27, " take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God; tliat it ma}^ be there for a witness against thee. Behold, I know thy rebellion and thy stiff- neck ; behold now, while I am still with you, ye rebel against the Lord : and if now, how much more after my death? These words are of the more importance in the present question, as even the prayer at the consecration of the temple (compare 1 Kings viii. 53, 56 and other passages adduced by Keil), to go no further, shows that Solomon lived in, and was very familiar with the wi'itings of Moses. St. Paul says in Romans x. 19, that even Moses in the words of Deuteronomy xxxii. 21, "I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people, I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation," pro- claimed the rejection of the Jews and the acceptance of the Gentiles ; and, indeed, to judge from Deuteronomy xxxii, the idea, that all Israel would, as a matter of course, attain to the enjoyment of the Messianic blessedness would be a complete anachronism. The view of human nature in general, and of the nature of Israel in particular, which the nation held from the very beginning, and which was firmly and deeply impressed on the mind by the Mosaic law (for remarks on the deep knowledge of sin evinced in the Psalms, see my Commentary); and the experiences forced upon them by tlie march through the desei-t, by the times of the Judges and by the governments both of David and of Solomon (in the days of the former took place the rebellion of Absolom against the Lord and against His anointed, and the insurrection of Seba whom all Israel followed; and under the latter the germs were ripening' of that apostacy from the dynasty of David which was openly accomplished immediately after Solomon's death ; see my Com- mentary on Psalm Ixxviii.) rendered it utterly impossible that enlightened Jews should expect the whole people to render sincere homage and devotion to the Messiah immediately on His appearance. In the Psalms themselves we find a clear separation made in Israel itself — the limitation of blessings to the righteous, and the excommunication of the wicked (com- pare Psalms L, Ixxviii., xcv, xcix., cxxv.) What is said in the 292 PROLEGOMENA TO THE present book is but an application of this general truth to particular circumstances. To find this truth here expressed, ought the less to strike us with surprise, as all the Prophets were in possession of the special knowledge it involved. Isaiah, for example, complains in clfap. liii. 1, because the preaching of the servant of God would take so little hold on Israel (comp. John xii. 38, Romans x. 1 6), and proclaims in ver. 2 and 3, that the appearance of the Saviour in the form of a servant will prove a stumbling block to the covenanted people. In a whole series of passages he announces the judgment which will be executed on the children of the kingdom in the Messianic age (compare, for example, chap. vi. 13, 66.) Zechariah prophesies that the greatest part of the Jews will refuse to believe, will reject and punish Christ (see chap, xi and xiii. 8) ; as also that they will finally be restored (see chap. xii. ] 0 ff. xiii. 9.) In chap. iii. 1 — 6, 19, 24 of his prophecies, Malachi beholds in vision the judgments with which even the people of God will be visited in the Messianic age. If we have shown that the existence of a knowledge of the Messianic judgments on Israel at the time of Solomon ought to occasion no surprise, it must appear very natural to find also expectations expressed of the final re-admittance of the na- tion to the favour of God. Allowing the rejection, the restora- tion follows as a matter of course. The principle laid down by St. Paul in Romans xi. 2, " God has not cast oflTHis people whom Heforeknevj," and ver. 29, " God doth not repent Him of His gifts and calling," was known in the very first ages of the Church of God. To see this we need only compare the close of Deuteronomy, xxx. 1 fi! The end of each individual catas- trophe that comes over the covenanted nation, and, therefore, the final end and result of them all is always, its conversion and forgiveness. We find a compendium of all that the Books of Moses contain of this nature, in Deuteronomy iv. 80, 31, " when thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, in the latter days, thou returnest to the Lord thy God and hearest His voice ; (for the Lord t] y God is a merciful God ;) He will not forsake thee, nor destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which He sware unto them." In 1 King« viii. 51, also, where the })rayer for the forgiveness of the people when they have sinned, is urged on the ground SONG OF SOLOMON. 293 that " they are thy people and thine inheritance which thou hast brought out of Egypt, out of the iron oven," Solomon evinces an acquaintance with the general truth which gave rise to the proclamation of Israel's restoration after the Messianic rejection. Only one point now remains for examination, namely, what is said of the efforts put forth by the daughters for the salva- tion of the daughter of Zion. We have, at all events, one passage in analogy Avith this, namely, Isaiah Ixiv. 20, 21, where, after having been told how the messengers of Israel should, first of all, in the time of redemption, declare the glory of the Lord among the Gentiles, we read, " and they (the converted heathen) shall bring all your brethren for an offering to the Lord, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the Lord. And I will also take of them for Priests and Levites, saith the Lord." The two facts, the fall of Israel and the conversion of the heathen, being assumed, it may be taken, strictly speaking, for granted, that the daughters of Jerusalem will do all in their power to lead back to the fellowship of blessedness the nation from which they themselves received their redemption. The contrary would be unnatural. We have shown that the beginnings and germs of the con- tents of the Song of Songs existed in all directions in the age of Solomon, and that the Song of Songs contains, strictly speaking, no new prophetical revelations. Indeed, the whole position of Solomon and the character of the work itself would prevent us expecting this. Still it must not be supposed that the contents of the Song of Songs covild have been the result of a putting together of elements found ready to hand, or that they are explicable as a mere product of reflexion, or, finally, that the work stands on the same level as the Book of Proverbs, which was an outflow of the wisdom of Solomon. The truths already existing were too much in the form of germs, to account for the certainty and clearness with which they are here connected into a whole. Besides the points of connection afforded by history we must assume the presence of a second element — namely, an elevated state of the soul, a being in the spirit, the breathing of the divine, on the human, spirit. That this was the case with the Song of Songs, as well as with 294 PROLEGOMENA TO THE the Messianic Psalms (see Psalms ii., ex., Ixxii), cannot for a moment be doubtful to the spiritual man, who alone is capable of judging of the spiritual. The character of the book itself, testifies too loudly for this. But that Solomon was not a stranger to the prophetic state in its more general sense is proved by history. It records that, in two instances, the Lord specially appeared to him (see 1 Kings iii. 5, ix. 2, com- pare ix. 9.) Solomon's prayer at the consecration of the Temple, also, was the fruit of an extatic or elevated condition of the soul. IV. THE INTERPRETATION OF THE SONG OF SONGS. Which of the two methods of interpretation is the true one, the spiritual or the literal, must be mainly determined in the course of a commentary. A fair examination of the form and substance of the poem will show the untenableness of the literal method. We shall now proceed to advance some con- siderations favourable to the allegorical or spiritual view, which may be urged independently of the commentary. Even Magnus cannot avoid finding in the name given to the work in the superscription — " The Song of Songs" — a proof that the writer of the superscription, who, as we have shown previous- ly, can be no other than the author of the poem itself, intended the whole to be interpreted allegorically. " For," says he, " had he really regarded his book in the light of an ordinary love-song, the title given to it would have been a thorough lampoon of all the other writings of the Old Testament. What Israelite could ever dare to consider a worldly song as more excellent than the many divine compositions of a Moses, a Miriam, a Deborah, a Hannah, and a David — or even than the God-inspired dis- courses of the prophets, which may, after all, be styled D''■|•'C^» (?)" A correspondence may be traced between the superscription — " The Song of Songs" — here, and the expression, " thou art the faii-est amongst the childi^en of men," in Psalm xlv. 3 ; — and with the gTcater right, as the reason assigned in the su- perscription for the exaltedness of the poem is, that it relates to the most glorious of all subjects, to wit, the heavenly Solo- mon, ^chap. i. 1). The •mention of Solomon as the author, may also be taken SONG OF SOLOMON. 295 If Solomon Lc the author, then we are driven at once to the allegorical method of inter- pretation, for he could not speak of himself in the manner in which he is there spoken of In case Solomon wrote the book, the Solomon of which it treats must be a different one from the author ; must be the heavenly Solomon : — whence also we should at once judge that the beloved one is no other than the daughter of Zion. In favour of the allegorical interpretation may be urged the relation in which the poem stands to Psalm xlv. If the spi- ritual is the only correct view of the latter, we cannot avoid letting go the literal view of the former. Psalm xlv. has been termed a compendium of the Song of Songs ; and this is per- fectly accurate when limited to the first division. Psalm xlv. is a compendious version of the fu'st division of the Song of Songs, made with a view to public performance in the temple. The sons of Korah enter here into a relation of spiritual service to Solomon, similar to that which they had previously held towards David (see Psalms xlii., xliii., Ixxxvi.). Common to both is the king who is the " fairest among the children of men" (Psalm xlv. 8), the " chiefest among ten thousand" (Song of Songs V. 10, compare ver. 11, ff). Common to both is the designation, " the king," given to the praised one : see Song of Songs i. 4, 11, and especially chap. vii. G, where the word "pD is employed as in Psalm xlv. 2, without the article. Common to both is the reference to the plurality of brides, with whom the king unites himself in love at one and the same time, and amongst whom one takes a particularly exalted position (see especially chap. i. 3 ; iii. 6-11 ; vi. 8, 9). Literally understood, this would be a circumstance peculiar of its kind, for it was never the custom to take more than one wife at the same time. Common to both is the use of lilies as an image of lovely virgins (Psalm xlv. 1). Moreover, there is a similarity between the opening of the Psalm (see ver. 2) and the super- scription of this Song. Conmion to both is the mention of the loveliness of the lips, by way of designating loveliness of discourse (Psalm xlv. 3. Song of Songs v. 1 3 ; compare also v. 1 6 ; chap. viii. 2 ; Luke iv. 2 2). With the description of the heroic might, glory, and majesty of the king, in Psalm xlv. 4-6, compare Song of Songs v. 11, 14, 15. Common to 296 PROLEGOMENA TO THE both is it to designate the kings of the earth the " companions, Dnan, of the king" (Psalm xlv. 7 ; Song of Songs i. 7, viii. 1 8). Common to both is the connecting of ")D and ni^ns' (Psahn xlv. 9 ; Song of Songs iv. 1 4). The word ni^nx is used only in these two passages. To the " palaces of ivory," in Psalm xlv. 9, corresponds the " tower of ivory," in Song of Songs vii. 5, (compare v. 1 4). The solemn address to the Bride, in Psalm xlv. 10, " Hearken, O Daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear ; forget also thine own people and thy father's house, and cause the king to have pleasure in thy beauty," hints at a possible disturbance of the marriage relation : so far, there- fore, there is a coincidence with Song of Songs v. 2, ff. The admonition contained in the first part of the Song of Songs (chap. ii. 1 5), to catch the foxes, conveys a similar hint. Com- mon to both is, finally, the solemn bridal procession (compare Psalm xlv. 15, l(j with Song of Songs iii. 6-11). After all this, there can be no doubt that the allegorical, and especially the Messianic interpretation of the Song of Songs, and of the 45th Psahn, stand or fall together: that what shows the alle- gorical explanation of Psalm xlv. to be the only correct one, applies also to the Song of Songs: and that he who accepts the spiritual view in the one case, and rejects it in the other, must fall into serious difiiculties. The more consistent and scientific position is that of the Rationalists, who deny the allegorical interpretation in both instances. In favour of the allegorical explanation we may urge fur- ther, that the passages in the Prophets, which contain allusions to the Song of Songs, all rest on the view we are advocating. Compare Hosea xi. 4 with chap. i. 4 ; Hosea xiv. 6,8,9 with chap. ii. 3 ; Joel iii. 3 with chap. iii. 6 ; Obadiah 8 with chap, ii. 24; Isaiah xxxiii. 17 with chap. i. ] 6 ; Isaiah xxxv. 1 with chap. ii. 1 ; Jeremiah vi. 2, 8 with chap. i. 7 ; Jeremiah xxxi. 3 with chap. i. 4 ; Jeremiah xlix. 1 6 with chap. ii. 1 4 ; La- mentations ii. 18 with chap. i. 9; Lamentations iv. 7 with chap. V. 10; Lamentations iv. 20 with chap. ii. 3; Ezekiel xvi. 61 with chap. i. 5; Ezekiel xxvii. 10, 1] with chap. iv. 4. We may notice also more particularly the following pas- sages:— When Isaiah, in chap. ix. 6, calls the Messiah the Prince of Peace, he alludes to the king Solomon in the Song of Songs iii. 11. The Song of Songs speaks of the peaceful ad- SONG OF SOLOMON. 297 mittance of the lieatlion nations into the kingdom of king Solomon: and Isaiah immediately adds, " of the increase of his government and peace there is no end." In Ezekiel xvi. 1 1 we read, " I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a necklace about thy neck." Under the image of ornaments, with which God adorns the newly espoused bride, are set before us the Divine commands : the hands are the instrument of action, the throat is the organ of speech. There is an unmistakable allusion to the allegori- cally explained passage. Song of Songs, chap. i. 1 0 : " Comely are thy cheeks in the chains, and thy neck in the laces;" that is, " the ordinances and commands as revealed to Israel, and by him brought into practice." In the Song of Songs, nnin alludes to niin, "law;" and so in Ezekiel, '•ny "ornament," alludes to nny " law." The image of marriage, so frequently employed by the prophets to symbolise the relation ' between Jehovah and Israel, always presupposes the Song of Songs as interpreted spiritually : but to this point Ave shall return again. In favour of the allegorical view of the Song of Songs we may adduce the nighest of all authorities, to wit, that of the Lord and his apostles. The New Testament is pervaded by references to the Song of Songs, and all of them are based on the supposition that it is to be interpreted spiritually. Pro- portionally no book of the Old Testament is so frequently referred to, implicitly or explicitly, in the New Testament, as tliis one ; and we cannot but be surprised at the superficiality or the prejudices of those who have asserted that the Song of Songs is never quoted in the New Testament. The remarks made in my Commentary on the Apocalypse touching this subject are a sufficient refutation of this assertion. The Lord refers to the Song of Songs, with the supposition that it has a spiritual meaning, in Matthew vi. 28-30, as compared with chap. ii. 1. Compare also Matthew xiii. 25, xxiv. 42, with chap. V. 2; Matthew xxi. 33 ff, with chap. viii. 1 1 ; Luke xii. 35-37, with chap. v. 3; Luke xiii. 81, 32, with chap. ii. 15; John vi. 44 with chap. i. 4; John vii. 33, 34, with chap. v. G; John xxi. 1 6, with chap. i. 8. Further, may be compared with chap, i. 12, Matthew xxvi. 6 13, Mark xiv. 3, John xii 3, Luke vii. 38 with chap. ii. 4, John ii. 1-11; with chap. ii. 8, John iii. 29; with chap. iv. 7, Ephesians v. 27. 298 PROLEGOMENA TO THE In favoui' of the allegorical interpretation may be adduced the consentient voice of the Jewish Church. That principle of interpretation, which was strictly the national one of the Jewish people, and which was received by all at all periods, may be ftiirly regarded as proceeding from an uncorrupted tra- dition, and therefore as the true and correct one. Now this exactly applies to the allegorical method. All the Jewish witnesses who touch on the matter speak in its favour: — not one speaks against it. Several Jewish testimonies expressly affirm that no other mode of interpretation was ever adopted. Sirach xlvii. 17 has been appealed to in support of the allegorical view, but wrongly. For the words, h uhaTg xa! rrapoifMiaig xai 'rrapajSoXaTg zal sv ip;jyrivsi'ocig d'Tridav/J.affdv tfs %wpa/, are, like all the rest, based on the historical narrative of the books of Kings, and have not, in the first instance, respect to the writings contained in the Canon. This is evident from the mention of sp/irjnlai, by which we understand merely the in- terpretations of dark sayings, as contrasted with the dark sayings themselves (1 Kings x. 1-3). In the Canon there are no such ip,wnviiai by Solomon. Verse 1 5, in which Keil finds a special allusion to the Song of Songs as allegorically inter- preted, rests, in the same way, on 1 Kings x., particularly on verse 24. When Josephus, without further remark, counts the Song of Songs as one of the prophetic writings (for the proof of this see Kleuker), he shows clearly enough that at his time it was allegorically explained. In Apion i. 8 he enumerates alto- gether twenty-two books, which have rightly found confidence as divine {rd dixalug &i7a 'Trs-TT/ffrrj/jjsva) ; to wit, the five books of Moses, the writings of 'the prophets (among which he ex- pressly reckons the historical books), in thirteen books, and besides, four other books, containing hymns to God and pre- cepts for the life of men («/' 5s Xoi'Zai rieaapig viivoxjg ng rh &sh xctt roTg dvdpw'rroig brro&rixag roZ jSiou inpiiyjiUGiv). The last are the Psalms, Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes.* For the Song of * Havercamp's assumption, that Ecclesiastes and the Song of Songs were counted as one book, is of course destitute of all foundation. But tl;at there is a vacant place for the Song of Songs among the thirteen prophetical books is equally evident, from the fact that Havercamp is obliged to separate the Lamen- tations of Jeremiah from his Prophecies, and to reckon them as a separate work. SONG OF SOLOMON. 299 Songs, consequently, the only place remaining is amongst the prophets. The Targum says expressly that the Song of Song's was composed by Solomon, " the prophet and king of Israel, in the spirit of prophecy." As a witness for the prevalence of the allegorical explana- tion amongst the Jews, may be adduced the Fourth Book of Ezra, which, according to Liicke, was written before the de- stmction of Jerusalem by^the Romans, (see his Introduction to Apocalypse of John ;) and according to Lawrence, between 28 and 25 before Christ. We read in chap. v. 24, "ex omnibus floribus orbis elegisti tibi lilium unum," (compare Song of Songs ii. 1.) Ver. 25. "Ex omnibus sedificatis civitatibus sanctificasti tibimet ipsi Sion. Ver. 26. Et ex omnibus creatis volatilibus nominasti tibi columbam unam," (Song of Songs vii. 8, 9.) Zion is, to the author, the lily, the dove, and the bride of the Song of Songs. R. Akiba says in the Talmudic Tractate ladaim, (compare Michaelis prsef,) " absit omni modo ut quis Israelita negaret, quod canticum canticoiTim non polluat manus, sive non sit sacrum ; quia totus mundus tanti non est ac ille dies, quo canticum canticorum Israeli est datum. Omnia enim Hagio- grapha sacra sunt, sed canticum canticorum est sacratissimum. Et si qua de Salomonis scriptis dissensio fuit, ea tantum de Ecclesiaste fait." Ebenezra also says in his preftice, (compare again Michaelis,) "absit, absit, ut canticum canticorum de voluptate carnali agat, sed omnia fig-urate in eo decuntur. Nisi enim maxima ejus dignitas, inter libros scripturse sacrse relatum non esset : neque ulla de eo est controversia." The oldest and most weighty testimony to the lact that the allegorical explanation was the one received by the Jewish nation, is that of the admittance of the Song of Songs into the Canon, to which Ebenezra also alludes. It can only be re- garded as an anachronism when some writers still hesitate to allow that this could only have taken place in consideration of the allegorical interpretation. In opposition to the pre- judices of Semler and his school, it is now universally allowed that not merely religiousness of substance, but a sanctity due to inspiration, was required in order to the admittance of any book into the canon. The excellences which Delitzsch finds 300 PEOLEGOMENA TO THE in the Song of Songs as literally interpreted, as for example — " how natural and childlike that she should dance hefoi'e the daughters of Jerusalem, that she should seek to attract Solo- mon by the costly native and foreign fruits which she has stored up for him within the door of her house, and that she should sing when queen, the songs which were familiar to her as a shepherdess and vine-dresser," (page 158,) or, "the fine turn, in which, at the close of the last act, she urges on the king the improvement of the condition of her friends and relatives, shows how wisely she could speak and act," (page 159,) or "she is thoroughly and completely a flower-nature," and so forth, form but a very bad foundation for his assertion, (page 177,) that, "the Song of Songs is no less inspired than any one of the Psalms." Such an idea of inspiration is brought to confusion by 2 Timothy iii. 16, where the Apostle, whilst setting ibrth the true nature of the Old Testament canon, declares also the principles by which its collectors were guided il^ their work rraaa ypa(pri, dsC'jrvsvarog, -/.ai ufiiXi,aog cr/»«j didacy.aXlav, rrpog 'i?.iyxov, -Trpli i'zavopduffiv, irpoi 'S'aidilav tyiv sv Biy.a- loa-jvyi. In the few words of Proverbs xxxi. 30, "to be lovely and beautiful is nothing ; a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised," there is more of a moral and religious nature than in the whole Song of Songs literally interpreted, in re- gard to which Delitzsch, (page 158,) makes the monstrous con- fession, that " the specifically Israelitish element falls, with Sularaith, entirely into the back- ground in relation to the general human element" The idea of marriage, Delitzsch maintains, is the idea of the Songs of Songs ;* — in plain con- tradiction to chap. vi. 8, " there are threescore queens, and fourscore concubines, and virgins without number," as well as to the history of Solomon. Delitzsch professes himself unable to reconcile the Song of Songs, as Messianically interpreted, with Solomon's individuality and manner : but it is certainly far more difiicult, to show psychologically how Solomon came to undertake, ex professo, the development of the idea of mar- riage. But, in any case, such an idea of marriage as is here * This view is not a new one. It was set forth hy Jaeobi in the last century, at a tolerably suspicious time, at a time when the Church was ready to capitu- late and to compromise matters with its enemies. Its genesis has been v/ell exhibited by Kleuker. SONG OF SOLOMON. 801 expounded, could never be considered canonical. It would want even the general foundation of the fear of God. On the literal view there is not a single reference to religion in the whole of the Song of Songs. The description of corporeal attractions, extending even to parts which are scarcely touched upon even in woildly literature, is oflensively predominant in the Song of Songs as explained literally. " Of the blessing of children," as Delitzsch himself says, (page 184,) "there is no express mention." " Sulamith is not even described as the wife, and mistress of the house," (page 184.) The whole is an accumulation of trifles, partly graceful, partly tasteless. We should shift the boundary line separating worldly from sacred literature were we to pronounce the Song of Songs, literally in- terpreted, worthy of a place in the canon. More recent commen- tators confess that the admission of Psalm xlv. into the collection of Psalms, and into the canon, can only be explained on the sup- position that, at that time, the allegorical interpretation was accepted by the nation at large, (compare my Introduction to the Psalms :) and the same may be said with respect to this book. Finally, the history of the interpretation of the Scriptures presents a result decidedly unfavourable to the literal view. The older defenders thereof were all men of doubtful name : — for example, Theodore of Mopsuest, Castellio, Grotius, Simon Episcopius. But whenever the Church has been in a flourish- ing condition, and has had a clear and decided consciousness of its position and duty, it has rejected this principle with horror. Kleuker who, as it were against his own will, and influenced by the opinions of his age, was a defender of the literal view, says himself, (page 132.): "Some examples of aesthetic explanations of this book may be adduced from history. They have been however always regarded as smug- gled goods!' He remarks further, (page 133,) "The first examples of this kind amongst Christians are referred to by Theodoret. He argues very zealously against a whole class of such interpreters, and styles them earthly, carnal minded men, and so forth. No names are mentioned besides that of Tlieodore of Mopsuest." The gentle and somewhat pietistic J. H. Michaelis speaks, in his prcBf., (§. 5,) of the " impia opinio," " the impious view of those who reduce this song of 302 PEOLEGOMENA TO THE divine and holy love, to a profane and fleshly idyll." Proper honour was first done to the literal interpretation during the age of rationalism, when the Churcli was degraded to the lowest point, and utterly lacked both sound ecclesiastical judgment and holy taste and tact. He who first brought it into vogue was J. D. Michaelis, one of the chief representa- tives of the worldly mindedness of Esau. In view of such weighty reasons against the hteral prin- ciple of interpretation, only the most striking and forcible considerations should move us to its adoption ; especially as all that has been advanced* against the spiritual view, turns out, on a more careful examination, to be empty appearance and cloud. One argument on which special stress has been laid, is the following : " The allegorical representation of Israel under the image of a virgin was not sufficiently common in the age of Solomon. With the exception of the one passage of the Psalms (ix. 1 5) this image is but seldom used by the prophets till after Amos v. 2," (Delitzsch, 64). "Only subsequent to the time of Isaiah, did the personification of Israel, Judah, Zion, Jerusalem, as nn or nhnn, become popularand stereotyped," (Delitzsch, 20.) "Neither directly nor as a figure of speech do we find it said in the Pentateuch that Jehovah is Israel's husband or bridegroom." It cannot of course be denied that the Pentateuchal phrase iinx nj? contains as it were the germ of the more developed expressions subsequently employed : " yet it is quite certain that in the Mosaic period, the view of Jehovah's relation to Israel as that of marriage, was still quite undeveloped. Even passages of a symbolical cast, such as Isaiah Ixi. 10 (compare Jeremiah ii. 32), and Ixii. 5, (compare Zephaniah iii. 1 7), in which Jehovah's loving pleasure in Israel is represented under the image of the festal joy taken in each other by a bridegroom and bride, cannot be found in the writ- ings of the period before the later kings." In reply to this we would remark, that the germs of tlie representation of the higher love — that is, of the relation be- tween God or Christ and the people of the Old and New Tes- tament— under the image of the lower are more important than is here allowed. It is scarcely conceivable that these symbolical representa- SONG OF SOLOMON. 303 tions should not have been customary in Israel from the earliest times. That which led to their employment is very carefully enjoined in the books of Moses — for example, " thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength," (see Deuteronomy vi. 5, compared with chap. x. 1 2). With this injunction compare Genesis ii. 24, where marriage is set forth as the closest of all relations of love. In respect to the passages, Exodus xxxiv. 15, ] G ; Leviti- cus XX. 5, 6 ; xvii. 7 ; and Numbers xiv. S3, where idolatry, and in general apostacy from God, are characterized as whore- dom, compare my Beitrdge 2, S. 49. But of still gTeater importance are the passages which Delitzsch has entirely overlooked — Deuteronomy xxxii. 16, " they provoke him to jealousy through strange (gods)," and ver. 21, "they provoked me to wi-ath by that which was no God, and I will move them to jealousy by that which is not a people," (compare Proverbs vi. 34, 35). Even Vitringa re- marks on this passage — " Est autem metaphora hie manifesto desumta a marito, qui cum ab uxore sua iUicitis amoribus in- dulgente se spretum videat, et inde segTitudine affectus, ut vicissim ipsi agre faciat, et ad zelotypiam commoveat, non simulate sed aperte amorem et affectum surnn ad aliam trans- fert, ignobiliorem etiam mulierem, eamque uxore sua spreta, ut videtur, in torum assumit." After these passages it will be impossible not to find a re- ference to the marriage relation between Jehovah and Israel in the words of the command, "I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God," (Exodus xx. 5). Michaelis remarks thereon, " consortis impatiens ut maritus coiTivalis," (compare Numbers V. 14). When Benjamin is called in Deuteronomy xxxiii. 1 2, -|''-i\ " the beloved of the Lord," we are reminded by the word itself of the intimateness of God's love, which is as the love of a bridegi'oom and bride. Solomon himself was called Jedidjah •(see 2 Samuel xii. 25, "and he called his name Jedidjah because of the Lord.") Compare the words of verse 24, " and the Lord loved him." The name was first employed in a manner suited to the image, when it was conferred on Jedidah the mother of Josiah. 304? PROLEGOMEXA TO THE It cannot, however, be called in question tliat there is a difference in regard to the use of these symbolical representa- tions between the pre-Solomonic and the post-Solomonic periods ; and that in the latter they occur more frequently and in a more distinct shape. A comparison of the passages in the Pentateuch with such passages as Hosea i-iii., Isaiah i. 21 ; L 1 ; Kv. 5 ; Ixi. 10, 62; iv. 5 ; Jeremiah ii. 2, 32; iii. 1 ; xxxi. 2 2, " the woman shall compass the man," (that is Israel will compass the Lord ; see my Christology ;) Jeremiah xxxi. 8 3, " but I marry her to myself" (compare my Christology, " he marries apostate Israel afresh, and in such a manner that the bond of love will henceforth be firm and indissoluble ;") and with Ezekiel xvi. and xxiii. wiU make this quite plain. But what does the fact prove? It is an erroneous idea that things of this nature arise by regular degrees, by an orderly succession of stages. Certain germs and preparations will of course exist, but the proper naturalization of an idea amongst a people is effected by some one individual mind, on which it has laid a powerful hold. It would be an easy matter to trace this throughout the whole Scriptures. But we will only refer to the example of Isaiah liii, where the image of the servant of God, suffering on behalf of others, is set before us in distinct outline ; which, from that time forth, became an inalienable possession of the Church of God. A wise criticism will con- clude from the fact that, previous to the Song of Songs, such symbolical representations were rare and very undeveloped, whilst afterwards they occur frequently and in detail, that I. The Song of Songs must have been written by Solomon ; and II. It can never have been otherwise than allegorically in- terpreted. It is a further confirmation of this result, that, in agreem.ent with the chainlike connection existing between the difterent parts of Holy Scripture, those literary productions which most frequently and fully employ these symbolical re- presentations are nearest in point of time to the age of the Song of Songs : nearest, that is, of those in which such repre- sentations are found at all. We may refer especially to Psalm, xlv, which in all probability originated in the Solomonic period. In that Psalm, Israel appears as the spouse of the Messiah, the heathen nations as her companions, the city of Tyre as the daughter of Tvre. Hosea also is remarkable in SONG OF SOLOMON. 305 this respect. His employment of tlie image and symbol of mamage to represent the relation between the Lord and Israel extends through the whole of the fii'st three chapters ; and it is constantly recurring even in the remaining chapters. To this we may add that the Prophet presupposes the people to be pre- pared to understand such representations — a presupposition scarcely to be accounted for if there only existed the liints con- tained in the Mosaic law. Finally the references otherwise made by Hosea to the Song of Songs, as allegorically interpreted, are unmistakable. So also do Isaiah (see chap. v. 1 and else- where), Jeremiah and Ezekiel unquestionably allude to the Song of Songs. It is a remarkable fact that precisely those prophets who employ these symbohcal representations most frequently can be shown, on other grounds, to have studied the Song of Songs most deeply. We conclude with the remark, that the spiritual interpreta- tion of the Song of Songs has suffered not less severely from its friends than from its opponents. Apart from the individual attacks, through which the allegorical view has been brought into disfavour, there have been two main errors prevalent. On the one hand, most of the Jewish expositors have been of opinion that the Song of Songs is a poetical history of the leadings of Israel from the* days of Abraham onwards. This has been one unfortunate result of their opposition to Christ and His Church. On the other hand, Christian wi-iters have fallen into a wrong estimate of the specially Jewish contents, through that heathen-Christian pride which St. Paul so earnestly fights against, and gentle hints and warnings con- cerning which may be found even in the poem itself The duty of the Church is thoroughly to renounce such prejudices, to deprive that literal view which has robbed the treasure of Holy Scripture of one of its noblest jewels, of every excuse, and to act so that such a view may henceforth always bear plainly a character of arbitrariness and bias. THE BOOK OF JOB: A LECTURE, BT PROFESSOR DR. E. W. HENGSTENBERG. THE BOOK OF JOB. The very first verse of the Book of Job informs us as to the natiu'e of its subject : — " Tliere was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job. The same was simple and upright, one that feared God and eschewed evil." The name Job (or more correctly Hiob) signifies the much persecuted. Under- standing the name of the man, we are no longer astonished afterwards to find him surrounded and assailed on all sides by enemies, with Satan at their head, whose very designation, signifying the adversary, stands to that of Job in the relation of an active to a ixissive. The much persecuted is described as a thoroughly just man. Four several terms, designative of righteousness, are employed, in order to indicate its great breadth and completeness. According to the clue thus given, we should judge the theme of the book to be the sufferings of the righteous, — how they are to be explained, and shown consistent with the divine righteousness ; what should be the conduct of men so situated, and by what means the heart is then to be quieted and consoled. Tlie importance of this theme, and the gTcat significance of the book, whose mission it is, as part of the marvellous organ- ism of the canon of sacred Scriptures, to thoroughly discuss it, must be evident to all. If what Paul Gci'hardt says is true, — " Until the grave, the rod of the cross will lie on us ; but then it ends," — it is of the utmost practical consequence to have a clear understanding of this subject. But, that it is no light matter to attain to this clear understanding, that the cross is a deep, unfathomable mystery, that it belongs to the sphere of "gi-eat secrets, which the Spirit of God alone can 810 , THE BOOK OF JOB. unfold," is shown by the futility of all the efforts put forth by the natural reason, — a futility which is patent to all the world. Let us more carefully examine some of the views of this question which owe their origin to the unaided mind of man. The most noted amongst the worldly answers to the ques- tion— " How are we to regard the sufferings of such as are really or supposedly righteous ?" is that of the Stoics. They maintained that there is in reality no suffering : that pain is a something indifferent, but not an evil. Suffering is merely such in appearance. All depends on our seeing this, on our boldly lising above such appearances, in the conscious- ness of the dignity of mind, on which external happiness confers nothing, and from which nothing is taken by external suffering. Against this theory the first objection is its un- truth. Here the words of Job are applicable — " Is my strength the streng-th of stones, or is my flesh brass?" Pain, suffering, is not of the nature assigned to it by this theory. It is not true that we can easily and readily rise above it. Imaginary sufferings may be dissipated by such consolation; even as imaginary sins, that is, such sins as do not lie on the heart of the sinner, may be got rid of by that pantheistic doctrine which teaches that sin is a mere appearance, from which we are made free so soon as we see distinctly that we have not to do with a reality, ; but assuredly neither real suf- fering, nor real sin, can be so lightly removed. Many who held this notion have been brought by painful experience to confess its vanity. It is condemned by its own supporters. Lipsius, the celebrated profane Philologian of the 16th cen- tury, " an extremely active instrument of Satan in the uprooting of Christianity," as Denois styles him, was in his good days thoroughly persuaded of the truth of this stoical view. But when, during the painful sickness which put an end to his life, one of his friends said to him — " It cannot be necessary for me to offer you consolation, for the philosophy which you have advocated with so much zeal must be able to comfort you sufficiently," Lipsius sighed and replied, " Lord, give me Christian patience." Frederic the Great, who recog- nised no other means of consolation than a " moderate stoicism," gives expression, in a multitude of passages, Avith THE BOOK OF JOB. 311 the openness characteristic of a gi-eat mind, to his feeling of its insufficiency. He says, for example, in his letters to d'Alembert, " It is a disagTeeable fact that all who suffer are forced to flatly contradict Zeno : there is not one of them all who would not confess that 2^cdn is a great eviV* Further, " It is a noble thing to rise above the unpleasant accidents to which we are exposed, and the only means by which the unfortunate can console themselves is stoicism, not earned too far. But when gout, or stone, or the bull of a Phalaris enter into our sufferings, the piercing screams which escape from the sufferers, show that pain is a very essential e^dl."f Lastly, " Tlie stoic, it is true, does say, ' thou must feel no pain,' but / feel it against my ivill ; it consumes, it lacerates me, and an inward feeling, overmastering my powers, tears from me wailings and fruitless sighs." | What the great and strong soul of this king failed to find in such a means of consolation, others wiU assuredly be still more certain to seek in vain. But the stoical consolation is not only insufficient, it is also dangerous and destiiictive ; and even should it answer its end, it would be condemned by that word of Christ's — " What shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and do damage to his own soul ?" TTiou strikest them, but they feel it not, says Jeremiah, complainingly. Not to feel the strokes of God appears to him to be a heavy charge. Tlie Saviour counts those blessed who are poor in spirit, who are not merely externally poor and wretched, but avIio also feel them- selves to be poor and wretched. He saith, " Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted." Even in the Old Testament, " the -^vi-etched," those who take their sufferings to heart, are constantly represented as the sole heirs of the possessions of heaven. Not to be wretched is equivalent to having no share in the kingdom of God. " I am poor and wretched." So speaks David, no less when sitting on the throne than when hunted by Saul like a partridge on the mountains. This pervading mood of the believer, this con- dition of the peaceable fniits of the righteousness wliicli the cross is to work out, is set aside by stoicism. It does all it can to prevent suffering from touching the inner man. It * Part XII. of his Posthumous Writings, p. 9. t Tntto, p. 12. % Ditto, p. 16. S 1 2 THE BOOK OF JOB. thus defeats the counsels of God, and give5 no room what- ever for that mild and gentle sorrow which goes hand in hand with true repentance. Besides, on this view, one can only rise above suffering by cherishing as warmly as possible the fancy of one's own height, dignity, and excellence. Finally, a stoic is compelled to crush the tenderest and noblest feelings, to sunder the holiest bonds of love ; for example, when his nearest friends and connexions die, to gratify his pride, he must deny his love. Another worldly means of consolation is the assertion, that there are external evils which befall the righteous and wicked without distinction, and that it is irrational to be unwilling to submit to discomforts which are inseparable from the nature of finite limited beings. The intention is thus to put God out of the reach of attack, but the defence is worse than the assault itself, — the remedy is worse than the disease. Wlioso cherishes such views is on the high road to atheism. It shuts out from the superintendence of earthly things Him who counts all the hairs on our head, and without whose will not a span'ow falls to the ground ; it denies the great truths confessed by David in the psalm — " Lord, thou hast searched me and known me." When we begin to limit God, we are not far from losing him entirely. Every such limitation destroys our fundamental view of the nature of God. Nor may we even entrust ourselves to those who, in respect of the sufferings of the righteous and the prosperity of the ungodly, would have us look solely to the compensation and balance to be expected in the life to come. The vision of future glory must, of course, be highly consolatory, and the Scripture itself suggests to us this source of comfort. It teaches us that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be re- vealed in us — that our afflictions, which are light and mo- mentary, shall work out for us a far more exceeding, even an eternal weight of glory ; it counts the man blessed who endures the fight of afflictions, because, after he has been proved, he shall receive the crown of life. But this means of consolation alone does not suffice. Rather, in order to be efficient, it needs a solid foundation. This is evident from the fact, that clear light in regard to eternal life, was only given THE BOOK OF JOB. 813 to the Cliurch of God by slow degrees. It is thus intimated to us, that the present life also has an independent position and meaning ; that our first duty is to perceive and understand in it, the traces of divine Providence. And if we look into the lives of behevers who have had the strongest and clearest convictions as to the doctrine of eternal life, we shall find that the c(mflict caused by suftering repeats itself ever afresh, that its successful termination constitutes really the basis of a living faith in retribution after death, and that where the issue of such conflicts is unfavourable, there also that faith becomes of necessity weak and vacillating. Only when we see in the course of history a continuous judgment of the world, can our faith in the final judgtnent be well-founded and rational. Letters promising happiness in eternity are worthless, if their issuer gives no proof of his power and his good will in the present life. If God is the holy and the righteous One, He must be willing to manifest this His nature in His con- duct towards His people and towards His enemies, even in the present world. If he is the Almighty, nothing can prevent Him from this display even in this liie. Can we discern no signs whatever of such a course, then our faith in reti-ibution I after death will be in a very poor case. If sin is not here \ already the ruin of men, then there exists no hell : if salva- tion and safety do not acompany righteousness already here, then there exists no heaven. The future life is not the scene )f the beginning, but only of the complete accomplishment, of hings. Woe to the man who hopes for an absolute future, in rery respect, and in this also! He deceives himself Who say whether the God who now shuts Himself up inactively heaven, will then attain to a better will and to greater rer ? Unrighteousness even in time is at variance Avith t^ nature of a holy and righteous God. A God who has ^-i^hing to make good again, is no God at all. The Holy Sc\ture knows nothing of a God who only rises to power wh this life has ended. Its God is from beginning to end 3- l\ig God. God's righteous retribution on earth is the theiof praise throughout the entire Old Testament — and that\go lively and convincing a sort, that the Church in all been driven to find therein the enlivenment of its 1. Our Lord Himsell", when describing the reward of 814 THE BOOK OF JOB. those who have renounced everything for His sake, begins ■with this jjresent life. Not unfrequently also has resignation been recommended as an antidote to the temptations which arise out of the suffer- ings of the righteous. Man cannot fathom God's counsels, and, therefore, it is said, he does best to submit himself blindly and without murmurings to all that happens. Tliis counsel, however, notwithstanding its pious looks, comes forth not from the sanctuaiy, but from the world. Rationalism set it afloat. It wantonly broke the key to the door of the mystery, and then declared that no solution was possible to mortals. Of such resignation the Scriptures know nothing. The sacred writers, who occupy themselves with this subject, are all of them able to justify God on account of the sufferings of the righteous, and never dream of evading the difiiculty by the appeal to resignation — a conduct which would be inconsistent with the reality of revelation and of divine inspiration. The fact that one whole book of the Scriptures is taken up v/ith the dis- cussion of the sufferings of the righteous, shows that they are far from requiring a blind faith, which is much more closely allied to unbelief than might at first sight appear. What shall be said then to grounds of consolation such as, that pain is a condition of joy, that the enjojonent of pleasure becomes keener through suffering, or, that it is necessary for the furtherance of the general wellbeing, that single indivi duals should suffer for a time? Such contrivances of "vai physicians" and "miserable comforters" do not deserve a m ment's attention. In this matter, therefore, the wisdom of this world pro^ itself invariably to be folly. The Holy Scriptures on the c^- trary show themselves in this region also to be a lamp to^r feet and a light to our path. Even in their earliest por^s they lay the foundation for the solution of this impc^nt problem, in that they report the fact of the fall, conct^^^g which the wisdom of the heathen world was in perfect^^^" ranee. " By the fall of Adam the nature and character i^^n has been quite corrupted :" — and this is the key botP ^lie sufferings of the righteous and to many other secrets ^^ is of great importance to have possession of this key r*^' ^'^^ distribution of the lots of men is determined by t^fact of THE BOOK OF JOB. 315 the fall. Wlioso falls into mistakes regarding it must also fall into eiToneous views of God. What fearful conflicts arise when severe sufferings befall a man who lacks the knowledge of sin is strikingly and affectingly illustrated in the life of Charles of Hohenstaufen, who committed suicide because he could not understand, and thought himself undeserving of, the troubles with which he was visited. And very many who do not go so far as that, fall through suffering into a state of continuous rebellion against God : — they cherish wrong thoughts about the only Comforter in all tribulation, and drag on a weary and wretched existence. Byron calls God, " the Almighty tyrant whom he wished to look boldly in the face, and inform that His evil is not good." What he was bold enough to utter is a thought which lies like a gnawing worm in the hearts of innumerable men, only unexpressed. The solution of the problem in Holy Scripture depends on a twofold truth. I. We must necessarily enter through much tribulation into the kingdom of God. For even in the righteous, that is, in him the main tendency of whose soul is Godward, and who keeps the divine law in his heart, there still dwells sin, and the necessary residt of sin is suffering. This suffering is inflicted by the divine righteousness as punishment, by the divine love, as a means of improvement. The common result of the two, this combination oi jninishment, which always proceeds from the principle of retribution, and of love whose design it is to further our salvation, is chastise- Tnent, to which the Holy Scriptures earnestly and lovingly admonish us to submit willingly, as being the unavoidable condition of our final redemption and glory. " My son," says Solomon, " despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, and be not impatient when He punisheth thee. For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and He hath pleasure in him, as a father in his son." These words the Epistle to the Hebrews follows literally up, adding, " if ye endure chastisement then are ye the children of God : for where is the son whom the father chasteneth not ? but if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards and not sons." Quite in the sense of the Scriptures Luther says in that Table-talk of his which con- tains so many deep eind beautiful things, " therefore is it a foolish thing for reason and philosophy to say, ' it shall go well 316 THE BOOK OF JOB. with the pious and righteous.' That is no true Christian con- clusion. Because sin still remains in the flesh they must needs be chastised and plagued in order that it may be from day to day thoroughly swept out." In the same tone says one of Luther's most unfair opponents, De Maistre, in his " Soirees de St. Petersbourg," " I confess to them without shame that I can never reflect on this fearful subject without being tempted to cast myself on the earth, as a criminal begging for mercy ; or else to call down all possible evils on my head as a slight re- compence for the immeasurable guilt which I have contracted towards the Eternal Righteousness. And notwithstanding, they cannot believe how many times in my life it has been said to me that I am a very upright man." II. The righteous are never visited with the cross, that is, with disguised grace, alone. The manifest grace of God is always in its company, and in its train. Although in the deepest outward trouble, they are still happier than the ungodly. " Thou givest me joy in my heart," said David, when compelled to flee before Absalom and when stripped of everything, " although, those have much wine and corn." (Psalm iv. 8.) And during the same hard times the Sons of Korali sang, as it were out of his own soul, " the Lord sendeth His goodness by day, and by night I sing to Him and pray to the God of my life," to he able and to be permitted to do which, is a great mercy (Psalm xlii. 9.) But when sufferings have accomplished their pui^ose they are turned away by the Lord. The end always shows the difference between the righteous and the wicked. The proclamations wliich, according to 1 Peter i. 2, were made by the prophets, " of the sufferings of Christ and the glory which should follow," rested on tlie known experiences of the righteous. He who walks uprightly in the ways of the Loid, must have experienced that whenever he has stood on the brink of the abyss, the delivering hand has been stretched forth from above to preserve him from ruin, that his rescue has been effected just when he had gone so far that there was " only a step, naj'', only a hair, between his life and death." Now this solution, everywhere hinted at in Holy Scri})ture, when the problem is brought forward, is fully set forth in the Book of Job. It was a great mistake, when some, in order to do honour to the Scriptures, deemed themselves compelled THE BOOK OF JOB. 31 7 to ascribe a purely historical character to this book, which occupies a middle position between the two classes of sacred poesy, the Psalms and Proverbs, on the one hand, and the Song of Solomon on the other. Luther, with his usual good sense, recognised in it a poetical element. He says, in his Table-talk, " I hold the book for a genuine history ; but that everything happened and was done as there represented, I do not believe. I hold that some pious and learned man or other put it into the form in which we now have it, and that it was written at the time of Solomon." But it is impossible to rest contented even with this view. How greatly the didactic purpose predominates over everything else is evident from the fact, that even the name Job is formed under its in- fluence. The round and sacred numbers, too, play a part such as they would scarcely be found to play in a real history. Job had, for example, before his afflictions, seven sons and three daughters, altogether ten children ; and exactly the same number does he receive again afterwards, — so through- out. The negotiations, furthermore, between God and Satan, imperatively require us to distinguish between the idea and its clothing, — a thing which can only be done when the form of representation is allowed to be a poetical one. If viewed as historical fact, the speaking of God out of the storm would be a thoroughly isolated case. There is not, in the entire Old Testament, one miracle having a simply personal reference ; besides that, Job was outside the limits of the Church of God, which is the natural soil of all the miracles of Holy Scripture. The Church is invariably the scene of miracles. Of still more thorough importance is the consideration, that such a person as Job could not have existed in the heathen world. If we regard him as an actual historical personage, we shift the boundary line separating the heathen world from the Church of God, and pronounce the redemptive means set up by God superfluous. For depth of religious knowledge. Job stands higher than Abraham. If heathendom could produce such characters, — if it could penetrate so deeply into the wisdom of God, no other revelation was needed. We have no right to appeal here to the example of Melchizedek. For, apart from the fact that he has been justly described as the setting sun of the primeval revelation, there is in Job more than the 318 THE BOOK OF JOB. pure monotheism of Meleliizedek, there is a fulness and depth of divine knowledge, such as is never found except in the sphere of revelation, such as flows forth alone from the sanc- tuary of the Lord, and such as is peculiar to the Church, as the only salt on the face of this saltless earth. But there is no difficulty in discerning the reason why the author should lay the scene of his work in a foreign country, if we regard it as free and poetical. It is the same reason as that which induced him to go back, beyond Moses, into the patriarchal age, and to avoid the names of Jehovah, which were pecu- liarly dear to Israel. He does not wish the matter to be decided from the law of God. He sets aside for tlie moment "what is written." He leaves the region which is ruled by the law, because it is his vocation, independently and by direct revelation, to furnish a solution of the problem, which shall accord with the hints already given in the law. The historical truth of the book lies in an utterly different region from that in v/hich it is usually sought. The author must himself have been a Job, a crossbearer ; he must himself have wrestled with despair ; he must himself have been comforted with the comfort which he gives to others ; he must himself have repented in sackcloth and ashes. For only through his own personal experience could a man write concerning a mystery of God, as the author of the Book of Job writes. This higher ideal view of the truth of the narrative is quite sufficient to account for the quotations made by Ezekiel (chap. xiv. 14-20), and by James (chap. v. 11). Tlie book opens with a description of Job's life and character before the catastrophe, taking the two points which alone were of importance for his purpose, to wit, his prosperity and his righteousness based in piety. At the close of the opening part he describes Job's tenderness of conscience, which would not allow him to leave un atoned even apparently slight offi^nces, sinful thoughts, light discourse, useless words, such as men are used to utter in the merriment of social intercourse, and fits and ebullitions of worldly-mindedness. Job himself does not take part in the feasts of his children : he keeps himself in holy stillness and in priestly retirement. But when the feasts have gone their round, he comes forth, purifying and atoning, into the midst of his children, not seeking to force THE BOOK OF JOB. 319 upon them liis own views, but yet taking care that they shall not lose sight of the higher rehxtions of life. Now lie who stands thus in the midst of his family as a priest, ought, as it seems, and as Job himself thought, to be sheltered from all the strokes of fate. But it happened otherwise ; and that it did so, is to be explained from the fact that God's view of human nature is different from men's, that He discerns faults even in His saints. " Life often remains clinging to a straw, refusing to give itself up entirely to death." The praise given by the Hoty Spirit to Job — " the same man was simple and upright, one that feared God, and eschewed evil," — must of course have full truth. But when any one has attained to this degTee, when he can say with truth, " I desire to have nought to do with the world ; with that money, honour, pleasure, on which so much industry is spent," sin easily takes another shape ; a man is threatened with the danger of being puffed up because of his righteousness, of being no longer willing to rank as a poor sinner, of becoming, in short, a proud saint. Then it becomes necessary for God to use His rod afresh, and to strike right sharply. For this disease is very hard to overcome. Lesser visitations serve often only to make it worse. Spiritual pride finds nourishment in becom- ing master of such attacks, in showing that they are unable to shake its faithfulness towards God. The scene is then transferred to heaven. On the occasion of a solemn assembly of the angels before the throne of God, Satan also presents himself, raises doubts regarding Job's virtue, and demands that God shall prove him by suffering. God gives him power over Job, with the limitation that he is not to do him bodily harm. Satan's desire and endeavour to destroy him shows that Job was a man of honest intent, that he belonged not to those who say, " Lord, Lord," but to those who sincerely strive to do the wiU of their heavenly Father. God's giving him up to Satan shows that there was still something in him to punish and to improve ; that he still needed heavy blows, if he should escape the dangers by which his spiritual life was threatened. From the necessity under which Satan is here represented as lying, to appear, like the angels, before God's throne, and 820 THE BOOK OF JOB. to beg a formal permission, ere he brings suffering on Job, we may draw the consolatory truth that he is in his hatred entirely dependent on God, -who pledges and proves His com- passion and grace to His own children. Satan's intentions in laying upon them the cross are evil, it is true, but against his will he is forced to accomplish God's designs, which always at last remain victorious. The cross brings on a crisis in Job's history, whose final result is, to purge him from the dross of self-righteousness and pride. And this was that root of sin which still kept its seat in his inmost being. Every man has such a root of sin within him, and none dare say of Satan, what the only begotten Son of God said of him — " He hath nothing in me." Even the most intimate disciples of the Lord, even the holy Apostles, were compelled to submit to Satan's request, that he might have them, to sift them like wheat, and to be satisfied if only their faith did not fail them. Bengel says, " Satan is often concealed as an enemy where we should never dream it." In the Scriptures, the punish- ments of the wicked are directly traced back to the Lord and His angels, or to Christ. Against the world, which is his friend, Satan seeks no ground of complaint. In the chastise- ments, however, with which the righteous are threatened, Satan takes part. The Father in heaven turns, as it were, his face away, and leaves to him the infliction of the pain which his children need. Presupposing Satan to be abso- lutely dependent on God, there is something consolatory in the thought, that he is placed in the matter of the cross be- tween us and God. The sufferings with which we are visited have, not unfrequently, what may be almost described as a malicious character. It must also be so, because it is in- tended that each one be assailed in his most sensitive part, which frequently none knows save God, the afilicted man himself, and that hateful Satan, who has a very keen eye for the darker side of human nature. Still, it is a good thing that we cannot trace our troubles directly back to God, that our heavenly Father only permits, and that Satan devises and executes. The question put by a savage, " Why then does not God strike Satan dead?" ccmld only have been retailed as apparently ingenious by men who stood spiritually TliK BOOK OF JOB. 321 on a level with the savages. Satan is a very important ele- ment in the divine economy. God needs him, and He there- fore keeps him until He shall have no more use for him. Then will he be banished to his own place. The Scriptures call the wicked heathen tyrant Nebuchadnezzar a servant of God. They might give Satan the same name. Job loses everything he has ; first his property, then his children. But he stands firm and immovable in the midst of these visitations. " Tlie Lord," says he, " gave, and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord." The Lord had not taken away from him anything that was strictly his own ; for he had originally nothing, and had no right to lay claim to anything. God did but require back that which He had lent of pure grace. Let it fall, then, as painfully on Job as it might, how could he complain ? Listead of mur- muring because of what he had lost, he should give thanks for what he had received. But one thing is still lacking. Job had not advanced far enough to recognize in his sufferings the righteous punishment of his sins, and the chastisement necessary for his salvation. That was his Achilles-heel. And this it is which he must now be made to learn, and which, at the end of the book, we' find that he has learned, after hard and severe conflicts and sad defeats. The final result is, that he is transformed from a dignified righteous man, into a poor sinner. Then, all at once, everything is made plain — he sees the meaning of his fate, and is therein to be counted far happier than the man who takes his flight into the other world with the sad words on his lips — "Then shall I clearly see and know, that which was hard and dark below." Even after Satan's second attack, which was directed against his bodily health. Job did not become aware of his defect. The weakness of his wife, who up to that point seems to have held out and to have submitted patiently, even to the loss of all her children, must have served to set Job's strength in a clearer light. " Dost thou still retain thy piety," says she to him, " bless God and die." Death is inevitable and close at hand : God's grace is irrecoverably lost. Have God, then, at all events, blessed, and die and perish in a moment. Thou hadst long ago done more wisely to bid God farewell ' The j)Oor woman luis been severely handled by commentators X 822 THE BOOK OF JOB. on account of these words. Spanheira calls her a second Xantippe, and maintains that she was left to Job as a thorn in his flesh after his recovery. J. D. Michaelis thinks she alone remained to Job in order that the measure of his suf- fermgs might be full. It must, however, be taken into con- sideration, that her despair was rooted in the heartiest and tenderest love to her husband. In all their previous losses she had allowed herself to be kept in restraint by Job's own submissiveness. And had the pains of disease befallen herself, she would probably still have resisted her despair. Job, how- ever, does not suffer himself to be dragged down by his wife ; he finds means, on the contrary, of raising her up. " Thou speakest as the foolish women speak," says he to her ; he does not say, " Thou art a foolish woman," but " thou art be- coming unlike thyself, thou art entering into a circle to which thou hast hitherto remained a stranger." " Do we receive the good from God, and shall we not also accept the evil ?" It is the same Giver who oflei's both ; and He well deserves that yre should take everything from Him without question. As during the first stage of his sufferings, so also during the second, it is expressly remarked that Job " in all this sinned not with his lips." We expect now that something will soon occur to break Job's stedfastness, and to lead him to sin with his tongue. We do not, however, at once see what this can be, inasmuch as he has already lost everything without his submissiveness to God's will being shaken. The sequel tells. Three friends of Job, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, hear of his misfortune and come to console him. They find him in a most mournful position, set themselves by his side in ashes, and remain seven days long, sitting speechless. After that Job opened his mouth and cursed his day. How is it to be explained, that so great a change comes suddenly over Job ; that he who just before was still all sub- mission, and could even rush to the help of his wife, the weaker vessel, now all at once breaks out with the words — " Let the day perish when I was born!" and so forth? To curse one's existence, is to dispute with God, who gave it, — is thankless- ly to forget in the pain that blessing which, though often deeply concealed, never utterly fails, — is, unbelievingly, to THE BOOK OF JOB. 323 despair of the happy issue of our sufferings, and, consequently, of God's grace and righteousness. The solution of the problem lies here. "Wliere, in our Eng- lish version, it is simply said, — " And Job opened his mouth," we read in the original text, — " And J oh' ansivered and said." His friends had not uttered a syllable ; but they had clearly enough spoken to him by their looks. Job read in their countenances that their thoughts were busy with his right- eousness ; that they wished to deliver him a lecture of reproof; that they only waited the opportunity to enter on their Avork of advocacy of God. He read beforehand in their soul all that they afterwards uttered. That their stillness is not to be ascribed to the depth of their sympathy, is clear even from the words which give the reason of it, — " for they saw that the pain was very great," — not " for their pain was very great." They could not straightway administer consolation to Job. According to their view, their prime duty was to bring him to a consciousness of his heavy guilt. They waited to catch him in a mood favourable for such a reproving lecture. Hence they held their tongues, until Job, irritated to the utmost by their long silence, himself began the conversation, and forced them to come forward with their view. Job was now assailed on his weak side. To all other modes of suffering he had been equal, but that it should be adduced in proof of his guilt — that he should be robbed of his righteous- ness, that last possession to which he had so convulsively clung, and concerning which he himself exclaims,- — ■" My righteousness do I retain, and do not let go ; not one of my days does my heart despise," — was too much for him. Be- cause God, who had sent the sufferings, on whose evidence the charge was brought against him, was also the cause of this last and heaviest loss, he vents his indignation straightway against Him. His friends he regards only as interpreters of the text composed by God. The charge brought by Job against God gives rise to a dis- pute between him and his friends, which is can-ied on with ever increasing passionateness. This dispute is divided into three cycles. The first two fall into three subdivisions, com- prising the discourses uttered by the three friends, and Job's separate answers. The last consists of two subdivisions only. ^•24t THE BOOK OF JOB. the third friend, Zophar, having nothing more to say. Through his silence the author intimates to us the defeat of all three friends, who had made common cause. The view taken by the friends is the following: — that sin and suffering are measured out by God, as it were, ounce for ounce — so much sin, so much suffering. One man is just so much better than another, as he is happier. He who is as un- fortunate as Job, must assuredly be, not merely a sinner, but a criminal. To doubt this is to do dishonour to God. And even if, in the case of a man suffering severely, like Job, we do not actually know of any great crime, we must still assume that he has committed one, in order to save God's honour. Nor may we allow ourselves to be deceived, even though appearances be of the fairest kind. These only show that the pretended saint is a thoroughly skilled hypocrite. This view is characteristic of a 6w^9e7;/?cia7 'piety. Open un- godliness shuts out God entirely from earthly matters, and ascribes suffering to chance. The entire dispute is carried on in the book of Job from the point of view of the fear of God. But because this view is that of a superficial piety, it is, for that very reason, popular. In Elihu's discourse (chap, xxxii. 1 9), it is expressly described as that of the "many;" — " Not the many are wise," says Elihu in reply. In the sphere of religion that saying, " Yox populi, vox Dei," does not hold good. There, on the contrary, that which is popular is usually the superfi- cial, the shallow. That this view" is the popular one, the author intimates, in giving it no less than three representa- tives. The fundamental error of the three friends is a coarse external conception of sin, which leads them to conclude, from Job's sufferings, that he has committed some palpable trans- gression. They are only acquainted with individual sins : of the essence of sin they have no knowledge. F