I turned myself to consider wisdom, madness, and folly; for what can the king’s successor do? Just that which has been done long ago.
Parallel Translations
-
I turned myself to consider wisdom, madness, and folly; for what can the king’s successor do? Just that which has been done long ago.
-
And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly: for what can the man do that cometh after the king? even that which hath been already done.
-
And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness and folly; for what can the man do that cometh after the king? even that which hath been already done.
Cross-references (3)
Passages linked to Ecclesiastes 2:12 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Ecclesiastes 1:17 I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also was a chasing after wind.
- Ecclesiastes 7:25 I turned around, and my heart sought to know and to search out, and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know that wickedness is stupidity, and that foolishness is madness.
- Ecclesiastes 1:9-10 That which has been is that which shall be; and that which has been done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there a thing of which it may be said, “Behold, this is new?” It has been long ago, in the ages which were before us.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (17 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain I bethought with myself whether it were better to…
I bethought with myself whether it were better to follow wisdom, or mine own affections and pleasures, which he calleth madness.
Or, compare with the King.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Ecc 2:12 And I turned myself to behold wisdom,…
Ecc 2:12 And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly: for what [can] the man [do] that cometh after the king? [even] that which hath been already done.
Ver. 12. For what can the man do that cometh after the king?] - q.d., Who is it that can outdo me in this review and discovery? Neither is this a vainglorious vaunting of his own virtues, but an occupation or prevention of an objection: thus,
Read full note →
Objection. It may be thou hast not perfectly known the difference of things, and so hast not rightly determined.
Solution. To this he answers, that he hath to quit himself in searching and trying the truth in these points, that it is not for any other to go beyond him. And having removed this rub, having carried this dead Amasa out of the way, that might have hindered his hearers’ march, he proceeds in his discourse.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and…
I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly; of which see Ecc 1:7. Being frustrated of my hopes in pleasure, I returned to a second and more serious consideration of my first choice, to see whether there was not more satisfaction to be gotten from wisdom, than what I discovered at my first view.
What can the man do, to find out the truth in this matter, to discover the utmost satisfaction which was possibly to be found in pleasures? So this is added as a reason why he gave over the thoughts of pleasures, and directed them to another object, and why he so confidently asserted their vanity from his own particular experience, because he had made the best of them, and it was a vain thing for any private man to expect that from them which could not be found by a king, and such a king, who had so much wisdom to invent, and such vast riches to pursue and enjoy, all imaginary delights, and who had made it his design and business to search this to the bottom. That cometh after the
Read full note →
king; that succeeds me in this inquiry. That which hath been already done; as by others in former times, so especially by myself. They can make no new discoveries as to this point.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain Solomon having tried what satisfaction was to be had…
Solomon having tried what satisfaction was to be had in learning first, and then in the pleasures of sense, and having also put both together, here compares them one with another and passes a judgment upon them.
I. He sets himself to consider both wisdom and folly. He had considered these before (Ecc 1:17); but lest it should be thought he was then too quick in passing a judgment upon them, he here turns himself again to behold them, to see if, upon a second view and second thoughts, he could gain more satisfaction in the search than he had done upon the first. He was sick of his pleasures, and, as nauseating them, he turned from them, that he might again apply himself to speculation; and if, upon this rehearing of the cause, the verdict be still the same, the judgment will surely be decisive; for what can the man do that comes after the king? especially such a king, who had so much of this world to make the experiment upon and so much wisdom to make it with. The baffled trial needs not be repeated. No man can expect to find more satisfaction in the world than Solomon did, nor to gain a greater insight into the principles of morality; when a man has done what he can still it is that which has been already done. Let us learn, 1. Not to indulge ourselves in a fond conceit that we can mend that which has been well done before us. Let us esteem others better than ourselves, and think how unfit we are to attempt the improvement of the performances of better heads and hands than ours, and rather own how much we are beholden to them, Joh 4:37, Joh 4:38. 2. To acquiesce in Solomon's judgment of the things of this world, and not to think of repeating the trial; for we can never think of having such advantages as he had to make the experiment nor of being able to make it with equal application of mind and so little danger to ourselves.
Read full note →
II. He gives the preference to wisdom far before folly. Let none mistake him, as if, when he speaks of the vanity of human literature, he designed only to amuse men with a paradox, or were about to write (as a great wit once did) Encomium moriae - A panegyric in praise of folly. No, he is maintaining sacred truths, and therefore is careful to guard against being misunderstood. I soon saw (says he) that there is an excellency in wisdom more than in folly, as much as there is in light above darkness. The pleasures of wisdom, though they suffice not to make men happy, yet vastly transcend the pleasures of wine. Wisdom enlightens the soul with surprising discoveries and necessary directions for the right government of itself; but sensuality (for that seems to be especially the folly here meant) clouds and eclipses the mind, and is as darkness to it; it puts out men's eyes, makes them to stumble in the way and wander out of it. Or, though wisdom and knowledge will not make a man happy (St Paul shows a more excellent way than gifts, and that is grace), yet it is much better to have them than to be without them, in respect of our present safety, comfort, and usefulness; for the wise man's eyes are in his head (Ecc 2:14), where they should be, ready to discover both the dangers that are to be avoided and the advantages that are to be improved; a wise man has not his reason to seek when he should use it, but looks about him and is quick-sighted, knows both where to step and where to stop; whereas the fool walks in darkness, and is ever and anon either at a loss, or at a plunge, either bewildered, that he knows not which way to go, or embarrassed, that he cannot go forward. A man that is discreet and considerate has the command of his business, and acts decently and safely, as those that walk in the day; but he that is rash, and ignorant, and sottish, is continually making blunders, running upon one precipice or other; his projects, his bargains, are all foolish, and ruin his affairs. Therefore get wisdom, get understanding.
III. Yet he maintains that, in respect of lasting happiness and satisfaction, the wisdom of this world gives a man very little advantage; for, 1. Wise men and fools fare alike. "It is true the wise man has very much the advantage of the fool in respect of foresight and insight, and yet the greatest probabilities do so often come short of success that I myself perceived, by my own experience, that one event happens to them all (Ecc 2:14); those that are most cautious of their health are as soon sick as those that are most careless of it, and the most suspicious are imposed upon." David had observed that wise men die, and are involved in the same common calamity with the fool and the brutish person, Psa 49:12. See Ecc 9:11. Nay, it has of old been observed that Fortune favours fools, and that half-witted men often thrive most, while the greatest projectors forecast worst for themselves. The same sickness, the same sword, devours wise men and fools. Solomon applies this mortifying observation to himself (Ecc 2:15), that though he was a wise man, he might not glory in his wisdom; I said to my heart, when it began to be proud or secure, As it happens to the fool, so it happens to me, even to me; for thus emphatically it is expressed in the original: "So, as for me, it happens to me. Am I rich? So is many a Nabal that fares as sumptuously as I do. Is a foolish man sick, does he get a fall? So do I, even I; and neither my wealth nor my wisdom will be my security. And why was I then more wise? Why should I take so much pains to get wisdom, when, as to this life, it will stand me in so little stead? Then I said in my heart that this also is vanity." Some make this a correction of what was said before, like that (Psa 77:10), "I said, This is my infirmity; it is my folly to think that wise men and fools are upon a level;" but really they seem to be so, in respect of the event, and therefore it is rather a confirmation of what he had before said, That a man may be a profound philosopher and politician and yet not be a happy man. 2. Wise men and fools are forgotten alike (Ecc 2:16): There is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool. It is promised to the righteous that they shall be had in everlasting remembrance, and their memory shall be blessed, and they shall shortly shine as the stars; but there is no such promise made concerning the wisdom of this world, that that shall perpetuate men's names, for those names only are perpetuated that are written in heaven, and otherwise the names of this world's wise men are written with those of its fools in the dust. That which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten. What was much talked of in one generation is, in the next, as if it had never been. New persons and new things jostle out the very remembrance of the old, which in a little time are looked upon with contempt and at length quite buried in oblivion. Where is the wise? Where is the disputer of this world? Co1 1:20. And it is upon this account that he asks, How dies the wise man? As the fool. Between the death of a godly and a wicked man there is a great difference, but not between the death of a wise man and a fool; the fool is buried and forgotten (Ecc 8:10), and no one remembered the poor man that by his wisdom delivered the city (Ecc 9:15); so that to both the grave is a land of forgetfulness; and wise and learned men, when they have been awhile there out of sight, grow out of mind, a new generation arises that knew them not.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness,…
And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly,.... Being disappointed in his pursuit of pleasure, and not finding satisfaction and happiness in that, he turns from it, and reassumes his study of natural wisdom and knowledge, to make a fresh trial, and see whether there might be some things he had overlooked in his former inquiries; and whether upon a revise of what he had looked into he might not find more satisfaction than before; being convinced however that the pursuit of pleasure was less satisfying than the study of wisdom, and therefore relinquished the one for the sake of the other: and in order, if possible, to gain more satisfaction in this point, he determined to look more narrowly, and penetrate into the secrets of wisdom, and find out the nature of it, and examine its contraries; that by setting them in a contrast, and comparing them together, he might be the better able to form a judgment of them. Jarchi interprets "wisdom" of the law, and "madness" and "folly" of the punishment of transgression. Alshech also by "wisdom" understands the wisdom of the law, and by madness external wisdom, or the knowledge of outward things. But Aben Ezra understands by "madness" wine, with which men being intoxicated become mad; and by "folly" building houses, and getting riches;
for what can the man do that cometh after the king? meaning himself; what can a man do that comes after such a king as he was, who had such natural parts to search into and acquire all sorts of knowledge; who was possessed of such immense riches, that he could procure everything that was necessary to assist him in his pursuit of knowledge; and who wanted not industry, diligence, and application, and who succeeded above any before or after him? wherefore what can any common man do, or anyone that comes after such a person, and succeeds him in his studies, and treads in his steps, and follows his example and plan, what can he do more than is done already? or can he expect to outdo such a prince, or find out that which he could not? nay, it is as if he should say, it is not only a vain thing for another man to come after me in the search of knowledge, in hopes of finding more than I have done; but it is a fruitless attempt in me to take up this affair again; for, after all that I have done, what can I do more? so that these words are not a reason for his pursuit of wisdom, but a correction of himself for it; I think the words may be rendered, "but what can that man do that comes after the king?" so the particle is sometimes used (t); meaning himself, or his successor, or any other person; since it was only going over the same thing again, running round the circle of knowledge again, without any new improvement, or fresh satisfaction, according to the following answer;
Read full note →
even that which hath been already done; it is only doing the same thing over again. The Targum and Jarchi interpret it of the vain attempt of a man to supplicate a king after a decree is passed and executed. The Midrash by the king understands God himself, and interprets it of the folly of men not being content with their condition, or as made by him. So Gussetius renders it, "who made him" (u); that is, the king; even God, the three divine Persons, Father, Son, and Spirit; the word being plural.
(t) Vid. Noldii Concordant. Partic. Ebr. p. 404, (u) "qui fecerunt euum", vid. Ebr. Comment. p. 605.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain I turned - Being frustrated of my hopes in…
I turned - Being frustrated of my hopes in pleasure, I returned to a second consideration of my first choice, to see whether there was not more satisfaction to be gotten from wisdom, than I discovered at my first view. Done - As by others, so especially by myself. They can make no new discoveries as to this point. They can make no more of the pleasures of sense than I have done. Let me then try once more, whether wisdom can give happiness.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 12. For what can the man do that…
Verse 12. For what can the man do that cometh after the king?] I have examined every thing proposed by science, by maddening pleasure, and by more refined and regulated mirth. I seized on the whole, and used them to the uttermost; and so far, that none ever shall be able to exceed me; as none can, in the course of things, ever have such power and means of gratification.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Ecc 2:12. And I turned myself, &c. — Being…
Ecc 2:12. And I turned myself, &c. — Being frustrated of my hopes in pleasure, I returned to a second consideration of my first choice, to see whether there was not more satisfaction to be gotten from wisdom, than I discovered at my first view. For what can the man do — To find out the truth in this matter; to discover the utmost satisfaction possible to be found in pleasure; that cometh after the king — That succeeds me in this inquiry. So this is added as a reason why he gave over the pursuit of pleasures, and directed his thoughts to another object; and why he so confidently asserted the vanity of pleasures, from his own particular experience; namely, because he had made the best of them, and it was a vain thing for any private man to expect that from them which could not be found by a king, and such a king, who had so much wisdom to invent, and such great riches to pursue and enjoy all imaginable delights; and who had made it his design and business to search this matter to the bottom. Even that which, hath been already done — As by others, so especially by myself. They can make no new discoveries as to this point. They can make no more of the pleasures of sense than I have done. Let me then try, once more, whether wisdom can give happiness.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Solomon having found that wisdom and folly agree in…
Solomon having found that wisdom and folly agree in being subject to vanity, now contrasts one with the other Ecc 2:13. Both are brought under vanity by events Ecc 2:14 which come on the wise man and the feel alike from without - death and oblivion Ecc 2:16, uncertainty Ecc 2:19, disappointment Ecc 2:21 - all happening by an external law beyond human control. Amidst this vanity, the good (see Ecc 2:10 note) that accrues to man, is the pleasure felt Ecc 2:24-26 in receiving God’s gifts, and in working with and for them.
Ecc 2:12
Read full note →
What can the man do ... - i. e., “What is any man - in this study of wisdom and folly - after one like me, who, from my position, have had such special advantages (see Ecc 1:16, and compare Ecc 2:25) for carrying it on? That which man did of old he can but do again: he is not likely to add to the result of my researches, nor even to equal them.” Some hold that the “man” is a reference to Solomon’s successor - not in his inquiries, but in his kingdom, i. e., Jeroboam.
Ecc 2:14
Event - Or, “hap” Rth 2:3. The verb from which it is derived seems in this book to refer especially to death. The word does not mean chance (compare Ecc 9:1-2), independent of the ordering of Divine Providence: the Gentile notion of “mere chance,” or “blind fate,” is never once contemplated by the writer of this book, and it would be inconsistent with his tenets of the unlimited power and activity of God.
Ecc 2:16
Seeing that ... - Compare Ecc 1:11. Some render, “as in time past, so in days to come, all will be forgotten;” others, “because in the days to come all will have been long before forgotten.”
Ecc 2:17
I hated life - Compare this expression, extorted from Solomon by the perception of the vanity of his wisdom and greatness, with Rom 8:22-23. The words of Moses Num 11:15, and of Job Job 3:21; Job 6:9, are scarcely less forcible. With some people, this feeling is a powerful motive to conversion Luk 14:26.
Ecc 2:19
Labour - Compare Ecc 2:4-8.
Ecc 2:20
I went about - i. e., I turned from one course of action to another.
Ecc 2:23
Are sorrows ... grief - Rather, sorrows and grief are his toil. See Ecc 1:13.
Ecc 2:24
Nothing better for a man, than that ... - literally, no good in man that etc. The one joy of working or receiving, which, though it be transitory, a man recognizes as a real good, even that is not in the power of man to secure for himself: that good is the gift of God.
Ecc 2:26
The doctrine of retribution, or, the revealed fact that God is the moral Governor of the world, is here stated for the first time (compare Ecc 3:15, Ecc 3:17 ff) in this book.
This also is vanity - Not only the travail of the sinner. Even the best gifts of God, wisdom, knowledge, and joy, so far as they are given in this life, are not permanent, and are not always (see Ecc 9:11) efficacious for the purpose for which they appear to be given.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain What. Hebrew, "For what man shall come after the…
What. Hebrew, "For what man shall come after the king?" Septuagint, "after counsel?" Many other versions may be given of this obscure text. Solomon stopt at human wisdom, without consulting the divine; or he asks who shall have greater facility to acquire knowledge than himself, or equal his works? (Calmet) --- Man’s wisdom compared with God’s is contemptible; though it be preferable to folly. (Menochius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain He had tried (worldly) wisdom (Ecc 1:12-18) and folly…
He had tried (worldly) wisdom (Ecc 1:12-18) and folly (foolish pleasure) (Ecc 2:1-11); he now compares them (Ecc 2:12) and finds that while (worldly)
wisdom excelleth folly (Ecc 2:13-14), yet the one event, death, befalls both (Ecc 2:14-16), and that thus the wealth acquired by the wise man's "labor" may descend to a "fool" that hath not labored (Ecc 2:18-19, Ecc 2:21); therefore all his labor is vanity (Ecc 2:22-23).
Read full note →
what can the man do . . . already done-- (Ecc 1:9). Parenthetical. A future investigator can strike nothing out "new," so as to draw a different conclusion from what I draw by comparing "wisdom and madness." HOLDEN, with less ellipsis, translates, "What, O man, shall come after the king?" &c. Better, GROTIUS, "What man can come after (compete with) the king in the things which are done?" None ever can have the same means of testing what all earthly things can do towards satisfying the soul; namely, worldly wisdom, science, riches, power, longevity, all combined.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 12. Koheleth turns to take a comparative view of…
12. Koheleth turns to take a comparative view of wisdom, and madness, and folly, arguing that a king, especially of all men, has the means of making a conclusive experiment.
The man — Who is a mere subject, and not possessed of royal advantages. All the resources of the realm were at Solomon’s command, and he used them in the acquirement of wisdom.
Read full note →
After the king — Attempting to make the same experiment over again.
Hath been done already — He attains to only a stale and feeble repetition of an “already” conclusive experience.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 12. I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness,…
12. I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly] We enter on yet another phase of the life of the seeker after happiness. He falls back with a cynical despair, when mere pleasure left him a prey to satiety and ennui, upon his former study of human nature in its contrasted developments of wisdom, and madness, and folly (see note on chap. Ecc_1:17).
what can the man do that cometh after the king?] Literally, What is the man.… The words are apparently a kind of proverb. No other child of man could try the experiment under more promising conditions than a king like the Solomon of history, and therefore the answer to the question, What can such a man be or do? is simply (if we follow the construction of the A. V.) “Even that which men did before.” He shall tread the same weary round with the same unsatisfying results. The verse is, however, obscure, and has been very variously rendered. So (1) the LXX., following another text, gives “What man will follow after counsel in whatsoever things they wrought it;” (2) the Vulgate, “What is man, said I, that he can follow the King, his Maker;” and (3) many modern interpreters. “What can the man do that comes after the king, whom they made long ago?” i.e. Who can equal the time-honoured fame of Solomon?
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (12) This verse presents some difficulties of translation which…
(12) This verse presents some difficulties of translation which need not be discussed here. The Authorised Version gives the following very good sense: If the king has failed in his experiment, what likelihood is there that a private person should be more successful? Yet bearing in mind that in Ecc_5:18 the “man that cometh after the king” means his successor, and also that the theme of the whole section is that in human affairs there is no progress, it is more simple to understand this verse: the king’s successor can do no more than run the same round that has been trodden by his predecessor.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Vers. 12-26. Section 3. Vanity of wisdom, in view…
Vers. 12-26. Section 3. Vanity of wisdom, in view of the fate that awaits the wise man equally with the fool, and the uncertainty of the future of his labors, especially as man is not master of his own fate.
And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and. (Ecc_1:17) He studied the three in their mutual connection and relation, comparing them in their results and effects on man"s nature and life, and deducing thence their real value. On one side he set wisdom, on the other the action, and habits which he rightly terms "madness and folly," and examined them calmly and critically. For what can the man do that cometh after the king? even that which hath been already done. Both the Authorized Version and Revised Version render the passage thus, though the latter, in the margin, gives two alternative renderings of the second clause, viz. even him whom they made king long ago, and, as in the Authorized Version margin, in those things which have been already done. The LXX, following a different reading, gives, "For what man is there who will follow after counsel in whatsoever things he employed it?" Vulgate, "What is man, said I, that he should be able to follow the King, his Maker?" Wright, Delitzsch, Nowack, etc., "For what is the man that is to come after the king whom they made so long ago?" i.e. who can have greater experience than Solomon made king in old time amid universal acclamation? (1Ch_29:22) or, who can hope to equal his fame? which does not seem quite suitable, as it is the abnormal opportunities of investigation given by his unique position which would be the point of the query. The Authorized Version gives a fairly satisfactory (and grammatically unobjectionable) meaning What can any one effect who tries the same experiment as the king did? He could not do so under more favorable conditions, and will only repeat the same process and reach the same result. But the passage is obscure, and every interpretation has its own difficulty. If the ki with which the second portion of the passage begins ("for what," etc.) assigns the reason or motive of the first portion, shows what was the design of Koheleth in contrasting wisdom and folly, the rendering of the Authorized Version is not inappropriate. Many critics consider that Solomon is here speaking of his successor, asking what kind of man he will be who comes after him the man whom some have already chosen? And certainly there is some ground for this interpretation in vers. 18, 19, where the complaint is that all the king"s greatness and glory will be left to an unworthy successor. But this view requires the Solomonic authorship of the book, and makes him to refer to Rehoboam or some illegitimate usurper. The wording of the text is too general to admit of this explanation; nor does it exactly suit the immediate context, or duly connect the two clauses of the verse. It seems best to take the successor, not as one who comes to the kingdom, but as one who pursues similar investigations, repeats Koheleth"s experiments.
Read full note →
Vers. 12-16.
Wisdom and folly.
I FOLLY AS GOOD AS WISDOM. Three things seemed to proclaim this,
1. The chances of life. These appeared to be as favorable to the fool as to the wise man. The experiences of both were much alike; the lot of each little different. "I perceived," said he, "that one event happeneth to them all" (ver. 14). "As it happeneth to the fool, so will it happen even to me; and why was I then more wise?" (ver. 15). This observation apparently had struck him with much force, as he refers to it more than once. (Ecc_8:14 Ecc_9:2) It was not an original observation, as long before Job had remarked upon the seeming indifference with which providential allotments were made to the righteous and the wicked. (Job_9:22 Job_21:7) Nevertheless, it was and is a true observation that, so far as purely external circumstances are concerned, it may be doubtful if the wise man fares better than the fool.
2. The onrush of oblivion. With pitiless maw this devours the wise and the fool alike (ver. 16). If the human heart craves after one thing more than another, it is an assurance that name and memory shall not quite perish from the earth when one himself is gone. Such as are indifferent to a personal immortality beyond the grave in a realm of heavenly felicity, are often found to be supremely desirous of this lesser immortality which men call posthumous fame. For this the Egyptian Pharaohs erected pyramids, temples, mausoleums; for this men strive to set themselves on pinnacles of power, fame, wealth, or wisdom before they die; yet the number of those who are remembered many weeks beyond the circle of their immediate friends is small. Even of the so-called great who have flourished upon the earth, how few are rescued from oblivion!
Their memory and their name are gone, Alike unknowing and unknown.
Who beyond a few scholars knows anything of the Pharaohs who built the pyramids, or of Assurbanipal, the patron of learning in Assyria, of Homer, of Socrates, or of Plato? If one thinks of it, the amount of remembrance accorded to almost all the leaders of mankind consists in this that their names will be found in dictionaries.
3. The descent of death. The wise man might have derived consolation from the fact, had it been a fact that though after death his fate would be hardly distinguishable from that of the fool, nevertheless before and at death, or in the manner of dying, there would be a wide distinction. But even this poor scrap of comfort is denied him, according to the Preacher. "How doth the wise man die? as the fool!" (ver. 16). To appearance, at least, it is so, because in reality a difference wide asunder as the poles separates the dying of him who is driven away in his wickedness, and him who has hope in his death". (Pro_14:32) But contemplating death from the outside, as a purely natural phenomenon, it is the same exactly in the experience of the wise man as in that of the fool. In both the process culminates in the loosening of the silver cord and the breaking of the golden bowl. (Ecc_12:6)
II WISDOM SUPERIOR TO FOLLY. As light excelleth darkness, so wisdom excels folly. Three grounds of superiority.
1. The path of wisdom a way of light; that of folly a way of darkness. That the latter is essentially a way of darkness, and therefore of uncertainty, difficulty, and danger, had been declared by Solomon. (Pro_2:13 Pro_4:19) The Preacher adds an explanation by likening the foolish man to a person walking backwards, or "with his eyes behind;" so that he knows neither whither he is going, nor at what he is stumbling, nor the peril into which he is advancing. Had the Preacher said nothing more than this, he would have been entitled to special thanks. Thousands live in the delusion that the way of pleasure, frivolity, dissipation, extravagance, prodigality, is the way of light, wisdom, safety, felicity which, it. is not. The traveler who would journey in comfort and security must walk with his eyes to the front, considering the direction in which he moves, pondering the paths of his feet, and turning neither to the right hand nor to the left. (Pro_4:25-27) In other words, the wise man"s eyes must be in his head, exercising at once forethought, circumspection, and attention.
2. The source of wisdom from above; that of folly from beneath. As the light descends from the pure regions of the upper air, so this wisdom of which the Preacher speaks, like that to which Job, (Job_28:23) David, (Psa_51:6) Solomon, (Pro_2:6) Daniel, (Dan_2:23) (1Co_1:30) and James (Jam_1:5 Jam_3:15) allude, comes from God (ver. 26). As the darkness may be said to spring from the earth, so folly has its birthplace in the heart. The individual that turns away from the light of wisdom presented to him in the moral intuitions of the heart, the revelations of scripture, or the teachings of nature, bay that act condemns his spirit to dwell in darkness.
3. The end of wisdom, safety; that of folly, destruction. The light of wisdom illuminates the path of duty for the individual; the darkness of folly covers it with gloom. Specially true of heavenly wisdom as contrasted with wickedness and sin. Even with regard to ordinary wisdom, its superiority over folly is not to be denied. The wise man has at least the satisfaction of knowing whither he is going, and of realizing the unsatisfactory character of the course he is pursuing. It may not be a great advantage which the wise man has over the fool, that whereas the fool is a madman and knows it not, the wise man cannot follow after wisdom (in itself and for itself) without discovering that it is vanity; but still it is an advantage an advantage like that which a man has who walks straight before him, with his eyes in his head and directed to the front, over him who either puts out his eyes, or blindfolds himself, or turns his eyes backward before he begins to travel.
LESSONS.
1. Get wisdom, especially the best.
2. Eschew folly, more particularly that which is irreligious.
3. Learn to discriminate between the two; much evil will thereby be avoided.
Vers. 12-17.
The comparison between wisdom and folly.
To the ordinary observer the contrast between men"s condition and circumstances is more expressive than that "between their character. The senses are attracted, the imagination is excited, by the spectacle of wealth side by side with squalid poverty, of grandeur and power side by side with obscurity and helplessness. But to the reflecting and reasonable there is far more interest and instruction in the distinction between the nature and life of the fool, impelled by his passions or by the influence of his associations; and the nature and life of the man who considers, deliberates, and judges, and, as becomes a rational being, acts in accordance with nature and well-weighed convictions. Very noble are the words which the poet puts into the lips of Philip van Artevelde
All my life long Have I beheld with most respect the man Who knew himself, and knew the ways before him; And from amongst them chose deliberately, And with clear foresight, not with blindfold courage; And having chosen, with a steadfast mind Pursued his purposes.
I THE NATURAL CONTRAST BETWEEN WISDOM AND FOLLY.
1. The distinction is one founded in the very nature of things, and is similar to that which, in the physical world, exists between light and darkness. This is as much as to say that God himself is the All-wise, and that reasonable beings, in so far as they participate in his nature and character, are distinguished by true wisdom; whilst, on the other hand, departure from God is the same thing as abandonment to folly.
2. The distinction is brought out by the just exercise or the culpable misuse of human faculty. "The wise man"s eyes are in his head," which is a proverbial and figurative way of saying that the wise man uses the powers of observation and judgment with which he is endowed. The position and the endowments of the organs of vision is a plain indication that they were intended to guide the steps; the man who looks before him will not miss his way or fall into danger. Similarly, the faculties of the understanding and reason which are bestowed upon man are intended for the purpose of directing the voluntary actions, which, becoming habitual, constitute man"s moral life. The wise man is he who not only possesses such powers, but makes a right use of them, and orders his way aright. The fool, on the contrary, "walketh in darkness;" i.e. he is as one who, having eyes, makes no use of them shuts his eyes, or walks blindfold. The natural consequence is that he wanders from the path, and probably falls into perils and into destruction.
II THE APPARENT EQUALITY OF THE LOT OF THE WISE MAN AND THAT OF THE FOOL. The writer of this Book of Ecclesiastes was impressed with the fact that in this world men do not meet with their deserts; that, if there is retribution, it is of a very incomplete character; that the fortune of men is not determined by their moral character. This is a mystery which has oppressed the minds of observant and reflecting men in every age, and has been to some the occasion of falling into skepticism and even atheism.
1. The wise man and the fool in many cases meet with the same fortune here upon earth: "One event happeneth to them all." Wisdom does not always meet with its reward in earthly prosperity, nor does folly always bring down upon the fool the penalty of poverty, suffering, and shame. A man may be ignorant, unthinking, and wicked; yet by the exercise of shrewdness and cunning he may advance himself. A wise man may be indifferent to worldly ends, and may neglect the means by which prosperity may be secured. Moral means secure moral ends; but there may be spiritual prosperity which is not crowned by worldly greatness and wealth.
2. The wise man and the fool are alike forgotten after death. "All shall be forgotten;" "There is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever." All men have some sensitiveness to the reputation which shall survive them: the writer of this book seems to have been particularly sensitive upon this point. He was impressed by the fact that no sooner has a wise and good man departed this life than straightway men proceed to forget him. A few years past, and the memory of the dead itself dies, and good and bad alike are forgotten by a generation interested only in its own affairs. A common oblivion overtakes us all such considerations led the author of this book into distress and disheartenment. He was tempted to hate life; it was grievous unto him, and all was vanity and vexation of spirit. A voice within, plausible and seductive, urges Why trouble as to the moral principles by which you are guided? Whether you are wise or foolish, will it not soon be all the same? Nay, is it not all the same even now?
III THE REAL SUPERIORITY OF WISDOM OVER POLLY, If we were to look at some verses of this book only, we might infer that the author"s mind was quite unhinged by the spectacle of human-life; that he really doubted the superintendence of Divine providence; that he did not care to make aright for truth, righteousness, and goodness. But although he had doubts, and difficulties, though he passed through moods of a pessimistic character, it appears plain that when he came to state his deliberate and reasoned convictions, he showed himself to be a believer in God, and not in fate; in resolute and self-denying virtue, and not in self-indulgence and cynicism. In this passage are brought together facts which occasion most men perplexity, which bring some men into skepticism. Yet the deliberate conclusion to which the author comes is this: "I saw that wisdom excelleth folly." He had, as we all should have, a better and higher standard of judgment, and a better and higher law of conduct, than the phenomena of this world can supply. It is not by temporal and earthly results that we are to form our judgments upon morality and religion; we have a nobler and a truer standard, even our own reason and conscience, the voice of Heaven to which to listen, the candle of the Lord by which to guide our steps. Judged as God judges, judged by the Law and the Word of God, "wisdom excelleth folly." Let the wise and good man be afflicted in his body, let him be plunged into adversity, let him be deserted by his friends, let him be calumniated or forgotten; still he has chosen the better part, and need not envy the good fortune of the fool. Even the ancient Stoics maintained this. How much more the followers of Christ, who himself incurred the malice and derision of men; who was despised and rejected and crucified, but who, nevertheless, was approved and accepted of God the All-wise, and was exalted to everlasting dominion! Wisdom is justified of her children." The wise man is not to be shaken either by the storms of adversity or by the taunts of the foolish. His is the right path, and ha will persevere in it; and he is not only sustained by the approbation of his conscience, he is satisfied with the fellowship of his Master, Christ. T.
Vers. 12-14
Sagacity and stupidity
The "wisdom" and the "folly" of the text are perhaps best represented by the words "sagacity" and "stupidity." The distinction is one of the head rather than of the heart; of the understanding rather than of the entire spirit. We are invited, therefore, to consider
I THE WORTH OF SAGACITY.
1. It stands much lower down than heavenly wisdom; that is the direct product of the Spirit of God, and makes men blessed with a good which cannot be taken away. It places them above the reach of adversity, and makes them invulnerable to the darts of death itself (see ver. 14).
2. It has its own distinct advantages. "The wise man"s eyes are in his head;" he sees whither he is going; he does not delude himself with the idea that he can violate all the laws of his nature with impunity. He knows that the wages of sin is death, that if he sows to the flesh he will reap corruption; he understands that, if he would enjoy the esteem of men and the favor of God, he must subdue his spirit, control his passions, regulate his life according to the standards of truth and virtue. This sagacity of the wise will therefore
(1) save him from some of the most egregious and fatal blunders;
(2) keep him sufficiently near to the path of virtue to be saved from the darker excesses and more crushing sorrows of life;
(3) secure for himself and his family some measure of comfort and respect, and place some of the purer pleasures within his reach;
(4) keep him within hearing of the truth of God, where he is more likely to find his way into the kingdom of God.
II THE PITIFULNESS OF STUPIDITY. "The fool walketh blindly.
1. He has no eye to see the fair and the beautiful around him, no heart to appreciate the nobility that might be within him or the glories that are above him.
2. He fails to discern the real wretchedness of his present condition his destitution, his condemnation, his exile.
3. He does not shrink from the evil which impends. He is walking toward the precipice, below which is utter ruin, eternal death. Truly "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and to depart from evil, that is understanding C.
Vers. 12-17.
The value and the futility of wisdom.
Solomon had now made many experiments to try and discover something that was good in itself, that was an end for which one might labor, a goal for which one might make, a resting-place for the soul. The acquisition of knowledge had first of all attracted him, but after a long course of study, in which he traversed the whole field of learning and reached the limits of human thought, the futility of his labors dawned upon him. Then he turned to sensual enjoyments, and gave himself up to them for a time, with the deliberate purpose of seeking to discover if there were in this quarter any permanent gain; if it were possible so to prolong the pleasures of life as to silence, if not to satisfy, the cravings of the soul. The experiment was but a short one; he soon found out that pleasure is short-lived, and that mirth and laughter are followed by weariness and melancholy. His resources were not, however, yet exhausted. A new course was open to him, and one which his richly endowed nature qualified him for trying, and his kingly power and wealth laid open to him. This was the cultivation of those arts by which human life is beautified; the gratification of those tastes that distinguish man from the lower creatures, and that have something in them that is noble and pure. He built stately palaces, planted gardens and forests; he surrounded himself with all the luxury and pageantry of an Oriental court; he accumulated treasures such as kings only could afford to procure; music and song, and whatever could delight a refined taste, and a love of the beautiful were sedulously cultivated. But all in vain; aesthetieism proved as fruitless as the pursuit of knowledge, or the indulgence of the coarser appetites, to give rest to the soul. And now in sober meditation he reviewed all his experience; having come to the end of his resources, he inquires into actual results attained, and pronounces upon them. First of all, he is convinced that he has given a fair trial to all the various means by which men seek for the highest good. He had failed to find that satisfaction, but it was not because he had been ill equipped for carrying on the search. No one that came after him (ver. 12) could surpass him by a more complete and thorough investigation. God had given him "a wise and understanding heart," and had endowed him with wealth and power; and in both particulars he excelled all his fellows. Accordingly, he has no hesitation in laying down great general principles drawn from careful observation of the phenomena of human life.
I THE GREAT ADVANTAGE WHICH WISDOM HAS OVER FOLLY. The wise man walks in light, and has the use of his eyes; the fool is blind, and walks in darkness. The wisdom here praised is not that holy, spiritual faculty which springs from the fear of God and obedience to his (Job_28:28; Deu_4:6; Psa_111:10) and which is so strikingly personified, almost deified, in the Book of Proverbs and in that of Job (Pr 8 Pr 9; Job_28:12-28) but is ordinary science, knowledge of the laws of nature, and of the powers and limitations of human life. This wisdom can only be acquired by long and painful labor, and though by it we cannot discover God or find out the way of winning and retaining his favor, or provide for the wants of the soul, it has, in its sphere, high value. It gives some pleasure; it affords some guidance and direction to its possessor. It enables him to acquire some good; it teaches him to avoid some evils. Progress in civilization is only possible by the cultivation of this wisdom. Wider acquaintance with the laws of health, for example, has enabled men to stamp out certain forms of disease, or, at any rate, to prevent their frequent recurrence, and to alleviate the sufferings caused by others. Consider the immense benefit to the race the progress of medical science has secured. The inventions that we owe to the cultivation of natural knowledge are beyond number, and by them incalculable benefits have been brought within our reach better cultivation of the soil, less exhausting labor, discovery of the uses of the metals stored up in the bowels of the earth, more rapid distribution of the productions of nature and of human industry, swifter means of communication between one part of the world and another. "The improvement of natural knowledge," says a great authority, "whatever direction it has taken, and however low the aims of those who may have commenced it, has not only conferred practical benefits on men, but in so doing has effected a revolution in their conceptions of the universe and of themselves, and has profoundly altered their modes of thinking and their views of right and wrong" (Huxley, "Lay Sermons"). Does not this amply justify Solomon"s assertion that "wisdom excels folly, as light darkness; that the wise man hath the use of his eyes, the fool is blind"?
II THE FUTILITY OF WISDOM. All the delight in the charms of wisdom is quenched by the thought of the leveling power of death, which overwhelms both the wise and the foolish indiscriminately (vers. 14b 17). For a brief space there is a distinction between them the one endowed with priceless gifts, the other ignorant and poor. But what, after all, was the use of the short-lived superiority? Like an extinguished torch, the wisdom of the sage is blown out by death, and the very memory of his attainments and triumphs is buried in oblivion. For a time, perhaps, he is missed, but the gap is soon filled up, the busy world goes on its way, and in a very short time it forgets all about him. Thus even the posthumous fame, after which the purest and noblest minds have longed, to secure which they have been content to endure poverty, hardship, and neglect in their lifetime, is denied to the vast majority, even of those who have richly deserved it.
There were wise men before Solomon, (1Ki_4:31) but no memorial survives of them but their names; no illustrations of their wisdom are given to explain their reputation. And how faint is the impression which the wisdom of Solomon himself makes upon the actual life of the present world! Enshrined though it is in the sacred volume, it seems foreign to our modes of thought; its voice is not heard in our schools of philosophy. The fact of death is a certainty both to the wise and to the fool; the manner of it may be similar; the doubts and fears and anxieties concerning the life to come may perplex both. What can we suggest to relieve the sad picture, or to counteract the paralyzing effect which the spectacle of the futility of wisdom and effort is calculated to produce? The conviction that this life is not all, that there is a life beyond the grave, is the great corrective to the gloom in which otherwise every thinking mind would be enwrapped. This present life is a state of infancy, of probation, in which we receive education for eternity. And to ask in melancholy tones what is the use of acquiring wisdom if death is so soon to cut short our career here, is as foolish as to ask what is the use of a sapling growing vigorously in a nursery garden if it is to be afterwards transplanted. The place from which it was taken may soon know it no more. But the loss is slight; the tree itself lives and flourishes still under the eye and care of the almighty Husbandman. No fruitless regrets over the brevity and uncertainty of human fame need interfere with present effort. We may soon be forgotten on earth, but no attainments in wisdom or holiness we have made will have been in vain; they will have qualified us for a higher service and a truer enjoyment of God than we could otherwise have known. J.W.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain Ecc_2:12. What can the man do that cometh after…
CRITICAL NOTES.—
Ecc_2:12. What can the man do that cometh after the King?] What will my successor do? He will probably, like the rest of the world, follow the well-worn path of sin and folly—even that which hath been already done—fulfilled in Rehoboam.
Read full note →
Ecc_2:16. And how dieth the wise man? As the fool!] This is an inexpressible burst of feeling—a deep regret that it should be so. It is a question painfully asked of the Supreme Wisdom, not in anger but in grief.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Ecc_2:12-16
PRACTICAL WISDOM
The Royal Preacher had exercised his wisdom on speculative subjects: he now applies it to the practical matters of human life. Of such wisdom, or philosophical prudence, we learn—
I. That it possesses high Absolute Value. Of all earthly treasures, wisdom has the greatest worth. This is a truth at once evident to every reflecting mind. The perception of it is quick as vision. “Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly,” &c. Such wisdom may be compared to the light.
1. Like light, wisdom is a revealing power. Without light, our knowledge of nature would be scanty. We could only have knowledge of near objects. The distant glories of the universe are completely veiled to the blind. But light reveals them—makes all things manifest. So wisdom reveals to man the true state of things around him—his position in the world—the conditions of earthly happiness. He is thus able to form the most sagacious plans, and to use expedients for the maintenance of his life, for avoiding dangers, and varying his pleasures. In physical endowments, man is inferior to the lower animals, but he obtains supremacy over them by that wisdom which reveals to him more of that world in which he lives.
2. Like light, wisdom is a guiding power. “The wise man’s eyes are in his head.” The eyes of the wise man are where they ought to be—the lofty windows of the palace of the soul, through which she takes a large survey of the outward world, and the scene of man. The eyes of the mind, like those of the body, serve both to inform and direct. Every truth of nature or of man, that we discover, becomes for us a rule of action or duty. The facts revealed to the understanding guide us in our way through the world. He who walks in darkness runs the risk of stumbling. All nature is against the fool.
3. Like light, wisdom is a vitalising power. Light is absolutely necessary to the growth and preservation of all kinds of life. The light of the day not only warms, but fertilises. The sun is a source of energy, performing all the work of this lower world. So practical wisdom is the real strength of man’s life here. Folly is darkness—a dull negation—unproductive of vitality or beauty—generates fear. The ignorant are the victims of unnecessary fears, as we see from the history of superstition. Wisdom is a light to quicken all things necessary for man as an inhabitant of this world. It supplies that vital energy by which we do our work. By the life-giving power of wisdom, man conquers nature, by directing her forces to serve his own uses. The dull existence of the fool is not worthy of the name of life. We learn of this practical wisdom—
II. That it is complicated with certain facts giving rise to painful doubts and questionings. The superiority of wisdom to folly is beyond dispute. It is at once apparent. Like the light, this truth is its own evidence. But there are attendant facts which lead to painful doubts and questionings as to whether wisdom, on the whole, has such a superior advantage; or whether, in the upshot of things, the wise man is better off than the fool.
1. We are not sure that posterity will preserve the fruits of our work and wisdom. Men labour that they may increase their earthly joys, amass wealth, and accomplish some wise designs; but how often are the fruits of their anxious toil spoiled and wasted by those who come after! As the custom of the world is folly, the Royal Preacher could only expect that his successor would be a foolish man—according to the general type. Every worker upon merely human principles, no matter how accomplished, must say at last, “I have laboured in vain, and spent my strength for nought.” The fact, that what we have gathered with such labour and pains may thus be wasted and dissipated by others, is enough to make the wisest serious and sad. The speech acquires a painful hue of reflectiveness, and the contemplation of life becomes a distress.
2. All our diligence and wisdom cannot avail to save us from oblivion. “There is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever.” It is not intended to deny all posthumous fame. Some names will live through the whole range of time, names like Moses—the earliest in literature, and sounding through the endless songs of heaven. But the great bulk of mankind are not remembered by posterity—the wise and the fool alike are soon forgotten: “One Cæsar lives, a thousand are forgot.” Even if we live in fame ever so long, and are at last forgotten; when compared with eternity, this is equivalent to oblivion.
3. All our wisdom cannot save us from the common doom of the race. “One event happeneth to all.” Our wisdom and skill cannot save us from accidents, pains, and from that sum of all fears and distresses—death. The terrible necessity of death awaits alike the foolish and the wise. We take pains to gather knowledge, and the maxims of wisdom; death comes, and our fancied superiority over others vanishes. If there be no future, the most sagacious of men may mournfully ask at the close of life, “Why was I then more wise?” The wise and foolish appear to go out of life in the same manner. All differences are lost in the darkness of the tomb. Let us learn—that heavenly wisdom is complicated with no painful facts to fill us with doubts and misgivings. Nothing can arise to dull the pure splendour of this Divine gift. The glory of it only increases as all that is precious in life is fading away. We can only be saved from the fate of oblivion when we seek the “honour that cometh from God only,” when we are “confessed before the angels,” and our names inscribed in the Book of Life. All who are truly wise shall be fixed in the regions of immortality—shall “shine as the stars for ever and ever.”
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Ecc_2:12. Whatever we desire to understand, it is necessary that we should not only look upon it, but behold it—there must be a prolonged look. The object must not only be seen, but seen through. All men are bound to see what lies in their way, but few see with the eye of intelligent observation. The wealth of the mind comes not as a sudden gift of fortune: it is gathered slowly.
He who contemplates human nature must be prepared to find it a mixed scene of wisdom, madness, and folly. There are wise men who govern their conduct by reason, and maxims gained from experience and observation. There are others who have some intellectual power, but it is rashly applied. There is no sufficient guiding principle—their conduct is madness—power wasted in an irregular manner, without order or plan. There are simple men who are easily led, and become the willing dupes of cunning craft.
The evils of the world are incurable by human means. We can only expect that the future will be as the past. The dream of human perfection is not realised. The paths of sin and folly are old and well worn. Generations to come will be content to travel in them.
Posterity may forget our wisdom, and destroy the fruits of our labours. But he who works with eternity in view will find the grave a place of restitution.
How vain are those possessions which the most foolish of mankind can disperse as chaff before the wind!
It is well noted by Hugo, that first he looked upon wisdom as thereby coming to behold madness and folly. For as he speaketh—“No one goeth to darkness that he may see darkness; but he cometh to the light, that by the light he may see, not only light, but light and darkness also. First therefore the Preacher saith he beheld wisdom, so that he might behold in wisdom itself what itself is, and by itself madness and folly, which wisdom itself is not” [Jermin].
The utmost comfort that creatures can yield, when happiness is sought in them, may soon be attained. It is no such depth but that it may be sounded by those who will put it to the trial. One man may in a short time find out so much thereof as that he may defy others after him to find more. Whence appears a manifest difference between heavenly and earthly consolations, the heavenly being still upon the growing hand, and incomprehensible by any of the saints till in heaven they be filled with all the fulness of God. For here Solomon professeth himself to have been at the bottom of earthly delights, so as none after him could go deeper. “What can the man do who cometh after the king?” [Nisbet].
Ecc_2:13. There are endowments of human nature, and improvements in character, which, though not distinctly spiritual, have high absolute value. Moral virtue and practical wisdom may beautify and adorn the character so as to win Divine commendation. The young man in the Gospel fell short of the highest excellence, yet “Jesus beholding him, loved him.”
There is great variety in the courses which natural men take in the pursuit of happiness. Some employ the highest prudence and caution, others are abandoned to the most reckless folly. There is all the difference between darkness and light in human conduct, even when it comes short of the highest requirements.
Let us not despise the natural beauties and graces of character. All light should be welcomed. The Gospel has an attraction for all that is pure and lovely in human nature.
It is the property of good things that they do not need an external praiser, but themselves when they are seen do testify their grace. It is a greater excellency which is approved by sight, than that which is commended by speech [St. Ambrose].
It is of human wisdom whereof I conceive him to speak, which therefore, though he could not be free from vanity, yet doth he prefer before folly, as much as light before darkness. Now light hath God himself for the praiser of it, and it is the first thing that God praised. “Let there be light,” is the first word that God ever spoke; and that “God saw the light to be good,” is the first praise that God ever gave. As soon as God made the light, He divided the darkness from it, as if he would not have the excellency thereof to be dishonoured by the company of it. Let it therefore be our care also to divide wisdom from folly. The society of the one doth much shame the other, and indeed most unworthy is folly, so much as to be joined in comparison with wisdom [Jermin].
Ecc_2:14. Sensual pleasures dim the light of reason, and weaken man’s power to direct his way.
When the animal in man surmounts the rational, the eyes which should be the light of the body, are degraded to the dust, and blinded.
The superior light, which the wise man of this world holds aloft to illuminate his path in life, does not prevent him from taking his last step into the darkness of the grave. The light that comes from beyond the sun can alone pierce that darkness.
A fool hath not his eyes in his head, but in his heels. For when the comtemplative power of the soul is busied in worldly things, the nature of the eyes passeth to the heels, which the serpent pursueth and biteth with his teeth [Jermin].
Ecc_2:15. Thoughts on the dread humility of dying will betimes oppress the most favoured and exalted of men.
The terrible realities of our troubled life must sooner or later come home to the individual,—“So it happeneth even to me.”
In the voyage of life, our fellow passengers are marked by a great variety. There are rich and poor, obscure and noble, wise and foolish, good and evil. But one fate awaits us all—total shipwreck. We must all sink into the gulf of death. Our only consolation lies in the hope that we shall be supplied with Divine strength to climb up the other bank of life.
To the wise man of the world, there is humiliation in the thought of the disgraceful necessity of death. But Jesus has passed through the tomb and sanctified it, so that for the Christian, death becomes the gate of life. No one who has learned the knowledge of the holy will have mournfully to ask when his last hour draws near—“Why was I then more wise?” For such a man, the tree of knowledge becomes the tree of life.
A man is placed in a high situation, receives an expensive education at school or college, and a still more expensive one of time and experience. And then, just when we think all this ripe wisdom, garnered up from so many fields, shall find its fullest use, we hear that all is over, he has passed from among us, and the question, hideous in its suggestiveness, arises—“Why was he then more wise?” Asked from this world’s stand-point—if there is no life beyond the grave, then the mighty work of God is all to end in nothingness. But if this is only a state of infancy, only the education for eternity, then to ask why such a mind is taken from us is just as absurd as to question why the tree of the forest has its first training in the nursery garden. This is but the nursery ground, from whence we are to be transplanted into the great forest of God’s eternal universe. There is an absence of all distinction between the death of one man and another. The wise man dies as the fool with respect to circumstances [Robertson].
The Preacher objecteth, that although the wise man seeth so far into the nature and condition of things, yet that one event happeneth to them all. And, as to this objection.
1. He granteth it, “Then said I in my heart,” I said that it was so, and in my heart confessed it to be true.
2. He applieth it, “As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me.” I cannot deny it in myself, of whom it cannot be denied that my wisdom is the greatest of any.
3. He repineth at it in these words, “And why was I then more wise?” Why did I so carefully search into the nature and condition of things, forecast the events of things?
4. He delivereth his sentence, “Then I said in my heart that this also is vanity.” Then I concluded of it, and said so in my heart when I had considered of it [Jermin].
Ecc_2:16. It is always a startling thing to see the rapidity with which the wisest and the best are forgotten. We plough our lives in water, leaving no furrow; two little waves break upon the shore, but no further vestige of our existence is left [Robertson].
The footprints we leave on the sands of time are soon washed away by the advancing tide.
The words, “And how dieth the wise man?” in the original are an exclamation—“But O, how is it that the wise man dieth as the fool!” This is not the conclusion of a cold and severe logic, but the expression of deep emotion. Beneath all the glory of this life, there is an unutterable sorrow. There are truths too deep for words. They are only to be uttered with a gasp and a sigh.
Faith alone can cure the terrible melancholy with which this view of life afflicts the soul. The intellect, the throne of human wisdom, is part of the Divine image, and God will not suffer it to die in imperfect rudiments. Man has in him some resemblances of the Eternal God, who will not leave His image in the grave, nor suffer this spark of Him to see corruption.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 2:12-23 The Teacher now looks at the value of…
2:12-23 The Teacher now looks at the value of wisdom (2:12-17) and hard work (2:18-23). These, too, are “meaningless” (2:17).
2:12 who can do this better than I, the king? No one after the Teacher will have any better perspective for comparing wisdom and folly because nothing new will be done under the sun (1:9-10).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.