Then I commended mirth, because a man has no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be joyful: for that will accompany him in his labor all the days of his life which God has given him under the sun.
When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done on the earth (even though eyes see no sleep day or night), then I saw all the work of God, that man can’t find out the work that is done under the sun, because however much a man labors to seek it out, yet he won’t find it. Yes even though a wise man thinks he can comprehend it, he won’t be able to find it.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v15 Read Eccl. 3:22.
Read Eccl. 3:22.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv15–17 Ecc 8:15 Then I commended mirth, because a man…
Ecc 8:15 Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for that shall abide with him of his labour the days of his life, which God giveth him under the sun.
Ver. 15. Then I commended mirth.] A lawful lightsomeness and cheerfulness of heart, which maketh comforts to be much more comfortable, and troubles to be far less troublesome. Besides, acceptior est Deo grata laetitia quam diuturna quasi querula tristitia. {a} Cheerfulness is better pleasing to God than sourness and sullenness: this provokes him to anger, {Deu 28:47} as that which puts a man under the reign of continual unthankfulness - "Is any man merry? let him sing" {Jas 5:13} - makes him exceeding liable to temptations and perplexities, disableth him to make benefit of ordinances, indisposeth and unfitteth him for duties of active or passive obedience, takes off the wheels of the soul, and makes it as awkward as a limb out of joint, that can do nothing without deformity and pain.
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Than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry.] Although it be the bread of sorrow that thou eatest, and the cup of affliction that thou drinkest, eat it, and drink it merrily. The Epicures held that a man might be cheerful amidst the most exquisite torments; (1.) In consideration of his honesty and fidelity, that he suffered for; (2.) In consideration of those pleasures and delights that formerly he had enjoyed, and now cheered up himself with the remembrance of. How much better may Christians do it in consideration of those unutterable joys and delights that they expect and hope for! Mendicato pane hic vivamus, &c., saith Luther. We may well be content, nay merry, though we should beg our bread here, to think that we shall one day feast with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.
{a} Bucholc.
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 On vv15–17 This he speaks, either,
This he speaks, either,
1. In the person of a sensual man. Things being so, as was related, Ecc 8:14, it is best to give a man’s self up to eating and drinking, and all manner of carnal delights. Or,
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2. In his own name and person. Upon these considerations I concluded that it was most advisable for a man not to perplex and torment himself with the thoughts of the seeming inequality of Divine Providence, and of the great disorders which are in the world, or with cares and fears about future events, or with infinite and insatiable desires of worldly things; but quietly, and cheerfully, and thankfully to enjoy the comforts which God gives him. See Poole "Ecc 2:24; 3:12,13.
That shall abide with him of his labour; this is the best advantage which he can make of this world’s goods as to the present life.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv15–17 Then I commended mirth,.... Innocent mirth, a cheerfulness of…
Then I commended mirth,.... Innocent mirth, a cheerfulness of spirit in whatsoever state condition men are; serenity and tranquillity of mind, thankfulness for what they have, and a free and comfortable use of it; this the wise man praised and recommended to good men, as being much better than to fret at the prosperity of the wicked, and the seemingly unequal distribution of things in this world, and because they had not so much of them: as others; who yet had reason to be thankful for what they had, and to lift up their heads and be cheerful, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God in another world. The Targum interprets it of the joy of the law;
because a man hath no better thing under the sun than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry; of earthly things there is nothing better than for a man freely and cheerfully, with moderation and thankfulness, to enjoy what God has given him; this is what had been observed before, Ecc 2:24; and is not the language of an epicure, or a carnal man, who observing that no difference is made between the righteous and the wicked, that it is as well or better with the wicked than the righteous, determines to give up himself to sensual lusts and pleasures; but it is the good and wholesome advice of the wise man, for men to be easy under every providence, satisfied with their present condition and circumstances, and be cheerful and pleasant, and not distress themselves about things they cannot alter;
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for that shall abide with him of his labour the days of his life,
which God giveth him under the sun; man's present life is under the sun, and is continued as long as it pleases God; though it is but short, rather to be counted by days than years, and is a laborious one; and all that he gets by his labour, enjoyed by him, is to eat and drink cheerfully; and this he may expect to have and continue with him as long as he lives, even food and raiment, and with this he should be content.
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 On vv15–17 To be merry - This he speaks of sensual…
To be merry - This he speaks of sensual delights.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv15–17 Verse 15. Then I commended mirth] These are some…
Verse 15. Then I commended mirth] These are some more of the cavils of the infidel objector: "Since virtue is frequently under oppression, and vice triumphs in health, and rolls in wealth, I see plainly that we should not trouble ourselves about future things; and therefore should be governed by the maxim EDE, BIBE, LUDE. Post mortem nulla voluptas."
Eat, drink, and play,
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While here you may;
For soon as death
Has stopp'd your breath,
Ye ne'er shall see a cheerful day.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv16–17 Ecc 8:16. When I applied my heart to know…
Ecc 8:16. When I applied my heart to know wisdom — He seems to be here assigning the reason of that judgment which he had now passed, (Ecc 8:15,) which reason is, that he had diligently studied wherein man’s wisdom consists, and had observed the restlessness of men’s minds and bodies in other courses; and to see the business — To observe men’s various designs and employments, and their unwearied labours about worldly things. For there is that neither day nor night seeth sleep — Having now mentioned the business which is done, or which man doth, upon earth, he further adds, as an evidence of man’s eagerness in pursuing his business, For even by day and by night he — The busy man; seeth not sleep with his eyes — He grudges himself necessary refreshments, and disquiets himself with endless cares and labours.
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 On vv15–16 Mirth - Better, Gladness, or “joy” (as in Ecc…
Mirth - Better, Gladness, or “joy” (as in Ecc 2:10). The Hebrew word is applied not only to the pleasures arising from the physical senses, but also frequently to religious joy. The sentiment of this verse is a frequent conclusion of the writer’s personal experience (compare marginal references), and is unfairly charged with Epicureanism. The Preacher is careful to set forth pleasure as a gift from God, to be earned by labor, and received with thankfulness to the Giver, and to be accounted for to Him. His estimate of the pleasures of the senses is recorded in Ecc 7:2-6.
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 On vv15–17 No good for a man, &c. Some commentators think…
No good for a man, &c. Some commentators think the wise man here speaks in the person of the libertine, representing the objections of these men against divine Providence, and the inferences they draw from thence, which he takes care afterwards to refute. But it may also be said, that his meaning is to commend the moderate use of the goods of this world, preferably to the cares and solicitudes of worldlings, their attachment to vanity and curiosity, and presumptuously diving into the unsearchable ways of divine providence. (Challoner) (Chap. ii. 24., and iii. 12., and Ecclesiasticus xv.) (Calmet) --- Felicity is not attached to temporal prosperity, nor are the afflicted always miserable. (Worthington)
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).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v16 Of the relation of true wisdom in the internal…
FOURTH DISCOURSE
Of the relation of true wisdom in the internal and external life of man
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(Ecc_8:16 to Ecc_12:7)
A. The unfathomable character of the universal rule of God should not frighten the wise man from an active part in life, but should cheer and encourage him thereto
(Ecc_8:16 to Ecc_9:16)
1. It cannot be denied that the providence of God in the distribution of human destiny is unfathomable and incomprehensible
(Ecc_8:16 to Ecc_9:6)
16When I applied mine heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done upon the earth: (for also there is that neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes:) 17Then I beheld all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because though a man labour to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; yea, further; though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it.
Ecc_9:1 For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God: no man knoweth either love 2or hatred by all that is before them. All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous and to the wicked; to the good, and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not; as is the good, Song of Solomon 3 is the siuner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath. This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead. 4For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion. 5For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. 6Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.
2. Therefore it behooves us to enjoy this life cheerfully, and to use it in profitable avocations
(Ecc_9:7-10)
7Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works. 8Let thy garments be always white; and let thy head lack no ointment. 9Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun. 10Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might, for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.
3. The uncertain result of human effort in this world should not deter us from zealously striving after wisdom
Ecc_9:11-16
11I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all. 12For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them. 13This wisdom have I seen also under the 14sun, and it seemed great unto me: There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it: 15Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man; 16Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.
[Ecc_8:17.—בְּשֶׁל equivalent to באשר ל, “in that which to”—“in proportion to;” Vulgate well renders it quanto plus. LXX. ὅσα ἐὰν; “in proportion to that which one shall labor”—or “the more he labors.” It is found elsewhere only in Jon_1:7, or, in composition, בְּשֶׁלְמִי and בִּשֶׁלּי. It is certainly not a Chaldaism, but it is said “to belong to the later Hebrew,” and the argument runs in this way: Koheleth must belong to the later Hebrew, because this word is elsewhere found only in Jonah; and Jonah must belong to the later Hebrew, because this word is elsewhere found only in Koheleth. It is also called a Rabbinism in Koheleth; but it is rather a Kohelethism much employed, with other Kohelethisms, by the earliest Rabbins, because that book was a great favorite with them, and regarded by them as a specimen of the more elegant and courtly, as well as the more philosophical Hebrew.—Ecc_9:1, וְלָבוּר; it has the same meaning here with ברר, Ecc_3:18, to explore—prove, by exploring—primary sense, separate, purify. It is an example of the affinity, or of the interchange of meanings, in verbs ain wau and double ain.—T. L.]
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1.Vaihinger deviates from the above analysis of this section into three divisions, but only so far as to extend the first division simply to Ecc_9:3, which does not well coincide with the contents of Ecc_8:4-6, that clearly refer to what immediately precedes. Several commentators begin a new section with Ecc_9:11 [Hahn,indeed a new discourse], and deny in this way that the principal theme of the whole piece–the contrast between the inscrutability of human destinies, and the wisdom which still retains its worth, and is to be sought after as the highest good—is also treated in this last division, and that it is more closely allied with the fore going than with that which follows Ecc_8:17.—Hengstenberg also very improperly separates Ecc_8:11-12 from the four subsequent ones, with which they are most closely connected; see below at Ecc_8:13.
First Strophe, first division. Ecc_8:16-17.The universal rule of God is unfathomable.—When I applied mine heart.—Lit., “gave;” comp. Ecc_8:9, כַּאֲשֶׁר introduces the longer primary clause, to which then, in Ecc_8:17, a still longer secondary clause corresponds, introduced by וְ or וְרָאיתִי There is no closer connection with the preceding, such as is affirmed by Rosenmueller, Hitzig, hengstenberg and hahn, according to the example of most old authors. The commendation of pleasure in Ecc_8:15, like the earlier praise of cheerfulness [Ecc_2:24; Ecc_3:22; Ecc_5:18; Ecc_5:20], fittingly closes the preceding, whilst this clause, as is shown by כִּי Ecc_9:1, serves as a basis and preparation for the subsequent reflections. To know wisdom, and see the business—Comp. Ecc_1:13; Ecc_1:17. The word עִנְיָן is here as there the travail caused by a zealous searching after the grounds and aims of human action, fate, and life. For also there is that neither day nor night. כִּי here gives the nature and operation of the travail; or is inferential, “so that,” as Gen_40:15; Exo_3:11, etc. [comp. Vaihinger]. The parenthetical interpretation of this third clause [Ewald, Elster, hahn,etc., is also unnecessary.] comp. Gen_31:40; Pro_6:4; Psa_132:4 (Lat. somnum videre).
Ecc_8:17. Then I beheld all the work of god. אֶת־כָּל־מַעֲשֵׂה אֱלֹהִים is the accusative of relation: “I saw in relation to all the work of god”. The work that is done under the sun, that we find in the subsequent clause, is the same as the “work of god,” the universal rule of the most High; and the inability to find this work, its incomprehensibility and inscrutability [comp. Psa_147:5; Rom_11:33] form from the beginning the principal theme of the assertion. To “find” is used in the sense of “to comprehend, to fathom;” comp. Ecc_3:11; Ecc_7:24—Because though a man labour to seek it out.—That is, however much he may try, in spite of all his toil, etc. בְּשֶׁל אֲשֶׁר[1] is equivalent to—בַּאֲשֶׁר—לַאֲשֶׁר [comp. the similar crowding of relations in Jon_1:7-8; Jon_1:12, and also the Aramaic בְדִיל דִ], and signifies, when taken together with the following verb יַעֲמֹל “with that which is in it,” etc.; that is, “with that which there is in his labor,” or “with that zeal and talent perceptible in it.” Compare Hitzig on this passage, who correctly rejects as unnecessary Ewald’s emendation בְּכָל אֲשֶׁר in place of בְּשֶׁל אֲשֶׁר, although the 70., Vulgate, and Syriac seem to have so read it.—Yea further, though a wise man think to know it.—אִם יֹאמַר “should he presume,” “should he attempt;” comp. Exo_2:14; 2Sa_21:16.
3. First strophe, second division. Ecc_9:1-3. All men, the just, as well as the unjust, are subject to the same fate, especially to the law of mortality.—For all this I considered in my heart. Namely, when I applied my heart to know wisdom, Ecc_8:16. “All this” refers to what immediately follows.—Even to declare all this. The infinitive construct with לָבוּר ׃לְ continues the finite verb, as elsewhere the infinitive absolute; comp. Isa_38:20; Isa_10:32, בּוּר equivalent to ברר (Ecc_3:18) is found only in this passage in the O. T.—That the righteous and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God. That is, wholly dependent, on Him, not capable, in any manner, independently to shape their life; so that their best actions may be followed by the saddest fate. Comp. Hengstenberg on this passage, who correctly shows that there is affirmed an unconditional dependence, not of human action in itself, but of its results on God.—No man knoweth either love or hatred. That is, no man knoweth in advance whether God will grant him love or hatred (i.e., happiness or unhappiness); (Michaelis, Knobel, Vaihinger, and Hengstenberg are correct). Others read: “No man knoweth whether he will love or hate;” [Hitzig, Elster]. But this interpretation is not in harmony with the text, and would give a sense which is foreign alike to the passage and the book, and for which Ecc_2:5 cannot be quoted as proof, as is done by Hitzig.—By all that is before them. That is, not as affirmed by Hieronymus, Geier, and Rosenmueller,—all their destinies are clear, and as it were visible before their eyes, but the reverse: all their destinies lie in the dark uncertain future before them; they have yet everything to experience, happiness as well as unhappiness, good as well as evil. Comp. Ecc_7:14, where אַהֲרָיו “behind him” signifies just the same as here לִפְנֵיהֶם “before them.” Knobel unnecessarily insists that כּל here means: Everything is before them, everything can occur to them—even great misfortune—a sense that would need to be more clearly indicated by the context than is here the case.
Ecc_9:2.—All things come alike to all. That is, every thing happens to the wise and just as to all others; the just have no special fortune, they share the common fate of all (in this world of course). Knobel, Ewald, Heiligstedt, Umbreit, and Hengstenberg correctly take this position, whilst Hitzig and Elster include the following words מִקְרֶה אֶחָד, and so bring out this somewhat obscure and distorted thought: “All are as all, they meet one fate;” but Vaihinger takes הַכֹּל at the beginning of the verse as an elliptical repetition from Ecc_9:1 : “Yes all! Just as all have the same destiny,” etc.—There is one event to the righteous and to the wicked. Not that they are the offspring and the victims of one and the same blind power of chance [Hitzig], but they are subjected to one and the same divine providence as regards the issue of their life. Hengstenberg justly says: “Chance (מִקְרֶה) just as in Ecc_3:19 (comp. Ecc_2:14-15), does not form the counterpart to divine providence, but to the spontaneous activity on the part of the just.”—To the good and to the clean and to the unclean. In order that one may not take clean and unclean in the levitical or externally legal sense, but in the moral sense, the kindred thought of טוֹב (good) precedes that of טָהוֹר (pure) as explanatory.—He that sweareth as he that feareth an oath. That is, the frivolous swearer, and he that considers an oath sacred. That this is the sense is plainly seen in Ecc_8:2, from which passage it appears that, it does not enter the author’s mind to condemn the oath in general as something immoral. Vaihinger is of opinion that by him that feareth an oath, as by him that does not sacrifice, is meant an Essene, or at least a representative of growing Essenianism. But the designation is by no means clear enough for this; and the one not sacrificing seems clearly to be a wicked contemner of the levitical laws concerning the temple and sacrifices, and not an unreasonably conscientious ascetic in the sense of Essenianism.
Ecc_9:3.—This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun. רַע בְּכֹל וְגו cannot mean the worst of all, etc. (Rosenmueller, Vaihinger) but in the absence of the article before רַע (comp. the Son_1:8; Jos_14:15, etc.), simply bad, evil among all things, or in all things; therefore an evil accompanying and dwelling in every earthly occurrence.—That there is one event unto all. Namely, that befalls all. מִקְרֶה must be taken as in verse 2, and points out, therefore, not what one meets with in life, but its issue, its end. The equal liability of all to death, even the good and the just, is designated by Koheleth as that evil, that evil thing that is mixed with every earthly occurrence; (comp. Rom_5:14; Rom_5:21; 1Co_15:55 f.; Heb_2:15). Yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil; namely, in consequence of this their liability to the power of death, which, therefore, also in addition exerts a demoralizing effect on them; comp. Ecc_8:11.—And after that they go to the dead. The suffix to אַחֲרָיו is to be considered as neuter, (“and after this condition,” comp. Jer_51:46), not masculine as if the sense were “and after it” (i.e., after this life) as in Ecc_6:12; Ecc_10:14. The preposition of motion (אֶל in אֶל הַמֵּתִים) “indicates that the sense of ‘it goes,’ is to complete the sentence,” Hitzig.
4. First strophe, conclusion. Ecc_9:4-6. In spite of the presentation just given, the condition of the living is ever to be preferred to that of the dead—For to him that is joined (Zöckler, taking the reading יְבֻחַר translates it, “who is it that is preferred?”—T.L.). Thus according to the reading יְבֻחַר, pual of בחר “to choose, prefer,” does Vaihinger more correctly give the sense: “There is no one who would be here preferred and accepted, or who would have a choice, who would be exempted from death; since dying is a common fate; each one must go to the dead; but in death there is nothing more to hope.” In the same way, substantially, does Elster translate, except that he punctuates יִבְחַר, and therefore gives it actively; “For who has any choice ?” Many later commentators adhere to the k’ri יְחֻבַּר, which the 70. read (τίς ὅς κοινωνεῖ πρὸς πάντας τοὺς ζῶντας) together with Symmachus and the Targum. They translate, therefore, with Ewald, “who is joined to the living has hope,” or, with Hitzig, interrogatively, “who is it who would be joined to all the living?” But the sense thus arising makes a very forced [2] connection; and the translation of Hahn, who takes the word חבר in the sense of “charming,” is open to very weighty linguistic objections.—To all the living there is hope. Literally, “for all living,” for all as long as they live. The grammatical expression does not accord with Hengstenberg’s interpretation: “One may trust to all living;” for אֶל is used with the verb בטח (Psa_4:6; Psa_31:7), but not with the substantive בִּטָּחוֹן for the introduction of the one in whom the confidence is placed. Comp. Job_11:18.—For a living dog is better than a dead lion. For the most contemptible and hateful thing that lives (comp. for the proverbial use of the dog in this relation, 1Sa_17:43; 2Sa_9:8; Isa_66:3; Mat_15:26; Rev_22:15, etc.) is more valuable than the most majestic of all beasts if it is dead; (for the majesty and glory of the lion as the king of beasts, consult Isa_38:13; Hos_13:7; Lam_3:10; Job_10:16). This proverb is also known to the Arabs. See Golius, Adag. Cent. 2, n. 3.
Ecc_9:5.—For the living know that they shall die. The consciousness of the necessity of death, is here presented not as the only, but yet as the characteristic superiority of the living over the dead, just as if only the necessity of death were the object of human knowledge—an individualizing statement of an ironical and yet most serious nature.—Neither have they any more reward. Not that they have had their share (Hitzig) but that God no longer exercises retributive justice towards them, because they are wanting in conscious, personal life. The fact of a retribution in a world beyond, is only apparently denied here, for the author now sees only the conditions of this world; on the subsequent fate of a spirit returned to God he is for the present entirely silent (Ecc_12:7; comp. Ecc_11:9).—For the memory of them is forgotten. So entirely do the dead remain without reward; not even the smallest thing that could profit them here below, not even the preservation of their memory with their posterity, is granted to them. Comp. Psa_31:12; Job_14:21. It is doubtful whether זֶכֶר “memory” is intended to rhyme with the preceding שָׂכָר “reward” (as Hitzig supposes). It is more probable that such a rhyming is made in the following verse between שִׂנְאָתָם and קִנְאָתָם.
Ecc_9:6. A continued description of the sad fate of the dead; “from the very beginning with touching depth of tone, a strain of lamentation overpowering the author” (Hitzig). Also their love and their hatred and their envy is now perished. That is, not that they are deprived of the objects of their love, hatred, or envy (Knobel), but these sentiments and activities themselves have ceased for them; as רפאים they are destitute of all affections, interests, and exertions, and lead rather a merely seeming life. (Rosenmueller, Hitzig). The sad existence of departed souls in Scheol, as described in Job_14:11 ff., seems here to hover before the author, just as in ver 10 below, he expressly speaks of it. It is significant that he denies them love as well as hatred, and would seem thereby to mark their condition as one extremely low.
5. Second strophe, Ecc_9:7-10. On account of this superiority of life, compared with the condition of the dead, and the uncertainty of human fate in general, it behooves us to enjoy life cheerfully (Ecc_9:7-9), and to use it zealously in the activity of our vocations (Ecc_9:10).—Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart. (Comp. Ecc_2:24; Ecc_5:19). This collective triad, “eat, drink, and be merry,” is here, as it were, increased to a quartette; joy being doubly designated, first as it finds its expression in cheerful adornments of the body and appropriate ornament, and then in loving unison with a wife.—Wine[3] is used as a symbol and producer of joy, and also in Ecc_10:19; Gen_27:25; Psa_104:15, etc. For בְּלֶב־טוֹב “of joyful heart, gay,” comp. 1Sa_25:38; also Ecc_7:3 of the foregoing.—For God now accepteth thy works. That is, not that God finds pleasure in just this eating, drinking, etc. (Hitzig), but, thy moral conduct and efforts have long pleased Him,[4] wherefore thou mayst hope in the future surely to receive thy reward from Him. (Hengstenberg correctly takes this position).
Ecc_9:8. Let thy garments be always white. White garments are the expression of festive joy and pure, calm feelings in the soul, comp. Rev_3:4 f.; Ecc_7:9 ff. Koheleth could hardly have meant a literal observance of this precept, so that the conduct of Sisinnius, Novatian bishop of Constantinople, who, with reference to this passage, always went in white garments, was very properly censured by Chrysostom as Pharisaical and proud. Hengstenberg’s view is arbitrary, and in other respects scarcely corresponds to the sense of the author: “White garments are here to be put on as an expression of the confident hope of the future glory of the people of God, as Spener had himself buried in a white coffin as a sign of his hope in a better future of the Church.”—And let thy head lack no ointment. As in 2Sa_12:20; 2Sa_14:2; Isa_61:3; Amo_6:6; Pro_27:9; Psa_45:8, so here appears the anointing oil, which keeps the hair smooth and makes the face to shine, as a symbol of festive joy, and a contrast to a sorrowing disposition. There is no reason here for supposing fragrant spikenard (Mar_14:2), because the question is mainly about producing a good appearance by means of the ointment, comp. Psa_133:2.
Ecc_9:9.—Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest. That is, enjoy life with her, comp. Ecc_3:1; Psa_34:12; and also Ecc_7:28, above, to which expression, apparently directed against all intercourse with women, the present one serves as a corrective.—All the days of the life of thy vanity. This short repetition of the preceding (“all the days of thy vain life, which he has given thee under the sun”) is left out of the Septuagint and Chaldaic, but is produced in the Vulgate, and should be by no means wanting, because it points with emphasis[5] to the vanity of life as a principal motive to joy.—For that is thy portion in this life and in thy labor, etc. That is, for this cheerful and moderate enjoyment of life shall, according to the will of God, compensate thee for the toil and labor which this life brings with it; comp. Ecc_2:10; Ecc_3:22; Ecc_5:18.
Ecc_9:10.—Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might, The word בְּכחֲֹךָ is by the Vulgate and most modern authors joined to עֲשֵׂה, whilst according to the accents and the collocation, it belongs to what precedes. But it is a vigorous doing, nevertheless, that is here recommended; for the sense is clear: whatsoever presents itself, is to be performed with thy strength, whatsoever offers itself to thee as an object for thy exertion, that do ! For the expression, “whatsoever thy hand findeth to do,” comp. 1Sa_10:7; 1Sa_23:8;. Jdg_9:33; also Isa_10:13-14.—For there is no work nor device, etc., in the grave whither thou goest. comp. Ecc_9:6. As Koheleth gives a motive here in his admonition to an active life, by pointing to the lifeless and inactive condition of departed souls in the realm of death, so speaks Christ in Joh_9:4 : ἐμὲ δεῖ ἐργαζεσθαι ἕως ἡμέρα ἐστίς. ἔρχεται νύξ ὅτε οὐδεὶς δύναται ἐραγάζεσθαι. Since the νύξ (night) mentioned in Joh_9:4 and elsewhere, is clearly something else than the שְׁאוֹל of this passage, there is no definite reference to the latter, as Hengstenberg affirms, but between the two assertions there is a certain analogy.
6. Third strophe, Introduction. Ecc_9:11-12. Human actions in this world depend entirely on divine fate, and their success, therefore, is too often in no comparison with the real ability and strength of the actor.—I returned.—Comp. Ecc_4:1. For the infinitive absolute וְרָאהֹ comp. Ecc_8:9.—That the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong. These remarks serve only to illustrate what follows: “Neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill.” חֵן favor, as in Exo_3:22; Exo_11:3; Exo_12:36, etc.—But time and chance happeneth to them all.—That is, the success of human actions depends wholly on that higher power which controls the change of seasons, and permits men to be met sometimes by this, sometimes by that (פֶּגַע) which “happens, meets;” (comp. 1Ki_5:18). A New Testament parallel is found in Rom_9:16, where, instead of time and chance, divine mercy is called the highest power in all human affairs.
Ecc_9:12. For man also knoweth not his time. A conclusion, a majori ad minus. “Even over his time itself, over his person and his life, to say nothing of his actions (Ecc_9:11), there is a controlling power outside of him” (Hitzig). The “time” of a man is here clearly equivalent to the time of his destruction; as elsewhere the “day,” of Job_18:20; or the “hour,” Job 12:27; Mar_14:41. Comp. also Ecc_7:17 preceding.—As the fishes that are taken. For net, and noose, and trap, as symbols of the judgments overtaking men, comp. Hos_7:12; Eze_12:13; Eze_32:3; Pro_7:23; Luk_21:35.—So are the sons of men snared. יוּקָשִׁים Part. Pual see Ew. § 169. d. The word strikingly represents the helpless condition of men in the presence of divine destiny, that can put an end to their life at any moment, as the fowler who suddenly robs† of its life the bird caught in the snare. An allusion to the catastrophe threatened to the Persian kingdom by a new universal monarchy, the Macedonian, is not found in the passage, as Hengstenberg supposes.
7. Third strophe. Conclusion. Ecc_9:13-16. In spite of that dependence of human destiny and success on a higher power, which often violently interferes with them, wisdom remains, nevertheless, a valuable possession, still able to effect great results with inconsiderable means of an external character, as is seen in the example of a poor and despised man, who, by his wisdom, became the deliverer of his native city from threatening danger of destruction. Whether this example is a purely feigned didactic story (thus think Hengstenberg, Luther, Mercerus, Starke, et at.), or whether it refers to an historical fact within the" experience of the author, must remain uncertain, on account of the general character of the description; and this so much the more so, because the only passage that could seem to refer to a definite fact from Persian history (Ecc_9:15) is of doubtful exposition.—This wisdom have I seen also under the sun. (Zöckler, this have I seen as wisdom). The words גַּם זהֹ רָאִיתִי חָכְמָה must clearly be thus translated (comp. the similar construction in Ecc_7:25), not, “thus also saw I wisdom,” etc. (thus usually), or, “this also have I seen: wisdom,”[6] etc. (as Hitzig renders it,) changing זהֹ into זה.—And it seemed great unto me, i.e., it appeared large, comp. Jon_3:3.
Ecc_9:14.—There was a little city, and few men within it. That is, not few inhabitants in general, but few fighting men available for defence—a circumstance which shows the danger of the city to be so much greater, and the merits of its deliverer to be so much more brilliant.—And there came a great king against it. We cannot deduce from the expression that the great king was the Persian; because the predicate גָדוֹל attributed to the hostile king serves mainly to show the contrast to the smallness of the city, and the great size of the army led against it.—And built great bulwarks against it. מְצוֹדִים (from מצוד “an instrument for seizure,” hence sometimes a “net;” e.g. Ecc_7:26) is here used only in the signification of bulwarks, and must therefore not here be confounded with the more customary מְצוֹרִים Deu_20:20; Micah 4:14), as two manuscripts here read.
Ecc_9:15. Now there was found in it a poor wise man. Literal, “one found in it,” impersonal—not, “he, the king found.”—yet no man remembered that same poor man. [Zöckler renders in the pluperfect “had remembered,” etc., and then makes it the ground of the remarks that follow.—T. L.] We can neither urge against this pluperfect rendering of וְאָדָם לֹא זָכָר the circumstance that the one in question is here designated as אִישׁ מִסְכֵּן and not as חָכָם (for the predicate poor is clearly to point out why they did not remember him—), nor also the contents of the following verse. For in it the emphasis lies upon the commendation of wisdom contained in the first clause, not on the subsequent restrictive remark concerning the contempt and disregard that it often meets with. Vaihinger is correct in his deviation from Hitzig, Ewald, Elster, and most modern authors, who, like the Vulgate and Luther, translate: “no man remembered.” As certain as this sense, according to which the discussion would be concerning a deliverer of his country, rewarded with the ingratitude of his fellow-citizens, is approached neither through language nor connection, just so certainly may we not (with Ewald and some ancient authors) here find an allusion to Themistocles as deliverer of Athens from the hand of Xerxes; and this latter so much the less because Athens could scarcely have been designated by the author as עִירֹ קְטַנָּח. Hitzig is of opinion that the besieged city is the little sea-port Dora, vainly besieged by Antiochus the Great in the year 218 (Polyb. v. 66); but nothing is known of the deliverance of this city by a “poor wise man,” and for many reasons the epoch of this book cannot be brought down to so late an era as that of Antiochus Magnus. Comp. the Introduction, § 4, Obs. 3.
Ecc_9:16. The moral of the story, is given in the words of Koheleth uttered immediately after he had heard it.—Then said I, wisdom is better than strength. Comp. similar sentences in Ecc_7:19; Pro_14:29; Pro_16:32; Pro_21:22; Pro_24:5.—Nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised. These words, which again limit the praise of wisdom expressed above, depend also on the expression, “Then said I.” They refer, according to Ecc_9:15, to the fact that in the beginning no one had thought of the wisdom of that deliverer of the city—and not even of the ingratitude afterwards shown to him, or of not having followed his wise counsels (which latter view however would be in antagonism with Ecc_9:15, according to which the sorely pressed city was really delivered).
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
(With Homiletical Hints)
As the previous section contained a series of ethical precepts with an anthropological foundation (similar to the one preceding it) so is this one a combination of theological and ethical truths, which the author lays to the heart of his readers. And it is especially the doctrine of the incomprehensibility of the decrees and judgments of God, and of the hidden character of His universal rule that the author treats, and from which he derives the duties of a cheerful enjoyment and use of the blessings of life (Ecc_9:7-9) of an untiring activity (Ecc_9:10) and of continued striving after practical wisdom as a possession that is valuable under all circumstances. The contents arc therefore similar to those of chap. 3, only that there the principal thought is of the conditioning and restrictive character of the divine counsels and acts of universal rule; here, on the contrary, the prominent idea is their hidden and unsearchable nature (Rom_9:33; 1Co_13:12). This section is also in close relation with chap, 6, especially in regard to its ethical and practical precepts (comp. Ecc_9:9, with Ecc_6:12; Ecc_9:14, with Ecc_6:8; Ecc_9:1-6, with Ecc_6:2-6, etc.), only that from the former, the conclusions drawn are mainly serious and gloomy, while from the latter they are predominantly cheerful.
Homily on the whole section. The thought of the brevity of human life, and the obscurity of that which awaits us in it, should not discourage but impel us to a ready and cheerful use of the blessings granted us hero below, as well as of the powers for a truly wise exertion; or more briefly: Of the blessing and value of reflections concerning death, as an impulse to the zealous fulfilment of the avocations of life.
homiletical hints to separate passages
Ecc_8:16-17. Hieronymus:—He shows that there are causes for all things, why each thing should thus be, and that there is righteousness in all, though they may be latent and beyond the comprehension.—Zeyss: a Christian should neither show himself negligent in investigating the works of God, nor too curious.—Hansen: God’s works that He performs among the children of men have eternity in view, and nothing short of eternity will open up to us their inner perfection, Rev_15:3.—Berlenb. Bible :—O ye poor blind men, who think to fathom by your wisdom the cause of divine providences; ye are indeed greatly deceived! You condemn everything that surpasses our understanding, when you should rather confess that these things are so much the more divine, the more they surpass your comprehension. The more trouble you take to fathom the secrets of wisdom by your own study, so much the less do you attain your goal. The true test that a man possesses genuine wisdom, is when he is assured that he cannot comprehend the mysteries of God as He deals with souls.—Hengstenberg:—Blessed is the man who accepts without examination all that God sends him, in the firm trust that it is right, however wrong it may appear, and that to those who love God all things must be for the best.
Ecc_9:1-3. Brenz (Ecc_9:1):—There are those whom God loves and whom He hates. For He does not cast off the whole human race, though He might justly do so; neither does He embrace all men in His favor; but to some He deigns to grant His mercy, whilst others He leaves to their own destruction. There is, however, no one who can know by any external sign, whom God receives or rejects.—(Ecc_9:2-3). Whoeverin faith looks into the word of God may easily know that, though the wicked may now seem to have the same fortune with the pious, there shall come, at last, a clear discrimination between the good and the bad, adjudging the one class to eternal punishment, the others to the happiness of everlasting life.—Geier (Ecc_9:2-3). We cannot judge of the condition of the dead after this life, by our reason, but only by its accordance with the revealed word of God.—Hansen:—Wo are to ascribe it to the peculiarities of this present life, if the just suffer with the wicked; Sir_40:1 ff.
Zeyss:—A child of God should love this life not on account of temporal prosperity, but for the honor of God, and the welfare of his neighbor. Cramer:—So long as the wicked lives, it is better for him than if he is dead, since he has yet time to repent. But when he is dead then all hope for him is lost. Starke:—Atheists live in the foolish delusion that after death all is over and that the soul ceases with the death of the body; but they will receive the most emphatic contradiction on the great day of judgment.
Ecc_9:7-10. Luther (Ecc_9:7):—You live in a world where there is nothing but sorrow, misery, grief, and death, with much vanity: therefore use life with love, and do not make your own life sour and heavy with vain and anxious cares.—Solomon does not say this to the secure and wicked children of the world, but to those truly fearing and believing God. These latter he consoles, and desires that they may cheerfully take comfort in God. To the former He says rejoice, but does not bid those to drink wine, eat, etc., who are but too much inclined to do so, and pass their lives in idleness and voluptuousness as wicked and depraved men.
Zeyss (Ecc_9:7):—The believers have more claim to the gifts of God than the unbelievers (1Co_3:21-22), although they may enjoy them the least.—(Ecc_9:9). Marriage is a sacred and wise ordinance of God; therefore the Christian may use it with a good conscience; but it must be enjoyed in the fear of God, Eph_5:31. Starke (Ecc_9:8):—Arrogance, pride, and display in dress are very common vices in these latter times: the children of God find it very difficult to suppress these in themselves.—(Ecc_9:10). The obligations that you owe to the body, you owe doubly to the soul. O man neglect not the labor due to thy soul; the night of death is coming when no one can work.—Cramer (Ecc_9:10):—We should perform the work of our calling with a resolute and confident spirit, and never hesitate in our charge.—Hengstenberg (Ecc_9:10):—That we should do all that lies in our power is required by the facts that what we leave undone here below is never done, that the tasks placed upon us by God for this life, and which here remain unperformed, never find their performance, and that the gifts and powers conferred on us for this life must be used in this life.
Ecc_9:11-12. Tübingen Bible:—Even in temporal things it does not depend upon any one’s will or movements, but only on God’s mercy. Everything is derived from God’s blessing.—Starke (Ecc_9:12) :—By his skill man can calculate the rising and setting of the sun; but human wisdom does not extend so far that one can tell when the sun of his life will rise or set.—Hengstenberg:—If it seems sad with the people of God when the world triumphs, let us reflect that such result does not depend on the might, or the weakness of men; and that a sudden catastrophe may overwhelm the highest, and cast him to the ground. Have we God for our friend? it all comes to that as the only thing that can decide.
Ecc_9:13-16. Melanchthon:—Such a poor man, in a city, was Jeremiah, as he himself writes, a man who saved the church in the midst of disorder and confusion. At the same time the precept admonishes us that good counsels are listened to by the few, whilst the worst please the many. And thus he says; The poor man’s wisdom is despised.—Cartwright:—Wisdom, however splendid, if in lowly state, is so obscured by the cloud of poverty that in a brief time it has all eyes averted, and utterly falls from the memory.
Cramer:—Thou shouldst laud no one on account of his high estate, and despise no one on account of his low estate. For the bee is a very little creature, and yet gives the sweetest fruit.—Starke:—The heart of mail is by nature so corrupt that to its own injury it is inclined to run after folly, and be disobedient to wisdom.—But true wisdom always finds those who know and love her. Though a wise man may for a time dwell in obscurity, he will nevertheless be drawn forth from it before he is aware. Wisdom of Solomon Ecc_10:13-14.
APPENDIX
[I. Koheleth’s Idea of the Dead.—Ecc_9:5 :—
The living know that they must die, the dead they nothing know;
For them there is no more reward—forgotten is their name;
Their love, their hate, their zeal, all perished now;
Whilst the world lasts, no portion more have they
In all the works performed beneath the sun.
Stuart thinks that the Preacher “claims small merit for the living, merely the knowledge that they must die.” “Is this,” he asks, “better than not knowing any thing?” He argues, besides, that there is an inconsistency in such a view, made greater by the fact that this praise of life one of the cheering passages, whereas such declarations as Ecc_7:1; Ecc_4:2-3 are from the desponding mood. Is not this, however, a mistake ? The language here is gloomy, if not wholly desponding. Koheleth is perplexed and bewildered as he contemplates the apparent state of the dead, especially as it presents itself to the sense, inactive, motionless, silent, unheeding. He turns to the living, and surveys their condition, so full of vanity, with only the superiority of a little knowledge, one important element of which, is a knowledge that this vanity must come to an end. It is just the survey that would give rise to that touching irony already spoken of, that mournful smile at human folly, in which a just contempt is blended with deepest sympathy,—an irony, not sneering, but tenderly compassionate, such as we find in some other Scriptures. As, for example, in Gen_3:22, where God is represented as ironically repeating the wolds of Satan, but in a spirit how different from that of the fiend! Ah, poor wretch! he knows it now, the difference between good and evil! See Gen., p. 210. So here, as though he had said, “Alas, their boasted knowledge! They know that they must die,—this is the substance of it, the remotest bound to which their science reaches.” There is something of the same feeling in what is here affirmed of the state of the dead. It gloomily contemplates only the physical aspect, or the physical side of death, such as presents itself, sometimes, to the Christian, without any feeling of inconsistency, and without impairing that hope of future life which he possesses in a higher degree than Koheleth. We may even say that it is good for us, occasionally, to fix our minds on this mere physical aspect of our frail humanity.
O when shall spring visit the mouldering urn?
O when shall day dawn on the night of the grave?
It was not an infidel, but a devout believer, that wrote this. And so, too, there may be, at times, a sort of melancholy pleasure in thinking of death mainly in its aspect of repose from the toils and anxieties of the present stormy life; as in that mournful dirge so often sung at funerals—
Unveil thy bosom, faithful tomb;
Take this new treasure to thy trust;
And give these sacred relics room
To slumber in the silent dust.
Nor pain, nor grief, nor anxious fear,
Invade thy bounds; no mortal woes
Can reach the peaceful sleeper, here.
We feel no inconsistency between such strains, even when they assume a more sombre aspect, and that brighter view which the Christian takes in contemplating the spiritual side of our strange human destiny, or even as it sometimes presented itself to the Old Testament believer (Psa_16:11; Psa_17:15; Psa_78:24). They no more jar upon our speculative theology than the language of our Saviour, Joh_9:4 : “The night cometh, when no man can work” [comp. Ecc_9:10; Ecc_11:8], or that touching language of the New Testament which represents death under the soothing conception of a sleep—κοίμησις—a lying down to rest. This term is not confined to the body, as the best exegesis would show, but would seem to denote also a most blessed state of quiescence for the spirit,—a state rudimental, imperfect, unfinished, anomalous, preparatory, yet most secure,—tranquil yet not torpid—inactive, yet not inert—a holy conscious rest, a lying “under the shadow of the Almighty,”—separate from the present world, away from all its busy doings, if not from all its memories, and thus cradled again, nursed and educated, we may say, for that higher finished life, when death shall be fully conquered. He is the last and greatest enemy [1Co_15:26] who, until that time, retains some dominion over all humanity,—even over those “who sleep in Jesus,” or “through Jesus,” as it should be rendered,—the saved, or rather, the being saved [present participle, οἱ σωζόμενοι] the being healed, or made alive, as the Syriac has it, those in whom the redemptive life of Christ is overcoming death, and growing to the matured and perfect life of eternity. For it is clear, even from the New Testament, that this “state of death,” or reign of death, still continues, in a certain sense, and in a certain degree, until the resurrection. Its power is over all men, and over the whole man, soul and body, although for the Christian, whose “life is hid with Christ in God” [Col_3:3], its sting is taken quite away. There is no mistaking the language, 1Co_15:54 : ὅταν δὲ τὸ φθαρτὸν τοῦτο ἐνδύσηται ἀφθαρσίαν κ. τ. λ. It is only when this corruption puts on incorruption, and this mortal puts on immortality, that there is brought to pass the saying, “Death is swallowed up in victory.” Till then, Death and Hades go together. One is but the continuation of the other. Being in Hades is being in the kingdom of the dead. Till then, the Old Testament idea still holds of death, not as extinction, non-existence, or not being [see Genesis, Notes, pp. 273, 586], but as a state, a state of positive being, though strange and inexplicable,—a state of continued personality, real though undefined, utterly unknown as to its condition, or only conceived of negatively as something that differs, in almost every respect, from the present active, planning, toiling, pleasure-grasping, knowledge-seeking life “beneath the sun.” That there is something strange about it, something difficult to be thought, is intimated in our Saviour’s language respecting the Old Testament saints, Luk_20:38, πάντες γὰρ αὐτῷ ζῶσιν, “for they all live unto Him” [unto God],—as though what was called their life was something out of them, and could only be made dimly conceivable to us by this remarkable language. Compare the Jewish expression as we find it, 1Sa_25:29, and as it is interpreted and often quoted by Rabbinical writers, צְרוּרָה בִּצְרוֹר הַחַיִּים “bound up in the bundle of life with Jehovah thy God,” or as the Vulgate renders it—anima custodita quasi in fasciculo viventium apud Dominum Deum tuum.
There is yet a reserve to the doctrine of the immediate after life, still a veil cast over it, we may reverently say, even in the New Testament. The most modern notions of a sudden transition to the highest Heavens, and to the perfect life, are, perhaps, as far to the one extreme, as the descriptions of mortality which Koheleth gives us, in his gloomy mood, may be in the other. This idea of the dead passing straightway into a busy active state of existence, in these respects resembling the present life, with its proud talk of progress, was unknown to the early Church, as its liturgies and funeral hymns most evidently show. See especially the earliest Syriac hymns, much of whose language the modern notions would render almost unintelligible. Christ has indeed “brought immortality to light,” but it is chiefly by the doctrine of the resurrection, that great article so clear in the New Testament, though having its shadow in the Old. But there is another doctrine there, however little it is studied. We are taught that there was a work of Christ in Hades. He descended into Hades; he makes proclamation [ἐκήρυξεν] in Hades (1Pe_3:19) to those who are there “in ward.” He is our Christian Hermes, belonging to both worlds. He is the ψυχαγωγὸς, the conductor and guide of redeemed spirits in Hades, the “Shepherd and Bishop of souls” (1Pe_2:15), the “Good Shepherd” (Psalms 23), who leads his spiritual flock beside the still waters, in the Cetzalmaveth, the “valley of the death shade,” or terra umbrarum, and, at the same time, the great High Priest above, to whom is “given all power in Heaven and in earth.” He is the מלאך הגואל the Redeeming Angel of the Old Testament, to whom the righteous committed their spirits [Psa_31:6] and the Mediator more clearly revealed in the New.
The doctrine of the immediate after life, as we have said, has still a shadow cast upon it. We should not, therefore, wonder to find Koheleth still more under the veil. His very language implies continuance of being, in some way, although presenting a state of inactivity, and, in a word, a want of all participation in the doings and even memories of the present “life beneath the sun.” It did not fall in the way of his musing to speak of differences, in this state, between the “righteous and the wicked;” but, in other passages of the Old Testament, it appears more clear, though still barely hinted, as in Pro_14:32; Psa_73:20; Psa_49:15. It is a state in which the one is “driven away,” whilst the other “has hope.” Elsewhere, however [Ecc_3:17; Ecc_12:13-14], Koheleth affirms his strong belief that at some time, and in some way, the two classes will be judged, and the difference between them most clearly manifested.
In the rhvthmical version of Ecc_9:10, חָכְמָה is rendered philosophy, because the writer seems, in this place, to take it in its more pretentious sense, or for human wisdom in distinction from the Divine,—speculative inquiry,
Very much as Paul uses σοφία, sometimes, in the New Testament. And so, perhaps, we would come nearer to the intended force of the other word דַּעַת by rendering science, although not exactly corresponding to it in the most modern acceptation of the term. It is Paul’s γνῶσις, “curious knowledge,”—not mere knowing, as consciousness, whether Koheleth held to any such consciousness or not. Comp. it with חֶשְׁבּוֹן (plan, reckoning) in immediate connection. So, too, even when speaking of the perfect psychological state (1Co_13:8) Paul says of knowledge (γνῶσις), καταργηθήσεται—not, “it shall cease,” as rendered, but “it shall be deposed”—put one side—no longer made the highest thing, as in this fallen life, where the intellectual is placed above the moral nature. In the blessed and perfect life to come, moral or spiritual contemplation, pervaded by ἀγάπη, shall be the highest exercise of the soul. Even the intermediate state is to be regarded as superior to the present existence in ontological rank, and the terms embryotic or rudimental, if applied to it, must be taken simply as denoting a formative state of repose, preparatory to the more glorious life that follows.—T. L.]
[II. The Alleged Epicureanism of Koheleth. Note on Ecc_9:7-10, in connection with Ecc_11:9-10. These passages have given rise to much comment. Stuart, with many others, regards the first of them as expressing the real advice which Koheleth would give in regard to the conduct of life, and then says: “In all this there is nothing Epicurean.” What then is Epicureanism ? Or how shall we distinguish? It would seem to be almost too sober a word. The language here used may almost be characterized as Anacreontic: “Eat with joy thy bread, and drink with mirth thy wine,—thy garments always white, and oil ne’er lacking to thy head:”
Πίνωμεν, ὦ πίνωμεν—
Τὸ ῥόδον τὸ καλλίφυλλον
Κροτάφοισιν ἁρμόσαντες.
How, then, shall we avoid what seems to be on the very face of the passage ? It will not do to resort to any special interpretation on account of a mere exigentia loci; although it might, with perfect truth, be said, that such Anacreontic advice is not only contrary to all the more serious portions of the Scriptures, Old and New, but also to the deeply solemn views in regard to human vanities, and the great awaiting judgment, that Koheleth himself has, in other places, so clearly expressed. All this outward argument, however, would not justify us in calling it irony, unless there were some internal evidence, something in the very style of the passage which called for such a conclusion. A careful examination, made in the spirit of the whole book, shows that there are such internal grounds of criticism. It was a feeling of this that led Jerome, the most judicious of the Patristic commentators, to call it a προσωποποιί̈α, a personification, or dramatizing, more rhetorum et poetarum, or what the Jewish critics (see p. 71) called “the case speaking,” the language of human life and human actions, in view of the pure earthliness of its condition. It is the language of the author so far as he puts himself forth as the representative of such a despairing state: quasi dixerit, O homo quia ergo, post mortem nihil es, dum vivis in hac brevi vita fruere voluptate, etc.: “O man since, after death, thou art nothing, then, whilst thou livest thy short life, enjoy pleasure, indulge in feasts, drown thy cares in wine, go forth adorned in raiment ever white (a sign of perpetual joy), let fragrant odors be ever breathing from thy head; take thy joy in female loveliness (quæcunque tibi placerent feminarum, ejus gaude complexu, et vanam hanc et brevem vitam vana et brevi voluptate percurre) and in brief pleasure pass this thy brief life of vanity,” etc. He then represents Koheleth as retracting all this in the passage immediately following, where he says, “I turned again, and saw that the race was not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor wealth to the prudent, etc.,” in other words, that thus to live in joy was not in man’s power, but that all things happened as they were disposed by God: Hæc, aliquis inquit, loquatur Epicurus et Aristippus, et ceteri pecudes philosophorum, ego autem (inquit Koheleth) mecum diligenter retractans, invenio non est velocium cursus, necfortium prælium, etc, etc.
There are two things in the passage itself that lead the serious reader to such a feeling, and such a view of its ironical, or, rather, its dramatic character. The first is the exuberance of the language, its extravagance, its Bacchanalian style, we might almost call it, inconsistent with, or certainly not demanded by, such a moderate, rational, sober view, or such a sober advice to live a contented life, as Stuart contends for, or, in other words, a judicious, virtuous Epicureanism. The joy so oft repeated, the mirth, the wine, the white raiment, the aromatic oils—what has such superlativeness of style to do with such a moderate, sober purpose ? It was no more needed than the language which Euripides (Alcestis 800) puts into the mouth of Hercules when playing the Bacchanalian, and which this Solomonic irony so closely resembles:—
Εὔφραιυε σαυτὸν, πῖνε. τὸν καθ̓ ἡμέραυ
Βίον λόγίζου σόν. τὰ δ̓ ἄλλα τῆς τύχης.
Τίμα δὲ καὶ τὴν πλεῖστον ἡδίστην θεων.
Οὔκουν, μεθ̓ ἡμῶν, τὴν λύπην ἄφεὶς, πίη,
Στεφάνοις πυκασθείς κ. τ. λ.
Make glad thy heart, drink wine, the life to-day
Regard thine own; all else belongs to chance.
In high esteem hold Love’s delightful power.
In social joy indulge—with chaplets crowned;
And drive dull care away.
Hear Koheleth:
Go then and eat with joy thy bread, and drink with mirth thy wine,
In every season be thy garments white,
And fragrant oil be never lacking to thy head;
Live joyful with the wife whom thou hast loved.
The one kind of language seems but the echo of the other. If we disregard the spirit and the design of Koheleth, there is an Epicurean zest in his description, not surpassed, to say the least, by that of Euripides. We may say, too, on the other hand, that it is not easy to distinguish his language, and the spirit of it, from that of Paul in his quotation, 1Co_15:32 : “Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die.” If it be said that the context there makes it impossible for us to mistake the Apostle’s ironical meaning, the same may be said in respect to the writer who tells us, only a short distance back,
Better to visit sorrow’s house, than seek the banquet hall;
Better is grief than mirth;
For in the sadness of the face the heart becometh fair.
It is the very nature of rhetorical irony, especially if it be the irony of sorrowful warning, to paint the thing in higher colors, we may say, than would suit its description in a more direct and didactic admonition. Had it been a piece of Isocratean moralizing in commendation of a moderate, contented, frugal, and thankful enjoyment of life, it would naturally have been in a lower and calmer strain. The wine, the odors, the splendid raiment, would have been all wanting. They are just the points in the picture, however, to make an impression on the serious mind when it is felt to be a description of the vanity of life. We may even say that they are just the things that lead to such a feeling.
The second internal evidence showing the true character of this passage, is the feeling of sorrow, which, amidst all its apparent joyousness, the writer cannot suppress. We have called it irony, but the irony of the Bible is not only serious, but sometimes most tender. Whilst, then, the language here criticised is not the mere worldly advice that Stuart and others would represent, neither is it, on the other hand, the hard irony of sarcasm, or of unpitying satire. Koheleth’s thoughts of death, and its awful unknown, have depressed his faith, and there seems to have come over him a feeling akin to despair. His idea of God’s justice, and of some great destiny, or world, over and encompassing the present, is not lost—for it reappears strongly afterwards—but, for the moment, the thought of man, as he is seen in the earthly state, becomes predominant, and he breaks out in this strain, in which pity is a very manifest element. “Go then and enjoy thy poor life.” There is strong feeling in it, a most tender compassion, and this shows itself in that touching mention of the transient human state, and, especially, in the pathetic repetition of the words
The days of thy vain life,—that life
Which God hath given to thee beneath the sun;
Yea, all thy days of vanity.
This plaintive tone is utterly inconsistent with the Epicurean interpretation, however moral and decent we may strive to make it.
Again, there are two arguments against such a view that may be said to be outside of the passage itself, though one of them is derived from another place in the book. First—in Ecc_11:9-10, we have a strain so precisely similar, in style and diction, that we cannot help regarding it as possessing the same rhetorical character. It may be thus given metrically, yet most literally, and with the full force of every Hebrew word:
Rejoice O youth in childhood; let thy heart
Still cheer thee in the day when thou art strong;
Go on in every way thy will shall choose,
And alter every form thine eyes behold.
It is not easy to mistake the character of this, even if it were not followed by that most impressive warning:
But know that for all this, thy God will thee to judgment bring:
O then turn sorrow from thy soul, keep evil from thy flesh;
For childhood and the morn of life, they, too, are vanity.
Here the caution is clearly expressed, although we feel that such expression is just what the previous words, rightly comprehended in their spirit, would have led us to expect. Rhetorically regarded, such an addition would have been exactly adapted to this place (Ecc_9:7-10). It would have been in harmony with the tone of what had gone before. It is, however, so suggested by the whole spirit of the passage, and especially by that irrepressible tone of commiseration that appears in the words before cited (the pathetic allusion to our poor vain life), that it may well be a question whether any such distinct warning, or any mere moralizing utterance. could have had more power than the “expressive silence” which leaves it wholly to the feeling and conscience of the reader.
The passage Ecc_11:9-10, is so important in itself, and has such a bearing on the one before us, as to justify its fuller interpretation in this place. Many modern commentators regard these verses also as a serious advice to the young man, if the term serious could, with any propriety, be applied to such an admonition. The older commentators, however, are mostly the other way. They regarded the passage as indeed most serious, but as having this character from its sharp pet mournful irony. So Geier says : “magnam interpretum partem hæc verba imperative, ironice accipere.” Among these were Kimchi, Munsterus, Mercerus, Drusius, Junius, Piscator, Cartwright, Cajetan, Vatablus, Ar. Montanus, Osorius, Mariana, Menoch, Pineda, Jac. Mathiæ, and others, among whom may be reckoned Tremellius, if we may judge from the tone and style of his Latin translation. Luther was the other way, and it may be said that he has given the tone to many that have come after him, evangelical as well as rationalist. “This is said seriously by Solomon,” he tells us, “de licita juventutis hilaritate, concerning the permitted joy fulness of youth, which ought not to be unbridled, or lascivious, but restrained within certain limits.” But what right has he to say this ? What limits are assigned ? The language seems wholly without limitations, or reserve : “Walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes,” terms which every where else in the Hebrew Scriptures are used, in malam partem, to denote sensual and ungodly conduct; as in Num_15:39 : “Ye shall not go (roam) אַחֲרֵי לְבַבְכֶם וְאַחֲרֵי עֵינֵיכֶם after your own heart, and after your eyes.” Compare also the frequent phrase שְׁרִירוּת לֵב, commonly rendered “the imagination of the heart,” but really meaning the turnings (choices) of the heart,—doing as one pleases. See Deu_29:18; Psa_71:13 where it is synonymous with יֵלְוּ בְּמוֹעֲצוֹתֵיהֶם “walking in their own counsels,” also Jer_9:13, and other places. Compare especially Job_31:7, where, for “the heart to follow the eye” is placed among the grievous sins, being regarded, in fact, as the very fountain-head of sin: אִם אַחַר עֵינַי הָלַךְ לִבִּי, “if my heart hath gone after mine eyes,” the will (the conscience) after the choice, the velle after the optare, the voluntas after the voluptas. “Walk in the way of thine heart;” what an admonition this to a young man, even if such a one ever needed an exhortation to hilarity, or to the following of his own pleasure! How strange, too, as coming from one who, in other parts of this book, talks so differently : “Better the house of mourning than the house of feasting;” “I said of laughter it is mad, of mirth, 0 what availeth it!” Compare it with the repeated charge of Solomon, in the Proverbs, to restrain the young man—not to let him go after the imaginations of his heart, to put a bridle on him (חנך Pro_22:6), and “bow down his neck in his youth.” The language here is peculiar, and each word must be sharply looked to: “Go on ” (it is הַלֵּךְ, the piel intensive) “keep going, in the ways (all the ways, in the plural, every way) of thine heart,” וּבְמַרְאֵי עֵינֶיךָ (the k’tib is undoubtedly right) and in (or after) the forms of thine eyes.” The word מַרְאֶה is so frequently used of female beauty (see the phrase יְפַת מַרְאֶה Gen_12:11, and other places) that the idea is at once suggested here; and what a contrast then to our Saviour’s teaching, that even to look is sin. What a contrast, we may say, is the whole of it thus considered, to what Christ says about the broad way, and to St. John’s most emphatic language (1 Epist. Ecc_2:16) respecting “the lust of the eye,” the desire of the eye, τὴν ἐπιθυμὶαν τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν! If we give the phrase the more general rendering, “the sight of the eyes (sight objectively) it would come to the same thing. It would be a license to follow every form of beauty. There might be urged, too, the contrast between it (thus regarded as serious advice even in the most decent sense that could be given to it) and Paul’s counsel for young men, Tit_2:6, τοὺς νεωτέρους παρακάλει σωφρονεῖν, “exhort them to be sober,” temperate, sound-minded, having reason and conscience ruling over appetite and desire. How unlike, too, the Psalmist’s direction Psa_119:9, “Wherewith shall a young man cleanse his way,—by taking heed thereto (לִשְׁמֹר), by watching it, according to Thy word.” How utterly opposed to this is the unlimited advice to the young man “to walk in the way of his heart,” that is, to do as he pleases. Luther feels the force of this contrast, for he says in the same comment, when he comes to speak of the words ותלך בדרכי לבך “walk in the ways of thine heart,” fecit hic locus ut totum hunc textum ironiam esse putarem, quia ferme in malum partem sonat, siquis incedat in via cordis sui: “This place would make me think that the whole text was irony, because the phrase ‘to walk in the way of one’s heart,’ is so generally taken in a bad sense.” But, after all, he goes on to say that we must abide by the general idea of the passage (as he had taken it) and suppose the necessary limitations. Very few commentators have had a clearer perception than Luther of the general sense of the Scripture, but in regard to such passages as these he is not to be implicitly trusted.
He was of a very jovial disposition; but what chiefly led him to such interpretations, here and elsewhere in this book, was his aversion to some of the more austere dogmas, as well as practices or Romanism, and especially his dislikeof asceticism, as exhibited by the Monks. Hence he allowed himself too much to be driven towards the opposite extreme. Thus in his commenting on the words במראה עיניך, “in the sight of thine eyes,” he boldly says, quod offertur oculis tuis hoc fruere, ne fias similis Monachorum, etc.: “whatever is offered to your eyes, that freely enjoy, lest you become like the monks who would not have one even look at the sun.” And so in the beginning of the passage, Ecc_9:9 : non prohibet jucunditates sive voluptates, quemadmodum stulti monachi fecerunt, etc.: “It does not prohibit delights nor pleasures, as the foolish monks have done, which is nothing else than making stocks of young men (even as Anselm says, ille monachissimus monachus, that most monkish monk), or than attempting to plant a tree in a narrow pot.” Others of the Reformers and early Protestant commentators were influenced in the same way in following Luther, and there can be no doubt that this has much affected their interpretations of Koheleth, making him talk like an Epicurean, and then denying that it was Epicureanism, or trying to throw over it a decent ethical mantle by their unwarranted hypotheses and limitations. After they have done their best, however, in this way, they make this writer of Holy Scripture to be a moralist inferior to Socrates and Seneca, who certainly never thought that a young man needed any such advice as that. The pious Geier seems to be aware of the suggestions that might arise from other parts of Scripture, and would zealously guard this virtuous Solomonic young man, who needs such a caution against excessive sobriety, from any comparison with the Prodigal Son, Luke 15. But what did he do, that filius perditus, that spendthrift, ille heluo, as Geier calls him, except “to walk in the ways of his heart, and in the sight of his eyes?” What is all pleasure-seeking selfishness [φιλαυτία, φιληδονία, 2Ti_3:2-4] but saying “give unto me my portion of goods that falleth to me,” in this world ?
It might have been thought, however, that the latter part of Ecc_9:10, following the warning of judgment, would have been treated in a different manner; but the general consistency of which Luther speaks has led some to an Epicurean interpretation even of this. We regret to find our author Zöckler following such a course in his interpretation of the words הסר כעם מלבך “turn away sorrow from thy heart.” “Here,” he says, “the positive exhortation to hilarity (Frölichsein) is followed by a dissuasion from its opposite,”—that is, the young man is told to avoid seriousness as painful and troublesome (Kummer, Unmuth,) which he gives as the interpretation of כַעַם]. It is a recommendation of hilarity, of mirth, in opposition to asceticism or undue sobriety, as though the young man’s danger in Solomon’s time, or in the days of Malachi, or at any other period in the human history, had been in that direction of gloom and monkery.
There are few interpreters more honest, or more learned, than Stuart, and yet his comment here is certainly a very strange one. “In verse 9th,” he tells us, “the command is to do something positive in the way of enjoyment; here it is to shun evil and suffering. Taking both together, the amount is, enjoy all that a rational man can enjoy in view of retribution, and avoid all the evil and suffering that can be avoided.“ Retribution here is a mere make weight. Why retribution for simply acting according to the advice? If pleasure be the good, then, as that acute moralist Socrates says, “he who gets the most of it is the ἀγαθὸς ἀνὴρ, the good man, the best man.” “But why,” asks Stuart, “is this so strongly urged upon the young?” The question is certainly one that is very naturally suggested in view of such an interpretation, but the answer he gives is remarkable: “Plainly because that even they, although in the best estate of man, hold life by a very frail tenure. Therefore, as even youth is so frail and evanescent, make the best of it. It is almost as if he had said—Then or never.” In other words, a short life and a merry one. Anacreon could not have said it better. No exhortation to obedience to parents, to temperance, to sober-mindedness, in the style of Paul, no advice to “watch over the heart,” such as Solomon gives in the Proverbs, but a direction “to walk in the sight of the eyes,” and a caution against seriousness as inconsistent with youthful hilarity. Strange advice this under any circumstances; and still more strange from the fact that it is the only place in the book in which young men are addressed,—the first verse of chap. 12 being but a continuation of the admonition here given. Look at the argument as it thus presents itself: God will bring thee unto judgment, young man; therefore put away all serious concern from thy heart. And why? Because youth is brief and evanescent. How does it compare Scripturally with the other view as presenting the other reasoning : Know that God will bring thee into judgment for “following the ways of thine heart, and walking in the sight of thine eyes;” therefore “turn sorrow from thy heart” [thy soul], that is the feeling of remorse, the sense of the Divine displeasure, or of thine own self-accusing indignation [כַּעַם] for such an unrestrained living to thyself, and “keep off [הַעֲבֵר, avert] evil from thy flesh”—that is, the bodily ills that must come from a life of sensuality, or following” “the desire of thy heart,” and “the voluptuous sight of thine eyes.” And why? Because “childhood and youth [שַׁחֲרוּת, literally, the morn of life] are vanity;” that is, all their joys, take them at the highest, are vain and worthless in comparison with the serious evils, whether for this life or another, that such a course of free indulgence may bring upon thee.
The ironical nature of this passage is accepted by that great critic, Glassius, in the Philologia Sacra, p. 1518. It is an “apostrophe,” he says, “a concessio ironia cujus correctio, a consuetudine animi et sensuum prava revocans, statim subjungitur:” Go on,—but know. He compares it with Isa_2:10, “enter into the rock, and hide thyself in the dust,” but know that God will find thee. So Isa_8:9, “Join yourselves together, enter into council, but know that it will be all in vain.” It is equivalent to saying, “though ye do this,”—the imperative being really the statement of an hypothesis. Another passage he cites is Isa_21:5 : “Spread the table, set the watch, eat, drink,” etc.; though that may be taken in a different way.
A second outside proof of the true character of the language, Ecc_9:7-10, is derived from a passage in the Apocryphal book entitled Wisdom of Solomon. It is evidently an imitation of these very verses, and, whether written by a Jew or a Christian, is evidence of the earliest mode of interpreting all such modes of speaking in Koheleth. It is the language of the worldly pleasure-seeker, chap. 2 Ecc_9:6-8 : “Come then, and let us enjoy the good that is before us; let us be filled with costly wine and aromatic odors; let no flower of the spring pass by us; let us crown ourselves with roses before they be withered,” etc. The imitation is evident throughout the passage. It appears not only from the language used, but also from the fact that the writer, both by his general style and by the title he has given to his book, intended it as a more full and florid setting forth of what he deemed the pervading thought and feeling of Koheleth. Now, by placing this same style of language in the mouth of the sensualist, he makes clear that he was of like opinion with Jerome (whose views may have been derived from his Hebrew teacher representing the same view afterwards advanced by Kimchi), that as uttered by Koheleth, it was a προσωποποιί͂α, a dramatic representing of what is expressed in human action,—the sensualist’s own conduct speaking forth the view of life that would be in accordance with the idea that this is all of man, and that there is no such judgment as that on which Koheleth elsewhere so strongly insists. This is rendered still more clear from the sudden change that immediately follows in Ecc_9:11, and which Jerome justly characterizes as Koheleth retractans. He cannot let the language go without showing how full of vanity it is, viewed only in regard to the present world, and according to the known condition of human life :
I turned again to look beneath the sun.
Not to the swift the race, I saw,
nor victory to the strong, Nor to the wise secure their bread, nor to the prudent wealth.
The very uncertainty of all human efforts renders such advice utterly vain. Why say to men, be happy, eat, drink, and be merry, “let thy garments be ever white, and let aromatic oils be never lacking to thy head,” when no strength, no wisdom, can give any security for the avoidance of sorrow, much less for the attainment of such Epicurean joys. In such a connection the thought of there being, necessarily for man, a judgment and a destiny, making all such pleasures, even if innocent, mere vanity and worth lessness in the comparison, is more powerfully suggested than it would have been by the most express utterance.
There are some other things of less exegetical importance, but deserving of attention in their bearing on the real character of these important passages. Thus the words כִּי כְּבָר רָצָה הָאֱלהִֹים אֶת־מַעֲשֶׂיךָ [Ecc_9:7]are rendered in E.V.: “God now aoeepteth thy works,” indicating that He has, in some way, become gracious. The true rendering is, “God hath already,” or rather, “long ago, accepted thy works.” It is a thing of the past, settled as the Divine way in regard to man; He has never been off ended at all. It is the doctrine of Plato’s second class of atheists (as he calls them, though they claim to be theists), who believe in a Divine power, but regard Him as taking no account of men, or rather, as accepting all human works, as He accepts the operations of nature. Or it is a Hebraistic form of the Lucretian doctrine of the Divine nature:
Semota. ab nostris rebus, sejundaque longe.
That this general acceptance by Deity of human works is not the serious language of Koheleth, is evident from his so frequent insisting on judgment, either in this world or in another, as though it were his favorite doctrine, his “one idea,” we might say, in all this discourse. So Wordsworth regards the whole passage as the language of the sensualist (which is the same as Jerome’s ironical προσωποποιτα or Koheleth speaking in their person), and thus comments on the words in question: “Evil men misconstrue their prosperity into a sign that God accepts their works.” There is, however, too much inferential moralizing in such a statement. In their language, God’s “accepting their works” is rather another mode of saying that He is utterly indifferent about them, or, as they would represent in their Lucretian hyperpiety, too great, too exalted, to mind the affairs of men.
The 10th verse of Ecclesiastes 10 is rendered in E. V.: “Whatever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.” The Vulgate favors this, but the accents forbid it. They connect בכחך with לעשות, requiring us, if we follow them, to render: “whatever thy hand findeth to do in thy strength, do it.” This puts a different aspect upon the sentence, and the accents, with their usual nice discrimination, bring it out. The other rendering would indeed suggest a similar meaning, but the accents make it clear. It becomes the maxim, τὸ κράτιστον τὸ δίκαιον, might makes right, or let might be thy law of right, or as it is rendered in the Metrical Version,—
Do, then, whate’er thy hand shall find in thy own might to do.
Wordsworth takes the same view: “Do all that thy hand findeth to do by thy power” [see Hengstenberg, Ewald]; that is, “let might be right with thee; care nothing for God or man, but use thy strength according to thy will.” Surely this is not the serious language of the serious Koheleth, the earnest teacher of judgment, who speaks so solemnly of “the fear of God, and who says, only two verses from this : “Then I turned again to look beneath the sun, and saw that the race was not to the swift nor the victory to the strong.”
The language following: “For there is no knowledge,” etc., even Stuart regards as that of the objector, though replying to the serious advice given above, as though he had said in addition: enjoy thyself, etc., for there is no after state to give thee uneasiness. “But we have seen,” says Stuart, “that the settled opinion of Koheleth himself [Ecc_8:12-13] was something quite different from this.” It is not easy to understand the remark. It would have furnished Stuart a much more consistent ground of reasoning, had he regarded the whole passage as irony or personification. He says, at the close of his comment on the verses: “The positive passages which show Koheleth’s view of judgment, and of retribution, are too strong to justify us in yielding to suggestions of this nature”—that is, the supposition of his denial of all future accountability. This rule of criticism, had they consistently followed it, would have made Koheleth all clear in many places where the opposite method produces inextricable confusion and contradiction.
Such remarks as Zöckler and Stuart sometimes make in deprecation of’ Epicureanism [Hitzig, in general, gives himself no concern about it] show the pressure upon evangelical commentators (and even upon all who may in a true sense be styled rational), when they adopt what may be termed the half-way Lutheran mode. The doctrine of Epicurus, even in its most decent form, is so inconsistent with any devout fear of God, and this again is so utterly alien to any philosophic or scientific theism that maintains a Deity indifferent to human conduct, one who cannot be prayed to, ἀνευκταῖος, and without any judgment either in this world or another; for in respect to the true nature of Koheleth’s exhortation, either idea presents a conclusive argument. His doctrine must be somehow connected with all that system of truth, with all that “wisdom, of which the fear of the Lord is the beginning.” To a mind deeply meditative. like that of Koheleth, the thought of there being no judgment, no hereafter (should such a belief be ever forced upon it), would not be ground of joy, much less of an exhortation to joy, as addressed to others. He would not, even in that, case, adopt the Epicurean maxim: Let us eat and drink,—rather let us fast, let us mourn, in view of an existence so brief, so full of vanity, so soon to go out in darkness all the more dense, a despair all the more painful, in consequence of the transient light of reason with which we are so strangely and irrationally endowed—e tenebris in tenebras—like the bubble on the wave in a stormy night, reflecting for a moment all the starry host above, and then going out forever. There is no religion, no superstition, no creed so awfully serious, as that of human extinction, and of a godless world. Place the two exhortations side by side: Live in the fear of God, for thou must come to judgment: Live joyful, for soon thou wilt be no more; in either alternative, the present value of the present being, considered for its own sake dwindles in a rational estimate. As connected with a greater life to come, though made important ant by such connection, yet how comparatively poor! regarded as the whole of our existence, how absolutely vain! In the first aspect, it is vanitas; in the second, it is vanitas vanitatum, utterly vain, a “vanity of vanities.” The Epicurean idea and the Epicurean call to mirth are as inconsistent. with the one as with the other.—T. L.]
Footnotes:
[1][see the text note on this world, and the simple translation of the Vulgate and LXX., which came from the text as it is.—T.L.]
[2][It may well be said, on the other hand, that the exceedingly forced rendering of Zöckler and Vaihinger show that the common translation “joined, associated,” and the reading יחְֻבַּר on which it is grounded, are correct—T. L.]
[3][“And merrily drink thy wine.” No where do we find more of the Bacchanalian expression, and yet Zöckler would regard it here as the “innocent and normal use of wine.” (See his comment on Ecc_10:19): whilst elsewhere, with no difference of language, it denotes, he says, the “corrupting and licentious use.” The irony of the passage is shown at once by comparing it with Ecc_7:2 and Ecc_2:2.—T. L.]
[4][As there is nothing said about moral conduct in the text, or any other conduct except unrestrained eating and drinking, this remark of Zöckler’s is perfectly gratuitous. If it is to be taken as serious advice of Koheleth, then Hitzig’s view is far more logical: “It is just this eating, drinking, etc., that God approves beforehand, so that you can indulge, without any scruple to disturb your sensual joy.” How contrary this is to other declarations of Koheleth we have elsewhere shown. How utterly opposed it is to other numerous passages of Scripture need not be pointed out. It is equivalent to saying God will never “bring thee into judgment” for it, or that He is utterly indifferent. See the Appendix to this Division, p. 134.—T. L.]
[5] [Ecc_9:9. “The days of thy vain life,” or, more literally, “all the days of the life of thy vanity.” The 70 left out this second mention because they regarded it as a mere repetition. Martin Geier would connect it, not with the former, which he says would be odiosa repetitio, but specially with what is said about the wife, as indicating that the conjugal relation continues through life, as also the idea, Luke 26:36, that there is no marriage in the other world. Other commentators have, in like manner, been disturbed by it, but it only shows that no amount of piety, or of learning, will fit a man to be a true interpreter of this book without something of the poetic spirit by which it is pervaded. It is not emphasis merely, much less an enforced motive to joy, that this repetition gives us, as Hitzig and Zöckler maintain, but a most exquisite pathos in view of the transitoriness and poverty of life. The style of diction reveals the style of thought, showing how far it is from the Epicurean sentiment of any kind, whether gross or moderate. It is the language of one musing, soliloquizing, full of some touching thought that causes him to linger over his words, and keep their sad music in his ear. There are examples of it in the Greek poets, especially in Homer, which have led the ancient writers on rhetoric to give it a technical name. Thus Plutarch calls it ἐπαναφορά, and so also the later writer Macrobius, Saturnal. Lib. iv. 6, more particularly describes it: Nascitur pathos et de repetitione quam Græci ἐπαναφορὰν vocant, cum sententiæ ab iisdem nominibus incipiunt: “Pathos also comes from repetition, which the Greeks call epanaphora, when sentences begin from the same words.” It receives some of its best illustrations from passages in the Iliad, such as 20:371, 23:641, and especially 22:126, which, though very different from this, in other respects, has this same kind of pathetic repetition. It is Hector soliloquizing in the time of his awful danger from the near approach of Achilles—
οὐ μέν πως νῦν ἐστὶν ἀπὸ δρυὸς οὐδ̓ ἀπὸ πέτρης,
τῷ ὀαριζέμεναι, ἅτε παρθένος ἠΐθεος τε,
παρθένος—ἡΐθεος τ̓ ὀαρίζετον ἀλλήλοισιν.
No time for such a friendly parley now,
As when from oak and rock, The youth and maid,
the youth and maid, hold parlance sweet together.
Very different is the sentence of Solomon in its subject matter, but like it in pathos, in the peculiar repetitive diction to which it gives rise, and the musing state of soul from which it flows:
Go then, with gladness eat thy bread, and merrily drink thy wine,
Thy garments ever white, thy head with fragrant oil adorned;
Enjoy with her whom thou dost love, the days of thy vain life,—
The days of thy vain life, the all, that God has given to thee Beneath the sun.
It is indeed irony, but not that of scorning sarcasm, nor of heartless satire. It is the irony of Scripture, full of a mournful tenderness, taking this as its most impressive form of serious admonition. Interpreted in its spirit, and even by what is rhetorically revealed upon its face, there is no contradiction between it and Ecc_7:2-3; Ecc_2:2; and other passages in this book that represent sobriety, and even sadness, as morally and spiritually better for man than mirth. We have dwelt more fully on these topics, and at the hazard of some repetition, in the extended excursus on the alleged Epicureanism of Koheleth, p.131. It has been done, because no ideas suggested by the book seemed more important in their bearing upon its thorough interpretation,—T. L.]
[6][A much clearer sense, and better adapted to the whole spirit of the passage, is obtained by taking חָכְמָה in the concrete, like the Greek τὸ σοφόν, for a wise thing, a problem, a mystery, something tl at requires wisdom to explain it. Such use of it, though not found elsewhere in the Hebrew, is justified by the perfectly parallel Greek idiom, and by what is demanded to represent the peculiar thinking of this book. The mystery, puzzle, τὸ σοφόν, φιλοσόφημα, ζήτημα, inquiry, is the curious case which he is going to state. The use of חָכְמָה, Ecc_7:25, is quite dissimilar. This view is confirmed by what follows: “and it seemed great to me.”—T. L.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv15–16 no better thing, &c.--namely, for the "just" man, whose…
no better thing, &c.--namely, for the "just" man, whose chief good is religion, not for the worldly.
abide--Hebrew, "adhere"; not for ever, but it is the only sure good to be enjoyed from earthly labors (equivalent to "of his labor the days of his life"). Still, the language resembles the skeptical precept (Co1 15:32), introduced only to be refuted; and "abide" is too strong language, perhaps, for a religious man to apply to "eating" and "mirth."
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 On vv15–17 15. I commended mirth — Koheleth has now reached…
15. I commended mirth — Koheleth has now reached the conclusion that, though prudence may regulate a life, it yet cannot affect the ways of providence or adjust the allotments of good and evil among men. So he concludes, as did Plutarch and other sages of old, that nothing remains to a man but to seek the tranquil enjoyment of what comes within his reach, for that is all the good he will have.
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 On vv15–17 15. Then I commended mirth] As before in chs.…
15. Then I commended mirth] As before in chs. Ecc_2:14, Ecc_3:12; Ecc_3:22, Ecc_5:18, the Epicurean element of thought mingles with the higher fear of God, to which the seeker had just risen. There, at least, in regulated enjoyment, free from vices, and not without the fear of God which keeps men from them, there was something tangible, and it was better to make the best of that than to pine, with unsatisfied desires, after the impossible ideal of a perfectly righteous government in which there are no anomalies. For “of his labour” read in his labour.
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 On vv15–16 (15) The writer returns to the sentiment expressed already…
(15) The writer returns to the sentiment expressed already (Ecc_2:24; Ecc_3:12; Ecc_3:22; Ecc_5:17).
Eat, and to drink, and to be merry.—The three words occur together 1Ki_4:20.
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 On vv15–17 Then (and) I commended mirth. In face of the…
Then (and) I commended mirth. In face of the anomalies which meet us in our view of life, Koheleth recommends the calm enjoyment of such blessings and comforts as we possess, in exact accordance with what has already been said, (Ecc_2:24 Ecc_3:12, 22 5:18) though the road by which he arrives at the conclusion is not identical in both cases. In the earlier chapters the injunction is based on man"s inability to be the master of his own fate; in the present passage the inscrutable nature of the law that directs God"s moral government leads to the advice to make the best of circumstances. In neither instance need we trace veiled Epicureanism. The result obtained is reached by acute observation supplemented by faith in God. Under the sun. The phrase occurs twice in this verse and again in ver. 17, and implies that the view taken was limited to man"s earthly existence. To eat, and to drink, etc. This is not a commendation of a greedy, voluptuous life, but an injunction thankfully to enjoy the good provided by God without disquieting one"s self with the mysteries of Providence. So it was said of Israel in its palmy, (1Ki_4:20) "Judah and Israel were many, as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking, and making merry." For that shall abide with him of his labor; rather, and that this should accompany him in his labor. The Greek Version regards the verb as indicative, not subjunctive, nor, as others, as jussive: "This shall attend (sumprosestai) him in his work." But it seems better to consider Koheleth as saying that the happiest thing for a man is to make the best of what he has, and to take with him in all his work a cheerful and contented heart.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v15 Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no…
Ecc_8:15
Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry.
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The benefits of wholesome recreation
Viewed by itself, and apart from its context and from the rest of the argument of the wise king, this sentiment might seem to partake very much of the spirit of the Epicureans, so strongly condemned by St. Paul--Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die: but when we come to look closely into it, we find that it would be a manifest perversion of the whole passage to apply it in any such Epicurean sense. The man to whom he refers, as the one who is encouraged to eat and to drink and to be merry, is not the idle drone whose whole life is spent in self-indulgence, or in the pursuit of pleasure; not the Dives who fares sumptuously every day while so many around have scarcely wherewithal to purchase the scanty meal--but he, whose whole attention has been hitherto absorbed in some toilsome and laborious pursuit; he who has, so to speak, been the slave of wealth, or ambition, or pleasure, or business--the seeker after worldly wisdom--or, in fine, the man so filled with anxiety and care about the objects of his desire, as to need this salutary warning how better to employ his days. Thus, if we might venture to paraphrase the passage, we should assume it to bear some such an import as the following:--Be not so wrapt up in the cares or concerns of this life, oh! ye foolish sons of men, as to forget the grand end and aim of your being. There are, indeed, many things well worthy of your attainment, but none of so solid and enduring a character as to justify your total absorption in the pursuit of them. Lose not the real enjoyment of life by devoting it thus unremittingly to any earthly end. While thus toiling to secure some fancied good, you are really allowing to escape those fleeting moments which should be devoted to some loftier purpose. Aim first and chiefly to attain the heavenly wisdom, for this alone will bring peace at the last. And then, with regard to all earthly schemes of happiness, let not your pursuit of the problematic future deprive you of the lawful enjoyment of present good, but having food and raiment be therewith content. Eat, drink and be merry. Cultivate a cheerful and a happy frame of mind, as opposed to that gloomy, over-anxious, ever-toiling disposition, which you now possess--as is the cold, cheerless mantle of night to the glow and warmth of the midday sun--for this calm and tranquil state shall abide with you, and give you enjoyment in the midst of your labour all the days of your life which God giveth you under the sun. And who does not perceive the consonance of this advice with the more plain and direct teaching of our Lord and His inspired apostles? Who does not recognize in this Old Testament warning the foreshadowing of those deep and wholesome truths which Christ announced in tits famous sermon from the Mount? Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? But rather seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Who does not trace in the language of Solomon the workings of that same Spirit which inspired St. Paul to say, Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God--Rejoice in the Lord alway; and again I say, Rejoice? Not, then, in antagonism to the spirit of the New Testament, but in perfect accordance with it, does Solomon, in the words of my text, recommend the rational enjoyment of the good things of this life. In what, then, does rational enjoyment or recreation consist? I think we may safely answer this question by the obvious reply--In the moderate use of all the gifts of Gods good providence, and in the healthful cultivation of all these faculties the improvement of which can tend to His honour or glory. Under this head, then, as you will perceive, so far as bodily refection is concerned, we should include the temperate use of all healthful articles, whether of food or of drink. Not that which entereth into the mouth defileth a man. God makes no distinction either of meats or drinks, provided we use all lawfully, to the just refreshment and strengthening of the body, not to its undue pampering, or mere carnal gratification. And so, also, with regard to questions of bodily or mental recreation. Healthful exercise, whether for the body or mind, may allowably be included under the Preachers commendation of rational mirth. The Scriptures have net prescribed to us what species of mirth to select, nor what to avoid. They have evidently left it as a matter of conscience, to the feelings and experience of every Christian, to choose his own most appropriate mode of rejoicing, provided, as in the former case, that even allowable mirth be not carried beyond the limits of moderation, and degenerate into senseless hilarity. It is true that St. James exhorts, Is any merry? let him sing psalms: but this advice is more of the nature of a permission than a command; and it is clearly evident, that with very many the literal interpretation of this precept, if it be correctly translated, would be impracticable, seeing that they are altogether devoid of musical tendencies. This passage, then, so far from limiting, as it has been supposed to do, the exhibition of our cheerful tendencies to psalm-singing alone, seems to me to make quite for the opposite view, and would apparently sanction the employment of any musical agency, and, by a parity of reasoning, of any other equally harmless and humanizing source of amusement as a justifiable mode of exhibiting a mirthful spirit before the Lord. (F F. Statham, B. A.)
.
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v16 I applied my heart
I applied my heart
Here the author refers to himself by his "heart" to emphasize his feelings. See how you translated this in Ecclesiastes 1:17. AT: "I applied myself" (See: Synecdoche)
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the work that is done on the earth
This can be stated in active form. AT: "the work that people do on the earth" (See: Active or Passive)
without sleep for the eyes
Here a person is represented by his "eyes." AT: "without sleeping" (See: Synecdoche)
the work that is done under the sun
Possible meanings are 1) "the work that God does under the sun" or 2) "the work that God allows people to do under the sun." (See: Active or Passive)
under the sun
This refers to things that are done on earth. See how you translated this in Ecclesiastes 1:3. AT: "on the earth" (See: Idiom)
translationWords
heart
know
wise
understand
works
believe
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv15–16 8:15 The Teacher’s conclusion is familiar (2:24-25; 3:12-13, 22;…
8:15 The Teacher’s conclusion is familiar (2:24-25; 3:12-13, 22; 5:18-20; 6:9). In spite of tragedies and hard labor, we can enjoy life and be happy. • In Hebrew, the word translated having fun means finding enjoyment in our daily activities, not pursuing pleasure or entertainment for its own sake.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.