PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Pulpit Commentary — Ecclesiastes
William J. Deane [1853-1943] · 304,106 words · 327 reading sections
The Pulpit Commentary — Ecclesiastes — Section 61
V crs. 17-26.-'n!e vanity of toil. I. THE SECRET OF HAl;'PINESS LIES NOT IN DUSI- KESS. Granting that one applies himself to business, and succeeds through ability, perseverance, and skill in building up a fortune, if he looks for felicity either in his labour or in bis riches, he will find himselr rnistaken. Three thi…
1,136 wordsSECTION 62The Pulpit Commentary — Ecclesiastes — Section 62
HOMILIES BY V A.RIOUS AUTHORS. Vers. 1-11.-The vanity of wealth, pleasure, and greatness. There is certainly a strange reversal here of the order of experience which is usual and e:1:pected. Men, disappointed with earthly possessions and satiated with sensual pleasures, sometimes turn to the pursuit of some engrossing…
1,079 wordsSECTION 63The Pulpit Commentary — Ecclesiastes — Section 63
or foll into danger. Similarly, the faculties of the understanding and reason which aro bestowed upon man are intended for the purpose of directing the voluntary actions, which, becoming habitual, constitute man's moral life. The wise man is he who not only possesses such powers, but makes a right nse of them, and orde…
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~vill perscvC're in it; and he is not only sustained by the approbalion of his conscience he is satisfied with the fellowship of his Master, Christ.-'!'. ' Vers. 18-23.-0oncem/or posterity. It is distinctive of man that he is a being that looks before and after; he cannot be satisfied to regard only the present; ho …
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the gifts of Divine providence; on the other hand, we are admonished to receive all things as" from the hand of God." I. Gon's BOUNTY PROVIDES THE 1"AVOURS BY WHICH MAN'S EARTHLY LIFE IS ENRICHED, :Food and drink are mentioned here as examples of the good gifts of the Eternal Father, who" openeth hie hand, _and suppli…
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CHA RA0TER. He endows man with a constitution properly supernatural, with capacities and faculties higher than those which are amenable to physical law. Interesting as is the necessary development of the universe under the control of natural forces, far more interesting is the unfolding of the moral character of men…
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false to contend that there is no delight, no satisfaction, in these sources of good. There is, for a while. 'l'here is a space during which they fill the heart as the wine fills the cup into which it is poured. The heart rejoices; it utters its joy in song; it declares itself to be completely happy. It" sits in the…
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t.o acquire may b~ pitied, a_n~ if he finds his life to have a large measure of vauity ho may be excused tor cornp\arumg; but here is- I. Tm: COMPLAI?-.'T OF TRE SUCCESSFUL. The speaker (of the text) is made (or makes himself) miserable because he has gained much by the expenditure of time and strength, and he has …
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of human life, so tho.t its beauty o.nd its blessedness are appreci:ited anrl pursuer\, so that, 011 the other hand, its ugliness and its evil are recognized and shunned. 'l'hci wisdom of the wise includes also that pre.ctical good sense which keeps its disci pies from the mistakes and entanglements that lead to destit…
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quenched by any such coarse anoclyne. Various reasons may bo found to explain why this kind of experiment failed and must fail. I. Jn the first place, it consisted in AN ABUSE OF NATURAL FAOULTIEB AND APPETITES. Some measure of joy and pleasure is needed for health of mind and body. Innocent gaiety, enjoyment of the g…
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Vera. 4-11.-Another experiment: refoneq, voluptuousness. Riotous mirth havino- failed miserably to give him the settled happiness after which he sought, our autho~ records another o.nd more promising experiment which he made, the search for happiness in a life of culture-" the pursuit of beauty and ma"nificence in art.…
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of Solomon the success of those who have often, in circumstances of extreme discomfort and suffering, enjoyed the peace of God that passcth all understanding. The sixty- third psalm, written by David in the time of exile and hardship, illustrates the truth that in communion with God the soul enjoys a happiness which ca…
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for the highest good. He had failed to find that satisfaction, but it was not because he had been ill equipped for carrying on the search. No one that came after him (ver. 12) could surpass him by a. more complete and thorough investicration. God had given him "a wise and understanding heart," and had endowed him ;i…
1,024 wordsSECTION 74The Pulpit Commentary — Ecclesiastes — Section 74
~ers. 18-23.-Riches, though obtained by much toil, are vanity. The thought of death, which sweeps away the wise man as well as the fool, and of the eternal oblivion which s~all~ws up th~ ':lle':llory of th~m both, was ~ery depressing; but a new cause for deeper deJect10n of spmt 1s found m the reflection that the ma…
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vicious. Thie ie enough to poison all present enjoyment, and to paralyze all fnrther effort. Why should a man spend laborious days and sleepless niaht9, if this is to be the end of it all? What has be left to show for all bis exertions?"' What but weariness nod exhaustion, and the bitter reflection that all has been…
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the admonition of one who perceives that a thankful participation of the good things of life is compatible with the sincerest piety. Eatiug and drinking mean satisfying tho natural appetites, and not ministering to artifioial and self-created cravings; and over- indulgence in so doing is tacitly forbidden. The words…
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" SPMOn" and ''time" ore rendered by the is not elsewhere found used in lbe pruiaive LX X. 1<a1p&r o.nd xp&vor, The word fo1· sense, thongh other verbs are so need some- "•seo.sou" (zemctn), denotes e. fixed, definite times, as in Jer. xxv. 34. In the first portion of time; while cth, "time," signifies case the catalog…
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t.he guests at the marriage-fens!;, are set woulu opine. There is a proper o.nd lawful ngainst one nuothcr. The first clause inti- pursuit of wealth, nnd there is a wiee nud mates the spont:rneous manifestation of the prudent submission to its inevitable loss. feeling·s of the henrt; the second, their forml\l The lo…
1,023 wordsSECTION 79The Pulpit Commentary — Ecclesiastes — Section 79
nucl worthless, or infected ; o.nd there ore necessity or the opport11neness of war and times when it is equally natural to mend peace, and e,cts e,ccordingly. In this and in them, o.nd to make them serviceabllol by a.II the other examples adduced, the lesson timely repairs. Connected with the notion intended is thi…
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ne~s mentioned in rnr. 10. All pm·ts of 17, l\nd ix. 1, whern a similnr thought is this have, in God's design, e. beauty e.nd a expressed). harmony. their own season for e.ppeare.nce Ver. 12.-I know that th01·e is no good !'nd dcrnlopme~t, ~heir work to do in ca.rry- in them, but for a man to rejoice; l"llthor, rng on …
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ndcl to them {o~" t,nw h,a.TTOJO'a.1 oJ'/5~ donli11l government of God, which coulrvl3 "'f'o0'6<iva.,), neither can the ground of them events ancl places man's happiness out of be found out." God doeth it that men hie own power, one is confrontecl also by should fear before him. Ther~ is a moral purpose in this dis…
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judicial courts. or of the social and political best, with many modem commentators, to evils of which he speaks in this book. That refer the adverb to God, who has just been he had a prophetioo.l for~sight of the spoken of in the preceding clnuse. A similn.r disasters that would accompany the reign of use is found in…
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which God a.Howe in order to demonstrate vanity. The distinction between mrrn and our powerleeenees ; therefore the wisest beast is annulled by death ; the farmer's course is to make the beet of present cir- boasted superiority, his power of conceiving oumstances. e.nd J?lanning, his greatness, skill, strength, cun!1r…
958 wordsSECTION 84The Pulpit Commentary — Ecclesiastes — Section 84
iooking- nt 11H' mn1ter merely externally.and like, is powerless to control the foroee of inking noL into considemtion any higher nature nnd the providentio.l e.rr1mgements noLinn, no one knows the destiny of the of the world, his duty ancl hie happiness living powers, whether God deals differ- consist in enjoying the …
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HOMILE'l'ICS. Vers. l-9.-.7'imes and seasons; or, Heaven's order in man's a_ffafrs. I. TDJ1: EVENTS AND PURPOSES OF LIFE. 1. Great in their number. The Preacher's catalogue exhausts not, but only exemplifies, the" occupations and interests," occurrences and experieoces, that constitute the warp and woof of mortal exis…
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or withhold them from unworthy objects; or, if he be a statesman, the occasions when he shall go to war and return from it, are all predetermined by infinite wisdom. 5. Deterini71ed in t~eir durations. How long each in,lividual life shall continue (P~. xxxi. 15; Acts xvn. 26), how long each experience shall last, and h…
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each event occurs ot the time and falls into the place appointed for it by infinite wisdom. Nor is this true merely of such events as are wholly and exclusively in his power, like births and deaths (ver. 2), but of such also as to some extent at least are within man's control, as e.g. the planting of a field and the pl…
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his heart." !f the "world" be accepted as the true rendering (Jerome, Luther, Ewald>, then probably the meaning is that, though each individual carries about within his bosom in his own personality an image of the world-is, in fact, B microcosmus in which the mncrocosrous or grea.t world is mirrored-nevertheless the pr…
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I. THE PllOFOUND PRODLEM, The moral disorder of the universe. "I saw under the sun in the place of judgment t?at wickedness was there, and in the place of righteousness that wickedness was there ' (ver. 16). 1. The strange spectacle. What fascinated the Preacher's gaze and perplexed the Preacher's heart was not so m…
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not, there is something nobler in the spectacle of a man going forth with eyes open to the dread conflict with the king of terrors, than in that of a brute expiring in uncon- scious stupidity. (4) If one thinks of him dying, as he often does die, like a Christian, it will be seen more absurd than ever to assert that…
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Ruler of the world. The manifold interests of our life are not regulated by chance; for "t-0 everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven." I. LTFE'S PERIODS (ITS BEGINNING AND OLOSE) ARE APPOINTED BY GoD. The sacred- ness of birth and death are brought before us, as we are assured that…
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either toil or endurance, delight or disappointment. But in the hour of sober reflection we are constrained to admit that the pattern of the web of life is composed of many and diverse colours.. Our faculties o.nd capacities are many, our experiences are varied, for the appeals me.de to us by our enviroJ1.ment change f…
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• Ver. 14.-The purpose$ ef Providence. Different minds, observing and considering the same facts, are often very differently affected by them. The measure of previous experience aud culture, the natural disposition, the tone and temper with which men address themselves to what is before them,-all affect the conclusi…
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brute nature obeys automatic and instinctive impulse, But man is a memher of a rntional and spiritual system, whose principles be often violates in the pursuit of lower ends, In the earliest ages "the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.…
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organized matter, as a base sensationalism and empiricism is wont to affirm, the truth is that it is only as an expression and vehicle of thought, of reason, that matter has a dependent existence. 2. In his consequent immortality man is distinguished from the inferior animals. The life possessed by these latter is a li…
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II. OrroBTUNENEBB, The words of the text may suggest to ns, though the thought may not have been in the writer's mind, that some things are good or other- wise according to their timeliness. There is a time to speak in the way of rebuking, or of jesting, or of contending, and, when well-timed, such words may be right a…
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of the large landscape-and we may well be silenced, if not convinced. llut ovPn that docs not cover everything. We need to remember that we are human, and not Divine; thnt we, who are God's very little children, cannot hope to understand all that is in the rni □ d of our heavenly Father-cannot expect to fathom his holy…
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to determine the service it shall render. 2. There is a sense in which man has tem- porarily thwarted the Divine idea. For is not all sin, and are not all the dire conse- quences of sin, a sad and serious departure from the purpose of the Holy One? Surely infidelity, blasphemy, vico, cruelty, crime; surely poverty, mis…
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Vers. 1-8.-0pportuneness. Our author makes a fresh start. He drops the auto- biographic.al style of the first two chapters, and casts his thoughts into the form of aphorisms, based not merely upon the reminiscences of his own life, but upon the experi- ence of all men. He gives a long list of the events, actions, em…
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desire to be filled with this wisdom that prompts to opportune action. "If any of you lack wisdom," says St. James, "let him ask of God, that gi_veth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him" (i. 6).-J. W. Vere. 9-11.-Desiderium a!ternitatis. The thought of there being a fixed order in the e…
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Vers. H-1 i .-An argument in support of the statement that a present use and enjoyment of the gi,[ts of God is advisable, i11 found in the fact of the unchangeable character of the D1v10e purposes and government. He who has given may take away, and none can stay his hand. While, therefore, we are in possession of ben…
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the resignation ot those who believe the.t the government of the world is regular and unche.ngee.ble, because unerring wisdom gnides him who is the Creator and Preserver of all things. Their faith can sustain them in the greatest trials, when God's ways seem most inscrutable; they can hope against hope, and, in spite o…
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goeth upward," etc.? as though an ascent of the spirit to a higher life were affirmed. 'l'he rendering of the four vrincipal versions, and of all the best critics, convinces us that it is indeed a sceptical question as to the immortality of the soul that is here asked. A very similar passage is found in the great poem …
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EXPOSITION. f!iolentm, cunctorum auzi1io destitutos. It OHAPTER IV. is difficult to suppose that the state of Vers. 1-16.-Section 5. Koheletb pro- things revealed by this ver.e existed in the oeeda to give further illuatrationa of man's days of King Solomon, or that so powerful inability to be the architect of his o…
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" 'Tis best for mortals never to be born, worker; yet, however unsalisfactory the re- Nor ever see the swift sun's burning rays; sult, man must continue to labour, as idle- Next best, when born, to pass the gates of ness is ruin. death Right speedily, and rest beneath the Ver. 4.-Age.in, I ooneidered all travail, …
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o.nd in Micnh iii. 8, "Who eat the flesh of gold, the dropsy of the mind, is a common- my people " ( comp. Isa. xlix. 26), The plRce theme in classical writers. Thus slugge.rd is guilty of moral suicide ; he takes Horace,' Carm.,' iii. 16. 17- no trouble to provide for his necessities, and suffers extremities in conseq…
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trnYellers nre making their wny over a rough pitur, the Vulgate rendering, hns beoomo" road-an experience that every one must have trite s11ying; and the gnome h11s been con- had in Palestine. Vulgate, Si unus ceciderit. stantly npplied in a mystical or spiritual Of course, if both fell at the same time, one sense, …
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nvowing his folly nnd expressing his con- much straining of language, the rcfor<"nco trition, in view of his knowledge of Jero- to Jos~ph can be made good. If it is ob- boo.ni's dclog11Uon to the kingdom-the crafty jected that it cannot be said that Joseph youth of poor estate (1 Kings xi. 26, etc.), was born in the…
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2. On the assumption that there is a hereafter, it is less certain that the dead are more to be praised than the living. It depends on who the dead are, anJ. what the kind of existence is into which they have departed. (1) lf they have lived unrighteously on earth, it will not be safe, even on grounds of natural rea…
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nddition, to have been born into a sphere and condition of existence in which God's grace has been before one, and is waiting to lift one up, completely and for ever, out of that sin and misery if one will. No one accepting that grace will ever afterwards deem it a misfortune that he was born. Thomas Halyburton, the Sc…
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nuthor of all misery, one of the seven deadly sins, the cushion upon which the devil chiefly reposes, and a great cause not only of melancholy, but of many other diseases" (Burton). HI. 'J'HE SAGACIOUS MORALIZER. 1. His character defined. Neither of the two former, he is a happy mean between both. If he toils not like…
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confidence, renlizing that, should a moment come when he bas need of a second to help him up, that second will be beside him in the person of his friend. "When two together go, each for the other Is fir.t to think what best will help hi. brother: But one who walks alone, tho' wise in mincl, Of purpose slow and coun…
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tide of discontent had risen so high that they could no longer tolerr.te their senile and im becilc monarch, and their courage had waxed so valinnt as to enable them success- fully to cnrry through his deposition, they bethought themselves of the imprisoned hero who hacl espoused and was then suffering for their cause,…
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HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Ver.1.-The oppressed and the oppressor. Liberty ha8 ever been the object of human desire and aspiration. Yet how seldom and how partially has this boon been secured during the long period of human history I Especially in the East freedom ha.~ been but little known. Despotism has been and i…
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is in a habit or tendency of the mind, such as may be recognized in many who are altogether strange to speculative thinking. The pessimism of the East anticipated that of modern Europe. Though there is no reason for connecting the morbid state of mind recorded in this Book of Ecclesiastes with the Buddhism of India, b…
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Ver. 6.-The handful with quietness. '.l'he lesson here imparted is proverbial. Every language has its own way of conveying and emphasizing this practical truth. Yet it is a belief more readily professed than actually made the basis of human conduct. I, ABUNDANT MATERIAL WEALTH ATTRACTS ATTENTION AND EXCITES DES!IlE, …
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constitution of the individual's nature and of human society are evidence that the declaration regarding our first father holds good of his posterity-that is, in normal circumstances-" It is not good for the man to be alone." II. Suon COMPANIONSHIP SUPPLIES A MOTIVE AND A RECOMPENSE FOR TOIL. A man can work better, m…
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Vera. 13, 14.-Folly a worse evil than poverty. This is no doubt a paradox. For one man who seeks to become wise, there a.re a hundred who desire a.nd strive for riches. For one man who desires the friendship of the thoughtful a.nd prudent, there a.re ten who cultivate the intimacy of the prosperous and luxnrious. Stil…
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cherish such a sentiment or employ such language as this. For the disciple of Jesus Christ who really loves and follows his Divine Master has- I. CoMFORT IN HIS SORROWS. He never has reason to complain that there is "no comforter." Even if human friends and earthly consolations be lacking, there is One who fulfils hi…
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God for human companionship; we rejoice greatly that he has so '' fashioned om hearts alike," and so interwoven our human lives, that we can be much to one another. nnd do much for one another, as we go on our way. "'l'wo are better than one." 'l'h~ union of hearts and lives means- I. SHARING succEss. "They have a goo…
850 wordsSource & rights
Public domain historical Pulpit Commentary. Source page identifies the volume as Public Domain; text extracted from its historical PDF.
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.