PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Pulpit Commentary — Ecclesiastes
William J. Deane [1853-1943] · 304,106 words · 327 reading sections
The Pulpit Commentary — Ecclesiastes — Section 121
II. INTEREST. To know, to love, to serve God,-this is our highest and truest interest. 1. It means the possession of his Divine favour; and that surely is much, not to say everything, to us. 2. It constitutes our real, because our spiritual, well-being; it causes us thereby and therein to realize the ideal of our human…
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22) to be the only good for man, but now he finds that even that is not always to be secure~. '!'here are evils and miseries that afflict his fellows, against which he cannot shut hie eyes. A vulgar sensualist might drown sorrow in the wine-cup, but he cannot. "Hie merriment is spoiled by the thought of the misery of o…
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teaching of Buddhism. The spectacle of miseries of old age, disease, and death, drovo the Jndian prince, Cakya Mouni, to find in Nirvana (annihilation, or unconscious existence) a solution of the great problem. But both are superseded by the teaching of Christ, who gives us to understand that "not to have been born" is…
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while those of moderate, chastened desires can both be diligent in business and mindful of their higher interests; they can labour assiduously without losing that tranquillity of spirit and peace of mind which are essential to happiness in life.-J. W. Vers. 1-12.-Friendship a gain in life. A new thought dawns upon our…
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And theretore for the miser to toil like a mere slave, when he might save himself the trouble, is an evidence of how blinded he is by the vice to which he is addicted. 2. A second cause of the miser's folly is his ignoring the fact that riches have only value wh~ made use of. The mere accumulation of them is not eno…
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the intensity, but upon the perversion of affection, and leads to a purer, holier, and moro satisfying exercise of affection. That Obrist, whose love was universal, did not discourage friendship is evident from the fact that he chose twelve disciples, and admitted them to a closer intimacy with himself than others enjo…
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met his <loath iit tho hands of his exasperated subjects, and the other two, after deep humiliations, died in exile. II. The second instance of st.range vicissitude is that of ONE WHO STEPS FROM A DU:KGEOK TO A THRONE. It is by his wisdom that he raises himself to the p)aco of ruler o,·cr t.hc neglected community. Fro…
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house of Jehovo.h" (1 811.m. i. 7; 2 8nm. Iii. probably of the prophets, formed a. fenture 20), and this name is commonly applied to of the temple service in Kohelcth's day; the temple; e.g. I Kings iii. I ; 2 Chron. viii. the expouncling of the same in public was 16; Ezra iii. 11. But "house of Goel" is confined to…
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and thoughtfnlnoss (comp. Pa. oxv. S, 16; by our Lord iu the sermon on the mount Isa. 1v. 8, 9 ; !xvi. 1). Therefore let thy (Matt. v. 33), "Thou ehalt not forswear thy- words be few, as becomes one who speaks self, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine in the awful presence of God. Ben-Sim oaths," wna probably levo…
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to "thyself," the whole persono.lity, the ide11 objectlees, while the evo.~ion of e. solemn of the flesh, ae a distinct pnrt of the mo.n, promise made in the No.me of God might sinning, being a.lien from Old Testo.ment well be said to be done in the presence of ontology. The injunction meo.ns-Do not, tho observing a…
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it is natural to turn to faults in the ad- is a. far more satisfactory oxphint1tion of the ministration of the king (Prov. xxiv, 21). passage than that wllicli regards us the li.ohelelh h1ts already alhlded to these highest of all "the court favourites, king's nnom1tlies in eh. iii. 16 and iv. 1. Violent friends, eu…
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the Authorized Version, the idea is that the "Creverunt et opes et opum f-ariosa. cupido, profit of the soil extends to every rank of Et, quum possideant plura, plura volnnt," life·; even the king, who seems superior to "A.s wealth increo.ses grows the frenzied all, is dependent upon the industry of the thirst people, …
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cattle; so that I seem to myself to have nor any other circu rustance of this nature, more afflictions in my abundance than I had are so generally wout to mako sleep sweet when I was poor. . . . It is obligatory ou and pleasant, as that of labouring, nnd grow- him who possesses much to expend much ing weary, and lyi…
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I have seen under the sun (so var. 16). "No wealth thou'lt take to Acheron's dark 'fhe fnct that follows ie, of course, not uui- shore, verso.11:r true, but occaeionolly seen, and ie a Naked, th' infernal bark will bear thee very bitter evil. The 80ptu11gint calla it o'er." d#wrr.-l11; the Vulgate; infirmitas. Riches k…
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ex.pressed by St. Paul (1 Tim. vi. 9), "They is anacoluthic, like eh. iii. 13, nnd mo.y best-, tl.rnt desire (ffou7'.6µ.,vo,) to be rich fe.11 into bo rendered, Also for every man to w1win ... n temptation and n snnro, and many foolish this is a gift of G ~d. . Ginsburg ~onnects and hurlful lusts, snch us drown men the…
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HOMILETICS. Vers. 1-7.-Vanities in worship. • I. IRREVERENCE. Specially exhibited in enter- ing upon Divine service. Discommended and rebuked as: 1. Inconsistent with the sanctity of the place of worship-the house of God. Wherever men convene to offer homnge to the Divine Being, in a magnificent cathedral or in a humb…
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without calm forethou~ht and deliberation P Moreover, it is inconsistent with the real nature of prayer, which is a making known to God of the soul's needs ,vith thankful acknowledgment of the Divine mercies; and how can one either state his own wants or record God's mercies who has never taken time to investigate t…
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Vers. 8, 9.-The picture of an ideal state. I. THE SOIL WELL CULTIVATED. As the land of a country is its principal source of wealth, where this is left untilled only desti- tution to the people upon it can ensue. Access to the broad acres of earth, to extract therefrom by means of labour the treasures therein deposited,…
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Yers. S-17.-.A sermon on the vanity of richea. I. FREQUENTLY ACQUJnB:D BY WRONG, As, for instance, by oppression _a.ud robbery ~er. 8). That honest l~b~uf sometimes. lca,ls to af!luencc C-'lnnot be clcmcil (Pcov. x. 4 ; more often, µowever, 1t.1s the ungodly who incrc8se in riches (Ps. lxxiii. 12), aud t 1at, too, by m…
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and depicting the sl:iepherd's "wonted sleep under a fresh tree's shade" as "far beyond a prince's delicates " (' Henry VI.,' act ii. sc. 5). IV. NOT SELDOM DISAPPOINT THE HOPES THEY HAVE RAISED. 1. The hope of never- failing happiness. The rich man hopes that in future years bis wealth will be to him a source of comf…
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HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. It is evident that the services of th_e pious Ver. 1.-The temple and the worshippers. Israelites were byno means merely sacrificial and ceremonial. There is a reflective and intellectual character attributed to the approach of the Hebrew worshippers to their God. The practical admoniti…
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such ne becomes the sinner in addressing a holy God, whose Law bas been broken, whose favour has to be implored. 3. .A spirit of attentive and submissive ~aring. "Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth,'' is language becoming to the lowly and reverent worshipper; he shall be made acquainted with God's Law, and he shall r…
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feeling. The language of Peter to Ananias expresses this aspect. of the proceeding: "\Vbiles it remained, did it not remain thine own? and after it was eold, was it not in thy power?" III. THE OBLIGATION OF THEl vow. It is questionable whether vows are in all oases expedient. A vow to act sinfully is certainly not …
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Ver. 9.-T!,e earth and man. Whatever obscurity may attach to the interpretation of this verse; in any case it represents the dependence of the inhabitants of earth upon the produce of the soil. I. THE FACT OF THE BOUNTEOUSNESS OF TIIE FRUITFUL EARTH. I. Man's body is fashioned out of its dust. Whatever may have bee…
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who earns and eats his daily bread, and depends for to-morrow's supply upon to-morrow's toil, sleeps s"·eetly; whilst the capitalist and investor are wakeful by reason of many anxieties. A ship richly freighted may be wrecked, and the cargo lost; a company in which large sums have been invested may fail; a miuo of prec…
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encrifice (ver.1), and (2) the repetition of devotional phrases. We may find a. Christian parallel in the reception of sacraments, and in the "prayers" and psalmody of the Church. We know that the purest spirituality may breathe in these, and may be nourished by these, but we know also (1) that they may fail to express…
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to a heavenly home, who look forward to a "crown of life," can afford to wait for our heritage.-0. Vere. 15, 16.-The differenr,e at de,a,th. Even when we have been long looking for the departure of one whose powers as well as his days are spent, his death, when it does come, makes a great difference to us. Between lif…
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convictien that in obedience to God and in communion with him peaco and satisfaction may be found, forbid his saying of genuine religion that it is "vanity and vexation of i,pirit." So far as the spirit of his exhortation is concerned, it is applicable to all forms of worship, but we find some difficulty in ascertai…
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of himself, to correct what in him is faulty. The la.tter returns again and again to examine himself in the faithful glass, for the purpose of removing those stains which it may show are upon him. 'l'his reverence of manner and spirit and this love of righteousness a.lone give value to worship; omission of them through…
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Ver. 8.-.A misgoverne,d state. From the follies only too prevalent in the religious world, the Preacher turns to the disorders of the political; and although he admonishes his readers in a later section of the book (eh. viii. 2) to be mindful of the duties to which they are pledged by their oath of allegiance, it is ve…
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his own day (Wright), There is nothing very heroic or inspiring in the counsel. It is simply an admonition, based on prudence, to escape personal danger by stolidly submitting to evils which one's own power can do nothing to abolish or alleviate, To those who under an Oriental despotism had become hopeless and dispirit…
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wise counsels and warning it contains. The gross and presumptuous frame of mind, which would lead any to laugh at the drawbacks upon wealth as imaginary, when compared with the happiness they think it must secure, deserves severe censure, Both rich and poor may draw appropriate lessons from the Preacher's words: the…
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CHAPTER VI. (Luke xii. 19) the rich fool says to his soul, "Soul, thou hast much goods la.id up for Vers.1-6.-Section 9. Koheleth proceeds many years." In the supposed case the man to illustrate the fact which he stated a.t the is able to procure for himself everything end of the last chapter, viz. tha.t the posses- …
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supplied (comp. l Se.m. ii. 5; Jer. xv. 9). The lot of the rioh mnn in question is pro- 'l.'o have e. large family was 1·egarded as a claimed with ever-increasing misery. Ho grent blessing. The "hundred" is e. roui:id cannot enjoy his possessions; he 'has none number, though we read of some fathers who to whom to le…
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The·" good" is the enjoyment of life spoken the deeper, more spiritual. and therefore of iu var. 8 (see on oh. ii I). The specified more lllSting _kind of joy." But no such time seems to refer to the age of the contra.st ia intendecl; the writer would never pntriarohs, none of whom, from Adam to have uttered such a tru…
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he.a insatie.ble desires which he has to check fying. Commentators refer ·in illustration or oonoeal, and so is no better off than the fool, to the fable of the dog e.nd the shadow, and who equally is unable to gratify them. The the proverb, " A. bird in the hund is worth two extremities of the social scale are taken t…
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lf119ponrot, " It is known what me.n is ; " decree, they hold that man bas the power Vulge.te, Et Bcitur quod homo sit. But it is of assent, supposing tba.t God tempers e.ll not the nature of man that is in question, in such sort, that by his ordinance and but bis conclitioned state. Neither may he man's will all thing…
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'Opw "Yttp ~µas ov6~v llvra.s ll.M.o ,r;\¾)v Gre~k iuffuence in the employment of the Er/10,,;1.', 8cro17r<p (wµ,v, ~ 1to6<1J71v 1r1t1d.11. expression here. For who oan tell a man "In this I see tha.t we, a.11 we tha.t live, what shall be after him under the sun 1 Are but va.in shadows, unsubstantial This does not re…
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long, but bee no true enjoyment of bis good fortune, and when he dies is denied the glory of a funeral such ee Dives doubtless had (Luke xvi. 22), and the shelter of a gta.ve such BB we.a not withheld even from Lazarus, How he should come at last to heve -no buriel, though not explained, may be supposed to happen eit…
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Vers. 10-12.-Four aspects of human life. L MAN AB A OREATUllE OF DESTINY. "Whatsoever ha.th been, the name thereof was given long a.go, and it is known that it is man" (ver. 10); or, "Whatsoever he be, his name was given him long a.go, and it is known that be is man" (Revised Version margin); or, "That which hath be…
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thoughts: 1. That mighty as man is (in virt111i of his free-will), there is a mightier than ht1. That mightier is not death (Plumptre), but God (Delitzsch), who also is e. Being possessed of free-will, which must still less be interfered with by man's choices and intentions, than man's free-will must be impaired by God…
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Christ the human and Divine natures were and are united does. The best proof of this lies in the number of the theories of the Incarnation. 3. The contents of the atonement, That Christ, as a matter of fact, bore the sins of men so as to expiate their guilt and destroy their power, one can tell from the general teno…
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Vers. 3-6.-The gloom of disappointment. The case supposed in these verses is far more painful than that dealt with in the preceding passage. It is now presumed that a man not only lives to an advanced age-" a thousand years twlce told "-but that he begets "a hundred children." Yet he is unsatisfied with the experience …
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of earth suggestions of the heavenly realities. The storms of life are not to be hated if they toss the navigator of earth's sea into the haven of God's breast. The wanderin(J' of the desire may end in the sight of the eyes, when the pure in.J!eart shall see God~ "In his presence is fulness of joy, and at his right han…
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OF EXPERIENCE. 1. The occupations and enjoyments of the present are proved to be productive of vanity. "Many things increase vanity." Man "spendeth his vain lifo as a shadow." The several objects of human pursuit agree only in their failure to afford the satisfaction that is desired and sought. Yet the path which one…
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11pproves, and the angele of God admire. 4. Moves on to a. glorious future. It does not end in the grave.-0. Ver, 10.-Heroism; infatuation; wisdom. Translating the latter part of thi! passage thue, "And it is very certain that even the greatest is but man, and cannot contend with him who is mightier than he" (Cox), …
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of life. "The abortion has the advantage in not having known anything; for it is better to know nothing at all than to know nothing but trouble. It is laid in the grave without having tasted the miseries of human life; in the grave, where, a.mid the silence and solitude of death, the cares and disappointments, the disq…
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(Delitzech). The question accordingly is-What advantage has the wise over the fool? and what the poor, who, although poor, knows how to maintain his social position? '!'he matter trea~ of is the insatiable nature of sensual desire. The wise seeks to control his desire; he who is spoken of as poor knows how to concea…
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believe that Christ took away his power, and that in his triumphant resurrection we have the pledge of everlasting life. And the one great lesson taucrht by the Church's history is that God has chosen the weak things of the world to coifound the strong. III. ANOTHER 0AUBE OF GRIEF WAB THE FLEETING CHARACTER OF LIFE. "…
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of the luxuries lavished at feaets and costly seriousness, aud the need of prcpamtion for entertainments, or sooia.l visits (see eh. ix. 8; death. The opposite side, the house of Ruth iii. 3; Ps. xiv. 8; Amos vi. 6; Wisd. carousal, where all thRt is serious is put ii. 7; Luke vii. 37, 46). It was a man's away, leadin…
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uees of tho face the heart bccometh fair;" a sir," which Wright expresses by trans- i.e. sorrow beautifies the soul, producing, as lating, "Like the noise of the nettles under it wero, comeliness, spiritual bea.uty, and, in the kettles." In the East, e.nd where wood the end, aerener happiness. The Vnlge.te is scarce, t…
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of 'l'l"isdom, m9kes him no bett.er than a fool inflated, conceited man, who thinks all must (comp. Hos. i,·. 11, '\'\"here the same effect is be nrrnnged according to hie notions is never ntt.ributed to whoredom and drunkenneas). resig_ncd or cont.ent, but rebels ag~inst the The Septuagint has, a,ro,\,\110"1 T¾iv Ka.p…
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When he wns boy, now ever blaming rather, and an ad'l/antage for thoae that sea youth." the sun. However useful wealth may be, And 'Epiet.,' ii. I. 22- wisdom is that which is really beneficial to all who Ii ve and rejoice in the light ot " .. , et nisi qum terris semote. euieque day. In Homer the phrase, 6piiv q,&m…
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e:i.:prcssion {o,o,ro,{ira, reMlls the words of atmosphere of) good;" Vulgate, In die bona Christ, "As the Father raiseth the dead frue1·e bonis, "In a good day enjoy your good and quickeneth ((,.,o,ro,ei') them, even so tho thing~." But in the day of adversity oonsider; Son 11lso quiokeneth whom he will;" "It is in…
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One does not see why this should be o. com- days of my vanity. Kohelotb gives his fort, nor how it is compatible with God's own experience of an anomalous condition known counsel of making the condition of which often obtains in hnman affairs. the future life dependent upon the conduct "All," being hero defined by the …
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He sees that length of days is not always a meaning of the special form of the verb here blessing, and that retribution awaits the used (hithp. of ccrii), and Plumptre sup- evil beyond the grave (Wisd. i. 9; iii. poses that the author intends thereby to 4, 10; iv. 8, 19, etc.). Abel perished in express the spiritunl…
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general intention, "Be not righteous nor wise wickedness, which, o.s we have seen, is not to excess; be not wicked nor foolish to ex- the meaning. St. Gregory, indeed, who uses cess." Septue.gin t, " Be uot very wicked, a.nd the La.tio Version, notes the.t to fear God is be not stubborn (<11<i1:r1p&s)." Why shouldes…
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we.r, like David's heroes, but rulers of his 'Advancement of Leo.rning,' vm. 2, sagacity, prudent statesmen, whose moral where he notes the prudence of Pompey, force is far gTeat.er and more efficacious than who burned nll the po.pers of Sartorius un- any merely physical excellence (comp. eh. read, oonte.ining, as they…
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stances: he wants a philosophy or theosophy. here implies that he gave up himself with Hie desire is expressed by his imitator in the all earnestness to the investigation. Un- Book of Wisdom (ix,), "0 God of my fathers, ee.tiafe.ctory e.s his quest had been hitherto, •.. give me Wisdom, that eitteth by thy he did no…
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page with proverbs and gnomes uttered good (eh. ii. 26, where see note) shall have in disparagement of woman by men of grace to avoid these seductions. But the all ages and countries. Men, having the sinner shall be taken by her; i'l;i, '' in her," mnking of such apothegms, have used their in the sue.re which is her…
982 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.