(IV.) Chap, viii, 16-xii, 8. After the pause implied in his again arriving at the lesson of v, 15, the Preach- er retraces the last of his many wanderings. Tliis time the thought with which he starts is a profound conviction of the inability of man to unravel the mysteries by which he is surrounded (viii, 17), of the nothingness of man when death is thouglit of as end- ing all things (ix, 3-6), of the wisdom of enjoying life while we may (ix, 7-10), of the evils which affect nations or individual man (ix, 11, 12). The wide ex- perience of the Preacher suggests sharp and pointed sa}'ings as to these evils (x, 1-20), each true and weighty in itself, but not leading him on to any firmer standing-ground or clearer solution of the problems which oppress him. It is here that the traces of plan and method in the book seem most to fail us. Consciously or unconsciously the writer teaches us how clear an insight into the follies and sins of man- kind may coexist with doubt and uncertainty as to the great ends of life, and give him no help in his pursuit after trutli. In ch. xi, however, the progress is more rapid. The tone of the Preacher becomes more that of direct exhortation, and he speaks in clearer and higher notes. The conclusions of previous trains of thought are not contradicted, but are placed under a new law and broutjht into a more harmonious whole. The end of man's life is not to seek enjoyment for him- self only, but to do good to others, regardless of the un- certainties or disai)pointments that may attend his ef- forts (xi, 1-4). His wisdom is to rememl)er that there are things which he cannot know, problems which he cannot solve (xi, 5), and to enjoy, in the bright- ness of his youtli, whatever blessings God bestows en him (xi, 9). But beyond all these there lie the days of darkness, of failing powers and incapacity for en- joyment; and the joy of youtli, though it is not to be crushed, is yet to be tempered by the tliought that it cannot last forever, and that it too is subject to God's law of retribution (xi, 9, 10). The secret of a true life is that a man should consecrate the vigor of his youth to God (xii, 1). It is well to do this before tlie night comes, Ijefore the slow decay of age benumbs all the faculties of sense (xii, 2, C), before the spirit returns to God who gave it. Tlie thought of that end rings out once more the knell of the nothingness of all things earthly (xii, 8); but it leads also to "the conclusion of the whole matter," to that to which all trains of thought and all the experiences of life had been lead- ing tlie seeker after wisdom, that "to fear God and keep his commandments" was the highest good attain- able ; that the righteous judgment of God would in the end fulfil itself and set right all the seeming dis- orders of the world (xii, 13, 14). (See two articles on the plan and structure of the book of Ecdesiastes, in the Method. Quart. Rev. for April and July, 1849, modified lj}' Dr. M'Clintock from Yaihinger, in the Theol. Stud. u. Kiit. for .Tuly, 1848 ; also an article by Gurlitt in the Stud. u. Krit. for 1864, ii).
If one were to indulge conjecture, there would per-
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haps be some plausibility in the hypothesis that xii, 8 had been the original conclusion, and that the epilogue of xii, 9-14 had been added, either b}' another writer, or by the same writer on a subsequent revision. The verses (9-12) have the cliaracter of a panegyric de- signed to give weiglit to the authority of the teacher. The two that now stand as the conclusion may nat- urally have originated in the desire to furnish a clew to the perplexities of the boolc, by stating in a broad intelligible form, not easy to be mistalien, the truth which had before been latent.
If the representation which has been given of the plan and meaning of the book be at all a true one, we tind in it, no less than in the book of Job, indications of the struggle with the doubts and difficulties which in all ages of the world have presented themselves to thoughtful observers of the condition of mankind. In its sharp sayings and wise counsels it may present some striking affinity to tlie Proverbs, which also bear the name of the son of David ; but the resemblance is more in form than in substance, and in its essential character it agrees with tliat great inquiry into the mysteries of God's government which the drama of Job brings before us. There are indeed characteristic differences. In tlie one we lind the highest and bold- est forms of Hebrew poetr}', a sustained unity of de- sign ; in the other there are, as we liave seen, changes and oscillations, and the style seldom rises above the rhj'thraic character of proverbial forms of speech. The Avriter of the book of Job deals with the great mystery presented by the sufferings of the righteous, and writes as one who has known those sufferings in tlieir intens- ity. In the words of the Preacher, we trace chiefly the weariness or satietj^ of the pleasure-seeker, and tlie failure of all schemes of life but one. In spite of these differences, however, the two books illustrate eacli other. In both, though by very diverse paths, the inquirer is led to take refuge (as all great thinkers liave ever done) in the thought that God's liingdom is infinitely great, and that man knows but the smallest fragment of it ; that he must refrain from things which are too high for him, and be content with that which is given him to know — the duties of his own life, and the opportunities it presents for his doing the will of God. — Smith, s. v. There is probably a connection in the authorship or editorship of these two books tliat may to some extent account for this resemblance. See Job (Hook of).