[Sidenote: _The Quest in Wealth. He who makes Riches his Chief Good is haunted by Fears and Perplexities_: Ch. vi., vv. 1-6.]
1 There is another evil which I have seen under the sun, And it weigheth heavily upon men:
2 Here is a man to whom God hath given riches and wealth and abundance, So that his soul lacketh nothing of all that it desireth; And God hath not given him the power to enjoy it, But a stranger enjoyeth it: This is vanity and a great evil.
3 Though one beget a hundred children, And live many years, Yea, however many the days of his years, Yet if his soul be not satisfied with good, Even though the grave did not wait for him, Better is an abortion than he:
4 For this cometh in nothingness and goeth in darkness, And its memory is shrouded in darkness;
5 It doth not even see and know the sun: It hath more rest than he.
6 And if he live twice a thousand years and see no good:-- Do not both go to the same place?
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[Sidenote: _For God has put Eternity into his Heart_; Ch. vi., vv. 7-10.]
7 All the labour of this man is for his mouth; Therefore his soul cannot be satisfied:
8 For what advantage hath the wise man over the fool, Or what the poor man over the stately magnate?
VER. 8. _The magnate._ Literally, "he who knoweth to walk before the living;" some "great person," some man of eminent station, who is much in the eye of the public.
9 It is better, indeed, to enjoy the good we have Than to crave a good beyond our reach: Yet even this is vanity and vexation of spirit.
VER. 9. _To enjoy the good we have_, etc. Literally, "Better is that which is seen by the eyes (the present good) than that which is pursued by the soul (the distant and uncertain good)."
10 That which hath been was long since ordained; And it is very certain that even the greatest is but a man, And cannot contend with Him who is mightier than he.
[Sidenote: _And much that he gains only feeds Vanity;_]
11 Moreover there are many things which increase vanity: What advantage then hath man?
[Sidenote: _Nor can he tell what will become of his Gains._]
12 And who knoweth what is good for man in life, The brief day of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow? And who can tell what shall be after him under the sun?
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[Sidenote: _The Quest in the Golden Mean. The Method of the Man who pursues it._ Ch. vii., vv. 1-14.]
1 A good name is better than good nard, And the day of death better than the day of one's birth:
2 It is better to go to the house of mourning Than to the house of feasting, Because this is the end of every man, And the living should lay it to heart:
VER. 2. "Because _this_ is the end;" _i.e._ the death bewailed in the house of mourning.
3 Better is serious thought than wanton mirth, For by a sad countenance the heart is bettered:
4 The heart of the wise therefore is in the house of mourning, But in the house of mirth is the heart of fools.
5 It is better for a man to listen to the reproof of the wise Than to listen to the song of fools;
6 For the laughter of fools is like the crackling of thorns under a pot: This also is vanity.
VER. 6. _The laughter of fools_, etc. There is a play on words in the original which cannot be reproduced in English. Dean Plumptre, following the lead of Delitzsch, proposes as the nearest equivalents, "As crackling nettles under kettles," or "As crackling stubble makes the pot bubble."