26 And I found woman more bitter than death; She is a net; Her heart is a snare, and her hands are chains: Whoso is good before God shall escape her, But the sinner shall be taken by her.
27 Behold, what I have found, saith the Preacher-- Taking things one by one to reach the result--
28 I have found one man among a thousand, But in all that number a woman have I not found:
29 Lo, this only have I found, That God made man upright, But that they seek out many devices.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: (4) _And to be indifferent to Public Wrongs._ Ch. viii., vv. 1-13.]
1 Who is like the wise man? And who like him that understandeth the interpretation of this saying? The wisdom of this man maketh his face bright, And his rude features are refined.
VER. 1. _This saying_: _i.e._ that which follows. _And his rude features_, etc. Culture lends an air of refinement to the face, carriage, manners.
2 I say then, Obey the king's commandment, And the rather because of the oath of fealty: 8?
VER. 2. _The oath of fealty._ Literally, "the oath by God." The Babylonian and Persian despots exacted an oath of loyalty from conquered races. Each had to swear by the god he worshipped.
3 Do not throw off thine allegiance, Nor resent an evil word, For he can do whatsoever he please;
VER. 3. _Do not throw off_, etc. Literally, "Do not hurry from his presence, or even stand up because of an evil word." To stand up in the divan of an Eastern despot is a sign of resentment; to rush from it a sign of disloyalty and rebellion.
4 For the word of a king is mighty; And who shall say to him, "What doest thou?"
5 Whoso keepeth his commandment will know no evil. Moreover the heart of the wise man foreseeth a time of retribution--
6 For there is a time of retribution for all things-- When the tyranny of man is heavy upon him:
7 Because he knoweth not what will be, And because no one can tell him when it will be.
VER. 7. _Because he knoweth not_; _i.e._ the tyrant does not know. The sense seems to be: Retribution is all the more certain because, in his infatuation, the despot does not foresee the disastrous results of his tyranny, and because no one can tell him when or how they will disclose themselves.
8 No man is ruler over his own spirit, To retain the spirit, Nor has he any power over the day of his death; And there is no furlough in this war, And no craft will save the wicked.
9 All this have I seen, Having applied my heart to all that is done under the sun.
VER. 9.: _All this have I seen; i.e._ all this retribution on tyrants and the consequent deliverance of the oppressed.
10 But there is a time when a man ruleth over men to their hurt. Thus I have seen wicked men buried, And come again; And those who did right depart from the place of the holy, And be forgotten in the city: This also is vanity.
VER. 10.: But the Preacher has also seen times when retributive justice did _not_ overtake the oppressors, when they _came again_ in the persons of children as wicked and tyrannical as themselves.
11 Because sentence against an evil deed is not executed forthwith, The heart of the sons of men is set in them to do evil.
VER. 11.: _Because sentence_, etc. "God does not always pay on Saturdays," says an old Italian proverb.
12 Though a sinner do evil a hundred years, And groweth old therein, Yet I know that it shall be well with those who fear God, Who truly fear before Him;