GAN’ ἐπὶ θεῷ : God who cannot change, who abides faithful, is contrasted with the uncertainty of riches which are unreal.
Ταἰωγίον DcKLP.
τῷ παρέχ. πάντα πλουσίως : cf. Acts xiv. 17.
εἰς ἀπόλαυσιν: This is a greater con- cession to the sensuous view of life than the εἰς μετάλημψιν of iv. 3. It ap- proaches the declaration of the Preacher that for a man to “eat and drink, and make his soul enjoy good in his labour
. . is from the hand of God’’ (Eccles. ii. 24), “the gift of God” (Eccles. iti. 13, ν. 19). No good purpose is served by pretending that God did not intend us to enjoy the pleasurable sensations of phy- sical life. After all, things that have been enjoyed have served their purpose; they have “perished,” yet “with the using’’ (Col. ii. 22). Obviously, they cannot take God’s place as an object of hope.
Ver. 18. ἀγαθοεργεῖν : corrects any possible misunderstanding of eis ἀπό- λαυσιν. πλουτεῖν ἐν ἔργοις καλοῖς : see note on iii. 1. Cf. εἰς θεὸν πλουτῶν, Luke xii, 21.
εὐμεταδότους: facile tribuere (Vulg.), ready to impart (cf. the use of μεταδίδωμι in Luke iii. 11; Rom. i. 11, xii. 8; Eph. iv. 28; 1 Thess. ii. 8).
κοινωνικούς: This does not mean soet- able (A.V.m.), ready to sympathise (R.V. m.), as Chrys., and Thdrt. explain it, but ταῖς χρείαις τῶν ἁγίων κοινωνοῦντες, Rom. xii. 13 (cf. Gal. vi. 6; Phil. iv. 15). A good illustration of the general sentiment is Heb. xiii. 16, τῆς δὲ εὐποιΐας καὶ κοινωνίας μὴ ἐπιλανθάνεσθε. Von Soden notes that the thought in εὐμεταδ. is of the needs of others, in κοινων. of the imparting of one’s own.
Ver.19. ἀποθησανρίζοντας: The true hoarding produces, as its first result, a good foundation, which will entitle a man to grasp the prize, which is true life, the only life worth talking about,
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ο2 Tim. i. 12, 14, Gf.