f Whoſe teſtimony is the more conſiderable, becauſe they have been conſtant eye-witneſſes of her whole Carriage,and therefore muſt - have ſeen her miſdemeannours, if there had been any,as well as her Virtues. g Either 1; In token of Reverence to her, * which agrees not to the following Clauſe, wherein the fame Phraſe is underſtood concerning her Husband, Or rather 2, That they may ſeriouſly
and induſtrieuſly apply themſelves to the work of ſetting forth her Praiſes, as this Phraſe is uſed, Gen 37: 25: Exod 2: 17, and oftelſe-+
that ſet about any work,are ſaid to riſe in order thereunto. +4 Both for her own Excellency, and for many happy fruits which - they
have gathered from her wiſe and godly Education» # In the follows ing words,
29 Many daughters & || have done virtuouſly, but || Or. bevt ' thou excelleſt them all /. PRET2
k Daughters of Men, 7.e. Women, ſo called alſo, Gen: 34: i:Ezek: Fichen 30: 18. He eftcems it bur juſt, that his Praiſes ſhould bear proc - portian to her real manifold perfeCtions, |
20 Favour m is deceitful » and beauty #s vain : bit a woman that feareth the LORD o, ſhe (hall be praiſed.
m Comlineſs, or, as thenext Clauſe explains it, Beauty: whicl»: commonly gives Women favour or accepration with thoſe who be»: hold them. Theſe are the words either z. Of her Husband cons tinving to praiſe her. Or 2. Of Batbſheba,giving the ſumm of what ſhe .had ſaid in few words. » Partly becauſe it gives a falſe repre- ſentation of the perſon, being oft times a cover to a moſt deformed ; ſoul, and to many evil and hateful qualities ; partly becauſe itdoth i not give a man that content and ſatisfation,which at firſt view he promiſed to himſelf from it ; and partly becauſe it is ſoon loſt,not only by death, but by many Diſeaſes and contingencies. « Which chara&er is here mentioned either as the Crown of all her perfe&i- ons» O 2. As a key to underſtand the foregoing paſſage of that Wiſdom, and Fidelity, and Diligence; which proceeded from;or iS accompanied with the fear of God, $5
21 Give her of the fruit of her hands p, and let her own works praiſe her q.in the gates 7. -
p Ir is bur juſt and fit tht ſhe ſhould enjoy thoſe Benefirs and Praiſes which her excellent Labours deſerve, 9 Give her the Praiſes
© m——
which her own works may challenge: Ifmen be filent,the !aſting, Eff-&s of her prudence and Diligences will loudly trumpet forth het Praiſes. r In the moſt publick and ſolemn Aſſemblies. |
"ECCLESIASERST
—— things in general are to be noted concerning this Back. 1. The Author of it ; who wat Solomon, as is manife#t both from the common Conſent of Fewiſh and Chriſtian Writers, and from the expreſs words of the firff Verſe. Nor catt © any thing be oppoſed to it, but bold andgroundleſs Conjettures. That he wrote it in his Old Age, 3t is more than probable from divers Paſiages in it, as, that he did it after his Buildings, Chap 2. 4+ which yet took up Twenty Years cf his life, I Kings 9. Io. and after ſome conſiderable enjoyment of 1hem, and planting of Gardens, and Orchards, and reaping the fruit of them, chap. 2.wv. 5.6. and after long and much conſideration and experience of all thoſe Methods in which Men ex: peed ro find Happpineſs, and after be had been deeply plunged in impure and inordingte Lowes, Chap. | 7. 27, &C. and from many other places, which may be obſerved by any diligent Reader, And ſo this Book was written by him ai g publick Teftimony of his Repentance, and Dete#tation of all theſe vain and wicked Conrſes to which be bad 5 K
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Z tg 2: | E339 which he taketh wundec the Sun 3 ?
, Heavenly places and things, _ |
Ef ©:4 One generation paileth away, and another genera- | PT. 1042 gjom 66meth'k'* bir che' earch + abideth for ever /.
--. $;: & 119; +> Men\continne but for one, and that a ſhort Age, and then they
9; t Heb.
* fandcths,
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+ and that Solomon ſpeaks ſome and moſt things in his own N
Bogy and Mind in the purivit ofRiches,or Pleaſures,or other earth-
and-therfore Man in this reſpett is more-murable & miſerable than the very Earth upen which be ſtands. And which, together with all
ra
ECCLESIASTES, addifted himſelf: wherein he followed the example of his Father David, who, after his ſad Fall, penned the Ft;
75> 4s ; ;
Plalm. And the truth of this, Qpinion may be confirmed by that Expreſſion, 2 Chron, 11. 17. they walked in the way
- of Pavid and Selemon, 1. e. wherein they walked both before their Falls, and after their Repentance. © pnerhod of ir. For whereas there are ſome Paſſages in it which may ſeem offenſive and impirus, for which ſome
few ' perſons
Chap, } ty Firſs 2.. The form or
have ſuſpeted its Authority, it muſt be conſidered, that it is in part dramatical, as was ſaid before of the Book of Proverbs. . I
7
&Me,
but ſome other things in the Names, and according to the
Opinions of thote worldly and ungodly Men," as is undeniably manifeſt both from the Scope and Deſign of the Bock, as it is ex- preſied both in the Beginning and in the Concluſion of it, and from his ſerious and Iarge Diſputaticn againſt thoſe wicked
Principles and Courſes. Aud this way of writing is not unnſual amengſt both Sacred and Prophane Friters.
Zo The Deſign
and Buſineſs of t ; which is, to deſcribe Mans true Happineſs, and the way leading to it. Which he doth Negatively, af. ferting and proving, that it is not to be found either in ſecular Wiſdom, or in ſenſual Pleaſures, or in worldly Greatneſs andGlory, or in abundance of Riches, or in a vain profeſſion of Religion ; and poſitively, ſhewing that it is to be had only þ
the Fear of God and Obedience to his Laws, which alove can give a Man a contented and chearful enjoyment of his preſent ” pi
forts, aad aſſurance of his future and everlaſting Happinels, CHAR TI
All is Vanity ; our Labour great and unprofitable, 1—— 3. The whole tourſe of things is always ging and returning, 4. 7. Nothing in Na- ture is [arisfied, 8, Nothing new © old things are forgot, 9 — 11. The
; ſearch aſter Wiſdom is it ſelf a vain Labour; cannot ſupply our natural Wants ; nor ſathfie our Deſires ; but encreaſeth Sorrow : all th the . Preacher found out by Experience, 12-=-=-18,
He words of the preaher a, The ſon of