The Pulpit Commentary — Ecclesiastes — Section 55

As Jon~ AS the world lnsts; but speaking perish" (Pe. xlix. 10). So Dnvid lamcnfs gcnemlly, obli\·ion is the_ portion of nll; the death of the mnrrlered lender, "Should pnsl<'l"it~- soon forgets the wisdom of ono and Abner die ns n fool dicth?" (2 Sam. iii. 8:J). tlie follr- of nnolher. Where the belief in Plumptre considers that the nuthor of the the futi1re life was not a strong and ani- Book of Wisdom expands this view with mating mnth·e, posthumous fame exercisPd the design of exposing its fal111cy, and 11 potent nltmction for many minds. To be introducing a better hope (oh. ii. 1-9). the founder of a long line of descendants, But that writer would not have designated or to Iea¥e a record which should be fresh Solomon's sentiments ns those of "the un- in the minds of future generations, these godly" (cl.o-,,B,i's), nor foisted these utter- were objects of intense ambition, and valued ances of sensualists and materialists upon so ns worthy of highest nspirations and best honoured a source. At the same time, it is efforts. The words of classical poets will only as being victims, nil miserantis Orci, the orcur to our memory; e.g. Horace, • Carm.,' prey of the pitiless nnd indiscriminating iii. 30. grave, that the wise and foolish are placed in the same category. There is the widest "Exegi monumentum rerc perennius .. difference between the death-beds of the Non omnis ruoriar, ruultaque pars mei two, as the experience of any one who ha1 Vitabit Libitinam." wntrhed them will testify, the one happy Odd, • Amor.,' i. 15. 4-- with the consciousness of duty done ho- nestly, however imperfectly, and bright with ec Ergo etiam, cum me supremus adederit the hope of immortality; the other darkened iguis, by vain regrets and shrinking despair, or Vivan1, parsque mei multa superste3 list.less in brutish insensibility. erit." Ver. 17.-Therefore I hated life; et id- But Koheleth shows the vanity of all such cil'co tteduit me vitlll melll. Be a man wise hopes; they are based on grounds which or foolish, his life leads only to one end and experience proves to be unsubstantial. is soon forgotten; hence life itself is burden• Though Solomon's own fame gives thfl lie to some and hateful. The hitter complaint of the statement received without limitation Job (iii. 20, etc. : vi. 8, 9) ie here echoed, ( comp. Wisd. viii. 13), yet his reflections though the words do not point to suicide as migllt well have ta.ken this tum, and the the solution of the riddle. It is the ennui writer is quite justified in putting the and unprofitableness of all life and action in thought into his month, as the king could view of the inevitable -00nclusion, which is not know bow subsequent ages would re- here lamented. Beoause the work that is gard his wisdom and attainments. Seeing wrought nnder the sun is grievous unto me ; that which now is in the days to come shall literally, for evil, unto me (Esth. iii. 9) is the all be forgotten. The clauae has been vari- work which is done under the sun. 'l'he toil ously translated. Septuagint, "Forasmuch and exertions of men pressed upon him like as the coming days, even all the things, are a burden too heavy for him to bear. Sym- forgotten;" Vulgatc, "And future timee machus, K,.,c&v µ01 ~,Piiv11 ..-b lp-yov ; Septua- shall cover all things equally with oblivion." gint, Ilov71pbv l1r' /µ/, ..-b 1ro/71µa;, ,c,..-,h. He Modern editors give, "Since in the days repeats the expression, "under the ijUn," as that are to come they are all forgotten ; " if to show that ho was regarding human •• AB in time past, so in days to come, all labour only in its earthly aspect, undertaken will be forgotten ; " "In the days which and executed for temporal and selfish con- are coming [it will be said by-and-by], siderations alone. 'l'he apostle teaohes 11, • The whole of them are Jong ago for- better lesson, and the worker who adopts his gotten.'" This is a specimen of the un- rule is saved from this crushing disappoint- certainty of exact interpretation, where ment: "Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; knowing the intended meaning is well ascertained. that of the Lord ye shall receive the recom- "All" (1,:i;,) may refer either to wise pense of the inhed tance : ye serve the Lord and foolish, or to the circ=tances of Christ" (Col. iii. 23, 24). For all is vanity. their li vee. And how dieth the wise man? as He comes back to the same miserable refrain: the fool. Better taken as one sentence, with it is all emptiness, striving o.fter wind. an exclamation, How doth the wiee man die Ver. 18.-Suoh had been hie general view tJJith ( even a.B) the fool J (For " with " ( im), of men's actions; he now brings the thought equivalent to "as," comp. eh. vii. 11; Job home to liis own case, which makes his dis- ix. 26; Pe. cvi. 6.) "How" (,"~) ie sar- ti·ess more poignant. Yea (and), I hated all castic, as lea. xiv. 4, or Morrowful, ae 2 Sam. my labour whioh I had taken nnder the sun. i. 19. The same complaint falle from a He is disgusted to reflect upon all the trouble psalmist's lips, "He seeth that wise men he he.a taken in life, when he thinks of what die; the fool and the brutish together will become of the productions of his genius ou. rt. 1-2G.] ECCLESIASTES j on, THE PREACHE[t 37