The Pulpit Commentary — Ecclesiastes — Section 81

ndcl to them {o~" t,nw h,a.TTOJO'a.1 oJ'/5~ donli11l government of God, which coulrvl3 "'f'o0'6<iva.,), neither can the ground of them events ancl places man's happiness out of be found out." God doeth it that men hie own power, one is confrontecl also by should fear before him. Ther~ is a moral purpose in this disposal of even ls. Men the fact that there is much wickeclncss, much feel this unjformity and uncl10.nge11blenese injustice, in the world, which oppose all m the workmg of Providence and thence plans for peaceful enjoyment. Doubtless lca111 to cherish a reverential' awe for the there shall be a clay of retribution for such righteous govemment of whioh they are the iniquities ; and God allows them now in subjects. It was this feeling which l~d nnc1ent etymologists to derive etos and Deus order to try men and to teach them humi- from 15los, "fonr" (comp. Rev. xv. 3, 4). lity. Meantime man's duty and happiness Thie is.11lso a ground of hope and confidence. consist, as before said, in making the best Amid the jarring nnd fluctuating circum- nse of the present and improving the oppor- stances of men God holds the threads and tunities which God gives him. alters not hie purpose. "I the Lord change not; therefore ye, 0 sons of Jacob nre not Ver. 16.-And moreover I saw under the consumed" (Mai. iii. 6). The Vttlge.te is sun the place of judgment. Koheleth records not very successful: Non possumus eis quid- ~is c~perience of the prevalence of iniquity quam addere, nee aufen·e, qUaJ fecit Dom ut 10 _!ugh places. The place of judgment timeatur, "W~- cannot add anything unto, (mishpat); where justice is administered. or take anythrng a.way from, those things The accentuation allows (cf. Gen. i. I) this which God hath made tllat he may be to be regarded as the object of the verb. feared." The Revised Version, with Hitzig, Ginsburg, Ver. 15.-The.t which hath been is now· and others, take c1pt:i as an adverbial ell• so Septuagint; " That which bath bee~ pressio~ equh-e.~cnt to" in the place." '.rhe made,. the same remaineth" (Vulgate); former 1B the simpler constrnction. " And ~etter, tha_t ·1ohi~h hath been, long ago it 'is; moreover," at the commencement of the r.o. wns 1D e:us!euce long before. • The verse, looks back to ver. I0," I havesetn the thought is much the same as in ·eh. i. 9, travail," etc. That wickedness (reslia) was only here it is adducetl not to prove the ~ere. 01:1, t1!-e judicial aco.t iniquity so.t vanity and 1:ndless sameness of circum- mstend of Justice. The place of righteous- stau_ces, but the orderly e.ncl appointed suc- n:ess (tsedeh). ''Righteousness" is the pecu- cess1~m of events under the controlling liar chamcterietic of the judge himself RS prov1clcnco of God. That which is to be "justice " is of bis decisions. 'fhat iniqci.ty bath already been. The future will be o. (resha) was there. The word ought to be reproduction of the past. The laws which tmnslutcd "wickedness" or "iniquity" in regulate things change not ; the ·more.I both clauses. . The Septuagint takes the government is exercised by him who "is abstract for the conci-eto, and nt the entl ond was, n!1d is to co~e" (Rev. i. 8), and ho.a apparently introduced a clerical error theroforo 111 effect history repeats itself; which hns been perpetuated in the Ar-Jbi~ the same causes _produce the ~me phe110- and elsewhere, "And moreover I saw 1~erm. God reqwreth that which is past; under the sun the pfoce of judgment, thero htornlly, God seel,eth after that iohich hatl1 was !he ungodly ( a.u•/311•) ; nnd the pince of been chased away; Septuagint, " God will the righteous, there was the godly(e/,ue/3f,r)." 11eek him who is pursued (Tbv 5,wK6µevov);" 'Fhe Complntensinn Polyglot rno.ds a.0"•/31is 111 ~oth pll\ces. It is impossible to har- Vulgnte, "God reneweth that which is pa~sed (ills!aurat quod a~iit)." The meo.ning ~?DJZ? these st,,tements of oppression nntl 11-:'"God brmg~ bock to view, recalls agnin iuto lllJUStl~e. here aud_ elsewhere (e.g. eh. iv. 1; berng, that winch was post and had vanished v. 8; vm. 9, 10) with Solomou's nuthorship out of sight nrid mind. The sentence is an of the book. It is contrary to fact tlmt suoh ellple.nati.on of the preceding clauses, nnd a corrupt state of things existed in bis time has nothlDg to do with the inquisition nt a_nd in w_riting_tllus he would be uttering~ the day of judgment. Hengetenberg has libel agamst himself. If he w11s cognizo.nt followed tl~eSeptuagint,Syriac,and Te.rgum, of such evils in his kingdom, he had uothing m tmns!atrng, ".God seeks the persecuted," to do but to put them down with a lligh hand. and eeemg herem an ollueion to the punish- There is nothing to lead to the belief tho.t ho ment of the Egyptinns for pursuing the is · speo.kiug of other countries o.nd other Ismelil.es to the Red See., or a general stale• times; he is stating his own personal e:x:peri- nient tho.t God succours the oppressed. Dut en.ce of what goes on nround him. It is true this idea is quite alien to the intention of that in. Solomon's latter days disaffection tho pass!lge, o.n_d injures the coherence. eeoretly _. prevailed, and the people felt his yoke grievous (1 Kings xii. 4); but there i1 Vers.16-22.-Acknowlodging the provi- no eviclence of the existence of corruption in  64 ECCLESIASTES; OR, THE PREAOHER. [en. m. 1-22.