The Pulpit Commentary — Ecclesiastes — Section 105

" 'Tis best for mortals never to be born, worker; yet, however unsalisfactory the re- Nor ever see the swift sun's burning rays; sult, man must continue to labour, as idle- Next best, when born, to pass the gates of ness is ruin. death Right speedily, and rest beneath the Ver. 4.-Age.in, I ooneidered all travail, earth." and every right work. The word rendered "right" is kishron (see on eh. ii. 21), and (<;Jomp. , Soph., '~d; _Col.,' 1225-1228.) means rather " dexterity,''" success." Kohe- Cicero, Tusc. Diep., 1. 48, renders some leth says that he reflected upon the industry lines from a lost play of Euripides to the that meu exhibit, and the skill e.nd dexterity !lame effed- with which they ply their incessant toil. " Nam nos decebat, omtus celebmntes, There is no reference to moral rectitude in domum the reflection, and the allusion to the ostra- Lugere, ubi esset aliquis in lucem editus, cism of Aristides for being called "Just" over- Huma:nm vitm ve.ria repute.ate, male.; shoots t~e mark (see Wordsworth, in loo.). At qm le.bores morte finisset graves, Septue.gmt, rrl,JJ.1'a.Ua.P av6plav TOU 1'01~JJ.a.TOS Hunc omni e.micos le.ude et lmtitie. ex- " all manliness of his work." That for thi; scqui." e. man is envied of his neighbour. Kinah may mean either "object of envy" or "envi- Herodotus (v. 4) relates how some of the ous rivalry;" i.e. the clause may be translated Thre.cie.ns bad a custom of bemoaning e. as above,or,e.s in the Revised Version margin, birth and rejoicing at a death. In our own "it cometh of e. man's rivalry with hie neigh- Burial Service we thank Go:l for delivering bour." The Septuagint is ambiguous, •o.-, the departed '' out of the miseries of this av:o _(,i>..os av6pos a1ro 'l'OU l.-alpov av.-ou, "That sinful world." Keble alludes to this bar- thlB 1B e. man's envy from his comrade;" Vul- barian custom in his poem on • The Third ge.te, IndUBt.-ias animadverti patere invidia, Sunday after Easter.' Spee.king of a prozimi, "Lay open to a neighbour's envy." Christian mother's joy at a child's birth, he In the first case the thought is that unusual says- ~kill _and s~ccess expose a man to envy and " No need for her to weep 111 will, which rob labour of all enjoyment. Like Thre.cie.n wives of yore, In the second case the writer says that tliie Save when in rapture still and deep superiority and dexterity o.ristl from a mean Her thankful heart runs o'er. motive,e.n envious desire to outstrip e. neigh- They mourned to trust their treasure on bour, and, based on such low ground, can lead the me.in, to nothing but vanity and vexation of spirit, a striving after wind. The former explana- Sure of the storm, unknowinrr of their guide: 0 tion seems more in e.ccorde.nce with Kohe- Welcome to her the peril and the pain, leth's gloomy view. Success itself is no For well she knows the home where tliey guarantee of happiness; the me.lice and ill may safely hide." feeling which it invariably occasions are necrssarily e. source of pain and distress. (See on eh. vii I ; comp. Gray' s ode ' On a Ver. 5.-The connection of this verse with Prospect of Eton College ; ' and for the the preceding is this: e.ctivity, diligence, classical notion concerning life and death, e,nd skill indeed bring success, but succeas see J'.le.to, 'Le.ches,' p. 195, D, Eqq.; is accompanied by se.d results. Should we, 'Gorgie.s,' p. 512, A.) The Buddhist reli- then, sink into ape.thy, relinquish work, let gion does not recommend suicide as e.n escape things slide? Nay, none but the fool (kesil), from the evils of life. It indeed regards man the insensate, half-brutish man, doth this. e.s master of his own life; but it considers The fool foldeth his hands together. The suicide foolish, e.s it merely transfers a man's attitude expresses laziness and disinclination position, the thread of life having to be for active labour, like that of the sluggard taken up again under less favoure.blecircum- in Prov. vi. 10. And ee.teth his own 11esh. stanC"es. See • A Buddhist Catechism ' by Ginsburg, Plumptre, and others fake these Subhadre. Bhikshu (London: Redway, 1890). words to mean "and yet eats his meat," i.e. Who hath not Been the evil work that is gets that enjoyment from his sluggishness done under the sun. He repeats the worde, which is denied to active diligence. They "under the sun," from ver. l, in order to show refer, in proof of this interpretation, to Exod. thut he is speaking of facts that came under xvi. 8; xxi. 28; Isa. xxii. 13; Ezek. xxxix. liiB own rc,gard-outwe.rd phenomi,ne. which 17, in which pu.sse.ges, however, the phrase 11-oy thougbiful observer might notice (eo is never equivalent to "eating his food." 1tga.in ver. 7). 'fhe expression is really equivalent to "destroys himself,'' "brings ruiu upon him- Vere. 4-6.-Secondly, success meets with self." Thus we have ili Ps. xxvii. 2, "Evil- envy, and produces no le.sting good to the doers came upon me to eat up my flesh;" ea. tv. 1-lG.) ECCLESIASTES; OR, THE PREACHER.