The Pulpit Commentary — Ecclesiastes — Section 106

o.nd in Micnh iii. 8, "Who eat the flesh of gold, the dropsy of the mind, is a common- my people " ( comp. Isa. xlix. 26), The plRce theme in classical writers. Thus slugge.rd is guilty of moral suicide ; he takes Horace,' Carm.,' iii. 16. 17- no trouble to provide for his necessities, and suffers extremities in consequence. Some " Cre~ceutem seqnitur cura pecuniam, see in this verse and the following an objec- Mu.Jornmque fa.mes." tion and its answer. There is no occu.sion And Juvenal,' Bat.,' xiv. 138- for this view, and it is not in keeping with " Interea pleno qunm turget sacculus ore, the context; but it contains an intimation of Crescit amor nummi, quantum ipse. pecuniB the true exposition, which makes ver. 6 a crevit." prol"erbial statement of the sluggard's posi- tion. The verbs in the text are participial in Neither, saith he, J!'or whom do I labour, form, so that the Vulgo.te rendering, which and bereave my soul of good 1 The origin e.! supplies a. verb, is quite admissible: Btultua is more dramatic tha.u the Authorized Version complicat manus sucu, et oomedit carnea suas, or the Vulgate, Nu reoogitat, dicena, Cui dicens : Melior est, etc. laboro, etc.? The writer suddenly puts him- Ver. 6.-Better is a. handful with quietneee; self in the place of the friendless miser, and literally, better a hand full of rut. Than exclaims," And for whom do I labour," etc.? both the hands full with travail and vexation We see something similar in ver. 15 and of spirit; litera.lly, than two hands full of eh. ii. 15. Here we cannot find any definite travail, etc. This verse, which has been allusion to the writer's own circumstances. variously interpreted, is most simply regarded The clause is merely a lively personification as the fool's defence of his indolence, either expressive of strong sympathy with the expressed in his own words or fortified by a. situation described (comp. eh. ii. 18). Good proverbial saying. One open hand full of may mean either riches, in which case the quietness a.nd rest is preferable to two closed denial to the soul refers to tile enjoyment bands full of toil and vain effort. The verse which wealth might afford, or happiness and must not be ta.ken as the writer's we.ruing comfort. The Septuagint has il.ya8w<Tv"'1J•, ogainst sloth, which would be out of place "goodness," "kindness "-which gives quite here, but a.s enunciating a. maxim age.inst a different and not so suite.hie an idea. Sora discontent and thC\t restless activity which travail; o. sad business,a. woeful employment. is never satisfied with moderate returns. Ver. 9.-Koheleth dwells upon the evils Vera. 7-12.-Thirdly, avarice causes iso- of isolation, and contrasts with them the comfort of compnnionship. Two are better lo.tion and e. sense of insecurity, and brings than one. Literally, the clause refers to the no se.tisfe.clion. two and the one mentioned in the pre- Ver. 7.-Then I returned. Another re- ceding verse (' A-ya8ol al 6vo w<p -r&v lva, flection serves to confirm the uselessness of Septuagint); but the gnome is true in hume.n efforts. The vanity under the &Ull general. "Two heads are better than one," is now avarioe, with the evils that accom- says our proverb. :Beau.use (asher here con- pany it. junctive, not relative) they h&Ve a good Ver. 8.-There is one alone, and there is reward for their labour. The joint labours not a aeoond; or, without a second-a solitary of two produce much more eft'ect than the being, without ~artner, relation, or. friend. efforts of a solitary worker. Companionship Here, he says, is another instance of man's is helpful and profitable. Ginsburg quotes inability to secure his own happiness. Wealth tho rabbinical sa.yiug~, "Either friendship indeed, is supposed to make friends, such as or death; '' and "A man without friends is they are; but miserliness and greed separate like a left band without the right." Thus o. man from his fellows, make him suspicious the Greek gnome- of every one, and drive him to live alone, •An,p -y/1.p Av6pa, ttal ,ro,\ .. ITC:,,.. ,ro,\111. churlish o.nd unhappy. Yea, he hath neither ohild nor brother; no one to share his wee.Ith, "Man helps his fellow, city city save~ ... or for whom to save and amass riches. To X•lp x•ipa vl1r-r•• lid.tt-rv,\os -r< litltt-rv,\av. apply these words to Solomon himself, who ho.d brothers, and one son, if not more, is " Hand clel\nseth band, and finger cleo.nseth manirestly inappropriate. They may pos- finger." eibly refer to some circumstance in the (Comp. Prov. xvii.17; xxvii. 17; Ecclns. vi. wiiter'e own life; but of that we know 14.) So Christ eont out his nposlles two ,rnd nothing. Yet is there no end of all his two (Mark vi. 7). labour. In spite of this isolation he plies his Ver. 10.-Koheleth illustrates tile benefit weary task, and ceases not to board. Neither of assooiation by certain familiar examples. is his eye satisfied with riohea; so tha~ _he is J!'or if the:, fall, the one will lift up his content with wila.t he has (comp. eh. 11. 10; fellow. If one or the other fall, the com- Prov. xxvii. 20). The insl\tiable thirst for panion will aid him. The iuea is the.t two  ECCLESIASTES ; OR, 'l'HE PREACHER. [cu. 1v. 1-16.