The Pulpit Commentary — Ecclesiastes — Section 129

and thoughtfnlnoss (comp. Pa. oxv. S, 16; by our Lord iu the sermon on the mount Isa. 1v. 8, 9 ; !xvi. 1). Therefore let thy (Matt. v. 33), "Thou ehalt not forswear thy- words be few, as becomes one who speaks self, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine in the awful presence of God. Ben-Sim oaths," wna probably levollod. agrdnst pro- seems to he.ve had this passage in mind fane swenring, or invoking God's Name "·hen he writ<ls (Eoclns. vii. H), "Pmte not lightly, but it may include the duty of per,: in a multitude of elders, and repeat not(µ,¾, forming vows 11111,lo to or in tho Name of oeu-r,pJ"71s) the word in prayer.'' We may God. Our Lord does not condemn the remember the oondnct of the priests of Baal prnctice of corban, while noticing with (I Kings niii. 26). Ginsburg and Wright rebuke II perversion of the custom (Mark 'l note the Talmudic precept (' Ilerachoth,' vii. 11). For he hath no plea.sure in fools. G:S. a)," Let the words of a man always bo The non-fulfilment of II vow would prove a few in the presence of God, according as it man to be impious, in proverbial language is written," and then follows the passage i11 "a fool," and as such God must regard him our text. with displeasure. The clause in the Hebrew Yer. 3.-The first clanso illustrates the is somewhat ambiguous, being literally, ~ccond, the mark of comparison being simply There i8 no pleasure (chephets) in fools ; i.e. the copula., mere juxtaposition being deemed no one, neither God nor ma.n, would take sufficient to denote the similitude, as in eh. pleasure in fools who ma.kc promises and vii. 1; Prov. xvi i. 3: xxvii. 21. For a dream never perform them. Or it may be, There cometh through (in consequence of) the ie no fixed will in fools; i.e. they waver and multitude of business. The verse is meant e.re undecided in purpose. But this render- to confirm the injunction against vain ing of chephets appears to be very doubtful. babbling in prayer. Cares o.nd anxieties in Septuagint, don ou,c (err, 6b..71µ,a Iv liq,pocr,, business or other matters occasion disturbed which reproduces the Yaguouess of the sleep, murder the dreamless repose of tile Hebrew; Vulgate, Displicet enim ei (Deo) hcaltl,y ln.bourer, and produce all kinds of infidelis et stulta promis8io. The meaning is sick fancies and imaginations. Septuagint, well represented in the Authorized Version, "A dream cometh in abundance of trial (,m- and we must complete the sense by supply- paap.au);" Vulgate, Multas curas sequuntur ing in thought "on the part of God." Pay iomnia. And a fool's voice is known by that whioh thou ha.at vowed. Ben-Sire. multitude of words. The verb should be re-echoes the injunction (Ecclus. xviii. 22, snpplied from the first clause, awl not a 23), "Let nothing hinder thee to pay thy new one introduced, a.s in the Authorized vow (,ux¾iv) in due timo, and defer not until Version,•• And the voice of o. fool (cometh) death to bo justified [i.e. to fulfil the vow]. in consequence of many words." As surdy Before making e. vow (eli{acr6a,) prepare thy- as excess of business prod ures fevered dreams, self; and be not ns one that tempteth the so excess of words, especially in addresses to Lord." The verse is cited in the Talmud; God, produces a fool's voice, i.e. foolish and Dukes gives o. parallel, "Before thou speech. St. Gregory points out the many vowest anything, consider tho object of thy ways in which the mind is affected by vow" (' Rabb. Blumenl.,' p. 70). So in images from dreams. " Sometimes," he Prov. xx. 25 we have, according to some says, "dreams are engendered of fulness or translations, "It is a snare to a man rashly eruptintss of the belly, sometimes of illusion, to say, It is holy, o.nd after vows to make sometimes of illusion and thought combined, inquiry." Septuagint, "Pay thou therefore sometimes of revelation, while sometimes whatsoever thou shalt have vowed (8cra Uu, they are engendered of imagination, thought, el/{17)." and revelation together" (' Moral.,' viii. 42). Ver. 5.-Better is it that thou shoulden Ver. 4.-Koheleth passes on to give a not vow. 'fhere is no harm in not vowing warning concerning the making of vows, (Dent. xxiii. 22); but a vow once made wliich formed a great feature in Hebrew becomes of the nature of an oath, and its religion, and was the occasion of much irre- non-performance is a sin and sacrilege, o.nd verence and profanity. When thou vowest incurB the punishment of false swearing. a vow unto God, defer not to pay it. 'l'here We gather from the Talmud tha.t frivolous is here plainly a reminiscence of Dent. xxiii. excuses for the eva.aion of vows were very :n-23. Vows are not regarded as absolute common, o.nd called for stern repression. duties which every one was obliged to Ono sees this in our Lord's references (Matt. undertake. They are of a ,oluntary nature, v. 33-37: xxiii. 16-22). St. Paul severely but when made are to be strictly performed. reprehends those women who break their 'l'hey might consist of a promise to dedicate vow of widowhood, "having condemnl\tion, certain things or persons to God (see Gen. because they have rejeoted their ftrat faitu" xxviii. 20; Judg. xi. 30), or to abstain from (1 Tim. v. 12), doing certain things, oa in tue case of the Ver. 6.-Swfer not thy mouth to oaUBe Nazarites. The rabbinical injunction quoted thy dash to sin. "Thy flesh" is equivnlent  on:v. 1-20.J ECCLESIASTES; OR, '!'HE PREACHER. 113