The Pulpit Commentary — Ecclesiastes — Section 130

to "thyself," the whole persono.lity, the ide11 objectlees, while the evo.~ion of e. solemn of the flesh, ae a distinct pnrt of the mo.n, promise made in the No.me of God might sinning, being a.lien from Old Testo.ment well be said to be done in the presence of ontology. The injunction meo.ns-Do not, tho observing and recording angel. The by uttering rash or inconsidern.to vows, which Vnlgn.te rendering, Non est providentia, you afterwo.rds evade or cannot fulfil, bring makes the man e.ccount for his neglect by sin upon yourself, or, as others render, bring assuming that Goel to.kes no heed of such punisilment upon yourself. Septuo.gint, things; he deem~ the long-suffering of God "Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin to be indifference o.nd disregard (comp. eh. (.-ou l!a.µa.p.-fiu,u 'N/11 ud.p1<a. uou);" Vulgate, viii. 11: ix. 3). The original does not bear Ut peccare f aaias carnem tuam. Another this interpretation. Wherefore should God interpreto.tion, but not so suitable, is this- be angry at thy voice-the word~ in which Do not let thy mouth (i.e. thy appetite) leo.d thy evasion and dishonesty a.re expressed- thee to bree.k the vow of o.bstinence, and and destroy the work of thine hands 1 i.e. indulge in meat or drink from which (as, punish thee by calamity, want of snccess, e.g., a. Naze.rite) tilou wast bound to absto.in. sickness, etc., Gocl's moral government being Neither se.y thou before the angel, that it vindico.ted by earthly visite.tions. was an error. If we take "o.ngel" (malal,) Ver. 7.-For in the multitude of dreams in the usuo.l sense (and there seems no very and many words there nre also rlivers forcible reason why we should not), it must vanities. The Hebrew is literally, For in mean the o.ngel of God in whose specinl multitude of dreams, and -vanities, and many charge you are ple.ced, or the angel who words; i.e., as Wright puts it, "In the was supposed to presid~ over the o.lto.r multitude of dreams are o.lso vanities, o.nd of worship, or that messenger of God whose (in) mllny words (as well)." Koheleth sums duty it is to wo.toh man's doings and up the sense of the preceding po.re.graph, to act as the minister of punishment (2 vers.1-6. The popular religion, which made Sam. xxiv. 16). The workings of God's much of dreams and verbosity a.nu vows, is providence are often o.ttributed to angels ; vo.nity, e.nd hos in it nothing substantial or and sometimes the names of God and o.ngel comforting. The superstitious mo.n who puts a.re interchanged (see Gen. xvi. 9, 13; xviii. bis faith in dree.ms is unpractical ancl unreo.1; 2, 8, etc.; Exod. iii. 2, 4; xxiii. 20, etc.). the go.rrulous man who is re.sh in his vows, Thus the Septuagint here renders, "Say and in prayer thinks to be heard for his much not before the face of God ( ,rpl, ,rpoud,,rou speaking, displeases God and never secures .-ou 0eou)." If this interpretation be allowed, his object. Ginsburg and Bullock render, we have an argument for the litere.l ex- "For it is (it he.ppens) through the multitude plo.nation of the much-disputed passage in of idle thoughts e.nd vanities o.nd much 1 Oor. xi. 10, 6,a. Tobs a.yY•,\ous. Thus, too, to.llring," the reference being either to the in• The Testo.ments of the XII. Patriarchs,' foolisil speaking of ver. 2 or to the wrath of we h11ve, "The Lord is witness, and his God in ver. 6. The Septuagint rendering angels n.re witnesses, concerning the word of is ellipticnl, •o.,., i11 ..-,\fi8e, ,11u,r11{01v 1<a.l your mouth " (' Levi,' 19). But most com- µa.Tl1.IOT~TQ1V Ka.I ,\O-yow ,ro,\,\wv, 11..., ul, .,.1,,, mentators oonsider tho.t the word here means 0eliv <1>0/Jov. To complete this, some supply, " messenger" of J ehovo.h, in the sense of "Me.ny vows are me.de or excused ; " others, priest, the o.nnouncer of the Divine Lo.w, as "There is evil." Vulgo.te, Ubi multa s1tnt in the unique po.sso.ge Me.I. ii. 7. Traces of somnia, pluri'IIIJ8 sunt -vanitates, et sermenes e. simile.r use of 11.yye,\os may be found in innumeri.' The Authorized Version give, the New 'l'este.ment (Rev. i. 20; ii. 1, eto.). the sense of the passo.ge. But fear thou God. According to the first interpretation, the In contre.st with these spurious forms of me.n oomes before God with his excuse ; religion, whio-11 tile Jews were inclined to according to the second, he comes to the adopt, the writer recalls men to the fe11r of priest, e.nd confesses the.t he wo.s thoughtless tile oue true God, to whom e.11 vows should and overhasty in making his vow, and ho performed, o.nd who should be worshipped desires to be l'eleased from it, or, at e.ny from the henrt. rote, by some mee.ns to evade its fulfilment. Vars. 8-17.-Seotion 7. Perils to which His exouse may possibly look to the cases mentioned in Numb. xv. 22, eto., and he one ia ezposed in a despotic atate, and tha m1w wish to urge the.t the vow w1111 made unprojitablen888 of riches. in ignore.nee (Septue.gint, •o.,., li-y1101C, ,ITT., Vere. 8, 9.-In politioal life there is little "It is an ignore.nee." ), and that therefore he tho.t is so.tisfactory; yet one must not sur- was not responsible for its incomplete execu- render one's belief in a superintendiug tion. We do not know that a priest or any otl.ioor of the temple bad authority to release Providence. from the obligation of a vow, so tile.t the Ver. 8.-If thou seeat the oppreellion of exouse mnde "before" him would seem to be the poor. From errors in the service of God, J;CCL,l!;SlASTt;I!, l 114 EOCLESIAS'fES; OR, THE PREACHER. [OH, 't. 1-20,