The Pulpit Commentary — Ecclesiastes — Section 133

cattle; so that I seem to myself to have nor any other circu rustance of this nature, more afflictions in my abundance than I had are so generally wout to mako sleep sweet when I was poor. . . . It is obligatory ou and pleasant, as that of labouring, nnd grow- him who possesses much to expend much ing weary, and lying down with a disposition both on the gods and on friends and on to sleep, and very. greatly needing it. . . . strangers; and whosoever is greatly pleased Not so the rich. On the contrary, whilst with the possession of riches will, you may lying on thoir beds, they are frequently be Assured, be greatly annoyed at the ex- without sleep thrnugh the whole night; and, penditure of them." What good is there to though they devise many schemes, ihey do the owners thereof, saving the beholding of not obtain such plea.sure" (St. Chrysoslom, them with their eyes! What it is that the 'Hom. on Ste.t.,' 22). The contrast between ovrnere behold is doubtful. Ginsburg con- the grateful sleep of the tii-ed worker and siders that the increased number of devourers the disturbed rest of the avaricious ancl is meant; but surely this sight could hardly moneyed and luxurious has formed a fruitful be called kishron, "success,"" profit." So it theme for poets. Thus Horace, ' Ce.rm.1' is better to take the sight to be the amassed iii. I. 21- wealth. The contemplation of this is the " Somnus agrestium only enjoyment that the possessor realizes. Lenis virorum non humiles domos So the V ulgate, Et quid prodest pos81l8sori, Fe.stidit umbrose.mque ripam, niBi quod cernit divitias oculis suiB f Septu- Non Zephyris a.gitata Tempe." agint, Ka.l Tl tiv5pela -rtj .,,,.p' abrijs; 3-r, tl.px¾i -roii 6pi11 0<1>611Aµois m:.-oii," And in what does "Yet sleep turns never from the lowly shed the excellence of the owner consist? except Of humbler-minded men, nor froi:n the the power of seeing it with his eyes." A eaves Le.pide quotes Hore.ce's portrait of the miser In Tempe's graceful vale is banished, . (' Sat.,' i. I. 66, sqq.)- Where only Zephyrs stir the murmuring leaves." " Populus rue sibilat; ut mihi ple.udo (Stanley.) Ipse domi, simul ac, nummos contemplor in And the reverse, • Sat.,' i. 1. 76, sqq.- area. ... ... congestis undiqae se.ccis " An vigilare metu ·exanimem, noctesque lndormis inhians et tauquam parcere sacris diesque Cogeris e.ut pictis te.nque.m gaudere tabellis." Formirhne malos fures, inoendie., servos, Ne te compilent fugientes, hoojuvat?" "He, when the people hissed, would tum 11 But what are your indulgencies? All day, about, All night, to watch and shudder with dis- And drily thus accost the rabble-rout: may, ' Hiss on; I heed you not, ye saucy wags, Lest ruffians fire your house, or slaves by While self-apple.uses greet me o'er my stealth bags.' . . . Rifle your coffers, and abstract your wealth? O'er countless heaps in nicest order stored, If this be affiueaoe-this her boasted fruit, You pore agape, and gaze upon the hoard, Of all suoh joys may I live destitute.", As relics to be laid with reverence by, (Howes.) Or pictures only mee.nt to please the eye." (Howes.) Comp. Juvenal, 'Sat.,' x. 12, sqq.; xiv, 304:. Shakespeare, • Henry IV.,' Pt. II., aot Ver. 12.-Another inconvenience of great iii. SC. 1- wealth-it robs a man of his sleep. The " Why rather, sleep, liest thou in smoky Bleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether cribs, he eat little or much. The labourer is the Upon uneasy pallets stretching thee, husbu.ndman, the tiller of the ground (Gen. And hush'd with buzzing night-fiies to thy iv. 2). The Septuagint, with a. different slumber, . pointing, renders 3o6Aov, "slave," which is Than in the perfumed chambers of the leBB appropriate, the fact being generally great, true of free or bond man. Whether his fare Under the canopies of costly state, be plentiful or scanty, the honest labourer And lulled with soundd of sweetest earns and enjoys his night's rest. :But the melody?" e.bDll.danoe of the rioh will not llU!'er him to sleep. The allusion is not to the overloading Vere. 13-17.-Another view of the evils of the stomach, which might occasion sleep- attendant upon riches is here presented: lessness in the case of the poor equally with the owner may lose them at a stroke, nnd the rich mna, but to the cares and anxieties leave nothing for his children. This thought which wealth brings. "Not a soft couch, nor a bedstead overlaid with silver, nor the is presented in dilf~rent lights. <Jliietness that e:i.ists throughout the house, Ver. 13.-Thero ii aleo a 10:ro ovil which OIi. V. 1-20.] ECCLESIASTES; OR, 'rHE PREACHER. 117