'Opw "Yttp ~µas ov6~v llvra.s ll.M.o ,r;\¾)v Gre~k iuffuence in the employment of the Er/10,,;1.', 8cro17r<p (wµ,v, ~ 1to6<1J71v 1r1t1d.11. expression here. For who oan tell a man "In this I see tha.t we, a.11 we tha.t live, what shall be after him under the sun 1 Are but va.in shadows, unsubstantial This does not refer to the life beyond the drenms." grave, but to the future in the present wodd, as the words, "under the sun," imply (comp. To which we may add Pind., 'Pyth.,' viii. eh. iii, 22; vii. 14). To know what is best 95- for him, to arrange his present life according 'E'lrd.µ,po,· .,., 6/ TIS; .,.( ~ oli TIS; <fKIRS ~va.p to his own wishes and plans, to be able to "Av8pOJ7rOS. • depend upon his own counsel for all the •· Ye creatures of a day I actions and designs which he undertakes, 'What is the great man, what the poor? man should know what is to be after him, Naught but a shadowy dream." what result his labours will have, who and what kind of heir will inherit his property, The comparison of mau's life to a sho.dow whether ho will leave children to carry on or vapour is equally general (comp. eh. viii. his name, o.nd other faots of the like nature; 13; 1 Chron. xxix. 15; Ps. cii.11; cxliv. 4; but as this is all hidden from him, _his duty ,visd. ii. 5; Jas. iv. 14). The verb used for and his happiness is to acquiesce in the " speudeth" is asah, "to do or make," which Divine government, to enjoy with moderation recalls the Greek phrase, xpovov ,ro«w (Acts the goods of life, and to be content with.the xv.33,otc.; Demosth., 'De Fa.ls.Leg.,' p.392, modified satisfaction which ill accorded to 17), and the Latin, dies facere (Oic., ' Ad him by Divine beneficence, Attic.,' v. 20. l); but we need not trace
HOMILETICS. Vers. 1-6.-Sore evi1s beneath the sun; or, the misjortwnes of (J rich man. I. A RICH MAN V.'ITHOUT THE CAPACITY OF ENJOYMENT. 1. A freq_uent occurrence. 'l'he picture tliat of one who has attained to great wealth, power, and honour, who has been conscious of large ambitions and has realized them, who has been filled with insatiable desires and possessed the means of gratifying them, and yet has been unable to extract from all his possessions, pleasures, and pursuits any grain of real and solid happiness. 2. A sorrowful experience. The Preacher characterizes it as an evil which lies heavy upon men. Upon the individual himself, whose hopes are disappointed and plans frustrated, whose riches, wealth, and honours thus become mocking decorations rather than real ornaments, and whose pleasures and gratifications turn into apples of Sodom rather than prove, as he expected they would do, grapes of Eshcol. 3. An instructive lesson. The valuable truth that the soul's happiness is not, and cannot be, found in any creatures, however excellent, but only in God (Ps. xxxvii. 4), is thus forcibly pressed home upon the hearts and consciences of rich men themselves, and of such as obserl"e the experiences through which they pass. . . II. A. RICH .MAN WITHOUT AN HEIR TO HIS WEALTH. A great diminution to the rich man's happiness, who, in having no son or child, lacks: 1. That which is dearer to the heart of man than wealth, power, or fame. Unless the instincts ofhuman nature have been utterly perverted by avarice, covetousness, and ambition, the hearts of rich no less than of poor men cling to their offspring, and, rather than lose these by death, would willingly surrender all their wealth (2 Sam. xviil. 33). 2. That without which wealth and honour lose the greater part of their attractions. Abraham felt it a considerable detraction from the sweetness of Jehovah's promise that he had no heir, and that all his possessions would ultimately pass into the hands of his steward, Eliezer of Damascus (Gen. xv. 1-3). 3. That which gives to wealth-gathering and power-seeking their best justification. It is not certain that anything will justify these when inordinate; if anything will excWie a man for heaping up wealth in an honest and legitimate way, and for endeavouring to acquire power and influence amongst his fellows, it is the fact of his doing so with a view to promote the happiness of thoso God has made dependent on him, and bound to him by the ties of natur!',I affection. III. A RICH .MAN WITHOUT A TOMB FOB HIS CORPSE, (For ·a different rendering of this clame, "And moreover he have no burial," see the Exposition.) 1. The casa sun,osed. TJ:.at of a rich man surrounded by many (an hundred) children, who lives OH, VI. 1---12,] ECCLESIASTES; OR, THE PRE.A.CHER. 143