The Pulpit Commentary — Ecclesiastes — Section 168

(Delitzech). The question accordingly is-What advantage has the wise over the fool? and what the poor, who, although poor, knows how to maintain his social position? '!'he matter trea~ of is the insatiable nature of sensual desire. The wise seeks to control his desire; he who is spoken of as poor knows how to conceal it, for he lays reetrainte upon himself, that he may make a good appearance and maintain his reputation, But desire is present in both, and they have in this nothing above the fool, who follows the bent of his desire, and lives for the passing hour. In other words, "The idea of the passage seems to be, the desire of man is insatiable, he is never really satisfied; the wise man, however, seeks to keep his desires within bounds, and to keep them to himself, but the fool utters all his mind (Prov. xxix. 11). Even the poor man, who knows how to conduct himself in life, and understands the right art of living, though he keeps his secret to himself, feels within himself the stirrings of that longing which is destined never to be satisfied on earth" (Wright). The reference here to the poor man may possibly be made because the Preacher has already praised the lot of the labouring man (eh. v. 12) in comparison with that of the rich, whose abundance will not suffer him to sleep. If so, he virtually says here, half- humorously, "Dou't imagine that poverty is the secret of contentment and happiness. Poverty covers cares and anxieties as well as riches. Both rich and poor are pretty much on the same level." A very simple and practical conclusion is drawn from the fact of the insatiability of desire, and that is the advisability of enjoying the present good that is within our reach (ver. 9). That which the eyes see and recognize as good and beautiful should not be forfeited because the thoughts are wandering after something which may be for ever unattainable by us. So far the teaching is not above that of the fable of the dog who lost the piece of flesh he bad in his mouth, because he snapped at the reflection of it he saw on the surface of the water. And if this be thought but a poor, cold scrap of morality to offer to men for their guidance in life, the answer may be given that multitudes spend their life in fruitless endeavours after what is far above their reach, and bereave their souls of present good, from an insatiable greed which this fable rebukes. Constituted as we a.re, placed as we arc amid many temptations, we need not despise any small scraps of moral teaching which may be even in threadbare fables, and homely, familiar proverb~. To s'ly that the words, "Belter is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire," is a.bout equivalent to the proverb, "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush," may seem irreverent to some, who would fain read into the text more than it contains. But instead of imagining that the Word of God is degraded by the comparison, let them recognize the good sense and prudent advice which lie in the proverb which corresponds so closely to the sense of the Preacher's words.-J. W. Vers. 10-12.-Inexorable destiny. Before cousidering these words of the Preacher, we need to obtain a clear and precise idea of the statements he makes. A considerable measure of obscurity hangs over the passage, and renders it all the more difficult to catch the writer's meaning. This is apparent from the alternative renderings of several clauses in it which we have in the margin of the Revised Version. The general idea of the passage seems to be-Man's powerlessness and short-sightedness with respect to destiny. "Whatsoever hath been, the name thereof was given long ago, and it is known that it is man: neither can he contend with him that is mightier than he" (ver. 10). The difficult phrase is that thus translated-" it is known that it is man." But if wo take the Hebrew phrase, as several eminent critics (Delitzsch, Wright) do, to be equal to scitur id quod homo sit-" it is known that which a man is "-an intelligible and appropriate meaning of the passage is obtained. It seems to point to the fact that man has been placed in certain unalterable conditions by the will of God, and to urge the advisability of submitting to the inevitable. Both as to time and place, the conditions have been fixed from of old, and no human effort can change them. 'l'he same thought occurs in St. Paul's address to the .Athenians: "He made of one every nation of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed seasons, and the bounds of their habitation" (.Acts xvii. 26, Revised Version). It is to be found also in Isaiah's saying, "Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker I a potsherd among the potsherds of the earth! Sha.II the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, Ho hath no hands?" And this 154 ECCLESIASTES; OR, THE PREACHER. [cu. VI, l-12: ------ ---------------------------- 1,assage in Ecclc~iastee seems to hav-e been in the mind of the Apostle Paul quite as certainly as that just quoted from Isaiah, when he wrote the famous para11raph0 in the Epistle to the Romans on the potter aud the clay (ix. 20, et seq.). 'rh at God has predetermined the conditions of our lives, and that it is useless to strive against his power, seems, therefore, the teaching of ver. 10. The obscurity in ver. 11 is caused by the translation, both in our Authorized Version and Revised Version, of the Hebrew c•i:ii as "things" instead of "words." In the Revised Version "words" is given in the margin, but assuredly should be in the text, as in the ancient versions (LXX., V ulgate, Syriac): " Seeing there be many words that increase vanity, what is man the better?" (ver. 11). Most probably the reference is to discussions concerning man's freedom and God's decrees, that were coming into vogue among the Jews. The nascent school of the Pharisees maintained fatalistic views concerning human conduct, that of the Sadducees denied the existence of fate (Josephus, 'Ant.,' xiii. 5. 9; xvi ii. 1. 3, 4; 'Bell. Jud.,' ii. 8. 14). The uselessness of all such discussions is also asserted later in cl1. xii. 12, and is pathetically reiterated in the famous passage of Milton's 'Paradise Lost,' in which some of the fallen angels are described as discussing "Fixed fate, free-will, foreknowledge absolute: Vain wisdom all, and false philosophy." The twelfth verse is clear enough. After all discussion as to the true course of life, who can give a decided answer? Life is a shadow; the future is unknown to us. "For who knoweth what is good for man in this life, all the days of his vain life, which he spendeth as a shadow? for who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?" No one can read the words without being struck with the dark, despairing Pyrrhonism of their tone. "A cloud of irrepressible, inexpressible melancholy hangs around the writer, a leaden weight is on the spring of his spirit." And it is only when we consider that the spiritual education of the world by God has been gradual, that we can tolerate the words as expressing the thoughts of a mind not yet privileged to see truth in its fulness. If we believe that the light of truth is, like the light of the sun, increasing from the :first faint rays that begin to dispel the darkness of midnight to the splendour of noonday, we shall not be surprised at the words of the Preacher. They would be highly inappropriate in one to whom the revelation of God in Christ had been given; as used by him, they would necessarily imply a gross unbelief, which would excite our indignation rather than our sympathy. Christianity puts the facts which the Preacher regarded as so sombre in a fresh l~ht, and strips them of all their terror, Let us take them in order. • I. THAT wmcJI HE CALLED F.A.TE WE C.A.LL PilOVIDEN0E. "Since fate bears sway, and everything must be as it is, why dost thou strive against it?" said the Stoic, Marcus Aurelius (xii. 13), and his words seem exactly similar to those before us. 'l'lie idea of a :fixed order in human life, a Divine will governing all things, does not necessarily :fill us with the ~ame gloomy thoughts, or summon us to a proud and scornful resignation to that which we cannot change or modify. In the teaching of Christ we have the fact of a preordination of things by God frequently alluded to, in such sentences as "Mine hour is not yet come;" "The hairs of your head are all numbered;" "Many be called, but few chosen;" "No man can come to me except the Father draw him;" "For the elect's sake whom he bath chosen God hath short.ened tl,e days." This is not a dark, inexorable fate governing all things, but the wise and gracious will of a Father, in which his children may-trust with confidence and joy. 'l'he thought, I say, of all things being predetermined by tile Divine will is prominent in the teaching of Christ, but it is set in such a light as to be a source of inspiration and strength. It prompts such comfortable 'assuranceR as, "Fear not, liLtle flock; it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." JI. THE PRE.A.CHEil WAS HUMILIATED AT THE THOUGHT OF HUMAN WEAKNESS, "Neither may he contend with one that is mightier than he." But we know more clearly than he did of the Divine compassion for the poor and feeble and helpless-a compassion that prompted God to send forth his Son for our redemption. \Ve lmow that the Son of God took on him our nature, submitted to the toils, trials, privations, and temptationB of a mortal lot, and overcame the worst foeB by whom we are assailed -11in a.nd death.. If, as some think, "the mightier" one here referred to is death, we Ott, VII, 1-29.] ECCLESIASTES; OR, THE PREACHER. 155