The Pulpit Commentary — Ecclesiastes — Section 171

uees of tho face the heart bccometh fair;" a sir," which Wright expresses by trans- i.e. sorrow beautifies the soul, producing, as lating, "Like the noise of the nettles under it wero, comeliness, spiritual bea.uty, and, in the kettles." In the East, e.nd where wood the end, aerener happiness. The Vnlge.te is scarce, thorns, be.y, e.nd stubble a.re used tro.nsle.tes the passage thus: Melior est ira for fuel (Ps. lviii. 9; cxx. 4; Matt. vi. 30). risu; quia per triBtiliam vultue corrigitur Buch materials are quickly kindled, blaze animus deliquentie, '' Better is e.nger than up for a time with much noise, and soon die laughter, because through sa<lness of coun- e.we.y (Ps. cxviii. 12). So is the laughter of tenance the mind of the offender is cor- the fool The point of comparison is the rected." The anger is that either of God or loud crackling e.nd the short duration of the of good men which reproves sin ; the laughter fire with small results. So the fool's mirth is that of sinners who thus show their con- is boisterous and noisy, but comes to e. nivance at or approval of evil. There can speedy end, and is spent to no good purpose. be no doubt that this iH not the sense of the So in Job (xx. 5) we have," The triumphing passage. For the general sentiment con- of the wicked is short, and the joy of the cerning the moral influence of grief e.nd godless but for a moment." All this profit- suffering, we may compare the Greek sayings, less mirth is again nothing but vanity. T&. 1Ta.Ofiµ.a.-ra. µ.a.Ofiµ.a.-ra., und Ti µ.a6cf,v; -rl Ver. 7.-The verse begins with ki, which 1Ta.Od,v; which are almost equivalent in mean• nsne.lly introduces e. reason for what he.s iug (comp. lE,chyl., 'Age.m.,' 170; Herod., preceded; but the difficulty in finding the i. 207). 'l'he Le.tins would say, "Qu:e connection has led to various explanations nocent, docent," and we, "Pain is gain." and evasions. The Authorized Version Ver. 4.-The heart of the wise is in the boldly separates the verse from whe.t has house of mourning. This is the natural gone before, o.nd makes a new pare.graph conclusion from what was said in vers. 2, 3. beginning with "surely: " Surely oppression The man who recognizes the serious side of me.keth a wise man mad. Delitzsch supposes life, o.nd knows where to lee.rn lessons of high tha.t something has been lost between vere. more.I meaning, will be found conversant 6 o.nd 7, and he supplies the ge.p by e. cle.UB0 with scenes of sorrow and suffering, and borrowed from Prov. xvi. 8, " Better is e. reflecting upon them. But the hee.rt of fools little with righteousness than gree.t revenues is in the house of mirth. The fool, who without right ; " e.ud then the sentence pro- thinks of nothing but present enjoyment, ceeds na.ture.lly, " For oppression," etc. But and how to make life pass pleasantly, turns this is scarcely satisfactory, e.s it is mere awe.y from mournful scenes, e.nd goes only conjecture wholly uu~upported by external there where he me.y drown co.re e.nd be evidence. The Vulgatti leaves ki untro.ns• thoughtless o.nd merry. Ie.ted; the Septuagint has 8-r,. Looking at Ver. 5.-It is better to hear the rebuke of the various pare.graphs, e.11 beginning with the wise. Gearah, "rebuke," is the word tob, rendered .. better," ,iz. vers. 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, used in Proverbs for the gre.ve admonition we must regard the prese[lt verse e.s con- which hee.ls n.nd strengthe[ls while it wounds nected with whe.t precedes, e. new subjeot (see Prov. xiii. I; xvii. 10). The silent being introduced o.t ver. 8. Putting ver. 6 lessons which a man len.rns from the con- in e. parenthesis e.s merely presenting e.n templation of others' sorrow e.re rightly sup- illustre.tion of the talk of fools, we may see plemented by the se.lutn.ry correction of the in ver. 7 e. confirmo.tion of the first po.rt of wise me.n's tongue. Than for e. man to hear vcr. 5. The rebuke of the wise is useful the song of fools. Shir, "song," is n general even in the oe.ee of rulers who a.re tempted term used of sacred or profane song; the to excess and injustice. The " oppression" connection here with the second clause of in the text is the exercise of irresponsible vcr. 4, etc., lee.de one to think of the boister- power, tht1.t which a me.n infiiots, not whe.t ous, reckless, often immodest, singing hce.rd he suffers; this makes him "mad," even in the houso of revelry, such as Amos (vi. though he be in other respects e.nd under 5) calls " idle songs to the souud of the other oircumstanoes wise; he ceases to be viol." Koheleth might have hen.rd these in directed by ren.son e.nd principle, and needs his own country, without drawing his ex- the correction of faithful rebuke. The Sep- perience from the licence of Greek practice tuagint e.nd Vulge.te, rendering respectively or the impurity of Greek lyrics. The Vul- C1u1<0,Pa.v-rla. e.nd calumnia, imply that the gate renders the clause, Quam stultorum evil which distracts the wise man is fe.lse adulations decipi, '' The.n to be deceived by accusation. And e. gift destroyeth the II.ea.rt. the .flattery of fools." This is e. pare.phrase; The ndmission of bribery is likewise an evil the correctness is negatived by the explane.- the.t calls for wise rebuke. So Prov. xv. 27, Uon given in the following verse. "He that ie greedy of go.in troubleth his own Ver. 6.-l!'or as the crackling of thorns house; but he that he.teth gifts she.11 live." µder a pot. There is a ple.y of words in The phrase, "destroys the heart," means the Hebrew, "The crnckling of sirim 1.1ndcr QOrrufts the understanding, deprives a 1110.n 158 ECCLESIASTES; OR, THE PREACHER. [en. vu. 1-29.