The Pulpit Commentary — Ecclesiastes — Section 207

comp~nies of trnnslators are equally in doubt in tho matter, It is a case, therefore, in which one must use one's individual judgment, and decide as to which rendering is to be preferred from the general sense of the whole passage. Our author, then, is speaking of two things which are profitable in life-" for them that see the sun" (ver. 11)-wisdom and riches; and as he gives the preference to the former in ver. 12-" the excellency of knowledge is that wisdom preserveth the life of him that hath it"-we are inclined to think that that is his view all through. And, therefore, though in themselves the translations gi\"en of the first clause in the passage are about equally balanced this considrration is in our opinion weighty euough to turn the scale in favour of that in the Re,i~ed Version. Two things, therefore, there are which in different ways provide means of security against some of the ills of life, which afford some "compensation for the misery" of our coudition-wisdom and riches. By wisdom a man may to some extent forecast the future, anticipate the coming storm, and take measures for shield- ing himself against some or all of the evils it brings in its train. Like the unjust steward who acted "wisely," he can win friends who will receive him in the hour of need. By riches, too, he can stave off many of the hardships which the poor man is compelled to endure; he can secure many benefits which will alleviate the sufferings he cannot avert. But of the two wisdom is the more excellent; "it giveth life" (or "bestoweth life," Revised Version) "to them that have it." "It can quicken a life within; it can give salt and savour to that which wealth may only deaden and make insipid" (Bradley). And surely by "wisdom" here we are not to understand mere prudence, but rather that Heaven-born faculty, that control of man's spirit by a higher power, which leads him to make the fear of God the guide of his conduct. And in order to under- stand wherein it consists, and what are the benefits it secures, we may identify the quality here praised with "that wisdom that cometh from above," which all through the Word of God is described as the source of all excellence, the fountain of all happi- ness (Prov. iii. 13-18 ; iv. 13; viii. 32-36; John vi, 63; xvii. 3; 2 Cor. iii. 6). -J.W. Vers.13, 14.-Resignation to Providence. Already in the tenth verse the Preacher bas counselled his readers not to chafe against the conditions in which they find them- selves. "Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these?" It is part of the true wisdom which he has praised "to consider the work of God," to accept the outward events of life, and believe that, whether they be pleasant or the contrary, they are determined by a will or power which we cannot control or change. It is wise to submit. 'l'he crooked we cannot make straight (eh. i. 15); the cross which is laid upon us we cannot shake off, and had best bear without repining (cf. Job viii. 3; xxxiv. 12; Ps. cxlvi. 9). A mingled draught is in the cup of life- prosperity and adversity, the sweet and the bitter. Remember the.tit is commended to your lips by a higher hand, which it is folly to resist; accept the portion which may be assigned to you. In '.the time of prosperity be in good spirits (ver. 14), let not forebodings of future evi.l damp the present enjoyment; in the time ofadversity consider that it is God who has appointed the evil day as well as the good. The thought is the same as that in the Book of Job, "What? shall we receive good at the hands of God, and shall we not receive evil?" (ii. 10). The reason why both good and evil are appointed us is given by the Preacher, though his words are somewhat obscure: "God also hnth even made the one side by side with the other, to the end that man should not find out anything that shall be after him" (ver. 14b, Revised Version). The obscurity is in the thought rather than in the phrases used. The commonest explanation of the words is that they simply assert that to know the future is forbidden us. But the phrase," after him," is always used to mean that which follows upon the present world (eh. iii. 22 ; vi. 12; Job xxi. 21). Hitzig explains the words as implying, "that because Goel wills it that man shall be rid of all things after his death, he puts evil into the period of his life, and lets it alternate with good, instead of visiting him therewith after hui death." This explanation would make the passage equivalent to, Idcirco ut non inveniat homo post se quidquam, scil. quod non ezpertus est. But probably the best expla- nation of these words is that given by Delitzsch, who accepts this of Hitzig's with some modification : "What is meant is much rather this, that God causes man to experience good and evil, tha.t he may pass through the whole i;chool of life, and when he departs on. vu. 1-29.J ECCLESIASTES; OR, THE PREACHER. 195