The Pulpit Commentary — Ecclesiastes — Section 246

Nothing commoner than to find poor wise men (ver. 15) and rich fools (Luke xii. 20) '!'bough as a rule the hand of the diligent maketh r;ich (Prov. x. 4), men of splendhl nbilities often spend their strength for nought. Riches a,re no sign of wisdom. 5. Favour· not to men of skill. Even genius cannot alwan command the approbation and appreciation it deserves. 'l'he world's inventors and di~coverers have seldom been rewarded e.ccording to their merits. 'l'he world has for the most part coolly accepted -the productions of their gepius, and remanded themselves to oblivion. The fate of the poor wise man after mentioned. (ver, 15) has often been experienced. II. AN INCONTROVERTIBLE ARGUMENT-that death, though certain as to fact, is uncer.tain as to incidence. 1. The momentous truth stated. "Man knoweth not his time," i.e.· of .his death, ~hich ever falls upon him suddenly, as a thief in the nigLt. Even when death's approach is anticipated, there is no reason to suppose its actual occurrence iii not always unexpected. 2. The simple illustration gi11en. "As the fishes that are t.aken in an evil net, a.Ild as the birds that are ca.ught in the snare, even eo are the ,sons. of men snared in an evil time," viz. that of death, "when it falleth suddenly upon them." 3. The easy argument applwd. This being so, it is obvious that no one can surely reckon upon the issues that seem naturally to belong to his several qualities or abilities, to his swiftness, or strength, or wisdom, or understanding, or skill. Death may at any moment interpose-as, for ii;istance, before the race i,i finished and the goal reached, before the battle is concluded; before the wise plan ha.3 been matured or carried out ; and then, of course, man's expectations are defeated. LESSONS, 1. Diligence.: let every m:;Ln do his best. 2. Humility : beware of over- confidence. 3. Prudence : neglect not the possibility of failure. 4. Submission: 11,ccept with meekness the allotments of PrQvidence. Vers. 13--,--18.--,'l'71e parable of the liWe. cit11. I. THE PARABLE. 1. The picture delineated. A little city threatened by a powerful assailant, deserted through fear by the main body of its inhabitants, and occupied by a small garrison of men capable of bearing arms, among them a poor wise .man. Advancing against it a mighty monarch, who besieges and storms it with armies and engines, but is ultimately compelled to raise the siege by the skill of the aforesaid wise poor man. 2. The historical f 01mdu.tion. Probably (1) the deliverance of A.bel-Beth-maachah through the wisdom of a wise womnn (2 Sam. xx. 15-22) (Wright); or (2) some event not recorded in history, but well known to the public for whoin the Preacher wrote (Graetz); rather than (3) an incident which may have occurred in. the siege of Dora by Antiochus the Great, iu B.c. 218 (Hitzig), since .Josephus(' Ant.,' xiii. 7. 2); who describes this siege, relates nothing corresponding to the Preacher's statements, and. certainly docs not mention its deliverance by any wise man, either 1ich or poor. 3. Some suggestive parallels. Incidents resembling that to which the .Preacher here alludes may bal'e happened orten; as e.g. the deliverance of Athens by the counsel of Tbemistocles (Srnith',i • History of Greece,' xix. § 6; Thucydide11, i. 74), and of Syracuse by the skill uf Archimedes, who for a time at least delayed the capture of the city by the woDLlerful machines with which he opposed the enemy's attacks (Livy, xxiv. 34), acconling to some doubtful accounts, setting fire to their ships by means of mirrors. 4. Spirit11al applications, (1) "'l'he .poor man with his delivering wisdom is an image of Israel" (Hengsteaberg); on which hypothesis the little city will be the suffering Hebrew nation, and the great king their Persian oppressors. (2) "The beleaguered city is the life of the individual; the great king who lays siege to it is death 11nd the judgment of the L_ord" (Wangemann). (3) "The little city is the Church of God; the great king Satan, the prince of hell and darkness; the poor wise man, the Lord Jesus Ghrist" (Fausset). II. THE LESSONS. OF THE PARABLE, 1. That wisdom and poverty are freq1,ently allied. Not always, Solomon being witness (1 Kings iii. 12, 13); but mostly, God seldom bestowing all hie gift!\ upon one individual, buL distributing them according to his good pleasure-to one wenlth .and .to another wisdom, dividing to each severally as he will (1 Cor. xii. 11). Nor is it difficult to discern in this marks of special wisdom nnd goodness. (1) Wisdom in not nlways conjoining with riches high mental endow- ments; partly iu case of leading to undue exaltation on the part of the recipients, and 11nrtly to convince such recipients of the worthlessne~s of we.ilth a.part from knowledge  ECCLESIASTES; OR, THE PREACHIJ:R. [cu. rt. 1-Hl.