foot like common people, and slaves mounted on horses and clothed with authority (Prov. xix. 10). III. WISDOM BROWN IN PROVIDING AG All-ST POSSIBLE DANGERS. (Vers. 8, 9.) We need spend no time in the fruitless endeavour to connect vers. 8-11 with those that have gone before. The writer seems to consider wisdom in another of its aspects. He has just spoken of it as prompting one who is under its influence to be patient and resigned in the presence of irradicable evils ; he now speaks of it as giving foresigbtl and caution in the accomplishment of difficult and perhaps even dangerous tasks. He mentions fonr undertakings in which there may be danger to life or limb. He that digs a pit may accidentally fall into it; he that removes a crumbling wall may be bitten by a serpent that has sheltered itself in one of its crannies; the quarryman may be crushed by one of the stones he has dislodged; and the woodcutter may maim himself with his own axe. Whether underneath this imagery he refers to the risks attending all attempts to disturb the existing order of things and to overthrow the powers that be, one cannot say. "The sum of these four classes is certainly not merely that he who under- takes a dangerous matter exposes himself to danger; the author means to say in this series of proverbs which treat of the distinction between wisdom and folly, that the wise man is everywhere conscious of his danger, and guards against it. . . . Wisdom has just this value in providing against the manifold dangers and difficulties which every undertaking brings with it" (Delitzsch). IV. THE WISDOM OF ADAPTING MEANS TO ENDS, (Ver. 10.) Such, we think, is the general meaning of the words, which are perhaps more difficult to interpret than any others in the whole Book of Ecclesiastes. "If the iron be blunt," if it will not readily lend itself to the work of felling a. tree, more strength must be put forth, the stroke must be heavier to penetrate the wood. If there be little sagacity and preparation before entering on an enterprise, greater force will be needed to carry it out. The fore- sight which leads to sharpening the axe will make the labour in which it is used much easier. "But wisdom is profitable to direct" (ver. 10b); it suggests means serviceable for the end in view. It will save a useless expenditure of time and strength. V. THE FOLLY OF TAKING PREC.,\.UTIONS AFTER THE EVIL HAS BEEN DONE. (Ver. 11.) "If the serpent bite before it be charmed, then is there no advanta.ge in tlie charmer" (Revised Version). The picture is that of a serpent biting before the charmer has had time to make use of his skill in charming; and the point of the aphorism is that no skill or wisdom is of any avail if made use of too late. "It is too late to lock the stable door when the steed is stolen" (Wright). VI. WISDOM AND FOLLY IN HUMAN SPEECII. The winning character of the wise man's words, the mischievous and tedious prating of fools (vers. 12-15). The tongue has just been spoken of (ver. 11) as the instrument used by the ch!Ll'mer for taming serpents, and there follows in these verses a reference to wisdom and folly displayed in the words of the wise m\n and of the fool. " The words of the wise man are gracious " ( cf. Luke iv. 22), they win favour for him; both the subject-matter and the manner of his speech gain for him the good will of those that hear him. The words of the fool are self- destructive; they ruin any chance he had of influencing those who were prepared to be persuaded by him, whom he meets for the first time, and who were therefore not biassed against him by previous knowledge of his fatuity. He goes from bad to worse (vcr. 13). "The words point with a profound insight into human nature to the progress from bad to worse in one who has the gift of speech without discretion. He begins with what is simply folly, unwise but harmless, but vires acquirit eundo, he is borne along on the swelling floods of his own declamatory fluency, and ends in what is' mischievous mad- ness'" (Plumptre). Especially is this the case when his talk is on subjects as to which even the wisest are forced to confess their ignorance (ver. 14). He speaks volumin- ously, as though he knew all things past and to come, as though all the mysteries of life and death were an open book to him. .And he wearies out every one who hears him or has to do with him. His crass ignorance in all matters of common life forbids any trust being placed in his speculations and vaticinations as to things that are more recondite. The well-known beaten road that leads to the city (ver. 16) he does noL know. What kind of a guide would he be in less-frequented paths? In these various ways, therefore, the contrast is drawn between wisdom which leads men in the right way, which directs their course tbrou~h the difficnlties and dangers l';OCLEBlABTEe, T ECCLESIASTES; OR, THE PREACaER. [cu. x. 1-~0.
that ofkn beset them, and enables them to make the best uim of their l'esources, and that folly "·hich, if it is the ruling element in a character, no art or skill can conceal, wl1ich so often renders those in whom it appears both mischievous and offensive to all who ha,e anything to do with them.-J. W.