The Pulpit Commentary — Ecclesiastes — Section 284

epecinl reference to the maxim at the oogin- Plmuplrc cites Theognis- ning of the chnptcr, ns though the author meant, "Exercise thy charity at all times, K,lcrll'µcu C,crn •:>,./Oo!i' earh- nn<l lnte," the metaphor being similo.r ~.,.i{>8oyyos, ;,,,,If"' 3'., ,pa.~o• .pJ.os ~•"-lo,o; to thnt in 2 Cor. ix. 6, "He which soweth " Then shall' I lie, ell voiceless a.s I\ stone, , spnriugly," etc. Others find a fig-ure of the And see no ni6te tho loved liglit of; t\te agrs of man in tl,e "morning and evening," suu.'' thus, •· From earliest youth practise piety and purity, and continue such conduct to A pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold its close." This lead:1 nnlurally to the sub- the sun. To behold the sun is to enjoy ject of the following section; but it may be life; for light, which is life, is derived from doubted whether this thought was in the the suu. Virgil speaks of "cceli spire.bile author's mind. It seems best to take the lumen " C .lEu.,' iii. 600). Thus Homer, paragraph merely a.s commending activity, 'O<l..,' XX. 207- • whether in business or in benernlence, witll- out noxious regard to results which are in E! ,rov fr, '"'" Hal lip~ q,&.os ~•-'.loco· higher bands. "Withhold not thy hand," El I,' -1i6,7 .-e9117JH< Hal .,,, 'Atl1ao li&µo,cr,11. i.e. from sowing; M~ a.q,/.,..., .;, x•ip uov "If still he live and see the sun's fair light, (Septuagint). For thouknowest not whether Or dead, be dwelling in the realms of shall prosper, which of the two sowings, Hades." either this or that, the morning or evening sowing. It is a chance, nnd a man must Ver. 8.-But if a man live many years, risk something; if one foils, the other may and rajoioe in them all. The conjunction lei succeed. Or whether they both shall be at the commencement of the verse· is causal alike good. The uncertainty rouses to rather than adversative, and should be ren- exertion; labour may at any rate secure half dered "for.'' The insertion of" and" befo1·e the crop, or even give a double produce, if "rejoice" mars the sentence. The apodosis both sowings succeed. So in religion and begins with " rejoice," and the translation' morality, the good seed sown early and late is,. F_or ff a man live many years, he ought M may bear fruit early or late, or may have reJoice in them all. Koheleth 1,as said (ver. blessed results all along. The Vnlgate is 7) that life iB sweet and precious; now lie lees correct, Et si utrumque simul, melius adds that it is therefore man's duty to en}oy erit, " And if both together, it will be it; God has ordained.that he should do so, better." whether his days on earth be many or few. Yet let him remember the days of darkness. Vers. 7-9.-Section 17. The second re- The apodosie is continued, and the clause· medy for the perplexities of the [Resent life should run, .And remember, etc. '' 'fhe days u cheerfulness-the spirit that enjoys the of darkness" do not mean times of calamity as conti-astc<l with the light of prosperity, present, with e. chastened rego.rd to the as though the writer were bidding one to be future. mindful of the prospect of disastrous change Ver. 7.-Trnly the light is sweet. The in the midst of happiness; nor, cigaiu, the verse begins with the copula va11, "and," period of old age distinguished from the which here notes merely transition, as eh. glowing light of youth (Virgil, '1Eneid,' i. iii. 16; xii. 9. Do not be perpfoxed, or 590, 591). The days of darkness signify despondent, or pa.ralyzed in your work, by the life in Ho.des, far from the light of the the difficulties that meet yon. Confront sun, gloomy, uncheered. ''.,:'he thought of them with a cheerful mien, and enjoy life tLis state should not wake us hopeless and while it lasts. "The light" may be ta.ken reckless, like the sensul/,lists whose creed is literally, or as equivalent to life. 'l'he very to "eat and drink, for to-morrow we die" light, with all that it unfolds, all that it (I Cor. xv. 32; Wisd. ii. I, etc.), but rouse beautifies, ell that it quickens, iB a pleasure; us to make the best of life, to be contented life is worth living, and affords high and and cheerful, doing our daily duties with merited enjoyment to the faithful worker. the consciousness that this is our day of The commentators quote parallels. Thus Jabour e.ncl joy, and that "the night cometh Euripides, 'Iph. in An!.,' 1219- when no man can work" (John ix. 4). Wisely says Ben-Sire., "Whatsoever thou tukest in M11 µ.' a.,ro>..,ur,s lf..,po,,- 11li6 -yap .,.1, q,ws hand, remember the end, and thou aha.It Acu<J(JHJ/, .-a. li' inro -y,jv µf, µ' llitw a.va-yHd.crps. never do amiss" (Ecclus. vii. 86). We a1·e reminded of the Egyptian custom, .JDentioned " 0 slay me not untimely ; for to see by Herodotus (ii. 78), of e11nying a figu1·0 of The light is sweet; and. force me not to a corpse among the guests at a banquet, not view in order to damp· pleilaure, but to give I\ Thf l!'lcrets of the net.1.J.er world.'' zest to the enjoyment of the present and to OH. II, 1-10.] ECCLESIASTES; OR, THE PREACHER. 27()