ugint gives 'lrOJ/'T/pla.v, "wickedness ; " the refers it t.o the time of dawn (Ps. ex. 3) Vulge.te, malitiam. Similarly the Syriac seems to bo erroneous, as it would then be e.nd Te.rgum. And according to onr inter- identical with" childhood." The Septuagint pretation of the passage, such is the mean- renders it ll.vo,a., "folly;" the Vulgate, ing here. It is e. ce.11 to early piety e.ud flOW,ptas, "pleasure ; " the Syrie.c, "e.nd not virt11e, like the.t of St. Pe.ul (2 Cor. vii. I), knowledge;" but the word cannot be rightly "Having these promises, let us cleanse our- thus translated. The two terms are child• selves from e.11 fiUhiness of the flesh and hood e.nd manhood, the period during wl1ich spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of the capacity for pleasure is fresh and strong. God." Do not, says Koheleth, defile thy Its vanity is soon brought home; it is evan- body by co.me.I sins (1 Cor. vi. 18), which escent; it brings punishment. Thus Bailey, bring decay e.nd sickness, nnd arouse the 'Festus'- wrath of God age.inst thee. For childhood " I cast mine eyes around, e.nd feel e.nd youth e.re vanity. This time of youth There is e. blessing wanting; soon po.sees e.we.y; the cape.city for enjoy- Too soon our bee.rte the truth reveal, ment is soon circumscribed; therefore use That joy is disenchanting." thy opportnnities aright, remembering the end. The word for "youth" (shacharuth) And '!_gain- occlll's nowhere else in the Old Testament, " When amid the world's delights, e.nd is probably connected with shachon, How warm soe'er we feel a moment among " black," used of hair in Lev. xiii. 81. them- Hence it means the time of black hair, in We find ourselves, when thi, hot blast he.th contradistinction to the time when the hair blown, has become grey. The explanation which Prostrate, e.nd weak, and wretched."
HOMILETICS. Vers. 1-6.-Bread upon the waters; or, rules and reasons/or practising beneficence. I. RULES. Beneficence should be practised: 1. Without doubt as to ils result. One's charity should be performed in e. spirit of fearless confidence, even though the recipients of it should appear altogether unworthy, and our procedure as hopel1::ss and thankless an operation as "casting one's bread upon the waters" (ver. 1), or "sowing the sea" (Theognis). 2. Without limit a.~ to its distribution. "Give a portion to seveu, yea even unto eight" (ver. 2); that is, "Give to him that asketh, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away" (Matt. v. 42). Social economics may, but the sermon on the mount does not, condemn indiscriminate or promiscuous giving. One's bread should be cast upon the waters in the sense that it should be bestowed upon the multitudes, or carried far and wide rather than restricted to a narrow circle. 3. With- out anxiety as to its seasonableness. As "he that observeth the wind will not sow, and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap" (ver. 4), so he who is always apprehensive lest his deeds of kindness should be ill-timed is not likely to practise much beneficence. The farmer who should spend his days in watching the weather to select just the right moment to plough and sow, or reap and garner, would never get the one operation or the other performed; and little charity would be witnessed were men never to give until they were quite sure they had hit upon the right time to give, and never to do an act of kindness until they were certain the proper objects to receive it had been found. 4. Without intermission as to its time. "In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand" (ver. 6). Who would practise beneficence as it should be practised must be as constantly employed therein as the husbe.ndruan is in his agricultural operations. Philanthropy is a sacred art, which can only be acquired by pains and patience. Intermittent goodness, charity performed by fits and starts, occasional benevolence, never comes to much, and never does much for either the giver or receiver. Charity to be efficient must be a perennial fountain and e. running stream (1 Cor. xiii. 8). The charitable man must be e.lwe.ys giving, like God, who makcth his sun to rise on the evil and the good, etc. (Matt. v. 45), Bnd who giveth unto all liberally (Je.s. i. 6). II. HEABONB, Beneficence should be practised for the following reasons : 1. It i• certain in the end to be recompensed. (Ver. 1.) The kindly disposed individual, who fearlessly casts his bread upon the waters by doing good to the unkind and the uuthaukful (Matt. v. 46; Luke vi. 35), may have a long time to wait for a return 282 ECCLESIASTES; OR, THE PRE.A.CHER. [en, xr. 1-10.