The Pulpit Commentary — Ecclesiastes — Section 310

is o.pplied to choice proverbs. Thus he assertion (1 Cor. vii. 40), "I think that I would s11y that the words of the wise e.re e.s also have the Spirit of God." goads because they stimulate the intellect, Vera. 12----14.-The author warns age.inst e.s 110.ils because they readily find entrnnce, e.nd like mon in b11.ttle e.rre.y when they e.re profilless study, and gives the final conclu- reduced to writing e.nd me.rshnlled in a book. sion to which the whole discu,;sion lee.de. This is certainly ingenious, but somewhat Ver. 12.-And further, by these, my eon, too artificial to be regarded o.s the genuine be admonished; rather, and UJhat id more intention of the writer. It seems best to than these, be UJarned. Besides a.II that has take the word transle.ted "assemblies'' e.e been said, take thise.dditiona.l anrl important denoting collections, not of people, but of caution, viz. what follows. 'fhe cle.nse, proverbs; and the compound phrase wonld however, has been differently interpreted, thus mean proverbs of an excellent charac- e.e if it said, •• Do not attempt to go beyon,l ter, the best of their sort gathered together the words of the sages mentioned above ; " in writing. Such words e.re well compared or, "Be content with my counsels; they will to nails; they are no longer floating loosely suffice for your instruction." This seems to about, they e.re fixed in the memory, they be the meaning of the Authorized Version. secure other knowledge, and, though they The personal address, "my son," so usual in o.re separate utternnces, they have a certain the Book of Proverbs, is used by Koheleth unity and purpose. Nails are often used in this place alone. It does not necessarily proverbially as emblems of what is fixed imply relationship (as if the pseudo-Solomon and unalterable. Thus 2Esohyl., 'Suppl.,' was appealing to Rehoboe.m), but rather the 944- condition of pupil and learner, sitting at the TwJ' 8' <<f,f/A(A)TIU Topi},s feet of hill teacher e.nd friend. Of making r&µq,os Bu,µd(, &is µlvelll upCLp0T(A)S, many books there ill no end. This could not be se.id in the time of the historioa.1 Solomon, "Through them a nail ill firmly fixed, tliat even if we reckon his own voluminous they works (1 Kings iv. 32, 33); for we know of l\'lay rest immovable." no other writers of that date, e.nd it is toler- ably certain that none existed in Palestine. Cicero, 'Verr.,' ii. 5. 21, "Ut hoo beneficium, But we need not suppose th11t Koheleth ill quemadmodumdicitur, trnbali cluvo figcret;" refe1Ting to extraneous heathen productions, i.e. to make it sure and steadfast (comp. of which, in our view, there is no evidence Horace,• Carm.,' i. 35.17, et seq.). Which are thnt he possessed nny special knowledge. given from one shepherd. All these words Doubtless many thinkers in his time had of the wise, collections, eto., proceed from treated of the problems discussed in his one soU1·ce, or are set forth by one authority. volume in a far different mnnner from that Who is, this shepherd? Some soy that ho herein employed, and it seemed good to is the archisynagogus, the president of the utter a warning age.inst the unprofitable assemblies of wise men, to whose authority reading of such productions. Juvenal e.ll these publio utterances are subjeoted. speaks of the insatiable passion for writing But wo do not know that such supervision in hie de.y (' Se.t.,' vii. 5 I)- existed or was exeroised o.t the time when " Tenet insane.bile multos Koheleth wrote; and, as we saw above, there Scribendi co.coethes et mgro in corde senes- is probably no reference to any such assem- cit:" blies in the passage. The " one shepherd" is doubtless Jehovah, who is called the which Dryden renders- Shepherd of Israel, who feeds his people like " The charms of poetry our souls bewitch ; a flook, etc. (see Gen. xlviii. 15; xlix. 24; The curse of writing is e.n endless iioh." Pa. xxiii. I; lxxx. 1, etc.). The appellation is here used as conoinnous with the thought As in taking food it ill not the quantity of the ox-goad, intimating that God watches which a man eats, but what he digests and leads his people like a tender shepherd e.nd assimilates, that nourishes him, so in and e. skilful farmer. This is an important reading, the rule, Non multa, sed multum, nle.im to inspiration. All these varied utter- must be observed; the gorging the literary ances, whatever form they take, whether his o.ppetite on food wholesome or not impedes own or his predecessor's, are outcomes of the healthy mental process, e.nd produces wisdom, and prooeed from him who is only no intellectual growth or strength. The wise, Almighty God. It ie no disparagement obvious lesson drawn by spiritual writers of this work to imply that it is not the pro- is that Christians should make God's Word duction of the true Solomon; Kohcleth ill their ohief study, "turning a.way from the ready to avow himself the writer, and yet profane be.bblings o.nd oppositions of the claims a hearing as being equally moved by knowledge which is falsely eo coiled" (1 lleavenly influence. It ie like St, l'a~l's TiDl, vi. 20). For ns ~t. Augustine ea.ye E\;CLEBfAS'fEI!, X 3013 ECCLESIASTES; OR, THE PREACHER. [on. xu. 1-14, ----- ----------------------------- (' De Dootr. Christ.'), "Wherc.1s in Holy very possible misconception, and give the Soriptnre you will find everything which author's real and m11ture oonolusion. When has been profitably said elsewhere, to a far this is received, all that need be said haa greater extent you will therein find what been uttered. Fear God (ha-Elohim), and has been nowhere else enunciated, but which keep his oommandments. This injunction has been taught solely by the marvellous is the practiCl\l result of the whole dis- sublimity and the equally marvellous hu- cussiou. Amid the clifilculties of the moral mility of the Word of God." Much study goverumeut of lhu world, amid the compli- is a weariness of the flesh. The two clauses cations of society, varying ancl opposing in the latter part of the verse arc co-ordinate. interests aud claims, one cluty 1·emaineu Thus the Septuagint, Tov ,ro,;jcra, {3,{3J..{a plain and unchanging-the duty of piety ,roJ..J..ct ovll l!crn ,repacrµ.h, Kai µeJ..tn/ ,roJ..J..~ and obedienco. For this is the whole duty 1<01ro.•cr1s ("weariness") crap1eos. The word of man. The Hebrew is literally, "This is for "study" (la hag) is not found elsewhere every me.n," which is explnined to me11n, in the Old Testament, nor in the Talmud, "This is every man's duty." Septuagint, but the abo-re meaning is sustained by ''On 'Tovro ,ras .I /£v0ponros: Vulgate, Hoo est its connection with an Are.hie word signify- enim omuis homo. For this man was made ing "to be ca,ger for." Ti,e Vulgate (like aud placed in the world ; this is his real the Septuagint) renders it rneditatio. You object, the chief good which he has to seek, may weary your brain, exhaust your strength, nnd which a.lone will secure contentment by protracted study or meditation on many and happiness. The obligation is put in books, but yon will not necessarily thereby the most general terms as applicable to the gain any insight into the problems of the whole human family; for God is not the universe or guidance for daily life. Marcus God of the Jews only, but of Gentiles also Aurelius dissuades from much reading: (Rom. iii. 29). "Would you examine your whole composi- Ver. H.-The great duty just named is here tion?" he says; "pray, then let your library grounded upon the solemn truth of a future alone; what need you puzzle your thoughts Judgment. For God shall bring every work and over-grasp youreelf?" Again, "As for into judgment. It will then be seen whether books, never be over-eager about them; such this obligation has been attended to or not. a fondness for reading will be apt to perplex The judgment ha.e already been mentioned your mind, and make you die unplee.sed" ( eh. xi. 9) ; it is here more emphatically sd (' Medit.,' ii. 2, 3, Collier). So Ben-Sira. forth as a certain fa.et and a strong motive affirms, "The finding out of parables is 11 power. The old theory of earthly retribution wearisome labour of the mind~ (Ecclus. had been shown to break down under the xiii. 26). experience of practical life ; the anomalies Ver. 13.-The teaching of the whole book which perplexed men's minds could only be is now gathered up in two weighty sen- sohed and remediecl by a future jndgment tences. Let us hear the conclusion of the under the eye of the omniscient and un- whole matter. The Revised Vc-rsion gives, erring God. With every secret thing. 'l'he This is the end of the matter; all halh been Syriac adds, "and manifest thing." The heard. The Septuagint has, TeJ..os J..oyov, .,.1, Septuagint 1·enders, "with everything that ,rav ifKove, "The enJ of the matter, the sum, has been overlooked "-a. very terrible, but hear tLou;" Valgate, Fin.em log_uendi pariter true, thought. The doctrine that the most omneB audiamus. Another rendering is secret things shall be revealed in the dica suggested, "The conclusion of the matter irm is often brought forward in the New is this, that [God] taketh knowledge of Testament, which makes plain the personal all things;" literally," everything is heard." nature of this final investigation, which tho Perhaps the passage is best translated, earlier Scriptures invest with a more general TJw end of the matter, ichen all is heard, character (see Roin. ii. 16; xiv. 12; 1 Cor. is thUJ. The first word of thid verse, iv. 5). So this wonderful book closrs with /J(}ph, "encl,'' ie printed in the Hebrew tho enunciation of a truth found nowhere text in large characters, in order to draw else so clearly defined in the Old Testament, attention to the importance of wLa.t is and.thus opens the way to the clearer light coming. And its significance is rightly shed upon the awful future by the revelation estimated. These two verses guard against of the gospel.