The vanity of]

TH

CHAP. I.

HE words of the Preacher, the son of David, king of Jerusalem. 2 Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.

3 What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?

4 One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.

5 The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose.

6 The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits.

7 All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.

8 All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.

9 The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the

sun.

10 Is there any thing whereof it

CHAP. I.

[all earthly things.

might be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us.

11 There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come, with those that shall come after.

12 I, the Preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.

13 And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man, to be exercised therewith.

14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.

15 That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.

16 I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great estate, and have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem: yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.

17 And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit.

18 For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow. (A)

(A) The vanity of all earthly things, and the transitory nature of human life.-It is difficult to understand exactly the import

of the term Preacher, as applied to Solomon, who was certainly not an Ecclesiastic; as we read, however, that there" came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon,

CHAP. I. Ver. 1. The Preacher-In Greek, Eeclesiastes, from which we derive the title of the book; but the Hebrew term is Choheleth, and is understood to signify, one who gathers a congrega tion round him- Of Jerusalem-is certa nly improper, as that was only the capital of the kingdom. The Hebrew has the preposition (beth), “in Jerusalem."

Ver. 2. Vanity of vanities—i. e. altogether vanity. Ver.4. For ever that is," continually," under all the successive changes of its inhabitants. The word is far from always implying eternity. Thus the Jewish laws are said to be "for ever," because they were to continue to the end of that dispensation, under every change of cires instances.

Ver. 5. Hasteth-Heb. "Pauteth," as in a race. See Ps. xix. 6.

Ver, G. The wind gorth.-The word wind being

placed toward the latter part of the verse in the original, most of the ancient, and many modern versions understand the former part of the verse in reference to the sun: thus Drs. Hodgson and Boothroyd, It passeth to the south; again it circleth to the north round and round goeth the wind, and ever repenteth its circuits." Mr. Holden, however, adheres to the common version.

Ver.7. Is not full-Hodgson," Doth not overdow." was or "have been" king. Hodgson, "I who reign."

Ver 12. I

Ver. 13. To be exercised-Marg, "To afflict them" therewith.

Ver. 15. That which is crooked. See chap, vii. 13. Ver. 16. Had great experience-Heb. "Had seen mach."

Ver. 17. And to know madness and folly-The original, separately considered, may certainly admit

from all the kings of the earth, which had heard of his wisdom; (1 Kings iv. 34.) and as when the Queen of Sheba came, it was with a very great train," (chap. x. 2.) it should seem that he must have collected large audiences around him, whenever he delivered his oracular discourses; and from this circumstance, probably, he derived the name of Preacher.

Solomon had said, "In all labour there is profit; that is, it turneth to some present temporal use, in opposition to vain and empty talk; (Prov. xiv. 23.) yet when we consider the transient nature of all human enjoyments, and of human life itself, we may well ask, Of what profit is it? and what doth it avail? "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity!" The daily and annual courses of the sun, the perpetual shiftings of the wind, and the running and returning of the rivers to and from the sea, all represent the changes to which man and his concerns are continually exposed; and all admonish him to look for another state of things, to which, whether he is sensible of it or not, he is as surely hastening, as the sun, the wind, or the rivers in their course.

On this ground it is that we say, "there is nothing new under the sun." It may be new to us; but "we are of yesterday, and know nothing." (Job viii. 9.) What strikes us as a novelty, may have been familiar to ages before the flood, though we have no record of it; and many things known to us, when they shall recur again, may appear equally new and strange to our posterity.

king

Solomon then adverts to his own experience. He had been many years over Israel," and in his early life, he had devoted himself to study and inquiry: but alas! what he gained in knowledge, he lost in humility and virtue. His heart was "lifted up "within him, and he said, "Lo, I am come to great estate, and have more wisdom than all they that were before me in Jerusalem;" and then his knowledge degenerated into speculation; and speculations, applied to no good practical purpose, are nearly allied to "madness and folly, because they are a waste of time and talents. "O how many years have I wasted," said the learned Grotius, “in laboriously doing nothing!"

a much milder version; so Dathe renders the two last words, matters splendid and profound," and Boothroyd, "excellence and prudence;" but Mr. Holden prefers the common version, as agreeing best with the context, and the use of the same words in other chapters; as chap.ii. 12.-vii. 25.-ix. 3.-x. 13.

CHAP. II. Ver.1. Go to now-Boothroyd," Come DOW."

Ver. 2. It is ma 1.-This phrase, having no verb in the original, may be differently rendered. Hodgson and Boothroyd read it interrogatively, "Art thou

mad

in skins. All the days — Heb. The number of the days," &c. Ver. 6. Pools of water. These are said still to exist, and Messrs. Buckingham and Joliffe, two of the latest travellers in Palestine, describe them to be three, in a direct line above one another, as the locks of a canal, and flowing in'o each other. They are said to be severally 3, 4, and 500 feet in length; all abont 200 feet wide, lined with stone, and supplied by two springs at a small distance. Buckingham, p. 225. Joliffe, p. 94. The wood that bringeth forth trees - Bp. Lonth, "The grove flourishing with trees."

Ver.7.1got (me)-Hodgson, "I bought." The Heb. term (kanisti) is applied to the purchasing of slaves, Lev. xxv. 50.-Servants born, &c.-Heb. "Sons of my house;" i. e. the children of slaves were slaves also. Great and small cattle-Hodgson, "Herds and flocks."

CHAP. II.

[ends of life. can hasten hereunto, more than I?

26 For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight, wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit. (B)

(B) The vanity of carnal pleasure, and of wealth, and of setting the heart upon them. In the detail of his life and experience, Solomon now informs us, that he turned his mind to every kind of luxury. He began first with conviviality; a temptation to which studious men, wearied with the pursuit of knowledge, are not unfrequently enticed. A little experience, however, convinced him that this also is vanity. Excessive levity borders on insanity; and what good is derived from mere merriment? Thus he was disap pointed in his expectations from mirth and wine, though still he did not give up the pursuits of knowledge.

Solomon next applied himself to building palaces, planting gardens, and forming pools of water. To his pleasure grounds was added an extensive agricultural establishment, and he became a feeder of cattle and of flocks. He collected also prodigious riches, and "the peculiar treasure of the kings and provinces," by which we may probably understand, works of peculiar art and curiosity, which subjects could not purchase: among these might be included, idols of gold and silver, worshipped in all the countries around him, and which afterwards proved to him a deadly snare. He formed also a splendid establishment of slaves and servants, with singing men and singing women, and "the delights of the sons of men;" so that he withheld not from his eyes, or from his heart, any thing, that could yield him gratification.

What is meant by "the delights of the sons of men," appears difficult to decide, as may be seen in our Notes. Two reasons incline us to consider the expression as referring to the females of Solomon's Harem. 1. We know of no other luxury so

universal, or so natural to "the sons of men," as their attachment to the female sex. 2. As to "musical instruments," of which it is difficult to make the text speak, they were seldom or never used at this early period, (except drums and trumpets) but as the accompaniments of the human voice, and being played by the singers themselves, are therefore implied in the preceding clause. 3. Unless we take the expression as referring to his Harem, we have, in all his confessions, no allusion to this extraordinary establishment, the chief monument of his folly, and the cause of his declension from true religion. This will be altogether unaccountable, if we consider this book as the evidence of his repentance, and intended to guard others against the same errors.

After making these confessions, the wise man very naturally looks back, and laments his folly in seeking happiness in these terrestrial enjoyments, which all end in disappointment, in "vanity and vexation of spirit." They cannot, as Dr. Boothroyd remarks, " quiet a guilty conscience, comfort a drooping spirit, ease a dying body, or save an immortal soul."

In balancing his reflections, and reviewing the present state of things in connexion with the designs of Heaven, the wise man concludes, that it is good for a man to enjoy the fruits of his labour, and the gifts of providence, within the limits of his word, for so far "to enjoy, is to obey;" avoiding, on the one hand, the excess of luxury, and on the other, idle speculations, and immoderate cares. To the good man, God giveth all the wisdom, and knowledge, and joy suited to his present state; while to the sinner accrues only disappointment, in not being suffered to enjoy the fruit of his anxiety. "This also is vanity and vexation of spirit."

Ver. 24. There is nothing better, &c.-This is another passage of great difficulty. Dr. Hodgson renders it interrogatively, " Is it not then good for man to eat and drink; and amidst all his toil, to give his soul recreation?" Mr. Holden, "There is no good in the man who eats and drinks," &c. i. e. "he has no perfect enjoyment." See Exposition.

Ver. 25. Who can eat, or who else can hasten?—that is, who can seek with more eagerness than I have

done, either laborious study, or luxurious pleasure? yet all terminates in vanity and vexation.

Ibid. More than I.-Several MSS. and versions read, (by a slight alteration)" without him;" meaning, that no man can enjoy even the common blessings of Providence, but as they come from the hand of God. But we consider this alteration as doubtful and unnecessary.

A time]

CHAP. III.

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

9 What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth?

10 I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.

11 He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set

[for all things. the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.

12 I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice and to do good in his life:

13 And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.

14 I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him.

15 That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.

16 And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there.

17 I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.

18 I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.

19 For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the

CHAP. III. Ver. 2. A time to be born-Marg. "To bear," but this is not adopted by any modern translator of repute.

Ver 3. A time to kill-that is, judicially, as in the case of murderers: bat Bp. Patrick understands it of disease, a time for sickness and for health.

Ver. 5. To cast away stones-that is, out of our Vineyards and gardens; and again a time to gather them together, to form roads, or fences. Bp. Patrick. Ver. 6. A time to get-Marg. "Seek."

Ver. 7. A time to rend namely, to destroy old, worn-out garments, and to make new ones.

Ver. 9. What profit, &c.—that is, how vain are all our labours and anxieties, seeing we are subject to so great a variety of changes and disappointments! See chap. i. 3.

Ver. 11. He hath set the world in their heart.-The word Olam, here rendered world, is the same that, in ver. 14. and in many other passages, is rendered" for ever;" and the sense here given it by the Rabbins, is relinqui hed by the best modern critics, though they are not agreed in adopting a substitute. The word is sometimes used for something secret, (as Psalm xc. 8. and elsewhere.) Mr. Parkhurst therefore renders it "obscurity," (and is followed by Mr. Holden) and Dr. Hodgson, "darkness." We confess, however, that we are inclined to prefer the more common and established rendering of this word, as relating to "eternity," which is ably justi

fied by Gausset and Peters, (on Job, p. 423) and employed by Mr. Desvoeux, in his translation; though we should rather adopt the words "for ever," as the original term is rendered, in five or six other places of this book; "He hath set for ever in their heart;" i. e. a sense of a future and eternal state. (See chap. 1. 4.-ii. 16.-iii. 14.-ix. 6, &c.) So Dr. Hales," He hath set futurity in their beart." (New Analysis, vol. ii. 403.) Dr. Boothroyd has preserved the term "world," and given to the clause a new and inge. nious turn; "He hath put it in their hearts (to survey) the world."

Ibid. So that rather, " without which;" i.. without the doctrine of a fature state, the providence of God is wholly unintelligible. Com. Heb.Job viii. ll.

Ver. 15. God requireth that which is past-Heb. "that which is driven away." Dr. Hodgson, "God causeth all things to revolve;" Dr. Boothroyd, "God bringeth again what is past.”

Ver. 16. Place of righteousness-rather, of justice, es corresponding to judgment.

Ver. 18 That God might manifest them.-Marg. "That they might clear God, and see that," &c. But we prefer the following, as a more correct and perspicuous version: "I said in my heart, concern. ing the affairs of the sons of men, that God's de sign is to prove them, and to show them that they are" no better than the beasts. To this effect Hodgson and Boothroyd..