Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ecclesiastes 4:1

So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of [such as were] oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors [there was] power; but they had no comforter.

1. So I returned, and considered ] The thought that follows is the same in substance as that of chap. Ecc 3:16, but, in the speaker’s wanderings of thought he passes once again, after the manner of the , or “suspense” of Pyrrho, he looks at the same facts, the “oppressions” and disorders of the world as from another stand-point, and that standpoint is the negation of immortality, or, at least, the impossibility of being sure of it. It may be noted that the tone is that of a deeper compassion than before. He sees the tears of the oppressed and sighs at their hopelessness: “Oh, the pity of it! the pity of it!” We can see in this new element of despair, that which was the beginning of a better life. The man was passing, to use modern terms, from egoism to altruism, thinking more of the misery of others than of his own enjoyment.

they had no comforter ] The iteration rings like a knell of doom. The words have sometimes been taken as if they meant “they had no advocate, none to plead their cause,” but there is no sufficient reason for abandoning the more natural meaning. It was the bitterest drop in their cup, that men met with no sympathy, no visits of consolation such as Job’s friends paid him. They found none to pity or to comfort them. So the absence of comforters is the crown of sorrow in Psa 69:20; Lam 1:2; Jer 16:7, as its presence was one of the consolations of the bereaved household of Bethany (Joh 11:19). It may be noted, that, as far as it goes, this picture of the social state in which the Debater found himself is in favour of a later date than that of Solomon. The picture of that king’s reign was, like that of the days of “good Queen Bess” in our own history, one of almost proverbial prosperity; the people “eating, drinking and making merry” (1Ki 4:20), and his administration, as far as his own subjects were concerned, one of “judgment and justice” (1Ki 10:9). It was probably equally true of the Persian kings and of the Ptolemies that their rule was cruel and oppressive. The picture which Justin gives of the state of Egypt under Ptolemy Philopator (xxix. 1) and Ptolemy Epiphanes exactly corresponds with that drawn by Koheleth.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

So I returned, and considered – Rather, And I returned and saw. He turns to look upon other phenomena, and to test his previous conclusion by them.

Oppressed – See the introduction to Ecclesiastes.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Ecc 4:1

So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun.

The nature and wickedness of oppression

There is scarce any sin against which more is said in the Word of God, or which is more reproachful to a man and to a Christian, or more mischievous to society, than oppression. Yet I fear it is a sin which more persons are guilty of, and more suffer by, than is generally known.

I. Consider what oppression is, and the most striking instances in which men are guilty of it.

1. It is dealing unjustly or unkindly by a person over whose time, goods, trade, or business the oppressor hath power. It is principally the vice of rich men and superiors, who have power over their workmen, servants, tenants, and other inferiors. But it is not confined to them. The poor often meet with very bad, if not the worst, treatment from those who in station and fortune are very little above them. It is oppression, when men impose what terms they please upon others in commerce and dealings, without regarding what is just and right; when they oblige others to sell their goods under their real value, because they are in necessity; or to give more for a commodity than it is worth, because they cannot do without it. Selling bad and damaged goods to persons who dare not refuse to take them, and yet must lose by them, or not sell them again for a reasonable profit, is another instance of this vice. If a person makes a relation, a neighbour, or dependant, pay dearer for what he buys than his other customers, because he is under particular obligations to buy of him, he is an oppressor. Taking exorbitant interest for money lent, or exchange of bills and cash, on account of mens necessities, is extortion and oppression. Where a person, or a combination of persons, engross the whole of any commodity which is to be sold, in order to make an excessive gain of it, or to injure other tradesmen in the same way of business, this is oppression. Again, to be rigorous in exacting debts or other rights to the very utmost farthing, where poverty, sickness, losses, dear seasons, or a large family render men incapable of paying what they owe; to allow them no time to satisfy their creditors; or to strip them of their all; this is cruelly oppressive. Obliging persons, over whom men have power, to vote or act against their consciences; persecuting, reviling, or even bantering, men for their religious sentiments and worship, is dreadful oppression. In the black list of oppressors must likewise be ranged parents, masters and mistresses of families and schools, who behave cruelly and severely to their children, servants, and scholars. There is likewise great oppression in a haughty, insolent, overbearing way of speaking to inferiors, which is very grating and hurtful to any sensible mind.

II. The great evil and wickedness of it.

1. It proceeds from a very bad disposition of mind. The principal source of it is covetousness; an inordinate love of the world (Jer 22:17). In some persons the practice of this sin proceeds from pride; to show their authority over others, and to keep them in awe. Hence they treat their inferiors as if they were of a lower species, and not worthy of common justice. This chows a base, ignoble mind (Psa 63:6-8). In some, it is owing to luxury and extravagance. They are dressed with the spoils of the poor; and their fine houses, equipages, and entertainments are supported by the properties and comforts of others. It is sometimes owing to sloth; because, like drones in the hive, they will not work, they prey upon the labours of the industrious. It is very often owing to resentment, malice, and ill-nature.

2. Oppression is a high ingratitude and affront to the righteous God. It is ingratitude to Him, because He giveth men all their wealth and power over others, and He doth this, not that they may oppress, but protect, relieve, and serve others, and be a blessing to them. It must, therefore, be horrid ingratitude to abuse and pervert these favours to their injury. But what renders it worse is, that He hath bestowed upon men spiritual blessings and Christian privileges, and, therefore, to oppress and injure them must be proportionably wicked. Further, He hath placed men in different circumstances in life; made both the rich and the poor. He hath allotted to men such conditions here that they need one anothers assistance. The rich want the labour of the poor, as the poor want the money of the rich; and God expects that they should help one another, and so contribute to the general happiness. To oppress the poor, then, is defeating the wise and kind design of Gods providence.

3. It is detestable inhumanity and cruelty to the oppressed. A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast. What then must we think of those who are oppressive and cruel to their fellow-men, but that they are utterly void of justice, goodness, and humanity, that they are monsters and not men?

4. It is directly contrary to the design of the Gospel; which is to promote righteousness, love, peace, and happiness upon earth, as well as to secure the eternal salvation of mankind.

5. It will sink men into everlasting ruin. God is a just and righteous Being, and at the judgment-day He will render to every one according to his works. The Lord seeth and remembereth all the oppression that is done under the sun, and He will at length reckon with those who have done it.

application.

1. I shall address oppressors; those whose consciences tell them, as in the sight of God, that they have been guilty of this sin in the instances above mentioned or any other. I exhort you, sirs, to hearken to the voice of conscience as the voice of God; to submit to its reproofs; and to be humbled deeply before God for your injustice and cruelty to men.

2. Let me address the oppressed. It may perhaps be the ease of some of you, and I would endeavour to be your comforter. Acknowledge the justice of the Lord in what you suffer from the hand of men. Though they are unrighteous, He is righteous, for you have sinned; and He may choose this method of afflicting you, to lead you to repentance, to exercise your virtues, and make your hearts better. Let me exhort you to guard against a spirit of malice and revenge. Remember that their oppressing you will be no excuse for injustice to them. That it is no harm to bite the biter is a very wicked maxim. It is better to suffer many wrongs than to do one. Yea, it is our duty to render good for evil.

3. I would address those who can appeal to a heart-searching God that they are guiltless of this sin. I would exhort you to guard against the love of money, which is the chief root of this evil. To prevent your becoming oppressors, go not to the utmost bounds of things lawful. Keep on the safe side. Be not only just, but honourable, generous, and charitable, and abstain from the very appearance of evil. Let me exhort you, likewise, to be comforters of the oppressed. (Job Orton, D. D.)

Womans work and overwork

It was considered honourable for women to toil in olden times. Alexander the Great stood in his palace showing garments made by his own mother. The finest tapestries at Bayeux were made by the queen of William the Conqueror. Augustus, the Emperor, would not wear any garments except those that were fashioned by some member of his royal family. So let the toilers everywhere be respected! The greatest blessing that could have happened to our first parents was being turned out of Eden after they had done wrong. Ashbel Green, at fourscore years, when asked why he kept on working, said: I do so to keep out of mischief. We see that a man who has a large amount of money to start with has no chance. Of the thousand prosperous and honourable men that you know, nine hundred and ninety-nine had to work vigorously at the beginning. But I am now to tell you that industry is just as important for a womans safety and happiness. The little girls of our families must be started with that idea. The curse of our American society is that our young women are taught that the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, tenth, fiftieth, thousandth thing in their life is to get somebody to take care of them. Instead of that, the first lesson should be how under God they may take care of themselves. Madame do Stael said: It is not these writings that I am proud of, but the fact that I have facility in ten occupations, in any one of which I could make a livelihood. Though you live in an elegant residence and fare sumptuously every day, let your daughters feel it is a disgrace to them not to know how to work. I denounce the idea prevalent in society that though our young women may embroider slippers and crochet and make mats for lamps to stand on without disgrace, the idea of doing anything for a livelihood is dishonourable. It is a shame for a young woman belonging to a large family to be inefficient when the father toils his life away for her support. It is a shame for a daughter to be idle while her mother toils at the wash-tub. No woman, any more than a man, has a right to occupy a place in this world unless she pays a rent for it. Society is to be reconstructed on the subject of womans toil. A vast majority of those who would have woman industrious shut her up to a few kinds of work. My judgment in this matter is that a woman has a right to do anything she can do well. There should be no department of merchandise, mechanism, art, or science barred against her. If Miss Hosmer has genius for sculpture, give her a chisel. If Rosa Bonheur has a fondness for delineating animals, let her make The Horse Fair. If Miss Mitchell will study astronomy, let her mount the starry ladder. If Lydia will be a merchant, let her sell purple. It is said, if woman is given such opportunities she will occupy places that might be taken by men. I say, if she have more skill and adaptedness for any position than a man has, let her have ill She has as much right to her bread, to her apparel, and to her home as men have. But it is said that her nature is so delicate that she is unfitted for exhausting toil. I ask in the name of all past history what toil on earth is more severe, exhausting, and tremendous than that toil of the needle to which for ages she has been subjected? Oh, the meanness, the despicability, of men who begrudge a woman the right of work anywhere in any honourable calling! I go still further and say that women should have equal compensation with men. By what principle of justice is it that women in many of our cities get only two-thirds as much pay as men and in many cases only half? Here is the gigantic injustice–that for work equally well, if not better, done, women receive far less compensation than men. Years ago one Sabbath night, in the vestibule of this church, after service, a woman fell in convulsions. The doctor said she needed medicine not so much as something to eat. As she began to revive, in her delirium she said, gaspingly: Eight cents! Eight cents! Eight cents! I wish I could get it done, I am so tired. I wish I could get some sleep, but I must get it done. Eight cents! Eight cents! Eight cents! We found afterwards that she was making garments for eight cents apiece, and she could make but three of them in a day. Hear it! Three times eight are twenty-four. Hear it, men and women who have comfortable homes. How are these evils to be eradicated? Some say: Give women the ballot. What effect such ballot might have on other questions I am not here to discuss; but what would be the effect of female suffrage on womens wages? I do not believe that women will ever get justice by womans ballot. Indeed, women oppress women as much as men do. Do not women, as much as men, beat down to the lowest figure the woman who sews for them? Woman will never get justice done her from womans ballot. Neither will she get it from mans ballot. How then? God will rise up for her. God has more resources than we know of. The flaming sword that hung at Edens gate when woman was driven out will cleave with its terrible edge her oppressors. But there is something for women to do. Let young people prepare to excel in spheres of work, and they will be able after a while to get larger wages. If it be shown that a woman can, in a store, sell more goods in a year than a man, she will soon be able not only to ask, but to demand more wages, and to demand them successfully. Unskilled and incompetent labour must take what is given; skilled and competent labour will eventually make its own standard. (T. DeWilt Talmage.)

They had no comforter.

No comforter

It is the glory of the Gospel that it is not only a religion of conversion, but a religion of consolation. It ministers peace, and makes even the human side of life capable of deep and abiding joy. The promise has been fulfilled, and the soul bears witness that He is true who says, I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.

I. The latent pain. This pain does not leap forth at once. It is a kind of hidden fire: a sort of slumbering force. Students of life should think deeply on this, that pain lies hidden in pleasure. The strangest fact in life is that the measure of joy is often the measure of sorrow. The height of gain is the length of the shadow of loss. The keener our affection, the more bitter our anguish when bereavement comes. The more ardent our pursuit, the more depressing the disappointment in missing the goal. In Jesus Christ our Lord He has offered us a renewed nature and a restful heart. He has given us a Saviour and a Comforter. We need no more. If the latent pain leaps forth, we have an anodyne for sorrow, a perfect absolution for sin, a balm for broken hearts, a brother born for adversity, and beyond the present the glories of immortal life. At our peril we put Christ away. Out in the wide fields of human search we come upon no footprints of another Saviour.

II. The charlatan comforters. Yes! there are comforters. We find that men will put the poppy in the pillow when there is no peace in the heart. They seek comfort. Sometimes in quiet retreats, where the scenes of the city life do not haunt them, Natures floral groves and woodland shadows constitute a veil to hide the weird forms of guilt and shame and sorrow to be met with in crowded centres of life. But past life will there come back to memory, and unforgiven sin will there send its sharp dagger to the heart. Or it may be that freedom from necessity brings comfort, and that superfluity has made the old days of care and struggle only a memory! Now at all events there are no sleepless nights, no battles amid daily anxiety for daily bread, and we sit under the restful shadow of trees planted long ago! Then, too, much looks like comfort, which comes from ease of circumstance, when the couch is of down, and no spectre of anxiety crosses the earthly threshold. But even then there are deep necessities of the soul, if we are dead to things divine.

III. The fulness of Christ. I do not mean merely Divine perfectness in the quantity of sympathy, but, if I may say so, in the quality of it. Nothing is more wonderful than the way in which the weary soul finds sympathy in the Saviour. There is a revelation of grace in Christ which makes Him the complement of each mans nature. Sorrows differ; doubts differ; needs differ; tastes differ; and even the wounds inflicted by bereavement differ. But Christ searches us, and knows us all. And what sweet response comes from hearts that have trusted in Him, as they unite in testifying, His grace is sufficient for us! How patiently Christians suffer! How trustfully they rest! How cheerfully they live! How hopefully they die!

IV. The missing good. No comforter! Then who will show us any good? For we cannot unmake ourselves. There is the connection of comfort with conscience. Divine redemption still, as of old, is a necessity of the human heart. Then there is the connection of comfort with character. We are made new creatures in Christ Jesus. We have new motives, new aims, new desires, new sympathies, new relationship to God. Our life is hid with Christ in God–the blessed God: and then peace flows like a river through the heart. This is life eternal. Then there is the connection of comfort with influence. That man has no comforter who realizes that the influence of his life is an infection of evil, an impulse to the lower life. Even if he possess genius, it may be but an added force for harm. But the Christian has this comfort, though no minstrel sings the story of his chivalry, though no sculptured marble tells the tale of his renown–yet he liveth to the Lord, he dieth to the Lord. The world of holy influence will be the richer for his being! (W. M. Statham.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

CHAPTER IV

The vanity of life is increased by oppression, 1-3;

by envy, 4;

by idleness, 5.

The misery of a solitary life, and the advantages of society,

6-12.

A poor and wise child; better than an old and foolish king, 13.

The uncertainty of popular favour, 14-16.

NOTES ON CHAP. IV

Verse 1. Considered all the oppressions] ashukim signifies any kind of injury which a man can receive in his person, his property, or his good fame.

On the side of their oppressors there was power] And, therefore, neither protection nor comfort for the oppressed.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

I considered again more seriously

all the oppressions that are done under the sun, whether by supreme magistrates or judges, of which he spake Ecc 3:16, or by any other potent persons.

They had no comforter; none afforded them either pity or succour, either out of a selfish and barbarous disposition, or for fear of exposing themselves thereby to the same injuries.

There was power, both in themselves, and because most men were ready to join with the strongest and safest side. So they were utterly unable to deliver themselves, and, as it follows, none else could or would do it.

They had no comforter; which is repeated as an argument both of the great inhumanity of men towards others in calamity, and of the extreme misery of oppressed persons.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

1. returnednamely, to thethought set forth (Ecc 3:16;Job 35:9).

powerMAURER,not so well, “violence.”

no comfortertwice saidto express continued suffering without any to give comfort(Isa 53:7).

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun,…. The wise man, according to Aben Ezra, returned from the thought, which he had expressed in the latter part of the preceding chapter, that it was good for a man to rejoice in his works, and called it in; since he could not rejoice, when he considered the oppression and violence that were in the world; but it does not appear that he did call it in, for he afterwards repeats it: or rather he returns to his former subject, the abuse of power and authority, mentioned Ec 3:16; and from whence he had digressed a little by the above observation; and takes a review of all kinds of oppressions which are done, and of all sorts of “oppressed” x ones, as some render it, which become so, under the sun; subjects by their prince; the stranger, widow, and fatherless, by unjust judges; the poor by the rich; servants and labourers by their masters; and the like. Moreover, he saw by the Holy Ghost, as Jarchi paraphrases it, all oppressions by a spirit of prophecy; he foresaw all the oppressions that would be done under the sun; as all the injuries done to the people of Israel in their several captivities; so to the church of Christ in Gospel times; all the persecutions of Rome Pagan, and also of Rome Papal; all that has or will be done by antichrist, the man of the earth, who before long will oppress no more, Ps 10:18; the Targum restrains these oppressions to those which are done to the righteous in this world: and it is well observed by the wise man, that they are such as are under the sun, for there are none above it, nor any beyond the grave, Job 3:17;

and behold the tears of [such as were] oppressed; which their eyes poured out, and which ran down their cheeks, and were all they could do, having no power to help themselves: it is in the singular number, “and behold the tear” y; as if it was one continued stream of tears, which, like a torrent, flowed from them; or as if they had so exhausted the source of nature by weeping, that the fountain of tears was dried up, and scarce another could drop; or it was as much as could be, that another should drop from them: and this the wise man could not well behold, without weeping himself; it being the property of a good man to weep with them that weep, especially with good men oppressed;

and they had no comforter; to speak a comfortable word to them; not so much as to do that which would be some alleviation of their sorrow, much less to help them, no human comforter; and this is a very deplorable condition, La 1:2; indeed, when this is the case, good men under their oppressions have a divine Comforter; God comforts them under all their tribulations; one of the names of the Messiah is “the Consolation of Israel”, Lu 2:25; and the Spirit of God is “another Comforter”, Joh 14:16; and such are well off, when all other comforters are miserable ones, or other men have none;

and on the side of their oppressors [there was] power; to crush them and keep them under, or to hinder others from helping or comforting them: or there was no “power [to deliver them] out of the hand of their oppressors” z; so some render and supply the words; with which sense agrees the Targum,

“and there is none to redeem them out of the hand of their oppressors, by strength of hand and by power.”

It may be rendered, “out of the hand of their oppressors [comes] power”, or violence; such as the oppressed are not able to withstand; so the Arabic version;

but they had no comforter: which is repeated, not so much for confirmation, as to excite attention and pity, and to express the affliction of the oppressed, and the cruelty of others; and this following on the other clause, leads to observe, that the power of the oppressor is what hinders and deters others from comforting. Jarchi interprets this whole verse of the damned in hell, punished for their evil works, weeping for their souls oppressed by the destroying angels; and so, he says, it is, explained in an ancient book of theirs, called Siphri.

x “oppressos”, Montanus, Junius Tremellius, Drusius, Schmidt, Rambachius, so Broughton “fraudatos”, Cocceius. y “lachryma”, Montanus, Tigurine version, Cocceius, Rambachius. z “et quia deest facultas se vindicandi e manu opprimentium ipsos”, Tigurine version; “aut evadendi e manu opprimentium se virtus”, Junius Tremellius “nec vires ad evadendum a manu opprimentium ipsos”, Piscator.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

“And again I saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold there the tears of the oppressed, and they have no comforter; and from the hand of their oppressors goeth forth violence; and they have no comforter.” Incorrectly Hahn: And anew I saw, – the observation is different from that of Ecc 3:16, though cognate. Thus: And again I saw, – the expression follows the syntactic scheme of Gen 26:18; regarding the fut. consec. brought into view here and at Ecc 4:7. The second is part. pass.; the first, as at Job 35:9, and also at Amo 3:9, is abstract ( i.e., bringing the many separate instances under one general idea) pluraletantum (cf. , redemti , Isa 35:10; and redemtio, pretium redemtionis , Num 3:46); the plur. need not appear strange, since even is connected with the plur. of the pred., e.g., Psa 31:11; Psa 88:4. has, as at Isa 25:8 (cf. Rev 21:4, ), a collective sense. The expression … is singular. According to the most natural impression, it seems to signify: “and from the hand of their oppressors no power of deliverance” (carrying forward ); but the parallelism of the palindromically constructed verse (as at Ecc 1:6; Ecc 2:10; Ecc 3:16) excludes this meaning. Thus is here once-nowhere else-used, like the Greek , in the sense of violence; Luzzatto prefers the reading , by which the expression would be in conformity with the linguistic usage; but also is explained: the force which they have in their hands is, in going forth from their hands, thought of as abused, and, as taking the form of or . In view of this sorrow which men bring upon their fellow-men, life for Koheleth lost all its worth and attraction.

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

The Prevalence of Oppression.

      1 So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter.   2 Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive.   3 Yea, better is he than both they, which hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.

      Solomon had a large soul (1 Kings iv. 29) and it appeared by this, among other things, that he had a very tender concern for the miserable part of mankind and took cognizance of the afflictions of the afflicted. He had taken the oppressors to task (Ecc 3:16; Ecc 3:17) and put them in mind of the judgment to come, to be a curb to their insolence; now here he observes the oppressed. This he did, no doubt, as a prince, to do them justice and avenge them of their adversaries, for he both feared God and regarded men; but here he does it as a preacher, and shows,

      I. The troubles of their condition (v. 1); of these he speaks very feelingly and with compassion. It grieved him, 1. To see might prevailing against right, to see so much oppression done under the sun, to see servants, and labourers, and poor workmen, oppressed by their masters, who take advantage of their necessity to impose what terms they please upon them, debtors oppressed by cruel creditors and creditors too by fraudulent debtors, tenants oppressed by hard landlords and orphans by treacherous guardians, and, worst of all, subjects oppressed by arbitrary princes and unjust judges. Such oppressions are done under the sun; above the sun righteousness reigns for ever. Wise men will consider these oppressions, and contrive to do something for the relief of those that are oppressed. Blessed is he that considers the poor. 2. To see how those that were wronged laid to heart the wrongs that were done them. He beheld the tears of such as were oppressed, and perhaps could not forbear weeping with them. The world is a place of weepers; look which way we will, we have a melancholy scene presented to us, the tears of those that are oppressed with one trouble or other. They find it is to no purpose to complain, and therefore mourn in secret (as Job, Job 16:20; Job 30:28); but Blessed are those that mourn. 3. To see how unable they were to help themselves: On the side of their oppressors there was power, when they had done wrong, to stand to it and make good what they had done, so that the poor were borne down with a strong hand and had no way to obtain redress. It is sad to see power misplaced, and that which was given men to enable them to do good perverted to support them in doing wrong. 4. To see how they and their calamities were slighted by all about them. They wept and needed comfort, but there was none to do that friendly office: They had no comforter; their oppressors were powerful and threatening, and therefore they had no comforter; those that should have comforted them durst not, for fear of displeasing the oppressors and being made their companions for offering to be their comforters. It is sad to see so little humanity among men.

      II. The temptations of their condition. Being thus hardly used, they are tempted to hate and despise life, and to envy those that are dead and in their graves, and to wish they had never been born (Ecc 4:2; Ecc 4:3); and Solomon is ready to agree with them, for it serves to prove that all is vanity and vexation, since life itself is often so; and if we disregard it, in comparison with the favour and fruition of God (as St. Paul, Act 20:24; Phi 1:23), it is our praise, but, if (as here) only for the sake of the miseries that attend it, it is our infirmity, and we judge therein after the flesh, as Job and Elijah did. 1. He here thinks those happy who have ended this miserable life, have done their part and quitted the stage; “I praised the dead that are already dead, slain outright, or that had a speedy passage through the world, made a short cut over the ocean of life, dead already, before they had well begun to live; I was pleased with their lot, and, had it been in their own choice, should have praised their wisdom for but looking into the world and then retiring, as not liking it. I concluded that it is better with them than with the living that are yet alive and that is all, dragging the long and heavy chain of life, and wearing out its tedious minutes.” This may be compared not with Job 3:20; Job 3:21, but with Rev. xiv. 13, where, in times of persecution (and such Solomon is here describing), it is not the passion of man, but the Spirit of God, that says, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth. Note, The condition of the saints that are dead, and gone to rest with God, is upon many accounts better and more desirable than the condition of living saints that are yet continued in their work and warfare. 2. He thinks those happy who never began this miserable life; nay, they are happiest of all: He that has not been is happier than both they. Better never to have been born than be born to see the evil work that is done under the sun, to see so much wickedness committed, so much wrong done, and not only to be in no capacity to mend the matter, but to suffer ill for doing well. A good man, how calamitous a condition soever he is in in this world, cannot have cause to wish he had never been born, since he is glorifying the Lord even in the fires, and will be happy at last, for ever happy. Nor ought any to wish so while they are alive, for while there is life there is hope; a man is never undone till he is in hell.

Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary

ECCLESIASTES

CHAPTER 4

UNRELIEVED OPPRESSION

Verse 1 declares Solomon’s observation that under the sun men in authority use their power to oppress (Ecc 3:16) the helpless, causing them to shed tears; but there is no comforter to console the oppressed ones, a fact twice mentioned for emphasis, Ecc 3:16; Ecc 5:8; Pro 28:16. How bankrupt of real comfort are those who live under the sun, without the promise of Joh 14:1; Joh 14:18.

Verse 2 further emphasizes the plight of the oppressed under the sun, declaring that those already dead are better off than the living, Ecc 2:17.

Verse 3 goes further, affirming that he who hath not yet existed is better than either the oppressed living or already dead, Ecc 6:3-5; Job 3:20; Job 6:11; Job 7:6; Jon 4:8.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

THE WOULD-BE RELIGIOUS MAN

Ecc 3:1 to Ecc 4:16.

IN these chapters Solomon discusses the would-be religious man. Just as in the case of The Would-be Wise Man, and The Would-be Happy Man, he presents both the false philosophies current among men and the philosophies that are true. The one thing that he makes clear is the fact that true religion is more than action, on the one side, or negation on the other. Christ Himself, the perfect model in true religion, did not escape the criticisms of men who believed that religion consisted of deeds and donts.

It came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.

And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto His disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners?

Then came to Him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but Thy disciples fast not? (Mat 9:10-11; Mat 9:14).

And Jesus, having overheard what they were saying about Him, said,

John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil.

The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners (Mat 11:18-19).

In other words, Jesus did not escape criticism. Flawless as His religion was, it did not suit the men and women who made fast and hard rules for others; and then watched to see who would toe the line.

Solomon had observed sufficiently to know that true religion does not consist in exactitudes; but, rather, in the spirit that animates loyalty, gives rise to love, and eventuates in service. He even goes so far as to defend certain things that are supposed to be indefensible, indicating The Justification of Worldliness, The Vindication of Religion, and The Adjudication of Values.

THE JUSTIFICATION OF WORLDLINESS

Circumstances should often determine conduct.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace (Ecc 3:1-8).

This all sounds like strange speech. It sounds as if Solomon favored destruction, murder, dancing, war, and other questionable, or evidently wicked acts. But such an interpretation would pervert his intention. What he says is clearly true if intelligently interpreted. There is a time to every purpose under the heaven. There is a time to be born; that is when the period of gestation is complete. There is a time to die; that is when life itself has been lived and the strength of the body and the heart has been exhausted. There is a time to plant; that is in the springtime. And there is a time to pluck up, or gather; that is in the autumn. Yes, there is even a time to kill, and a time to heal. When the pig in the pen or ox in the stall are fully fatted, that is the time to kill for animals. When a man has proven himself an intentional murderer, and thereby has demonstrated that the continuation of his existence renders society unsafe, the State has a perfect right to kill.

But when the good citizen is sick, that is the time to heal.

There is a time to break down; that is when the hedge fence has become a nuisance and ought to be removed, or the house has become old and leaky, and is no longer worthy of patches even; then destroy them and leave the landscape to natures beautification, or employ the place for a new building.

There is a time to weep, and that is when the heart is filled with sorrow. There is a time to laugh; that is when mirth is appropriate.

There is a time to mourn; that is when bereavement has smitten the house. There is a time to dance; that is when every heart is lithe with joy.

It had better be said in passing that the dancing with which Solomon was familiar was not the unjustifiable debauch that belongs to the present day.

There is a time to cast away stones; that is when we are clearing up the field for the plow. There is a time to gather stones together; that is when you want to construct a house of the same.

In other words, circumstances may justly control conduct!

We believe absolutely with Solomon that it is better not to look upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright; in other words, when it is a temptation! But we also agree with Paul, that, for the sick, a little wine for thy stomachs sake is justifiable.

When we hear that certain people have done so and so, one should learn the circumstances before passing criticism. To illustrate how a thing that is not only proper in itself, but eminently desirable, may become absurd, you have only to recall the story of the barber who had found the Lord, and became instantly an enthusiastic soul-winner, and let no man get by without a personal appeal for surrender. One day a stranger appeared in the shop, was comfortably seated in the barbers chair, and when his face was lathered, the barber, with razor in hand, leaned over him and asked, Are you prepared to die? The story goes that they found the man in the next county still running. The thing that Solomon is trying to emphasize is appropriateness. To every thing there is a season.

Through every experience there runs a possible profitable exercise.

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

I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it (Ecc 3:9-10).

People have an idea that they should be kept from travail, preserved against sorrow, insured against hardship. They argue that if God were good He would exempt man from all of these things. The logic is faulty. The argument itself finds no defense in human experience.

Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth.

We have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us * * after their own pleasure; but He for our profit * *.

Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby (Heb 12:6; Heb 12:9-11).

Mark the words exercised thereby. Moses could never have been the man he was without the danger to his infancy in the bulrushes, the travail of spirit he endured at the sight of his suffering kin, and the hardships of the desert life.

Daniel would never have developed as he did had he not been placed on pulse and water, opposed by his envious enemies, flung by his master to the lions.

Joseph would never have been as fit a Premier, had he not passed to his prominence by the path of opposition, the experiences of the pit, and even the dankness of the prison dungeon.

Paul could hardly have been the Apostle of the centuries without the opposition, hardship, flogging, and imprisonment, through which he walked to his immortal diploma.

It is not essentially different today. John Bunyan might never have seen the illumined path to the Celestial City had he not been in Bedford jail and denied all physical vision. Huber might never have attained the honors connected with his name as a scientist had he not been smitten with blindness, and Alexander Stevens was made an invalid first and an orator afterward. Strange as it seems, Beethoven conceived his glorious symphonies while suffering deafness, and Phillips Brooks became the torrential orator because he had to talk fast to defeat his own stuttering. Hardships, suffering, travail of spirit may not be absolutely essential to human success, but, that they are exercises by which God has profited man a thousand times, none can dispute. That, we believe to be the meaning of this text, I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it. He hath made every thing beautiful in his time. The field that is being torn by the plow, if it were sentient, would complain that its very face was being battered to pieces; and when the harrow was put over the same, its complaint might be deeper still, namely, that a thousand scratches were being put upon the same face, and that without occasion. But the plow-man knows the share and harrow are essential for the beauty and fruitfulness of the coming summer.

There is human comfort in the sense of Divine control.

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 (Ecc 3:14).

Therein is unspeakable comfort. No man who doubts the Divine control can be a happy man. Robert Browning, believer that he was, could, under the most adverse circumstances, declare

Gods in His Heaven,

and believe that

Alls right with the world.

But Schopenhauer, failing to see God in anything, refusing to admit His intervention at any point, regarded life a regrettable tragedy, declared it to be a misfortune, and death itself to be preferable to human existence.

If thou but suffer God to guide thee,

And hope in Him through all thy ways,

Hell give thee strength whateer betide thee,

And bear thee through the evil days.

Who trusts in Gods unchanging love,

Builds on the Bock that can not move.

What can these anxious cares avail thee,

The never-ceasing moans and sighs?

What can it help if thou bewail thee,

Oer each dark moment as it dies?

Our cross and trials do but press

The heavier for our bitterness.

Only be still and wait His leisure

In cheerful hope, with heart content

To take whateer thy Fathers pleasure

And all-discerning love hath sent;

No doubt our inmost wants are known

To Him who chose us for His own.

Sing, pray, and keep His ways unswerving,

So do thine own part faithfully,

And trust His Word, though undeserving,

Thou yet shalt find it true for thee;

God never yet forsook at need

The soul that trusted Him indeed.

But to our text again. We look and discover

THE VINDICATION OF RELIGION

God is a discerner of right and wrong.

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

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 (Ecc 3:16-17).

In this statement of Scripture is food for thought a fact in which men must uniformly believe. They may boast themselves to be the apostles of skepticism; they may talk lightly, and even learnedly, of immutable laws, and of man as the climax of Natures endeavor; but there is something within man, doubtless his immortal self, that senses God and recognizes in Him the final Judge as between right and wrong and, consequently, the Arbiter of eternal destinies.

That is how it happens that the most profane man of the day, when in danger, will cease his profanity and voice prayer. That is how it happens that the boastful atheist, when death draws nigh, pales in his presence and evidently fears that judgment may stand just back of lifes last enemy. That is why it took place that the murderer, when the nails of crucifixion were driven into his hands and feet, turned his dying eyes to the Man of Nazareth and begged to be remembered in grace when that Godlike One should come into His Kingdom.

There are plenty of people who imagine they can get on without God, when the heart is stout, when the health is perfect, when the business is prosperous, when the domestic order is peaceful, and when their good name is in no danger. But when have you known a man that could face serious illness in an unshaken skepticism, or certain death, knowing no concern for sin?

Charles Wesley but expressed what even the worst of men are like to feel as they approach the final judgment:

Depths of mercy! can there be

Mercy still reserved for me?

Can my God His wrath forbear,

And the chief of sinners spare?

I have long withstood His grace;

Long provoked Him to His face;

Would not hear His gracious calls;

Grieved Him by a thousand falls.

Jesus, answer from above;

Is not all Thy nature love?

Wilt Thou not the wrong forget?

Lo, I fall before Thy feet.

Now incline me to repent;

Let me now my fall lament;

Deeply my revolt deplore;

Weep, believe, and sin no more.

The sense of God makes manifest the sins of man.

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.

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.

For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity.

It was when Isaiah saw God high and lifted up that he saw himself a sinful man, a man of unclean lips, dwelling among a people of the same. It was when Peter realized the Divine presence in the person of Jesus that he fell on his face and cried, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man. It was when Paul, on the way to Damascus, beheld the Lord of holiness, that he bit the dust, and blinded by his own tears, extended his hand to those who would lead him out of total darkness into the light of redemption; and it was that former estate to which he referred when he affirmed that he was the chief of sinners.

The beastliness of humanity of which Solomon here writes, becomes evident when men see themselves in the light of Gods face. And it is then, and only then, that grace has her opportunity.

John Newton had followed his feet in forbidden paths and yielded his heart to any and every seduction of evil, but when at last he sensed God, and was saved, he wrote:

Amazing grace! how sweet the sound,

That saved a wretch like me!

I once was lost, but now am found;

Was blind, but now I see.

Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,

And grace my fears relieved;

How precious did that grace appear,

The hour I first believed!

Through many dangers, toils, and snares,

I have already come;

Tis grace that brought me safe thus far,

And grace will lead me Home.

THE ADJUDICATION OF VALUES

Solomon in the fourth chapter gives serious concern to the oppressions that are done under the sun, to the tears of the oppressed, and is led to four conclusions, which he impresses one after another by the one word better.

He affirms that non-existence is better than sordid life. For when he considers oppression, beholds the tears of the oppressed, and recognizes the fact that they are without comforters, he praises the dead more than the living; but declares, Better is he than both they, which hath not yet been.

To some this would seem adeclaration that it werebetter never to have been born than to have lived. But such is not the declaration of Scripture. It isbetter not to have been born than to have been born to oppression, tears and lack of comforters; and still better yet not to have been born to oppress ones fellows. But neither oppression nor the oppressor are essentials of life. It can be lived in freedom, and also in integrity, and yet, so lived it is as much beyond and better than being dead as a living tree is better than a dead one; and a living dog is better than a dead lion.

James Thompson, the poet, must certainly have looked at life from the low standpoint of mortality, and have seen much of what Solomon here depicts, or else he could never have voiced himself in the despair of this verse:

Weary of erring in this desert life,

Weary of hoping hopes forever vain,

Weary of struggling in all sterile strife,

Weary of thought that makes nothing plain,

I calm my eyes and calm my panting breath,

And pray to Thee, oh, ever quiet Death,

To come and soothe away my bitter pain.

One of three words accounts for such a philosophy of lifesin, skepticism or stupidity.

The stupid see little in life! Only this week I have read a letter. The writer was ignorant as indicated alike by his faulty spelling, his false reasoning, and his fanatical conclusions. To him society was all wrong; civilization was a mistake, and Christianity was a pretense. The prison-house was his enforced habitat. There are thousands of men behind bars who are more stupid than wicked, and the mighty majority of them see nothing in life; that accounts for the fact that they hold it so cheaply, that they put it in peril so constantly, and that they prefer the thrill of robbery to the slower method of making money by honest labor. The majority of these men doubt God, deny the authority of Scripture, and deride the professions of Christianity as mere pretenses. They believe that one had better never been born. Such is the conclusion of stupidity!

Skepticism lifts its subjects to little higher level. Professor Clifford believed that the great companion was dead. Harriet Martineau insisted that everlasting winter had set in. Herbert Spencer doubted if any deeds were worthy of the endeavor. George Burman Foster admitted that he was seeking to save his soul from freezing as he strove vainly to cling to the sunnier side of doubt. Mills feared that the universe had gotten away from God, while Hume, Paine and Voltaire, and our own Bob Ingersoll looked upon life as an insoluble enigma, and existence as a regrettable event.

But, the depths and dregs of despair are left to men who live consciously and constantly in sin. Such is the power of sin to produce despair that no conceivable human talent will lift its subject above the experience of the same. Think of Bobby Burns as an illustration of what I am saying. It is affirmed that his genius was so overmastering that the news of Burns arrival at the village not only drew farmers from their fields, but the midnight wakened travelers left their beds to listen delightedly until the morning. Among scholars, statesmen and philosophers, he blazed, one said, like a torch amidst the tapers, showing himself to be wiser than the scholars, wittier than the humorous and kinglier than the courtliest. No less an authority than Walter Scott declares that the most precious memory of life was a look into Burns eyes, dark and tender, the most glorious eyes he had ever seen. But Newell Dwight Hillis declares that the last time that Robert Burns eyes glowed, they blazed with anger against a creditor who had come to drag the dying man from his bed to the prison cell. Possessed by sorrow as with an evil spirit, his dark hair streaked with gray before its time, worn by worries and wasted with fever, embittered by trouble against which he had bravely struggled, but struggled in vain, like Saul, Burns fell upon an untimely death. In spite of our love of Burns, in spite of the beauty of his poetry, in spite of the brilliance of his intellect, we are compelled to confess with grief that it was sins and excesses that sent this favorite child of the intellectual world to the land of despair.

Byron, handsome of feature beyond description, intelligent of face above his fellows, courtly in manners as few men ever become, and talented to the point of a positive immortality, drank and caroused until his friend Shelley declared that a sudden and violent death would be the greatest blessing that could overtake him.

Doubtless each of these men would have joined with Solomon in the speech, It were better never to have been born, and yet the world would not accept their judgment, when in spite of their sins and despair, they gave to life contributions of such high order as to disprove their own pessimistic philosophy, and such also as to illustrate the fact that stupidity, skepticism and sinfulness, while they each and everyone tend to despair, may not, even when combined, produce that sordid thing which is worse than death or non-existence.

Again, Solomon declares contentment better than sordid success.

Better is an handful with quietness, than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit (Ecc 4:6).

A week ago I reminded you of the Scotch minister, who on a Christmas Day sought to do some service for his Saviour and Lord, and remembering the poor old lady at the foot of the hill, carried her a basket of provisions. Arriving at the door, he saw her sitting down to the morning meal. It consisted of a crust of bread, and a cup of water, but with bowed head and grateful spirit, she was giving thanks to God for what she had. Who will question that that meal was better than all the wines of the kings table, if the latter be taken in travail and vexation of spirit?

My friend and former classmate, Dr. J. T. M. Johnson, writing of A. D. Brown, the great shoe merchant of St. Louis, quotes Carnegie as having said, Those who have the misfortune to be rich mens sons are heavier weighted in the race. A basketful of bonds is the heaviest basket a young man ever had to carry. Cyrus Fields he quotes as having said, I am dying. My fortune is gone. My money is dishonored. I was so unkind to Edward, when I thought I was being kind to him. If I only had been fortunate enough to compel my boys to earn their living, they would have known the meaning of money. Truly, better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right.

Solomons third claim is that married life is better than single lonesomeness.

Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.

For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but Woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up (Ecc 4:9-10).

These are days when marriage is a mooted question; days when many advise against it; days in which there is a proposed substitute for the permanent relation, in the form of a temporary trial called companionate marriage. But God was not mistaken when in the garden of Eden He looked on Adam and said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

There are exceptions to all rules, but the rule of life is that the worlds monarchs, in practically every vocation and calling, have been not only men bound by the legal tie of marriage but men inspired to the highest and holiest endeavors by the women they had chosen as wives, and in whose continued sympathy and certain affection they had found their inspiration.

The evil times upon which we have fallen speak contemptuously of the marriage relation, and the youth of this generation are honestly debating whether the same is desirable or not. Solomon seeks in this text to answer that question and with the wisdom which characterizes him in all else, he answers it correctly, Two are better than one. In spite of all the exceptions to the rule, the rule itself remains. In spite of all the stupidity of selection, in spite of all the inharmonies of fellowship, in spite of all the difficulties of adjustment, in spite of all the disagreements and divorces that characterize and even curse the relationship, the truth of the text stands, Two are better than one. And this reasoning is sound, For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.

How true are the words of the author of The Quest for Happiness, Many a wife has, in her very zeal and passionate love for her husband, smoothed his pathway, soothed his tire after his days toil, given encouragement and praise, where jealous competitors gave only blows and condemnation; has prophesied her husbands ultimate victory, where the outside world foretold failure; and has at last made herself an offering upon the altar of her husbands wealth or office or honors. Thenceforth, invalided, her very sweetness and patience in the sick-room have made her very spirit seem like a shrub that, crushed, exhales the richer perfume. After all, this woman had her choice. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man or a woman lay down the life for the beloved one. And the happiness that she feels within is a thousand-fold more intense than that of the woman who lives for herself only, and who lives in perfect health.

Finally, Solomon declares poverty-stricken childhood is better than aged, kingly folly.

Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who mil no more be admonished (Ecc 4:13).

This sentence needs no argument! It amounts to a moral axiom, The poor, intelligent child holds in his very self every potentiality of eminent success, sacred influence and even that of seraphic eternity; while an old and foolish king who will no more be admonished holds within himself nothing but folly and wickedness, the certainty of death, and the prospect of hell.

And yet, what inspired prescription, what Divinely elected path can the child take to insure him for time and eternity against the sins of youth, the sorrows of manhood, and the curses of old age? Solomon himself can answer this question before we have finished the Book. Turn with me to the 12th chapter and read his counsel, Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them.

The whole appeal for child-conversion is in the combination of these two texts, and in the logical relation the first sustains to the second. Life is a series of conflicts. The child faces them all. Victory within will not be a matter of temporal advantage in birth, a matter of physical prowess or even mental acumen. Thousands of babies have been born and brought up as was the prodigal son, in luxurys lap only to waste the fathers substance in riotous living, and have been reduced to the level of pigs. Thousands of babies have been born with a physique Samsonian in character, but to be caught by the Delilahs of lust and delivered into the power of the Philistines, to be blinded, enslaved and sent to final suicide. Thousands have been born with intellects somewhat akin to that of Burns and Byron, and yet suffer with them a kindred defeat. Natural strength is no insurance of success.

James Whitcomb Brougher while pastor of the Auditorium Temple, Los Angeles, California, baptized Bob Fitzsimmons. He tells about it in the following way:

Bob Fitzsimmons, the noted prize fighter, came to my office in Los Angeles and asked to see me. I sent my secretary to inquire whether or not he wanted to talk. He replied that he did. I welcomed him. I then asked what I could do for him especially. He said, Doctor Brougher, can you tell me how I can become as strong on the inside as I am on the outside? I asked him to explain how he became a prize fighter. He repeated the story of his life, describing his self-denials, hardships and peculiar experiences that were necessary to become the champion bruiser of the world. After he had finished, I said, Bob, you are a giant physically, but mentally, you are just an ordinary chap, and spiritually you are a little child. I could lick you spiritually. I put the emphasis on the last word and did not take too much territory.

He admitted his weakness and asked me how he could overcome it. I asked him if he was willing to pay the same price for spiritual development that he had paid for physical. He replied that he was. I explained to him just what was necessary to be done in order to be a Christian.

I saw the giant get on his knees, ask God to forgive the sins of the past, pledge his allegiance to Jesus Christ, and arise with the determination to follow his Lord and Master in baptism. I baptized him the next Sunday morning before 3,000 people, and he began the greatest fight he had ever undertakena contest with the world, the flesh, and the devil. He fought it out for two years and then God took him Home. Just before his death, he said, It has been a hard fight; but by the help of Jesus Christ, I have won.

Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley

CRITICAL NOTES.

Ecc. 4:1. So I returned.] Passing from the reflections of the last chapter to a new subject of contemplation. They had no comforter. The repetition of this phrase is intended to make the thought emphatic.

Ecc. 4:4. Every right work.] Every work marked by excellence and skill. But the writer has chiefly in view that successful work which excites the envy of others.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Ecc. 4:1-3

THE TYRANNY OF FORCE AGAINST RIGHT

I. Such tyranny is an immense evil.

1. It is an old evil. From the days of Cain, who did the first murder, there have been tyrants who have used their power to oppress the innocent. Brute force, without the government of the reason and conscience, employed to crush the defenceless, is one of the earliest forms of human iniquity.

2. It is an inveterate evil. Since Abels murder, the oppressors and the oppressed have been the chief actors in history. In every age, might has prevailed over right. No nation can show a clear page, purged from this blot. Humanity has become so indoctrinated with the claims of mere power that armies are still called forces. Even now, society is not advanced enough to render supreme homage to reason and moral right. Still the ultimate appeal of nations is to force.

II. Such tyranny gives rise to extreme suffering. The innocent may be strong in the sense of right, and in the defence of conscience; still human nature must feel.

1. These sufferings open the fountains of sorrow. When courage, goodness, and skill are of no avail against a vicious power; when the innocent are trampled under by the iron heel of tyranny, no wonder that the eye fills, and the heart is overwhelmed with emotion.

2. These sufferings are sometimes aggravated by the circumstance that they have no earthly comforter. The good have often been alone in the sorrows inflicted by the oppressor, and have looked around in vain for a sympathetic heart. With no eye to pity, and no heart to cheer, the load of misery comes with crushing weight.

III. Such tyranny causes existence to seem but a questionable benefit. The long record of human agony produced by the tyranny of the powerful; the cruel persecutions of some of the brightest ornaments of human naturethese things are a sore trial to our faith in the goodness of the Supreme Power. It seems as if God were indifferent to the most grievous wrongs of men. The existence of such evils in the world tempts a man to indulge in the most extravagant and desperate language.

1. He affirms that the dead are better off than the living. (Ecc. 4:2.) The thought of the wrongs which man inflicts on man so sickens the heart that we are plunged into that gloomy mood in which we are ready to hail the condition of the dead, and welcome the long sleep and the safe shelter of the grave. There are deeds so horrible that the contemplation of them is enough to make us loathe life.

2. That the gift of existence is itself an evil. (Ecc. 4:3.) There are seasons when the contemplation of the darker side of history so occupies the mind that we are tempted to regard the gift of life itself as a doubtful blessing. We almost wish as if our eye had never opened to the light of day, and that we had never been called from that dark negation which we once were. A state of non-existence appears to us preferable to a state of ill-existence.

3. There are times when this melancholy thought presses itself with peculiar force upon the mind. Times in the individual lifetimes in the life of nations. The state of mind, however, here described, does not and cannot last. Though the soul may have to pass through this shadow, she emerges into the light of a better hope. Elsewhere the Royal Preacher praises life as a Divine gift. Our feeling regarding the wrongs of time is thus modified by the higher truths, and the belief in eternal justice.

SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES

Ecc. 4:1. Grace, while fortifying the soul against the violence of trouble, does not seal up the fountains of nature.

A tear is often the only tribute that the oppressed can give to misery.
The tears of the oppressed are

1. A dumb protest against the cruel might of wrong.
2. An appeal to the justice of Heaven.
3. A revelation of an eternal future.

The pious, in the fiercest trial, though all men may forsake them, have yet a Comforter at their side.
Society has not yet reached that stage of progress wherein the convictions of reason and conscience bear supreme rule. Notwithstanding the advance of knowledge, and the presence of the Christian Religion for so many ages, humanity is still far from this ideal perfection.
A mechanical force is of no service to man unless he can guide and direct it to certain ends. There are some forces of nature of great potentiality, but they are like wild beasts that cannot be tamed. Power needs the direction of goodness to make it venerable, and worthy of praise.
The world has not yet got beyond the illusion of military glorya proof that the worship of force has not yet disappeared from amongst us.
The Lord has a bottle, and into that bottle he puts His peoples tears, and the tears of all who are oppressed. When Joseph wept at Dothan, and the Jews at Babylon, it was not the sand of the desert, nor the stream of Euphrates, which intercepted the tear, but Gods bottle. And whether it be the scalding tear of the Southern Slave, or that which freezes in the Siberian exiles eye, Gods bottle has received them all; and when the measure is full, the tears of the oppressed burst in vials of vengeance on the head of the oppressor [Dr. J. Hamilton].

The power of the oppressor is, after all, a mere shadowa vanishing thing. The power most to be dreaded is that which is on the side of the oppressed. He who has taken refuge in the citadel of God is the most terrible foe.

Ecc. 4:2. When one attentively regards the innumerable sorrows of the heart, miseries, great evils, and troubles on earth, and the awful wickedness there is in the world, which is the devils kingdom, one must surely be of the mind that it were better to be dead than to see so much wretchedness [Luther].

There are such sights of misery on earth, that in the confusion of his feeling, the spectator finds a momentary relief in thinking upon the dread repose and secure refuge of the dark house.
The dead are clean escaped from the hands of the tyrant. The door of the sepulchre for ever bars the entrance of revenge.

Ecc. 4:3. In certain frames of the feeling, it is natural to wish for the condition of non-existence. Extreme sorrow has plunged some of the best men into this trialJobJeremiah.

When life seems so poor a heritage, the true and Absolute Being becomes all to us.
The tribulation through which we must enter into the Kingdom of Heaven may consist of temptations to indulge the most extravagant and vain wishes.
There are times when we seem to snatch a consolation from the dreariest of all philosophies.

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell

C. GUIDELINES FOR WORKING WITH GOD UNDER ALL CIRCUMSTANCES Ecc. 4:1-16

1. How to work under oppression Ecc. 4:1-3

TEXT 4:13

1

Then I looked again at all the acts of oppression which were being done under the sun. And behold I saw the tears of the oppressed and that they had no one to comfort them; and on the side of their oppressors was power, but they had no one to comfort them.

2

So I congratulated the dead who are already dead more than the living who are still living.

3

But better off than both of them is the one who has never existed, who has never seen the evil activity that is done under the sun.

THOUGHT QUESTIONS 4:13

84.

What new inequity does Solomon now observe?

85.

What qualifying phrase (Ecc. 4:1) places the restrictions on this activity?

86.

Give evidence that the oppression was severe.

87.

What increased the tragedy of the oppression?

88.

Did anyone comfort the oppressed?

89.

Who received congratulations? Why?

90.

Who is better off than either the dead or the living?

91.

What qualifying phrase appears again in verse three?

PARAPHRASE 4:13

Then I turned to look closely at all the acts of oppression under the sun. Just as I had previously been confronted with the problem of corruption of justice, so now I see the oppression of the helpless. I witnessed the tears of the oppressed. What compounds their tragedy is that they have no one to comfort them, and the authority is on the side of the oppressor. They themselves have no avenger. Both of these inequities were foremost in my mind, so I sang the praises of the ones already dead. I said, Congratulations to the dead who died long ago for they are more fortunate than the living who are still alive. Then it occurred to me that the one who is truly the fortunate one is neither the dead nor the living, but the one who has never existed. He is better off than both of them because his mind has not been filled with the knowledge of the evil activities done under the sun.

COMMENT 4:13

Ecc. 4:1 I looked again indicates that he is considering the same theme in this section that he was discussing in chapter three. The again implies that a new illustration of injustice or the inequities of life is under consideration. On two occasions the qualifying phrase under the sun appears in these three verses which indicates that what one observes is apart from heavenly values. The act of social injustice that now arrests Solomons attention illustrates the vanity of all earthly things and endeavors.

One is confronted with a very basic problem that is common to all men of every age: Why is it that wicked men prosper and often have the authority on their side, while the righteous are often poor and suffer oppression? Since this is often the situation, and it appears to be so in Israel at this time, one is lead to the erroneous conclusion that wickedness pays profitable dividends while godliness results in poverty and affliction. If one interprets the meaning apart from the heavenly values, the conclusions could indeed be very dismal. The extreme statements of the Preacher in these three verses must be understood in this light. If one fails to interpret his observations in the light of the under the sun restrictions, he finds the Preacher contradicting himself later on in his message. However, Solomon knew what we know about the justice of God. He knew that God is patient, long-suffering and correct in all of His dealing with men. It is from this vantage point that he writes, Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and may lengthen his life, still I know that it will be well for those who fear God, who fear Him openly. But it will not be well for the evil man and he will not lengthen his days like a shadow, because he does not fear God (Ecc. 8:12-13).

Because of similar circumstances today, one of the most difficult things is for the Christian to keep his priorities in order. There are certain values which belong within the inner circle, next to the heart, in ones life. At the same time, there are things which must be kept on the periphery, and constantly challenged to keep them from eroding the truer values or invading the inner circle where things have no claim. Yet, how many people do you know who are living purposeless lives simply because they have allowed themselves to be deceived by the riches of this world, or the pleasures derived from participation in such evil deeds of injustice that meet the Preachers searching eyes in our text? The extreme observations of verses two and three would be the most plausible in the world if this life were all there is to living. The young man struck down in the prime of his life; the young mother left without guardian, provider or companion; the poor, neglected and often persecuted by wicked men who grow fat from withholding what should be shared with the less-fortunate, or even at times what is rightfully theirs; they all cry out to the emptiness of living and the futility of the life that thousands must endure on the face of the earth. However, such was the situation described in detail by James (Ecc. 5:1-6), and in view of all that Jesus Christ means to the Christian he was able to admonish them to steadfastness and joy with the words, You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not complain, brethren, against one another, that you yourselves may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing right at the door (Jas. 5:8-9).

What is the oppression? In Ecc. 5:8 we are instructed again not to be shocked by such oppression as it may very well be commonplace among us. In any system where men govern men, authority is often corrupted. It may be that in carrying out the necessary instructions of the king in accomplishing his great works (cf. Ecc. 2:1-11), that the result was that which the Preacher now observes. There were many areas where authority could be violated and the process of graft take place. With a king so obsessed with the desire for personal pleasure, many such violations of justice could go unnoticed throughout the land.

The intensity, and perhaps widespread influence, of the oppression was evident in the actual tears of the poor. If they only had a just man who was in an authoritative position to plead their cause. But no! The authority is on the side of those who are persecuting them. They might turn to one another for some word of encouragement, but this would be hurt turning to hurt. They needed healing. Yet, there was no one to heal them.
It is not a picture of a merciless tyrant holding all the people under the authority of his rule. It is rather the picture of a thoughtless king who has only his own interest at heart and closes his eyes to the cries of the innocent who are trampled in his pursuit of pleasure and personal satisfaction. Perhaps enough people in the land were enjoying the superfluity, or overflow, of the kings wealth. In this case those who suffered were not numerous enough to mount any meaningful rebellion against the wickedness of those in high places.

Ecc. 4:2 When the Preacher contemplated such a sight, he quickly decided that the fortunate ones were those who have already died and do not have to share in this travesty of justice. Congratulating the dead is a rather dramatic, picturesque description demonstrating that such behaviour would actually be humorous if it were not so serious.

Ecc. 4:3 Upon more serious contemplation, he decided that there is one who is better off than either the living or the dead, and that is the individual who has never been born! He is not speaking of abortion in order to shut out the life of one before he sees the light of day, but rather the one never conceived or possibly miscarried (Ecc. 6:3). Such a one will never have to feast his eyes upon the evil activities taking place in the midst of what has once been a nation noted for her justice and righteousness.

FACT QUESTIONS 4:13

154.

What does I looked again indicate?

155.

Does he consider his observations in the light of heavenly values? Discuss.

156.

What basic problem is under consideration here?

157.

What truth, shared by the Christian, does Solomon explain in Ecc. 8:12-13?

158.

Write out a priority list for yourself as you are living life today? Would it be arranged differently if all things were removed from the top?

159.

What does James teach us that motivates toward steadfastness?

160.

What is the oppression spoken of in verse one?

161.

How could such oppression be explained in the time of Solomon?

162.

Why could not the oppressed people organize their forces to protest the evil?

163.

Did the oppressed have even one just man to plead their cause?

164.

Who had the authority?

165.

Who were the truly fortunate ones? (Cf. Ecc. 4:2)

166.

Is abortion recommended by Solomon in verse three?

167.

What evil thing will never be witnessed by the unborn?

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

IV.

(1) Having dwelt on the instability of human happiness, the Preacher now turns to contemplate the actual misery of which the world is full.

Oppressions.Job. 35:9; Amo. 3:9.

No comforter.If Solomon were the writer, one asks, What was the king about? Could he do nothing but express helpless despair?

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

1. The writer now looks upon the suffering which arises from “man’s inhumanity to man.” The royal writer, if such he be, does not confine his survey of the oppressions practiced by men to his own kingdom alone. He surveys all the oppressions under the sun, whether in his own kingdom, in neighboring nations, or in universal history. He states not merely what he saw but what he considered. I returned, and considered, is equivalent to, again I saw, implying merely a new line or object of observation. In the Hebrew the same word occurs twice. Our version renders it, oppressions and oppressed. Better, oppressed, each time: all the oppressed who are made such under the sun; the latter part serving to hold the attention longer. The down-trodden classes, like the French peasantry until the Revolution, the English agricultural labourers, the former American slaves, and very many other examples, illustrate this observation.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

The Dreadfulness of Oppression ( Ecc 4:1-3 ).

Having been faced up to the injustice in the world, and especially the injustice in its courts of justice, the Preacher now turns to consider oppression in general and is dismayed at the unfairness of it all.

Ecc 4:1

‘Then I returned and saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun, and behold, the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter, and on the side of their oppressors there was power, but they had no comforter.’

The next thing that he considers, which increases his pessimism, is the oppression of men by those in authority or who have power (compare Ecc 3:16-17; Job 35:9; Amo 3:9). He sees a world full of such oppression, and the tears of the oppressed, and the fact that they are without someone to assist them. This latter fact so moves him that he repeats it twice, firstly as a sad fact, and then in contrast with the oppressors. The oppressors have authority and power, the oppressed have no comforter.

But in contrast to Ecc 3:16-17, where such behaviour led to judgment for the oppressors and justice for the oppressed, here he is concerned only with the earthly situation of the oppressed. Indeed it is clear that he does not feel that the oppressed are going to obtain justice in this life. The dead are better off than they. So this directly contrasts with Ecc 3:17 if we see that as referring to this life. This might serve to confirm that Ecc 12:14 sees judgment as taking place after death. Otherwise this does not make sense.

Ecc 4:2-3

‘Wherefore I congratulated the dead, who are already dead, more than the living. Yes better than both, is him who has not yet been, who has not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.’

What he saw so upset him that he congratulated those who had already died and so escaped the oppression. It was better for such to be dead rather than alive. But then he takes it a step further. It was even better for the one who has not been born and therefore has not had to experience the oppression at all, and has not had to observe it. Perhaps he was also thinking temporarily that it would in fact have been better for him not to have been born at all, a further reason for recognising the meaninglessness of life.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Chapter 4 The Dreadfulness of Oppression. Guidance on Living.

This chapter begins with considering the dreadfulness of oppression and then continues with thoughts on living, giving both good and bad examples. At this point the fact that he is ‘a wise man’ comes out. It finishes with a parable or illustration about wisdom and folly.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

The Vanity of Oppression on Earth In Ecc 4:1-3 the Preacher makes an observation about the vanity of oppression in this life. It is man’s depravity, discussed in Ecc 3:16-22, that causes him to oppress one another. The Preacher notes his observation in Ecc 4:1 that there is much oppression over those who cannot defend themselves and find a comforter. In Ecc 4:2-3 he makes his conclusion that the dead are better than the living, and those who are not yet born are better than the both.

Ecc 4:1  So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter.

Ecc 4:2  Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive.

Ecc 4:3  Yea, better is he than both they, which hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.

Ecc 4:3 Comments – Testimonies of those who have visited heaven say that heaven receives all unborn babies. These children who have never been born will never know the sufferings of this world. These children are raised in nurseries under the care of guardian angels and told the story of redemption. Their eternal destiny is sure and certain. In this respect, the unborn are better off than those who are born.

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

Justification: The Depravity of Mankind The Preacher has concluded that this world has been subjected to vanity (Ecc 1:1 to Ecc 2:26); yet, God has a purpose for mankind, which can be called a plan of redemption (Ecc 3:1-15). He now seeks out God’s plan of justification for mankind in the midst of a depraved humanity, but first he must build a case for man’s need of redemption. Thus, in Ecc 3:16-22 he makes the conclusion that mankind is depraved. In Ecc 4:1 to Ecc 6:12 the Preacher uses illustrations from life and from creation to support his theme that all is vanity. In this section he discusses the overall condition of mankind in his fallen state of depravity and his need for redemption.

Outline Here is a proposed outline:

1. The Preacher Concludes Man’s Depravity Ecc 3:16-22

2. The Preacher Explains His Conclusion Ecc 4:1 to Ecc 6:12

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

The Preacher Explains His Conclusion In Ecc 4:1 thru Ecc 6:12 the Preacher uses illustrations from life and from creation to support his theme that mankind is depraved. In this section, he discusses the overall condition of mankind in his fallen state of depravity. However, this time he makes his evaluation from the perspective of divine judgment.

We see a progressive order of events in this passage of Scripture. Man’s fall in the Garden of Eden resulted in his mortality. Mortal man became depraved by his sin. This depravity led man into a state of unrightousness. He now oppresses the weak, labours without rest, toils selfishly all the days of his life, and struggles to gain ascendancy over others. Thus, those who reach positions of power, wealth and leadership over others are no better than those they rule over. This is the Preacher’s way of reasoning with us to see his point of view that our mortal lives are full of vanity.

Outline Here is a proposed outline:

1. The Vanity of Oppression on Earth Ecc 4:1-3

2. The Vanity of Toil on Earth Ecc 4:4-6

3. The Vanity of Selfish on Earth Ecc 4:7-12

4. The Vanity of Nobility on Earth Ecc 4:13-16

5. The Vanity of External Religion (Fear God) Ecc 5:1-7

6. The Vanity of Riches Ecc 5:8 to Ecc 6:12

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

Personal Misfortunes

v. 1. So I returned and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun, turning his reflections from the vanity of human life to the violence practiced by many men; and behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter, no one to dry their tears by healing their injuries; and on the side of their oppressors there was power, that being the way of tyrants everywhere, but they had no comforter, the repetition of this phrase emphasizing the desperate and hopeless condition of the poor and downtrodden.

v. 2. Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead, and thus beyond the reach of tyranny and oppression, more than the living which are yet alive, and therefore always in danger of becoming victims of violence.

v. 3. Yea, better is he than both they, which hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun, for, not having been born, he has been spared the pain of witnessing the many evidences of oppression and tyranny which are always found in the world. This is not an expression of unbelieving pessimism, but a statement of fact which will cause the believers to turn all the more eagerly to the comforts of the Christian religion.

v. 4. Again, I considered all travail and every right work, the prosperity coveted by men, the source and motive of so much of the oppression found in the world, that for this, namely, for his apparent success, a man is envied of his neighbor, this also resulting in a condition of misfortune. This is also vanity and vexation of spirit, for such emulation and striving is bound to result in misfortune to men.

v. 5. The fool foldeth his hands together, too lazy to exert himself, and eateth his own flesh, using up his fortune and ruining himself by his idleness, having no one but himself to blame for his misfortune.

v. 6. Better is an handful, a small amount of this world’s goods, with quietness, to be enjoyed in peace, than both the hands full, a large measure of riches, with travail and vexation of spirit, for riches, if obtained only by anxious labor and retained only with care and sorrow, are a misfortune and cannot be conducive to happiness.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

EXPOSITION

Ecc 4:1-16

Section 5. Koheleth proceeds to give further illustrations of man‘s inability to be the architect of his own happiness. There are many things which interrupt or destroy it.

Ecc 4:1-3

First of all, he adduces the oppression of man by his fellow-man.

Ecc 4:1

So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun. This is equivalent to, “again I saw,” as Ecc 4:7, with a reference to the wickedness in the place of judgment which he had noticed in Ecc 3:16. Ashukim, “oppressions,” is found in Job 35:9 and Amo 3:9, and, being properly a participle passive, denotes oppressed persons or things, and so abstractedly “oppressions.” ; calumnias (Vulgate). The verb is used of high-handed injustice, of offensive selfishness, of the hindrances to his neighbor’s well-being caused by a man’s careless disregard of aught but his own interests. Beheld the tears of such as were oppressed; ; innocentium (Vulgate). He notes now not merely the fact of wrong being done, but its effect on the victim, and intimates his own pity for the sorrow. And they had no comforter. A sad refrain, echoed again at the end of the verse with touching pathos. ; they had no earthly friends to visit them in their affliction, and they as yet knew not the soothing of the Holy Ghost, the Comforter (). There was no one to wipe away their tears (Isa 25:8) or to redress their wrongs. The point is the powerlessness of man in the face of these disorders, his inability to right himself, the incompetence of others to aid him. On the side of their oppressors there was power (koach), in a bad sense, like the Greek equivalent to “violence.” Thus the ungodly say, in the Book of Wisdom Amo 2:11, “Let our strength be the law of justice.” Vulgate, Nec posse resistere eorun violentiae, cunctorum auxilio destitutes. It is difficult to suppose that the state of things revealed by this verse existed in the days of King Solomon, or that so powerful a monarch, and one admired for “judgment and justice” (1Ki 10:9), would be content with complaining of such disorders instead of checking them. There is no token of remorse for past unprofitableness or anguish of heart at the thought of failure in duty. If we take the words as the utterance of the real Solomon, we do violence to history, and must correct the existing chronicles of his reign. The picture here presented is one of later times, and it may be of other countries. Persian rule, or the tyranny of the Ptolemies, might afford an original from which it might be taken.

Ecc 4:2

In view of these patent wrongs Koheleth loses all enjoyment of life. Wherefore (and) I praised the dead which are already dead; or, who died long ago, and thus have escaped the miseries which they would have had to endure. It must, indeed, have been a bitter experience which elicited such an avowal. To die and be forgotten an Oriental would look upon as the most calamitous of destinies. More than the living which are yet alive. For these have before them the prospect of a long endurance of oppression and suffering (comp. Ecc 7:1; Job 3:13, etc.). The Greek gnome says

“Better to die than lead a wretched life.”

The Septuagint version is scarcely a rendering of our present text: “Above the living, as many as are living until now.”

Ecc 4:3

Yea, better is he than both they, which hath not yet been. Thus we have Job’s passionate appeal (Job 3:11), “Why died I not from the womb? why did I not give up the ghost when I came forth,” etc.? And in the Greek poets the sentiment of the text is re-echoed. Thus Theognis, ‘Paroen.,’ 425

“‘Tis best for mortals never to be born,

Nor ever see the swift sun’s burning rays;

Next best, when born, to pass the gates of death

Right speedily, and rest beneath the earth.”

Cicero, ‘Tusc. Disp.,’ 1.48, renders some lines from a lost play of Euripides to the same effect

“Nam nos decebat, caetus celebrantes, domum
Lugere, ubi esset aliquis in lucern editus,
Humanae vitae varia reputantes mala;
At qui labores metre finisset graves,
Hunc omni amicos lauds et laetitia exsequi.”

Herodotus (5. 4) relates how some of the Thracians had a custom of bemoaning a birth and rejoicing at a death. In our own Burial Service we thank God for delivering the departed “out of the miseries of this sinful world.” Keble alludes to this barbarian custom in his poem on’ The Third Sunday after Easter.’ Speaking of a Christian mother’s joy at a child’s birth, he says

“No need for her to weep

Like Thracian wives of yore,

Save when in rapture still and deep

Her thankful heart runs o’er.

They mourned to trust their treasure on the main,

Sure of the storm, unknowing of their guide:

Welcome to her the peril and the pain,

For well she knows the home where they may safely hide.”

, sqq.; ‘Gorgias,’ p. 512, A.) The Buddhist religion does not recommend suicide as an escape from the evils of life. It indeed regards man as master of his own life; but it considers suicide foolish, as it merely transfers a man’s position, the thread of life having to be taken up again under less favorable circumstances. See ‘A Buddhist Catechism,’ by Subhadra Bhikshu. Who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun. He repeats the words, “under the sun,” from verse 1, in order to show that he is speaking of facts that came under his own regardoutward phenomena which any thoughtful observer might notice (so again verse 7).

Ecc 4:4-6

Secondly, success meets with envy, and produces no lasting good to the worker; yet, however unsatisfactory the result, man must continue to labor, as idleness is ruin.

Ecc 4:4

Again, I considered all travail, and every right work. The word rendered “right” is kishron (see on Ecc 2:21), and means rather “dexterity,” “success.” Kohe-leth says that he reflected upon the industry that men exhibit, and the skill and dexterity with which they ply their incessant toil. There is no reference to moral rectitude in the reflection, and the allusion to the ostracism of Aristides for being called “Just” overshoots the mark (see Wordsworth, in loc.). Septuagint, , “all manliness of his work.” That for this a man is envied of his neighbor. Kinah may mean either “object of envy” or “envious rivalry;” i.e. the clause may be translated as above, or, as in the Revised Version margin, “it cometh of a man’s rivalry with his neighbor.” The Septuagint is ambiguous, , “That this is a man’s envy from his comrade;” Vulgate, Industrias animadverti patere invidiae proximi, “Lay open to a neighbor’s envy.” In the first case the thought is that unusual skill and success expose a man to envy and ill will, which rob labor of all enjoyment. In the second case the writer says that this superiority and dexterity arise from a mean motive, an envious desire to outstrip a neighbor, and, based on such low ground, can lead to nothing but vanity and vexation of spirit, a striving after wind. The former explanation seems more in accordance with Koheleth’s gloomy view. Success itself is no guarantee of happiness; the malice and ill feeling which it invariably occasions are necessarily a source of pain and distress.

Ecc 4:5

The connection of this verse with the preceding is this: activity, diligence, and skill indeed bring success, but success is accompanied by sad results. Should we, then, sink into apathy, relinquish work, let things slide? Nay, none but the fool (kesil), the insensate, half-brutish man, doth this. The fool foldeth his hands together. The attitude expresses laziness and disinclination for active labor, like that of the sluggard in Pro 6:10. And eateth his own flesh. Ginsburg, Plumptre, and others take these words to mean “and yet eats his meat,” i.e. gets that enjoyment from his sluggishness which is denied to active diligence. They refer, in proof of this interpretation, to Exo 16:8; Exo 21:28; Isa 22:13; Eze 39:17, in which passages, however, the phrase is never equivalent to “eating his food.” The expression is really equivalent to “destroys himself,” “brings ruin upon himself.” Thus we have in Psa 27:2, “Evildoers came upon me to eat up my flesh;” and in Mic 3:3, “Who eat the flesh of my people” (comp. Isa 49:26). The sluggard is guilty of moral suicide; he takes no trouble to provide for his necessities, and suffers extremities in consequence. Some see in this verse and the following an objection and its answer. There is no occasion for this view, and it is not in keeping with the context; but it contains an intimation of the true exposition, which makes Mic 3:6 a proverbial statement of the sluggard’s position. The verbs in the text are participial in form, so that the Vulgate rendering, which supplies a verb, is quite admissible: Stultus complicat manna suas, et comedit carnes suas, dicens: Melior est, etc.

Ecc 4:6

Better is a handful with quietness; literally, better a hand full of rest. Than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit; literally, than two hands full of travail, etc. This verse, which has been variously interpreted, is most simply regarded as the fool’s defense of his indolence, either expressed in his own words or fortified by a proverbial saying. One open hand full of quietness and rest is preferable to two closed hands full of toil and vain effort. The verse must not be taken as the writer’s warning against sloth, which would be out of place here, but as enunciating a maxim against discontent and that restless activity which is never satisfied with moderate returns.

Ecc 4:7-12

Thirdly, avarice causes isolation and a sense of insecurity, and brings no satisfaction.

Ecc 4:7

Then I returned. Another reflection serves to confirm the uselessness of human efforts. The vanity under the sun is now avarice, with the evils that accompany it.

Ecc 4:8

There is one alone, and there is not a second; or, without a seconda solitary being, without partner, relation, or friend. Here, he says, is another instance of man’s inability to secure his own happiness. Wealth indeed, is supposed to make friends, such as they are; but miserliness and greed separate a man from his fellows, make him suspicious of every one, and drive him to live alone, churlish and unhappy. Yea, he hath neither child nor brother; no one to share his wealth, or for whom to save and amass riches. To apply these words to Solomon himself, who had brothers, and one son, if not more, is manifestly inappropriate. They may possibly refer to some circumstance in the writer’s own life; but of that we know nothing. Yet is there no sad of all his labor. In spite of this isolation he plies his weary task, and ceases not to hoard. Neither is his eye satisfied with riches; so that he is content with what he has (comp. Ecc 2:10; Pro 27:20). The insatiable thirst for gold, the dropsy of the mind, is a commonplace theme in classical writers. Thus Horace, ‘Caxm.,’ 3.16. 17

“Crescentem sequitur cura pecuniam, Majorumque fames.”

And Juvenal, ‘Sat.,’ 14.138

“Interea pleno quum turget sacculus ore,
Crescit amor nummi, quantum ipsa pecunia crevit.”

Neither, saith he, For whom do I labor, and bereave my soul of good? The original is more dramatic than the Authorized Version or the Vulgate, Nec recogitat, dicens, Cui laboro, etc.? The writer suddenly puts himself in the place of the friendless miser, and exclaims, “And for whom do I labor,” etc.? We see something similar in Ecc 4:15 and Ecc 2:15. Here we cannot find any definite allusion to the writer’s own circumstances. The clause is merely a lively personification expressive of strong sympathy with the situation described (comp. Ecc 2:18). Good may mean either riches, in which case the denial to the soul refers to the enjoyment which wealth might afford, or happiness and comfort. The Septuagint has , “goodness,” “kindness “which gives quite a different and not so suitable an idea. Sore travail; a sad business, a woeful employment.

Ecc 4:9

Koheleth dwells upon the evils of isolation, and contrasts with them the comfort of companionship. Two are better than one. Literally, the clause refers to the two and the one mentioned in the preceding verse; but the gnome is true in general. “Two heads are better than one,” says our proverb. Because (asher here conjunctive, not relative) they have a good reward for their labor. The joint labors of two produce much more effect than the efforts of a solitary worker. Companionship is helpful and profitable. Ginsburg quotes the rabbinical sayings,, Either friendship or death;” and “A man without friends is like a left hand without the right.” Thus the Greek gnome

“Man helps his fellow, city saves.”

.

“Hand cleanseth hand, and finger cleanseth finger.”

(Comp. Pro 17:17; Pro 27:17; Ecclesiasticus 6:14.) So Christ sent out his apostles two and two (Mar 6:7).

Ecc 4:10

Koheleth illustrates the benefit of association by certain familiar examples. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow. If one or the other fall, the companion will aid him. The idea is that two travelers are making their way over a rough roadan experience that every one must have had in Palestine. Vulgate, Si unus ceciderit. Of course, if both fell at the same time, one could not help the other. Commentators quote Homer, ‘Iliad,’ 10.220-226, thus rendered by Lord Derby

“Nestor, that heart is mine;
I dare alone Enter the hostile camp, so close at hand;
Yet were one comrade giv’n me, I should go
With more of comfort, more of confidence.
Where two combine, one before other sees
The better course; and ev’n though one alone
The readiest way discover, yet would be
His judgment slower, his decision less.”

Woe to him that is alone. The same interjection of sorrow, , occurs in Ecc 10:16, but elsewhere only in late Hebrew. The verse may be applied to moral falls as well as to stumbling at natural obstacles. Brother helps brother to resist temptation, while many have failed when tried by isolation who would have manfully withstood if they had had the countenance and support of others.

“Clear before us through the darkness

Gleams and burns the guiding light;

Brother clasps the hand of brother,

Stepping fearless through the night.”

Ecc 4:11

The first example of the advantage of companionship spoke of the aid and support that are thus given; the present verse tells of the comfort thus brought. If two lie together, then they have heat. The winter nights in Palestine are comparatively cold, and when, as in the case of the poorer inhabitants, the outer garment worn by day was used as the only blanket during sleep (Exo 22:26, Exo 22:27), it was a comfort to have the additional warmth of a friend lying under the same coverlet. Solomon could have had no such experience.

Ecc 4:12

The third instance shows the value of the protection afforded by a companion’s presence when danger threatens. If one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; better, if a man overpower the solitary one, the two (Ecc 4:9) will withstand him. The idea of the traveler is continued. If he were attacked by robbers, he would be easily overpowered when alone; but two comrades might successfully resist the assault. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken. This is probably a proverbial saying, like our “Union is strength.” Hereby the advantage of association is more strongly enforced. If the companionship of two is profitable, much more is this the case when more combine. The cord of three strands was the strongest made. The number three is used as the symbol of completeness and perfection. Funiculus triplex diffcile rumpitur, the Vulgate rendering, has become a trite saying; and the gnome has been constantly applied in a mystical or spiritual sense, with which, originally and humanly speaking, it has no concern. Herein is seen an adumbration of the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, the Eternal Three in One; of the three Christian virtues, faith, hope, and charity, which go to make the Christian life; of the Christian’s body, soul, and spirit, which are consecrated as a temple of the Most High.

Ecc 4:13-16

High place offers no assurance of security. A king’s popularity is never permanent; he is supplanted by some clever young aspirant for a time, whose influence in turn soon evaporates, and the subject-people reap no benefit from the change.

Ecc 4:13

Better is a poor and wise child than an old and foolish king. The word translated “child” (yeled), is used sometimes of one beyond childhood (see Gen 30:26; Gen 37:30; 1Ki 12:8), so here it may be rendered “youth.” Misken, , pauper (Vulgate), “poor,” is found also at Ecc 9:15, Ecc 9:16, and nowhere else; but the root, with an analogous signification, occurs at Deu 8:9 and Isa 40:20. The clause says that a youth who is clever and adroit, though sprung from a sordid origin, is better off than a king who has not learned wisdom with his years, and who, it is afterwards implied, is dethroned by this young man. Who will no more be admonished; better, as in the Revised Version, who knoweth not how to receive admonition any more. Age has only fossilized his self-will and obstinacy; and though he was once open to advice and hearkened to reproof, he now bears no contradiction and takes no counsel. Septuagint, , “Who knows not how to take heed any longer;” which is perhaps similar to the Vulgate, Qui nescit praevidere in posterum, “Who knows not how to look forward to the future.” The words will bear this translation, and it accords with one view of the author’s meaning (see below); but that given above is more suitable to the interpretation of the paragraph which approves itself to us. The sentence is of general import, and may be illustrated by a passage from the Book of Wisdom (Wis. 4:8, 9), “Honorable age is not that which standeth in length of time, nor that is measured by length of years. But wisdom is the grey hair unto men, and an unspotted life is old age.” So Cicero, ‘De Senect.,’ 18.62, “Non cant nee rugae repente auctoritatem arripere possunt, sod honeste acta superior aetas fructus capit aactoritatis extremes.” Some have thought that Solomon is here speaking of himself, avowing his folly and expressing his contrition, in view of his knowledge of Jeroboam’s delegation to the kingdomthe crafty youth of poor estate (1Ki 11:26, etc.), whom the Prophet Ahijah had warned of approaching greatness. But there is nothing in the recorded history of Solomon to make probable such expression of self-abasement, and our author could never have so completely misrepresented him. Here, too, is another proof that Ecclesiastes is not written by Solomon himself.

Ecc 4:14

For out of prison he cometh to reign; whereas also he that is born in his kingdom becometh poor. The ambiguity of the pronouns has induced different interpretations of this verse. It is plain that the paragraph is intended to corroborate the statement of the previous verse, contrasting the fate of the poor, clever youth with that of the old, foolish king. The Authorized Version makes the pronoun in the first clause refer to the youth, and those in the second to the king, with the signification that rich and poor change placesone is abased as the other is exalted. Vulgate, Quod de carcere catenisque interdum quis egrediatnr ad regnum; et alius natus in regno inopia consummatur. The Septuagint is somewhat ambiguous, , “For from the house of prisoners he shall come forth to reign, because in his kingdom he [who?] was born [or, ‘became’] poor.” It seems, however, most natural to make the leading pronouns in both clauses refer to the youth, and thus to render: “For out of the house of prisoners goeth he forth to reign, though even in his kingdom he was born poor.” Beth hasurim is also rendered “house of fugitives,” and Hitzig takes the expression as a description of Egypt, whither Jeroboam fled to escape the vengeance of Solomon. Others see here an allusion to Joseph, who was raised from prison, if not to be king, at least to an exalted position which might thus be designated. In this case the old and foolish king who could not look to the future is Pharaoh, who could not understand the dream which was sent for his admonition. Commentators have wearied themselves with endeavoring to find some other historical basis for the supposed allusion in the passage. But although many of these suggestions (e.g. Saul and David, Joash and Amaziah, Cyrus and Astyages, Herod and Alexander) meet a part of the case, none suit the whole passage (Ecc 4:13-16). It is possible, indeed, that some particular allusion is intended to some circumstance or event with which we are not acquainted. At the same time, it seems to us that, without much straining of language, the reference to Joseph can be made good. If it is objected that it cannot be said that Joseph was born in the kingdom of Egypt, we may reply that the words may be taken to refer to his cruel position in his own country, when he was despoiled and sold, and may be said metaphorically to have “become poor;” or the word nolad may be considered as equivalent to “came,” “appeared,” and need not be restricted to the sense of “born.”

Ecc 4:15

I considered all the living which walk under the sun; or, I have seen all the population. The expression is hyperbolical, as Eastern monarchs speak of their dominions as if they comprised the whole world (see Dan 4:1; Dan 6:25). With the second child that shall stand up in his stead. “With” () means “in company with,” “on the side of;” and the clause should be rendered, as in the Revised Version, That they were with the youth, the second, that stood up in his stead. The youth who is called the second is the one spoken of in the previous verses, who by general acclamation is raised to the highest place in the realm, while the old monarch is dethroned or depreciated. He is named second, as being the successor of the other, either in popular favor or on the throne. It is the old story of worshipping the rising sun. The verse may still be applied to Joseph, who was made second to Pharaoh, and was virtually supreme in Egypt, standing in the king’s place (Gen 41:40-44).

Ecc 4:16

There is no end of all the people, even of all that have been before them. The paragraph plainly is carrying on the description of the popular enthusiasm for the new favorite. The Authorized Version completely obscures this meaning. It is better to translate, Numberless were the people, all, at whose head he stood. Koheleth places himself in the position of a spectator, and marks how numerous are the adherents who flock around the youthful aspirant. “Nullus finis omni populo, omnibus, quibus praefuit” (Gesenius, Rosenmller, Volck). Yet his popularity was not lasting and his influence was not permanent. They also that come after shall not rejoice in him. In spite of his cleverness, and notwithstanding the favor with which he is now regarded, those of a later generation shall flout his pretensions and forget his benefits. If we still continue the allusion to Joseph, we may see here in this last clause a reference to the change that supervened when another king arose who knew him not (Exo 1:8), and who, oblivious of the services of this great benefactor, heavily oppressed the Israelites. This experience leads to the same result; it is all vanity and vexation of spirit.

HOMILETICS

Est 4:1-3

Two pessimistic fallacies; or, the glory of being born.

I. THE FIRST FALLACY. That the dead are happier than the living.

1. Even on the assumption of no hereafter, this is not evident. The already dead are not praised because they enjoyed better times on earth than the now living have. But

(1) if they had better times when living, they have these no more, having ceased to be; while

(2) if their times on earth were not superior to those of their successors, they have still only escaped these by subsiding into cold annihilation, and it has yet to be proved that “a living dog” is not “better than a dead lion” (Ecc 9:4). Besides,

(3) it is not certain there is no hereafter, which makes them pause and hesitate to jump the life to come. When they discuss with themselves the question

“Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them?”

they generally come to Hamlet’s conclusion, that it is better to

“Bear the ills we have,

Than fly to others that we know not of.”

2. On the assumption that there is a hereafter, it is less certain that the dead are more to be praised than the living. It depends on who the dead are, and what the kind of existence is into which they have departed.

(1) If they have lived unrighteously on earth, it will not be safe, even on grounds of natural reason, to conclude that their condition in the unseen land into which they have vanished is better than that of the living who are yet alive, even should these also be wicked; since for these there are still time and place for repentance, which cannot be affirmed of the ungodly dead.

(2) If their lives on earth have been piouse.g; if as Christians they have fallen asleep in Jesusit need hardly be doubted that their condition is better even than that of the godly living, who are still dwellers in this vale of tears, subject to imperfections, exposed to temptations, and liable to sin.

II. THE SECOND FALLACY. That better than both the living and the dead are the not yet born.

1. On the assumption that this life is all, it is not universally true that not to have been born would have been a preferable lot to having been born and being dead. No doubt it is sad that one born into this world is sure, while on his pilgrimage to the tomb, to witness spectacles of oppression such as the Preacher describes; and sadder that many before they die will be the victims of such oppressions; while of all things, perhaps the saddest is that a man may even live to become the perpetrator of such cruelties; yet no one can truly affirm that human life generally contains nothing but oppression on the one side and tears upon the other, or that in any individual’s life naught exists but wretchedness and woe, or that in the experiences of most the joys do not nearly counterbalance, if not actually outweigh, the griefs, while in that of not a few the pleasures far exceed the pains.

2. On the assumption of a hereafter, only one case or class of cases can be pointed to in which it would have been decidedly better not to have been born, viz. that in which one who has been born, on departing from this world, passes into an undone eternity. Christ instanced one such case (Mat 26:24); and if there be truth in the representations given by Christ and his apostles of the ultimate doom of those who die in unbelief and sin (Mat 11:22; Mat 13:41, Mat 13:42; Mat 22:13; Mat 24:51; Joh 5:29; 2Th 1:9; Rev 21:8), it will not be difficult to see that in their case also the words of the Preacher will be true.

3. In every other instance, but chiefly in that of the good, who does not see how immeasurably more blessed it is to have been born? For consider what this means. It means to have been made in the Divine image, endowed with an intellect and a heart capable of holding fellowship with and serving God. And if it also signifies to have been born into a state of sin and misery in consequence of our first parents’ fall, it should not be forgotten that it signifies, in addition, to have been born into a sphere and condition of existence in which God’s grace has been before one, and is waiting to lift one up, completely and for ever, out of that sin and misery if one will. No one accepting that grace will ever afterwards deem it a misfortune that he was born. Thomas Halyburton, the Scottish theologian, did not so regard his introduction to this lower world, with all its vicissitudes and woes. “Oh, blessed be God that I was born!” were his dying words. “I have a father and a mother, and ten brothers and sisters, in heaven, and I shall be the eleventh. Oh, blessed be the day that ever I was born!”

Learn:

1. The existence of sin and suffering no proof that life is an evil thing.

2. The wickedness of undervaluing existence under the sun.

3. The folly of over-praising the dead and underrating the living.

4. A worse thing than seeing “evil work” beneath the sun is doing it.

Est 4:4-8

Three sketches from life.

I. THE INDUSTRIOUS WORKER.

1. The success that attends his toil. Every enterprise to which he puts his hand prospers, and in this sense is a “right” work. Never an undertaking started by him fails. Whatever he touches turns into gold. He is one of those children of fortune upon whom the sun always shinesa man of large capacity and untiring energy, who keeps plodding on, doing the right thing to pay, and doing it at the right time, and so building up for himself a vast store of wealth.

2. The drawbacks that wait on his success. The Preacher does not hint that his work has been wrong; only that success such as his has its drawbacks.

(1) It can only be attained by hard work. By Heaven’s decree it is the fruit of toil; and sometimes he who finds it must sweat and labor for it, tugging away at the oar of industry like a very galley-slave, depriving his soul of good, and condemning his body to the meanest drudgery.

(2) It often springs from unworthy motives in the worker, as e.g. from ambition, or a desire to outstrip his competitors in the race for wealth; from covetousness, or a hungry longing for other people’s gold; or from avarice, which means a sordid thirst for possession.

(3) It commonly leads to envy in beholders, especially in those to whom success has been denied. That it ought not to do so may be conceded; that it will not do so in those who consider that success, like every other thing, comes from God (Psa 75:6, Psa 75:7), and that a man can receive nothing except it be given him from above (Joh 3:27) is certain; that it does so, nevertheless, is apparent. In every department of life success incites some who witness it to depreciation, censoriousness, and even to backbiting and slander. “Envy spies out blemishes, that she may lower another by defeat,” and when she cannot find, seldom wants the wit to invent them. Detraction is the shadow that waits upon the sun of prosperity.

(4) It is usually attended by anxiety. The man to whom success is given is often one to whom success can be of small account, being “one that is alone and hath not a second,” without wife or child, brother or friend, to whom to leave his wealth, so that as this increases his perplexity augments as to what he shall do with it.

II. THE HABITUAL IDLER.

1. The folly he exhibits. Not indisposed to partake of the successful man’s wealth, he is yet disinclined to the labor by which alone wealth can be secured, lie is one on whom the spirit of indolence has seized. Averse to exertion, like the sluggard, he is slumberous and slothful (Pro 6:10; Pro 24:33); and when he does awake, finds that other men’s day is half through. If one must not depreciate the value of sleep, which God gives to his beloved (Psa 127:2), or pronounce all fools who have evinced a capacity for the same, since according to Thomson (‘Castle of Indolence’)

“Great men have ever loved repose,”

one may recognize the folly of expecting to succeed in life while devoting one’s day to indolence or slumber.

2. The wretchedness that springs from his folly. That the habitual idler should “eat his own flesh”not have a pleasant time of it, in spite of his indolence, attain to the fruition of his desires without work (Ginsburg, Plumptre), but reduce himself to poverty and starvation, and consume himself with envy and vexation (Delitzsch, Hengstenberg, Wright)is according to the fitness of things, as well as the teachings of Scripture (Pro 13:4; Pro 23:21; Ecc 10:18; 2Th 3:10). “Idleness is the bane of body and mind, the nurse of naughtiness, the chief author of all misery, one of the seven deadly sins, the cushion upon which the devil chiefly reposes, and a great cause not only of melancholy, but of many other diseases” (Burton).

III. THE SAGACIOUS MORALIZER.

1. His character defined. Neither of the two former, he is a happy mean between both. If he toils not like him who always succeeds, he loafs not about like the fool who never works. If he amasses not wealth, he equally escapes poverty. He works in moderation, and is contented with a competence.

2. His wisdom extolled. If he attains not to riches, he avoids the sore travail requisite to procure riches, and the vexation of spirit, or “feeding upon wind,” which riches bring. If he succeeds in gathering only one fistful of the goods of earth, he has at least the priceless pearl of quietness, including ease of mind as well as comfort of body.

LESSONS.

1. Industry and contentment two Christian virtues (Rom 12:11; Eph 4:28; 1Ti 6:8; Heb 13:5).

2. Idleness and sloth two destructive sins (Pro 12:24; Ecc 10:8).

Est 4:9-12

Two better than one; or, companionship versus isolation.

I. THE DISADVANTAGES OF ISOLATION.

1. Its causes. Either natural or moral, providentially imposed or deliberately chosen.

(1) Examples of the former: the individual who has no wife or friend, son or brother, because these have been removed by death (Psa 88:18); the traveler who journeys alone through some uninhabited waste (Job 38:26; Jer 2:6) or voiceless solitude; a stranger who lands on a foreign shore, with whose inhabitants he can hold no converse, because of not understanding their speech, and who lacks the assistance of a friendly interpreter.

(2) Instances of the latter: the younger son, who forsakes the parental roof, leaving behind him parents, brothers, and sisters, as well as friends and companions, acquaintances and neighbors, and departs into a far country alone to see life and make a fortune; the elder brother, who, when the old people have died, and the younger branches of the family have removed, remains unmarried, because he chooses to live entirely for himself; the busy merchant, self-contained and prosperous, who stands apart from his employees, and, without either colleague or counselor, partner or assistant, takes upon his own broad shoulders the whole weight and responsibility of a large “concern;” the student, who loves his books better than his fellows, and, eschewing intercourse with these, broods in solitude over problems too deep for his unaided intellect, that might be solved in a few hours’ talk with a friend; the selfish soul, who has heart to give to no thing or person outside of self, and who fears lest his own stock of happiness should be diminished were he in an inadvertent moment to augment that of others.

2. Its miseries. Manifold and richly deservedat least where the isolation springs from causes moral and self-chosen. Amongst the lonely man’s woes may be enumerated these:

(1) the absence of those advantages and felicities that arise from companionshipa theme treated of in the next main division of this homily;

(2) the intellectual and moral deterioration that inevitably ensues on the suppression of the soul’s social instincts, and the attempt to educate one’s manhood apart from the family, the community, the race, of which it forms a part;

(3) the inward wretchedness that by the just decree of Heaven attends the crime (where the isolation spoken of assumes this form) of living entirely for self; and,

(4) aside from ideas of crime and guilt, the insatiable greed of self, which makes even larger demands upon one’s labor, and deeper inroads upon one’s peace, than all the claims of ethers would were the soul to honor these, and which, like an unpitying taskmaster, impels the soul to unceasing toil, and fills it with unending care (Est 4:8; cf. Ecc 2:23).

II. THE BENEFITS OF COMPANIONSHIP. The “good reward” for their labor which two receive in preference to one points to the advantages that flow from union. These are four.

1. Reciprocal assistance. The picture sketched by “the great orator” is that of two wayfaring men upon a dark and dangerous road, who are helpful to each other in turn as each stumbles in the path, rendered difficult to tread by gloom overhead or uneven places underfoot. Whereas each one by himself might deem it hazardous to pursue his journey, knowing that if he fell when alone he might be quite unable to rise, and might even lose his life through exposure to the inclemencies of the night or the perils of the place, each accompanied by the other pushes on with quiet confidence, realizing that, should a moment come when he has need of a second to help him up, that second will be beside him in the person of his friend.

“When two together go, each for the other
Is first to think what best will help his brother;
But one who walks alone, the’ wise in mind,
Of purpose slow and counsel weak we find.”

(Homer, ‘Iliad,’ 10.224-226.)

The application of this principle of mutual helpfulness to almost every department of life, to the home and to the city, to the state and to the Church, to the workshop and to the playground, to the school and to the university, is obvious.

2. Mutual stimulus. Illustrated from the case of two travelers, who on a cold night lie under one blanket (Exo 23:6), and keep each other warm; whereas, should they sleep apart, they would each shiver the whole night through in miserable discomfort. The counterpart of this, again, may be found in every circle of life, but more especially in the home and the Church, in both of which the inmates are enjoined and expected to be helpers and comforters of each other, considering one another to provoke unto love and good works (Heb 10:24).

3. Efficient protection. The writer notes the peril of the pilgrim whom, if alone, a robber may overpower, but whom, if accompanied by a comrade, the highwayman would not venture to attack. So multitudes of dangers assail the individual, against which he cannot protect himself by his own unaided strength, but which the friendly assistance of another may aid him to repel. As illustrations will at once present themselves, cases of sickness, temptations to sin, assaults upon the youthful believer’s faith. In ordinary life men know the value of co-operation as a means of defense against invasions of what are deemed their natural rights; might the Christian Church not derive from this a lesson as to how she can best meet and cope with the assaults to which she is subjected by infidelity on the one hand, and immorality on the other?

4. Increased strength. As surely as division and isolation mean loss of power, with consequent weakness, so surely do union and co-operation signify augmented might and multiplied efficiency. The Preacher expresses this by saying, “The threefold cord will not quickly be broken.” As the thickest rope may be snapped if first untwisted and taken strand by strand, so may the most formidable army be defeated, if only it can be dealt with in detached battalions, and the strongest Church may be laid in ruins if its members can be overthrown one by one. But then the converse of this is likewise true. As every strand twisted into a cable imparts to it additional strength, so every grace added to the Christian character makes it stronger to repel evil, and gives it larger ability for Christian service; while every additional believer incorporated into the body of Christ renders it the more impregnable by sin, and the more capable of furthering the progress ()f the truth.

LESSONS.

1. The sinfulness of isolation.

2. The duty of union.

3. The value of a good companion.

Est 4:13-16

The vicissitudes of royalty; or, the experience of a king.

I. WELCOMED IN YOUTH. The picture sketched that of a political revolution. “An old and foolish king, no longer understanding how to be warned,” who has fallen out of touch with the times, and neither himself discerns the governmental changes demanded by the exigencies of the hour, nor is willing to be guided by his state councilors, is deposed in favor of a youthful hero who has caught the popular imagination, perceived the necessities of the situation, learnt how to humor the fickle crowd, contrived to install himself in their affections, and succeeded in promoting himself to be their ruler.

1. Climbing the ladder. Originally a poor man’s son, he had raised himself to be a leader of his countrymen, perhaps as Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, did in the days of Rehoboam (1Ki 11:26-28), interesting himself in the social and political condition of his fellow-subjects, sympathizing with their grievances, probably acting as their spokesman in laying these before the aged sovereign; and, when their demands were unheeded, possibly fanning their discontent, and even helping them to plot insurrectionfor which, having been detected, he was cast into prison. Nevertheless, neither his humble birth nor his forcible incarceration had been sufficient to degrade him in the people’s eyes.

2. Standing on the summit. Accordingly, when the tide of discontent had risen so high that they could no longer tolerate their senile and imbecile monarch, and their courage had waxed so valiant as to enable them successfully to carry through his deposition, they bethought themselves of the imprisoned hero who had espoused and was then suffering for their cause, and having fetched him forth from confinement, proceeded with him to the then deserted palace, where they placed upon his head the crown, amid shouts of jubilant enthusiasm, crying, “God save the king!” It is doubtless an ideal picture, which in its several details has often been realized; as, e.g; when Joseph was fetched from the round house of Heliopolis, and seated on the second throne of Egypt (Gen 41:14, Gen 41:40); as when David was crowned at Hebron on Saul’s death by the men of Judah (2Sa 2:4), and Jeroboam at Shechem by the tribes of Israel (1Ki 12:20); as when Athaliah was deposed, and the boy Joash made king in her stead (2Ki 11:12).

3. Surveying his fortune. So far as the new-made king was concerned, the commencement of his reign was auspicious. It doubtless never occurred to him that the sun of his royal person would ever know decline, or that he would ever experience the fate of his predecessor. It was with him the dawn of rosy-fingered morn; how the day would develop was not foreseen, least of all was it discerned how the night should fall!

II. HONORED IN MANHOOD.

1. Extending his renown. Seated on his throne, he wields the scepter of irresponsible authority for a long series of years. As the drama of his life unfolds, he grows in the affections of his people. With every revolution of the sun his popularity increases. The affairs of his kingdom prosper. The extent of his dominions widens. All the kingdoms of the earth come to place themselves beneath his rule. Like another Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, Xerxes, Alexander, Caesar, he is a world-governing autocrat. “All the living who walk under the sun” are on the side of the man who had been born poor, and had once languished in a prison; neither is there any end to all the people at whose head he is.

2. Enjoying his felicity. One would say, as perhaps in the heyday of his prosperity he said to himself, the cup of his soul’s happiness was full. He had obtained all the world could bestow of earthly glory, power the most exalted, influence the most extended, riches the most abundant, fame the most renowned, popularity the most secure! What could he wish else? The sun of his royal highness was shining in meridian splendor, and prostrate nations were adoring him as a god. No one surely would venture to suggest that the orb of his majestical divinity might one day suffer an eclipse. We shall see! Strange things have happened on this much-agitated planet.

III. DESPISED IN AGE.

1. The shadows gathering. The brightest earthly glory is liable to fade. One who has reached the topmost pinnacle of tame, and is the object of admiration to millions of his fellows, may yet sink so low that men shall say of him, as Mark Antony said of the fallen Caesar

“Now lies he there,

And none so poor to do him reverence.”

The idol of one age may become an object of execration to the next. As in ancient Egypt another king arose who knew not Joseph, so in the picture of the Preacher grew to manhood another generation which knew not the poor wise youth who had been his country’s deliverer. He of whom it had once been said

“All tongues speak of him, and the bleared sights
Are spectacled to see him and such a pother [made about him],
As if that whatsoever God who leads him
Were slyly crept into his human powers,
And gave him graceful posture”

(‘Coriolanus,’ act 2. se. 1.)

lived to be an object of derision to his subjects.

2. The night descending. In the irony of history, the same (or a similar) fate overtook him as had devoured his predecessor. As the men and women of a past age had counted his predecessor an imbecile and a fool, so were the men and women of the present age disposed to look on him. If they did not depose him, they did not “rejoice in him,” as their fathers had done when they hailed him as their country’s savior; they simply suffered him to drop into ignominious contempt, and perhaps well-merited oblivion. Such spectacles of the vanity of kingly state had been witnessed before the Preacher’s day, and have been not unknown since. So fared it with the boy-prince Joash (2Ki 11:12; 2Ch 24:25), and with Richard II; whose subjects cried “All hail!” to him in the day of his popularity, but to whom, when he put off his regal dignity,

“No man cried, ‘God save him!’

No joyful tongue gave him his welcome home,
But dust was thrown upon his sacred head.”

(‘King Richard II.,’ act 5. sc. 2.)

Learn:

1. The vanity of earthly glory.

2. The fickleness of popular renown.

3. The ingratitude of men.

HOMILIES BY D. THOMAS

Est 4:1

The oppressed and the oppressor.

Liberty has ever been the object of human desire and aspiration. Yet how seldom and how partially has this boon been secured during the long period of human history! Especially in the East freedom has been but little known. Despotism has been and is very general, and there have seldom been states of society in which there has been no room for reflections such as those recorded in this verse.

I. THE TYRANNY OF THE OPPRESSOR.

1. This implies power, which may arise from physical strength, from hereditary authority, from rank and wealth, or from civil and political position and dignity. Power will always exist in human society; drive it out at one door, and it will re-enter by another. It may be checked and restrained; but it is inseparable from our nature and state.

2. It implies the misuse of power. It may be good to have a giant’s strength, but “tyrannous to use it like a giant.” The great and powerful use their strength and influence aright when they protect and care for those who are beneath them. But our experience of human nature leads us to believe that where there is power there is likely to be abuse. Delight in the exercise of power is too generally found to lead to the contempt of the rights of others; hence the prevalence of oppression.

II. THE SORROWFUL LOT OF THE OPPRESSED.

1. The sense of oppression creates grief and distress, depicted in the tears of those suffering from wrong. Pain is one thing; wrong is another and a bitterer thing. A man will endure patiently the ills which nature or his own conduct brings upon him, whilst he frets or even rages under the evil wrought by his neighbor’s injustice.

2. The absence of consolation adds to the trouble. Twice it is said of the oppressed, “They had no comforter.” The oppressors are indisposed, and fellow-sufferers are unable, to succor and relieve them.

3. The consequence is the slow formation of the habit of dejection, which may deepen into despondency.

III. THE REFLECTIONS SUGGESTED BY SUCH SPECTACLES.

1. No right-minded person can look upon instances of oppression without discerning the prevalence and lamenting the pernicious effects of sin. ‘To oppress a fellow-man is to do despite to the image of God himself.

2. The mind is often perplexed when it looks, and looks in vain, for the interposition of the just Governor of all, who defers to intervene for the rectification of human wrongs. “How long, O Lord!” is the exclamation of many a pious believer in Divine providence, who looks upon the injustice of the haughty and contemptuous, and upon the woes of the helpless who are smitten and afflicted.

3. Yet there is reason patiently to wait for the great deliverance. He who has effected a glorious salvation on man’s behalf, who has “visited and redeemed his people,” will in due time humble the selfish tyrant, break the bonds of the captive, and let the oppressed go free.T.

Est 4:2, Est 4:3

Pessimism.

It would be a mistake to regard this language as expressing the deliberate and final conviction of the author of Ecclesiastes. It represents a mood of his mind, and indeed of many a mind, oppressed by the sorrows, the wrongs, and the perplexities of human life. Pessimism is at the root a philosophy; but its manifestation is in a habit or tendency of the mind, such as may be recognized in many who are altogether strange to speculative thinking. The pessimism of the East anticipated that of modern Europe. Though there is no reason for connecting the morbid state of mind recorded in this Book of Ecclesiastes with the Buddhism of India, both alike bear witness to the despondency which is naturally produced in the mental habit of not a few who are perplexed and discouraged by the untoward circumstances of human life.

I. THE UNQUESTIONABLE FACTS UPON WHICH PESSIMISM IS BASED.

1. The unsatisfying nature of the pleasures of life. Men set their hearts upon the attainment of enjoyments, wealth, greatness, etc. When they gain what they seek, the satisfaction expected does not follow. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear with hearing. Disappointed and unhappy, the votary of pleasure is “soured” with life itself, and asks, “Who will show us any good?”

2. The brevity, uncertainty, and transitoriness of life. Men find that there is no time for the acquirements, the pursuits, the aims, which seem to them essential to their earthly well-being. In many cases life is cut short; but even when it is prolonged, it passes like the swift ships. It excites visions and hopes which in the nature of things cannot be realized.

3. The actual disappointment of plans and the failure of efforts. Men learn the limitations of their powers; they find circumstances too strong for them; all that seemed desirable proves to be beyond their reach.

II. THE HABIT OF MIND IN WHICH PESSIMIST CONSISTS.

1. It comes to be a steady conviction that life is not worth living. Is life a boon at ally why should it be prolonged, when it is ever proving itself insufficient for human wants, unsatisfying to human aspirations? The young and hopeful may take a different view, but their illusions will speedily be dispelled. There is nothing so unworthy of appreciation and desire as life.

2. The dead are regarded as more fortunate than the living; and, indeed, it is a misfortune to be born, to come into this earthly life at all. “The sooner it’s over, the sooner asleep.” Consciousness is grief and misery; they only are blest who are at rest in the painless Nirvana of eternity.

III. THE ERRORS INVOLVED IN THE PESSIMISTIC INFERENCE AND CONCLUSION.

1. It is assumed that pleasure is the chief good. A great living philosopher deliberately takes it for granted that the questionIs life worth living? is to be decided by the questionDoes life yield a surplus of agreeable feeling? This being so, it is natural that the disappointed and unhappy should drift into pessimism. But, as a matter of fact, the test is one altogether unjust, and can only be justified, upon the supposition that man is merely a creature that feels. It is the hedonist who is disappointed that becomes the pessimist.

2. There is a higher end for man than pleasure, viz. spiritual cultivation and progress. It is better to grow in the elements of a noble character than to be filled with all manner of delights. Man was made in the likeness of God, and his discipline on earth is to recover and to perfect that likeness. 3. This higher end may in some cases be attained by the hard process of distress and disappointment. This seems to have been lost sight of in the mood which found expression in the language of these verses. Yet experience and reflection alike concur to assure us that it may be good for us to be afflicted. It not infrequently happens that

“The soul

Gives up a part to take to it the whole.”

APPLICATION. As there are times and circumstances in all persons lives which are naturally conducive to pessimistic habits, it behooves us to be, at such times and in such circumstances, especially upon our guard lest we half consciously fall into habits so destructive of real spiritual well-being and usefulness. The conviction that Infinite Wisdom and Righteousness are at the heart of the universe, and not blind unconscious fate and force, is the one preservative; and to this it is the Christian’s privilege to add an affectionate faith in God as the Father of the spirits of all flesh, and the benevolent Author of life and immortal salvation to all who receive his gospel and confide in the mediation of his blessed Son.T.

Est 4:4

Envy.

There is no vice more vulgar and despicable, none which affords more painful evidence of the depravity of human nature, than envy. It is a vice which Christianity has done much to discourage and repress; but in unchristian communities its power is mighty and disastrous.

I. THE FACTS FROM WHICH ENVY STRINGS.

1. Generally, the inequality of the human lot is the occasion of envious feelings, which would not arise were all men possessed of an equal and a satisfying portion of earthly good.

2. Particularly, the disposition, on the part of one who is not possessed of some good, some desirable quality or property, to grasp at what is possessed by another.

II. THE FEELINGS AND DESIRES IN WHICH ENVY CONSISTS. We do not say that a man is envious who, seeing another strong or healthy, prosperous or powerful, wishes that he enjoyed the same advantages. Emulation is not envy. The envious man desires to take another’s possessions from himdesires that the other may be impoverished in order that he may be enriched, or depressed in order that he may be exalted, or rendered miserable in order that he may be happy.

III. THE MISCHIEF TO WHICH ENVY LEADS.

1. It may lead to unjust and malevolent action, in order that it may secure its gratification.

2. It produces unhappiness in the breast of him who cherishes it; it gnaws and corrodes the heart.

3. It is destructive of confidence and cordiality in society.

IV. THE TRUE CORRECTIVE TO ENVY.

1. It should be considered that whatever men acquire and enjoy is attributable to the Divine favor and loving-kindness.

2. And that all men have blessings far beyond their deserts.

3. It becomes us to think less of what we do not or do possess, and more of what we do.

4. And to cultivate the spirit of Christthe spirit of self-sacrifice and benevolence.T.

Est 4:6

The handful with quietness.

The lesson here imparted is proverbial. Every language has its own way of conveying and emphasizing this practical truth. Yet it is a belief more readily professed than actually made the basis of human conduct.

I. ABUNDANT MATERIAL WEALTH ATTRACTS ATTENTION AND EXCITES DESIRE.

II. THE DISPOSITION AND HABIT OF MIND WITH WHICH OUR POSSESSIONS ARE ENJOYED IS OF MORE IMPORTANCE THAN THEIR AMOUNT.

1. This appears from a consideration of human nature. “A man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesses.”

2. And experience of human life enforces this lesson; for every observer of his fellow-men has remarked the unhappiness and pitiable moral state of some wealthy neighbors, and has known cases where narrow means have not hindered real well-being and felicity.

III. IT IS HENCE INFERRED THAT A QUIET MIND WITH POVERTY IS TO BE PREFERRED TO WEALTH WITH VEXATION. So it seemed even to Solomon in all his glory, and similar testimony has been borne by not a few of the great of this world, Nor, on the other hand, is it uncommon to find the healthy, happy, and pious among the poor rejoicing in their lot, and cherishing gratitude to God for the station to which they were born, and for the work to which they are called.

APPLICATION.

1. The comparison made by the wise man in this passage is a rebuke to envy. Who can tell what, if his two hands were filled with earthly good, he might, in consequence of his wealth, be called upon to endure of sorrow and of care?

2. On the other hand, this comparison is an encouragement to contentment. A handful is sufficient; and a quiet heart, grateful to God and at peace with men, can make what others might deem poverty not only endurable but welcome. It is God’s blessing which maketh rich; and with it he addeth no sorrow.T.

Est 4:8

The pain of loneliness.

The picture here drawn is one of pathetic interest. It cannot have originated in personal experience, but must have been suggested by incidents in the author’s wide and varied observation. A lonely man without a brother to share his sorrows and joys, without a son to succeed to his name and possessions, is represented as toiling on through the years of his life, and as accumulating a fortune, and then as awaking to a sense of his solitary state, and asking himself for whom he thus labors and endures? It is vanity, and a sore travail!

I. THE COMPANIONSHIP OF DOMESTIC AND SOCIAL LIFE IS THE ORDER OF NATURE AND THE APPOINTMENT OF GOD‘S PROVIDENCE. There are cases in which men are called upon to deny themselves such companionship, and there are cases in which they have been, by no action of their own, but by the decree of God, deprived of it. But the constitution of the individual’s nature and of human society are evidence that the declaration regarding our first father holds good of his posteritythat is, in normal circumstances”It is not good for the man to be alone.”

II. SUCH COMPANIONSHIP SUPPLIES A MOTIVE AND A RECOMPENSE FOR TOIL. A man can work better, more efficiently, perseveringly, and happily, when he works for others than when he works only for himself. Many a man owes his habits of industry and self-denial, his social advancement and his moral maturity, to the necessity of laboring for his family. He may be called upon to maintain aged parents, to provide for the comfort of a sickly wife, to secure the education of his sons, to save a brother from destitution. And such a call may awaken a willing and cheerful response, and may, under God, account for a good work in life.

III. THE ABSENCE OF SUCH COMPANIONSHIP MAY BE A SORE AFFLICTION, AND MAY BE THE OCCASION OF UNWISE AND BLAMABLE DISSATISFACTION AND MURMURING. Under the pressure of loneliness, a man may relax his efforts, or he may fall into a discontented, desponding, and cynical frame of mind. He may lose his interest in life and in human affairs generally. He may even become misanthropic and skeptical.

IV. THE TRUE CORRECTIVE OF SUCH UNHAPPY TENDENCIES IS TO BE FOUND IN THE CULTIVATION OF SPIRITUAL FELLOWSHIP WITH CHRIST, AND IN A WIDE CIRCLE OF SYMPATHY AND BENEVOLENCE. No one need be lonely who can call his Savior his Friend; and Christ’s friendship is open to every believer. And all Christ’s disciples and brethren are of the spiritual kindred of him who trusts and loves the Redeemer. Where kindred “according to the flesh” are wanting, there need be no lack of spiritual relatives and associates. All around the lonely man are those who need succor, kindly aid, education, guardianship, and the heart purifies and refines as it takes in new objects of pity, interest, and Christian affection. And the day shall come when the Divine Savior and Judge shall say to those who have responded to his appeal, “Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye did it unto me.”T.

Est 4:9-12

The advantages of fellowship.

There is a sense in which we have no choice but to be members of society. We are born into a social life, trained in it, and in it we must live. “None of us liveth unto himself.” But there is a sense in which it rests with us to cultivate fellowship with our kind. And such voluntary association, we are taught in this passage, is productive of the highest benefits.

I. FELLOWSHIP MAKES LABOR EFFECTIVE. “Two have a good reward for their labor.” If this was so in the day of the writer of Ecclesiastes, how much more strikingly and obviously is it so today! Division of labor and co-operation in labor are the two great principles which account for the success of industrial enterprise in our own time. There is scope for such united efforts in the Church of Christfor unity and brotherly kindness, for mutual help, consideration, and endeavor.

II. FELLOWSHIP PROVIDES SUCCOR IN CALAMITY. When two are together, he who falls may be lifted up, when if alone he might be left to perish. This is a commonplace truth with reference to travelers in a strange land, with reference to comrades in war, etc. Our Lord Jesus sent forth his apostles two and. two, that one might supply his neighbor’s deficiencies; that the healthy might uphold the sick; and the brave might cheer the timid. The history of Christ’s Church is a long record of mutual succor and consolation. To raise the fallen, to cherish the weakly, to relieve the needy, to assist the widow and fatherless,this is true religion. Here is the sphere for the manifestation of Christian fellowship.

III. FELLOWSHIP IS PROMOTIVE OF COMFORT, WELL–BEING, AND HAPPINESS. “How can one be warm alone?” asks the Preacher. Every household, every congregation, every Christian society, is a proof that there is a spirit of mutual dependence wherever the will of the great Father and Savior of mankind is honored and obeyed. The more there is of brotherly love within the Church, the more effective will be the Church’s work of benevolence and missionary aggression upon the ignorance and sin of the world.

IV. FELLOWSHIP IMPARTS STRENGTH, STABILITY, AND POWER OF RESISTANCE. TWO, placing themselves shoulder to shoulder, can withstand an onset before which one alone would fall. “The threefold cord is not quickly broken.” It must be remembered that the work of religious men in this world is no child’s play; there are forces of evil to resist, there is a warfare to be maintained. And in order to succeed, two things are needful: first, dependence upon God; and secondly, brotherhood with our comrades and fellow-soldiers in the holy war.T.

Est 4:13, Est 4:14

Folly a worse evil than poverty.

This is no doubt a paradox. For one man who seeks to become wise, there are a hundred who desire and strive for riches. For one man who desires the friendship of the thoughtful and prudent, there are ten who cultivate the intimacy of the prosperous and luxurious. Still, men’s judgment is fallible and often erroneous; and it is so in this particular.

I. WISDOM ENNOBLES YOUTH AND POVERTY. Age does not always bring wisdom, which is the gift of God, sometimesas in the case of Solomonconferred in early life. True excellence and honor are not attached to age and station. Wisdom, modesty, and trustworthiness may be found in lowly abodes and in youthful years. Character is the supreme test of what is admirable and good. A young man may be wise in the conduct of his own life, in the use of his own gifts and opportunities, in the choice of his own friends; he may be wise in his counsel offered to others, in the influence he exerts over others. And his wisdom may be shown in his contented acquiescence in the poverty of his condition and the obscurity of his station. He will not forget that the Lord of all, for our sakes, became poor, dwelt in a lowly home, wrought at a manual occupation, enjoyed few advantages of human education or of companionship with the great.

II. FOLLY DEGRADES AGE AND ROYALTY. In the natural order of things, knowledge and prudence should accompany advancing age. It is “years that bring the philosophic mind.” In the natural order of thins, high station should call out the exercise of statesmanship, thoughtful wisdom, mature and weighty counsel. Where all these are absent, there may be outward greatness, splendor, luxury, empire, but true kingship there is not. There is no fool so conspicuously and pitiably foolish as the aged monarch who can neither give counsel himself nor accept it from the experienced and trustworthy. And the case is worse when his folly is apparent in the mismanagement of his own life. It may be questioned whether Solomon, in his youth, receiving in answer to prayer the gift of wisdom, and using it with serious sobriety, was not more to be admired than when, as a splendid but disappointed voluptuary, he enjoyed the revenues of provinces, dwelt in sumptuous palaces, and received the homage of distant potentates, but yet was corrupted by his own weaknesses into connivance at idolatry, and was unfaithful to the Lord to whose bounty he was indebted for all he possessed.

APPLICATION. This is a word of encouragement to thoughtful, pure-minded, and religious youth. The judgment of inspiration commends those who, in the flower of their age, by God’s grace rise above the temptations to which they are exposed, and cherish that reverence toward the Lord which is the beginning of wisdom.T.

HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON

Est 4:1-3

Pessimism and Christian life.

It is a very significant fact that this pessimistic note (of the text) should be as much heard as it is in this land and in this age;in this land, where the hard and heavy oppressions of which the writer of Ecclesiastes had to complain are comparatively unknown; in this age, when Christian truth is familiar to the highest and the lowest, is taught in every sanctuary and may Be read in every home. There are to be found

(1) not only many who, without the courage of the suicide, wish themselves in their grave; but

(2) also many more who believe that human life is worth nothing at all, even less than nothing; who Would say with the Preacher, “better than both is he who hath not been;” who would respond to the English poet of this century in his lament

“Count o’er the joys thy life has seen,

Count o’er thy days from sorrow free;

But know, whatever thou hast been,

‘Tis something better not to be.”

There is an unfailing remedy for this wretched pessimism, and that is found in an earnest Christian life. No man who heartily and practically appropriates all that Christina truth offers him, and who lives a sincere and genuine Christian life, could cherish such a sentiment or employ such language as this. For the disciple of Jesus Christ who really loves and follows his Divine Master has

I. COMFORT IN HIS SORROWS. He never has reason to complain that there is “no comforter.” Even if human friends and earthly consolations be lacking, there is One who fulfils his word, “I will not leave you comfortless;” “I will come to you;” “I will send you another Comforter, even the Spirit of truth.” Whether suffering from oppression, or from loss, or bereavement, or bodily distress, there are the “consolations which are in Jesus Christ;” there is the “God of all comfort” always near.

II. REST IN HIS HEART. That peace of mind, that rest of soul which is of simply incalculable worth (Mat 11:28; Rom 5:1); a sacred, spiritual calm, which the world “cannot take away.”

III. RESOURCES WHICH ARE UNFAILING. In the fellowship he has with God, in the elevated enjoyments of devotion, in the intercourse he has with holy and earnest souls like-minded with himself, he has sources of sacred joy, “springs that do not fail.”

IV. THE SECRET OF HAPPINESS IN ALL HIS HUMBLEST LABOR. He does everything, even though he be a servant or even a slave, as “unto Christ the Lord;” and all drudgery is gone; life is filled with interest, and toil is crowned with dignity and nobleness.

V. JOY IN UNSELFISH SERVICE OF HIS KIND.

VI. HOPE IN DEATH.C.

Est 4:4-6

Practical wisdom in the conduct of life.

What shall we pursuedistinction or happiness? Shall we aim to be markedly successful, or to be quietly content? What shall be the goal we set before us?

I. THE FASCINATION OF SUCCESS. A great many men resolve to attain distinction in their sphere. They put forth “labor, skilful labor,” inspired by feelings of rivalry; they are animated by the hope of surpassing their fellows, of rising above them in the reputation they achieve, in the style in which they live, in the income they earn, etc. There is very little that is profitable here.

1. It must necessarily be attended with a large amount of failure: where many run, “but one receiveth the prize.”

2. The satisfaction of success is short-lived; it soon loses its keen relish, and becomes of small account.

3. It is a satisfaction of a very low order.

II. THE TEMPTATION TO INDOLENCE. Many men are content to go through life moving along a much lower level than their natural capacities, their educational advantages, and their social introductions fit them and entitle them to maintain. They crave quietude; they want to be free from the bustle, the worry, the burden of the strife of life; they prefer to have a very small share of worldly wealth, and to fill a very little space in the regard of their neighbors, if only they can be well left alone. “The sluggard foldeth his hands; yea, he eateth his meat” (Cox). There is a measure of sense in this; much is thereby avoided which it is desirable to shun. But, on the other hand, such a choice is ignoble; it is to decline the opportunity; it is to retreat from the battle; it is to leave the powers of our nature and the opportunities of our life idle and unemployed.

III. THE WISDOM OF THE WISE. This is:

1. To be contented with our lot; not to be dissatisfied because there are others above us in the trade or the profession in which we are engaged; not to be envious of those more successful than ourselves; to recognize the goodness of our Divine Father in making us what we are and giving us what we have.

2. To let our labors be inspired by high and elevating motives; to work with all our strength, because

(1) God loves faithfulness;

(2) we cannot respect ourselves nor earn the esteem of the upright if we are indolent or faulty;

(3) diligence and devotedness conduct to an honorable success, and enable us to render greater service both to Christ and to mankind.C.

Est 4:9-12

Mutual service.

There is a measure of separateness, and even of loneliness, which is inseparable from human life. There are times and occasions when a man must determine for himself what choice he will make, what course he wilt pursue. Each human soul must “bear its own burden” in deciding what shall be its final attitude toward revealed truth; what shall be its abiding relation to God; whether it will accept or decline the crown of eternal life. Nevertheless, we thank God for human companionship; we rejoice greatly that he has so “fashioned our hearts alike,” and so interwoven our human lives, that we can be much to one another, and do much for one another, as we go on our way. “Two are better than one.” The union of hearts and lives means

I. SHARING SUCCESS. “They have a good reward for their labor.” If two men work apart, and succeed in their labor, each has his own separate satisfaction. But if they confide their hopes, and tell their triumphs, and share their joys together, each man has much more “reward for his labor” than if he strove apart. It is one of the blessings of earlier life that its victories are so much enhanced by their being shared with others; it is one of the detractions from later life that its successes are confined to so small a sphere.

II. RESTORATION. (Est 4:10.) The falling of the solitary traveler in the unfrequented and dangerous path is a picture of the more serious and often fatal falling of the pilgrim in the path of life. To fall into disgrace, or (what is worse) into sin and evil habitude, and to have no true and loyal friend to stand by and to hold out the uplifting hand, to cover the shame with the mantle of his unspotted reputation, to lead back the erring soul with his strength and rectitude into the way of wisdom, into the kingdom of Godto such a man, in such necessity, the “woe” of the preacher may well be uttered.

III. ANIMATION. (Est 4:11.) “In Syria the nights are often keen and frosty, and the heat of the day makes men more susceptible to the nightly cold. The sleeping-chambers, moreover, have only unglazed lattices, which let in the frosty air . And therefore the natives huddle together for the sake of warmth. To lie alone was to lie shivering in the chill night air.” Moreover, it may be said that to sleep in the cold is, in certain temperatures, to be in danger of losing life, while the warmth given by contact with life would preserve vitality. To be “alone” is to live a cold, cheerless, inanimate existence; to be warmed by human friendship, to be animated by contact with living men, is to have a measure, a fullness, of life not otherwise enjoyed.

IV. DEFENSE. (Est 4:12.) “Our two travelers (see above), lying snug and warm on their common mat, buried in slumber, were very likely to be disturbed by thieves who had dug a hole into the barn or crept under the tent . If one was thus aroused, he would call on his comrade for help” (Cox). It is not only the prowling thief against whom a man may defend his companion. By timely warning, by wise suggestion, by sound instruction, by faithful entreaty, by practical sympathy, we may so stand by one another, that we may save from the worst attacks of our most deadly spiritual enemies; thus we may save one another from falling into error, into unbelief, into vice, into shame and sorrow, “into the pit.” We conclude, therefore:

1. That we should prize human friendship most highly, as that which furnishes us with the opportunity of highest service (see Isa 32:2).

2. That we should so choose our companions that we shall have from them the help we need in the trying hour.

3. That we should gain for ourselves the strength and succor of the Divine Friend.C.

Est 4:12 (latter part)

The threefold cord.

Many bonds of many kinds bind us in many ways. Of these some are hard and cruel, and these we have to break as best we can; the worst of them may be snapped when we strive with the help that comes from Heaven. But there are others which are neither hard nor cruel, but kind and beneficent, and these we should not shun, but gladly welcome. Such is the threefold cord which binds us to our God and to his service. It is composed of

I. DUTY. To know, to reverence, to love, to serve God, is our supreme obligation, For we came forth from him; we are indebted to him for all that makes us what we are, owing all our faculties of every kind to his creative power. We have been sustained in being every moment by his Divine visitation; we have been enriched by him with everything we possess, our hearts and our lives owing to his generous kindness all their joys and all their blessings; it is in him that we live and move and have our being; we sum up all obligations, we touch the height and depth of exalted duty, when we say that “he is our God.” Moreover, all this natural obligation is enhanced and multiplied manifold by all that he has done for us, and all that he has endured for in the salvation which is in Jesus Christ, his Son;

II. INTEREST. To know, to love, to serve God,this is our highest and truest interest.

1. It means the possession of his Divine favor; and that surely is much, not to say everything, to us.

2. It constitutes our real, because our spiritual, well-being; it causes us thereby and therein to realize the ideal of our humanity; we are at our very best imaginable when we are in fellowship with God and are possessing his likeness.

3. It secures to us a happy life below, filled with hallowed contentment, and charged with sacred joy, while it conducts to a future which will be crowned with immortal glory.

III. AFFECTION. To live in the service of Jesus Christ is to act as our human relationships demand that we should act. It is to give the deepest and purest satisfaction to those from whom we have received the most self-denying love; it is also to lead those for whom we have the strongest affection in the way of wisdom, in the paths of honor, joy, eternal life.C.

Est 4:13-16

Circumstance and character.

This very obscure passage is thus rendered by Cox (‘The Quest of the Chief Good’): “Happier is a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king, who even yet has not learned to be admonished. For a prisoner may go from a prison to a throne, whilst a king may become a beggar in his own kingdom. I see all the living who walk under the sun flocking to the sociable youth who standeth up in his place; there is no end to the multitude of the people over whom he ruleth. Nevertheless, those who live after him will not rejoice in him; for even this is vanity and vexation of spirit.” Thus read, we have a very clear meaning, and we are reminded of a very valuable lesson. We may learn

I. THE VANITY OF TRUSTING IN CIRCUMSTANCE APART FROM CHARACTER. It is well enough to bear a royal name, to have a royal retinue, to move among royal surroundings. Old age may forget its infirmities in the midst of its rank, its honors, its luxuries. But when royalty is dissevered from wisdom, when it has not learned by experience, but has grown downwards rather than upwards, the outlook is poor enough. The foolish king is likely enough to be dethroned, and to “become a beggar in his own kingdom.” An exalted position makes a man’s follies seem larger than they are; and as they injuriously affect every one, they are likely to lead to universal condemnation and to painful penalty. It is of little use to be enjoying an enviable position if we have not character to maintain and ability to adorn it. The wheel of fortune will soon take to the bottom the man who is now rejoicing on the top of it.

II. THE NEEDLESSNESS OF DESPAIR IN THE DEPTH OF MISFORTUNE. Whilst the old and foolish king may decline and fall, the wise youth, who has been disregarded, will move on and up to honor and to power, and even the condemned prisoner may mount the throne. The history of men and of nations proves that nothing is impossible in the way of recovery and elevation. Man may “hope to rise” from the bottom, as he should “fear to fall’ from the top of the scale. Let those who are honestly and conscientiously striving, though it may be with small recognition or recompense, hope to attain to the honor and the reward which are their due. Let those who have suffered saddest disappointment and defeat remember that men may rise from the very lowest estate even to the highest.

III. THE ONE UNFAILING SOURCE OF SATISFACTION. The old and foolish king may deserve to be dethroned, but he may retain his position until he dies; the wise youth may fail to reach the honors to which he is entitled; the innocent prisoner may languish in his dungeon even until death opens the door and releases him. There is no certainty in this world, where fortune is so fickle, and circumstance cannot be counted upon even by the most sagacious. But there is one thing on which we may reckon, and in which we may take refuge. To be upright in our heart, to be sound in our character, to be true and faithful in lifethis is to be what is good; it is to enjoy that which is bestthe favor of God and our own self-respect; it is to move toward that which is blesseda heavily future.C.

HOMILIES BY J. WILLCOCK

Est 4:1-3

Oppression of man by his fellows.

Many different phases of human misery are depicted in this book, many different moods of depression recorded; some springing from the disquietude of the writer’s mind, others from the disorders he witnessed in the world about him. Sensuous pleasure he had declared (Ecc 3:12, Ecc 3:13, Ecc 3:22) to be the only good for man, but now he finds that even that is not always to be secured. There are evils and miseries that afflict his fellows, against which he cannot shut his eyes. A vulgar sensualist might drown sorrow in the wine-cup, but he cannot, “His merriment is spoiled by the thought of the misery of others, and he can find nothing ‘under the sun ‘but violence and oppression. In utter despair, he pronounces the dead happier than the living” (Cheyne). If he does not actually deny the immortality of the soul, and is therefore without the consolation of believing that in a life to come the evils of the present may be reversed and compensated for, he ignores it as something of which we cannot be sure. We may see in this passage the germ of a higher character than is to be formed by the most elaborate self-culture; the spontaneous and deep compassion for the sufferings of others which the writer manifests tells us that a nobler emotion than the desire of personal enjoyment fills his mind. He tells us what he saw in his survey of society, and the feelings which were excited within him by the sight.

I. THE WIDESPREAD MISERY CAUSED BY INJUSTICE AND CRUELTY. (Est 4:1.) His description has been only too frequently verified in one generation after another of the world’s history.

“Man’s inhumanity to man
Hakes countless thousands mourn.”

The barbarities of savage life, the wars and crusades carried on in the name of religion, the cruelties perpetrated by despotic rulers to secure their thrones, the hardships of the slave, the pariah, and the down-trodden, fill out the picture suggested by the words, “I considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun.” They all spring from the abuse of power (Est 4:1), which might and should have been used for the protection and comfort of men. The husband and father, the king, the priest, the magistrate, are all invested with rights and authority of a greater or less extent over others, and the abuse of this power leads to hardships and suffering on the part of those subject to them which it is almost impossible to remedy. For many of the evils that may afflict a community a revolution may seem the only way of deliverance; and yet that in the vast majority of cases means, in the first instance, multiplying disorders and inflicting fresh sufferings. Anarchy is a worse evil than bad government, and the fact that this is so, is calculated to make the most ardent patriot hesitate before attempting to set wrong right with a strong hand.

II. THE FEELINGS EXCITED BY A CONTEMPLATION OF HUMAN MISERY. (Est 4:2, Est 4:3.) One good point in the character of the speaker we have already noticed, and that is that he cannot banish the thought of the distresses of others by attending to his own ease and self-enjoyment. He is not like the rich man in the parable, who fared sumptuously every day, and took no notice of the hungry, naked beggar covered with sores that lay at his gate (Luk 16:19-21). On the contrary, a deep compassion fills his heart at the thought of the oppressed who have no comforter, and the fact that he cannot deliver them or ameliorate their lot does not lead him to consider it unnecessary for him to distress himself about them; it rather tends to deepen the despondency he feels, and to make him think those happy who have done with life, and rest in the place where “the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary be at rest” (Job 3:17). Yea, better, he thinks, never to have been than to see the evil work that is done under the sun (Est 4:3). The distress which the sight of the sufferings of the oppressed produces is unrelieved by any consolatory thought. The writer does not, as I have said, anticipate a future life in which the righteous are happy, and the wicked receive the due reward of their deeds; he does not invoke the Divine interposition on behalf of the oppressed in the present life, or speak of the salutary discipline of sufferings meekly borne. In short, we do not find here any light cast upon the problem of evil in a world governed by a God of infinite power, wisdom, and love, such as is given in other passages of Holy Scripture (Job, passim; Psa 73:1-28.; Heb 12:5-11). But we may freely admit that the depth and intensity of feeling with which our author speaks of human misery is infinitely preferable to a superficial optimism founded, not upon Christian faith, but upon an imperfect appreciation of moral an-d spiritual truth, and generally accompanied by a selfish indifference to the welfare of others. A striking parallel to the thought in this passage is to be found in the teaching of Buddhism. The spectacle of miseries of old age, disease, and death, drove the Indian prince, Cakya Mouni, to find in Nirvana (annihilation, or unconscious existence) a solution of the great problem. But both are superseded by the teaching of Christ, who gives us to understand that “not to have been born” is not a blessing which the more spiritually minded might covet, but a state better only than that exceptional misery which is the doom of exceptional guilt (Mat 26:24).J.W.

Est 4:4-6

Ambition and indolence.

The Preacher turns from the great, and to him insoluble, problems connected with the misery and suffering in which so many of the children of men are sunk. “His mood is still bitter; but it is no longer on the oppressions and cruelty of life that he fixes his eye, but on its littleness, its mutual jealousies, its greed, its strange reverses, its shams and hollowness. He puts on the garb of the satirist, and lashes the pettiness and the follies and the vain hurry of mankind” (Bradley). As it were, he turns from the evils which no foresight or effort could ward off, to those which spring from preventable causes.

I. RESTLESS AMBITION. (Est 4:4.) Revised Version, “Then I saw all labor and every skilful work, that it cometh of a man’s rivalry with his neighbor” (margin). The Preacher does not deny that labor and toil may be crowned with some measure of success, but he notices that the inspiring motive is in most cases an envious desire on the part of the worker to surpass his fellows. Hence he asserts that in general no lasting good is secured by the individual worker (Wright). The general community may benefit largely by the results achieved, the progress of civilization may be advanced by the competition of artist with artist, but without a moral gain being attained by those who have put forth all their strength and exerted to the utmost all their skill. They may still feel that their ideal is higher than their achievements; they may see with jealous resentment that their best work is surpassed by others. The poet Hesiod, in his ‘Works and Days,’ distinguishes between two kinds of rivalrythe one beneficent and provocative of honest enterprise, the other pernicious and provocative of discord. The former is like that alluded to here by the Preacher, and is the parent of healthy competition.

“Beneficent this better envy burns
Thus emulous his wheel the potter turns,
The smith his anvil beats, the beggar throng
Industrious ply, the bards contend in song.”

But our author, looking at the motive rather than the result of the work, brands as injurious the selfish ambition from which it may have sprung.

II. INDOLENCE. (Est 4:5.) “The fool foldeth his hands together, and eateth his own flesh;’ While there are some who fret and wear themselves out in endeavors to surpass their neighbors, others rust out in ignoble sloth. The hands of the busy artist are deftly used to shape and fashion the materials in which he works, and to embody the ideas or fancies conceived in his mind; the indolent fold their hands together, and make no attempt either to excel others or to provide a living for themselves. The one may, after all his toil, be doomed to failure and disappointment; the other most certainly dooms himself to want and misery. “He feeds upon his own flesh,” and destroys himself. The sinfulness of indolence, and the punishment which it brings down upon itself, are plainly indicated in many parts of Holy Scripture (Pro 6:10, Pro 6:11; Pro 13:4; Pro 20:4; Mat 25:26; 2Th 3:10). But the special point of the reference to the vice here seems to be the contrast which it affords to that of feverish ambition. The two dispositions depicted are opposed to each other; both are blameworthy. It is foolish to seek to escape the evils of the one by incurring: those of the other. A middle way between them is the path of wisdom. This is taught us in Est 4:6. Better is an handful with quietness, than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit.” The rivalry that consumes the strength, and leads almost inevitably to disappointment and vexation of spirit, is deprecated; so also, by implication, is the inactivity of the indolent. The “quietness “which refreshes the soul, and gives it contentment with a moderate competence, is not idleness, or the rest of sloth. It is rest after labor, which the ambitious will not allow themselves to take. The indolent do not enjoy it, their strength wastes away from want of exercise while those of moderate, chastened desires can both be diligent in business and mindful of their higher interests; they can labor assiduously without losing that tranquility of spirit and peace of mind which are essential to happiness in life.J.W.

Est 4:7-12

Friendship a gain in life.

A new thought dawns upon our author. In his observation of the different phases of human life, he notes much that is disappointing and unsatisfactory but he also perceives some alleviations of the evils by which man is harassed and disturbed. Amidst all his depreciation of the conditions under which we live, he admits positive blessings which it is our wisdom to discern and make the most of. Amongst these latter he counts friendship. It is a positive gain, by which the difficulties of life are diminished and its enjoyments increased. In Est 4:8-12 he describes an isolated life wasted in fruitless, selfish toil, and dilates with something like enthusiasm upon the advantages of companionship. In order, I suppose, to make the contrast between the two states more vivid, he chooses a very pronounced case of solitarinessnot that of a man merely isolated from his fellows, say living by himself on a desert island, but that of one utterly separate in spirit, a miser intent only on his own interests. We may call the passage a description of the evils of a solitary life and the value of friendship.

I. THE EVILS OF A SOLITARY LIFE. (Est 4:7, Est 4:8.) The picture is drawn with a very few touches, but it is remarkably distinct and vivid. It represents a “solitary, friendless money-makera Shylock without even a Jessica; an Isaac of York with his faithful Rebecca.” He is alone, he has no companion, no relative or friend, he knows not who will succeed him in the possession of his heaped-up treasures; and yet he toils on with unremitting anxiety, from early in the morning till late at night, unwilling to lose a moment from his work as long as he can add anything to his gains. “There is no end of all his labor.” The assiduity with which he at first applied himself to the task of accumulating riches distinguishes him to the end of life. At first, perhaps, he had to force himself to cultivate habits of industry and application, but now he cannot tear himself away from business. His habits rule him, and take away from him both the ability and the inclination to relax his labors and to enjoy the fruit of them. Have we not often seen instances of this folly in our own experience? Those who have lived a laborious life, and have been successful in their undertakings, toiling on to the very last, afflicted with an insatiable avarice, never satisfied with their riches, and only enjoying the mere consciousness of possessing them? Have we not noticed how such a man gets to be penurious and fretful and utterly unfeeling? He gathers in eagerly, and often unscrupulously, and gives out reluctantly and sparingly. He starves himself in the midst of abundance, grudges the most necessary expenses, and denies himself and those dependent upon him the commonest comforts. The misery he inflicts upon himself does not open his eyes to the folly of his conduct; he grows gradually callous to discomforts, and finds in the sordid gains which his parsimony secures an abundant compensation for all inconveniences. And not only does he doom himself to material discomfort and to intellectual impoverishment by setting his desires solely upon riches, but he degrades his moral and spiritual character. If he must keep all he has to himself, he must often ignore the just claims of others upon him; he must steel his heart against the appeals of the poor and needy, and. he must look with scorn and contempt upon all those who are generous and liberal in helping their fellows. And so we find such men gradually growing harsher and more unsympathetic, until it seems at last as if they regarded every one about them with suspicion, as seeking to wrest from their hands their hard-earned gains. And what is the pleasure of such a life? How is it such men do not say within themselves, “For whom do I labor, and bereave my- soul of good?” The folly of their conduct springs from two causes.

1. They forget that unremitting, fruitless toil is a curse. As a means to an end, toil is good, as an end in itself it is evil. It was never contemplated, even when man was innocent, that he should be idle. He was placed in the garden of Eden to dress and to keep it. But it is either his fault or his misfortune if he is all his life a slavish drudge. It may be that he is forced by the necessities of his position to labor incessantly and to the very end, to make a livelihood for himself and for those dependent upon him, but his condition is not an ideal one. If he could secure a little leisure and relaxation, it would be all the better for him in every sense of the word. And therefore for the miser to toil like a mere slave, when he might save himself the trouble, is an evidence of how blinded he is by the vice to which Be is addicted.

2. A second cause of the miser’s folly is his ignoring the fact that riches have only value when made use of. The mere accumulation of them is not enough; they must be employed if they are to be of service. No real, healthy enjoyment of them is to be obtained by merely contemplating them and reckoning them up. Used in that way they only feed an unnatural and morbid appetite.

II. Over against the miseries of a selfish, solitary life, our author sets THE loyalties OF COMPANIONSHIP. (Est 4:9-12.) Friendship affords considerable mitigation of the evils by which life is beset, and a positive gain is secured by those who cultivate it. Three very homely figures are used to describe these advantages. The thought which connects them all together is that of life as a journey, or pilgrimage, like that which Bunyan describes in his wonderful book. If a man is alone in the journey of life, he is liable to accidents and discomforts and dangers which the presence of a friend would have averted or mitigated. He may fall on the road, and none be by to help him; he may at night lie shivering in the cold, if he has no companion to cherish him with kindly warmth; he may meet with robbers, whom his unaided strength is insufficient to beat off. All these figures illustrate the general principle that in union there is mutual helpfulness, comfort, and strength, verification of which we find in all departments of lifein the family, in the intercourse of friends, and in the Church. The benefits of such fellowships are undeniable. “It affords to the parties mutual counsel and direction, especially in seasons of perplexity and embarrassment; mutual sympathy, consolation, and care in the hour of calamity and distress; mutual encouragement in anxiety and depression; mutual aid by the joint application of bodily or mental energy to difficult and laborious tasks; mutual relief amidst the fluctuations of worldly circumstances, the abundance of the one reciprocally supplying the deficiencies of the other; mutual defense and vindication when the character of either is injuriously attacked and defamed; and mutual reproof and affectionate expostulation when either has, through the power of temptation, fallen into sin. ‘Woe to him that is alone when he so falleth-and hath not another to help him up!’no one to care for his soul, and restore him to the paths of righteousness” (Wardiaw). So far as the application of the principle to the case of ordinary friendship is concerned, the wisdom of our author is instinctively approved of by all. The writings of moralists in all countries and times teem with maxims similar to his. Some have thought that this virtue of friendship is too secular in its character to receive much encouragement in the teaching of Christianity; that it is somewhat overshadowed, if not relegated to comparative insignificance, by the obligations which a highly spiritual religion imposes. The fact that the salvation of his soul is the one great duty of the individual might have been expected to lead to a new development of selfishness, and the fact that devotion to the Savior is to take precedence of all other forms of affection might have been expected to diminish the intensity of love which is the source of friendship. And not only have such ideas existed in a speculative form, but they have led, in many cases, to actual attempts to realize them. The ancient hermits sought to cultivate the highest form of Christian life by complete isolation from their fellows; they fled from society, dissevered themselves from all the ties of blood and friendship, and shunned all association with their kind as something contaminating. And in our own time, among many to whom the monastical life is specially repulsive, the very same delusion which lay at the root of it is still cherished. They think that love of husband, wife, child, or friend conflicts with love of God and Christ; that if the human love is too intense it becomes a form of sin. And along with this is generally found a cruel and dishonoring conception of the Divine character. God is thought of as jealous of those who take his place in the affections, and the loss of those loved is spoken of as a removal by him of the “idols” who had usurped his rights. That such teaching is a perversion of Christianity is very evident. The New Testament takes all the forms of natural human love as types of the Divine. As the father loves his children, so does God love us. As Christ loved the Church ought a husband to love his wife, ought his followers to love one another. No bounds can be set to affection; he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God.” The one great check, that our love for another should not be allowed to lead us to do wrong or condone wrong, is not upon the intensity, but upon the perversion of affection, and leads to a purer, holier, and more satisfying exercise of affection. That Christ, whose love was universal, did not discourage friendship is evident from the fact that he chose twelve disciples, and admitted them to a closer intimacy with himself than others enjoyed, and that even among them there was one whom he specially loved. It was seen, too, in the affection which he manifested to the family in BethanyMartha and Mary and their brother Lazarus. In the time of his agony in Gethsemane he chose three of the disciples to watch with him, seeking for some solace and support in the fact of their presence and sympathy. The truth of Solomon’s statement that “two are better than one” was confirmed by Christ’s sending out his disciples “two and two together” (Luk 10:1), and by the Divine direction given by the Holy Ghost when Barnabas and Saul were set apart to go together on their first great missionary enterprise (Act 13:2). But over and above these instances of Christ’s example in cultivating friendship, and of the advantages of mutual co-operation in Christian work, the peat principle remains that true religion cannot come to any strength in an isolated life. We cannot worship God aright if we “forsake the assembling of ourselves together;” we cannot cultivate the virtues of which holiness consistsjustice, compassion, forbearance, purity, and loveif we isolate ourselves; for all these virtues imply our conducting ourselves in certain ways in all our relations with others. We lose the opportunity of helping the weak, of cheering the disheartened, and of co-operating with those who are striving to overcome the evils by which the world is burdened, if we withdraw into ourselves and ignore others. So far, then, from the wisdom of Solomon in this matter being, in comparison with the fuller revelation through Christ, of an inferior and almost pagan character, it is of permanent and undiminished value. Our acquaintance with Christian teaching is calculated to lead us to form quite as decided a judgment as Solomon did as to the evils of a solitary life, and the advantages of friendship.J.W.

Est 4:13-16

Mortifications of royalty.

Yet another set of instances of folly and disappointment occurs to our author’s mind; they are drawn from the history of the strange vicissitudes through which many of those who have sat upon thrones have passed. His references are vague and general, and no success has attended the attempts of those who have endeavored to find historical examples answering exactly to the circumstances he here describes. But the truthfulness of his generalizations can be abundantly illustrated out of the records of history, both sacred and profane. The reason why he adds these instances of failure and misfortune to his list is pretty evident. He would have us understand that no condition of human life is exempt from the common lot; that though kings are raised above their fellows, and are apparently able to control circumstances rather than to be controlled by them, as a matter of fact as surprising examples of mutability are to be found in their history as in that of the humbler ranks of men. He sets before us

I. The image of “AN OLD AND FOOLISH KING, WHO WILL NO MORE BE ADMONISHED;” who, though “born in his kingdom, becometh poor.” He is debauched by long tenure of power, and scorns good advice and warning. “We see him driven from his throne, stripped of his riches, and becoming in his old age a beggar.” His want of wisdom undermines the stability of his position. Though he has in the regular course inherited his kingdom, and has an indefeasible right to the crown he wearsthough for many years his people have patiently endured his misgovernmenthis tenure of office becomes more and more uncertain. A time comes when it is a question whether the nation is to be ruined, or a wiser and more trustworthy ruler put in his place. He is compelled to abdicate, or is forcibly deposed or driven from his kingdom by an invader, whose power he is unable to resist. His noble birth, his legal fights as a sovereign, his gray hairs, the amiability of his private character, do not avail to secure for him the loyal support of a people whom his folly has alienated from him. The same idea of folly vitiating, the dignity of old age is found in Wisd 4:8, 9, “Honorable age is not that which standeth in length of time, nor that is measured by number of years. But wisdom is the grey hair unto men, and unspotted life is old age.” The biographies of Charles I. and James II. of England, and of Napoleon III; furnish examples of kings who learned nothing from experience, and scorned all warnings brought upon themselves misery like that hinted at by Solomon. The first of them met his death at the hands of his exasperated subjects, and the other two, after deep humiliations, died in exile.

II. The second instance of strange vicissitude is that of ONE WHO STEPS FROM A DUNGEON TO A THRONE. It is by his wisdom that he raises himself to the place of ruler over the neglected community. From obscurity he attains in a moment to the height of popular favor; thousands flock to do him homage (verses 15, 16a, “I saw all the living which walk under the sun, that they were with the youth, the second, that stood up in his stead. There was no end of all the people, even of all them over whom he was,” Revised Version). The scene depicted of the ignominy into which the worthless old king falls, and the enthusiasm with which the new one is greeted, reminds one of Carlyle’s vivid description of the death of Louis XV. and the accession of his grandson. The courtiers wait with impatience for the passing away of the king whose life had been so corrupt and vile; he dies unpitied upon his loathsome sick-bed. “In the remote apartments, dauphin and dauphiness stand road-ready waiting for some signal to escape the house of pestilence. And, hark! across the (Eil-de-Boeuf, what sound is thatsound’ terrible and absolutely like thunder’? It is the rush of the whole court, rushing as in wager, to salute the new sovereigns: ‘Hail to your Majesties!'” The body of the dead king is unceremoniously committed to the grave. “Him they crush down and huddle underground; him and his era of sin and tyranny and shame; for behold! a New Era is come; the future all the brighter that the past was base” (‘French Revolution,’ vol. 1. Ecc 4:1-16.). The same kind of picture has been drawn by Shakespeare, in ‘Richard II.,’ act 5. sc. 2, where he describes the popularity of Bolingbroke, and the contempt into which the king he displaced had sunk. Yet, according to the Preacher, the breeze of popular favor soon dies away, and the hero is soon forgotten. “They also that come after him shall not rejoice in him.” The dark cloud of oblivion comes down and envelops in its shade both those who deserve to be remembered, and those who have been unworthy of even the brief popularity they enjoyed in their lifetime. “Who knows,” says Sir Thos. Browne, “whether the best of men be known, or whether there be not more remarkable persons forgot than any that stand remembered on the known account of time?” (‘Urn-burial’).

The fickle and short-lived character of all earthly fame should convince us of the futility of making the desire of the applause of men the ruling motive of our lives; it should lead us to do that which is good because it is good, and not in order “to be seen of men,” and because we are responsible to God, in whose book all our deeds are written, whether they be good or whether they be evil. The sense of disappointment at the vanity of human fame should dispose our hearts to find satisfaction in the favor of God, by whom all our good deeds will be remembered and rewarded (Psa 37:5, Psa 37:6; Gal 6:9; Mat 25:21).J.W.

Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary

Ecc 4:1. So I returned, and considered, &c. I considered again, and I observed. See on on chap. Ecc 2:11.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

B. The Impediments to Earthly Happiness, proceeding partly from personal misfortune of various kinds, and partly from the evils of social and civil life

Ecc 4:1-16.

1. The personal misfortune of many men

(Ecc 4:1-6)

1So I returned and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun; and behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter. 2Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive. 3Yea, better is he than both they, which had not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun. 4Again, I considered all travail, and every right work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbor. This is also vanity and vexation of spirit. 5The fool foldeth his hands together, and eateth his own 6flesh. Better is an handful with quietness, than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit.

2. The evils of social life

(Ecc 4:7-12)

7, Then I returned and saw vanity under the sun. 8There is one alone, and there is not a second; yea, he hath neither child nor brother: yet is there no end of all his labour, neither is his eye satisfied with riches: neither saith he, For whom do I labour, and bereave my soul of good? This is also vanity, yea, it is a sore travail. 9Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour 10For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but wo to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. 11Again, if two lie together. then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone? 12And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

3. The evils of civil life

(Ecc 4:13-16)

13Better is a poor and a wise child, than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished. 14For out of prison he cometh to reign; whereas also he that is born in his kingdom becometh poor. 15I considered all the living which walk under the 16sun, with the second child that shall stand up in his stead. There is no end of all the people, even of all that have been before them: they also that come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and vexation of spirit.

[Ecc 4:1. : I turned and saw, or I returned and saw, I looked again used adverb ally, to denote repetition.T. L.]

Ecc 4:2. the participle piel with omitted, . The examples Zckler brings in support being the infinitive, do not bear him out. Comp. for Zep 1:14, in like manner the Pual participle without , as 2Ki 2:10, for , for Jdg 13:8, and Ecc 9:12, for .

[Ecc 4:5. . See remarks, p. 53.T. L.]

[Ecc 4:8. . and for whom. The apparent conjunction , here, seems rather to have the force of an interjection, as in Ecc 2:16 (see remarks on it, p. 58). Alas! how is it; so here, Ah me! for whom. Our conjunction has sometimes a similar emphatic instead of a mere copulative force. Or, it may be doubted whether, in such cases, instead of being copulative at all, it is any thing more than the exclamation in Arabic, which is, in like manner, joined to other words, as waika, vae tbin, or wa laka, eheu tibi, and sometimes to exclamatory phrases, as wa-sawa ta hu, in one word, proh dolr; O what a calamity! The abrupt exclamation is much more impressive and significant than the filling up of our English Version, neither does he say. This is, moreover, false, since the writer does mean to represent the solitary rich man as thus saying. It is pressed out of him by a sudden sense of his folly. Dr. Van Dyke, in his late Arabic translation, makes it thus abruptly follow, which is the more easily done, since his Arabic word so nearly resembles the Hebrew, whilst the conjunction instead of gives it more of subjective connection. In such cases as this the Hebrew particle was doubtless pronounced wu, instead of the mere vowel sound u. In like manner, wa is ua, or oua, like the French oui. Compare Greek , Mar 15:29 (also found in classical Greek), and the more frequent also the Hebrew , woi, or ou-oi. Even as a conjuction it has an emotional power: and O, for whom, etc.T. L.]

[Ecc 4:14. evidently a contraction for . It is written according to the sound,the with its light shewa, becoming a quiescent and disappearing, as in when it becomes . This writing words according to the sound may mark an earlier period, when some changes had taken place, but attention had not been much drawn to the radical orthography as in later times. It is, however, very unsafe to draw any inference from it as to dates, either way. In Jer 37:15, we have , the singular of the word written in full, and used as synonymous with , house of restraint.T. L.]

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

The plan of this section is extremely simple and clear. Each of the three divisions or strophes, as given above, is again divided into two smaller parts or half strophes, with which, each time, new turns of thought commence. The complete scheme is as follows: First strophe: The personal misfortune of men: Ecc 4:1-6; first half strophe: Ecc 4:1-3; second half strophe: Ecc 4:4-6. Second strophe: The evils of social life: Ecc 4:7-12; first half strophe: Ecc 4:7-8; second half strophe: Ecc 4:9-12. Third strophe: The evils of civil life: Ecc 4:13-16; first half strophe: Ecc 4:13-14; second half strophe: Ecc 4:15-16.Comp. Vaihinger, Comment., p. 32 f., and also the Doctrinal and Ethical portion of this section.

2. First strophe: Ecc 4:1-6. It is not the really unfortunate men that alone suffer sorrows, oppressions, and violence of the most various nature (Ecc 4:1-3); the fortunate also find the joy of their life embittered by envy and want of true repose of soul (Ecc 4:4-6).So I returnednamely, from the previous course of my reflections (which, according to chap. 3, had dwelt upon the foundation and nature of the earthly happiness of men). Hengstenberg justly claims for this passage, as well as for Ecc 4:7 and Ecc 9:11 (and also for Zec 5:1), the acceptance of in the sense of: And I turned back and saw, which is the same as: And again I saw (Ewald), and indicates the transition, to a new object of reflection, not the repetition of a reflection already made, as Hahn contends. Luther, Elster, Vaihinger, etc., are not correct in saying: And I turned, etc.; for expresses a sense different from or (Ecc 2:12; Ecc 2:20, etc.).And considered all the oppressions.As in Amo 3:9, must here also be taken in an abstract sense: oppressions, violence; for does not harmonize with the concrete sense, oppressed, whilst in the following clause the concrete sense oppressed appears from the context.And behold the tears of such as were oppressed.In the original, tear of the oppressed ( a collective). The description presents a vivid reality, and does not magnify the actual conditions in a fantastic or sentimental manner, or from a bitter and peevish misanthropy, but simply reports facts; and facts such as the author had frequently experienced in consequence of the civilly dependent and depressed condition of his people.And on the side of their oppressors there was power. here is equal to (1Sa 2:16; Eze 34:4) violence. The repetition of the expression, but they had no comforter, realizes, with striking emphasis, the hopeless and desperate condition of those who suffer. Comp. the similar repetitions of the same tragic turn in Isa 9:11; Isa 9:16; Isa 9:20; Isa 10:4; Mar 9:44; Mar 9:46; Mar 9:48.

Ecc 4:2. Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead. is not a participle with D omitted, but an infinitive absolute, which here contains the finite verb, as in Ecc 9:11, and in 1Ch 5:20 (comp. Berth, on this passage, and also Ewald, 851 c).More than the living which are yet alive. contracted from , adhuc, yet. For the sentence comp. Ecc 7:1 f.; also Herodotus 1:31: , as also Ecc 4:6 of Menander: .

Ecc 4:3. Yea, better is he than both they, which hath not been.For this intensifying of the previous thought, comp. Ecc 6:3-5; Ecc 7:1; Job 3:13 ff.; Jer 20:18, and Theognis, Gnom., v. 425 ss.:

,

,

, ,

.

Other parallels will be found in the classic authors, as Sophocles (d. Col., 1143 s.), Euritides. (Cresphontes fragm.13) Chalcidamus, Posidipp., Philemon, Val. Maxim. Ecc 2:6; Solinus (polyhist, e. 10), etc. Examine also Knobel on this passage, and Hengstenberg, p. 160 f. The difference between such complaints in heathen authors, and the same in the mouth of our own, is found in the fact that the latter, like Job and Jeremiah, does not stop at the gloomy reflections expressed in the lamentation, but, by proceeding to expressions of a more cheerful nature,1 announces that the truth found in them is incomplete, and only partial.

Ecc 4:4. AgainI considered all travail and every right work., as in Ecc 2:21, not of the successful result of work, but of its excellence in kind and manner; the Septuagint is correct: , and mainly so the Vulgate: industriee. But it is clear that the author is thinking mainly of such excellent and industrious people whose exertions are crowned with success, so that they can become objects of envy or jealousy. He is therefore now no longer regarding simply the unhappy and the suffering, as in Ecc 4:1-3, but also the relatively happy.That for this a man is envied of his neighbor. ] i.e., jealous endeavor to anticipate another in available effort and corresponding success; consequently envious disposition and action, invidia (comp. Ecc 9:6, where has the same meaning, and also Isa 11:13, etc.).This is also vanity.Because in the uncertainty of all earthly circumstances, it is of no true profit to surpass ones neighbor in diligence and skill.

Ecc 4:5. The fool foldeth his hands together, and eateth his own flesh.Probably a proverb of like tendency with those of Pro 6:10; Pro 24:33, i. e., directed against idleness; it is therefore not the expression of the author, but a quotation of au envious person who endeavors to defend his zealous effort to surpass his neighbor in excellence, but which is immediately refuted in Ecc 4:6. Hitzig is correct in this view (comp. also the Int., 1, Obs. 2), whilst Luther, Geier, Oetinger, Bauer, Vaihinger, etc., see rather the jealous man designated as a fool, who folds his hands in vexation and despair, and consumes his own flesh in wild passion, and Ewald, Hengstenberg, Elster, etc., think that the author is contrasting idleness with envy as its opposite extreme, in order to warn against the former; this were manifestly to presuppose a very abrupt and obscure mode of presentation. Concerning the phrase foldeth his hands as a Biblical expression for idleness, comp. Pro 6:10. Eateth his own flesh is to exhaust ones strength, to use ones fortune, to ruin ones self, as occurs on the part of the idle; comp. Isa 49:26; Psa 27:2; Mic 3:3; Num 12:12.

Ecc 4:6. Better is a handful with quietness, than both hands full with travail and vexation of spirit.This is plainly 2 the answer which a defender of a contented, quiet spirit, void of envy, would give to that feverish jealousy which in Ecc 4:5 he had rebuked as foolish indolence, the disposition not to rival ones neighbor in skill and diligence. , lit., to be filled, to be full of hand. It means a little, as taken in contrast with both hands full, i. e., superfluity of any thing, great abundance. Quiet () and so also travail, do naturally present, not only the respective dispositions and demeanors, but, at the same time, the casual circumstances connected with them, and forming their background; at one time a modest portion of worldly goods, at another a great fortune, collected with much exertion, but bringing only care and sorrow.

3. Second strophe. Ecc 4:7-12. By avarice, the nearest relative and affiliated vice of the envy just described, man brings himself into sad isolation and abandonment of friends, which is the greatest misfortune in social life, as it not only embitters all enjoyment of the amenities of this life, but robs us of all protection against men of hostile intent. For Ecc 4:7 compare what is said above of Ecc 4:1.

Ecc 4:8. There is one alone, and there is not a secondi. e., one standing entirely alone, without friends and companions, also without near blood relations (according to the following clause), consequently so much the more isolated and obliged to make friends by the free use of his riches, but which he does not do.Neither is his eye satisfied with riches, i. e., he does not cease to cravo new treasures; comp. Ecc 2:10. The must be retained, and need not be exchanged for . Comp. 1Sa 4:15; 1Ki 14:6; 1Ki 14:12; Psa 37:31.For whom do I labor and bereave my soul of good?Lit., let my soul fail of the good, a pregnant construction like that in Psa 10:18; Psa 18:19. This question is put into the mouth of the covetous, but as one finally arriving at reflection, and perceiving the folly of his thus collecting treasures; comp. Ecc 2:18-21; Luk 12:16-21. But it does not follow from this sudden revulsion from foolish to sensible views, without further explanation, that Koheleth means himself (as above Ecc 2:18 ff.) in the person here described (as Hitzig contends).

Ecc 4:9. Two are better than one..That is, it is better, in general, to be associated than isolated, comp. Gen 2:18, and the saying of the Talmud: A man -without companions is like the left without the right hand (Pirke Aboth; f. 30, 2).Because they have a good reward for their labor.Lit., who have a good reward for their labor. What this good reward consists of, the three subsequent verses show by three examples, which point out, in a similar manner, the pleasure as well as the profit and protection afforded by socially living and cordially co-operating with ones fellows.

Ecc 4:10. For if they fall, i. e., the one or the other. We cannot think of both falling at the same time, because they then would both need aid.But woe to him that is alone when he falleth. woe to him comp. Ecc 10:16, and also the kindred Eze 2:10.

Ecc 4:11. If two lie together, then they have heat.The conjugal lying together of man and wife is certainly not intended, but rather that of two travelling: companions who are obliged to pass the night in the open air. The necessity of this in Palestine,3 on account of the prevalence of cold nights there, can easily cause great embarrassment, especially as poorer travellers have no other covering with them than their over-garment; comp. Exo 22:26; Son 5:3

Ecc 4:12. And if one prevail against him. means to overcome (comp. the adjective powerful, Ecc 6:10), not to attack (Knobel, Elster), or fall upon (Ewald). is an indefinite singular with an object presupposed in the suffix: if one overwhelmed him, the one; comp. 2Sa 14:6; Pro 13:24; and Ecc 2:21, which passages satisfactorily show that Ewalds proposition to read is unnecessary.(Comp. Ewald, Lehrbuch, 309 c).Two shall withstand him.Of course not the one mentioned in the first part, but rather his opponent, who forms the unnamed subject in . Comp. similar cases in Ecc 5:18; Ecc 6:12; Ecc 8:10; as well as the phrase to oppose somebody, to resist one; 2Ki 10:4; Dan 8:7. Ewald and Elster are not so correct in saying: thus stand two before him, namely, the attacked one himself and his companionwhich clearly affords too weak a thought.And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.That is, if three of them, instead of two, hold together, then so much the better. The symbol is taken from the fact that a cord of three strands holds more firmly than one consisting of a simple strand, or of two only. Comp. the well-known fable of a bundle of arrows, and the German proverb: Strong alone, but stronger with others. There is no allusion to the sacredness of the number three, and still less to the Trinity, which a few older commentators thought to find herein. Moreover, the title of several books of devotion is derived from this passage, e. g., the celebrated book of the Priest of Rostock, Nikolaus Russ, about the year Ecc 1500: de triplici funi:ulo, in which faith, hope and love are described is the three cords of which there must be made the rope that is to rescue man from the abyss of ruin. And so of later works, as (Lilienthal) A Threefold Cord, a book of proverbs for every day in the year (for every day a saying containing a promise and a prayer.)New. Ed., Hamburg, Sigmund. A threefold cord, woven out of the three books of St. Augustine: Manuale, Soliloquia, et Meditationes, 1863. 4.Third strophe.

Ecc 4:3-16. That fortune often shows itself deceptive and unreliable enough in civil life, and in the highest spheres of human society, is illustrated by the double example of an old incapable king whom a younger person pushes aside, and that of his successor, an aspirant from a lower class, who, in spite of his transitory popularity, nevertheless falls into forgetfulness, like so many others. Like the fact alluded to in Ecc 9:13-16, this example seems to be taken from the immediate contemporary experiences of the author, but can only, with great difficulty, be more nearly defined on its historical basis. Only the first clause of 4:18 suits the history of Joseph, and, at most, Ecc 4:13 contains an allusion to David as the successor of Saul; Ecc 4:15 may allude to Rehoboam as successor of Solomon, and Ecc 4:14 perhaps to Jeroboam. But other features again destroy these partial resemblances every time, and demonstrate the impossibility of discovering any one of these persons in the poor but wise youth. Thus, too, the remaining hypotheses that have been presented concerning the enigmatical fact (e.g., the references to Amaziah and Joash, and to Nimrod and Abraham), can only be sustained by the most arbitrary applications. This is especially true of Hitzigs supposition that the old and foolish king is the Onias mentioned by Josephus (Antiquities Ecc 12:4) as High Priest and , and that the youth supplanting him was his sisters son, Joseph, who, if he did not succeed in robbing him of the priestly office (which his son Simon inherited) [see Sir 50:1 ff.], at least wrested from him the i.e., the lucrative office of a farmer of the Syrian revenues that he had then exercised twenty-two years, not indeed to the satisfaction of the people, but in a very selfish and tyrannical manner. This hypothesis does all honor to the learned acumen of its originator, but has so many weak points as to forbid its acceptance. For in the first place the ruler of a realm is portrayed in Ecc 4:15-16, and not a rich Judaic-Syrian revenue collector; secondly Onias was high-priest and not king, and lost only a part of his functions and power by that Joseph; thirdly, the assumption that the author exaggerates petty circumstances and occurrences in a manner not historical, is destitute of the necessary proof; fourthly, the supposition forming the base of the entire hypothesis of an authorship of Koheleth towards the end of the third century B.C. is quite as arbitrary and bare of proof; comp. Int., 4, Obs, 3. We must, therefore, refrain from specially defining the event to which these verses allude; in which case the two following suppositions remain possible: either the author feigns an example, or, in other words, has presented the contents of Ecc 4:13-16 as a possible ease (thus think Elster, Hengstenberg, Vaihinger, el al.), or he refers to an event in the history of the nation or State, at his period, not sufficiently known to us (the- opinion of Umbreit, Ewald, Bleek, etc.). In the latter case, we could hardly think of a change of succession in the series of Persian monarchs; for the history of the rise of the eunuch Bagoas about the year 339 B.C. harmonizes too little with the present description to be identified with it, but we would sooner think of such a change in some one of the States subject to Persia, as Phenicia or Egypt.Better is a poor and wise child, etc.Clearly a general sentence for the introduction of the following illustration: better not here said of moral excellence, but happier, better off, just as in Ecc 4:3; Ecc 4:9.Wise here is equivalent, to adroit, cunning, comp. Job 5:13; 2Sa 13:3.Who will no more be admonished. with the infinitive, as Ecc 5:1; Ecc 6:8; Ecc 10:16; Exo 17:16.

Ecc 4:14. For out of prison he cometh to reign. contracted from (comp. similar contractions in 2Ch 22:5; Eze 20:30), also synonymous with , Jdg 16:21; Jdg 16:25 (comp. Gen 39:20). Or else this reading must owe its origin to the opinion that Josephs elevation from the prison to the throne (Genesis 41 🙂 is here alluded to, in which case we should read , and explain this either by house of the outcast of the degraded (Ewald, comparing Isa 49:21), or by house of the fugitives (Hitzig, comparing Jdg 4:18; 2Sa 3:36). But these varied meanings would produce very little difference in the sense,Whereas also he that is born in his kingdom becometh poor. , after the of the preceding clause, introduces not so much a verification of it, as an intensification, by which is expressed that the prisoner (or fugitive) has not merely transiently fallen into adversity, but that he was born in poor and lowly circumstances; and this in his kingdom, i. e., in the same land that ho should afterwards rule as king (Hitzig, Elster, Vaihinger and Ewald, who are mainly correct). Rosenmueller, Knobel and Hahn translate: although he was born poor in his kingdom; Hengstenberg: for although born in his kingdom, he becomes poor neverthelessboth of them less suitable meanings, of which the latter should be rejected as too artificial and contrary to the accentuation.

Ecc 4:15. I considered all the living which walk under the sun, with the second child, etc.A somewhat in-Sated description of the dominion and adherents which that youth (or child) had acquired. For the same child is doubtless meant as that named in Ecc 4:13-14, as the repetition of the expression shows, as well as the words at the end, which indicate clearly enough the prospective introduction of the child into the place of the old and foolish king. The imperfect marks the future in the pastcomp. 2Ki 3:27; Psa 78:6; and in the same sense, as e. g., (Dan 11:2-3). Hahn, in connection with some older writers, considers the different from the in Ecc 4:13, and identifies it with the Messiah child or the Christ child of Isa 9:5; Isa 11:1 ff.; Mic 5:1; but the contents of the following verse, which characterizes the splendor of the child most clearly as transitory and vain, are very decidedly against this position as something that would never be in accordance with the rule of the Messiah.And moreover, from the expression: All the living which walk under the sun, it is by no means necessary to deduce that the author had in his eye one of the great Asiatic empires, as Hengstenberg supposes with reference to Dan 4:7 ff.; but the language here, as in the following verse, is largely hyperbolical, and is intended -merely to give an idea of the numberless masses adhering to the usurper; comp. similar hyperboles in the Son 6:8; Jos 11:4; Jdg 6:5; Jdg 7:12; Exo 10:4 ff.There is no end of all the people, even of all that have been before them. denotes here, as in 1Sa 13:16;2Ch 1:10, the headship or leadership (comp. also Mic 2:13). [Zckler says this to support his translation, an deren Spitze er stand, all at whose head he stood, notwithstanding all the connections of the passage show that priority in time is meant here by , and not priority of position. The references he makes to 1Sa 18:16, etc., do not, at all, sustain him, since; in every one of them, there are other words (such as going in and out before them), which wholly change the case.T. L.]. Ewald, following the Sept., Vulg., and Luther, translate: all that have been before them, and indicate an antagonism between these earlier ones and those immediately after called but he thereby violates the connection, which clearly shows that the generations later, not those earlier than the king in question, were compared with him. It is said of them not They also that come after shall not rejoice in him.That is, they have no pleasant experiences of him whom they once greeted with joyful hopes, either that he deceived the just hopes of his people by later misrule, or that the fickle breeze of popularity became untrue to him without his fault. In either case, Koheleth could and must find a confirmation of his favorite expression concerning the vanity of earthly things. This clause is therefore again composed of the strain with which he closes his reflections.

[Alleged Historical Allusions in Koheleth.See the general remarks on the passages here-alluded to, in the Appendix to the Introduction, p. 30. The older commentators who were firm in respect to the Solomonic origin, first began this kind of speculation. The Jewish Rabbis were excessively absurd in some of their midrashin. And so the older Christian interpreters were very fond of treating such passages as describing real historical events. They referred them to Rehoboam, Jeroboam, Joseph, Abraham, or any body else, because they thought it for the honor of the book, or of the Scriptures generally; as, in this way, one part confirmed another. The attempts to verify such hypotheses, however, only led to confusion, and tended rather to discredit than to increase confidence in the production. What was still worse, the Rationalists, whose interest it was bring the book down to a very late date, began, in like manner, to use these supposed references for their own purposes. The result has been a still greater confusion; and the great difficulty of making any thing clear out of them, ought to satisfy every sober mind of the falsity of the entire historical theory. Regarded as general illustrations, they are in perfect harmony with the authorship of Solomon; whilst the attempts of another kind show the insuperable difficulty of settling upon any other date than the one claimed in the book itself. The most extravagant hypothesis is that of Hitzig, as is shown by Zckler and Stuart. A priest has to be turned into a king, and when even that fails, the taking away of a very subordinate office is to be treated as a dethronement. What an outcry would be made by Ewald and his school, should they find similar wrenchings of language and history in commentators called orthodox ! As presented by Hitzig and others, it becomes all a mass of rationalistic confusion. Even if the author was of so late a date, he certainly means to personate the old king of Israel. He must, therefore, himself have been old and foolish, or consistency would have kept him from using as an illustration an incident so evidently anachronistic, as compared with any historical example likely to be given by Solomon. A writer assuming to personate some one in the days of Queen Elizabeth, and then using an illustration, insignificant in itself, and savoring wholly of the time of Gladstone, Bright, and Queen Victoria, would not have acted more absurdly.

The confusion and difficulty which such a mode of treatment (whether by Orthodox or Rationalist) has made in the interpretation of Ecc 4:13, have been greatly increased by a wrong translation of Ecc 4:14 th. It has been most commonly held that the, pronoun in (his kingdom) refers to the young man, and , to some one, or to the subjects generally, born under his usurped power. This certainly destroys the contrast which the arrangement and the particles of the two verses seem to intend. Again, (as a participle), or , has been taken as referring to the young man himself, born in his, that is, the old mans, kingdomsaid young usurper himself afterwards becoming poor. Such seems to be Zcklers view partially. All sorts of twists are resorted to by others to make this applicable to Jeroboam, or Hitzigs young man Joseph, or to somebody else. Our E.V. is ambiguous as to which is meant, and leaves the sense in total darkness. There is a striking contrast intended here, as is shown by the order of the words, and the particles . There is meant to be the most direct antithesis, as best illustrating such a vicissitude of fortune. The one born to a throne and becoming poor, is put in strongest contrast with the one born in obscurity and rising to power: For out of prison (out of servitude or some condition of restraint, it may be actual imprisonment) the one comes forth to reign, whilst the other, though born in his kingdom (in his royal state), becomes a pauper. The particle has an emotional force; it expresses astonishment at such a case: yea, morewhat is stranger stillthe royally born becomes poor. There is good authority for such a view, although most of the commentators wander after something else. The Vulgate renders it most clearly and literally: De carcere et catenis quis egrediatur inlerdum ad regnum, et alius, natus in regno, inopia consumatur: From prison and from chains one may sometimes come forth to a kingdom, whilst another born in a kingdom may be reduced to want. It is clear, from the mode of expression, that the Latin translator looked upon it as a general illustration of the changes in human fortune. A still better authority is the old Greek Version of Symmachus, the best of the Greek interpreters: O MEN , , , : The one comes from prison to reign, the other, born a king, becomes needy. This is confirmed by the Syriac translation of Origens Hexapla, which follows the Greek of Symmachus, word for word. See it, as given in the Syriac marginal translations to Middledorpfs edition of the Codex Syriaco-hexaplaris.

Ecc 4:15. I beheld all the living walking beneath the sun, etc. Zckler may well call this a somewhat inflated description of the dominion which that youth had acquired. It is indeed uberschwanglich, high-flown, most extravagant, as thus applied; and the thought should have shown him that there must be something false in the application. It is barely suggested by what was said before (Ecc 4:14) about the vicissitudes of the individual life, but has no other connection with it. It is a rising of the view to a higher scale, so as to take in the world, or race at large, and its olamic vicissitudes, as they might be called. , I saw, I surveyed, or contemplated. It is presented as a picture of the mind taking in not single events, but all the living, . No where else in the Bible is this most sweeping language applied to such narrow uses as are here supposed. Where it is not used abstractly for life, as the plural often is, it is never found in any less sense than the human race, or of the living as opposed to the dead. Comp. Job 28:12; Isa 8:20, Land of the living, Psa 142:6, Light of the living, similar expressions, Psa 116:9; also Ecc 6:8; Ecc 9:5, and other places. Here joined with it (and it is the only place where it is so joined) makes it still more difficult to restrict it to such a narrow sense. The language rises beyond this: I surveyed, I contemplated, all the living, as they walked beneath the sun, cunctos viventes ambulantes sub sole. These are certainly very lofty words to apply to a crowd running after Jeroboam, or Hitzigs ambitious youth, or any other personage of that kind. No artificial rule of criticism, de universalibus restrinfendis, etc., can justify the use of such language, in such a case. The true idea, moreover, is intensified by the participle , in piel, marching, stately stepping, denoting a bold and proud movement, as in Ecc 11:9 march on in the ways of thine heart. The piel does, indeed, seem, sometimes, to be used like the kal, but here every thing calls for its intensive or frequentative force. Comp. , the bold invader, Pro 6:11, in parallelism with man of the shield. In this intensive sense of marching it would seem to picture the grand procession of the race, moving on, squadron after squadron, the countless multitude that has already passed, , together with the second generation, as we do not hesitate to render it, that shall stand in its place,the here simply denoting the connection between the different parts of the picture or survey. The old procession that he thus saw walking beneath the sun (a term every where else used for the theatre of the human race), or the old part of it, is disappearing, whilst a younger world is now coming upon the stage and continuing the same ceaseless movement. As this rises before the mental vision of the seer [], he cries out, there is no end to all the people,there is no numbering the ranks of this vast host, as they ever come and go. As applied to Jeroboam, such language as this would not be a mere hyperbole, but a transcendental bombast, unworthy of the author and his most serious book. It calls to mind that sublime picture which Addison presents in his Vision of Mirza, the countless multitudes on the broken bridge of life, as they are ever coming out of the dark cloud on the one side, and passing away with the great flood of eternity on the other. It is this evident pictorial element in the verse, when rightly rendered, that strongly opposes the idea of any such comparatively petty historical references, and forces us to regard it as a representation of the great human movement through time into eternity. No end to all that were before; yea, these that come after shall not rejoice in it [] that is, the the people, the all, that were before it, now regarded collectively as the past in whom there is no more delight,each generation satisfied with itself, and boasting of itself, as ours does, deeming itself, as it were, the all on earth; for what are all the ages past to this nineteenth century ! Now the pronoun in though singular in form, may have a collective antecedent, a case too common in the Hebrew language to require citations. The only antecedent of this kind, or of any kind, in the verse, is the the all of the living, and which the makkephs, and the accents, show to be taken as one: all the living, etc., with the second generation that shall arise in its stead. The evident parallelism favors this choice of the singular pronoun; but if we are to overlook all this for the purpose of maintaining a historical reference, then we must go back two verses, and find the antecedent in the old and foolish king, in whose place this second child, with all the living beneath the sun, and the people without end, marching with him, is to stand! The common sense of the reader must judge in this matter. If, then, the pronoun in has for its antecedent the , grammatical consistency would demand, as the antecedent of the pronoun in (in it, instead of in him), the just before, especially as joined with the singular substantive verb . Besides the desire to find historic allusions, two verbal peculiarities here seem to have had much influence upon translators. One is the use of this singular pronoun which has just been explained, and which the parallelism of the picture so strongly demands. The other is the somewhat peculiar use of the word in Ecc 4:15, and its contiguity to in Ecc 4:13, leading to the false inference that they must be used in precisely the same manner. Now though the use of for generation is not found elsewhere in the Bible Hebrew, yet it is perfectly natural and in harmony with the frequent generic use of . It is, too, highly poetical, thus to regard one generation as the offspring, the child, of the preceding. It is only using for the cognate from the same root, and the unusual expression may have been suggested by the in Ecc 4:13, giving such a turn to the thought and the language. The order of ideas would be this: as the young man succeeds the old, so does the young race succeed its progenitor. So the primary sense of in Greek is child, offspring, and from this comes its use for race, generation. Whilst, then, it may be said that the word, etymologically, fits the thought, nothing could be more graphic than, the mode of representation.

Agreeing with this is an interpretation given by that acute Jewish critic, Aben-Ezra, except that it takes the pronoun in as referring to the or world, so frequently mentioned. After stating the other view, he proceeds to say: There are those who interpret the second child, as denoting the generation that comes after another ( ) and the meaning as being, that he saw the living as they walked beneath the sun, and they, with their heirs that shall stand in their place, are like those who went before them, and these, as well as those, shall have no joy () in it, that is, in the world. It is the same procession so curtly, yet so graphically, described eh. Ecc 1:4 : generation comes, and generation goes, Rashi regards as meaning generation, but strangely refers it to the generation of Noah, and the or they who come after, to that of Peleg.

The Hebrew preposition like the Latin cum and the English with when used for and, may denote a connection in thought, or in succession, as prmterea, besides, as well as, like the Arabic I saw all the living walking, etc., and together with, or along with them, or besides this, I saw the second generation.” This is a well established use of the preposition. Comp. 1Sa 17:4; 1Sa 16:12 : ruddy as well as fair, and in this book, Ecc 2:16, the wise man as well as the fool, 1Ch 25:8, teacher (with) as well as the disciple, Psa 106:6, we with our fathers, we and our fathers, or we as well as our fathers; also Neh 3:12; Psa 115:13; Dan 11:8; Psa 104:25, the great as well as the small, and other places. The great difficulty in the way of the common view is the word The second child, the child the second, must denote one of two or more. A concordance shows that there is no exception to this. To take it in the sense of successor to something of a different kind (a second one) is without an example to support it. No mention is made of any other child, or young man. The difficulty has led some to give the sense , companion, for which they seek a warrant in the 10th verse; and then they refer it to a son of Hiram, who was Solomons friend or companion: I saw the child (the son) of my friend. See Notes to Noldius Heb. Part. No.1023. This is very absurd; and yet the one who defends it denounces the absurdity of the more common reference to Jeroboam. Whoever wishes to see confusion on confusion heaped, in the treatment of these passages, and in the attempt to restrict the extent of this language, may consult De Dieu, Crit. Sac., p. 183. Take these verses, however, as general reflections on the vicissitudes of the individual and of the race, and all this confusion immediately gives place to harmony.T. L.]

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

(With Homiletical Hints.)

Among the examples in proof of the imperfection and inconstancy of earthly happiness, which the Preacher communicates in the above section from the rich treasures of his own experience, we find the relation of an ascending grade from lower to higher and more brilliant conditions of happiness. From the sad lot of victims innocently suffering from tyrannical persecution and oppression (13), the description proceeds directly to the more lucky but not more innocent condition of persons consumed with envy, dissatisfaction and jealousy, and who with toilsome efforts chase after the treasures of this earth, looking with jealous envy on the successful rivals of their struggles, and with scorn on those less fortunate, who are contented with a more modest lot (46). Then follow reflections regarding the happiness of such persons as have risen through the abundance of their goods to a distinguished and influential position in human society, but who, in consequence of this very wealth, run the risk of falling into a helpless, joyless, and isolated condition, destitute of friends and adherents (Ecc 7:12). The illustration hereby induced of the value of closer social connection of men, and harmonious co-operation of their powers to one end (912) leads to the closing reflection; this is devoted to the distress and disaster of the highest circles of human society, acknowledging the fate even of the most favored pets of fortune, such as the occupants of princely or kingly thrones, to be uncertain and liable to a reverse, and thus showing that the sentence against the vanity of all earthly things necessarily extends even to the greatest and most powerful of earth (1316).

There is no complete and lasting happiness here below, neither among the lofty nor the lowly, or: Every thing is vanity on earth, the life of the poor as of the rich, of the slave as of the lord, of the subject as of the king;this would be about the formula of a theme for a comprehensive consideration of this section. The effort of Hengstenberg to restrict the historical references of this section to the sufferings of the children of Israel mourning under the yoke of Persian dominion, is quite as unnecessary as the corresponding position in the preceding chapter; yet still the most of the concrete examples for the truth of the descriptions given, may be drawn from the history of post-exile Israel, which are therefore thus to be chosen and arranged in the homiletical treatment.

HOMILETCAL HINTS ON SEPARATE PASSAGES

Ecc 4:1-3. Brenz:The word of God teaches us that crosses and sufferings pave the way to eternal bliss, and that the Lord grants to the wicked in this world a free hand for the exercise of their crimes and violence, with the view of sinking them ever deeper in their lusts; but it teaches also that the faith of the pious is to be maintained through suffering, and to be finally brought to light in the judgment of the last day, in the great decision of all things.

Starke:Thou miserable one, who sighest and weepest at violence and wrong, know that the Lord sees and counts thy tears (Psa 56:9). Beware of impatience, distrust, and self-revenge against thy persecutors (Rom 12:19)!

Hengstenberg:Such an experience of human misery (as is here depicted, and also in Jer. chap. 20.) is not only natural, but it lies in the purpose of God, who brings about the circumstances that call it forth. God wishes to draw us to Him, by making this world thoroughly distasteful, and nothing but vanity to us. We must be liberated from earthly things through many trials, and thus enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Ecc 4:4-6. Brenz:The world greatly errs in always demanding for its satisfaction a superfluity of goods and treasures, and in regarding modest possession as deprivation and misery. And yet one can live contented and satisfied just as well with a little as with rich superfluity, if one only aims, in a proper manner, after contentment, or in such a way that one lets God the Lord be his treasure and highest good.

Geier:One should not consider a rich man happier than a poor man, because of his many possessions. He who has much, has also much unrest and care, and is moreover greatly envied by others.

Wohlfarth:With true wisdom, Solomon warns us just as much against a passionate and excessive effort after a lofty aim, as against that indolence which folds its hands in its lap and waits for miracles. He admonishes us rather to a sober and well-ordered labor in our vocation, and thus, in every respect, recommends the just medium in our activity.

Ecc 4:7-12. Melanchthon:Solomon here shows how necessary for human life is the social combination of men for the advancement of the arts, industries, and duties of life. All classes need such mutual aid and assistance, and each individual must prosecute his labor for the welfare of the whole, must advance their interest, and make every effort to prevent division and separation.

Cramer (Ecc 4:7-8):The slaves of mammon are blinded, and are their own tyrants. They do not leave themselves space enough to enjoy their blessings; therefore the rust of their gold and silver is a testimony against them. (Jam 5:3).

Zeyss (Ecc 4:9-12):If a community of the body is so useful a thing, how much more useful must be a community of spirit, when pious Christians with united strength of spirit withstand the realms of Satan.

Wohlfarth:It is not merely a sacred desire that draws men to men, brings together souls of like inclination, and binds kindred hearts. We can neither rejoice in our happiness, nor finally bear the trials that meet us, nor joyfully advance in the way of piety and virtue, if we have not true friends. Oh how sacred, therefore, is the union of wedlock, of parents and children, of relatives and friends!

Von Gerlach:Joy shared is two-fold joy; grief shared loses half its pain.

Ecc 4:13-16. Brenz:Faith has here a good probationary school, in which it can learn and try its powers. For when God elevates the lowly, faith can cherish hope, but when He bends and overthrows the proud necks of the rich, it learns to fear. God presents such examples to the eyes of His chosen, that they may increase and be exercised both in the fear of His holy wrath, and in hope of heavenly glory.

Weimar Bible:We should never depend on large possessions and great power, and much less seek true happiness therein, Psa 75:5-6.

Starke:It is a clear indication of Divine Providence, that in no place, and at no epoch, is there a failure of children and posterity to fill the places of the aged as they disappear.

Footnotes:

[1] [There is a still more striking contrast, a double antithesis, it may be said, between the classical and the Scriptural poets. In their descriptions of nature and of human life we often find the former class of writers beginning in the joyful or major mood, and ending in the minor. It may be called the melancholy of Epicureanism. Thus it is with Anacreon, though he lived before the time of the sensual philosopher. How often does he begin with flowers, and love, and rosy wine

. . .

On beds of softest fragrance laid,
Soft beds of lote and myrtle shade.
And so goes on the joyful strainbut not far before the modulation changes into the mournful keyinto a wail of despair, as it would almost seem:

,

So swiftly runs the wheel of life,
And we shall liea little dust

A heap of mouldering bones.
See also how similar jovial strains are closed by his sad picture of old age, and the still darker one of the dreadful Hades:

For dreadful is that gloomy vale;
And then the dark descent so deep,
That none can reascend the steep.
This peculiarity is no less striking in Horace. Thus, in the 4th ode of the 1st Book, there is a most charming picture of spring, continuing for some distance, till it closes with the exulting strain

Nunc decet aut viridi nitidum caput impedire myrto;
Aut flore terr quam ferunt solut.

And then, without any warning prelude, there comes the mournful minor:

Pallida mors quo pulsat pede pauperum tabernas,

Regumque turres.

Pale Death, with equal step, at kingly tower,
And at the poor mans cottage, knocks.
Again, Ode 7th, Lib. iv., commencing with

Diffugere nives, redeunt jam gramina campis.

The snows are fled, the flowers again return.
Then the picture of the dancing Graces, when immediately a different voice seems to meet our ears:

Immortalia ne speres,
Damna tamen celeres reparant clestia lun
Nos ubi decidimus,

Pulvis et umbra sumus:

Hope not for immortality
The waning moons again their waste repair;
But we, when once to death gone down,
Are nought but dust and shadow.

In contrast with this, how joyfully rings out the prophetic strain, Isa 26:19 :

Awake and sing, ye dwellers in the dust.
How different, too, in these respects, from Horace and Anacreon, are the lyrics of the Psalmist. The most mournful descriptions of the frailty and transitory state of man on earth are so frequently succeeded by assurances of some future blessedness, which, although not clearly defined, and containing little or no direct allusions to an after life, do ever seem to imply it as the ground of confidence in the Divine goodness. He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. Thus in the 103 Psalm, Ecc 4:15, etc.:

Frail manlike grass his days;
As the flower of the field, so he flourishes.
For the wind passes over, and it is gone;
Its place knoweth it no more.
Immediately hope rises:
But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting
Even unto everlasting, upon those who fear him;
His righteousness to childrens children.

Again,encouragement in the contemplation of human weakness is derived from the thought of the Divine permanence and eternity, Psa 102:1 :

My days are like a shadow that declineth;
I am withered like grass;
But thou, Jehovah, dost endure forever.
Thy remembrance unto all generations.

Again, Psa 115:17 :

The dead praise not the Lord
and immediately the language of hope, implying something more than that mere selfish thought of survivorship, which the rationalist would give it:
But we will bless the Lord,

From henceforth and foreverhallelujah.

A similar transition, Psa 73:26 :

My flesh and heart do fail:

Body and soul both suffer from their connection with a fallen spiritual state, and a degenerate nature.
But God is the rock of my soul;
He is my portion for ever.
Similar illustrations of these affecting contrasts might be derived from Job, as in chapters 14 and 19, especially the latter, where the triumphant strain, I know that my Redeemer liveth, follows so soon after what might Seem almost a piteous cry of despair. In Koheleth there are no such vivid bursts of joy and hope, but there is to be found in him a species of transition similar, and equally striking. It is when be rises from the seemingly doubting mood, to a firm faith in the ultimate Divine justice, and to a most confident expression of his belief that somehow, and somewhere, and at some time , every wrong shall be righted. conceding to him this, we are led, irresistibly, to infer something else which is necessary to give meaning to the announcement,namely, that there shall be a real forensic manifestation with a conscious knowledge of it on the part of every intelligent subject, or object, of such righteousness.T. L.]

[2] [This is not so clear, although Zckler has with him most of the commentators. There is good reason for regarding it as the language of the idle envier, who would justify his sloth by making a pretended virtue of it. why all this labor? Better take the world easy. It has something of the look of the sour grapes fable; or it may be compared to the bacchanalian song of the shiftless idler, assuming to despise what he has not the talent nor the diligence to acquire:

Why are we fond of toil and care?
The view taken by Zckler and others seems very confused it is not easy to discover any true connection in it. The perplexity, we think, comes from assuming that ver.5 is a quoted proverb, and not the very languages of the author, setting the idle envious fool and his words (in ver.6) in contrast with the diligent and prosperous laborer whom the fool envies but cannot imitate. This is the view presented in the Metrical Translation:

The fool [in envy] folds his hands, and his own flesh devours. For better [saith he] is the one hand filled with quietness, Than both hands full of toil, and windy vain desire.
It seems to make a clearer connection.T. L.]

[3][One of the best illustrations of the is to be found in captain Kanes Journal of his Arctic Voyage, Vol. II., p. 144. He describes his camping out on the snow, in company with the Esquimaux chief, Kalatunah, and the agreeable warmth arising from the close contact of their bodies, at a time when the thermometer showed a most intense degree of cold. The comfort of the position overbalanced all the repulsiveness that, under other circumstances, he should have felt towards his squalid companion.T. L.]

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange

CONTENTS

The Preacher is still prosecuting the same subject, of the insufficiency of all things here below to give comfort. And the whole chapter is but one and the same train of reasoning on this important point.

Ecc 4:1

So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter.

It is impossible not to be struck with the strength of argument which the Preacher makes use of, in order to enforce the doctrine of human vanity. In whatever way he directs his attention, and whatever object meets his eye, he seems to raise sermons from everything to lead to the same conclusion. And it is yet more remarkable, that what Solomon saw and observed in his day, every reflecting mind may equally behold, and draw the same conclusions now in our day: human life is not changed, but vanity is still marked upon all. Oh! how blessed it is, in confirmation of the vast and infinite importance of the gospel of Christ! Where shall we look for happiness, but to Jesus? We may well say, as the Apostle did, Lord, to whom shall we go, thou hast the words of eternal life. Joh 6:68 .

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Ecc 4:1-2

Compare John Morley’s Critical Miscellanies, I. pp. 84 f.

Reference. IV. 1. A. W. Momerie, Agnosticism, p. 204.

Ecc 4:8

See Quarles’s Emblems, II. 2.

Ecc 4:9

‘The best things come, as a general thing,’ says Mr. Henry James in his Monograph on Hawthorne (p. 81), ‘from the talents that are members of a group; every man works better when he has companions working in the same line, and yielding the stimulus of suggestion, comparison, emulation. Great things of course have been done by solitary workers; but they have usually been done with double the pains they would have cost if they had been produced in more genial circumstances. The solitary worker loses the profit of example and discussion.’

Hopeful I acknowledge myself in a fault, and had I been here alone, I had by sleeping run the danger of death. I see it is true that the wise man saith, Two are better than one. Hitherto hath thy company been my mercy.

Bunyan.

Reference. IV. 9, 10. R. D. B. Rawnsley, Sermons for the Christian Year, p. 512.

Ecc 4:10

I drown the past in still hoping for the future, but God knows whether futurity will be as great a cheat as ever. I sometimes think it will. I tell you candidly, I am sometimes out of spirits, and have need of cooperation, or Heaven knows yet what will become of my fine castles in the air. So you must bring spirits, spirits, spirits.

Cobden to his Brother.

Ecc 4:12

‘We are three people, but only one soul,’ said Coleridge, speaking of Wordsworth, Dorothy Wordsworth, and himself.

The Threefold Cord

Ecc 4:12

It is sometimes good to ask ourselves what are the real roots or foundations of our personal religion, apart from what we receive as revealed truth. The answer, if we can find it, will give us the contents of our natural religion, our faith apart from revelation and authority.

I. What are the marks or tests which give some of our experiences a much higher value than others, so that we feel that there is something Divine about them?

a. They bring with them their own satisfaction. We feel that they are a positive, absolute value.

b. They have a universal quality. They take us out of ourselves, out of the small circle of our private personal interests.

c. They delight and uplift us in such a way that when they are gone we feel that we are still the better for having had them.

These are the three marks of what St. Paul calls the things of the Spirit the higher and better world which is all about us and among us and within us, but which is not to be seen by everybody, nor by anybody at all times. The things of the Spirit are first precious for their own sake; they have God and not our little selves for their centre; and they bring us a peace and happiness which does not wholly perish when they are gone.

II. Now what are the experiences which have these qualities? They are of three kinds.

d. First of all, contact with moral goodness has this character. So far as we are brought close to goodness, and especially goodness in the form of disinterestedness, sympathy, love, we feel that we have reached the heart of life, that we are lifted out of ourselves, and that we are enjoying a happiness which, come what may, will make us richer for life. This is one strand in our threefold cord.

e. There is the love of truth this is the second strand in our threefold cord. No matter in what field we are seeking the truth, we feel, when we have found it, that here is something which exists in its own right, which stands proudly aloof from our little personal schemes, and which we are permanently the better for having found.

f. The third strand in our threefold cord is the appreciation of beauty. And surely this mysterious sense of beauty, which seems to serve very few practical uses in human life, in proportion to its strength and diffusion, must have been given us by God as a revelation of Himself. It has the three marks of spirituality which I have mentioned. It takes us out of ourselves, as pure affection, and pure seeking after truth take us out of ourselves; and it is, or should be, in its own degree a permanent enrichment of our life. There is then a sacredness about these three experiences, which we should all feel. The good, the true, and the beautiful, are attributes of God’s nature, and we stand on holy ground when we are brought into contact with them.

W. R. Inge, All Saints’ Sermons, p. 211.

References. IV. 12. J. M. Neale, Sermons Preached in a Religious House, vol. i. p. 166. J. Keble, Sermons from Ascension Day to Trinity Sunday, p. 395. V. 1. G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 253. V. 1-9. T. C. Finlayson, A Practical Exposition of Ecclesiastes, p. 125. V. 1-12. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture Ecclesiastes, p. 350.

Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson

A Wise Lesson

Ecc 4

Cohleleth appears in this, as in other verses, as a sympathetic man. There is the making of a true philosopher in him, in so far as he observes widely and clearly, though he does not always seem to draw the right conclusion from what he sees. It is very beautiful and instructive to notice how broad are his sympathies and how deep is his interest in human life. We seem to determine for ourselves the size of the world in which we live: if we dwell upon our own little case alone the world is very small; if we look upon the lot of others, and consider their burdens, their tears, their labours, and their joys, the world widens under our sympathetic eyes. In Coheleth’s own palace and immediate surroundings there was no want of radiance, of music, or of comforts that satisfy the lowest desires; yet he never feared to look out of his well-draped window, and across his terraces ablaze with glowing flowers, and to sympathise with the distresses of his fellow-men. As a philosopher he could not live within the enclosure of his own walls, and satisfy himself with the odours of his own fragrant gardens. He had great human sympathies, great natural curiosity about events, and great interest in human condition and progress. There are natures that can insulate themselves, and live upon the small island of their own affairs; and there are hearts that have room enough for the distant, the poor, and the sad.

There is no need that we should believe all Coheleth’s conclusions and opinions. We listen to them respectfully, as to any shrewd man’s graphic and vivid talk, but not until we have seen how they compare with the teaching of Jesus Christ are we to commit ourselves to his theories and decisions. There is no full-stop in the Old Testament as to moral teaching and moral responsibility. Forgetfulness of this circumstance has led to the adoption of many narrow conclusions in practical theology. We must go back to the right theory of punctuation, and that will teach us that in the Old Testament there is no full-stop; whatever is there points onward to its completion in the New Testament, and to that New Testament every appeal must be made for final decision. Very often Coheleth talks diamonds, and sometimes he talks plain glass. Now and again, and indeed frequently, there issues from his lips a strain of genuine music, fresh as the south-west wind in which the thrush sings; and sometimes his voice is muffled and hoarse, like a common man’s. We must not stop him either here or there. The testimony must be studied as a whole, so far as any one man can supply such a testimony, and then it must be taken to the court of Jesus Christ for adjustment and final acceptance.

In this first verse Coheleth gives us a good and wise lesson, to the effect that we are to live as citizens of the whole world, and not as tenants of any particular corner of it. Coheleth seems to say: Do not be narrow in your survey, or short in your outlook; do not be Britons only, or Gauls, or Jews be philanthropists; whatever concerns man should concern all men. The slaves that Livingstone saw in the African woods are our brothers. The big, brawny, strong men, with the so-called slave-taming sticks crippling their limbs and burdening their necks like galling yokes, with the demon-hearted mocking Arab smiting them with a hatchet or threatening them with a musket these men cry out for help, and shame be on the land which allows their cry to pass over it like a voiceless wind. Brotherhood is not a question of geography. Philanthropy is not bounded by latitude and longitude. We hold our liberty that we may give it to other men who need it; and our strength we hold in trust on behalf of those who cannot lift an arm in their own defence. We mourn our little inconveniences, and magnify the trivialities of our daily life, until we think ourselves ill-used; but if we would look farther and take in a wider horizon of human life we might blush for shame that we murmur over trifles when other men groan under intolerable disasters. Consider all the oppressions that are done under the sun, and behold the tears of such as have no comforter, if you would see the pettiness of your own frets, and the magnificence of your own mercies.

If Coheleth was so benevolent and sympathetic, what ought we to be who live under the inspiration of One greater than Solomon? “When thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind.” “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” Old boundaries are thus thrown down; old gates and bars are removed with a mighty hand, and a great tide of Gospel blessing rolls round the whole world, leaving no one spot unfertilised or unblessed. If we would add richest luxury to our own banquet, we must send a portion to the poor, and if we would know how rich we are, and free, and mighty, we should go and exchange places for a time with the oppressed and the sore in heart.

“Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive. Yea, better is he than both they, which hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun” ( Ecc 4:2-3 ).

Surely we did well to say that we would not commit ourselves to all Coheleth’s theories and decisions. Here is a case in point. In the first verse Coheleth shines as a philanthropist; in the second verse he dwindles into a narrow-minded judge. In the first verse he is a statesman, in the second he is only a politician. Because of the shadow, and the wrinkle, and the pain, and the crookedness, he says that the dead are more to be praised than the living, and the unborn than those who are alive. If this world were all, there are some cases of distress which would go far towards supporting Coheleth’s view. Undoubtedly there are people to whom life is a burden, and who sigh for relief from their pain and weariness. But who would judge the process without waiting for the result? “Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened except it die.” Christianity gives the right tone to all thinking about human distress and weakness. “We know that all things work together for good to them that love God.” “Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” Thus all our little theories are swallowed up in a divine philosophy, and in the midst of our tumult and unbelief we are simply called upon to let patience have her perfect work. The wicked man brings his punishment upon himself; and though there are some whose wickedness is not clearly established who suffer much, they cannot separate themselves from the great social mass of which they are a part, nor can they escape the law which operates impartially alike in its collateral inflictions and blessings. We must not charge God with having made a mistake in creating the world. We do not yet see the whole purpose of his scheme. Nor do we know all the rich compensations by which our life is redeemed from despair. The loneliest heart has its own faint ray of light; the saddest soul knows one flower from which it can extract honey. Even the slave has his broad glad laugh, as if he had thrown away his chain. We know not what angels go to the dungeon, and what sweetness is dropped into cups that seem to be full of wormwood.

“Judge not the Lord by feeble sense.”

“Again, I considered all travail, and every right work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbour. This is also vanity and vexation of spirit” ( Ecc 4:4 ).

Here Coheleth comes upon another difficulty. He says that even where a man does that which is right, and turns life into a success, he only excites the envy and rivalry of the people who are around him. If he succeeds in business he will be called pushing, self-seeking, and boastful; if he gets into high office critics will say it was through audacity, scheming, or favouritism; if he gives large sums of money, people will say that it was through pride and to have his name published. This is the continual law of society. Social criticism has been urged into an exaggerated influence: men have become slaves one of another: the bravest wonders what the next bravest will think of him. This may be denied in words, or may be exploded as a theory, but who has not felt the subtle influence of this temptation upon the heart? A man works with almost desperate energy, he submits to all the agony of self-sacrifice, he turns the night into day that he may prolong his labours; and when he has reached the goal of his ambition there are not wanting people who can describe him as a “fortunate man,” that is to say, they look upon him as one who is a favourite of Fortune, and do not ascribe his honour or success to an obvious process of toil, and sacrifice, and earnest calculation of causes and effects. Another man folds his arms, dreams away all his possibilities, allows his energies to fall into desuetude, comforts himself with the fool’s philosophy that all things come to him who waits, and when nothing does come to him, he turns round and looks upon the successful man with a jaundiced eye, encounters him with the spite of envy, traduces him to his brethren, or flippantly describes him as a favourite of Fortune. We are to work diligently for the sake of the work itself, and to trust that a good seedtime will bring a good harvest. We cannot follow our labours beyond a given point; having done what we can we may let our tired hands drop by our sides whilst we await the issue in confident patience.

Coheleth now turns to see another side of human life, and this is his account of it:

“The fool foldeth his hands together, and eateth his own flesh. Better is an handful with quietness, than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit” ( Ecc 4:5-6 ).

The fool does not aim at success, and so he excites nobody’s envy. He lives from hand to mouth; he simply wants to be let alone. A very graphic representation is given of him in the fifth verse: “The fool… eateth his own flesh,” that is to say, he eats his capital, he lives upon the dowry without putting it out to usury. Give him seed for his fields, and he will live upon the seed without sowing it, and in doing so he quotes a proverb, saying, “Better is an handful with quietness, than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit.” This a wise proverb quoted by a foolish person, and therefore robbed of all its deep, rich meaning. So we are quoting proverbs to-day without knowing what we are talking about So, too, we quote texts of Scripture, and misquote them. We forget that the word of God is a two-edged sword, and that in cutting others we bring the back stroke upon ourselves. A sad thing is this, a wise word on the lips of a fool: “A jewel in a swine’s snout”! Sad and even heart-breaking to a great teacher or a deep student to hear ignorant people turning great texts to small meanings; putting up their cattle in the sanctuary, and turning holy places into dens of thieves. Think of a little sectarian eating up all the rich corn of Scripture, and growing neither larger nor fairer by the feast! Think of a dog eating the children’s dinner as if it were common food! It was even so with this fool. He ate his handful and sanctified his suicide by the quotation of a proverb. Scripture misapplied is the worst blasphemy. “If the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!” It is well that men who conduct certain processes in life should be called by plain names. When Coheleth saw a man folding his hands together and eating his own flesh he did not hesitate to describe that man as a fool. We can begin our estimate of human character from one of two points: we can watch the process and then attach the right name to it; or we can fix our mind upon an imaginary character and then attach the right issues to the qualities which make up such a personality that is to say, when we see a man whose watchword is, “Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep,” we may rightly call that man a fool; or, having imagined to ourselves what a fool is, we can describe him as a man who will say, “Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep.” For the want of moral firmness to describe people and processes by their right names, a very important element in the discipline of life has dropped out of human speech. Probably no writer in all the sacred canon has used the word “fool” more freely than the wisest man of all. As for the quotation of wise and weighty sayings, or of proverbs which have been confirmed by general experience, men should be extremely cautious. It is often easier to quote a proverb than to realise its fitness to the occasion which has elicited the quotation. The proverb given in the sixth verse is full of beauty, and is founded upon a deep philosophy, yet even a proverb of this kind may be disastrously perverted. We must take care what the “handful” is: it may be the seed we ought to sow, the capital we ought to use, the beginning of a possibility, and not the end of a process. Even wise proverbs may be unwisely applied.

Now Coheleth turns from the fool to look at the lonely man the hermit who dwarfed the world into a little cell:

“There is one alone, and there is not a second; yea, he hath neither child nor brother: yet is there no end of all his labour; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither saith he, For whom do I labour, and bereave my soul of good? This is also vanity, yea, it is a sore travail. Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone? And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him: and a threefold cord is not quickly broken” ( Ecc 4:8-12 ).

The lonely man was a miser also: “Neither is his eye satisfied with riches.” He thinks he will live by himself and be happy. “O for a lodge in some vast wilderness!” Surely a man will never differ with himself! But Coheleth soon found that loneliness was not happiness. If a lonely man falls down he has nobody to help him up; if he is cold, he has no one to cheer him; if he is attacked, he has no one to defend him. Loneliness is a failure; solitariness is the midway point between life and death. We need each other’s presence for criticism, for discipline, for the culture and strengthening of our best powers. Society is educational by its very constitution. A walk through the crowded thoroughfare is an intellectual tonic. A day on the streets is a lesson with manifold and graphic illustrations. So Coheleth dismisses the fool and the hermit as failures. The protest against solitariness throughout the whole scope of the Bible is an intimation of the great truth of human brotherhood, and of human brotherhood as a special medium through which divine communion is realised. It is perfectly true that a man may have secret fellowship with God; this is livingly and blessedly true; at the same time it is only part of an infinitely larger truth namely, that humanity is greater than any member of it, in other words, that the whole is greater than the part. “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” “Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together.” A man may suppose that he can read the Bible in solitude and profit by it: to a certain extent that also is a most blessed and comforting truth; but as in the former instance it is a fraction, not an integer. There is a public reading of the Word a reading under circumstances which excite our broadest sympathy and deepest interest, a great general music that ennobles by its very volume, as well as a quiet and private ministry of divine music. We were made for one another, and to break up society into mere individualities is to commit a species of homicide. Every life waits for some other life. It is impossible to enjoy even Nature so much alone as it may be enjoyed in congenial companionship. Every man has his own point of view; all the points of view are brought together, and the beauty of each is realised; so all nature becomes a glorious appeal to the eye of the body, and to the keener eye of the soul. It is precisely so with all religious influences and ministries. The sanctuary is the public home of the saints, and as when children who love one another are gathered together in the family home and minister to each other’s delight, so Christians of every degree and quality gather together into one multitude, and stir one another’s faith and purify each other’s emotion.

Now Coheleth begins to moralise:

“Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished” ( Ecc 4:13 ).

What of the label if the bottle be empty? Sad indeed is it when the man’s name is the greater part of him! A king without kingliness is there any irony so mocking and tormenting? Better be a good hearer than a bad preacher. Whatever we are let us be that well. A jackdaw has some respectability as such, but not a whit when he steals the peacock’s feathers. “A live dog is better than a dead lion.” What disastrous possibilities there are in life! Imagine the possibility of a man being described as “an old and foolish king”! The word “king” represents eternal youthfulness, energy, and influence; the possibility described in the text is that the term “king” may remain when all its kingliness has departed. We are manifestly called to progress in life, so that in old age we should be wiser, purer, and gentler than ever; but there stares us in the face the ghastly possibility that the years may but increase our weakness, and the multitude of days may but make our folly the more apparent. Christianity calls upon us to make our old age into an aspect of youth. There is to be no old age in the sense of spiritual exhaustion, or moral decrepitude, or misanthropic isolation; old age is to be equivalent to increase of kingliness and bounty and holy influence. When Coheleth distinguishes between the poor and wise child and the old and foolish king, the poor and wise child should remember that even he may become old and foolish in the long run. When we lose our childhood we may lose our wisdom. The only guarantee of continual elevation of character and moral progress is in the daily discipline which neglects no detail, however small, and which considers that nothing has been done whilst anything remains unattempted. The most pitiful aspect of the old and foolish king is in the words, “who will no more be admonished” that is to say, who will receive no more lessons, accept no more expostulations, pay no further attention to human counsel: a man whose obstinacy is complete, and whose self-conceit prevents his feeling self-reproach. A most pitiable wisdom this! Here is a man who excludes himself from all the public influences of his time in other words, from all the remedial and helpful ministries brought into action by an expanding civilisation; he considers himself complete, he will receive no further instruction, in very deed he assumes the prerogative of God. All this kind of conduct is persistently rebuked in the Bible. We are called upon to make continual progress, to grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, and never to consider that we have attained or apprehended in fulness. On the last day of our study our watchword is to be “Light, more light!” In the very hour of supposed completeness of character we are to return the congratulations of friends with the assurance, “I count not myself to have apprehended…. I press toward the mark.”

All this survey on the part of Coheleth is the best possible preparation for the inquiry Is there anything better than Coheleth has yet found? Regard Coheleth as one who goes out to find the Holy Grail, and who comes back with his note-book full of instruction and full of disappointment. He has mounted the high hills, and thrown his line into the deep pools; he has watched until his eyes failed through weariness, and tarried until his limbs were numb with cold, and sleep laid hold of his eyelids; but the Holy Grail he has never seen! Enough we have had of the negative side of life; now we want the positive, and for that we must go to a greater than Solomon. Who, then, are blessed, and on whom does the spirit of a sweet content rest like a dove from heaven? Where is the joyful heart, and where the spirit that sings its tender hymn in the cloud and the night and beside the grim grave? Is there any man who is like a tree planted by the rivers of water? Is there any soul that suns itself in the calm of heaven? Yea, surely. Yea, the Lord’s children, whose faces are Zionward, know how to sing the Lord’s song. They have found that joy is not a tinted bubble sailing on the fickle breeze, but is the fruit of the tree of righteousness. If the tree is not good, the fruit cannot be good. “Ye must be born again.” The outward cannot be right until the inward is right. “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” Life is not a study of attitudes and colours and momentary impressions; it is a deep reality, it is a secret hidden with God; and not until we are right at the very fount and core of life and motive, can we be right in our external relations to nature and society. We must distinguish between a trick and a philosophy; between a calculated morality and a spiritual righteousness. The children of God have learned that dying things cannot give undying pleasure. That, one would suppose, would be an obvious commonplace; yet we find all men more or less exposed to the temptation of imagining that the things which are perishing around can minister to imperishable delight, or can indeed supply that ineffable and eternal gladness. Some men have to go a long way round to Jesus Christ. They have to suffer daily disappointment in finding their wells filled up, their orchards stripped, their fields blighted, and all their fortune laid in a heap of ruin; and when they have tasted the vanity and the folly of all life which appeals to the eye and charms the mere imagination, they begin to ask solemn questions, and whilst they are asking such questions, answers may be given to them from heaven.

Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker

XXVI

THE PROLOGUE AND THREE METHODS APPLIED

Ecc 1:2-5:9

“Vanity of vanities” (Ecc 1:2 ) is a Hebraism and means the most utter vanity. Compare “Holy of holies” and “Servant of servants” (Gen 9:25 ). This does not mean that all things are vanity in themselves, but that they are all vanity when put in the place of God, or made the chief end of life instead of a means to an end.

The meaning and purpose of the question in Ecc 1:3 is to inquire as to the profit of all labor and worry which we see about us as touching the chief good, but does not mean that labor is not profitable in its proper place. (Cf. Gen 2:15 ; Gen 3:19 ; Pro 14:23 ).

There is a beautiful parallel to Ecc 1:4 in modern literature, viz: “The Brook” by Tennyson. The stanza that sounds so much like this is as follows: And out again I curve and flow To join the brimming river, For men may come and men may go, But I go on forever.

The sun, wind, and rivers in their endless courses (Ecc 1:5-7 ) are illustrations of the meaning of the text from the material world. The monotony of all this is expressed in Ecc 1:8 , thus: “All things are full of weariness; man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.”

The meaning of Ecc 1:9-10 is that there is no new source of happiness (the subject in question) which can be devised, the same round of pleasures, cares, business, and study being repeated over and over again; that in the nature of things, there is no new thing which might give us hope of attaining that satisfaction that hitherto things have not afforded.

Ecc 1:11 is an explanation of Ecc 1:9-10 and means that some things are thought to be new which are not really so because of the imperfect records of the past. This seems to hedge against the objection that there are many inventions and discoveries unknown to former ages by showing that the records do not preserve all these inventions for the present generation and therefore they are only thought to be new. The methods applied in this search for the chief good are wisdom, pleasure, great works, riches, and a golden mean. The author claims for himself in Ecc 1:12-17 that he was king over Israel in Jerusalem and that he had applied himself in search of all that was done under heaven, to find that it was a sore travail which God had permitted the sons of men to be exercised with; that he had seen all the works done under the sun and found them all vanity and a striving after wind; that he had found many crooked things and many things wanting; that he had attained to greater wisdom than all others before him in Jerusalem and had applied it to know madness and folly, to find this, too, to be a striving after wind. The final result of it all is given in Ecc 1:18 , thus: “For in much wisdom is much grief; and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.”

The experiment described in Ecc 2:1-3 is the test of worldly pleasure, with the result that it, too, was vanity. Then in Ecc 2:4-11 he gives his experience in the pursuit of great works; he built houses, planted vineyards) made gardens and parks, planted trees, made pools of water, bought servants of all kinds, gathered silver and gold, provided a great orchestra for his entertainment, in fact, had everything his eyes desired and tried to find in them joy and comfort, but upon due reflection, he found this, too, a striving after the wind and to no profit under the sun.

In Ecc 2:12-17 we have his comparison between wisdom and folly, with the result that wisdom far excels folly or pleasure, yet the same thing happens to the fool and to the wise man, viz: both die and are forgotten. So he was made to hate life because his work was grievous and a striving after wind. There is ground for the hatred of labor because he must die and leave it to another (Ecc 2:18-23 ). The reference in Ecc 2:19 is to Rehoboam; Solomon evidently suspected his course. Therefore, the conclusion of Ecc 2:24 is that there is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink) and to make his soul enjoy his labor, but the thought (Ecc 2:24-25 f) that it is all from God and that it is all subject to God’s disposal, knocks it over.

In Ecc 3:1-5:9 we have the elements that limit:

I. The Divine Elements are,

1. The law of opportunes (Ecc 3:1-8 )

2. The eternity in our hearts (Ecc 3:9-11 a)

3. The finiteness of man’s nature (Ecc 3:11 b)

4. The laws of God are infrangible (Ecc 3:14 )

II. The Human Elements are,

1. Iniquity in the place of justice (Ecc 3:16 )

2. The oppression of the poor (Ecc 4:1 )

3. Labor and skill actuated only by rivalry with the neighbor (Ecc 4:4 )

4. The elements of weakness in human worship (Ecc 5:1-7 )

On the law of opportunes, will say that we have to work under this law all the days of our lives. Things must be done in their time or they are a failure.

“God hath put eternity in our hearts” (Ecc 3:11 ) is a great text. This means -that money and worldly things cannot satisfy the yearning of the human heart, which is for eternal things. Therefore, the conclusion in Ecc 3:12 is the same as in Ecc 2:24 , but the God thought knocks it over (Ecc 3:13 ): “Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness.”

Ecc 3:14-15 mean that the laws of God are infrangible, i.e., cannot be broken with impunity, and that whoever breaks the laws of the divine limitations him will God break.

It is an awful observation the author cites in Ecc 3:16 . The observation is that iniquity was in the place of justice; that unjust men in court block the way of the righteous if they appeal to them. This is like the parable of the widow and unjust judge. A modification of this thought is found in the divine element, that God will judge the righteous and the wicked (Ecc 3:17 ).

A serious question arises in Ecc 3:18-21 . This is not a proposition but a heart question: Is there a distinction between man and beast? Bunyan represents Pilgrim in this condition when he had advanced far into his pilgrimage: a darkness on either side of the road; here evil spirits would whisper to him and so impress him that he would question as to whether he did not originate the thought himself. Spurgeon found himself in this condition once. The sin of Solomon doubtless was the cause of his questioning; even so it is with us. The conclusion of Ecc 3:22 is a most natural one. If man dies like a beast and that is the end of all for him, then he can do no better than to make the most of this life.

The author records an observation in Ecc 4:1 and a question which arose therefrom. The oppression of the poor and the question arising was a temporary one, as to whether it would not be better to be dead or never to have been born (Ecc 4:2-3 ). following that is an observation with respect to labor and a question which arose from it. The observation was that a man’s labor and skill were actuated only by rivalry with hia neighbor (Ecc 4:4 ) and the question arising from it is this: Is it not better then, just to be a sluggard? (Ecc 4:5-6 ).

Then in Ecc 4:8 we have an illustration of a miserly bachelor who is never satisfied with -his acquired wealth, notwithstanding that there is no one to whom he might leave his wealth at death. I once knew a man in Austin who had no relatives and owned a great deal of Austin, yet he would go across the street to his neighbor’s to warm rather than buy coal. Ecc 4:9-12 is a contrast with the condition of the bachelor and is a wonderful gem of literature, expressing the advantages of co-operation. Two are better than one because they can be mutually helpful to each other. This is the foundation principle of all partnerships, whether for business, war or the home. “A threefold cord is not quickly broken.” In Ecc 4:13-16 we have an illustration of the same principle in the vanity of kings in acquiring great dominion to be turned over to an ungrateful son. There is doubtless a reference here to Solomon himself and his son, Rehoboam. Solomon foresaw the coming of Rehoboam and his people who would not rejoice in their heritage.

The elements of weakness in human worship as noted in Ecc 5:1-7 are lack of due consideration which results in the sacrifice of fools and rash vowing and then not paying the pledge. Here I give an observation: often let their mouths go off half-cocked and then when settlement day comes say before the messenger, “It was an error.” This principle applies in all our general work. For many years I was an agent for different phases of denominational work and handled thousands of dollars for the kingdom enterprises. On many occasions in our conventions pledges were made for some kingdom interest and when I took the matter up with the different ones for collection many of them would not even answer my letters. Then these same ones would come into the convention again and make another pledge and refuse again to pay it. This led me to go through my list of pledges when they were first made and write after each one of these the German word, nix. One would be astonished to go over these lists because of the great number on the list with nix after the name and also because certain ones are in the list whom a credulous person would not suspect. This experience of mine led me to emphasize very strongly this passage in later years: “Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God.”

Another observation is recorded in Ecc 5:8-9 . This relates to the matter of injustice so often wrought in governmental affairs, but we are admonished to remember that the One who is over all regards, and that his purpose in human government is to secure equal rights to all, since the earth is for all, and all, including the king, must be fed from the field.

QUESTIONS

1. What is the meaning of “Vanity of vanities,” in Ecc 1:2 ?

2. What is the meaning and purpose of the question in Ecc 1:3 ?

3. What is parallel to Ecc 1:4 in modern literature, and what stanza especially fits the teaching here?

4. What are the illustrations of the meaning of the text from the material world?

5. How is the monotony of all this expressed in Ecc 1:8 ?

6. What is the meaning of Ecc 1:9-10 ?

7. What is the meaning of “no remembrance” in Ecc 1:11 ?

8. What are the methods applied in this search for the chief good?

9. What claims does the author make for himself in Ecc 1:12-17 and what is the result as expressed in Ecc 1:18 ?

10. What experiment described in Ecc 2:1-3 and what is the result?

11. What experiments described in Ecc 2:4-11 and what is the result?

12. What comparison is in Ecc 2:12-17 and what are the results?

13. What is his reasoning in Ecc 2:18-23 and to whom does the author refer in Ecc 2:19 ?

14. What is the conclusion of Ecc 2:24 and what is the knock over in Ecc 2:24-26 ?

15. In Ecc 3:1-5:9 we have the elements that limit. What are they?

16. What can you say of the law of opportunes?

17. What great text is here and what its meaning?

18. What is the conclusion in Ecc 3:12 and what the knock over in Ecc 3:13 ?

19. What is the meaning and application of Ecc 3:14-15 ?

20. What awful observation does the author cite in Ecc 3:16 and what is the modification in Ecc 3:17 ?

21. What question arises in Ecc 3:18-21 , what parallels to this in modern times, and what is the real cause of this questioning by Solomon?

22. What is the conclusion of Ecc 3:22 ?

23. What is the observation in Ecc 4:1 and what question arose there from?

24. What is the observation with respect to labor and what question arose from it?

25. What is the illustration given in Ecc 4:8 , what is the author’s observation illustrating this verse and what is the author’s reasoning of Ecc 4:9-12 ?

26. What is the illustration of Ecc 4:13-16 and who the persons primarily referred to?

27. What are the elements of weakness in human worship and what is the applicant?

28. What is the observation in Ecc 5:8-9 and what is the divine element that helps again?

Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible

Ecc 4:1 So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of [such as were] oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors [there was] power; but they had no comforter.

Ver. 1. So I returned, and considered. ] Here is a second instance of corruption in civil state, added to that of Ecc 3:16 , to fill up the nest of vanities.

And behold the tears of such, &c. ] Heb., Tear; as if they had wept their utmost, et vix unicam lachrymulam extorquere possent, and could hardly squeeze out one poor tear more for their own ease. For as “hinds by calving,” so men by weeping “cast out their sorrows.” Job 39:3 a Now tears are of many sorts: Lachrymas angustiae exprimit crux; lachrymas poenitentiae, peccatum; lachrymas sympathiae, affectus; lachrymas letitiae, excellentia gaudii; denique lachrymas nequitiae, vel hypocrisis, vel vindictae, cupiditas. b Oppression draws tears of grief; sin, tears of repentance; affection, tears of compassion; good success, tears of joy; hypocrisy or spite, tears of wickedness.

And they had no comforter. ] This was Job’s doleful case, and David’s, Psa 69:21 and the Church’s in the Lamentations. Lam 1:2 Affert solarium lugentibus suspiriorum societas, saith Basil Pity allays misery; but incompassionateness of others increaseth it. This was one of Sodom’s sins, Eze 16:49 and of those epicures in Amos. Amo 6:6 The king and Haman sat drinking in the gate; but the whole city of Shushan was in heaviness. Est 3:15

And on the side of their oppressors, &c. ] The oppressed Romans sighed out to Pompey, Nostra miseria tu es magnus. You, our misery, is great. The world hath almost as many wild beasts and monsters as it hath landlords in various places. It is a woeful thing, surely, to see how great ones quaff the tears of the oppressed, and to hear them make music of shrieks.

a Expletur lachrymis egeriturque dolor. – Ovid.

b Alsted.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Ecclesiastes Chapter 4

Here the Preacher turns, from unjust judgments, where there was most guilt, to the sufferers under them often without succour or sympathy: a state apt to provoke reprisals and revolution, only increasing yet more the disorder of sin.

“Then I returned and saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold, the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power, but they had no comforter. Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive; yea, better than them both did I esteem him which hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.

“Then I saw all labour and every skilful work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbour. This also is vanity and a striving after wind. The fool foldeth his hands together, and eateth his own flesh. Better is an handful with quietness, than two handfuls with labour and striving after wind (vers. 1-6).

Till Christ return, there is no adequate correction or redress. The Preacher, who only speaks here of things present, could but praise the dead who had passed away, or the unborn who saw nothing. Such is man, that success only excites envy in the neighbour, and bitter self- mortification in the fool. The quiet thankful soul here, as before, alone is wise.

Then the vanity of selfishness is portrayed from ver. 7, and the value of fellowship from ver. 9, from which the king is not exempt, especially as he may be foolish and the people fickle (vers. 13-16). Vanity and vexation reign everywhere.

“Then I returned and saw vanity under the sun. There is one [that is alone], and he hath not a second; yea, he hath neither son nor brother; yet is there no end of all his labour, neither is his eye satisfied with riches. For whom then, do I labour, and deprive my soul of good? This also is vanity, yea, it is a sore travail. Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he faileth, and hath not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, then they have warmth: but how can one be warm alone? And if a man prevail against him that is alone, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

“Better is a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king, who knoweth not how to receive admonition any more. For out of prison he came forth to be the king; yea, even in his kingdom he was born poor. I saw all the living which walk under the sun, that they were with the child, the second, that stood up in his stead. [There was] no end of all the people, of all them over whom he was: yet they that come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and a striving after wind” (vers. 7-16).

Never will the state of man and the world be a joy to the glory of God, till He come again and come in power to reign, Who first came to glorify God in obedience and suffering for sin, and thus to lay the foundation for blessing in righteousness evermore.

Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Ecc 4:1-3

1Then I looked again at all the acts of oppression which were being done under the sun. And behold I saw the tears of the oppressed and that they had no one to comfort them; and on the side of their oppressors was power, but they had no one to comfort them. 2So I congratulated the dead who are already dead more than the living who are still living. 3But better off than both of them is the one who has never existed, who has never seen the evil activity that is done under the sun.

Ecc 4:1 the acts of oppression This first verse of chapter 4 clearly shows that Solomon is not the author. He had the power to confront and correct injustice (cf. Ecc 3:16; Ecc 5:8), but our author sees it and is helpless.

under the sun See note at Ecc 1:3. Life apart from God is dog-eat-dog; me-at-any-cost; power-makes-right humanity! If fallen humanity is left to itself, it will corrupt everything!

Notice the key terms

1. oppress

a. NOUN, BDB 799

b. VERB, BDB 798, KB 897

(1) Qal PASSIVE PARTICIPLE

(2) Qal ACTIVE PARTICIPLE

2. no one to comfort, BDB 636, KB 688, Piel, ACTIVE PARTICIPLE (twice)

3. power, BDB 470

they had no one to comfort them This is speaking (cf. Ecc 3:16; Ecc 5:8) from the governmental perspective.

Ecc 4:2-3 This is

1. a hyperbole

2. a view of pre-existence (cf. Job 3:11-19; Psa 139:13-16)

The pain and frustration of physical life without God, without hope, without help screams out! This is not the world that God intended it to be!!!

Ecc 4:3 better This ADJECTIVE (BDB 373 II) is used in a comparative sense throughout the book, but translated (NASB) in different ways:

1. enjoy yourself (lit. consider with goodness), Ecc 2:1

2. good, Ecc 2:3; Ecc 2:26 (twice); Ecc 3:12-13; Ecc 4:9; Ecc 5:18; Ecc 6:12; Ecc 7:1; Ecc 7:11; Ecc 7:18; Ecc 7:20; Ecc 8:15; Ecc 9:2 (twice); Ecc 11:6-7; Ecc 12:14

3. better, Ecc 2:24; Ecc 3:12; Ecc 3:22; Ecc 4:3; Ecc 4:6; Ecc 4:9; Ecc 4:13; Ecc 5:5; Ecc 6:3; Ecc 6:9; Ecc 7:1-3; Ecc 7:5; Ecc 7:8 (twice),10; Ecc 9:4; Ecc 9:16; Ecc 9:18

4. be happy, Ecc 7:14

5. pleasing, Ecc 7:26

6. well, Ecc 8:12-13

7. cheerful, Ecc 9:7

Qoheleth’s thought is a comparison on two levels:

1. life here on earth

2. the physical compared to the spiritual

Each occurrence of this ADJECTIVE must be interpreted in its context.

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

under the sun. See note on Ecc 1:3.

side. Hebrew “hand”: put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Cause), App-6, for the violence proceeding from it.

they: i.e. the oppressed. The phrase repeated for emphasis. Figure of speech Epistrophe. App-6.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

Chapter 4

So I returned, and I considered all of the oppressions that are done under the sun: and the tears of those that are oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter ( Ecc 4:1 ).

The philosophy, Might is right.

Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead, more than the living which were yet alive ( Ecc 4:2 ).

I looked at life and, man, you’re better off dead than you are alive. Those that have already died, oh, they’ve got it made. You still alive, you got the headaches.

Yea, better is he both they, which have not been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun. Again, I considered all of the travail, and every right work, and for this man is envied of his neighbor. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit. The fool folds his hands together, and eats his own flesh. Better is a handful with quietness, than both of your hands full with travail and vexation of spirit ( Ecc 4:3-6 ).

There is a scripture says, “A little that a righteous man has is more than the riches of many wicked” ( Psa 37:16 ). Now you’re better off with just a little and the Lord, the comfort, than having both hands full and being frustrated.

Then I returned, and I saw the vanity [or the emptiness] under the sun. There is one alone, and there is not a second; yea, he hath neither child nor brother: yet there is no end of his labor ( Ecc 4:7-8 );

Even the man who doesn’t have any children, he can’t settle down and just enjoy what he has. He’s got to keep on it. Keep laboring. No matter how rich he is, he can’t be satisfied. He can’t relax and enjoy it. Here’s one man alone, he has no child, no brother, no one to inherit his wealth. And yet, he can’t get away from the grindstone. There’s no end of all of his labor.

neither is his eye satisfied with his riches; neither says he ( Ecc 4:8 ),

He doesn’t consider, “What am I saving all this money for? Who am I saving it for? Why am I saving it? Who am I going to leave it to when I die?” And yet, he’s bound to it. He’s digging for more and more and more. Striving, struggling. Can’t stop working. Pushing, grinding, in order to gain more and yet he doesn’t have anybody to leave it to.

This also is vanity, it’s a sore travail. Two are better than one; because [at least] they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falls; for there’s no one to help him up. Again, if two lie together, then they can have heat: but how can one be warm alone? And if one prevails against him, two will be able to withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken. Better is a poor and wise child than an old and foolish king ( Ecc 4:8-13 ),

Look to those little kids. They’re better off than I am. Poor wise child than this old foolish king.

who will no more be admonished ( Ecc 4:13 ).

I won’t listen to anything anymore. No one can tell me anything.

For out of prison he comes to reign; whereas also he that is born of his kingdom becomes poor. I consider all of the living which walk under the sun, with the second child that shall stand up in his stead. And there is no end of all of the people, even of all that have been before them: and of all that shall come after they shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and vexation of spirit ( Ecc 4:14-16 ).

It seems that life just goes on. There’s, you know, multitudes before me. There’s going to be multitudes after me. I’m just in the line here, but it’s all so empty. “

Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary

Ecc 4:1-3

OPPRESSION AND THE OPPRESSED

Ecc 4:1-3

“Then I returned and saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and, behold, the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter. Wherefore I praised the dead that have been long dead more than the living who are yet alive; yea, better than them both did I esteem him that hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.”

“On the side of the oppressors there was power” (Ecc 4:1). “The point here is not merely that there is power, but that power corrupts. On the basis of what is said here, we may conclude that there was at least some degree of sympathy on Solomon’s part for the oppressed; yet he himself had oppressed hundreds of thousands of the residual Canaanites, making slaves of them. Here he views all the suffering; and, “Although he might have had some feeling for them, he did not move a muscle to change their lot. He just stood by, a picture of indifference and unconcern. How different is this attitude from that of the great prophets who so vigorously and effectively shouted the anathemas of God against the oppressors; and indeed what a contrast there is here with the Christ who had compassion on the multitudes, fed them when they were hungry, healed all their diseases and thundered the message, “Blessed are ye poor, for yours is the kingdom of heaven” (Luk 6:20). “Behold a Greater than Solomon”! (Mat 12:42); and incredibly pathetic is the blind folly of Israel who rejected Christ because he was not another Solomon!

Ecc 4:1 I looked again indicates that he is considering the same theme in this section that he was discussing in chapter three. The again implies that a new illustration of injustice or the inequities of life is under consideration. On two occasions the qualifying phrase under the sun appears in these three verses which indicates that what one observes is apart from heavenly values. The act of social injustice that now arrests Solomons attention illustrates the vanity of all earthly things and endeavors.

One is confronted with a very basic problem that is common to all men of every age: Why is it that wicked men prosper and often have the authority on their side, while the righteous are often poor and suffer oppression? Since this is often the situation, and it appears to be so in Israel at this time, one is lead to the erroneous conclusion that wickedness pays profitable dividends while godliness results in poverty and affliction. If one interprets the meaning apart from the heavenly values, the conclusions could indeed be very dismal. The extreme statements of the Preacher in these three verses must be understood in this light. If one fails to interpret his observations in the light of the under the sun restrictions, he finds the Preacher contradicting himself later on in his message. However, Solomon knew what we know about the justice of God. He knew that God is patient, long-suffering and correct in all of His dealing with men. It is from this vantage point that he writes, Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and may lengthen his life, still I know that it will be well for those who fear God, who fear Him openly. But it will not be well for the evil man and he will not lengthen his days like a shadow, because he does not fear God (Ecc 8:12-13).

Because of similar circumstances today, one of the most difficult things is for the Christian to keep his priorities in order. There are certain values which belong within the inner circle, next to the heart, in ones life. At the same time, there are things which must be kept on the periphery, and constantly challenged to keep them from eroding the truer values or invading the inner circle where things have no claim. Yet, how many people do you know who are living purposeless lives simply because they have allowed themselves to be deceived by the riches of this world, or the pleasures derived from participation in such evil deeds of injustice that meet the Preachers searching eyes in our text? The extreme observations of verses two and three would be the most plausible in the world if this life were all there is to living. The young man struck down in the prime of his life; the young mother left without guardian, provider or companion; the poor, neglected and often persecuted by wicked men who grow fat from withholding what should be shared with the less-fortunate, or even at times what is rightfully theirs; they all cry out to the emptiness of living and the futility of the life that thousands must endure on the face of the earth. However, such was the situation described in detail by James (Ecc 5:1-6), and in view of all that Jesus Christ means to the Christian he was able to admonish them to steadfastness and joy with the words, You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not complain, brethren, against one another, that you yourselves may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing right at the door (Jas 5:8-9).

What is the oppression? In Ecc 5:8 we are instructed again not to be shocked by such oppression as it may very well be commonplace among us. In any system where men govern men, authority is often corrupted. It may be that in carrying out the necessary instructions of the king in accomplishing his great works (cf. Ecc 2:1-11), that the result was that which the Preacher now observes. There were many areas where authority could be violated and the process of graft take place. With a king so obsessed with the desire for personal pleasure, many such violations of justice could go unnoticed throughout the land.

The intensity, and perhaps widespread influence, of the oppression was evident in the actual tears of the poor. If they only had a just man who was in an authoritative position to plead their cause. But no! The authority is on the side of those who are persecuting them. They might turn to one another for some word of encouragement, but this would be hurt turning to hurt. They needed healing. Yet, there was no one to heal them.

It is not a picture of a merciless tyrant holding all the people under the authority of his rule. It is rather the picture of a thoughtless king who has only his own interest at heart and closes his eyes to the cries of the innocent who are trampled in his pursuit of pleasure and personal satisfaction. Perhaps enough people in the land were enjoying the superfluity, or overflow, of the kings wealth. In this case those who suffered were not numerous enough to mount any meaningful rebellion against the wickedness of those in high places.

Ecc 4:2 When the Preacher contemplated such a sight, he quickly decided that the fortunate ones were those who have already died and do not have to share in this travesty of justice. Congratulating the dead is a rather dramatic, picturesque description demonstrating that such behaviour would actually be humorous if it were not so serious.

Ecc 4:3 Upon more serious contemplation, he decided that there is one who is better off than either the living or the dead, and that is the individual who has never been born! He is not speaking of abortion in order to shut out the life of one before he sees the light of day, but rather the one never conceived or possibly miscarried (Ecc 6:3). Such a one will never have to feast his eyes upon the evil activities taking place in the midst of what has once been a nation noted for her justice and righteousness.

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

From this general survey the preacher returned to examine the condition of the beings whom he had described as being no better than the beasts. He looked out upon them, and saw them in suffering, and concluded that death or nonexistence is preferable to life. He declared, moreover, that toil is nothing worth, as it produces envy and striving. This leads him further to declare the vanity of success under such conditions. The wealthy man stands alone, and in his loneliness is more helpless than are the poor, who yet have comrades. And, finally, this led him to declare the emptiness of kingship. The old king who has become foolish is set aside for the youth who is yet poor and wise. This last reflection is not one of satisfaction, but of cynical despair, for the preacher declares, “This also is vanity, and a striving after wind.”

Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible

Ecc 4:1

It is a great principle, and not to be lost sight of, the weakness of oppression, the terrible strength of the oppressed. And though Solomon felt so perturbed by the prosperous cruelty he witnessed, had he bent his eye a little longer in the direction where it eventually rested, he would have found a Comforter for the oppressed, and would have seen the impotence of the oppressor. On the side of the oppressed is Omnipotence, and the most deathless of foes is a victim. Still liberty, or exemption from man’s oppression, is a priceless blessing; and it may be worth while to ask, What can Christians do for its culture and diffusion?

I. Yourselves be free. Seek freedom from fierce passions and dark prejudices. If you are led captive by the devil at his will, you are sure to become an oppressor.

II. Beware of confounding liberty with licence. One of the greatest blessings in a State or in a Christian Church is good government; but, from mistaken notions of independence, it is the delight of some to “speak evil of dignities.” The man who is magnanimous in obeying is likely to be mighty in command.

III. Cultivate a humane and gentle spirit. Here it is that the mollifying religion of Jesus comes in as the great promoter of freedom and the great opponent of oppression. By infusing a benevolent spirit into the bosom of the Christian, it makes him the natural guardian of weakness and the natural friend of innocence.

J. Hamilton, The Royal Preacher, Lecture IX.

Ecclesiastes 4:1-5:7

I. In the fourth chapter Koheleth comes to the conclusion that life is essentially and irretrievably wretched-wretched not because (as he had formerly thought) it would so soon be over, but wretched because it lasted too long. All that pleasure did for him was thus to increase his gloom. There was one thing he had forgotten in making out his programme: he had forgotten the miseries of other people. The prosperity he secured for himself did not remove their adversity, but only brought it out into more startling relief. He was infected by their wretchedness, for in the midst of all his dissipation he had preserved a kindly heart. “I considered,” he says, “the tears of those who are oppressed, and who have no comforter.” The oppression of the poor by the rich was one of the most characteristic phases of Oriental society. To be poor was to be weak, and to be weak was to be reduced more or less into the condition of a slave.

II. In Ecc 5:4 Koheleth makes a new departure. He remarks that greed is at the bottom of a good deal of human misery. All work, he says, and all dexterity in work, is due to envy, to a jealous determination to outstrip our neighbours, to what Mallock calls the “desire for inequality.” In contrast to the career of selfish isolation, Koheleth describes the advantages of sympathetic co-operation with one’s fellow-men. We should not, he says, strive against one another, each for his own good; we should strive with one another, each for the good of the whole. Co-operation is preferable to competition.

III. It now occurs to Koheleth that we may perhaps find some help in religious observances. He has already pointed out to us how we are hemmed in on all sides by limitations and restrictions. It must evidently be important what attitude we assume towards the Power which thus checks and thwarts us. Take care, he says, how you go into the house of God, how you perform your sacrifices, and prayers, and vows. He teaches us, as wise men have always taught, that obedience is better than sacrifice. Again, the value of prayer depends not on its length, but on its sincerity. Speak only out of the fulness of your heart. God is not to be trifled with. He cannot be deluded into mistaking for worship what is mere idle talk.

A. W. Momerie, Agnosticism, p. 204.

References: Ecc 4:1-3.-J. Bennet, The Wisdom of the King, p. 174; T. C. Finlayson, A Practical Exposition of Ecclesiastes, p. 101. Ecc 4:1-8.-R. Buchanan, Ecclesiastes: its Meaning and Lessons, p. 136. Ecc 4:4-6.-J. Bennet, The Wisdom of the King, p. 196. Ecc 4:5, Ecc 4:6.-J. H. Cooke, The Preacher’s Pilgrimage, p. 54. Ecc 4:9, Ecc 4:10.-R. D. B. Rawnsley, Sermons for the Christian Year, p. 512; C. J. Vaughan, Memorials of Harrow Sundays, p. 16. Ecc 4:9-16.-R. Buchanan, Ecclesiastes: its Meaning and Lessons; p. 150. Ecc 4:12.-J. Vaughan, Children’s Sermons, 1875, p. 9; J. Keble, Sermons from Ascension Day to Trinity Sunday, p. 395. Ecc 4:13.-J. Bennet, The Wisdom of the King, p. 234; New Manual of Sunday-school Addresses, p. 1. 4-C. Bridges, An Exposition of Ecclesiastes, p. 79. 4, 5-G. G. Bradley, Lectures on Ecclesiastes, p. 79.

Fuente: The Sermon Bible

CHAPTER 4 Observations of Different Wrongs

1. Concerning oppressions (Ecc 4:1-3)

2. Concerning envy of fools and the rich (Ecc 4:4-7)

3. Concerning the miser (Ecc 4:8-12)

4. Concerning popularity (Ecc 4:13-16)

Ecc 4:1-3. He observes that the world is filled with oppressions. This connects with the statement made in the previous chapter, (verse 16). Criticism declares in connection with this passage that it could not have been written by Solomon, nor does it, they claim, describe the conditions of the people Israel during the reign of the king. One commentator asks, Can this bitter experience be drawn, I asked in passing, from the golden day of Solomon, from the high noon of Hebrew prosperity, as sketched in the book of Kings? They apply it to the days of the Ptolemies. But Solomon does not say that the oppressions were in Jerusalem at all. He says that he saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun. As the great king was in touch with other nations he knew what oppression, poverty, tears and sorrow are in the world, and that the oppressed, the grief stricken, the downtrodden, have no comforter. It is so still, under the sun. Oppression and all that goes with it is still the history of part of the race and will be as long as sin reigns. Injustice and unredressed wrongs have been the order for almost six thousand years. So deep is his sorrow over these conditions that he declares it would have been better for both the living and the dead if they had never existed at all.

Ecc 4:4-7. In continuing his observations he mentions the successful man, the man who has made life worth living. But success breeds envy. It makes his life bitter. Instead of being loved the successful man is hated; what else then is it but vanity and vexation of spirit! But now another extreme. It is the sluggard, the lazy man, the fool who eats his own flesh. But here is the best human wisdom can suggest. Avoiding both extremes, he declares, Better is an handful with quietness, than two handsful with labor and vexation of spirit.

Ecc 4:7-12. Another vanity is observed. Some are misers, heaping up riches and treasures untold. He has no relations, no children, no brother, even companionship and friendship are unknown to him. He lives his solitary life. His ambition is to labor and gather riches, but his eyes are never satisfied with riches; he wants more and more all the time. This also is vanity and is a sore travail.

Ecc 4:13-16. Popularity is another vanity and vexation of spirit. No lot is abiding. Upon the throne sits an old and foolish king. He is dethroned and is replaced by a youth out of prison.

Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)

I returned: Job 6:29, Mal 3:18

and considered: Ecc 3:16, Ecc 5:8, Ecc 7:7, Exo 1:13, Exo 1:14, Exo 1:16, Exo 1:22, Exo 2:23, Exo 2:24, Exo 5:16-19, Deu 28:33, Deu 28:48, Jdg 4:3, Jdg 10:7, Jdg 10:8, Neh 5:1-5, Job 24:7-12, Psa 10:9, Psa 10:10, Pro 28:3, Pro 28:15, Pro 28:16, Isa 5:7, Isa 51:23, Isa 59:7, Isa 59:13-15, Mal 3:5

the tears: Psa 42:3, Psa 42:9, Psa 80:5, Psa 102:8, Psa 102:9, Mal 2:13, Jam 5:4

they had: Job 16:4, Job 19:21, Job 19:22, Psa 69:20, Psa 142:4, Pro 19:7, Lam 1:2, Lam 1:9, Mat 26:56, 2Ti 4:16, 2Ti 4:17

side: Heb. hand

Reciprocal: Exo 3:9 – and I have Exo 5:19 – evil case 1Ki 21:7 – Dost thou now 1Ki 21:13 – they carried him Job 20:19 – Because Job 24:12 – groan Psa 12:5 – oppression Psa 72:12 – him Pro 24:30 – went Pro 30:14 – to devour Ecc 1:8 – man Ecc 4:7 – General Ecc 6:11 – General Ecc 9:11 – returned Ecc 10:5 – as an Isa 51:19 – by whom Amo 4:1 – which oppress Hab 1:3 – General Rev 14:13 – Blessed

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Ecc 4:1. So I returned, and considered I considered again more seriously; all the oppressions under the sun Whether by princes, magistrates, or other potent persons; and the tears of such as were oppressed Their grievous sufferings, sighs, and groans. And they had no comforter None afforded them either pity or succour. For such was the greatness and power of their oppressors, that, as they could not defend themselves against them, so none else durst express their compassion toward them, much less plead for them, for fear of being made to suffer in the same way themselves.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Ecc 4:2. Wherefore I praised the deadmore than the living, who are robbed, fleeced, and exposed to incessant afflictions, from oppression and war. Solomon alludes to extreme cases, such as our Saviour foretold would befal the Jews in their revolt against the Romans; when men should say, Blessed are the breasts that never gave suck. The like times were foretold of the Romans, in their civil wars, and in the scourge of the Saracens, that men should seek death, and it should flee from them. Rev 9:6.

Ecc 4:5. The fool foldeth his hands together, in sloth and despair; and after eating up his own flesh, hunger, misery, and despair come upon him like a flood, and his family is left to perish. Sometimes the nerves, like a spring stretched too far, lose their energy: the spirits fail when pressure is too severe.

Ecc 4:8. There is one, and happy it would be if there were not a second; a man who has neither son nor brother to enjoy his riches; yet there is no end of his labour to hoard up wealth! This earth-worm forms a contrast with the fool who wastes all, by saving all. Like the beasts, he has little idea of a treasure in heaven. Surely this is a case of vanity and vexation of spirit.

Ecc 4:9. Two are better than one. They divide the cares and duties of life. When grief afflicts the one, there is a bosom of comfort at hand: the torrent is diminished when the stream is divided. The jesuits in their comments get over this by saying, that in the monastic habits, the friars and the nuns live in society.

Ecc 4:13. Better is a poor and a wise child, than an old and foolish king who will no more be admonished, by the venerable senators which stand at the foot of the throne. He involves himself in war, like the strong bulls, gets dethroned or slain, while his more prudent son is liberated from his chain, and placed on his fathers throne. Assuredly, all these contumelious fluctuations of society designate the vanity of human passions, and the vexations of the mind.

REFLECTIONS.

The subject of the brutish man is here continued. Solomon, viewing the calamities of life, and seeing the wicked oppress the comparatively innocent, praises the dead, a negative part of whose blessedness it is to rest from their labours. Hence afflicted people should seek all their happiness in God, and in future hopes. At the same time it shows that their king, labouring under so many disgusts of life, had a feeling heart for the oppressed, and a horror of tyranny and crimes.

This wise and learned king was the more afflicted for the miseries of human life, because he saw that a sottish and brutish spirit pervaded all ranks of society. The fool redoubling his calamities, the miser labouring in vain, the prince losing his throne, and loading his people with calamities. Christ alone is the Healer of the nations.

Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Ecclesiastes 4. A Gloomy Survey.The chapter falls into four parts, which treat respectively of oppression (Ecc 4:1-3), rivalry (Ecc 4:4-6), isolation amounting to self-torture (Ecc 4:7-12), and a paragraph on a young kings popularity (Ecc 4:13-16).

Ecc 4:1. Mans inhumanity to man awakens Qoheleths compassion; they had no comforter must refer in both cases to the oppressed; the words are repeated for the sake of emphasis.

Ecc 4:2 f. No man can be accounted happy till he is dead (cf. Ecc 7:1, contrast Ecc 9:4); indeed better than life and even death is not to be born (cf. Ecc 6:3 and Job 3:11-16, also Sophocles, d. Col. 1225, Non-existence is better than highest fame).

Ecc 4:4. Note mg. Competition is as inhuman as tyranny, it is only another form of oppression. But (Ecc 4:5) laziness is no virtue, the idle man starves. The verse is perhaps a current proverb; it might mean the idler somehow manages to get a living without the worry of the toiler. The best thing is to follow the golden mean (Ecc 4:6). The words for handful are differentthe first denotes the open palm, the second the grip. Another woe is avarice (Ecc 4:7 f.); the life of the lonely miser is a sore travail.

Ecc 4:9-12, proverbial sayings on the advantages of comradeship. The setting is that of a journey with its perils from bad roads, chilly nights, and brigands. And if two are better than one, three are better still. The section is often taken as a parable of friendship; Charles Wesley built up a hymn on it, Two are better far than one, For counsel or for fight. The allegorists make the threefold cord a reference to the Trinity or to the union of Faith, Hope, and Love.

Ecc 4:13-16. There have been as many interpretations of the personage here referred to as of the number of the Beast in the Apocalypse. The most obvious illustration is that of Joseph and Pharaoh, the one that best fits the date of the book Ptolemy V, who at the age of five succeeded his aged father, Ptolemy IV in 205. Others see a reference to Antiochus Epiphanes and Alexander Balas, who was of humble origin and popular with the Jews (cf. pp. 416, 608), but this is perhaps too late. No certainty is attainable.

Ecc 4:15. the second is perhaps a gloss; in any case it can only mean a second youth.The moral is driven home in Ecc 4:16 : the popular favourite of to-day is forgotten, and perhaps execrated, to-morrow. It was so with the young Ptolemy (Epiphanes), whose advisers were a bad lot, so that when Antiochus III (perhaps the second of Ecc 4:15) annexed Palestine to Syria (p. 62) in 198 the Jews welcomed the change.

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

4:1 So {a} I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of [such as were] oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors [there was] power; but they had no comforter.

(a) He makes here another discourse with himself concerning the tyranny of them that oppressed the poor.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

22

And by Human Injustice and Perversity.

Ecc 3:16-22; Ecc 4:1-3

But not only are our endeavours to find the “good” of our labours thwarted by the gracious, inflexible laws of the just God; they are often baffled by the injustice of ungracious men. In the days of Coheleth, iniquity sat in the seat of justice, wresting all rules of equity to its base private ends (Ecc 3:16). Unjust judges and rapacious satraps put the fair rewards of labour and skill and integrity in jeopardy, insomuch that if a man by industry and thrift, by a wise observance of Divine laws and by taking occasions as they rose, had acquired affluence, he was too often, in the expressive Eastern phrase, but as a sponge which any petty despot might squeeze. The frightful oppressions of the time were a heavy burden to the Hebrew Preacher. He brooded over them, seeking for aids to faith and comfortable words wherewith to solace the oppressed. For a moment he thought he had lit on the true comfort, “Well, well,” he said within himself, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked; for there is a time for every thing and for every deed with Him” (Ecc 3:17). Could he have rested in this thought, it would have been “a sovereign balm” to him, or indeed to any other Hebrew; although to us, who have learned to desire the redemption rather than the punishment of the wicked, their redemption through their inevitable punishments, the true comfort would still have been wanting. But he could not rest in it, could not hold it fast, and confesses that he could not. He lays his heart bare before us. We are permitted to trace the fluctuating thoughts and emotions which swept across it. No sooner has he whispered to his heart that God, who is at leisure from Himself and has endless time at his command, will visit the oppressors and avenge the oppressed, than his thoughts take a new turn, and he adds: “And yet God may have sifted the children of men only to shew them that they are no better than the beasts” (Ecc 3:18): this may be his aim in all the wrongs by which they are tried. Repugnant as the thought is, it nevertheless fascinates him for the instant, and he yields to its wasting and degrading magic. He not only fears, suspects, thinks that man is no better than a beast; he is quite sure of it, and proceeds to argue it out. His argument is very sweeping, very sombre. “A mere chance is man, and the beast a mere chance.” Both spring from a mere accident, no one can tell how, and have a blind hazard for a creator; and “both are subject to the same chance,” or mischance, throughout their lives, all the decisions of their intelligence and will being overruled by the decrees of an inscrutable fate. Both perish under the same power of death, suffer the same pangs of dissolution, are taken at unawares by the same invisible yet resistless force. The bodies of both spring from the same dust, and moulder back into dust. Nay, “both have the same spirit”; and though vain man sometimes boasts that at death his spirit goeth upward, while that of the beast goeth downward, yet who can prove it? For himself, and in his present mood, Coheleth doubts, and even denies it. He is absolutely convinced that in origin and life and death, in body and spirit and final fate, man is as the beast is, and hath no advantage over the beast (Ecc 3:19-21). And therefore he falls back on his old conclusion, though now with a sadder heart than ever, that man will do wisely, that, being so blind and having so dark a prospect, he cannot do more wisely than to take what pleasure and enjoy what good he can amid his labours. If he is a beast, as he is a beast, let him at least learn of the beasts that simple, tranquil enjoyment of the good of the passing moment, untroubled by any vexing presage of what is to come, in which it must be allowed that they are greater proficients than he (Ecc 3:22).

Thus, after rising in the first fifteen verses of this Third Chapter, to an almost Christian height of patience, and resignation, and holy trust in the providence of God, Coheleth is smitten by the injustice and oppressions of man into the depths of a pessimistic materialism.

But now a new question arises. The Preachers survey of human life has shaken his faith even in the conclusion which he has announced from the first, viz., that there is nothing better for a man than a quiet content, a busy cheerfulness, a tranquil enjoyment of the fruit of his toils. This at least he has supposed to be possible: but is it? All the activities, industries, tranquillities of life are jeopardised, now by the inflexible ordinances of Heaven, and again by the capricious tyranny of man. To this tyranny his fellow countrymen are now exposed. They groan under its heaviest oppressions. As he turns and once more reflects {Ecc 4:1} on their unalleviated and unfriended misery, he doubts whether content, or even resignation, can be expected of them. With a tender sympathy that lingers on the details of their unhappy lot, and deepens into a passionate and despairing melancholy, he witnesses their sufferings and “counts the tears” of the oppressed. With the emphasis of a Hebrew and an Oriental, he marks and emphasises the fact that “they had no comforter,” that though “their oppressors were violent, yet they had no comforter.” For throughout the East, and among the Jews to this day, the manifestation of sympathy with those who suffer is far more common and ceremonious than it is with us. Neighbours and acquaintances are expected to pay long visits of condolence; friends and kinsfolk will travel long distances to pay them. Their respective places and duties in the house of mourning, their dress, words, bearing, precedence, are regulated by an ancient and elaborate etiquette. And, strange as it may seem to us, these visits are regarded not only as gratifying tokens of respect to the dead, but as a singular relief and comfort to the living. To the Preacher and his fellow captives, therefore, it would be a bitter aggravation of their grief that, while suffering under the most cruel oppressions of misfortune, they were compelled to forego the solace of these customary tokens of respect and sympathy. As be pondered their sad and unfriended condition, Coheleth-like Job, when his comforters failed him-is moved to curse his day. The dead, he affirms, are happier than the living, -even the dead who died so long ago that the fate most dreaded in the East had befallen them, and the very memory of them had perished from the earth: while happier than either the dead, who have had to suffer in their time, or than the living, whose doom had still to be borne, were those who had never seen the light, never been born into a world all disordered and out of course (Ecc 4:2-3).

Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary