Ecclesiastes 11 commentary

Solomon presses the rich to do good to others. Give freely, though it may seem thrown away and lost. Give to many. Excuse not thyself with the good thou hast done, from the good thou hast further to do. It is not lost, but well laid out. We have reason to expect evil, for we are born to trouble; it is wisdom to do good in the day of prosperity. Riches cannot profit us, if we do not benefit others. Every man must labour to be a blessing to that place where the providence of God casts him. Wherever we are, we may find good work to do, if we have but hearts to do it. If we magnify every little difficulty, start objections, and fancy hardships, we shall never go on, much less go through with our work. Winds and clouds of tribulation are, in God's hands, designed to try us. God's work shall agree with his word, whether we see it or not. And we may well trust God to provide for us, without our anxious, disquieting cares. Be not weary in well-doing, for in due season, in God's time, you shall reap, Gal. 6:9.

Life is sweet to bad men, because they have their portion in this life; it is sweet to good men, because it is the time of preparation for a better; it is sweet to all. Here is a caution to think of death, even when life is most sweet. Solomon makes an effecting address to young persons. They would desire opportunity to pursue every pleasure. Then follow your desires, but be assured that God will call you into judgment. How many give loose to every appetite, and rush into every vicious pleasure! But God registers every one of their sinful thoughts and desires, their idle words and wicked words. If they would avoid remorse and terror, if they would have hope and comfort on a dying bed, if they would escape misery here and hereafter, let them remember the vanity of youthful pleasures. That Solomon means to condemn the pleasures of sin is evident. His object is to draw the young to purer and more lasting joys. This is not the language of one grudging youthful pleasures, because he can no longer partake of them; but of one who has, by a miracle of mercy, been brought back in safety. He would persuade the young from trying a course whence so few return. If the young would live a life of true happiness, if they would secure happiness hereafter, let them remember their Creator in the days of their youth.

CHAPTER 11

Ec 11:1-10.

1. Ec 11:2 shows that charity is here inculcated.

bread--bread corn. As in the Lord's prayer, all things needful for the body and soul. Solomon reverts to the sentiment (Ec 9:10).

waters--image from the custom of sowing seed by casting it from boats into the overflowing waters of the Nile, or in any marshy ground. When the waters receded, the grain in the alluvial soil sprang up (Is 32:20). "Waters" express multitudes, so Ec 11:2; Re 17:15; also the seemingly hopeless character of the recipients of the charity; but it shall prove at last to have been not thrown away (Is 49:4).

2. portion--of thy bread.

seven--the perfect number.

eight--even to more than seven; that is, "to many" (so "waters," Ec 11:1), nay, even to very many in need (Job 5:19; Mi 5:5).

evil--The day may be near, when you will need the help of those whom you have bound to you by kindnesses (Lu 16:9). The very argument which covetous men use against liberality (namely, that bad times may come), the wise man uses for it.

3. clouds--answering to "evil" (Ec 11:2), meaning, When the times of evil are fully ripe, evil must come; and speculations about it beforehand, so as to prevent one sowing seed of liberality, are vain (Ec 11:4).

tree--Once the storm uproots it, it lies either northward or southward, according as it fell. So man's character is unchangeable, whether for hell or heaven, once that death overtakes him (Re 22:11, 14, 15). Now is his time for liberality, before the evil days come (Ec 12:1).

4. Therefore sow thy charity in faith, without hesitancy or speculation as to results, because they may not seem promising (Ec 9:10). So in Ec 11:1, man is told to "cast his bread corn" on the seemingly unpromising "waters" (Psa 126:5, 6). The farmer would get on badly, who, instead of sowing and reaping, spent his time in watching the wind and clouds.

5. spirit--How the soul animates the body! Thus the transition to the formation of the body "in the womb" is more natural, than if with Maurer we translate it "wind" (Ec 1:6; Joh 3:8).

bones ... grow--(Job 10:8, 9; Psa 139:15, 16).

knowest not the works of God--(Ec 3:11; 8:17; 9:12).

6. morning ... evening--early and late; when young and when old; in sunshine and under clouds.

seed--of godly works (Ho 10:12; 2Co 9:10; Ga 6:7).

prosper--(Is 55:10, 11).

both ... alike--Both the unpromising and the promising sowing may bear good fruit in others; certainly they shall to the faithful sower.

7. light--of life (Ec 7:11; Psa 49:19). Life is enjoyable, especially to the godly.

8. But while man thankfully enjoys life, "let him remember" it will not last for ever. The "many days of darkness," that is, the unseen world (Job 10:21, 22; Psa 88:12), also days of "evil" in this world (Ec 11:2), are coming; therefore sow the good seed while life and good days last, which are not too long for accomplishing life's duties.

All that cometh--that is, All that followeth in the evil and dark days is vain, as far as work for God is concerned (Ec 9:10).

9. Rejoice--not advice, but warning. So 1Ki 22:15, is irony; if thou dost rejoice (carnally, Ec 2:2; 7:2, not moderately, as in Ec 5:18), &c., then "know that ... God will bring thee into judgment" (Ec 3:17; 12:14).

youth ... youth--distinct Hebrew words, adolescence or boyhood (before Ec 11:10), and full-grown youth. It marks the gradual progress in self-indulgence, to which the young especially are prone; they see the roses, but do not discover the thorns, until pierced by them. Religion will cost self-denial, but the want of it infinitely more (Lu 14:28).

10. sorrow--that is, the lusts that end in "sorrow," opposed to "rejoice," and "heart cheer thee" (Ec 11:9), Margin, "anger," that is, all "ways of thine heart"; "remove," &c., is thus opposed to "walk in," &c. (Ec 11:9).

flesh--the bodily organ by which the sensual thoughts of the "heart" are embodied in acts.

childhood--rather, "boyhood"; the same Hebrew word as the first, "youth" in Ec 11:9. A motive for self-restraint; the time is coming when the vigor of youth on which thou reliest, will seem vain, except in so far as it has been given to God (Ec 12:1).

youth--literally, the dawn of thy days.

Cast thy bread upon the waters - An allusion to the sowing of rice; which was sown upon muddy ground, or ground covered with water, and trodden in by the feet of cattle: it thus took root, and grew, and was found after many days in a plentiful harvest. Give alms to the poor, and it will be as seed sown in good ground. God will cause thee afterwards to receive it with abundant increase. The Targum understands it of giving bread to poor sailors. The Vulgate and my old Bible have the same idea. Send thi brede upon men passing waters.

Give a portion to seven - Never cease giving while thou seest a person in distress, and hast wherewithal to relieve him.

Thou knowest not what evil - Such may be the change of times, that thou mayest yet stand in need of similar help thyself. Do as thou wouldst be done by.

If the clouds be full of rain - Act as the clouds; when they are full they pour out their water indifferently on the field and on the desert. By giving charity indiscriminately, it may be that thou wilt often give it to the unworthy: but thou shouldst ever consider that he is an object of thy charity, who appears to be in real want; and better relieve or give to a hundred worthless persons, than pass by one who is in real distress.

Where the tree falleth, there it shall be - Death is at no great distance; thou hast but a short time to do good. Acquire a heavenly disposition while here; for there will be no change after this life. If thou die in the love of God, and in the love of man, in that state wilt thou be found in the day of judgment. If a tree about to fall lean to the north, to the north it will fall; if to the south, it will fall to that quarter. In whatever disposition or state of soul thou diest, in that thou wilt be found in the eternal world. Death refines nothing, purifies nothing, kills no sin, helps to no glory. Let thy continual bent and inclination be to God, to holiness, to charity, to mercy, and to heaven: then, fall when thou mayest, thou wilt fall well.

He that observeth the wind shall not sow! - The man that is too scrupulous is never likely to succeed in any thing. If a man neither plough nor sow till the weather is entirely to his mind, the season will in all probability pass before he will have done any thing: so, if thou be too nice in endeavoring to find out who are the impostors among those who profess to be in want, the real object may perish, whom otherwise thou mightest have relieved, and whose life might have been thereby saved. Those very punctilious and scrupulous people, who will sift every thing to the bottom in every case, and, before they will act, must be fully satisfied on all points, seldom do any good, and are themselves generally good for nothing. While they are observing the clouds and the rain, others have joined hands with God, and made a poor man live.

As thou knowest not - the way of the spirit - Why God should have permitted such an such persons to fall into want, and how they came into all their distresses, thou canst not tell, no more than thou canst how their soul is united to their body, how it came to inform that body, or how the child was formed in the womb of its mother. Nor canst thou discern the end which God has in view in these things. He maketh all, every thing is open to him; and take heed lest, while pretending motives of scrupulosity and prudence, in not relieving the distresses of those thou pretendest to suspect to be unworthy, he does not see that a love of money is the motive of thy conduct, and a want of the bowels of mercy the cause why thou drivest this suspected beggar from thy door.

In the morning sow thy seed - Be ready at all times to show mercy; begin in the morning, continue till the evening. Thou knowest not the most worthy object; it is enough that God knoweth; and if thy motive be good, he will applaud and reward thee; not according to the worthiness or unworthiness of the object of thy charity, but according to the motive which induced thee to relieve him.

Truly the light is sweet - Life is dear to every man as the light of the sun is to the eye. A man would give all that he has for his life, and it is particularly dear to him when he is in ease and affluence: but let each remember that,

If a man live many years - And even have prosperity through the whole; yet the days of darkness - times of affliction, weakness, and perhaps old age, will be many. If he die not a violent death, which no man can wish, he will die a lingering death; and this is ordinarily attended with many pains, and many sorrows; therefore let him prepare to meet his God; and to carry this thought through life, that all must terminate in death. The writer of Ecclesiasticus, 7:36, has a good saying, similar to this: "Whatsoever thou takest in hand, remember thy End; and thou shalt never do amiss;" ουκ ἁμαρτησεις, thou wilt not sin.

Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth - Youth is devoid of cares; and, consequently, of many perplexities and distresses. Were it not so, we should have no old men; nay, perhaps not one even of middle ape. It is in the order of a most gracious God, that the young should rejoice in their youth; but they should make such a moderate use of all their enjoyments, that they may not be confounded in the day of judgment. But, O young man, if thou wilt follow the propensities of thy own heart, the noisy mirth of the fool, and the dissipation of the profligate - go on; take thy full swing; but take this with thee, that "for all these things, God will judge thee;" and if the righteous are scarcely saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

Therefore remove sorrow - כעס caas, anger; every kind of violent passion, all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. "Childhood and youth are vanity;" they pass away and come to nothing. Eternity alone is permanent; live for eternity.

The waters - Freely and liberally bestow it upon the waters; upon those poor creatures, on whom it may seem to be as utterly lost, as the seed which a man casts into the sea or river. Find it - It shall certainly be restored to thee, either by God or men. This is added to prevent an objection, and to quicken us to the duty enjoyned. After - The return may be slow, but it is sure, and will be so much the more plentiful.

Give - A part of thy estate or provisions. He alludes to the ancient custom, whereby the master of the feast distributed several parts to each guest, and withal sent portions to the poor. To eight - To as many as thou art able. For - Great calamities may come whereby thou mayest be brought to poverty, and so disabled from doing good.

The clouds - Learn, O man, the practice of liberality from the very lifeless creatures, from the clouds; which when they are filled with water, do not hoard it up, but plentifully pour it forth for the refreshment both of the fruitful field and the barren wilderness. Therefore, let us just not bring forth the fruits of righteousness, because death will shortly cut us down, and we shall then be determined to unchangeable happiness or misery, according as our works have been.

He - He who neglects the necessary works of sowing and reaping, because the weather is not exactly suitable to his desires will lose his harvest. Whereby he intimates, that men will never do good here, which is expressed by sowing, and consequently not receive good hereafter, which is called reaping, if they be discouraged from it by every doubt and difficulty.

The spirit - Of the soul of man, how it comes into the child in the womb; or how it is united with the body; or how and whether it goes out of the body. The works - What God is doing and will do with thee or others; the counsels and methods of God's providence. Therefore use the present opportunity.

In the morning - Early and late, in all seasons and occasions; do it speedily and continually, be not weary of it. Sow - Do all good works. With - hold not - From working or giving.

Truly - It cannot be denied that life is in itself desirable.

Rejoice - Enjoy all the comforts, and escape all the embitterments of human life, all his days. Darkness - Of death, or of the state of the dead. Many - Far more than the days of this short life. All - All things which befall any man belonging only to this life, are but vain, because they are short and transitory.

Rejoice - Indulge thy humour, and take thy fill of delights. And walk - Whatsoever thine eye or heart lusteth after, deny it not to them. But know - But in the midst of thy jollity consider thy reckoning.

Sorrow - Sensual and disorderly lusts, which he elegantly calls sorrow, to intimate, that although such practices at present gratify mens senses, yet they will shortly bring them to intolerable sorrows. Evil - All evil desires, tho' now they seem good to thee. Vanity - Most vain. The time of youth is vanishing and transitory, and old age and death will speedily come, against which every wise man will take care to lay in solid provisions and comforts.

1 CAst thy bread upon the waters ; for thou shalt find it after many days .

Solomon having discovered diverse vanities, and amongst others the vanity of heaping up Riches, he now teacheth us that it is our Interest as well as Duty, not so much to lay them up, as to lay them out in pious and charitable uses; and having taught us the true and best use of worldly things, for our present comfort and benefit, which is to enjoy them with a chearful and contented Mind, he now directs us to the best improvement of them, for our future and greater advantage; and having acquainted us with our duty towards our Superiours, he now directs us in our carriage towards our Inferiours, and especially to such of them as are poor. The sense of these words is either 1. Cast thy seed (which is here called Bread, as it is also Iob 28. 5. Isa. 28. 28. and elsewhere) beside (for so the Hebrew particle, al, is oft used) the waters, i. e. either by the Rivers side, or in moist and waterish grounds, which usually are very fruitful. Or 2. Cast (freely and liberally bestow) thy bread (i. e. thy Money or Provisions, which are oft signified by the name of bread. By saying thy bread, he cautions us that we give away only that which is our own, and not that which is anothers; as they do who give either what they get from others by fraud or power, or what they owe to others, and are unable to pay, and so exercise Charity to the hindrance of Justice, or of the payment of their just debts,) upon the waters, i. e. upon those poor Creatures, upon whom, by reason of their unthankfulness or inability to make any returns to thee, it may seem to be as utterly lost as the seed which a man casts into the Sea or River. This sense agrees much better, 1. With the words; for he doth not barely mention the waters, (for then the particle, al, might have been translated beside) but the face, i. e. the surface or top, of the waters, in which, and such like cases, al, constantly signifies upon. 2. With the design and scope of the place, which is to persuade men to be liberal and charitable, notwithstanding the discouragements which they meet with in so doing, of which see the next clause, and the next verse.

It shall not be lost, as covetous men, or thine own corrupt heart, may suggest, but it shall certainly be restored unto thee, either by God or by Men, and that with great Honour and Advantage. This is added to prevent an objection, and to quicken us to the duty enjoined.

Not immediately, but in due time, and when you least expect it. So you must be content to wait for it with Patience, as the Husbandman doth for the fruits of the Earth.

Marginal references: Heb. upon [illegible: 1 word] face of the [illegible: 1 word].; Deut. 15. 10. [illegible: 1 word]. 19. 17. Mat. 10. 42.

2 Give a portion to seven, and also to eight ; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth .

A part of thy Estate or Provisions. He alludes to the ancient custom, whereby the Master of the Feast did distribute several parts to each Guest, and withal sent portions to the poor: of which custom see 2 Sam. 6. 19. Neh. 8. 10, 12. Est. 9. 22.

To as many as thou art able; a certain number for an uncertain, as Mic. 5. 5. and oft elsewhere.

Great calamities may come, whereby thou maist be brought to poverty, & so both utterly lose that blessed opportunity of doing good, which now thou hast in thine hands, whereby thou maist gain unspeakable Honour, and Comfort, and Advantage to thy self, and moreover need the Charity of others, which thou maist comfortably expect, either from Men, or at least from the powerful Providence of God, disposing the hearts of men to pity and help thee, if thou hast been kind and merciful to others, as on the contrary they can expect no Mercy from God or Men, who have shewed no Mercy to others. Thus he not only answers but retorts the Argument by which the covetous man excuseth his uncharitableness, because he must lay up against a rainy day.

Marginal references: P[illegible: 1+ letters]. 112. 9. [illegible: 1 word]. 6. 30.

3 If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth : and if the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north; in the place where the tree falleth there it shall be .

Learn, O man, the practice of liberality from the very lifeless Creatures, from the Clouds; which when they are filled with water, do not hoard it up, or keep it to themselves, but plentifully pour it forth for the refreshment both of the fruitful field and of the barren wilderness.

These words contain either 1. An Argument to persuade Men to Charity, because they must shortly fall or die, and then all opportunity of being charitable will be lost, and they must expect certainly and eternally to reap whatsoever they have sown, whether it hath been Mercy or Unmercifulness. Or rather 2. An Answer to a common Objection against it, because we are not certain whether the person who desires our Charity doth really need it, or be worthy of it. To this he answers, As a Tree when it falls, either by the violence of the wind, or being cut down by its owners order, it is not considerable whether it falls Southward or Northward, for there it lies ready for the Masters use; so thy Charity, though it may possibly be misapplied by thee, or abused by the Receiver, yet being conscientiously given by thee, it shall assuredly return to thee, and thou shalt reap the fruit of it.

4 He that observeth the wind, shall not sow, and he that regardeth the clouds, shall not reap .

He who neglects or delays the necessary works of sowing and reaping, because the weather is not exactly suitable to his desires, may possibly lose his Harvest. Whereby he intimates what is easily understood out of the foregoing verses, that Men will never do good here, which is expressed by sowing, Psal. 112. 9. 2 Cor. 9. 6. and consequently not receive good hereafter, which is called reaping, Gal. 6. 7, 8. if they be discouraged and hindred from it by every doubt or difficulty, such as covetous worldlings object to themselves, that others either do not want their Charity, or will abuse it, that they may possibly need it hereafter.

5 As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit , nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child; even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all.

Of the Spirit or Soul of Man, how it first comes into the Body of the child in the Womb, whether from God by Creation, or from the Parents by Propagation; nor how it is united with, and so fixed in the Body that it cannot get out of it when it would; nor how and whether it goes out of the Body; all which things are great mysteries. Others translate it, of the wind, whence it cometh, and whither it goeth, as is observed Iob. 3. 8. or how violently it will blow, or how long it will last. But the former Translation seems to agree better with the following clause.

i. e. The whole Body, which is elsewhere signified by the Bones, as Psal. 34. 20. & 35. 10. because they are a principal part, and the very foundation and support of the Body.

How it comes to pass that one and the same small quantity of seed should diversifie itself into skin, and flesh, and sinews, and veins, and bones, and intrals, or how it receiveth nourishment and growth.

What God is doing and will do with thee or others, the Counsels and Methods of Gods Providence in the future time of thy Life, what evil God will send upon the Earth, v. 2. or what weather he will send, of which v. 4. how long or how little a while God will continue thy Life or Estate, and how soon God will call thee to an account. These and many other future events thou canst not foresee, and therefore thy Wisdom and Duty is to cast off all distracting cares, and distrustful fears about them, and chearfully to commit thy self, and all thy affairs, into the Hand of God in well-doing.

Marginal references: Or, of the wind, Joh. 3. 8.; Ps. 139. 14, 15.

6 In the morning sow thy seed , and in the evening with-hold not thine hand : for thou knowest not whether shall prosper , either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good .

Early and late, in all seasons and occasions, do it speedily and continually, be not weary of it.

Do all good works, and especially that of Alms-giving, as sowing is understood, 2 Cor. 9. 6. Gal. 6. 7.

Early and late, in all seasons and occasions, do it speedily and continually, be not weary of it.

From working or giving.

Which shall prosper most, as the next clause explains it; the positive Degree being put for the comparative, or the Superlative, which is not unusual in the Hebrew Text. Which shall best answer thine end, or do most good to others, or which shall tend most to the comfort of thy great and last account: for thy Morning-Alms may possibly be given to an unworthy person, or to one who did not need it, and will abuse it, and thy Evening-Alms may fall upon a person of eminent worth, yea, upon an Angel in humane shape, which is remembred as a motive to Hospitality, Heb. 13. 2. or upon one in extream necessity, who might possibly have perished both in Soul and Body, if thou hadst not comforted and relieved him: Or, one time thou maist give with more sincere Intention, and with more tender compassion than another time, and so one will be more right and more acceptable to God than the other

Equally successful to the receiver, or to the giver.

Marginal references: Heb. shall be right.

7 Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun .

It cannot be denied that this present Life (which is called light, Iob 3. 20. & 33. 30. Psal. 56. 13. and which is expressed Synecdochically, by seeing the Sun, Eccl. 6. 5. & 7. 11.) is in itself a great blessing, and very desirable; but it is not perpetual nor satisfactory; which is here implied and expressed in the nex[illegible: 1+ letters] verse.

8 But if a man live many years , and rejoice in them all ; yet let him remember the days of darkness , for they shall be many . All that cometh is vanity.

Which is a priviledge granted but to few persons comparatively.

And suppose he enjoy all the comforts, and escape all the imbitterments of humane Life, all his days: which also is a great rarity.

It is his Duty and Interest seriously to consider.

Of death, or of the state of the dead, which is oft expressed by darkness, as Iob 10. 21. Psal. 88. 12. &c. and here is opposed to the foregoing Light.

i. e. Far more than the days of this short Life, especially if to the time of lying in the Grave be added that greater and utter darkness which is reserved for impenitent sinners, and which is everlasting, Mat. 22. 13. & 25. 30. 2 Pet. 2. 17. Iud. v. 13. And this is added for the caution of mankind, that they may not rejoice excessively in, nor content themselves with the happiness of the present Life, but may seek for somthing more durable, and more satisfactory.

All things which befall any man belonging only to this Life, whether they be comfortable or vexatious, they are but vain and inconsiderable, because they are short and transitory.

9 Rejoice , O young man , in thy youth, and let thy heart chear thee in the days of thy youth; and walk in the way of thy heart, and in the sight of thine eyes : but know thou , that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment .

This verse is to be understood either 1. As a serious Advice to this purpose, seeing Life is short and transitory, improve it to the best advantage, take comfort in it whilest you may, only do it with moderation, and the fear of God. Or rather 2. As an Ironical concession, such as are usual both in Scripture, as 1 Kin. 18. 27. & 22. 15. Ezek. 28. 3, 4. Mat. 26. 45. and in other Authors. For this agrees much better with the context, and with the Expressions here used. And so the sense is, I foresee what evil use some men will make of what I have now said; Things being thus, Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we shall die, as they also reasoned, 1 Cor. 15. 32.

He speaks to young Men particularly, because they have both the greatest ability, and the strongest Inclinations to pursue sensual pleasures, and are most impatient either of Restraint or Admonition.

Indulge thy frolick and jolly humour, and take thy fill of delights.

Whatsoever thine Eye or Heart lusteth after, deny it not to them; as this Phrase is taken, Num. 15. 39. nor is it ever used in a good sense. Compare Iob 31. 7. Psal. 81. 12. Ier. 18. 12. 2 Pet. 2. 14. 1 Ioh. 2. 16.

But in the midst of thy feastings and jollity it will become thee, if thou art a reasonable Creature, to consider thy reckoning, and whether thou dost not purchase thy Gold too dear.

For all thy [illegible: 1+ letters]ollies and sinful Lusts, which thou sleightest as tricks of youth.

Will force thee to appear before his Judgment-seat, to give a serious account of all thy youthful and exorbitant courses, and to receive that sentence which thy own Conscience will then say thou dost justly deserve. And if thou likest thy sensuality upon these terms, much good may it do thee. I do not envy thee, nor desire to partake of thy delicates.

10 Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh ; for childhood and youth are vanity .

i. e. Sensual and disorderly Lusts, which he elegantly and emphatically calls sorrow, with respect to the foregoing words, to intimate, that although such practices do at present gratifie and delight mens Senses and vain Minds, yet they will shortly and certainly bring a man to intollerable and eternal sorrows, which it is thy Wisdom to prevent.

Or, as it is rendred in the margent, and by divers others, anger; a passion to which men are most prone in the heat of youth Whereby he may understand either anger against him for this sharp admonition; or rather against God, who hath laid such severe restraints upon them, and threatens such punishments to them for following their own natural Inclinations. So the sense is, do not quarrel with thy Judge, but submit and make thy Peace with him by declaring War against all thy Sins.

All evil Concupiscences or Lusts, which though now they seem good to thee, will another day appear to be very evil and bitter things.

From thy bodily members. Which he mentions not exclusively, as if he would allow them their spiritual evils, but emphatically, because young men to whom he is here speaking, are most given to fleshly or bodily Lusts.

i. e. Most vain, either 1. In their temper and dispositions. Young men are frothy, and foolish, and inconsiderate, whereby they run into manifold dangers, and therefore they shall do well to hearken to the Counsels of those who by their greater Wisdom and Experience, are more capable Judges of these matters. Or 2. In their condition. The time of Youth is vanishing and transitory, and Old-age and Death will speedily come, against which every man in his wits will take care to lay in solid provisions and comforts.

Marginal references: Or, anger.

Ecc 11:1 “Let thy bread go forth over the watery mirror: for in the course of many days shalt thou find it.” Most interpreters, chiefly the Talm., Midrash, and Targ.,The Midrash tells the following story: Rabbi Akiba sees a ship wrecked which carried in it one learned in the law. He finds him again actively engaged in Cappadocia. What whale, he asked him, has vomited thee out upon dry land? How hast thou merited this? The scribe learned in the law thereupon related that when he went on board the ship, he gave a loaf of bread to a poor man, who thanked him for it, saying: As thou hast saved my life, may thy life be saved. Thereupon Akiba thought of the proverb in Ecc 11:1. Similarly the Targ.: Extend to the poor the bread for thy support; they sail in ships over the water. regard this as an exhortation to charity, which although practised without expectation of reward, does not yet remain unrewarded at last. An Aram. proverb of Ben Sira’s (vid., Buxtorf’s Florilegium, p. 171) proceeds on this interpretation: “Scatter thy bread on the water and on the dry land; in the end of the days thou findest it again.” Knobel quotes a similar Arab. proverb from Diez' Denkwürdigkeiten von Asien (Souvenirs of Asia), II 106: “Do good; cast thy bread into the water: thou shalt be repaid some day.” See also the proverb in Goethe’s Westöst. Divan, compared by Herzfeld. Voltaire, in his Précis de l'Ecclésiaste en vers, also adopts this rendering:Repandez vos bien faits avec magnificence, Même aux moins vertueux ne les refusez pas. Ne vous informez pas de leur reconnaissance - Il est grand, il est beau de faire des ingrats.

That instead of “into the water (the sea)” of these or similar proverbs, Koheleth uses here the expression, “on the face of (על־פּני) the waters,” makes no difference: Eastern bread has for the most part the form of cakes, and is thin (especially such as is prepared hastily for guests, 'ughoth or matstsoth, Gen 18:6; Gen 19:3); so that when thrown into the water, it remains on the surface (like a chip of wood, Hos 10:7), and is carried away by the stream. But שׁלּח, with this reference of the proverb to beneficence, is strange; instead of it, the word השׁלך was rather to be expected; the lxx renders by ἀπόστειλον; the Syr., shadar; Jerome, mitte; Venet. πέμπε; thus by none is the pure idea of casting forth connected with שׁלּח. And the reason given does not harmonize with this reference: “for in the course of many days (berov yamin, cf. mērov yamim, Isa 24:22) wilt thou find it” (not “find it again,” which would be expressed by תּשׁוּב תּם). This indefinite designation of time, which yet definitely points to the remote future, does not thus indicate that the subject is the recompense of noble self-renunciation which is sooner or later rewarded, and often immediately, but exactly accords with the idea of commerce carried on with foreign countries, which expects to attain its object only after a long period of waiting. In the proper sense, they send their bread over the surface of the water who, as Psa 107:33 expresses, “do business in great waters.” It is a figure taken from the corn trade of a seaport, an illustration of the thought: seek thy support in the way of bold, confident adventure.The Greek phrase σπείρειν πόντον, “to sow the sea” = to undertake a fruitless work, is of an altogether different character; cf. Amo 6:12.

Bread in לח is the designation of the means of making a living or gain, and bread in תּמצאנּוּ the designation of the gain (cf. Ecc 9:11). Hitzig’s explanation: Throw thy bread into the water = venture thy hope, is forced; and of the same character are all the attempts to understand the word of agricultural pursuits; e.g., by van der Palm: sementem fac muxta aquas (or: in loca irrigua); Grätz even translates: “Throw thy corn on the surface of the water,” and understands this, with the fancy of a Martial, of begetting children. Mendelssohn is right in remarking that the exhortation shows itself to be that of Koheleth-Solomon, whose ships traded to Tarshish and Ophir. Only the reference to self-sacrificing beneficence stands on a level with it as worthy of consideration. With Ginsburg, we may in this way say that a proverb as to our dealings with those who are above us, is followed by a proverb regarding those who are below us; with those others a proverb regarding judicious courageous venturing, ranks itself with a proverb regarding a rashness which is to be discountenanced; and the following proverb does not say: Give a portion, distribute of that which is thine, to seven and also to eight: for it is well done that thou gainest for thee friends with the unrighteous mammon for a time when thou thyself mayest unexpectedly be in want; but it is a prudent rule which is here placed by the side of counsel to bold adventure:

Ecc 11:2 “Divide the portion into seven, yea, eight (parts); for thou knowest not what evil shall happen on the earth.” With that other interpretation, עליך was to be expected instead of 'al-haarets; for an evil spreading abroad over the earth, a calamity to the land, does not yet fall on every one without exception; and why was not the רעה designated directly as personal? The impression of the words לשׁם ... תּן־, established in this general manner, is certainly this, that on the supposition of the possibility of a universal catastrophe breaking in, they advise a division of our property, so that if we are involved in it, our all may not at once be lost, but only this or that part of it, as Jacob, Gen 32:9, says. With reference to 1 a, it is most natural to suppose that one is counselled not to venture his all in one expedition, so that if this is lost in a storm, all might not at once be lost (Mendelss., Preston, Hitz., Stuart); with the same right, since 1 a is only an example, the counsel may be regarded as denoting that one must not commit all to one caravan; or, since in Ecc 11:2 לחמך is to be represented not merely as a means of obtaining gain, that one ought not to lay up all he has gathered in one place, Jdg 6:11; Jer 41:8 (Nachtigal); in short, that one ought not to put all into one business, or, as we say literally, venture all on one card. חלק is either the portion which one possesses, i.e., the measure of the possession that has fallen to him (Psa 16:5), or חלק נתן means to make portions, to undertake a division. In the first case, the expression ל ... נתן follows the scheme of Gen 17:20 : make the part into seven, yea, into eight (parts); in the second case, the scheme of Jos 18:5 : make division into seven, etc. We prefer the former, because otherwise that which is to be divided remains unknown; חלק is the part now in possession: make the much or the little that thou hast into seven or yet more parts. The rising from seven to eight is as at Job 5:19, and like the expression ter quaterque, etc. The same inverted order of words as in Ecc 11:2 is found in Est 6:3; 2Ki 8:12.

Ecc 11:3

With this verse there is not now a transition, εἰς ἄλλο γένος (as when one understands Ecc 11:1. of beneficence); the thoughts down to Ecc 11:6 move in the same track. “When the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves on the earth: and if a tree fall in the south, or in the north - the place where the tree falleth, there it lieth.” Man knows not - this is the reference of the verse backwards - what misfortune, as e.g., hurricane, flood, scarcity, will come upon the earth; for all that is done follows fixed laws, and the binding together of cause and effect is removed beyond the influence of the will of man, and also in individual cases beyond his knowledge. The interpunction of 3 a: אם־ימּלאוּ העבים גּשׁם (not as by v. d. Hooght, Mendelss., and elsewhere העבים, but as the Venet. 1515, 21, Michael. העבים, for immediately before the tone syllable Mahpach is changed into Mercha) appears on the first glance to be erroneous, and much rather it appears that the accentuation ought to be אם־ימלאו העבים גשם על־הארץ יריקו but on closer inspection גשׁם is rightly referred to the conditional antecedent, for “the clouds could be filled also with hail, and thus not pour down rain” (Hitz.). As in Ecc 4:10, the fut. stands in the protasis as well as in the apodosis. If A is done, then as a consequence B will be done; the old language would prefer the words והריקו ... נמלאו (כי) אם, Ewald, §355 b: as often as A happens, so always happens B. יריקוּ carries (without needing an external object to be supplied), as internally transitive, its object is itself: if the clouds above fill themselves with rain, they make an emptying, i.e., they empty themselves downwards. Man cannot, if the previous condition is fixed, change the necessary consequences of it.

The second conditioning clause: si ceciderit lignum ad austraum aut ad aquilonem, in quocunque loco cociderit ibi erit. Thus rightly Jerome. It might also be said: ואם־יפול עץ אם בדרום ואם בחפין, and if a tree falls, whether it be in the south or in the north; this sive ... sive would thus be a parenthetic parallel definition. Thus regarded, the protasis as it lies before us consists in itself, as the two veim in Amo 9:3, of two correlated halves: “And if a tree falls on the south side, and (or) if it fall on the north side,” i.e., whether it fall on the one or on the other. The Athnach, which more correctly belongs to יריקי, sets off in an expressive way the protasis over against the apodosis; that a new clause begins with veim yippol is unmistakeable; for the contrary, there was need for a chief disjunctive to בץ. Meqom is accus. loci for bimqom, as at Est 4:3; Est 8:17. Sham is rightly not connected with the relat. clause (cf. Eze 6:13); the relation is the same as at Est 1:7. The fut. יהוּא is formed from הוה, whence Ecc 2:22, as at Neh 6:6, and in the Mishna (Aboth, vi. 1;Vid., Baer, Abodath Jisrael, p. 290.Aboda zara, iii. 8) the part. הוה. As the jussive form יהי is formed from יהיה, so יהיה (יהוה) passes into יהוּ, which is here written יהוּא. Hitzig supposes that, according to the passage before us and Job 37:6, the word appears to have been written with א, in the sense of “to fall.” Certainly הוה has the root-signification of delabi, cadere, and derives from thence the meaning of accidere, exsistere, esse (vid., under Job 37:6); in the Book of Job, however, הוה may have this meaning as an Arabism; in the usus loq. of the author of the Book of Koheleth it certainly was no longer so used. Rather it may be said that יהוּ had to be written with an א added to distinguish it from the abbreviated tetragramm, if the א, as in אבוּא, Isa 28:12, and הל, Jos 10:24, does not merely represent the long terminal vowel (cf. the German-Jewish דוא = thou, דיא = the, etc.).Otherwise Ewald, §192b: יהוּא, Aram. of הוּא (as בּוא) = הוא.

Moreover, יהוּא, as written, approaches the Mishnic inflection of the fut. of the verb הוה; the sing. there is יהא, תּהא, אהא, and the plur. יהוּ, according to which Rashi, Aben Ezra, and Kimchi interpret יהוּא here also as plur.; Luzzatto, §670, hesitates, but in his Commentary he takes it as sing., as the context requires: there will it (the tree) be, or in accordance with the more lively meaning of the verb הוה: there will it find itself, there it continues to lie. As it is an invariable law of nature according to which the clouds discharge the masses of water that have become too heavy for them, so it is an unchangeable law of nature that the tree that has fallen before the axe or the tempest follows the direction in which it is impelled. Thus the future forms itself according to laws beyond the control of the human will, and man also has no certain knowledge of the future; wherefore he does well to be composed as to the worst, and to adopt prudent preventive measures regarding it. This is the reference of Ecc 11:3 looking backwards. But, on the other hand, from this incalculableness of the future-this is the reference of Ecc 11:3 looking forwards-he ought not to vie up fresh venturesome activity, much rather he ought to abstain from useless and impeding calculations and scruples.

Ecc 11:4 “He who observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.” The proverb is not to be understood literally, but in the spirit of the whole paraenesis: it is not directed against the provident observation, guided by experience, of the monitions and warnings lying in the present condition of the weather, but against that useless, because impossible, calculation of the coming state of the weather, which waits on from day to day, from week to week, till the right time for sowing and reaping has passed away. The seed-time requires rain so as to open up and moisten the ground; he who has too much hesitation observes (שׁמר) the wind whether it will bring rain (Pro 25:23), and on that account puts off the sowing of the seed till it is too late. The time of harvest requires warmth without rain (Pro 26:1); but the scrupulous and timid man, who can never be sure enough, looks at the clouds (cf. Isa 47:13), scents rainy weather, and finds now and never any security for the right weather for the gathering in of the fruits of the field. He who would accomplish and gain anything, must have confidence and courage to venture something; the conditions of success cannot be wholly reckoned upon, the future is in the hand of God, the All-Conditioning.

Ecc 11:5 “As thou hast no knowledge what is the way of the wind, like as the bones in the womb of her who is with child; so thou knowest not the work of God who accomplisheth all.” Luther, after Jerome, renders rightly: “As thou knowest not the way of the wind, and how the bones in the mother’s womb do grow; so,” etc. The clause, instar ossium in ventre praegnantis, is the so-called comparatio decurtata for instar ignorantiae tuae ossium, etc., like thy ignorance regarding the bones, i.e., the growth of the bones. כּעץ,The Targ. reads בעץ, and construes: What the way of the spirit in the bones, i.e., how the embryo becomes animated. because more closely defined by 'בּב הם, has not the art. used elsewhere after כ of comparison; an example for the regular syntax (vid., Riehm, under Psa 17:12) is found at Deu 32:2. That man has no power over the wind, we read at Ecc 8:8; the way of the wind he knows not (Joh 3:8), because he has not the wind under his control: man knows fundamentally only that which he rules. Regarding the origin and development of the embryo as a  secret which remained a mystery to the Israel. Chokma, vid., Psychol. p. 209ff. For עצם, cf. Psa 139:15 and Job 10:11. Regarding meleah, pregnant (like the Lat. plena). With fine discrimination, the fut. תדע לא in the apodosis interchanges with the particip. יודע אינך in the protasis, as when we say: If thou knowest not that, as a consequence thou shalt also not know this. As a man must confess his ignorance in respect to the way of the wind, and the formation of the child in the mother’s womb; so in general the work of God the All-Working lies beyond his knowledge: he can neither penetrate it in the entireness of its connection, nor in the details of its accomplishment. The idea 'oseh kol, Isa 44:24, is intentionally unfolded in a fut. relat. clause, because here the fut. in the natural world, as well as in human history, comes principally into view. For that very reason the words את־הכּל are also used, not: (as in passages where there is a reference to the world of creation in its present condition) eth-kol-elleh, Isa 66:2. Also the growth of the child in the mother’s womb is compared to the growth of the future in the womb of the present, out of which it is born (Pro 27:1; cf. Zep 2:2). What is established by this proof that man is not lord of the future, - viz. that in the activity of his calling he should shake off anxious concern about the future, - is once again inferred with the combination of what is said in Ecc 11:4 and Ecc 11:2 (according to our interpretation, here confirmed).

Ecc 11:6 “In the morning sow thy seed, and towards evening withdraw not thine hand; for thou knowest not which shall prosper, whether this or that, or whether both together shall well succeed.” The cultivation of the land is the prototype of all labour (Gen 2:15), and sowing is therefore an emblem of all activity in one’s pursuit; this general meaning for ידך ... אל־ (like Ecc 7:18; synon. with ידך ... אל־, Jos 10:6, of the older language) is to be accepted. The parallel word to babokěr is not ba'ěTrěv; for the cessation from work (Jdg 19:16; Psa 104:23) must not be excluded, but incessant labour (cf. Luk 9:62) must be continued until the evening. And as Ecc 11:2 counsels that one should not make his success depend exclusively on one enterprise, but should divide that which he has to dispose of, and at the same time make manifold trials; so here also we have the reason for restless activity of manifold labour from morning till evening: success or failure (Ecc 5:5) is in the hand of God, - man knows not which (quid, here, according to the sense, utrum) will prosper, whether (ה) this or (או) that, and whether (אמו), etc.; vid., regarding the three-membered disjunctive question, Ewald, §361; and regarding keěhhad, it is in common use in the more modern language, as e.g., also in the last benediction of the Shemone-Esra: כאחד ... ברכנו, “bless us, our Father, us all together.” שׁניהם goes back to the two זה, understood neut. (as at Ecc 7:18; cf. on the contrary, Ecc 6:5). The lxx rightly: καὶ ἐὰν (better: εἴτε) τὰ δύο επὶτὸ αυτὸ ἀγατηά. Luther, who translates: “and if both together it shall be better,” has been misled by Jerome.

The proverb now following shows its connection with the preceding by the copula vav. “The tendency of the advice in Ecc 11:1, Ecc 11:2, Ecc 11:6, to secure guarantees for life, is justified in Ecc 11:7 : life is beautiful, and worthy of being cared for.” Thus Hitzig; but the connection is simpler. It is in the spirit of the whole book that, along with the call to earnest activity, there should be the call to the pleasant enjoyment of life: he who faithfully labours has a right to enjoy his life; and this joy of life, based on fidelity to one’s calling, and consecrated by the fear of God, is the most real and the highest enjoyment here below. In this sense the fruere vita here connects itself with the labora:

Ecc 11:7-8 “And sweet is the light, and pleasant it is for the eyes to see the sun; for if a man live through many years, he ought to rejoice in them all, and remember the days of darkness; that there will be many of them. All that cometh is vain.” Dale translates the copula vav introducing Ecc 11:7 by “yes,” and Bullock by “truly,” both thus giving to it a false colouring. “Light,” Zöckler remarks, stands here for “life.” But it means only what the word denotes, viz., the light of life in this world (Ps. 56:14; Job 33:30), to which the sun, as the source of it, is related, as מאור is to אור. Cf. Eurip. Hippol., ὧ λαμπρὸς αἰθὴρ κ.τ.λ, and Iphigen. in Aulis, 1218-19, μὴ μ ̓ ἀπολέσης κ.τ.λ: “Destroy not my youth; to see the light is sweet,” etc. The ל in לע has the short vowel Pattach, here and at 1Sa 16:7, after the Masora.Cf. on the contrary, at Gen 3:6 and Pro 10:26, where it has the Kametz; cf. also Michlol 53 b.

The ki beginning Ecc 11:8 is translated by Knobel, Hitz., Ewald, and others by “ja” (yes); by Heiligstedt, as if a negative preceded by immo; but as the vav of Ecc 11:7 is copulative “and,” so here the ki is causal “for.” If it had been said: man must enjoy himself as long as he lives, for the light is sweet, etc., then the joy would have its reason in the opportunity given for it. Instead of this, the occasion given for joy has its reason in this, that a man ought to rejoice, viz., according to God’s arrangement and ordinance: the light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun; for it ought thus to be, that a man, however long he may live, should continue to enjoy his fair life, especially in view of the night which awaits him. Ki im are not here, as at Ecc 3:12; Ecc 8:15, where a negative precedes, to be taken together; but ki assigns the reason, and im begins a hypothetical protasis, as at Exo 8:17, and frequently. Im, with the conclusion following, presents something impossible, as e.g., Psa 50:12, si esurirem, or also the extreme of that which is possible as actual, e.g., Isa 7:18, si peccata vestra sint instar coccini. In the latter case, the clause with the concessive particle may be changed into a sentence with a concessive conjunctive, as at Isa 10:22 : “for though thy people, O Israel, be as numerous as the sand of the sea;” and here: “though a man may live ever so many years.” The second ki after ויז is the explicat. quod, as at Ecc 2:24; Ecc 4:4; Ecc 8:17, etc.: he must remember the days of darkness, that there shall be many of them, and, at all events, not fewer than the many years available for the happy enjoyment of life. In this connection kol-shebba' denotes all that will come after this life. If Hitz. remarks that the sentence: “All that is future is vanity,” is a false thought, this may now also be said of his own sentence extracted from the words: “All that is, is transitory.” For all that is done, in time may pass away; but it is not actually transitory (הבל). But the sentence also respects not all that is future, but all that comes after this life, which must appear as vain (hěvel) to him for whom, as for Koheleth, the future is not less veiled in the dark night of Hades, as it was for Horace, i. 4. 16 s.:“Jam te premet nox fabulaeque Manes Et domus exilis Plutonia.”

Also, for Koheleth as for Horace, iv. 7. 16, man at last becomes pulvis et umbra, and that which thus awaits him is hevel. Tyler is right, that “the shadowy and unsubstantial condition of the dead and the darkness of Sheol” is thus referred to. הבּא signifies not that which is nascens, but futurum, e.g., Sanhedrin 27 a, “from the present ולהבא and for the future” (for which, elsewhere, the expression לעתיד לבא is used). The Venet. construes falsely: All (the days) in which vanity will overtake (him); and Luther, referring בא as the 3rd pers. to the past, follows the misleading of Jerome. Rightly the lxx and Theod.: πᾶν τὸ ἐρξηόμενον.

Ecc 11:9 “Rejoice, young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know, that for all this God will bring thee to judgment.” The parallel בּימי shows that the beth in בּילד (with ד aspirated) does not introduce the reason of the joy, but the time suitable for it. Instead of veyithav libbecha, “let thy heart be of good cheer,” as the expression might also be, the words are vithivecha libbecha, “make thy heart of good cheer to thee,” - so, viz., that from this centre brightness may irradiate thy countenance (Pro 15:13) and thy whole personality, vid., Psychologie, p. 249. Vehhuroth, the period of youth, is here and at Ecc 12:1 = Num 11:28, vehhurim, as the only once occurring ne'uroth, Jer 32:30, is = the elsewhere generally used ne'urim; the form in ôth is the more modern (cf. keluloth, Jer 2:2). “Ways of the heart” are thus ways into which the impulse of the heart leads, and which satisfy the heart. מר עין, at Ecc 6:9, designates the pleasure felt in the presence of the object before one; here, a sight which draws and fastens the eyes upon it. The Chethı̂b has the plur. מראי, which is known to the language (Dan 1:15; Sol 2:14), and which would here designate the multitude of the objects which delight the eyes, which is not unsuitable; the Pih. הלּך denotes also elsewhere, frequently, e.g., Psa 131:1, walking, in an ethical sense; Hitz., Zöckl., and others interpret the first ב as specifying the sphere, and the second as specifying the norm (“according to the sight of thine eyes”); but they both introduce that wherein he ought to act freely and joyfully: in the ways of thy heart, into which it draws thee; and in the sight of thine eyes, towards which they direct themselves with interest. The lxx B. renders, “and not after the sight of thine eyes.” This “not” (μή), which is wanting in A.C., is an interpolation, in view of the warning, Num 15:39, against following the impulse of the heart and of the eyes; the Targ. also therefore has: “be prudent with reference to the sight of thine eyes.” But this moralizing of the text is superfluous, since the call to the youthful enjoyment of life is accompanied with the nota bene: but know that God will bring thee to an account for all this; and thus it excludes sinful sensual desire. In the midst of an address, where a yet closer definition follows, בּמש is thus punctuated, Ecc 12:14; Job 14:3; Psa 143:3; here, in the conclusion of the sentence, it is במש. Hitzig supposes that there is denoted by it, that the sins of youth are punished by chronic disease and abandonment in old age; Knobel and others understand by the judgment, the self-punishment of sins by all manner of evil consequences, which the O.T. looks upon as divinely inflicted penalties. But in view of the facts of experience, that God’s righteous requital is in this life too frequently escaped, Ecc 8:14, the author, here and at Ecc 3:17; Ecc 12:14, postulates a final judgment, which removes the contradiction of this present time, and which must thus be in the future; he has no clear idea of the time and manner of this final judgment, but his faith in God places the certainty of it beyond all doubt. The call to rejoice is now completed by the call to avoid all that occasions inward and outward sorrow.

Ecc 11:10 “And remove sorrow from thy heart, and banish evil from thy flesh: for youth and age, not yet grown to grey hairs, are vain.” Jerome translates: aufer iram a corde tuo, and remarks in his Comm.: in ira omnes perturbationes animi comprehendit; but כּעס (R. כס, contundere, confringere) does not signify anger, but includes both anger and sorrow, and thus corresponds to the specific ideas, “sadness, moroseness, fretfulness.” The clause following, Jerome translates:et amove malitiam a carne tua, with the remark: in carnis malitia universas significat corporis voluptates; but רעה is not taken in an ethical, but in a physical sense: כעס is that which brings sorrow to the heart; and רעה, that which brings evil to the flesh (בשׂר, opp. לב, Ecc 2:3; Pro 14:30). More correctly than the Vulgate, Luther renders: “banish sorrow from thy heart, and put evil from thy body.” He ought to free himself from that which is injurious to the inner and the outer man, and hurtfully affects it; for youth, destined for and disposed to joy, is hevel, i.e., transitory, and only too soon passes away. Almost all modern interpreters (excepting the Jewish), in view of Psa 110:3, gives to שׁחרוּת the meaning of “the dawn of the morning;” but the connection with ילדוּת would then be tautological; the Mishn.-Midrash usus loq., in conformity with which the Targ. translates, “days of black hair,” proves that the word does not go back to שׁחר, morning dawn, morning-red, but immediately to שׁחור, black, and as the contrast of שׂיבה (non-bibl. שׂיבוּת, סיב, סב), canities, denotes the time of black hair, and thus, in the compass of its conception, goes beyond ילדות, since it comprehends both the period of youth and of manhood, and thus the whole period during which the strength of life remains unbroken.The Mishna, Nedarim iii. 8, jurist. determines that שׁחורי הראשׁ denotes men, with the exclusion of women (whose hair is covered) and children. It is disputed (vid., Baer’s Abodath Jisrael, p. 279) whether תּשׁחרת, Aboth iii. 16, Derech erez c. II., Midrash under Lam 2:11, is = שׁחרוּת, but without right; ben-tishhorěth is used for a grown-up son in full manly strength.

The Obligations to Be Liberal; Answers to Objections against Liberality.

1 Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days. 2 Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth. 3 If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth: and if the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be. 4 He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap. 5 As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all. 6 In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.

Solomon had often, in this book, pressed it upon rich people to take the comfort of their riches themselves; here he presses it upon them to do good to others with them and to abound in liberality to the poor, which will, another day, abound to their account. Observe,

I. How the duty itself is recommended to us, v. 1. 1. Cast thy bread upon the waters, thy bread-corn upon the low places (so some understand it), alluding to the husbandman, who goes forth, bearing precious seed, sparing bread-corn from his family for the seedness, knowing that without that he can have no harvest another year; thus the charitable man takes from his bread-corn for seed-corn, abridges himself to supply the poor, that he may sow beside all waters (Isa. xxxii. 20), because as he sows so he must reap, Gal. vi. 7. We read of the harvest of the river, Isa. xxiii. 3. Waters, in scripture, are put for multitudes (Rev. xvi. 5), and there are multitudes of poor (we do not want objects of charity); waters are put also for mourners: the poor are men of sorrows. Thou must give bread, the necessary supports of life, not only give good words but good things, Isa. lviii. 7. It must be thy bread, that which is honestly got; it is no charity, but injury, to give that which is none of our own to give; first do justly, and then love mercy. "Thy bread, which thou didst design for thyself, let the poor have a share with thee, as they had with Job, ch. xxxi. 17. Give freely to the poor, as that which is cast upon the waters. Send it a voyage, send it as a venture, as merchants that trade by sea. Trust it upon the waters; it shall not sink."

2. "Give a portion to seven and also to eight, that is, be free and liberal in works of charity." (1.) "Give much if thou hast much to give, not a pittance, but a portion, not a bit or two, but a mess, a meal; give a large dole, not a paltry one; give good measure (Luke vi. 38); be generous in giving, as those were when, on festival days, they sent portions to those for whom nothing was prepared (Neh. viii. 10), worthy portions." (2.) "Give to many, to seven, and also to eight; if thou meet with seven objects of charity, give to them all, and then, if thou meet with an eighth, give to that, and if with eight more, give to them all too. Excuse not thyself with the good thou hast done from the good thou hast further to do, but hold on, and mend. In hard times, when the number of the poor increases, let thy charity be proportionably enlarged." God is rich in mercy to all, to us, though unworthy; he gives liberally, and upbraids not with former gifts, and we must be merciful as our heavenly Father is.

II. The reasons with which it is pressed upon us. Consider,

1. Our reward for well-doing is very certain. "Though thou cast it upon the waters, and it seem lost, thou thinkest thou hast given thy good word with it and art likely never to hear of it again, yet thou shalt find it after many days, as the husbandman finds his seed again in a plentiful harvest and the merchant his venture in a rich return. It is not lost, but well laid out, and well laid up; it brings in full interest in the present gifts of God's providence, and graces and comforts of his Spirit; and the principal is sure, laid up in heaven, for it is lent to the Lord." Seneca, a heathen, could say, Nihil magis possidere me credam, quam bene donata—I possess nothing so completely as that which I have given away. Hochabeo quodcunque dedi; hæ sunt divitiæ certæ in quacunque sortis humanæ levitate—Whatever I have imparted I still possess; these riches remain with me through all the vicissitudes of life. "Thou shalt find it, perhaps not quickly, but after many days; the return may be slow, but it is sure and will be so much the more plentiful." Wheat, the most valuable grain, lies longest in the ground. Long voyages make the best returns.

2. Our opportunity for well-doing is very uncertain: "Thou knowest not what evil may be upon the earth, which may deprive thee of thy estate, and put thee out of a capacity to do good, and therefore, while thou hast wherewithal, be liberal with it, improve the present season, as the husbandman in sowing his ground, before the frost comes." We have reason to expect evil upon the earth, for we are born to trouble; what the evil may be we know not, but that we may be ready for it, whatever it is, it is our wisdom, in the day of prosperity, to be in good, to be doing good. Many make use of this as an argument against giving to the poor, because they know not what hard times may come when they may want themselves; whereas we should therefore the rather be charitable, that, when evil days come, we may have the comfort of having done good while we were able; we would then hope to find mercy both with God and man, and therefore should now show mercy. If by charity we trust God with what we have, we put it into good hands against bad times.

III. How he obviates the objections which might be made against this duty and the excuses of the uncharitable.

1. Some will say that what they have is their own and they have it for their own use, and will ask, Why should we cast it thus upon the waters? Why should I take my bread, and my flesh, and give it to I know not whom? So Nabal pleaded, 1 Sam. xxv. 11. "Look up, man, and consider how soon thou wouldest be starved in a barren ground, if the clouds over thy head should plead thus, that they have their waters for themselves; but thou seest, when they are full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth, to make it fruitful, till they are wearied and spent with watering it, Job xxxvii. 11. Are the heavens thus bountiful to the poor earth, that is so far below them, and wilt thou grudge thy bounty to thy poor brother, who is bone of thy bone? Or thus: some will say, Though we give but little to the poor, yet, thank God, we have as charitable a heart as any." Nay, says Solomon, if the clouds be full of rain, they will empty themselves; if there be charity in the heart, it will show itself, Jam. ii. 15, 16. He that draws out his soul to the hungry will reach forth his hand to them, as he has ability.

2. Some will say that their sphere of usefulness is low and narrow; they cannot do the good that they see others can, who are in more public stations, and therefore they will sit still and do nothing. Nay, says he, in the place where the tree falls, or happens to be, there it shall be, for the benefit of those to whom it belongs; every man must labour to be a blessing to that place, whatever it is, where the providence of God casts him; wherever we are we may find good work to do if we have but hearts to do it. Or thus: some will say, "Many present themselves as objects of charity who are unworthy, and I do not know whom it is fit to give it to." "Trouble not thyself about that" (says Solomon); "give as discreetly as thou canst, and then be satisfied that, though the person should prove undeserving of thy charity, yet, if thou give it with an honest heart, thou shalt not lose thy reward; which way soever the charity is directed, north or south, thine shall be the benefit of it." This is commonly applied to death; therefore let us do good, and, as good trees, bring forth the fruits of righteousness, because death will shortly come and cut us down, and we shall then be determined to an unchangeable state of happiness or misery according to what was done in the body. As the tree falls at death, so it is likely to lie to all eternity.

3. Some will object the many discouragements they have met with in their charity. They have been reproached for it as proud and pharisaical; they have but little to give, and they shall be despised if they do not give as others do; they know not but their children may come to want it, and they had better lay it up for them; they have taxes to pay and purchases to make; they know not what use will be made of their charity, nor what construction will be put upon it; these, and a hundred such objections, he answers, in one word (v. 4): He that observes the wind shall not sow, which signifies doing good; and he that regards the clouds shall not reap, which signifies getting good. If we stand thus magnifying every little difficulty and making the worst of it, starting objections and fancying hardship and danger where there is none, we shall never go on, much less go through with our work, nor make any thing of it. If the husbandman should decline, or leave off, sowing for the sake of every flying cloud, and reaping for the sake of every blast of wind, he would make but an ill account of his husbandry at the year's end. The duties of religion are as necessary as sowing and reaping, and will turn as much to our own advantage. The discouragements we meet with in these duties are but as winds and clouds, which will do us no harm, and which those that put on a little courage and resolution will despise and easily break through. Note, Those that will be deterred and driven off by small and seeming difficulties from great and real duties will never bring any thing to pass in religion, for there will always arise some wind, some cloud or other, at least in our imagination, to discourage us. Winds and clouds are in God's hands, are designed to try us, and our Christianity obliges us to endure hardness.

4. Some will say, "We do not see in which way what we expend in charity should ever be made up to us; we do not find ourselves ever the richer; why should we depend upon the general promise of a blessing on the charitable, unless we saw which way to expect the operation of it?" To this he answers, "Thou knowest not the work of God, nor is it fit thou shouldst. Thou mayest be sure he will make good his word of promise, though he does not tell thee how, or which way, and though he works in a way by himself, according to the counsels of his unsearchable wisdom. He will work, and none shall hinder; but then he will work and none shall direct or prescribe to him. The blessing shall work insensibly but irresistibly. God's work shall certainly agree with his word, whether we see it or no." Our ignorance of the work of God he shows, in two instances:—(1.) We know not what is the way of the Spirit, of the wind (so some), we know not whence it comes, or whither it goes, or when it will turn; yet the seamen lie ready waiting for it, till it turns about in favour of them; so we must do our duty, in expectation of the time appointed for the blessing. Or it may be understood of the human soul; we know that God made us, and gave us these souls, but how they entered into these bodies, are united to them, animate them, and operate upon them, we know not; the soul is a mystery to itself, no marvel then that the work of God is so to us. (2.) We know not how the bones are fashioned in the womb of her that is with child. We cannot describe the manner either of the formation of the body or of its information with a soul; both, we know, are the work of God, and we acquiesce in his work, but cannot, in either, trace the process of the operation. We doubt not of the birth of the child that is conceived, though we know not how it is formed; nor need we doubt of the performance of the promise, though we perceive not how things work towards it. And we may well trust God to provide for us that which is convenient, without our anxious disquieting cares, and therein to recompense us for our charity, since it was without any knowledge or forecast of ours that our bodies were curiously wrought in secret and our souls found the way into them; and so the argument is the same, and urged to the same intent, with that of our Saviour (Matt. vi. 25), The life, the living soul that God has given us, is more than meat; the body, that God has made us, is more than raiment; let him therefore that has done the greater for us be cheerfully depended upon to do the less.

5. Some say, "We have been charitable, have given a great deal to the poor, and never yet saw any return for it; many days are past, and we have not found it again," to which he answers (v. 6), "Yet go on, proceed and persevere in well-doing; let slip no opportunity. In the morning sow thy seed upon the objects of charity that offer themselves early, and in the evening do not withhold thy hand, under pretence that thou art weary; as thou hast opportunity, be doing good, some way or other, all the day long, as the husbandman follows his seedness from morning till night. In the morning of youth lay out thyself to do good; give out of the little thou hast to begin the world with; and in the evening of old age yield not to the common temptation old people are in to be penurious; even then withhold not thy hand, and think not to excuse thyself from charitable works by purposing to make a charitable will, but do good to the last, for thou knowest not which work of charity and piety shall prosper, both as to others and as to thyself, this or that, but hast reason to hope that both shall be alike good. Be not weary of well-doing, for in due season, in God's time and that is the best time, you shall reap," Gal. vi. 9. This is applicable to spiritual charity, our pious endeavours for the good of the souls of others; let us continue them, for, though we have long laboured in vain, we may at length see the success of them. Let ministers, in the days of their seedness, sow both morning and evening; for who can tell which shall prosper?

A Caution to the Young; Exhortation to Early Piety.

7 Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun: 8 But if a man live many years, and rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many. All that cometh is vanity. 9 Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment. 10 Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity.

Here is an admonition both to old people and to young people, to think of dying, and get ready for it. Having by many excellent precepts taught us how to live well, the preacher comes now, towards the close of his discourse, to teach us how to die well and to put us in mind of our latter end.

I. He applies himself to the aged, writes to them as fathers, to awaken them to think of death, v. 7, 8. Here is, 1. A rational concession of the sweetness of life, which old people find by experience: Truly the light is sweet; the light of the sun is so; it is a pleasant thing for the eyes to behold it. Light was the first thing made in the formation of the great world, as the eye is one of the first in the formation of the body, the little world. It is pleasant to see the light; the heathen were so charmed with the pleasure of it that they worshipped the sun. It is pleasant by it to see other things, the many agreeable prospects this world gives us. The light of life is so. Light is put for life, Job iii. 20, 23. It cannot be denied that life is sweet. It is sweet to bad men because they have their portion in this life; it is sweet to good men because they have this life as the time of their preparation for a better life; it is sweet to all men; nature says it is so, and there is no disputing against it; nor can death be desired for its own sake, but dreaded, unless as a period to present evils or a passage to future good. Life is sweet, and therefore we have need to double a guard upon ourselves, lest we love it too well. 2. A caution to think of death, even in the midst of life, and of life when it is most sweet and we are most apt to forget death: If a man live many years, yet let him remember the days of darkness are coming. Here is, (1.) A summer's day supposed to be enjoyed—that life may continue long, even many years, and that, by the goodness of God, it may be made comfortable and a man may rejoice in them all. There are those that live many years in this world, escape many dangers, receive many mercies, and therefore are secure that they shall want no good, and that no evil shall befal them, that the pitcher which has come so often from the well safe and sound shall never come home broken. But who are those that live many years and rejoice in them all? Alas! none; we have but hours of joy for months of sorrow. However, some rejoice in their years, their many years, more than others; if these two things meet, a prosperous state and a cheerful spirit, these two indeed may do much towards enabling a man to rejoice in them all, and yet the most prosperous state has its alloys and the most cheerful spirit has its damps; jovial sinners have their melancholy qualms, and cheerful saints have their gracious sorrows; so that it is but a supposition, not a case in fact, that a man should live many years and rejoice in them all. But, (2.) Here is a winter's night proposed to be expected after this summer's day: Yet let this hearty old man remember the days of darkness, for they shall be many. Note, [1.] There are days of darkness coming, the days of our lying in the grave; there the body will lie in the dark; there the eyes see not, the sun shines not. The darkness of death is opposed to the light of life; the grave is a land of darkness, Job x. 21. [2.] Those days of darkness will be many; the days of our lying under ground will be more than the days of our living above ground. They are many, but they are not infinite; many as they are, they will be numbered and finished when the heavens are no more, Job xiv. 12. As the longest day will have its night, so the longest night will have its morning. [3.] It is good for us often to remember those days of darkness, that we may not be lifted up with pride, nor lulled asleep in carnal security, nor even transported into indecencies by vain mirth. [4.] Notwithstanding the long continuance of life, and the many comforts of it, yet we must remember the days of darkness, because those will certainly come, and they will come with much the less terror if we have thought of them before.

II. He applies himself to the young, and writes to them as children, to awaken them to think of death (v. 9, 10); here we have,

1. An ironical concession to the vanities and pleasures of youth: Rejoice, O young man! in thy youth. Some make this to be the counsel which the atheist and the epicure give to the young man, the poisonous suggestions against which Solomon, in the close of the verse, prescribes a powerful antidote. But it is more emphatic if we take it, as it is commonly understood, by way of irony, like that of Elijah to the priests of Baal (Cry aloud, for he is a god), or of Micaiah to Ahab (Go to Ramoth-Gilead, and prosper), or of Christ to his disciples, Sleep on now. "Rejoice, O young man! in thy youth, live a merry life, follow thy sports, and take thy pleasures; let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, cheer thee with its fancies and foolish hopes; entertain thyself with thy pleasing dreams; walk in the ways of thy heart; do whatever thou hast a mind to do, and stick at nothing that may gratify the sensual appetite. Quicquid libet, licet—Make thy will thy law. Walk in the ways of thy heart, and let thy heart walk after thy eyes, a rambling heart after a roving eye; what is pleasing in thy own eyes do it, whether it be pleasing in the eyes of God or no." Solomon speaks thus ironically to the young man to intimate, (1.) That this is that which he would do, and which he would fain have leave to do, in which he places his happiness and on which he sets his heart. (2.) That he wishes all about him would give him this counsel, would prophesy to him such smooth things as these, and cannot brook any advice to the contrary, but reckons those his enemies that bid him be sober and serious. (3.) To expose his folly, and the great absurdity of a voluptuous vicious course of life. The very description of it, if men would see things entirely, and judge of them impartially, is enough to show how contrary to reason those act that live such a life. The very opening of the cause is enough to determine it, without any argument. (4.) To show that if men give themselves to such a course of life as this it is just with God to give them up to it, to abandon them to their own heart's lusts, that they may walk in their own counsels, Hos. iv. 7.

2. A powerful check given to these vanities and pleasures: "Know thou that for all these things God shall bring thee into judgment, and duly consider that, and then live such a luxurious life if thou canst, if thou darest." This is a kolasterion—a corrective to the foregoing concession, and plucks in the reins he had laid on the neck of the young man's lust. "Know then, for a certainty, that, if thou dost take such a liberty as this, it will be thy everlasting ruin; thou hast to do with a God who will not let it go unpunished." Note, (1.) There is a judgment to come. (2.) We must every one of us be brought into judgment, however we may now put far from us that evil day. (3.) We shall be reckoned with for all our carnal mirth and sensual pleasures in that day. (4.) It is good for all, but especially for young people, to know and consider this, that they may not, by the indulgence of their youthful lusts, treasure up unto themselves wrath against that day of wrath, the wrath of the Lamb.

3. A word of caution and exhortation inferred from all this, v. 10. Let young people look to themselves and manage well both their souls and their bodies, their heart and their flesh. (1.) Let them take care that their minds be not lifted up with pride, nor disturbed with anger, or any sinful passion: Remove sorrow, or anger, from thy heart; the word signifies any disorder or perturbation of the mind. Young people are apt to be impatient of check and control, to vex and fret at any thing that is humbling and mortifying to them, and their proud hearts rise against every thing that crosses and contradicts them. They are so set upon that which is pleasing to sense that they cannot bear any thing that is displeasing, but it goes with sorrow to their heart. Their pride often disquiets them, and makes them uneasy. "Put that away, and the love of the world, and lay thy expectations low from the creature, and then disappointments will not be occasions of sorrow and anger to thee." Some by sorrow here understand that carnal mirth described v. 9, the end of which will be bitterness and sorrow. Let them keep at a distance from every thing which will be sorrow in the reflection. (2.) Let them take care that their bodies be not defiled by intemperance, uncleanness, or any fleshly lusts: "Put away evil from the flesh, and let not the members of thy body be instruments of unrighteousness. The evil of sin will be the evil of punishment, and that which thou art fond of, as good for the flesh, because it gratifies the appetites of it, will prove evil, and hurtful to it, and therefore put it far from thee, the further the better."

III. The preacher, to enforce his admonition both to old and young, urges, as an effectual argument, that which is the great argument of his discourse, the vanity of all present things, their uncertainty and insufficiency. 1. He reminds old people of this (v. 8): All that comes is vanity; yea, though a man live many years and rejoice in them all, All that has come already, and all that is yet to come, how much soever men promise themselves from the concluding scenes, it is all vanity. What will be will do no more to make men happy than what has been. All that come into the world are vanity; they are altogether so, at their best estate. 2. He reminds young people of this: Childhood and youth are vanity. The dispositions and actions of childhood and youth have in them a great deal of impertinence and iniquity, sinful vanity, which young people have need to watch against and get cured. The pleasures and advantages of childhood and youth have in them no certainty, satisfaction, nor continuance. They are passing away; these flowers will soon wither, and these blossoms fall; let them therefore be knit into good fruit, which will continue and abound to a good account.

CHAP. XI. Verſ. 1. Caſt thy bread]

Acts and Mon. fol. 765. THine own well-gotten goods. Alms muſt not bee given (ſaid a Martyr) until it have ſweat in a mans hand. Let him labour working with his hands (ſaith the Apoſtle) that hee may have to give to him that needeth, Epheſ. 4.28. And the bountiful man giveth of his bread to the poor,Amos 2.8 ſaith Solomon, Prov. 22.9. God hateth to have ex rapina holocanſtum, a ſacrifice of things got by rapine and robbery: With ſuch Sacrifices God is not well-pleaſed. Wherefore if thou haſt of thine own, give: If not, better for thee to gratifie none, than to grate upon any, ſaith Auguſtine. When our Henry the third (an oppreſſing Prince) had ſent a load of Freeze to the Frier Minors to cloathe them,Dan. hiſt. 168 they returned the ſame with this meſſage, that hee ought not to give Alms of what hee had rent from the poor, [non-Latin text not transcribed] Buxtorf. neither would they accept of that abominable gift. The Hebrew word ſignifying Alms, ſignifies properly Juſtice; to intimate, that the matter of our alms ſhould bee goods juſtly gotten. Hence alſo the Jews call their Alms-box Kuphaſhel tſedaka, the cheſt of Juſtice. Into this box or basket, if thou caſt but bread (ſo it bee thy bread) brown bread, ſuch as thou haſt, and then wait for the Lord, when hee will return from the wedding with a full hand, thou ſhalt bee fed ſupernae menſae copioſis deliciis, as one ſaith, with the abundant dainties of the heavenly table.

[non-Latin text not transcribed]. Upon the waters] Heb. Upon the face of the waters, where it may ſeem clearly caſt away; as ſeed ſown upon the Sea, or a thing thrown down Avon (as wee ſay) no profit or praiſe to bee had by it. Or upon the waters, i. e. upon ſtrangers (if neceſſitous) whom wee never ſaw, and are never like to ſee again. Or upon the waters, i. e. upon ſuch as being hunger-bit, or hardly beſtead, do water their plants, being fed with bread of tears, as Pſal. 80.5. To this ſenſe Munster renders the words thus, Mitte panem tuum ſuper facies aquas, ſc. emittentes, caſt thy bread upon faces watered with tears. Or upon the waters, upon the ſurface of the waters, that it may be carried into the Ocean, where the multitude of waters is gathered together: ſo ſhall thine alms carried into Heaven bee found in the Ocean of Eternity, where there is a confluence of all comforts and contentments. Or laſtly, upon the waters, i. e. in loca irrigua, upon grounds well watered, moiſt and fertile ſoil,Blounts voy. p. 37 Herod. lib. 1. c. 193. Plin. lib. 6. c. 26. ſuch as is that by the River Nilus, where they do but throw in the ſeed, and they have four rich Harveſts, in leſs than four months: or as that in the Land of Shinar (where Babel was founded, Gen. 11.) that returns (if Herodotus and Pliny may bee beleeved) the ſeed, beyond credulity.

For thou ſhalt finde it after many daies] Thou ſhalt reap in due time, if thou faint not, ſlack not, withdraw not thy hand as verſ. 6. Mitte panem, &c. & in verbo Domini promitto tibi, &c. ſaith one, Caſt thy bread confidently without fear, and freely without compulſion, caſt it, though thou ſeem to caſt it away, and I dare promiſe thee in the name and word of the Lord,Greg. Thaum. Nequaquam infrugifera apparebit beneficentia, that thy bounty ſhall bee abundantly recompenſed into thy boſome. The liberal ſoul ſhall bee made fat, and hee that watereth ſhall bee watered himſelf, Prov. 11.25. See the Note there: See alſo my Common-place of Alms. Non pereunt ſed parturiunt pauperibus impenſa, That which is given to the poor is not loſt, but laid up. Not getting, but giving is the way to wealth, Prov. 19.17. Abigail for a ſmall preſent beſtowed on David, became a Queen, whereas churliſh Nabal was ſent to his place.

Verſ. 2. Give a portion to ſeven, and alſo to eight] A portion, i. e. a good deal, a fair proportion to a good many; as B. Hooper did to his board of beggers, whom hee fed every day by courſe, ſerving them by four at a meſs,Act. and Mon. f. 13 c 8. with whole and wholeſome meats. Or give a portion, i. e. a part, ſuch as thou canſt well part with, not ſtretching beyond the ſtaple, leſt yee mar all, whiles others are eaſed, and you burthened, but by an equality, &c. 2 Cor. 8.13, 14.Luk. 6 Give to him that asketh, ſaith our Saviour, ſcil. according to his neceſſity, and thine ability; Give with diſcretion, Pſal. 112. have a ſpecial reſpect to the family of faith, Gal. 6. thoſe excellent ones of the earth,Pſal. 16.3 in whom was Davids delight. The Jews from this Text grounded a cuſtome of giving alms to ſeven poor people every day, or to eight at utmoſt, if they ſaw cauſe. But here is a finite number put for an infinite, as when Chriſt bade Peter forgive his brother ſeventy times ſeven times, and as Micah 5.5. ſeven Shepheards, and eight principal men, ſignifie ſo many Shepheards, both Teachers and Rulers, as ſhall ſufficiently feed the flock of Chriſt, and defend it from enemies.

For thou knoweſt not what evil ſhall bee upon the earth] Therefore lay in luſtily; or rather, lay out liberally, and ſo lay up for a rainy day; thou mayeſt bee ſoon ſhred of thy goods, and as much need other mens mercy as they now need thine. Sow therefore whilſt thou haſt it, that thou mayeſt reap again in due ſeaſon. Water, that thou mayeſt bee watered again, Prov. 11.25. lay up for thy ſelf a good foundation againſt the time to come, 1 Tim. 6.18. Lay out thy talent; work whiles the tool is in thine hand. Make friends with thy Mammon. Say not as one rich churl did, when requeſted to do ſomewhat toward his Miniſters maintenance; The more I give, the leſs I have: Another anſwered, that hee knew how to beſtow his mony better: A third old man ſaid, I ſee the fore-end of my life, but I ſee not my latter, I may come to want that which I now give. Thou mayeſt do ſo, ſaith Solomon here, and by thy tenacity thou art very likely to do ſo; but wilt thou know O man, how thou mayeſt prevent this miſery, and not feel what thou feareſt? Give a portion to ſeven, &c. part therefore freely with that which thou art not ſure to keep, that thou mayeſt gain that which thou art ſure never to loſe. Hee that giveth to the poor ſhall not lack, Prov. 28.27.

Verſ. 3. If the clouds bee full of rain] As the Sun draws up vapours into the air, not to retain them there, but to return them to the earth, for its relief, and the creatures comfort: ſo thoſe that have attracted to themſelves much riches, ſhould plentifully pour them out for the benefit of their poorer brethren. Clouds, when full of great and ſtrong Rain (as the word here ſignifies) pour down amain; and the ſpouts run, and the eves ſhed, and the preſſes over-flow, and the aromatical trees ſweat out their precious oyls; ſo ſhould rich men bee ready to diſtribute, willing to communicate. But it falls out otherwiſe, for commonly the richer the harder, and thoſe that ſhould bee as clouds to water the earth, as a common bleſſing, are either waterleſſe clouds (as St. Jude hath it) or at beſt, they are but as water-pots, that water a few ſpots of ground onely in a ſmall garden.Domini inarſupium. The earth is Gods purſe, as one ſaith; and rich mens houſes are his ſtore-houſes. This the righteous rich man knoweth, and therefore hee diſperſeth (as a ſteward for God) hee giveth to the poor, his righteouſneſs (and his riches too) endureth for ever, Pſal. 112.9. Whereas the wicked rich man retaineth his fulneſs to rot with him; hee feedeth upon earth like a Serpent, and ſtriveth like a Toad, to dye with much mould in his mouth; and is therefore bidden by St. James, to weep and howl for the miſeries that are comming upon him, for his curſed hoard of evil gotten and worſe kept goods. The rottenneſs of his riches, the canker of his caſh, the moth of his garments ſhall bee a witneſs againſt him, and eat up his fleſh as fire, James 5.1, 2, 3. Hee ſhall bee ſure to bee arraigned as an arrant theef, as a curſed couſener; for that,Mal. 1.14 having a better thing by him, hee brings a worſe, and being a rich man, hee makes himſelf poor, leſt hee ſhould do good to the poor. As Pope Alexander the fifth ſaid of himſelf, that when hee was a Biſhop, hee was rich, when a Cardinal, hee was poor, and when hee was Pope, hee was a begger. I ſhould ſooner have beleeved him, if hee had ſaid as his ſucceſſor Pius Quintus did,Corn. a Lap. in Numb. 11.11 Cum eſſem religioſus, ſperabam bene de ſalute animae meae; Cardinalis factus exti[illegible: 2 letters]ui; Pontifex creatus pene deſpero. When I was firſt in Orders (without any further Eccleſiaſtical dignity) I had good hopes of my ſalvation; when a Cardinal, I feared my ſelf; but now that I am Pope, I am almoſt out of hope.

And if the tree fall toward the South] i. e. Which way ſoever it groweth, it fructifieth: ſo ſhould rich men bee rich in good works, 1 Tim. 6.18. and being fat Olive-trees,Pſal. 52.[illegible: 1 letter] they ſhould bee (as David) green Olive-trees, full of good fruits. Or thus, trees muſt down, and men muſt die; and as trees fall South-ward, or North-ward, ſo ſhall men bee ſet either at the right hand of the Judge, or at the left, according as they have carried themſelves towards Chriſts poor members, Matth. 25. Up therefore and bee doing whiles life laſteth; and ſo lay hold upon eternal life. Mors atra impendet agenti. Where the boughs of holy deſires and good deeds are moſt and greateſt, on that ſide no doubt the tree will fall: but being fallen, it can bear no fruit for ever.

Verſ. 4. Hee that obſerveth the wind ſhall not ſow] In ſowing of mercy, hee that ſticks in ſuch objections and doubts, as carnal men uſe to frame out of their covetous and diſtruſtful hearts, neglects his ſeeds-time, by looking at winds and clouds, which is the guize of a lewd and lazy ſeeds-man. A word in ſeaſon (ſaith Solomon) ſo a charitable deed in ſeaſon, how good is it? Hee that defers to do good in hope of better times, or fitter objects, or fewer obſtacles, or greater abilities, &c. it will bee long enough ere hee will do any thing to purpoſe. When God ſets us up an Altar, wee muſt offer a ſacrifice; when hee affords us an opportunity, wee muſt lay hold on it, and not ſtand ſcrupling and caſting perils, leſt wee loſe the ſowing of much ſeed, and reaping of much fruit; leſt wee come with our talent tied up in a napkin, and hear, Thou idle and therefore evil ſervant.

Verſ. 5. As thou knoweſt not what is the way of the Spirit] Or, Of the wind, as ſome render it, grounding upon the former verſe, q. d. why ſhould any ſo obſerve the wind, the nature whereof hee ſo little underſtands, John 3.8. and the inconſtancy whereof is grown to, and known by a common proverb? But by ſpirit I rather think is meant the ſoul, as by bones the body. Who can tell when and how the body is formed, the ſoul infuſed? The body is the ſouls ſheath, Dan. 7.15. an abridgement of the viſible world, as the ſoul is of the inviſible. The members of the body were made all by book, Pſal. 139.16. and curiouſly wrought in the loweſt parts of the earth, that is, in the womb: Homo eſt [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Eurip. as curious work-men, when they have ſome choice peece in hand, they perfect it in private, and then bring it forth to light, for men to gaze at. What an admirable peece of work is mans head-peece, (Gods Maſter-peece in this little world) the chief ſeat of the ſoul, that cura divini ingenii, as one calls it? There is nothing great on earth but man, nothing in man but his mind, ſaid the Philoſopher.Fav[illegible: 1 letter]rin. Many locks and keyes argue the price of the Jewel that they keep; and many papers wrapping the token within them, the worth of the token. The Tables of the Teſtament, Firſt, Laid up in the Ark; Secondly, The Ark bound about with pure gold; Thirdly, Overſhadowed with Cherubims wings; Fourthly, Incloſed with the veil of the Tabernacle; Fifthly, With the compaſs of the Tabernacle; Sixthly, With a Court about all; Seventhly, With a treble covering of Goats, Rams, and Badgers-skins above all, muſt needs bee precious Tables. So when the Almighty made mans head (the ſeat of the reaſonable ſoul) and over-laid it with hair, skin and fleſh, like the threefold covering of the Tabernacle, and then incompaſſed it with a skull of bones like boards of Cedar, and afterwards with divers skins like ſilken curtains; and laſtly, Encloſed it with the yellow skin that covers the brain (like the purple veil) which Solomon calls the golden Ewre, Eccleſ. 12.6. hee would (doubtleſs) have us to know it was made for ſome great treaſure to bee put therein. How and when the reaſonable ſoul is put into this curious Cabinet, Philoſophers diſpute many things, but can affirm nothing of a certainty: as neither how the bones do grow in the womb, how of the ſame ſubſtance, the ſeveral parts (as bones, nerves, arteries, veins, griſtles, fleſh and blood) are faſhioned there, and receive daily increaſe. This David looks at as a juſt wonder, Pſal. 139.14, 15. Mirificatus ſum mirabilibus operis tuis, Montanus. ſaith hee, I am fearfully and wonderfully made: and Galen, a prophane Philoſopher, could not but hereupon ſing an hymn to mans moſt wiſe Creator, whom yet hee knew not.

Even ſo thou knoweſt not the work of God] i. e. The reſt of his works of creation and providence, which are very various, and to us no leſs unknown, than uncertain. Do thou that which God commandeth, and let things fall out as they will;Prov. 3.5 Iſa. 58.7 there is an over-ruling hand in all for the good of thoſe that love God. Truſt therefore in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not to thine own underſtanding. Hide not thine eyes from thine own fleſh: Hee that doth ſo ſhall have many a curſe. The Apoſtle uſeth a word for liberality, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. 2 Cor. 8.2 which properly ſignifieth ſimplicity: and this hee doth in oppoſition to that crafty and witty wilineſs of the covetous, to defend themſelves from the danger (as they take it) of liberality.

Verſ. 6. In the morning ſow thy ſeed, &c.] At all times bee ready to every good work, as the Bee is abroad, ſo ſoon as ever the Sun breaks forth.Tit. 3.1 Sow mercy in the morning, ſow it likewiſe in the evening, as thoſe bountiful Macedonians did, to the ſhame of thoſe richer, but harder Corinthians, ſending once and again to Pauls neceſſities, 2 Cor. 8.3. with Phil. 4.16. Oh ſow much and oft of this unfailable ſeed into Gods bleſſed boſome; the fruit whereof you are ſure to reap at your greateſt need. Men may bee thankful, or they may not, Perraro grati reperiuntur, ſaith Cicero: it is ten to one if any cured Leper turn again to give thanks. But God is not unrighteous to forget your labour of love in miniſtring to his Saints, Heb. 6.10. Haply, you may not ſow and reap the ſame day, as the widow of Sarepta did: haply the ſeed may lye under ground ſome while, and not bee quckned except it dye; but have patience, nothing ſo ſure as a crop of comfort to thoſe that are duely merciful. Up therefore and bee doing, loſe no time, ſlip no ſeaſon. It but a morning and an evening, one ſhort day of life wherein wee have to work, and to advance your bleſſedneſs. Sow therefore continually: bleſſed is hee that ſoweth beſides all waters:Acts and M[illegible: 1 letter]n. Bleſſed Bradford held that hour loſt wherein hee had not done ſome good with his hand, tongue, or pen. Titus remembring one day that hee had done no good to any one, cryed out, Amici, diem perdidi: And again, Hodie non regnavimus. Wee have loſt a day, &c. This was that Titus that never ſent any ſuitor away with a ſad heart; and was therefore counted and called, Humani generis deliciae, the darling of mankind, the peoples ſweet-heart. The Senate loaded him with more praiſes when hee was dead, than ever they did living and preſent.

Verſ. 7. Truly the light is ſweet] The light of life, of a lightſome life eſpecially. Any life is ſweet; which made the Gibeonites make ſuch an hard ſhift to live, though it were but to bee hewers of wood, and drawers of water. I pray thee let mee live, live upon any terms, ſaid Benhadad in his ſubmiſſive meſſage to that merciful Non-ſuch, 1 King. 20.32. If I have found favour in thy ſight, O King, and if it pleaſe the King, let my life bee given mee at my petition,Sic de Aſpaſia Mileſia Cyri concubina Aelian lib. 12. cap. 1. var. hiſt. ſaid that [non-Latin text not transcribed], that paragon of her time, Q. Eſther. cap. 7.3. Ebedmelech is promiſed his life for a prey, Jer. 39.18. And ſo is Baruc, as a ſufficient reward of that good ſervice hee had done in reading the Roll, for the which hee expected ſome great preferment, Jer. 45.5. compared with chap. 36.1, 2. The Prophet chides him, and tells him hee might bee glad of his life in thoſe dear years of time, when the arrows of death had ſo oft come whisking by him, and hee had ſo oft ſtradled over the grave, as it were, and yet was not fallen into it. To maintain our radical humour, that feeds the lamp of life, is as great a miracle (ſaith One) as the oyl in the widows cruiſe, that failed her not. To deliver us from ſo many deaths and dangers, as wee are daily and hourly ſubject unto, is a mercy that calls for continual praiſes to the Preſerver of mankind: But more, when men do not onely live, but live proſperouſly, as Nabal did, 1 Sam. 25.6. Thus (ſaid David to his meſſengers) ſhall yee ſay to him that liveth, viz. in proſperity. Which ſuch a man as Nabal reckons the onely life. The Iriſh uſe to ask what ſuch a man meant to dye? And ſome good Interpreters are of opinion, that the Preacher in this verſe brings in the carnal carl objecting, or replying for himſelf againſt the former perſwaſions to acts of charity: Ah! ſaith hee, but, for all that, to live at the full, to have a goodly inheritance in a fertile ſoil, in a wholeſome air, near to the River, not far from the Town; to bee free from all troubles and cares that poverty bringeth, to live in a conſtant ſun-ſhine of proſperity, abundance, honour and delight, to have all that heart can wiſh, or need require, what an heavenly life is this? what a lovely and deſirable condition? &c.Pſal. 34.12 What man is hee that deſireth life, and loveth many daies that hee may ſee good? ſaith David. I do, ſaith one, and I, ſaith another, and I, a third, &c. as St. Auſtin frames the anſwer. It is that which all worldlings covet, and hold it no policy to part with what they have to the poor, for uncertainties in another world. In anſwer to whom, and for a cooler to their inordinate love of life, the Preacher ſubjoyns,

Verſ. 8. But if a man live many years and rejoyce, &c.] q.d. Say hee live pancratice & baſilice, and ſit many years in the worlds warm ſun-ſhine, yet he muſt not build upon a perpetuity, as good Job did (but was deceived) when hee ſaid, I ſhall dye in my neſt, Job 29.18 Pſal. 30 and holy David, when hee concluded, I ſhall never bee moved: For as ſure as the night follows the day, a change will come, a ſtorm will riſe, and ſuch a ſtorm, as to wicked worldlings will never be blown over. Look for it therefore, and bee wiſe in time. Remember the daies of darkneſs, that is, of adverſity, but eſpecially of death and the grave. The hotteſt ſeaſon hath lightning and thunder. The Sea is never ſo ſmooth, but it may bee troubled; the Mountain not ſo firm, but it may bee ſhaken with an earthquake. Light will bee one day turned into darkneſs, pleaſure into pain, delights into weariſomeneſs, and the dark daies of old age and death, far exceed in number the lightſome daies of life, which are but a warm gleam, a momentary glance. Let this bee ſeriouſly pondred, and it will much rebate the edge of our deſires after earthly vanities. Dearly beloved, ſaith St. Peter, I beſeech you as Pilgrims and ſtrangers abstain from fleſhly luſt, &c. q. d. 1 Pet. 2.12 The ſad and ſober apprehenſion of this, that you are here but ſojourners for a ſeaſon, and muſt away to your long home, will lay your luſts a bleeding, and a dying at your feet: It is an obſervation of a Commentator upon this Text, that when Samuel had anointed Saul to bee King, to confirm unto him the truth of the joy, and withall to teach him how to bee careful in governing his joy, hee gave him this ſign, When thou art departed from mee to day, 1 Sam. 10.2 thou ſhalt finde two men at Rachels ſepulchre. For hee that findeth in his mind a remembrance of his grave and ſepulchre, will not eaſily bee found exorbitant in his delights and joyes. For this it was (belike) that Joſeph of Arimathea had his ſepulchre ready hewn out in his garden. The Aegyptians carried about the Table a deaths-head, at their feaſts; and the Emperours of Conſtantinople, Iſidor. on their Coronation-day, had a Maſon appointed to preſent unto them certain Marble-ſtones, uſing theſe enſuing words, Elige ab his ſaxis ex quo, Invictiſſime Caeſar, Ipſe tibi [illegible: 1 letter]umulum me fabricare velis. Chuſe (Mighty Sir) under which of theſe ſtones, Your pleaſure is ere long to lay your bones.

Verſ. 9. Rejoyce O young man in thy youth] i. e. Do if thou dareſt: like as God ſaid to Balaam, Riſe up and go to Balak, Numb. 22.20. that is, go if thou thinkeſt it good: go, ſith thou wilt needſly go; but thou goeſt upon thy death. Let no man imagine that it ever came into the Preachers heart here, oleum camino addere, to add fuel to the fire of youthful luſts, to excite young people (unruly enough of themſelves) to take their full ſwinge in ſinful pleaſures. Thus to do might better befit a Protagoras, of whom Plato reports,Plato in Menen. that hee many times boaſted, that whereas hee had lived threeſcore years, forty of thoſe threeſcore hee had ſpent in corrupting thoſe young men that had been his pupils: or that old Dotrel in Terence, that ſaid, Non eſt mihi crede, flagitium adoleſcentem helluari, potare, ſcortari, fores effringere. I hold it no fault for young men to ſwagger, drink, drab, revel, &c. Solomon in this Text, either by a Mimeſis brings in the wilde yonker thus beſpeaking himſelf, Rejoyce, my ſoul, in thy youth, &c. and then nips him on the crown again with that ſtinging But in the end of the verſe. Or elſe (which I rather think) by an ironical Conceſſion hee bids him rejoyce, &c. yeelds him what hee would have, by way of mockage and bitter-ſcoff: like as Elias jeered the Baalites, bidding them cry aloud unto their drowſie or buſie God: or as Micaiah bade Ahab (by an holy ſcoff) go up againſt Ramoth Gilead and proſper:Mark. 14.41 Or as our Saviour bade his drowſie Diſciples, Sleep on now, and take your reſt, viz. if you can at leaſt, or have any minde to it, with ſo many Bills and Halberds about your ears.

And let thine heart chear thee in the daies of thy youth] In diebus electionum tuarum (ſo Arias Montanus reads it) in the daies of thy chuſings, that is,Luke 12. when thou followeſt the choice (and the chaſe) of thine own deſires, and doſt what thou wilt without controll.

Walk in the way of thine heart] Which bids thee Eat, drink, and bee merry; and had as lief bee knockt on the head, as do otherwiſe. Hence faſting is called an afflicting of the ſoul; and the beſt finde it no leſs grievous, to go about holy duties, than it is to children, to bee called from their ſports, and ſet to their books.

And in the ſight of thine eyes.] Thoſe windows of wickedneſs, and loop-holes of luſt.

But know] Here is that which marrs all the mirth, here is a cooler for the yonkers courage, ſowre ſauce to his ſweet meats, for fear hee ſhould ſurfeit. Verbahaet Solomonis valde emphatica ſunt (ſaith Lavater) there is a great deal of emphaſis in theſe words of Solomon. Let mee tell thee this as a Preacher, ſaith hee: And oh that I could get words to gore the very ſoul with ſmarting pain, that this Doctrine might bee written in thy fleſh!

That for all theſe things] Theſe tricae, as the world accounts them, theſe trifles and tricks of youth, which Job and David bitterly bewailed as ſore buſineſſes.

God will bring thee to judgement] Either in this life, as hee did Abſolom and Adoniah, Hophni and Phinehas, Nadab and Abihu, or infallibly at thy deaths-day, which indeed is thy dooms-day, then God will bring thee perforce, bee thou never ſo loth to come to it; hee will hale thee to his tribunal, bee it never ſo much againſt thy heart, and againſt the hair with thee. And as for the judgement what it ſhall bee, God himſelf ſhews it, Iſa. 28.17. Judgement will I lay to the line, and righteouſneſs to the plummet, and the hail ſhall ſweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters ſhall over-flow the hiding-place. Where, what is the hail (ſaith One) but the multitude of accuſations, which ſhall ſweep away the vain hope that men have, that the infinite mercy of God will ſave them, howſoever they live? And what is the hiding-place, but the multitude of excuſes which men are ready to make for themſelves, and which the waters of Gods juſtice ſhall quite deſtroy and overthrow? Young men, of all men, are apt to make a Covenant with death, and to put far away from them the thought of judgement. But it boots them not ſo to do: for Senibus mors in januis, adoleſcentibus in inſidiis, ſaith Bernard. Death doth not alwaies knock at door, but comes often like a lightning or thunderbolt; it blaſteth the green corn, and conſumeth the new and ſtrong building. Now at death it will fare nothing better with the wilde and wicked youngſter, than with that theef, that having ſtollen a Gelding, rideth away bravely mounted, till ſuch time as being overtaken by hue and cry, he is ſoon afterwards ſentenced and put to death.

James 4.8Verſ. 10. Therefore remove ſorrow from thine heart] One would have thought hee ſhould have ſaid rather (conſidering the premiſes) Remove joy from thy heart, Let thy laughter be turned into mourning, and thy joy into heavineſs; turn all the ſtreams into that chanel that may drive that Mill that may grind the heart. But by ſorrow here or indignation (as Tremellius renders it) the Preacher means ſin, the cauſe of ſorrow: and ſo hee interprets himſelf in the next words, Put away evil from thy fleſh, i. e. Mortifie thy luſts.

For childe-hood and youth are vanity] The Septuagint and Vulgar render it, Youth and pleaſure are vain things. They both will ſoon bee at an end.