Ecclesiastes 5 commentary

Address thyself to the worship of God, and take time to compose thyself for it. Keep thy thoughts from roving and wandering: keep thy affections from running out toward wrong objects. We should avoid vain repetitions; copious prayers are not here condemned, but those that are unmeaning. How often our wandering thoughts render attendance on Divine ordinances little better than the sacrifice of fools! Many words and hasty ones, used in prayer, show folly in the heart, low thoughts of God, and careless thoughts of our own souls.

When a person made engagements rashly, he suffered his mouth to cause his flesh to sin. The case supposes a man coming to the priest, and pretending that his vow was made rashly, and that it would be wrong to fulfil it. Such mockery of God would bring the Divine displeasure, which might blast what was thus unduly kept. We are to keep down the fear of man. Set God before thee; then, if thou seest the oppression of the poor, thou wilt not find fault with Divine Providence; nor think the worse of the institution of magistracy, when thou seest the ends of it thus perverted; nor of religion, when thou seest it will not secure men from suffering wrong. But though oppressors may be secure, God will reckon for all.

The goodness of Providence is more equally distributed than appears to a careless observer. The king needs the common things of life, and the poor share them; they relish their morsel better than he does his luxuries. There are bodily desires which silver itself will not satisfy, much less will worldly abundance satisfy spiritual desires. The more men have, the better house they must keep, the more servants they must employ, the more guests they must entertain, and the more they will have hanging on them. The sleep of the labourer is sweet, not only because he is tired, but because he has little care to break his sleep. The sleep of the diligent Christian, and his long sleep, are sweet; having spent himself and his time in the service of God, he can cheerfully repose in God as his Rest. But those who have every thing else, often fail to secure a good night's sleep; their abundance breaks their rest. Riches do hurt, and draw away the heart from God and duty. Men do hurt with their riches, not only gratifying their own lusts, but oppressing others, and dealing hardly with them. They will see that they have laboured for the wind, when, at death, they find the profit of their labour is all gone like the wind, they know not whither. How ill the covetous worldling bears the calamities of human life! He does not sorrow to repentance, but is angry at the providence of God, angry at all about him; which doubles his affliction.

Life is God's gift. We must not view our calling as a drudgery, but take pleasure in the calling where God puts us. A cheerful spirit is a great blessing; it makes employments easy, and afflictions light. Having made a proper use of riches, a man will remember the days of his past life with pleasure. The manner in which Solomon refers to God as the Giver, both of life and its enjoyments, shows they ought to be received and to be used, consistently with his will, and to his glory. Let this passage recommend to all the kind words of the merciful Redeemer, "Labour not for the meat that perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life." Christ is the Bread of life, the only food of the soul. All are invited to partake of this heavenly provision.

CHAPTER 5

Ec 5:1-20.

1. From vanity connected with kings, he passes to vanities (Ec 5:7) which may be fallen into in serving the King of kings, even by those who, convinced of the vanity of the creature, wish to worship the Creator.

Keep thy foot--In going to worship, go with considerate, circumspect, reverent feeling. The allusion is to the taking off the shoes, or sandals, in entering a temple (Ex 3:5; Jos 5:15, which passages perhaps gave rise to the custom). Weiss needlessly reads, "Keep thy feast days" (Ex 23:14, 17; the three great feasts).

hear--rather, "To be ready (to draw nigh with the desire) to hear (obey) is a better sacrifice than the offering of fools" [Holden]. (Vulgate; Syriac). (Psa 51:16, 17; Pr 21:3; Jr 6:20; 7:21-23; 14:12; Am 5:21-24). The warning is against mere ceremonial self-righteousness, as in Ec 7:12. Obedience is the spirit of the law's requirements (De 10:12). Solomon sorrowfully looks back on his own neglect of this (compare 1Ki 8:63 with Ec 11:4, 6). Positive precepts of God must be kept, but will not stand instead of obedience to His moral precepts. The last provided no sacrifice for wilful sin (Nu 15:30, 31; He 10:26-29).

2. rash--opposed to the considerate reverence ("keep thy foot," Ec 5:1). This verse illustrates Ec 5:1, as to prayer in the house of God ("before God," Is 1:12); so Ec 5:4-6 as to vows. The remedy to such vanities is stated (Ec 5:6). "Fear thou God."

God is in heaven--Therefore He ought to be approached with carefully weighed words, by thee, a frail creature of earth.

3. As much "business," engrossing the mind, gives birth to incoherent "dreams," so many words, uttered inconsiderately in prayer, give birth to and betray "a fool's speech" (Ec 10:14), [Holden and Weiss]. But Ec 5:7 implies that the "dream" is not a comparison, but the vain thoughts of the fool (sinner, Psa 73:20), arising from multiplicity of (worldly) "business." His "dream" is that God hears him for his much speaking (Mt 6:7), independently of the frame of mind [English Version and Maurer].

fool's voice--answers to "dream" in the parallel; it comes by the many "words" flowing from the fool's "dream."

4. When thou vowest a vow unto God--Hasty words in prayer (Ec 5:2, 3) suggest the subject of hasty vows. A vow should not be hastily made (Jud 11:35; 1Sa 14:24). When made, it must be kept (Psa 76:11), even as God keeps His word to us (Ex 12:41, 51; Jos 21:45).

5. (De 23:21, 23).

6. thy flesh--Vow not with "thy mouth" a vow (for example, fasting), which the lusts of the flesh ("body," Ec 2:3, Margin) may tempt thee to break (Pr 20:25).

angel--the "messenger" of God (Job 33:23); minister (Re 1:20); that is, the priest (Mal 2:7) "before" whom a breach of a vow was to be confessed (Le 5:4, 5). We, Christians, in our vows (for example, at baptism, the Lord's Supper, &c.) vow in the presence of Jesus Christ, "the angel of the covenant" (Mal 3:1), and of ministering angels as witnesses (1Co 11:10; 1Ti 5:21). Extenuate not any breach of them as a slight error.

7. (See on Ec 5:3). God's service, which ought to be our chief good, becomes by "dreams" (foolish fancies as of God's requirements of us in worship), and random "words," positive "vanity." The remedy is, whatever fools may do, "Fear thou God" (Ec 12:13).

8. As in Ec 3:16, so here the difficulty suggests itself. If God is so exact in even punishing hasty words (Ec 5:1-6), why does He allow gross injustice? In the remote "provinces," the "poor" often had to put themselves for protection from the inroads of Philistines, &c., under chieftains, who oppressed them even in Solomon's reign (1Ki 12:4).

the matter--literally, "the pleasure," or purpose (Is 53:10). Marvel not at this dispensation of God's will, as if He had abandoned the world. Nay, there is coming a capital judgment at last, and an earnest of it in partial punishments of sinners meanwhile.

higher than the highest--(Da 7:18).

regardeth--(2Ch 16:9).

there be higher--plural, that is, the three persons of the Godhead, or else, "regardeth not only the 'highest' kings, than whom He 'is higher,' but even the petty tyrants of the provinces, namely, the high ones who are above them" (the poor) [Weiss].

9. "The profit (produce) of the earth is (ordained) for (the common good of) all: even the king himself is served by (the fruits of) the field" (2Ch 26:10). Therefore the common Lord of all, high and low, will punish at last those who rob the "poor" of their share in it (Pr 22:22, 23; Am 8:4-7).

10. Not only will God punish at last, but meanwhile the oppressive gainers of "silver" find no solid "satisfaction" in it.

shall not be satisfied--so the oppressor "eateth his own flesh" (see on Ec 4:1 and Ec 4:5).

with increase--is not satisfied with the gain that he makes.

11. they ... that eat them--the rich man's dependents (Psa 23:5).

12. Another argument against anxiety to gain riches. "Sleep ... sweet" answers to "quietness" (Ec 4:6); "not suffer ... sleep," to "vexation of spirit." Fears for his wealth, and an overloaded stomach without "laboring" (compare Ec 4:5), will not suffer the rich oppressor to sleep.

13-14. Proofs of God's judgments even in this world (Pr 11:31). The rich oppressor's wealth provokes enemies, robbers, &c. Then, after having kept it for an expected son, he loses it beforehand by misfortune ("by evil travail"), and the son is born to be heir of poverty. Ec 2:19, 23 gives another aspect of the same subject.

16. Even supposing that he loses not his wealth before death, then at least he must go stripped of it all (Psa 49:17).

laboured for the wind--(Ho 12:1; 1Co 9:26).

17. eateth--appropriately put for "liveth" in general, as connected with Ec 5:11, 12, 18.

darkness--opposed to "light (joy) of countenance" (Ec 8:1; Pr 16:15).

wrath--fretfulness, literally, "His sorrow is much, and his infirmity (of body) and wrath."

18. Returns to the sentiment (Ec 3:12, 13, 22); translate: "Behold the good which I have seen, and which is becoming" (in a man).

which God giveth--namely, both the good of his labor and his life.

his portion--legitimately. It is God's gift that makes it so when regarded as such. Such a one will use, not abuse, earthly things (1Co 7:31). Opposed to the anxious life of the covetous (Ec 5:10, 17).

19. As Ec 5:18 refers to the "laboring" man (Ec 5:12), so Ec 5:19 to the "rich" man, who gets wealth not by "oppression" (Ec 5:8), but by "God's gift." He is distinguished also from the "rich" man (Ec 6:2) in having received by God's gift not only "wealth," but also "power to eat thereof," which that one has not.

to take his portion--limits him to the lawful use of wealth, not keeping back from God His portion while enjoying his own.

20. He will not remember much, looking back with disappointment, as the ungodly do (Ec 2:11), on the days of his life.

answereth ... in the joy--God answers his prayers in giving him "power" to enjoy his blessings. Gesenius and Vulgate translate, "For God (so) occupies him with joy," &c., that he thinks not much of the shortness and sorrows of life. Holden, "Though God gives not much (as to real enjoyment), yet he remembers (with thankfulness) the days; for (he knows) God exercises him by the joy," &c. (tries him by prosperity), so Margin, but English Version is simplest.

Keep thy foot - This verse the Hebrew and all the versions join to the preceding chapter.

Solomon, having before intimated, though very briefly, that the only cure against human vanity is a due sense of religion, now enters more largely on this important subject, and gives some excellent directions with regard to the right performance of Divine service, the nature of vocal and mental prayer, the danger of rash vows, etc. - C.

The whole verse might be more literally translated thus: - "Guard thy steps as thou art going to the house of God; and approach to hearken, and not to give the sacrifice of fools, for none of them have knowledge about doing evil." "They offer gifts for their sins, and do not turn from their evil works; for they know not (they distinguish not) between good and evil." See the Chaldee.

Be not rash with thy mouth - Do not hasten with thy mouth; weigh thy words, feel deeply, think much, speak little. "When ye approach his altar, on your lips

Set strictest guard; and let your thoughts be pure,

Fervent, and recollected. Thus prepared,

Send up the silent breathings of your souls,

Submissive to his will."

C.

For a dream cometh - That is, as dreams are generally the effect of the business in which we have been engaged during the day; so a multitude of words evidence the feeble workings of the foolish heart.

When thou vowest a vow - When in distress and difficulty, men are apt to promise much to God if he will relieve them; but generally forget the vow when the distress or trouble is gone by.

Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, etc. - We are under constant obligations to live to God; no vow can make it more so. Yet, there may be cases in which we should bind ourselves to take up some particular cross, to perform some particular duty, to forego some particular attachment that does not tend to bring our souls nearer to God. Then, if fully determined, and strong in faith relative to the point, bind and hold fast; but if not fully, rationally, and conscientiously determined, "do not suffer thy mouth to cause thy soul to sin."

Neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error - Nor think of saying "before the cruel angel, who shall exercise authority over thee in the judgment of the great day, that thou didst it through ignorance." - Chaldee. I believe by the angel nothing else is intended than the priest, whose business it was to take cognizance of vows and offerings. See Lev 5:4, Lev 5:5. In Mal 2:7, the priest is called the "angel of the Lord of hosts."

In - dreams - are - divers vanities; but fear thou God - If, by the disturbed state of thy mind during the day, or by Satanic influence, thou dream of evil, do not give way to any unreasonable fears, or gloomy forebodings, of any coming mischief: - Fear God. Fear neither the dream nor its interpretation; God, will take care of and protect thee. Most certainly, he that fears God need fear nothing else. Well may an upright soul say to Satan himself, I fear God; and because I fear him, I do not fear thee.

If thou seest the oppression of the poor - For this was a frequent case under all governments; and especially in the provinces or colonies which being far from the seat of government, were generally oppressed by the sovereign's deputies.

Marvel not at the matter - החפץ hachephets, the will, i.e., of God; which permits such evils to take place; for all things shall work together for good to them that love him. "Marvel not

Ye righteous, if his dispensations here

Unequal seem. What, though disorders reign?

He still presides, and with unerring hand

Directs the vast machine. His wisdom can

From discord harmony produce; and make

Even vice itself subservient to his ends."

The profit of the earth is for all - The earth, if properly cultivated, is capable of producing food for every living creature; and without cultivation none has a right to expect bread.

The king himself is served by the field - Without the field he cannot have supplies for his own house; and, unless agriculture flourish, the necessary expenses of the state cannot be defrayed. Thus, God joins the head and feet together; for while the peasant is protected by the king as executor of the laws, the king himself is dependent on the peasant; as the wealth of the nation is the fruit of the laborer's toil.

He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver - The more he gets, the more he would get; for the saying is true: -

Crescit amor nummi, quantum ipsa pecunia crescit. "The love of money increases, in proportion as money itself increases."

When goods increase - An increase of property always brings an increase of expense, by a multitude of servants; and the owner really possesses no more, and probably enjoys much less, than he did, when every day provided its own bread, and could lay up no store for the next. But if he have more enjoyment, his cares are multiplied; and he has no kind of profit. "This also is vanity."

The sleep of a laboring man is sweet - His labor is healthy exercise. He is without possessions, and without cares; his sleep, being undisturbed, is sound and refreshing.

Riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt - This may be the case through various causes:

1. He may make an improper use of them, and lose his health by them.

2. He may join in an unfortunate partnership and lose all.

3. His riches may excite the desire of the robber; and he may spoil him of his goods, and even take away his life.

4. Or, he may leave them to his son, who turns profligate; spends the whole, and ruins both his body and soul. I have seen this again and again.

And he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand - He has been stripped of his property by unfortunate trade or by plunderers; and he has nothing to leave to his children.

As he came forth - However it may be, he himself shall carry nothing with him into the eternal world. If he die worth millions, those millions are dead to him for ever; so he has had no real profit from all his labors, cares, anxieties, and vast property!

All his days also he eateth in darkness - Even his enjoyments are embittered by uncertainty. He fears for his goods; the possibility of being deprived of them fills his heart with anguish. But instead of יאכל yochel, "he shall eat," ילך yelech, "he shall walk," is the reading of several MSS. He walks in darkness - he has no evidence of salvation. There is no ray of light from God to penetrate the gloom; and all beyond life is darkness impenetrable!

And wrath with his sickness - His last hours are awful; for, "Counting on long years of pleasure here,

He's quite unfurnish'd for the world to come."

Blair.

He is full of anguish at the thought of death; but the fear of it is horrible. But if he have a sense of God's wrath in his guilty conscience, what horror can be compared with his horror!

Behold that which I have seen - This is the result of my observations and experience. God gives every man, in the course of his providence, the necessaries of life; and it is his will that he should thankfully use them.

For it is his portion - What is requisite for him in the lower world; without them his life cannot subsist, and earthly blessings are as truly the portion of his body and animal life, as the salvation of God is the portion of his soul.

For he shall not much remember - The person who acts in this way, extracts all the good requisite from life. He passes through things temporal so as not to lose those that are eternal: - "Calm and serene, the road of life to him,

Or long or short, rugged or smooth, with thorns

O'erspread, or gay with flowers, is but a road.

Such fare as offers grateful he accepts,

And smiling to his native home proceeds."

C.

Thy foot - Thy thoughts and affections, by which men go to God and walk with him. To hear - To hearken to and obey God's word. Of fools - Such as wicked men use to offer, who vainly think to please God with their sacrifices without obedience. For - They are not sensible of the great sinfulness of such thoughts.

Rash - Speak not without due consideration. To utter - Either in prayer, or vows. For God - Is a God of infinite majesty, holiness, and knowledge. Thy words - Either in prayer or in vowing.

A dream - When men are oppressed with business in the day, they dream of it in the night. Is known - It discovers the man to be a foolish, and rash, and inconsiderate man. Of words - Either in prayer, or in vowing, by making many rash vows, of which he speaks ver.4, 5, 6, and then returns to the mention of multitude of dreams and many words, ver.7, which verse may be a comment upon this, and which makes it probable that both that and this verse are to be understood of vows rather than of prayers.

In fools - In perfidious persons, who, when they are in distress, make liberal vows, and when the danger is past, break them.

Thy mouth - By any rash vow. Thy flesh - Thyself, the word flesh being often put for the whole man. The angel - The priest or ministers of holy things. Such persons are often called angels, or, as this Hebrew word is commonly rendered, messengers. And this title seems to be given to the priest here, because the vow made to God, was paid to the priest as one standing and acting in God's name and stead, and it belonged to him, as God's angel or ambassador, to discharge persons from their vows when there was just occasion. It was - I did unadvisedly in making such a vow. Angry - Why wilt thou provoke God to anger at these frivolous excuses? Destroy - Blast all thy labours, and particularly that work or enterprize for the success whereof thou didst make these vows.

For - There is a great deal of folly, as in multitude of dreams, which for the most part are vain and insignificant, so also in many words, in making many vows whereby a man is exposed to many snares and temptations. But - Fear the wrath of God, and therefore be sparing in making vows, and just in performing them.

Profit - The fruits of the earth. For all - Necessary and beneficial to all men. The wise man, after some interruption, returns to his former subject, the vanity of riches, one evidence whereof he mentions in this verse, that the poor labourer enjoys the fruits of the earth as well as the greatest monarch. Is served - Is supported by the fruits of the field.

To their hurt - Because they frequently are the occasions both of their present and eternal destruction.

Perish - By some wicked practices, either his own, or of other men. Nothing - In the son's possession after his father's death.

To go - Into the womb of the earth, the common mother of all mankind. Take nothing - This is another vanity. If his estate be neither lost, nor kept to his hurt, yet when he dies he must leave it behind him, and cannot carry one handful of it into another world.

The wind - For riches, which are empty and unsatisfying, uncertain and transitory, which no man can hold or stay in its course, all which are the properties of the wind.

He eateth - He hath no comfort in his estate, but even when he eats, he doth it with anxiety and discontent. And wrath - When he falls sick, and presages his death, he is filled with rage, because he is cut off before he hath accomplished his designs, and because he must leave that wealth and world in which all his hopes and happiness lie.

Good - Good or comfortable to a man's self, and comely or amiable in the eye of other men. His portion - Of worldly goods; he hath a better portion in heaven. This liberty is given him by God, and this is the best advantage, as to this life, which he can make of them.

To take - To use what God hath given him.

Remember - So as to disquiet himself. The days - The troubles; days being put here for evil, or, sad days. Answereth - His desires, in giving him solid joy and comfort.

1 Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God , and be more ready to hear , than to give the sacrifice of fools : for they consider not that they do evil .

The feet of thy Soul, which are the Thoughts and Affections, by which men go to God and walk or converse with him. Make straight steps: See that your Hearts be purged from sin, and prepared and furnished with all Graces or necessary qualifications, as good intention, reverence, humility, &c, It is a Metaphor from one that walketh in a very slippery Path, in which there needs more than ordinary care to keep him from falling.

The place of God's solemn and publick worship, whether the Temple or Synagogue.

Heb. more near, more forward and inclinable. Prefer this duty before the following.

To hearken to and obey God's Word, there Read, and Preached by the Priests or Prophets; for hearing is very frequently put in Scripture for obeying.

Such as foolish and wicked men use to offer, who vainly think to please God with the multitude and costliness of their Sacrifices without true Piety or Obedience.

They are not sensible of the great sinfulness of such Thoughts and Practices, but, like Fools, think they do God good service, which is implied, as is usual in such expressions.

Marginal references: Or, than fools to give Sacrifice.; 1 Sam. 15. 22. Ps. 50. 8. Prov. 15. 8. & 21. 27.

2 Be not rash with thy mouth , and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God : for God is in heaven , and thou upon earth : therefore let thy words be few.

Speak not without good understanding and due consideration.

Do not give way to every sudden motion of thine Heart, nor suffer it to break out of thy Lips till thou hast well weighed it.

Either 1. in Prayers directed to him. Or, 2. in solemn Vows and Promises made in God's presence; which were very much in use in those times, and of which he speaks in the following Verses, where he presseth us to pay our Vows when we have made them, as here he seems to caution us in making them.

Is a God of infinite Majesty, not to be despised or abused; of infinite Holiness, not to be polluted or offended; of infinite Knowledge, observing all our words and carriages, not to be deceived.

Thou art a poor Earth-worm, infinitely below him, and therefore shouldst stand in awe of him and fear to offend him.

Either 1. in Prayer. Use not vain repetitions, nor multitude of words in Prayer, as if they were necessary to inform God of thy state, or to prevail with God to grant thy requests, or as if thou shouldst certainly be heard upon that very account, as Christ also cautions us, Mat. 6. 7. For otherwise it is not unlawful, nay somtimes it is a duty, to use long Prayers and consequently many words, and to repeat the same words in Prayer, as is manifest from Nehem. 9. 3. Dan. 9. 18, 19. Mat. 26. 44. Luke 6. 12. and many other places. Or, 2. in vowing. Be not too prodigal in making more Vowsand Promises than thou art either able or willing and resolved to perform, remembring that God looks down from Heaven, and heareth all thy Vows, and expects a punctual accomplishment of them. Compare the Notes on v. 3.

Marginal references: Or, Word.; Prov. 10. 19.

3 For a dream cometh through the multitude of business , and a fools voice is known by multitude of words .

When mens Minds are distracted and oppressed with too much business in the Day, they dream of it in the Night.

It discovers the Man to be a foolish and rash, and inconsiderate Man.

Either 1. in Prayer. Or, 2. in Vowing, i. e. by making many rash Vows, of which he speaks in v. 4, 5, 6. and then returns to the mention of multitude of dreams and many words, v. 7. which Verse may be a Comment upon this, and which makes it probable that both that and this Verse are to be understood of Vows rather than of Prayers.

Marginal references: Prov. 10. 19.

4 When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it : for he hath no pleasure in fools ; pay that which thou hast vowed.

Which is a solemn Promise whereby a Man binds himself to do somthing which is in his power to do.

Perform it whilst the sense of thine Obligation is fresh and strong upon thee, lest either thou seem to repent of thy Promises, or lest delays end in [illegible: 1+ letters]enials and resolutions of Non-performance. See Numb. 30. 2. Deut. 23. 21. Ps. 66. 13, 14. & 76. 11.

In hypocritical and perfidious Persons who, when they are in distress, make liberal Vows, and when the danger is past neglect and break them: whom he calls fools, partly because it is the highest folly to despise and provoke, to think to mock and deceive, the All-seeing and Almighty God, and partly in opposition to the contrary Opinion of such Persons, who think they deal wisely and cunningly in serving themselves of God, by getting the advantage or deliverance which they desire by making such Vows, and yet avoiding the inconvenience and charge of payment, when once the work is done, whereas nothing is more impious or ridiculous than such an imagination.

Marginal references: Deut. 23. 21, 22. Ps. 50. 14.; Ps. 66. 13, 14.

5 Better is it that thou shouldst not vow , than that thou should vow and not pay.

For this was no sin; because men are free to make such Vows, or not to make them, as they think fit. See Numb. 30. 3, &c. Deut. 23. 22. Act. 5. 4. But having vowed we cannot forbear payment of them without sin.

6 Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin, neither say thou before the angel , that it was an errour : wherefore should God be angry at thy voice , and destroy the work of thine hands .

By uttering any rash or foolish Vow.

i. e. Thy self, the word Flesh being oft put for the whole Man, as Gen. 6. 12. Isa. 40. 5. Rom. 3. 20, &c. And it seems to have some Emphasis here, and to intimate, either 1. that such Vows were made upon fleshly or carnal, and not upon spiritual and religious Motives. Or rather 2. that the Flesh or corrupt Nature of Man, which is oft called Flesh, was exceeding prone to set it self at ease and liberty from such Bonds, and to neglect the chargeable Duties of Religion.

Either 1. the blessed Angels, the Singular Number being put for the Plural, who are present in the publick Assemblies, in which these Vows were generally paid, Psal. 66. 13. where they observe both the matter and manner of mens Religious performances, as appears from 1 [illegible: 1+ letters]or. 11. 10. who as they rejoice in the conversion of a Sinner, Luke 15. 10. So are displeased with the sins of men, and especially such as are committed in or against the Worship of God.

Or 2. Christ, who in the Old Testament is frequently called an Angel, as hath been oft noted before, and the Angel of the Covenant, Mal. 3. 1. because even then he acted as God's Messenger, appearing and speaking to the Patriarchs and Prophets in his Fathers Name, as a presignification of his future Incarnation, and who is, and was in a special manner present in all religious Assemblies, and being Omniscient and Omnipresent, exactly knew and observed all the Vows which men made, and whethen they did perform or violate them. Or rather 3. the Priest or Mi[illegible: 1+ letters]ter of Holy things, who was to require of the People the paym[illegible: 1+ letters] of their Vows, to whom all Sacrifices for sins of ignorance or [illegible: 1+ letters]rs about Vows or other things were to be brought, Lev. 5. 4, 5. For such Persons are oft called Angels, or, as this Hebrew word is commonly rendred, Messengers, as Iob 33. 23. Mal. 2. 7. Revel. 1. 20. And this Title seems to be given to the Priest here, not without some Emphasis, because the Vow made to God was paid to the Priest as one standing and acting in God's Name and Stead, and it belonged to the Priest, as God's Angel or Ambassadour, to discharge Persons from their Vows when there was just occasion so to do. I did foolishly and unadvisedly in making such a Vow, and therefore I hope God will excuse me, and instead of that which I had vowed, accept of a Sacrifice for my ignorance, according to his Law for sins of Ignorance, Levit. 4. 2. & 5. 15. Numb. 15. 26.

Why wilt thou provoke God to anger?

Either 1. at the Vows which thou hast hastily uttered with thy Mouth, as he said above. Or rather, 2. at these frivolous excuses, wherewith thou deludest thy own Conscience, and vainly imaginest that thou canst deceive God himself.

Blast all thy Contrivances, and Labours, and Estate gotten by thy Labours, and particularly that work or enterprize for the success whereof thou didst make these Vows, which being, as thou thinkest, finished, thou refusest to pay thy Vows; but know that God can quickly unto that which thou hast done, and plentifully repay thine indignities and injuries offered to him into thine own Bosom.

7 For in the multitude of dreams and many words, there are also divers vanities : but fear thou God .

There is a great deal of vanity and folly as in multitude of dreams which for the most part are vain & insignificant, so also in many words, i. e. in making many vows whereby a Man is exposed to many snares and temptations.

Fear the offence and wrath of God, and therefore be sparing in making Vows, and just in performing them. Whereby he implies that this rashness in vowing, and slackness in performing Vows proceeds from the want of a just reverence and dream of the Divine Majesty, who is immediately concerned in these matters.

8 If thou seest the oppression of the poor , and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter: for he that is higher than the highest regardeth , and there be higher than they .

Here is an account of another vanity, and a soveraign Antidote against it.

As if it were inconsistent with God's Wisdom, and Justice, and Truth, to suffer such disorders, or a just cause for any Man to throw off that fear and service of God, which I have now commended to thee.

The most High God who is infinitely above the greatest of men, and therefore, if he saw meet, could crush them in an instant.

Not like an idle spectatour, but like a Judge, who diligently observes and records all these miscarriages, and will so effectually punish them, that neither they shall have any cause of triumph in their former successes, nor good men to be grieved at the remembrance of them.

Either 1. the high and holy Angels, who are employed by God in the Government of Kings and Kingdoms, as we read in the Book of Daniel, and elsewhere, and for the defence of God's People, Psal. 34. 7. & 91. 11. Heb. 1. 14. Or, 2. God: and so it is an Emphatical repetition of the same thing, which is frequent in Scripture, there is an higher than they. Or, as the words are by others fitly rendred, the most High (for Plural words are oft understood of God singularly) is above them, and therefore can controul them, and will certainly call them to an account.

Marginal references: Heb. at the will, or, purpose.

9 Moreover, the profit of the earth is for all : the king himself is served by the field .

The fruits procured from the Earth by the skill and labour of the Husbandman.

Are necessary and beneficial to all men whatsoever. The Wise Man, after some Interruption, returns to his former subject, to discourse of the vanity of great Riches, one argument or evidence whereof he seems to mention in this Verse, to wit, that the poor Labourer enjoyeth the fruits of the Earth as well as the greatest Monarch, and that the richest Man in the World depends as much upon them as the poorest.

Is supported by the Fruits of the Field. Or, as many others render it, serves or is a servant to the Field, depends upon it, is obliged to see that his Fields be tilled and dressed that he may have subsistence for himself, and for his Servants and Subjects.

10 He that loveth silver, shall not be satisfied with silver ; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity.

The greatest Treasures of Silver do not satisfie the covetous possessor of it, partly because his mind is insatiable and his desires are increased by and with gains; partly because Silver of itself cannot satisfie his Natural desires and necessities as the Fruits of the Field can do, and the miserable Wretch grudgeth to part with his Silver, though it be to purchase things needful and convenient for him

Or, that loveth it (to wit, Silver) in abundance, that desires and lays up great Treasures.

11 When goods increase, they are increased that eat them : and what good is there to the owners thereof , saving the beholding of them with their eyes .

They require and are more commonly attended with a numerous company of Servants, and Friends, and Retinues to consume them; which is a great torment to a covetous Man, of whom he here speaks.

What benefit hath he above others who feed upon his Provisions, and enjoy the same comforts which he doth without his fears, and cares, and troubles about them?

Either 1. with a reflection upon his Propriety in them. Or, 2. with unlimited freedom. He can go and look upon his Bags or Chests of Silver as long and as oft as he pleaseth, whereas other men are seldom admitted to that prospect, and see onely some few of the fruits or purchases of it.

12 The sleep of a labouring man is sweet , whether he eat little , or much : but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.

Because he is free from those cares and fears, wherewith the minds of rich men are oft distracted, and their sleep disturbed.

Then his weariness disposeth him to sleep.

In which case his healthful Constitution and laborious course of life prevents those crudities and indigestions which oft-times break the sleep of rich men.

Heb. the fulness either 1. of his Diet, which commonly discomposeth their stomachs and hinders their rest: Or, 2. of Wealth; which is commonly attended with many perplexing cares which disquiet men both by Day and by Night. The Hebrew word is used in Scripture both ways, and possibly it is thus generally expressed to include both significations.

Marginal references: Heb. saturity, or, fulness.

13 There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt .

Because they frequently are the instruments and occasions both of their present and eternal destruction, as they feed their Pride or Luxury, or other hurtful Lusts which wast the Body, and shorten the Life, and damn the Soul; and as they are great [illegible: 1+ letters]mptations to Tyrants or Thieves, yea sometimes to Relations or Servants, or others, to take away their lives that they may get their Riches.

14 But those riches perish by evil travel , and he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand .

Or, For: or, Or: or, Moreover: For this Particle is so rendred by divers others both here and in other places of Scripture.

If they be kept, it is to the owners hurt, and if not, they are lost to his grief.

By some wicked practices, either his own, or of other men; or by some secret Hand of God cursing all his Enterprizes

Either 1. In the Fathers power to leave to his Son, for whose sake he underwent all those hard labours; which is a great aggravation of his grief and misery. Or, 2. in the Sons possession after his Fathers death.

15 As he came forth of his mothers womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand c.

Into the womb or belly of the Earth, the common Mother of all Mankind. See the Notes on Iob 1. 21. Eccles. 12. 7. And, return to go, is put for return and go; and going is here put for dying, as Iob 16. 22. Psal. 39. 13.

e This is another vanity. If his Estate be neither lost, nor kept to his hurt, but enjoyed by him with safety and comfort all his days, yet when he dies he must leave it behind him, and cannot carry one handful of it with him into another World.

Marginal references: Job 1. 21. Ps. 49. 17. 1 Tim. 6. 7.

16 And this also is a sore evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that hath laboured for the wind ?

Which I have last mentioned and shall now repeat.

For Riches, which are empty and unsatisfying, uncertain and transitory, fleeing away swiftly and strongly, Prov. 23. 5. which no Man can hold or stay in its course, all which are the properties of the Wind. Compare Prov. 11. 29. Hos. 12. 1.

Marginal references: Ch. 1. 3.

17 All his days also he eateth in darkness , and he hath much sorrow, and wrath with his sickness .

To wit, of his life.

He hath no comfort in his Estate, but even when he Eats, when other men relax their Minds, and use freedom and chearfulness, he doth it with anxiety and discontent, as grudging even a[illegible: 1+ letters] his own necessary expences, and tormenting himself with cares about getting, and disposing, and keeping his Estate.

When he falls sick, and presageth or feareth his Death, he is filled with rage, because he is cut off before he hath accomplished his designs, and because he must leave that Wealth and World in which all his hopes and happiness lies, and must go to give up a doleful account to his Judge of all his actions and acquisitions.

18 Behold that which I have seen . it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun, all the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it is his portion .

i. e. Learned by study and experience.

Good or comfortable to Man's self, and Comely or Amiable in the Eyes of other men, as penuriousness is base and dishonourable.

To wit, of worldly goods: for he hath another and a better portion in Heaven. This liberty is given to him by God, and this is the best advantage, as to this life, which he can make of them.

Marginal references: Ch. 2. 24. & 3. 12, 13, 22. & 9. 7. & 11. 9. 1 Tim. 6. 17.; Heb. there is a good which is comely, &c.; Heb. the number of the days.; Ch. 2. 10. & 3. 22.

19 Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion , and to rejoice in his labour, this is the gift of God.

Heb. hath given him the dominion; who is the Lord and Master of his Estate, not a Slave to it. Of this and the former Verse see the Notes on Eccles 2. 24. & 3. 12, 13.

To his own use, to use what God hath given him.

Marginal references: Ch. 6. 2.

20 For he shall not much remember the days of his life: because God answereth him in the joy of his heart .

So as to disquiet or vex himself therewith.

Either 1. the troubles; days being here put for evil or sad days, by an usual Synecdoche, as Iob 18. 20. Psal. 137. 7. Obad. v. 12. Mic. 7. 4. Or, [illegible: 1+ letters]. the time in general; which is irksom and tedious to men oppressed with discontent or misery, who usually reckon every Hour or Minute that passeth, and have their Minds and Thoughts constantly fixed upon the vanity and uncertainty of this life, upon the afflictions which they have already endured, and may further expect; whereas to men of contented, and chearful, minds the time is short and sweet, and passeth over them before they are aware of it, and they enjoy their present comforts without perplexing themselves about former or future events.

Answereth, either 1. his labours with success, as Money is said to answer all things, Eccles. 10. 19. because it is equivalent to all, and able to purchase all things. Or, 2. his desires.

In giving him that solid joy and comfort of his labours which his Heart expected and desired.

Marginal references: Or, though he give not much, yet he remembreth, &c.

Ecc 5:1 “Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and to go to hear is better than that fools give a sacrifice; for the want of knowledge leads them to do evil.” The “house of God” is like the “house of Jahve,” 2Sa 12:20; Isa 37:1, the temple; אל, altogether like אל־מ־אל, Psa 73:17. The Chethı̂b רגליך is admissible, for elsewhere also this plur. (“thy feet”) occurs in a moral connection and with a spiritual reference, e.g., Psa 119:59; but more frequently, however, the comprehensive sing. occurs. Psa 119:105; Pro 1:15; Pro 4:26., and the Kerı̂ thus follows the right note. The correct understanding of what follows depends on רע ... כּי־. Interpreters have here adopted all manner of impossible views. Hitzig’s translation: “for they know not how to be sorrowful,” has even found in Stuart at least one imitator; but עשׂות רע would, as the contrast of 'asoth tov, Ecc 3:12, mean nothing else than, “to do that which is unpleasant, disagreeable, bad,” like 'asah ra'ah, 2Sa 12:18. Gesen., Ewald (§336 b), Elster, Heiligst., Burger, Zöckl., Dale, and Bullock translate: “they know not that they do evil;” but for such a rendering the words ought to have been עשׂותם רע (cf. Jer 15:15); the only example for the translation of לעשׂות after the manner of the acc. c. inf. = se facere malum - viz. at 1Ki 19:4 - is incongruous, for למות does not here mean se mori, but ut moreretur. Yet more incorrect is the translation of Jerome, which is followed by Luther: nesciunt quid faciant mali. It lies near, as at Ecc 2:24 so also here, to suppose an injury done to the text. Aben Ezra introduced רק before לעשׂ, but Koheleth never uses this limiting particle; we would have to write כי אם־לעשׂות, after Ezr 3:12; Ezr 8:15. Anything thus attained, however, is not worth the violent means thus used; for the ratifying clause is not ratifying, and also in itself, affirmed of the כסילים, who, however, are not the same as the resha'im and the hattaim, is inappropriate. Rather it might be said: they know not to do good (thus the Syr.); or: they know not whether it be good or bad to do, i.e., they have no moral feeling, and act not from moral motives (so the Targ.). Not less violent than this remodelling of the text is the expedient of Herzberg, Philippson, and Ginsburg, who from לשׁמע derive the subject-conception of the obedient (השּׂמעים): “For those understand not at all to do evil;” the subj. ought to have been expressed if it must be something different from the immediately preceding כסילים. We may thus render enam yod'im, after Psa 82:5; Isa 56:10, as complete in itself: they (the fools) are devoid of knowledge to do evil = so that they do evil; i.e., want of knowledge brings them to this, that they do evil. Similarly also Knobel: they concern themselves not, - are unconcerned (viz., about the right mode of worshipping God), - so that they do evil, with the correct remark that the consequence of their perverse conduct is here represented as their intention. But ידע לא, absol., does not mean to be unconcerned (wanton), but to be without knowledge. Rashbam, in substance correctly: they are predisposed by their ignorance to do evil; and thus also Hahn; Mendelssohn translates directly: “they sin because they are ignorant.” If this interpretation is correct, then for לשׁמע it follows that it does not mean “to obey” (thus e.g., Zöckler), which in general it never means without some words being added to it (cf. on the contrary, 1Sa 15:22), but “to hear,” - viz. the word of God, which is to be heard in the house of God, - whereby, it is true, a hearing is meant which leads to obedience.

In the word הורות, priests are not perhaps thought of, although the comparison of Ecc 5:5 (המלאך) with Mal 2:7 makes it certainly natural; priestly instruction limited itself to information regarding the performance of the law already given in Scripture, Lev 10:11; Deu 33:9., and to deciding on questions arising in the region of legal praxis, Deu 24:8; Hag 2:11. The priesthood did not belong to the teaching class in the sense of preaching. Preaching was never a part of the temple cultus, but, for the first time, after the exile became a part of the synagogue worship. The preachers under the O.T. were the prophets, - preachers by a supernatural divine call, and by the immediate impulse of the Spirit; we know from the Book of Jeremiah that they sometimes went into the temple, or there caused their books of prophecy to be read; yet the author, by the word לשׁמע of the foregoing proverb, scarcely thinks of them. But apart from the teaching of the priests, which referred to the realization of the letter of the law, and the teaching of the prophets to the realization of the spirit of the law, the word formed an essential part of the sacred worship of the temple: the Tefilla, the Beracha, the singing of psalms, and certainly, at the time of Koheleth, the reading of certain sections of the Bible. When thou goest to the house of God, says Koheleth, take heed to thy step, well reflecting whither thou goest and how thou hast there to appear; and (with this ו he connects with this first nota bene a second) drawing near to hear exceeds the sacrifice-offering of fools, for they are ignorant (just because they hear not), which leads to this result, that they do evil. מן, prae, expresses also, without an adj., precedence in number, Isa 10:10, or activity, Isa 9:17, or worth, Eze 15:2. קרוב is inf. absol. Böttcher seeks to subordinate it as such to שׁמר: take heed to thy foot ... and to the coming near to hear more than to ... . But these obj. to שמר would be incongruous, and מתת וגו clumsy and even distorted in expression; it ought rather to be מתּתּך כּכסי־לים זבח. As the inf. absol. can take the place of the obj., Isa 7:15; Isa 42:24; Lam 3:45, so also the place of the subj. (Ewald, §240 a), although Pro 25:27 is a doubtful example of this. That the use of the inf. absol. has a wide application with the author of this book, we have already seen under Ecc 4:2. Regarding the sequence of ideas in זבח ... מתּת (first the subj., then the obj.), vid., Gesen. §133. 3, and cf. above at Ecc 3:18. זבח (זבחים), along with its general signification comprehending all animal sacrifices, according to which the altar bears the name מזבּח, early acquired also a more special signification: it denotes, in contradistinction to עולה, such sacrifices as are only partly laid on the altar, and for the most part are devoted to a sacrificial festival, Exo 18:12 (cf. Exo 12:27), the so-called shelamim, or also zivhhe shelamim, Pro 7:14. The expression זבח נתן makes it probable that here, particularly, is intended the festival (1Ki 1:41) connected with this kind of sacrifice, and easily degenerating to worldly merriment (vid., under Pro 7:14); for the more common word for תּת would have been הקריב or שׁחוט; in תּת it seems to be indicated that it means not only to present something to God, but also to give at the same time something to man. The most recent canonical Chokma-book agrees with Pro 21:3 in this depreciation of sacrifice. But the Chokma does not in this stand alone. The great word of Samuel, 1Sa 15:22., that self-denying obedience to God is better than all sacrifices, echoes through the whole of the Psalms. And the prophets go to the utmost in depreciating the sacrificial cultus.

The second rule relates to prayer.

Ecc 5:2-3 “Be not hasty with thy mouth, and let not thy heart hasten to speak a word before God: for God is in heaven, and thou art upon earth; therefore let thy words be few. For by much business cometh dreaming, and by much talk the noise of fools.” As we say in German: auf Flügeln fliegen [to flee on wings], auf Einem Auge nicht sehen [not to see with one eye], auf der Flöte blasen [to blow on the flute], so in Heb. we say that one slandereth with (auf) his tongue (Psa 15:3), or, as here, that he hasteth with his mouth, i.e., is forward with his mouth, inasmuch as the word goes before the thought. It is the same usage as when the post-bibl. Heb., in contradistinction to התורה שׁבּכתב, the law given in the Scripture, calls the oral law הת שׁבּעל־פּה, i.e., the law mediated על־פה, oraliter = oralis traditio (Shabbath 31 a; cf. Gittin 60 b). The instrument and means is here regarded as the substratum of the action - as that which this lays as a foundation. The phrase: “to take on the lips,” Psa 16:4, which needs no explanation, is different. Regarding בּהל, festinare, which is, like מהר, the intens. of Kal, vid., once it occurs quite like our “sich beeilen” to hasten, with reflex. accus. suff., 2Ch 35:21. Man, when he prays, should not give the reins to his tongue, and multiply words as one begins and repeats over a form which he has learnt, knowing certainly that it is God of whom and to whom he speaks, but without being conscious that God is an infinitely exalted Being, to whom one may not carelessly approach without collecting his thoughts, and irreverently, without lifting up his soul. As the heavens, God’s throne, are exalted above the earth, the dwelling-place of man, so exalted is the heavenly God above earthly man, standing far beneath him; therefore ought the words of a man before God to be few, - few, well-chosen reverential words, in which one expresses his whole soul. The older language forms no plur. from the subst. מעט (fewness) used as an adv.; but the more recent treats it as an adj., and forms from it the plur. מעטּים (here and in Psa 109:8, which bears the superscription le-david, but has the marks of Jeremiah’s style); the post-bibl. places in the room of the apparent adj. the particip. adj. מועט with the plur. מוּעטים (מוּעטין), e.g., Berachoth 61 a: “always let the words of a man before the Holy One (blessed be His name!) be few” (מוע). Few ought the words to be; for where they are many, it is not without folly. This is what is to be understood, Ecc 5:2, by the comparison; the two parts of the verse stand here in closer mutual relation than Ecc 7:1, - the proverb is not merely synthetical, but, like Job 5:7, parabolical. The ב is both times that of the cause. The dream happens, or, as we say, dreams happen ענין בּרב; not: by much labour; for labour in itself, as the expenditure of strength making one weary, has as its consequence, Ecc 5:11, sweet sleep undisturbed by dreams; but: by much self-vexation in a man’s striving after high and remote ends beyond what is possible (Targ., in manifold project-making); the care of such a man transplants itself from the waking to the sleeping life, it if does not wholly deprive him of sleep, Ecc 5:11, Ecc 8:16, - all kinds of images of the labours of the day, and fleeting phantoms and terrifying pictures hover before his mind. And as dreams of such a nature appear when a man wearies himself inwardly as well as outwardly by the labours of the day, so, with the same inward necessity, where many words are spoken folly makes its appearance. Hitzig renders כסיל, in the connection קול כּ, as adj.; but, like אויל (which forms an adj. ěvīlī), כסיל is always a subst., or, more correctly, it is a name occurring always only of a living being, never of a thing. There is sound without any solid content, mere blustering bawling without sense and intelligence. The talking of a fool is in itself of this kind (Ecc 10:14); but if one who is not just a fool falls into much talk, it is scarcely possible but that in this flow of words empty bombast should appear.

Another rule regarding the worship of God refers to vowing.

Ecc 5:4-7 “When thou hast made a vow to God, delay not to fulfil it; for there is no pleasure in fools: that which thou hast vowed fulfil. Better that thou vowest not, than that thou vowest and fulfillest not. Let not thy mouth bring thy body into punishment; and say not before the messenger of God that it was precipitation: why shall God be angry at thy talk, and destroy the work of thy hands? For in many dreams and words there are also many vanities: much rather fear God!” If they abstained, after Shabbath 30 b, from treating the Book of Koheleth as apocryphal, because it begins with תורה דברי (cf. at Ecc 1:3) and closes in the same way, and hence warrants the conclusion that that which lies between will also be תורה דברי, this is in a special manner true of the passage before us regarding the vow which, in thought and expression, is the echo of Deu 23:22-24. Instead of kaashěr tiddor, we find there the words ki tiddor; instead of lelohim (= lěělohim, always only of the one true God), there we have lahovah ělohěcha; and instead of al-teahher, there lo teahher. There the reason is: “for the Lord thy God will surely require it of thee; and it would be sin in thee;” here: for there is no pleasure in fools, i.e., it is not possible that any one, not to speak of God, could have a particular inclination toward fools, who speak in vain, and make promises in which their heart is not, and which they do not keep. Whatever thou vowest, continues Koheleth, fulfil it; it is better (Ewald, §336 a) that thou vowest not, than to vow and not to pay; for which the Tôra says: “If thou shalt forbear to vow, it shall be no sin in thee” (Deu 23:22). נדר, which, according to the stem-word, denotes first the vow of consecration of setting apart (cogn. Arab. nadar, to separate, נזר, whence נזיר), the so-called אסר [vid. Num 30:3], is here a vow in its widest sense; the author, however, may have had, as there, the law (cf. Ecc 5:2-4), especially shalme něděr, in view, i.e., such peace-offerings as the law does not enjoin, but which the offerer promises (cogn. with the shalme nedavah, i.e., such as rest on free-will, but not on any obligation arising from a previous promise) from his own inclination, for the event that God may do this or that for him. The verb שׁלּם is not, however, related to this name for sacrifices, as חטּא is to חטּאת, but denotes the fulfilling or discharge as a performance fully accordant with duty. To the expression חטא ... היה (twice occurring in the passage of Deut. referred to above) there is added the warning: let not thy mouth bring thy body into sin. The verb nathan, with Lamed and the inf. following, signifies to allow, to permit, Gen 20:6; Jdg 1:34; Job 31:30. The inf. is with equal right translated: not to bring into punishment; for חטא - the syncop. Hiph. of which, according to an old, and, in the Pentateuch, favourite form, is לחטיא - signifies to sin, and also (e.g., Gen 39:9; cf. the play on the word, Hos 8:11) to expiate sin; sin-burdened and guilty, or liable to punishment, mean the same thing. Incorrectly, Ginsburg, Zöck., and others: “Do not suffer thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin;” for (1) the formula: “the flesh sins,” is not in accordance with the formation of O.T. ideas; the N.T., it is true, uses the expression σὰρξ ἁμαρτίας, Rom 8:3, but not ἁμαρτάνουσα, that which sins is not the flesh, but the will determined by the flesh, or by fleshly lust; (2) the mouth here is not merely that which leads to sin, but the person who sins through thoughtless haste, - who, by his haste, brings sin upon his flesh, for this suffers, for the breach of vow, by penalties inflicted by God; the mouth is, like the eye and the hand, a member of the ὃλον τὸ σῶμα (Mat 5:24.), which is here called בשׂר; the whole man in its sensitive nature (opp. לב, Ecc 2:3; Ecc 11:10; Pro 14:30) has to suffer chastisement on account of that which the mouth hath spoken. Gesen. compares this passage, correctly, with Deu 24:4, for the meaning peccati reum facere; Isa 29:21 is also similar.

The further warning refers to the lessening of the sin of a rash vow unfulfilled as an unintentional, easily expiable offence: “and say not before the messenger of God that it was a שׁגגה, a sin of weakness.” Without doubt hammǎlāch is an official byname of a priest, and that such as was in common use at the time of the author. But as for the rest, it is not easy to make the matter of the warning clear. That it is not easy, may be concluded from this, that with Jewish interpreters it lies remote to think of a priest in the word hammǎlāch. By this word the Targ. understands the angel to whom the execution of the sentence of punishment shall be committed on the day of judgment; Aben Ezra: the angel who writes down all the words of a man; similarly Jerome, after his Jewish teacher. Under this passage Ginsburg has an entire excursus regarding the angels. The lxx and Syr. translate “before God,” as if the words of the text were אל נגד, Psa 138:1, or as if hammalach could of itself mean God, as presenting Himself in history. Supposing that hammalach is the official name of a man, and that of a priest, we appear to be under the necessity of imagining that he who is charged with the obligation of a vow turns to the priest with the desire that he would release him from it, and thus dissolve (bibl. הפיר, Mishnic התּיר) the vow. But there is no evidence that the priests had the power of releasing from vows. Individual cases in which a husband can dissolve the vow of his wife, and a father the vow of his daughter, are enumerated in Num 30; ; besides, in the traditional law, we find the sentence: “A vow, which one who makes it repents of, can be dissolved by a learned man (חכם), or, where none is present, by three laymen,” Bechoroth 36 b; the matter cannot be settled by any middle person (שׁליח), but he who has taken the vow (הנודר) must appear personally, Jore deah c. 228, §16. Of the priest as such nothing is said here. Therefore the passage cannot at all be traditionally understood of an official dissolution of an oath. Where the Talm. applies it juristically, Shabbath 32 b, etc., Rashi explains hammalach by gizbar shěl-haqdesh, i.e., treasurer of the revenues of the sanctuary; and in the Comm. to Koheleth he supposes that some one has publicly resolved on an act of charity (צדקה), i.e., has determined it with himself, and that now the representative of the congregation (שׁליח) comes to demand it. But that is altogether fanciful. If we proceed on the idea that liphne hammalach is of the same meaning as liphne hakkohen, Lev 27:8, Lev 27:11; Num 9:6; Num 27:2, etc., we have then to derive the figure from such passages relating to the law of sacrifice as Num 15:22-26, from which the words ki shegagah hi (Num 15:25) originate. We have to suppose that he who has made a vow, and has not kept it, comes to terms with God with an easier and less costly offering, since in the confession (ודּוּי) which he makes before the priest he explains that the vow was a shegagah, a declaration that inconsiderately escaped him. The author, in giving it to be understood that under these circumstances the offering of the sacrifice is just the direct contrary of a good work, calls to the conscience of the inconsiderate נודר: why should God be angry on account of thy voice with which thou dost excuse thy sins of omission, and destroy (vid., regarding חבּל under Isa 10:27) the work of thy hands (vid., under Psa 90:17), for He destroys what thou hast done, and causes to fail what thou purposest? The question with lammah resembles those in Ezr 4:22; Ezr 7:23, and is of the same kind as at Ecc 7:16.; it leads us to consider what a mad self-destruction that would be (Jer 44:7, cf. under Isa 1:5).

The reason for the foregoing admonition now following places the inconsiderate vow under the general rubric of inconsiderate words. We cannot succeed in interpreting Ecc 5:6 [7] (in so far as we do not supply, after the lxx and Syr. with the Targ.: ne credas; or better, with Ginsburg, היא = it is) without taking one of the vavs in the sense of “also.” That the Heb. vav, like the Greek καί, the Lat. et, may have this comparative or intensifying sense rising above that which is purely copulative, is seen from e.g., Num 9:14, cf. also Jos 14:11. In many cases, it is true, we are not under the necessity of translating vav by “also;” but since the “and” here does not merely externally connect, but expresses correlation of things homogeneous, an “also” or a similar particle involuntarily substitutes itself for the “and,” e.g., Gen 17:20 (Jerome): super Ismael quoque; Exo 29:8 : filios quoque; Deu 1:32 : et nec sic quidem credidistis; Deu 9:8 : nam et in Horeb; cf. Jos 15:19; 1Sa 25:43; 2Sa 19:25; 1Ki 2:22; 1Ki 11:26; Isa 49:6, “I have also given to thee.” But there are also passages in which it cannot be otherwise translated than by “also.” We do not reckon among these Psa 31:12, where we do not translate “also my neighbours,” and Amo 4:10, where the words are to be translated, “and that in your nostrils.” On the contrary, Isa 32:7 is scarcely otherwise to be translated than “also when the poor maketh good his right,” like 2Sa 1:23, “also in their death they are not divided.” In 2Ch 27:5, in like manner, the two vavs are scarcely correlative, but we have, with Keil, to translate, “also in the second and third year.” And in Hos 8:6, והוּא, at least according to the punctuation, signifies “also it,” as Jerome translates: ex Israele et ipse est. According to the interpunction of the passage before us, וּד הר is the pred., and thus, with the Venet., is to be translated: “For in many dreams and vanities there are also many words.” We could at all events render the vav, as also at Ecc 10:11; Exo 16:6, as vav apod.; but וגו בּרב has not the character of a virtual antecedent, - the meaning of the expression remains as for the rest the same; but Hitzig’s objection is of force against it (as also against Ewald’s disposition of the words, like the of Symmachus, Jerome, and Luther: “for where there are many dreams, there are also vanities, and many words”), that it does not accord with the connection, which certainly in the first place requires a reason referable to inconsiderate talk, and that the second half is, in fact, erroneous, for between dreams and many words there exists no necessary inward mutual relation. Hitzig, as Knobel before him, seeks to help this, for he explains: “for in many dreams are also vanities, i.e., things from which nothing comes, and (the like) in many words.” But not only is this assumed carrying forward of the ב doubtful, but the principal thing would be made a secondary matter, and would drag heavily. The relation in  Ecc 5:2 is different where vav is that of comparison, and that which is compared follows the comparison. Apparently the text (although the lxx had it before them, as it is before us) has undergone dislocation, and is thus to be arranged: כי ברב חלמת ודברים הרבה והבלים: for in many dreams and many words there are also vanities, i.e., illusions by which one deceives himself and others. Thus also Bullock renders, but without assigning a reason for it. That dreams are named first, arises from a reference back to Ecc 5:2, according to which they are the images of what a man is externally and mentally busied and engaged with. But the principal stress lies on ודברים הרבה, to which also the too rash, inconsiderate vows belong. The pred. והבלים, however, connects itself with “vanity of vanities,” which is Koheleth’s final judgment regarding all that is earthly. The כי following connects itself with the thought lying in 6 a, that much talk, like being much given to dreams, ought to be avoided: it ought not to be; much rather (imo, Symm. ἀλλά) fear God, Him before whom one should say nothing, but that which contains in it the whole heart.

Ecc 5:8 “If thou seest the oppression of the poor and the robbery of right and of justice in the state, marvel not at the matter: for one higher watches over him who is high; and others are high above both.” Like rash, mishpat vatsěděq are also the gen. of the obj.; “robbery of the right and of justice” is an expression not found elsewhere, but not on that account, as Grätz supposes, impossible: mishpat is right, rectitude, and conformity to law; and ÷]ã]ñú, judicial administration, or also social deportment according to these norms; גּזל, a wicked, shameless depriving of a just claim, and withholding of the showing of right which is due. If one gets a sight of such things as these in a medinah, i.e., in a territorial district under a common government, he ought not to wonder at the matter. תּמהּ means to be startled, astonished, and, in the sense of “to wonder,” is the word commonly used in modern Heb. But חפץ has here the colourless general signification of res, according to which the Syr. translates it (vid., under Ecc 3:1); every attempt in passages such as this to retain the unweakened primary meaning of the word runs out into groundless and fruitless subtlety. Cf. Berachoth 5 a, חפץ לח ... אדם, “a man who buys a thing from another.” On the other hand, there is doubt about the meaning of the clause assigning the reason. It seems to be intended, that over him who is high, who oppresses those under him, there stands one who is higher, who in turn oppresses him, and thereby becomes the executor of punishment upon him; and that these, the high and the higher, have over them a Most High, viz., God, who will bring them to an account (Knobel, Ew., Elst., Vaih., Hengst., Zöckl.). None of the old translators and expositors rises, it is true, to the knowledge that גּבהים may be pl. majestatis,That is surprising, since the Talm. interpretation, Menachoth 110 a, even brings it about that לב, Ecc 5:10, is to be understood of God. but the first גּבהּ the Targ. renders by אל אדּיר. This was natural to the Jewish usus loq., for gbwh in the post-bibl. Heb. is a favourite name for God, e.g., Beza 20 b, Jebamoth 87 a, Kamma 13 a: “from the table of God” (משלחן גבוה), i.e., the altar (cf. Heb 13:10; 1Co 10:21).חלק גבוה is also a common Rabbin. name for the tithes and offerings (cf. e.g., Nachmani under Gen 14:20). Along with חלק הגבוה, the sacrifices are also called (in Hurwitz' work on the Heb. rites, known by the abbreviated title ש''לה) לגבוה; vid., 85 b of the ed. 1764, and 23 b of the Amsterdam ed. 1707 of the abridgment.

The interpretation of גב, however, as the pl. majest., has in the Book of Koheleth itself a support in בּוראיך, Ecc 12:1; and the thought in which Ecc 5:7 climactically terminates accords essentially with Ecc 3:17. This explanation, however, of Ecc 5:7 does not stand the test. For if an unrighteous administration of justice, if violence is in vogue instead of right, that is an actual proof that over him who is high no human higher one watches who may put a check upon him, and to whom he feels that he is responsible. And that above them both one who is Most High stands, who will punish injustice and avenge it, is a consolatory argument against vexation, but is no explanatory reason of the phenomenon, such as we expect after the noli mirari; for אל־תתמה does not signify “be not offended” (Joh 16:1), or, “think it not strange” (1Pe 4:12), which would be otherwise expressed (cf. under Psa 37:1), but μή θαυμάσης (lxx). Also the contrast, Ecc 5:8, warrants the conclusion that in Ecc 5:7 the author seeks to explain the want of legal order from the constitution of a despotic state as distinguished from patriarchal government. For this reason שׁמר will not be meant of over-watching, which has its aim in the execution of legal justice and official duty, but of egoistic watching, - not, however, as Hitzig understands it: “they mutually protect each other’s advantage; one crow does not peck out the eyes of another,” - but, on the contrary, in the sense of hostile watching, as at 1Sa 19:11; 2Sa 11:16, as B. Bardach understands it: “he watches for the time when he may gain the advantage over him who is high, who is yet lower than himself, and may strengthen and enrich himself with his flesh or his goods.” Over the one who is high, who oppresses the poor and is a robber in respect of right and justice, there stands a higher, who on his part watches how he can plunder him to his own aggrandisement; and over both there are again other high ones, who in their own interest oppress these, as these do such as are under them. This was the state of matters in the Persian Empire in the time of the author. The satrap stood at the head of state officers. In many cases he fleeced the province to fatten himself. But over the satrap stood inspectors, who often enough built up their own fortunes by fatal denunciations; and over all stood the king, or rather the court, with its rivalry of intrigues among courtiers and royal women. The cruel death-punishments to which disagreeable officials were subjected were fearful. There was a gradation of bad government and arbitrary domination from high to low and from low to high, and no word is more fitting for this state of things in Persia than שׁמר; for watching, artfully lurking as spies for an opportunity to accomplish the downfall of each other, was prevalent in the Persian Empire, especially when falling into decay.

Ecc 5:9

The author, on the other hand, now praises the patriarchal form of government based on agriculture, whose king takes pride, not in bloody conquests and tyrannical caprice, but in the peaceful promotion of the welfare of his people: “But the advantage of a country consists always in a king given to the arable land.” What impossibilities have been found here, even by the most recent expositors! Ewald, Heiligst., Elster, Zöckl. translate: rex agro factus = terrae praefectus; but, in the language of this book, not עבד but מלך עשׁה is the expression used for “to make a king.” Gesen., Win., de Wette, Knobel, Vaih. translate: rex qui colitur a terra (civibus). But could a country, in the sense of its population in subjection to the king, be more inappropriately designated than by שׂדה? Besides, עבד certainly gains the meaning of colere where God is the object; but with a human ruler as the object it means servire and nothing more, and נעבּדThus pointed rightly in J., with Sheva quiesc. and Dagesh in Beth; vid., Kimchi in Michlol 63 a, and under עבד. can mean nothing else than “dienstbar gemacht” made subject to, not “honoured.” Along with this signification, related denom. to עבד, נעבד, referred from its primary signification to שׂדה, the open fields (from שׂדה, to go out in length and breadth), may also, after the phrase עבד האדמה, signify cultivated, wrought, tilled; and while the phrase “made subject to” must be certainly held as possible (Rashi, Aben Ezra, and others assume it without hesitation), but is without example, the Niph. occurs, e.g., at Eze 36:9, in the latter signification, of the mountains of Israel: “ye shall be tilled.” Under Ecc 5:8, Hitzig, and with him Stuart and Zöckler, makes the misleading remark that the Chethı̂b is בּכל־היא, and that it is = בּכל־זאת, according to which the explanation is then given: the protection and security which an earthly ruler secures is, notwithstanding this, not to be disparaged. But היא is Chethı̂b, for which the Kerı̂ substitutes הוּא; בּכּל is Chethı̂b without Kerı̂; and that בּכל is thus a modification of the text, and that, too, an objectionable one, since בכל־היא, in the sense of “in all this,” is unheard of. The Kerı̂ seeks, without any necessity, to make the pred. and subj. like one another in gender; without necessity, for היא may also be neut.: the advantage of a land is this, viz., what follows. And how בּכּל is to be understood is seen from Ezr 10:17, where it is to be explained: And they preparedThat כלה ב may mean “to be ready with anything,” Keil erroneously points to Gen 44:12; and Philippi, St. Const. p. 49, thinks that vǎkol ǎnāshim can be taken together in the sense of vakol haanashim. the sum of the men, i.e., the list of the men, of such as had married strange wives; cf. 1Ch 7:5. Accordingly בכל here means, as the author generally uses הכל mostly in the impersonal sense of omnia: in omnibus, in all things = by all means; or: in universum, in general. Were the words accentuated מלך לשדה נעבד, the adject. connection of לשׂ נע would thereby be shown; according to which the lxx and Theod. translate τοῦ αγροῦ εἰργασμένου; Symm., with the Syr., τῇ χώρα εἰργασμένη: “a king for the cultivated land,” i.e., one who regards this as a chief object. Luzz. thus indeed accentuates; but the best established accentuation is מלך לשדה נעבד. This separation of נעבד from לש can only be intended to denote that נעבד is to be referred not to it, but to מלך, according to which the Targ. paraphrases. The meaning remains the same: a king subject (who has become a servus) to the cultivated land, rex agro addictus, as Dathe, Rosenm., and others translate, is a still more distinct expression of that which “a king for the well-cultivated field” would denote: an agriculture-king, - one who is addicted, not to wars, lawsuits, and sovereign stubbornness in his opinions, but who delights in the peaceful advancement of the prosperity of his country, and especially takes a lively interest in husbandry and the cultivation of the land. The order of the words in Ecc 5:8 is like that at Ecc 9:2; cf. Isa 8:22; Isa 22:2. The author thus praises, in contrast to a despotic state, a patriarchal kingdom based on agriculture.

Ecc 5:10 “He who loveth silver is not satisfied with silver; and he whose love cleaveth to abundance, hath nothing of it: also this is vain.” The transition in this series of proverbs is not unmediated; for the injustice which, according to Ecc 5:7, prevails in the state as it now is becomes subservient to covetousness, in the very nature of which there lies insatiableness: semper avarus eget, hunc nulla pecunia replet. That the author speaks of the “sacra fames argenti” (not auri) arises from this, that not זהב, but כסף, is the specific word for coin.A Jewish fancy supposes that כסף is chosen because it consists of letters rising in value (20, 60, 80); while, on the contrary, זהב consists of letters decreasing in value (7, 5, 2).

Mendelssohn-Friedländer also explains: “He who loveth silver is not satisfied with silver,” i.e., it does not make him full; that might perhaps be linguistically possible (cf. e.g., Pro 12:11), although the author would in that case probably have written the words מן־הכּסף, after Ecc 6:3; but “to be not full of money” is, after Ecc 1:8, and especially Ecc 4:8, Hab 2:5, cf. Pro 27:20 = never to have enough of money, but always to desire more.

That which follows, Ecc 5:9, is, according to Hitz., a question: And who hath joy in abundance, which bringeth nothing in? But such questions, with the answer to be supplied, are not in Koheleth’s style; and what would then be understood by capital without interest? Others, as Zöckler, supply ישׂבּע: and he that loveth abundance of possessions (is) not (full) of income; but that which is gained by these hard ellipses is only a tautology. With right, the Targ., Syr., Jerome, the Venet., and Luther take lo tevuah as the answer or conclusion; and who clings to abundance of possessions with his love? - he has no fruit thereof; or, with a weakening of the interrog. pronoun into the relative (as at Ecc 1:9; cf. under Psa 34:13): he who ... clings has nothing of it. Hamon signifies a tumult, a noisy multitude, particularly of earthly goods, as at Psa 37:16; 1Ch 29:16; Isa 60:5. The connection of אהב with ב, occurring only here, follows the analogy of חפץ בּ and the like. The conclusion is synon. with levilti ho'il; e.g., Isa 44:10; Jer 7:8. All the Codd. read לא; לו in this sense would be meaningless.In Maccoth 10 a, לו is read three times in succession; the Midrash Wajikra, c. 22, reads לא, and thus it is always found without Kerı̂ and without variation.

The designation of advantage by tevuah, the farmer enjoys the fruit of his labour; but he who hangs his heart on the continual tumult, noise, pomp of more numerous and greater possessions is possible, to him all real profit -  i.e., all pleasant, peaceful enjoyment - is lost. With the increase of the possessions there is an increase also of unrest, and the possessor has in reality nothing but the sight of them.

Ecc 5:11 “When property and goods increase, they become many who consume them; and what advantage hath the owner thereof but the sight of them with his eyes?” The verb רבה signifies to increase, the רבב, to be many; but also (which Böttch. denies) inchoatively: to become many, Gen 6:1; rightly, the lxx, ἐπληθύνθησαν. The author has not a miser in view, who shuts up his money in chests, and only feeds himself in looking at it with closed doors; but a covetous man, of the sort spoken of in Psa 49:12; Isa 5:8. If the hattovah, the possession of such an one, increases, in like manner the number of people whom he must maintain increases also, and thus the number of those who eat of it along with him, and at the same time also his disquiet and care, increase; and what advantage, what useful result (vid., regarding Kishron, above, p. 638, and under Ecc 2:21) has the owner of these good things from them but the beholding of them (reith; Kerı̂, reuth; cf. the reverse case, Psa 126:4)? - the possession does not in itself bring happiness, for it is never great enough to satisfy him, but is yet great enough to fill him with great care as to whether he may be able to support the demands of so great a household: the fortune which it brings to him consists finally only in this, that he can look on all he has accumulated with proud self-complacency.

Ecc 5:12

He can also eat that which is good, and can eat much; but he does not on that account sleep more quietly than the labourer who lives from hand to mouth: “Sweet is the sleep of the labourer, whether he eats little or much; but, on the contrary, the abundance of the rich does not permit him to sleep.” The lxx, instead of “labourer,” uses the word “slave” (δούλου), as if the original were העבד. But, as a rule, sound sleep is the reward of earnest labour; and since there are idle servants as well as active masters, there is no privilege to servants. The Venet. renders rightly by “of the husbandman” (ἐργάτου), the האדמה עבד; the “labourer” in general is called עמל, Ecc 4:8 and Jdg 5:26, post-bibl. פּעל. The labourer enjoys sweet, i.e., refreshing, sound sleep, whether his fare be abundant of scanty - the labour rewards him by sweet sleep, notwithstanding his poverty; while, on the contrary, the sleep of the rich is hindered and disturbed by his abundance, not: by his satiety, viz., repletion, as Jerome remarks: incocto cibo in stomachi angustiis aestuante; for the labourer also, if he eats much, eats his fill; and why should sufficiency have a different result in the one from what is has in the other? As שׂבע means satiety, not over-satiety; so, on the other hand, it means, objectively, sufficient and plentifully existing fulness to meet the wants of man, Pro 3:10, and the word is meant thus objectively here: the fulness of possession which the rich has at his disposal does not permit him to sleep, for all kinds of projects, cares, anxieties regarding it rise within him, which follow him into the night, and do not suffer his mind to be at rest, which is a condition of sleep. The expression השּׂ לע is the circumlocutio of the genit. relation, like לב ... חל, Rth 2:3; נע ... אם (lxx Αμνὼν τῆσ ̓Αχινόαμ), 2Sa 3:2. Heiligstedt remarks that it stands for שׂבע העשׁיר; but the nouns צמא, רעב ,צמא snuon, שׂבע form no const., for which reason the circumloc. was necessary; שׂבע is the constr. of שׂבע. Falsely, Ginsburg: “aber der Ueberfluss den Reichen - er lässt ihn nicht schlafen” but superabundance the rich - it doth not suffer him to sleep; but this construction is neither in accordance with the genius of the German nor of the Heb. language. Only the subject is resumed in איננּוּ (as in Ecc 1:7); the construction of הניח is as at 1Ch 16:21; cf. Psa 105:14. Of the two Hiphil forms, the properly Heb. הניח and the Aramaizing הנּיח, the latter is used in the weakened meaning of ἐᾶν, sinere.

After showing that riches bring to their possessor no real gain, but, instead of that, dispeace, care, and unrest, the author records as a great evil the loss, sometimes suddenly, of wealth carefully amassed.

Ecc 5:13-14 “There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, riches kept by their possessor to his hurt: the same riches perish by an evil event; and he hath begotten a son, thus this one hath nothing in his hand.” There is a gradation of evils. חולה רעה (cf. רע חלי ר, Ecc 6:2) is not an ordinary, but a morbid evil, i.e., a deep hurtful evil; as a wound, not a common one, but one particularly severe and scarcely curable, is called נחלה, e.g., Nah 3:19. השׁ ... רא is, as at Ecc 10:5, an ellipt. relat. clause; cf. on the other hand, Ecc 6:1; the author elsewhere uses the scheme of the relat. clause without relat. pron. (vid., under Ecc 1:13; Ecc 3:16); the old language would use ראיתיה, instead of ראיתי, with the reflex. pron. The great evil consists in this, that riches are not seldom kept by their owner to his own hurt. Certainly שׁמוּר ל can also mean that which is kept for another, 1Sa 9:24; but how involved and constrained is Ginsburg’s explanation: “hoarded up (by the rich man) for their (future) owner,” viz., the heir to whom he intends to leave them! That ל can be used with the passive as a designation of the subj., vid., Ewald, §295 c; certainly it corresponds as little as מן, with the Greek ὑπό, but in Greek we say also πλοῦτος φυλαχθεὶς τῷ κεκτημένῳ, vid., Rost’s Syntax, §112. 4. The suff. of lera'atho refers to be'alav, the plur. form of which can so far remain out of view, that we even say adonim qosheh, Isa 19:4, etc. “To his hurt,” i.e., at the last suddenly to lose that which has been carefully guarded. The narrative explanation of this, “to his hurt,” begins with vav explic. Regarding 'inyan ra'. It is a casus adversus that is meant, such a stroke upon stroke as destroyed Job’s possessions. The perf. והו supposes the case that the man thus suddenly made poor is the father of a son; the clause is logically related to that which follows as hypothet. antecedent, after the scheme. Gen 33:13. The loss of riches would of itself make one who is alone unhappy, for the misfortune to be poor is less than the misfortunes to be rich and then to become poor; but still more unfortunate is the father who thought that by well-guarded wealth he had secured the future of his son, and who now leaves him with an empty hand.

What now follows is true of this rich man, but is generalized into a reference to every rich man, and then is recorded as a second great evil. As a man comes naked into the world, so also he departs from it again without being able to take with him any of the earthly wealth he has acquired.

Ecc 5:15 “As he came forth from his mother’s womb, naked shall he again depart as he came, and not the least will he carry away for his labour, which he could take with him in his hand.” In 13 a the author has the case of Job in his mind; this verse before us is a reminiscence from Job 1:21, with the setting aside of the difficult word שׁמּה found there, which Sirach 40:1 exhibits. With “naked” begins emphatically the main subject; כּשׁבּא = בא כּאשׁר is the intensifying resumption of the comparison; the contrast of לכת f, going away, excedere vitâ, is בּיא of the entrance on life, coming into the world. מאוּמה (according to the root meaning and use, corresponding to the French point, Olsh. §205 a) emphatically precedes the negation, as at Jdg 14:6 (cf. the emphasis reached in a different way, Psa 49:18). נשׂא signifies here, as at Ecc 5:18, Psa 24:5, to take hence, to take forth, to carry away. The ב of בּע is not partitive (Aben Ezra compares Lev 8:32), according to which Jerome and Luther translate de labore suo, but is the Beth pretii, as e.g., at 1Ki 16:34, as the Chald. understands it; Nolde cites for this Beth pretii passages such as Ecc 2:24, but incorrectly. Regarding the subjunctive שׁיּלך, quod auferat. We might also with the lxx and Symm. punctuate שׁיּלך: which might accompany him in his hand, but which could by no means denote, as Hitzig thinks: (for his trouble), which goes through his hand. Such an expression is not used; and Hitzig’s supposition, that here the rich man who has lost his wealth is the subject, does not approve itself.

Ecc 5:16

A transition is now made to rich men as such, and the registering formula which should go before Ecc 5:14 here follows: “And this also is a sore evil: altogether exactly as he came, thus shall he depart: and what gain hath he that laboureth in the wind?” Regarding זה; and regarding כּל־ע שׁ,I n H. written as one word: כּלעמת. Parchon (Lex. under עמת) had this form before him. In his Lex. Kimchi bears evidence in favour of the correct writing as two words.

The writing of these first two as one word [vid. note below] accords with Ibn-Giat’s view, accidentally quoted by Kimchi, that the word is compounded of כ of comparison, and the frequently occurring לעמּת always retaining its ל, and ought properly to be pointed כּלע (cf. מלּ, 1Ki 7:20). עמּה signifies combination, society, one thing along with or parallel to another; and thus לעמת bears no כ, since it is itself a word of comparison, כּל־עמּת “altogether parallel,” “altogether the same.” The question: what kind of advantage (vid., Ecc 1:3) is to him (has he) of this that ... , carries its answer in itself. Labouring for the wind or in the wind, his labour is רוּח (רעיון) רעוּת, and thus fruitless. And, moreover, how miserable an existence is this life of labour leading to nothing!

Ecc 5:17 “Also all his life long he eateth in darkness and grieveth himself much, and oh for his sorrow and hatred!” We might place Ecc 5:16 under the regimen of the שׁ of שׁיע of Ecc 5:15; but the Heb. style prefers the self-dependent form of sentences to that which is governed. The expression Ecc 5:16 has something strange. This strangeness disappears if, with Ewald and Heiligst., after the lxx and Jerome, for יאכל we read ואכל: καὶ ἐν πένθει; Böttch. prefers ואפל, “and in darkness.” Or also, if we read ילך for יאכל; thus the Midrash here, and several codd. by Kennicott; but the Targ., Syr., and Masora read יאכל. Hitzig gets rid of that which is strange in this passage by taking כּל־ימיו as accus. of the obj., not of the time: all his days, his whole life he consumes in darkness; but in Heb. as in Lat. we say: consumere dies vitae, Job 21:13; Job 36:11, but not comedere; and why should the expression, “to eat in darkness,” not be a figurative expression for a faithless, gloomy life, as elsewhere “to sit in darkness” (Mic 7:8), and “to walk in darkness”? It is meant that all his life long he ate אונים לחם, the bread of sorrow, or לחץ לחם, prison fare; he did not allow himself pleasant table comforts in a room comfortably or splendidly lighted, for it is unnecessary to understand חשׁך subjectively and figuratively (Hitz., Zöck.).

In 16 b the traditional punctuation is וכעס.Thus in correct texts, in H. with the note: כ מלרע, viz., here and at Psa 112:10, only there ע has, according to tradition, the Kametz. Cf. Mas. fin. 52 b, and Baer’s Ed. of Psalter, under Psa 112:10.

The perf. ruled by the preceding fut. is syntactically correct, and the verb כּעס is common with the author, Ecc 7:9. Hitzig regards the text as corrupt, and reads כּחליו and כּעס, and explains: and (he consumes or swallows) much grief in his, etc.; the phrase, “to eat sorrow,” may be allowed (cf. Pro 26:6, cf. Job 15:16); but יאכל, as the representative of two so bold and essentially different metaphors, would be in point of style in bad taste. If the text is corrupt, it may be more easily rectified by reading וק לו וחלי הרבה וכּעס: and grief in abundance, and sorrow has he, and wrath. We merely suggest this. Ewald, Burger, and Böttch. read only וכעס הרבה וחלי; but לו is not to be dispensed with, and can easily be reduced to a mere vav. Elster retains וכעס, and reads, like Hitzig, בחליו: he grieves himself much in his sorrow and wrath; but in that case the word וקצפו was to be expected; also in this way the ideas do not psychologically accord with each other. However the text is taken, we must interpret וחליו וקצף as an exclamation, like הף, Isa 29:16; תּף, Jer 49:16; Ewald, §328 a, as we have done above. That וח of itself is a subst. clause = וחלי לו is untenable; the rendering of the noun as forming a clause, spoken of under Ecc 2:21, is of a different character.Rashi regards וחליו as a form like חיתו. This o everywhere appears only in a gen. connection.

He who by his labour and care aims at becoming rich, will not only lay upon himself unnecessary privations, but also have many sorrows; for many of his plans fail, and the greater success of others awakens his envy, and neither he himself nor others satisfy him; he is morbidly disposed, and as he is diseased in mind, so also in body, and his constantly increasing dissatisfaction becomes at last קצף, he grumbles at himself, at God, and all the world. From observing such persons, Paul says of them (1Ti 6:6.): “They have pierced themselves through (transfoderunt) with many sorrows.”

In view of these great evils, with which the possession of riches also is connected: of their deceitful instability, and their merely belonging to this present life, Koheleth returns to his ceterum censeo.

Ecc 5:18 “Behold then what I have seen as good, what as beautiful (is this): that one eat and drink and see good in all his labour with which he wearieth himself, under the sun, throughout the number of the days of his life which God hath given him; for that is his portion.” Toward this seeing, i.e., knowing from his own experience, his effort went forth, according to Ecc 2:3; and what he here, Ecc 5:17, Ecc 5:18, expresses as his resultat, he has already acknowledged at Ecc 2:24 and Ecc 3:12. With “behold” he here returns to it; for he says, that from the observations just spoken of, as from others, no other resultat befell him. Instead of ר טובה (here and at Ecc 6:6), he as often uses the words טוב ראה, Ecc 3:13; Ecc 2:24, or בּטוב, Ecc 2:1. In רא, the seeing is meant of that of mental apperception; in לרא, of immediate perception, experience. Our translation above does not correspond with the accentuation of the verse, which belongs to the class of disproportionably long verses without Athnach; cf. Gen 21:9; Num 9:1; Isa 36:1; Jer 13:13; Jer 51:37; Eze 42:10; Amo 5:1; 1Ch 26:26; 1Ch 28:1; 2Ch 23:1. The sentence אני ... הנה (with pausal āni with Rebîa) constitutes the beginning of the verse, in the form, as it were, of a superscription; and then its second part, the main proposition, is divided by the disjunctives following each other: Telisha Gedhola, Geresh, Legarmeh, Rebîa, Tebir, Tifcha, Silluk (cf. Jer 8:1, where Pazer instead of Telisha Bedhola; but as for the rest, the sequence of the accents is the same). Among the moderns, Hengst. holds to the accents, for he translates in strict accordance therewith, as Tremmelius does: “Behold what I have seen: that it is fine and good (Trem. bonum pulchrum) to eat ... .” The asher in the phrase, tov asher-yapheh, then connects it together: good which is at the same time beautiful; Grätz sees here the Greek καλὸν κάγαθόν. But the only passage to which, since Kimchi, reference is made for this use of asher, viz., Hos 12:8, does not prove it; for we are not, with Drusius, to translate there by: iniquitas quae sit peccatum, but by quae poenam mereat. The accentuation here is not correct. The second asher is without doubt the resumption of the first; and the translation - as already Dachselt in his Biblia Accentuata indicated: ecce itaque quod vidi bonum, quod pulchrum (hoc est ut quis edat) - presents the true relation of the component parts of the sentence. The suffix of עמלו refers to the general subj. contained in the inf.; cf. Ecc 8:15. The period of time denoted by מספּר is as at Ecc 2:3; Ecc 6:12. Also we read חל ... כּי־, Ecc 3:22, in the same connection.

Ecc 5:19

This verse, expressing the same, is constructed anakolouthistically, altogether like Ecc 3:13 : “Also for every man to whom God hath given riches and treasures, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; just this is a gift of God.” The anakolouthon can be rendered into English here as little as it can at Ecc 3:13; for if we allow the phrase, “also every man,” the “also” remains fixed to the nearest conception, while in the Heb it governs the whole long sentence, and, at the nearest, belongs to זה. Cheerful enjoyment is in this life that which is most advisable; but also it is not made possible in itself by the possession of earthly treasures, - it is yet a special gift of God added thereto. Nechasim, besides here, occurs also in Jos 22:8; 2Ch 1:11.; and in the Chald. of the Book of Ezra; Ezr 6:8; Ezr 7:26. Also hishlit, to empower, to make possible, is Aram., Dan 2:38, Dan 2:48, as well as Heb., Psa 119:133; the prevalence of the verbal stem שלט is characteristic of the Book of Koheleth. Helqo, “his portion,” is just the cheerful enjoyment as that which man has here below of life, if he has any of it at all.

Ecc 5:20

Over this enjoyment he forgets the frailty and the darkened side of this life. It proves itself to be a gift of God, a gift from above: “For he doth not (then) think much of the days of his life; because God answereth the joy of his heart.” Such an one, permitted by God to enjoy this happiness of life, is thereby prevented from tormenting himself by reflections regarding its transitoriness. Incorrectly, Hengst.: Remembrance and enjoyment of this life do not indeed last long, according to Ewald, who now, however, rightly explains: He will not, by constant reflection on the brevity of his life, too much embitter this enjoyment; because God, indeed, grants to him true heart-joy as the fairest gift. The meaning of Ecc 5:19 is also, in general, hit upon. The lxx translates: “because God occupies him with the joy of his heart;” but for that we ought to have had the word מענהוּ; Jerome helps it, for he reads בשמהה instead of בשמחת: eo quod Deus occupet deliciis cor ejus. But also, in this form, this explanation of מענה is untenable; for ב ענה, the causat. of which would be מענה, signifies, in the style of Koheleth, not in general to busy oneself with something, but to weary oneself with something; hence ענה בשׂ cannot mean: to be occupied with joy, and thereby to be drawn away from some other thing. And since the explanation: “he makes him sing,” needs to argument to dispose of it, מענה thus remains only as the Hiph. of אנה, to meet, to respond to, grant a request. Accordingly, Hitz., like Aben Ezra and Kimchi, comparing Hos 2:23.: God makes to answer, i.e., so works that all things which have in or of themselves that which can make him glad, must respond to his wish. But the omission of the obj. - of which Hitz. remarks, that because indefinite it is left indefinite - is insufferably hard, and the explanation thus ambiguous. Most interpreters translate: for God answers (Gesen. He. Wört. B., incorrectly: answered) him with joy of his heart, i.e., grants this to him in the way of answer. Ewald compares Psa 65:6; but that affords no voucher for the expression: to answer one with something = to grant it to him; for ענה is there connected with a double accus., and בּצדק is the adv. statement of the way and manner. But above all, against this interpretation is the fact of the want of the personal obj. The author behoved to have written מענהוּ or אתו מענה. We take the Hiph. as in the sense of the Kal, but give it its nearest signification: to answer, and explain, as in a similar manner Seb. Schmid, Rambam, and others have already done: God answers to the joy of his heart, i.e., He assents to it, or (using an expression which is an exact equivalent), He corresponds to it. This makes the joy a heart-joy, i.e., a joy which a man feels not merely externally, but in the deepest recess of his heart, for the joy penetrates his heart and satisfies it (Sol 3:11; Isa 30:29; Jer 15:16). A similar expression, elsewhere not found, we had at Ecc 5:9 in אהב בּ. Why should not ענה ב (הענה) be possible with ענהוּ, just as ἀμείβεσθαι πρός τι is with ἀμείβεσθαί τινα? For the rest, בש לב is not needed as obj.; we can take it also as an expression of the state or condition: God gives answer in the heart-joy of such an one. In ענה, to answer, to hear the answer, is thought of as granting a request; here, as giving assent to. Job 35:9 affords a twofold suitable example, that the Hiph. can have an enlarged Kal signification.

After the author has taken the opportunity of once more expressing his ultimatum, he continues to register the sad evils that cling to wealth.

A Caution to Worshippers.

1 Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil. 2 Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few. 3 For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool's voice is known by multitude of words.

Solomon's design, in driving us off from the world, by showing us its vanity, is to drive us to God and to our duty, that we may not walk in the way of the world, but by religious rules, nor depend upon the wealth of the world, but on religious advantages; and therefore,

I. He here sends us to the house of God, to the place of public worship, to the temple, which he himself had built at a vast expense. When he reflected with regret on all his other works (ch. ii. 4), he did not repent of that, but reflected on it with pleasure, yet mentions it not, lest he should seem to reflect on it with pride; but he here sends those to it that would know more of the vanity of the world and would find that happiness which is in vain sought for in the creature. David, when he was perplexed, went into the sanctuary of God, Ps. lxxiii. 17. Let our disappointments in the creature turn our eyes to the Creator; let us have recourse to the word of God's grace and consult that, to the throne of his grace and solicit that. In the word and prayer there is a balm for every wound.

II. He charges us to behave ourselves well there, that we may not miss of our end in coming thither. Religious exercises are not vain things, but, if we mismanage them, they become vain to us. And therefore,

1. We must address ourselves to them with all possible seriousness and care: "Keep thy foot, not keep it back from the house of God (as Prov. xxv. 17), nor go slowly thither, as one unwilling to draw nigh to God, but look well to thy goings, ponder the path of thy feet, lest thou take a false step. Address thyself to the worship of God with a solemn pause, and take time to compose thyself for it, not going about it with precipitation, which is called hasting with the feet, Prov. xix. 2. Keep thy thoughts from roving and wandering from the work; keep thy affections from running out towards wrong objects, for in the business of God's house there is work enough for the whole man, and all too little to be employed." Some think it alludes to the charge given to Moses and Joshua to put off their shoes (Exod. iii. 5, Josh. v. 15,) in token of subjection and reverence. Keep thy feet clean, Exod. xxx. 19.

2. We must take heed that the sacrifice we bring be not the sacrifice of fools (of wicked men), for they are fools and their sacrifice is an abomination to the Lord, Prov. xv. 8), that we bring not the torn, and the lame, and the sick for sacrifice, for we are plainly told that it will not be accepted, and therefore it is folly to bring it,—that we rest not in the sign and ceremony, and the outside of the performance, without regarding the sense and meaning of it, for that is the sacrifice of fools. Bodily exercise, if that be all, is a jest; none but fools will think thus to please him who is a Spirit and requires the heart, and they will see their folly when they find what a great deal of pains they have taken to no purpose for want of sincerity. They are fools, for they consider not that they do evil; they think they are doing God and themselves good service when really they are putting a great affront upon God and a great cheat upon their own souls by their hypocritical devotions. Men may be doing evil even when they profess to be doing good, and even when they do not know it, when they do not consider it. They know not but to do evil, so some read it. Wicked minds cannot choose but sin, even in the acts of devotion. Or, They consider not that they do evil; they act at a venture, right or wrong, pleasing to God or not, it is all one to them.

3. That we may not bring the sacrifice of fools, we must come to God's house with hearts disposed to know and do our duty. We must be ready to hear, that is, (1.) We must diligently attend to the word of God read and preached. "Be swift to hear the exposition which the priests give of the sacrifices, declaring the intent and meaning of them, and do not think it enough to gaze upon what they do, for it must be a reasonable service, otherwise it is the sacrifice of fools." (2.) We must resolve to comply with the will of God as it is made known to us. Hearing is often put for obeying, and that is it that is better than sacrifice, 1 Sam. xv. 22; Isa. i. 15, 16. We come in a right frame to holy duties when we come with this upon our heart, Speak, Lord, for thy servant hears. Let the word of the Lord come (said a good man), and if I had 600 necks I would bow them all to the authority of it.

4. We must be very cautious and considerate in all our approaches and addresses to God (v. 2): Be not rash with thy mouth, in making prayers, or protestations, or promises; let not thy heart be hasty to utter any thing before God. Note, (1.) When we are in the house of God, in solemn assemblies for religious worship, we are in a special manner before God and in his presence, there where he has promised to meet his people, where his eye is upon us and ours ought to be unto him. (2.) We have something to say, something to utter before God, when we draw nigh to him in holy duties; he is one with whom we have to do, with whom we have business of vast importance. If we come without an errand, we shall go away without any advantage. (3.) What we utter before God must come from the heart, and therefore we must not be rash with our mouth, never let our tongue outrun our thoughts in our devotions; the words of our mouth, must always be the product of the meditation of our hearts. Thoughts are words to God, and words are but wind if they be not copied from the thoughts. Lip-labour, though ever so well laboured, if that be all, is but lost labour in religion, Matt. xv. 8, 9. (4.) It is not enough that what we say comes from the heart, but it must come from a composed heart, and not from a sudden heat or passion. As the mouth must not be rash, so the heart must not be hasty; we must not only think, but think twice, before we speak, when we are to speak either from God in preaching or to God in prayer, and not utter any thing indecent and undigested, 1 Cor. xiv. 15.

5. We must be sparing of our words in the presence of God, that is, we must be reverent and deliberate, not talk to God as boldly and carelessly as we do to one another, not speak what comes uppermost, not repeat things over and over, as we do to one another, that what we say may be understood and remembered and may make impression; no, when we speak to God we must consider, (1.) That between him and us there is an infinite distance: God is in heaven, where he reigns in glory over us and all the children of men, where he is attended with an innumerable company of holy angels and is far exalted above all our blessing and praise. We are on earth, the footstool of his throne; we are mean and vile, unlike God, and utterly unworthy to receive any favour from him or to have any communion with him. Therefore we must be very grave, humble, and serious, and be reverent in speaking to him, as we are when we speak to a great man that is much our superior; and, in token of this, let our words be few, that they may be well chosen, Job ix. 14. This does not condemn all long prayers; were they not good, the Pharisees would not have used them for a pretence; Christ prayed all night; and we are directed to continue in prayer. But it condemns careless heartless praying, vain repetitions (Matt. vi. 7), repeating Pater-nosters by tale. Let us speak to God, and of him, in his own words, words which the scripture teaches; and let our words, words of our own invention, be few, lest, not speaking by rule, we speak amiss. (2.) That the multiplying of words in our devotions will make them the sacrifices of fools, v. 3. As confused dreams, frightful and perplexed, and such as disturb the sleep, are an evidence of a hurry of business which fills our head, so many words and hasty ones, used in prayer, are an evidence of folly reigning in the heart, ignorance of and unacquaintedness with both God and ourselves, low thoughts of God, and careless thoughts of our own souls. Even in common conversation a fool is known by the multitude of words; those that know least talk most (ch. x. 11), particularly in devotion; there, no doubt, a prating fool shall fall (Prov. x. 8, 10), shall fall short of acceptance. Those are fools indeed who think they shall be heard, in prayer, for their much speaking.

The Obligation of a Vow.

4 When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. 5 Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. 6 Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands? 7 For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities: but fear thou God. 8 If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter: for he that is higher than the highest regardeth; and there be higher than they.

Four things we are exhorted to in these verses:—

I. To be conscientious in paying our vows.

1. A vow is a bond upon the soul (Num. xxx. 2), by which we solemnly oblige ourselves, not only, in general, to do that which we are already bound to do, but, in some particular instances, to do that to do which we were not under any antecedent obligation, whether it respects honouring God or serving the interests of his kingdom among men. When, under the sense of some affliction (Ps. lxvi. 14), or in the pursuit of some mercy (1 Sam. i. 11), thou hast vowed such a vow as this unto God, know that thou hast opened thy mouth unto the Lord and thou canst not go back; therefore, (1.) Pay it; perform what thou hast promised; bring to God what thou hast dedicated and devoted to him: Pay that which thou hast vowed; pay it in full and keep not back any part of the price; pay it in kind, do not alter it or change it, so the law was, Lev. xxvii. 10. Have we vowed to give our own selves unto the Lord? Let us then be as good as our word, act in his service, to his glory, and not sacrilegiously alienate ourselves. (2.) Defer not to pay it. If it be in the power of thy hands to pay it to-day, leave it not till to-morrow; do not beg a day, nor put it off to a more convenient season. By delay the sense of the obligation slackens and cools, and is in danger of wearing off; we thereby discover a loathness and backwardness to perform our vow; and qui non est hodie cras minus aptus erit—he who is not inclined to-day will be averse to-morrow. The longer it is put off the more difficult it will be to bring ourselves to it; death may not only prevent the payment, but fetch thee to judgment, under the guilt of a broken vow, Ps. lxxvi. 11.

2. Two reasons are here given why we should speedily and cheerfully pay our vows:—(1.) Because otherwise we affront God; we play the fool with him, as if we designed to put a trick upon him; and God has no pleasure in fools. More is implied than is expressed; the meaning is, He greatly abhors such fools and such foolish dealings. Has he need of fools? No; Be not deceived, God is not mocked, but will surely and severely reckon with those that thus play fast and loose with him. (2.) Because otherwise we wrong ourselves, we lose the benefit of the making of the vow, nay, we incur the penalty for the breach of it; so that it would have been better a great deal not to have vowed, more safe and more to our advantage, than to vow and not to pay. Not to have vowed would have been but an omission, but to vow and not pay incurs the guilt of treachery and perjury; it is lying to God, Acts v. 4.

II. To be cautious in making our vows. This is necessary in order to our being conscientious in performing them, v. 6. 1. We must take heed that we never vow anything that is sinful, or that may be an occasion of sin, for such a vow is ill-made and must be broken. Suffer not thy mouth, by such a vow, to cause thy flesh to sin, as Herod's rash promise caused him to cut off the head of John the Baptist. 2. We must not vow that which, through the frailty of the flesh, we have reason to fear we shall not be able to perform, as those that vow a single life and yet know not how to keep their vow. Hereby, (1.) They shame themselves; for they are forced to say before the angel, It was an error, that either they did not mean or did not consider what they said; and, take it which way you will, it is bad enough. "When thou hast made a vow, do not seek to evade it, nor find excuses to get clear of the obligation of it; say not before the priest, who is called the angel or messenger of the Lord of hosts, that, upon second thoughts, thou hast changed thy mind, and desirest to be absolved from the obligation of thy vow; but stick to it, and do not seek a hole to creep out at." Some by the angel understand the guardian angel which they suppose to attend every man and to inspect what he does. Others understand it of Christ, the Angel of the covenant, who is present with his people in their assemblies, who searches the heart, and cannot be imposed upon; provoke him not, for God's name is in him, and he is represented as strict and jealous, Exod. xxiii. 20, 21. (2.) They expose themselves to the wrath of God, for he is angry at the voice of those that thus lie unto him with their mouth and flatter him with their tongue, and is displeased at their dissimulation, and destroys the works of their hands, that is, blasts their enterprises, and defeats those purposes which, when they made these vows, they were seeking to God for the success of. If we treacherously cancel the words of our mouths, and revoke our vows, God will justly overthrow our projects, and walk contrary, and at all adventures, with those that thus walk contrary, and at all adventures with him. It is a snare to a man, after vows, to make enquiry.

III. To keep up the fear of God, v. 7. Many, of old, pretended to know the mind of God by dreams, and were so full of them that they almost made God's people forget his name by their dreams (Jer. xxiii. 25, 26); and many now perplex themselves with their frightful or odd dreams, or with other people's dreams, as if they foreboded this or the other disaster. Those that heed dreams shall have a multitude of them to fill their heads with; but in them all there are divers vanities, as there are in many words, and the more if we regard them. "They are but like the idle impertinent chat of children and fools, and therefore never heed them; forget them; instead of repeating them lay no stress upon them, draw no disquieting conclusions from them, but fear thou God; have an eye to his sovereign dominion, set him before thee, keep thyself in his love, and be afraid of offending him, and then thou wilt not disturb thyself with foolish dreams." The way not to be dismayed at the signs of heaven, nor afraid of the idols of the heathen, is to fear God as King of nations, Jer. x. 2, 5, 7.

IV. With that to keep down the fear of man, v. 8. "Set God before thee, and then, if thou seest the oppression of the poor, thou wilt not marvel at the matter, nor find fault with divine Providence, nor think the worse of the institution of magistracy, when thou seest the ends of it thus perverted, nor of religion, when thou seest it will not secure men from suffering wrong." Observe here, 1. A melancholy sight on earth, and such as cannot but trouble every good man that has a sense of justice and a concern for mankind, to see the oppression of the poor because they are poor and cannot defend themselves, and the violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, oppression under colour of law and backed with power. The kingdom in general may have a good government, and yet it may so happen that a particular province may be committed to a bad man, by whose mal-administration justice may be perverted; so hard it is for the wisest of kings, in giving preferments, to be sure of their men; they can but redress the grievance when it appears. 2. A comfortable sight in heaven. When things look thus dismal we may satisfy ourselves with this, (1.) That, though oppressors be high, God is above them, and in that very thing wherein they deal proudly, Exod. xviii. 11. God is higher than the highest of creatures, than the highest of princes, than the king that is higher than Agag (Num. xxiv. 7), than the highest angels, the thrones and dominions of the upper world. God is the Most High over all the earth, and his glory is above the heavens; before him princes are worms, the brightest but glow-worms. (2.) That, though oppressors be secure, God has his eye upon them, takes notice of, and will reckon for, all their violent perverting of judgment; he regards, not only sees it but observes it, and keeps it on record, to be called over again; his eyes are upon their ways. See Job xxiv. 23. (3.) That there is a world of angels, for there are higher than they, who are employed by the divine justice for protecting the injured and punishing the injurious. Sennacherib valued himself highly upon his potent army, but one angel proved too hard for him and all his forces. Some, by those that are higher than they understand the great council of the nation, the presidents to whom the princes of the provinces are accountable (Dan. vi. 2), the senate that receive complaints against the proconsuls, the courts above to which appeals are made from the inferior courts, which are necessary to the good government of a kingdom. Let it be a check to oppressors that perhaps their superiors on earth may call them to an account; however, God the Supreme in heaven will.

The Vanity of Riches.

9 Moreover the profit of the earth is for all: the king himself is served by the field. 10 He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity. 11 When goods increase, they are increased that eat them: and what good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes? 12 The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep. 13 There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt. 14 But those riches perish by evil travail: and he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand. 15 As he came forth of his mother's womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand. 16 And this also is a sore evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that hath laboured for the wind? 17 All his days also he eateth in darkness, and he hath much sorrow and wrath with his sickness.

Solomon had shown the vanity of pleasure, gaiety, and fine works, of honour, power, and royal dignity; and there is many a covetous worldling that will agree with him, and speak as slightly as he does of these things; but money, he thinks, is a substantial thing, and if he can but have enough of that he is happy. This is the mistake which Solomon attacks, and attempts to rectify, in these verses; he shows that there is as much vanity in great riches, and the lust of the eye about them, as there is in the lusts of the flesh and the pride of life, and a man can make himself no more happy by hoarding an estate than by spending it.

I. He grants that the products of the earth, for the support and comfort of human life, are valuable things (v. 9): The profit of the earth is for all. Man's body, being made of the earth, thence has its maintenance (Job xxviii. 5); and that it has so, and that a barren land is not made his dwelling (as he has deserved for being rebellious, Ps. lxviii. 6), is an instance of God's great bounty to him. There is profit to be got out of the earth, and it is for all; all need it; it is appointed for all; there is enough for all. It is not only for all men, but for all the inferior creatures; the same ground brings grass for the cattle that brings herbs for the service of men. Israel had bread from heaven, angels' food, but (which is a humbling consideration) the earth is our storehouse and the beasts are fellow-commoners with us. The king himself is served of the field, and would be ill served, would be quite starved, without its products. This puts a great honour upon the husbandman's calling, that it is the most necessary of all to the support of man's life. The many have the benefit of it; the mighty cannot live without it; it is for all; it is for the king himself. Those that have an abundance of the fruits of the earth must remember they are for all, and therefore must look upon themselves but as stewards of their abundance, out of which they must give to those that need. Dainty meats and soft clothing are only for some, but the fruit of the earth is for all. And even those that suck the abundance of the seas (Deut. xxxiii. 19) cannot be without the fruit of the earth, while those that have a competency of the fruit of the earth may despise the abundance of the seas.

II. He maintains that the riches that are more than these, that are for hoarding, not for use, are vain things, and will not make a man easy or happy. That which our Saviour has said (Luke xii. 15), that a man's life consists not in the abundance of the things which he possesses, is what Solomon here undertakes to prove by various arguments.

1. The more men have the more they would have, v. 10. A man may have but a little silver and be satisfied with it, may know when he has enough and covet no more. Godliness, with contentment, is great gain. I have enough, says Jacob; I have all, and abound, says St. Paul: but, (1.) He that loves silver, and sets his heart upon it, will never think he has enough, but enlarges his desire as hell (Hab. ii. 5), lays house to house and field to field (Isa. v. 8), and, like the daughters of the horse-leech, still cries, Give, give. Natural desires are at rest when that which is desired is obtained, but corrupt desires are insatiable. Nature is content with little, grace with less, but lust with nothing. (2.) He that has silver in abundance, and has it increasing ever so fast upon him, yet does not find that it yields any solid satisfaction to his soul. There are bodily desires which silver itself will not satisfy; if a man be hungry, ingots of silver will do no more to satisfy his hunger than clods of clay. Much less will worldly abundance satisfy spiritual desires; he that has ever so much silver covets more, not only of that, but of something else, something of another nature. Those that make themselves drudges to the world are spending their labour for that which satisfies not (Isa. lv. 2), which fills the belly, but will never fill the soul, Ezek. vii. 19.

2. The more men have the more occasion they have for it, and the more they have to do with it, so that it is as broad as it is long: When goods increase, they are increased that eat them, v. 11. The more meat the more mouths. Does the estate thrive? And does not the family at the same time grow more numerous and the children grow up to need more? The more men have the better house they must keep, the more servants they must employ, the more guests they must entertain, the more they must give to the poor, and the more they will have hanging on them, for where the carcase is the eagles will be. What we have more than food and raiment we have for others; and then what good is there to the owners themselves, but the pleasure of beholding it with their eyes? And a poor pleasure it is. An empty speculation is all the difference between the owners and the sharers; the owner sees that as his own which those about him enjoy as much of the real benefit of as he; only he has the satisfaction of doing good to others, which indeed is a satisfaction to one who believes what Christ said, that it is more blessed to give than to receive; but to a covetous man, who thinks all lost that goes beside himself, it is a constant vexation to see others eat of his increase.

3. The more men have the more care they have about it, which perplexes them and disturbs their repose, v. 12. Refreshing sleep is as much the support and comfort of this life as food is. Now, (1.) Those commonly sleep best that work hard and have but what they work for: The sleep of the labouring man is sweet, not only because he has tired himself with his labour, which makes his sleep the more welcome to him and makes him sleep soundly, but because he has little to fill his head with care about and so break his sleep. His sleep is sweet, though he eat but little and have but little to eat, for his weariness rocks him asleep; and, though he eat much, yet he can sleep well, for his labour gets him a good digestion. The sleep of the diligent Christian, and his long sleep, is sweet; for, having spent himself and his time in the service of God, he can cheerfully return to God and repose in him as his rest. (2.) Those that have every thing else often fail to secure a good night's sleep. Either their eyes are held waking or their sleeps are unquiet and do not refresh them; and it is their abundance that breaks their sleep and disturbs it, both the abundance of their care (as the rich man's who, when his ground brought forth plentifully, thought within himself, What shall I do? Luke xii. 17) and the abundance of what they eat and drink which overcharges the heart, makes them sick, and so hinders their repose. Ahasuerus, after a banquet of wine, could not sleep; and perhaps consciousness of guilt, both in getting and using what they have, breaks their sleep as much as any thing. But God gives his beloved sleep.

4. The more men have the more danger they are in both of doing mischief and of having mischief done them (v. 13): There is an evil, a sore evil, which Solomon himself had seen under the sun, in this lower world, this theatre of sin and woe—riches left for the owners thereof (who have been industrious to hoard them and keep them safely) to their hurt; they would have been better without them. (1.) Their riches do them hurt, make them proud, secure, and in love with the world, draw away their hearts from God and duty, and make it very difficult for them to enter into the kingdom of heaven, nay, help to shut them out of it. (2.) They do hurt with their riches, which not only put them into a capacity of gratifying their own lusts and living luxuriously, but give them an opportunity of oppressing others and dealing hardly with them. (3.) Often they sustain hurt by their riches. They would not be envied, would not be robbed, if they were not rich. It is the fat beast that is led first to the slaughter. A very rich man (as one observes) has sometimes been excepted out of a general pardon, both as to life and estate, merely on account of his vast and overgrown estate; so riches often take away the life of the owners thereof, Prov. i. 19.

5. The more men have the more they have to lose, and perhaps they may lose it all, v. 14. Those riches that have been laid up with a great deal of pains, and kept with a great deal of care, perish by evil travail, by the very pains and care which they take to secure and increase them. Many a one has ruined his estate by being over-solicitous to advance it and make it more, and has lost all by catching at all. Riches are perishing things, and all our care about them cannot make them otherwise; they make themselves wings and fly away. He that thought he should have made his son a gentleman leaves him a beggar; he begets a son, and brings him up in the prospect of an estate, but, when he dies, leaves it under a charge of debt as much as it is worth, so that there is nothing in his hand. This is a common case; estates that made a great show do not prove what they seemed, but cheat the heir.

6. How much soever men have when they die, they must leave it all behind them (v. 15, 16): As he came forth of his mother's womb naked, so shall he return; only as his friends, when he came naked into the world, in pity to him, helped him with swaddling-clothes, so, when he goes out, they help him with grave-clothes, and that is all. See Job i. 21; Ps. xlix. 17. This is urged as a reason why we should be content with such things as we have, 1 Tim. vi. 7. In respect of the body we must go as we came; the dust shall return to the earth as it was. But sad is our case if the soul return as it came, for we were born in sin, and if we die in sin, unsanctified, we had better never have been born; and that seems to be the case of the worldling here spoken of, for he is said to return in all points as he came, as sinful, as miserable, and much more so. This is a sore evil; he thinks it so whose heart is glued to the world, that he shall take nothing of his labour which he may carry away in his hand; his riches will not go with him into another world nor stand him in any stead there. If we labour in religion, the grace and comfort we get by that labour we may carry away in our hearts, and shall be the better for it to eternity; that is meat that endures. But if we labour only for the world, to fill our hands with that, we cannot take that away with us; we are born with our hands griping, but we die with them extended, letting go what we held fast. So that, upon the whole matter, he may well ask, What profit has he that has laboured for the wind? Note, Those that labour for the world labour for the wind, for that which has more sound than substance, which is uncertain, and always shifting its point, unsatisfying, and often hurtful, which we cannot hold fast, and which, if we take up with it as our portion, will no more feed us than the wind, Hos. xii. 1. Men will see that they have laboured for the wind when at death they find the profit of their labour is all gone, gone like the wind, they know not whither.

7. Those that have much, if they set their hearts upon it, have not only uncomfortable deaths, but uncomfortable lives too, v. 17. This covetous worldling, that is so bent upon raising an estate, all his days eats in darkness and much sorrow, and it is his sickness and wrath; he has not only no pleasure of his estate, nor any enjoyment of it himself, for he eats the bread of sorrow (Ps. cxxvii. 2), but a great deal of vexation to see others eat of it. His necessary expenses make him sick, make him fret, and he seems as if he were angry that himself and those about him cannot live without meat. As we read the last clause, it intimates how ill this covetous worldling can bear the common and unavoidable calamities of human life. When he is in health he eats in darkness, always dull with care and fear about what he has; but, if he be sick, he has much sorrow and wrath with his sickness; he is vexed that his sickness takes him off from his business and hinders him in his pursuits of the world, vexed that all his wealth will not give him any ease or relief, but especially terrified with the apprehensions of death (which his diseases are the harbingers of), of leaving this world and the things of it behind him, which he has set his affections upon, and removing to a world he has made no preparation for. He has not any sorrow after a godly sort, does not sorrow to repentance, but he has sorrow and wrath, is angry at the providence of God, angry at his sickness, angry at all about him, fretful and peevish, which doubles his affliction, which a good man lessens and lightens by patience and joy in his sickness.

Grateful Enjoyment.

18 Behold that which I have seen: it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it is his portion. 19 Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God. 20 For he shall not much remember the days of his life; because God answereth him in the joy of his heart.

Solomon, from the vanity of riches hoarded up, here infers that the best course we can take is to use well what we have, to serve God with it, to do good with it, and take the comfort of it to ourselves and our families; this he had pressed before, ch. ii. 24; iii. 22. Observe, 1. What it is that is here recommended to us, not to indulge the appetites of the flesh, or to take up with present pleasures or profits for our portion, but soberly and moderately to make use of what Providence has allotted for our comfortable passage through this world. We must not starve ourselves through covetousness, because we cannot afford ourselves food convenient, nor through eagerness in our worldly pursuits, nor through excessive care and grief, but eat and drink what is fit for us to keep our bodies in good plight for the serving of our souls in God's service. We must not kill ourselves with labour, and then leave others to enjoy the good of it, but take the comfort of that which our hands have laboured for, and that not now and then, but all the days of our life which God gives us. Life is God's gift, and he has appointed us the number of the days of our life (Job xiv. 5); let us therefore spend those days in serving the Lord our God with joyfulness and gladness of heart. We must not do the business of our calling as a drudgery, and make ourselves slaves to it, but we must rejoice in our labour, not grasp at more business than we can go through without perplexity and disquiet, but take a pleasure in the calling wherein God has put us, and go on in the business of it with cheerfulness. This it to rejoice in our labour, whatever it is, as Zebulun in his going out and Issachar in his tents. 2. What is urged to recommend it to us. (1.) That it is good and comely to do this. It is well, and it looks well. Those that cheerfully use what God has given them thereby honour the giver, answer the intention of the gift, act rationally and generously, do good in the world, and make what they have turn to the best account, and this is both their credit and their comfort; it is good and comely; there is duty and decency in it. (2.) That it is all the good we can have out of the things of this world: It is our portion, and in doing thus we take our portion, and make the best of bad. This is our part of our worldly possession. God must have his part, the poor theirs, and our families theirs, but this is ours; it is all that falls to our lot out of them. (3.) That a heart to do thus is such a gift of God's grace as crowns all the gifts of his providence. If God has given a man riches and wealth, he completes the favour, and makes that a blessing indeed, if withal he gives him power to eat thereof, wisdom and grace to take the good of it and to do good with it. If this is God's gift, we must covet it earnestly as the best gift relating to our enjoyments in this world. (4.) That this is the way to make our own lives easy and to relieve ourselves against the many toils and troubles which our lives on earth are incident to (v. 20): He shall not much remember the days of his life, the days of his sorrow and sore travail, his working days, his weeping days. He shall either forget them or remember them as waters that pass away; he shall not much lay to heart his crosses, nor long retain the bitter relish of them, because God answers him in the joy of his heart, balances all the grievances of his labour with the joy of it and recompenses him for it by giving him to eat the labour of his hands. If he does not answer all his desires and expectations, in the letter of them, yet he answers them with that which is more than equivalent, in the joy of his heart. A cheerful spirit is a great blessing; it makes the yoke of our employments easy and the burden of our afflictions light.

CHAP. V. Verſ. 1. Keep thy foot.

QƲa. d. Wouldſt thou ſee more of the worlds vanity than hitherto hath been diſcourſed? get thee to the Sanctuary, as David did, Pſal. 73. For as they that walk in a miſt, ſee it not ſo well as thoſe that ſtand on a hill: ſo they that have their hands elbow-deep in the world, cannot ſo eaſily diſcern what they do, as thoſe that go a little out from it. To the Houſe of God therefore, to the Temple and Synagogues, to the Churches and Oratories ſteer thy courſe, take thy way. Onely ſee to thy feet, i. e. keep thy ſenſes and affections with all manner of cuſtody, from the mire of wicked and worldly matters. Shooes wee have all upon our feet, that is, (to ſpeak in St. James his phraſe) filthineſs and ſuperfluity of naughtineſs in our hearts, Jam. 1. Exod. 3.5. Joſh. 5.15. that muſt bee put off at Gods School-door, as God taught Moſes and Joſhuah. And Pythagoras (having read Moſes belike) taught his ſcholars as much, when hee ſaith, [non-Latin text not transcribed], Put off thy ſhooes when thou ſacrificeſt, and worſhippeſt. His followers the Pythagorians expounded his meaning, when they would not have men, [non-Latin text not transcribed], but [non-Latin text not transcribed], worſhip God careleſly, or by the way; but prepare themſelves at home aforehand. And Numa Pompilius (one that had taſted of his learning) would not have men worſhip the Gods [non-Latin text not transcribed], by the by, and for faſhion, but [non-Latin text not transcribed],Plutarch. at good leiſure, and as making Religion their buſineſs. In the Law of Moſes, the Prieſts were commanded to waſh the inwards and the feet of the ſacrifice in water. And this was done, [non-Latin text not transcribed], ſaith Philo, not without a myſtery, ſc. to teach us to keep our feet clean when wee draw nigh to God. Antonius Margarita in his Book of the Rites and Ceremonies of the Jews, tells us, that before their Synagogues they have an iron plate, againſt which they wipe and make clean their ſhooes before they enter: and that being entred they ſit ſolemnly there for a ſeaſon, not once opening their mouths; but conſidering who it is with whom they have to do. Thus it was wont to bee with them: But alate, though they come to their Synagogues with waſhen hands and feet; yet for any ſhew of devotion or elevation of ſpirit,Spec. Europ. they are as reverent (ſaith one that was an eye-witneſs) as Grammar-boys are at ſchool when their maſter is abſent: Their holineſs is the meer outward work it ſelf, being a brain-leſs head, and a ſoul-leſs body. And yet upon the walls of their Synagogues they write uſually this ſentence,Euxtorf. Abbreviat. p. 186. by an abbreviature, Tephillan belo canvannah ceguph belo neſhamah: i. e. A prayer without affection, is like a body without a ſoul. Solinus reporteth of the Cretians, that they do very religiouſly worſhip Diana: and that no man may preſume to come into her Temple,Adem numinis praterquam nudus veſtigia null[illegible: 2 letters] licito ingreditur. cap. 16. but bare-footed: Satan Dei aemulus, the Devil is Gods ape: hee led theſe ſuperſtitious Ethnicks captive, as the Chaldeans did the Aegyptians, naked and bare-foot, Eſay 20.2, 4.

When thou goeſt to the Houſe of God] Called the Gate of Heaven, Gen. 28.17. ſuch as none but the righteous may enter, Pſal. 118.20. the beauty of holineſs, the place of Angels, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. and Arch-angels, the Kingdom of God, yea Heaven it ſelf, as Chryſoſtom calls it. The French Proteſtants called their Meeting-houſe in Paris, Paradiſe. The primitive Chriſtians called ſuch places [non-Latin text not transcribed], (whence Kirkes, Concil. Laodic. cap. 28. Churches) and the Lords Houſes, and Baſilicas, Kingly palaces. Now it is held an uncivil thing to come to the palace of a King with dirty ſhooes, or to cat at his table with foul hands. Men waſh their hands every day of courſe, but when to dine with a Prince, they waſh them with balls. So it ſhould bee here; when wee come to Gods houſe, wee ſhould come with the beſt preparation wee can make; wee ſhould alſo bee there with the firſt, and ſtay till the laſt, as door-keepers uſe to do; which office in Gods Houſe David held an high preferment. And whiles wee are there, let our whole deportment bee as in the preſence of the great God, whom wee muſt look full in the face, and bee ready to hear, as thoſe good ſouls, Act. 10.33. Now therfore wee are all here preſent before God, ſay they, to hear all things that are commanded thee of God. Neither muſt wee hear onely with the hearing of the ear, but with the obedience of the heart and life, (for ſo the Original word here ſignifieth) Gen. 3.17. Becauſe thou hast heard, that is, obeyed the voyce of thy wife, &c. hearing diligently without diſtraction, and doing readily without ſciſcitation.

Than to give the ſacrifice of fools] i. e. The formalities and external ſervices of profligate profeſſors, that think to ſet off with God for their ſinnes, by their ſacrifices; for their evill deeds, by their good. Hence they burthen Gods altar, and even cover it with their ſacrifices; ſticking in the bark, and gnabling upon the ſhell of holy ſervices, not once peircing to the heart, or taſting of the kernel thereof: and are therefore abominable, becauſe diſobedient, and to every good work reprobate, Tit. 1.16. How many bee there at this day, that not onely pray by tale, as Papiſts do by their beads, but turn over other duties of Religion as a meer task; holding only a certain ſtint of them, as Malt-horſes do their pace, or Mill-horſes their round, meerly out of form and cuſtom, thoſe banes and break-necks of due devotion? Theſe do not onely loſe their labour, but commit ſinne, Eſay 1.14. compaſs God with a lye, Hoſ. 11.12. becauſe they waſh not their feet before they compaſs Gods altar.Cicero. The Heathen Oratour can tell theſe fools of the people, Deum non ſuperſtitione coli velle, ſed pietate, that God requires the heart in all holy duties, John 4 24. and muſt be ſerved in Spirit, even totocorde, id eſt amore ſummo, more vero, ore fideli, re omni.

Hoc non fit verbis: Marce, ut ameris, ama.Martial.

For they conſider not that they do evill] That they deſpite him with ſeeming honours, with diſpleaſing ſervice, which is double diſhonour; with ſeeming ſanctity, which is double iniquity, and deſerves double damnation. This they ſo little conſider, that they think God is greatly beholden to them, and does them no ſmall wrong, that hee ſo little regards and rewards them, Eſa. 58.3. Mal. 3.14. Non ſic Deos coluimus ut ille nos vinceret, Antonin. Philiſ. referente Vulcat. Gal. ſaid that Emperour going into the field againſt his enemy. Wee have not ſo ſerved the Gods, that they ſhould ſerve us no better, than to give the enemy the better of us.

Verſ. 2. Bee not raſh with thy month] From hearing, the Preacher proceeds to give directions for ſpeaking, whether it bee of God or to him. For the firſt, the very Heathens could ſay, Non loquendum de Deo ſine lumine, Pythag. Wee may not ſpeak of God without a light, i. e. without a deliberate premeditation, and well-adviſed conſideration. In ſpeaking of God, ſaith one,Mr. Hooker. our beſt eloquence is our ſilence. And if wee ſpeak at all on this ſubject, ſaith another, no words will ſo well become us, as thoſe quae ignorantiam noſtram praetendunt, Jul. Scalig. that moſt diſcover our ſmall knowledge of him: How little a portion or pittance is heard of him, ſaith holy Job, (chap. 26.14. The Hebrew word ſignifies a little bit or particle, nay a little peece of a word, ſuch as an eccho reſoundeth) But the thunder of his power who can underſtand? it is ineffable, becauſe unconceivable. Here, if ever, Claudicat ingenium, delirat linguaque menſque,Lucret.

But although Hierome thinks it beſt to underſtand the Preacher here of a ſpeaking of God, yet others, and for better reaſon,Hieron. in loc. conceive his meaning to be rather of a ſpeaking to God by prayer, and particularly by a Vow, which implies a prayer, (as the Greek words [non-Latin text not transcribed] and [non-Latin text not transcribed] import) Here then,

Let not thine heart bee haſty to utter any thing] Heb. Let not thine heart through haſte, bee ſo troubled or diſturbed, as to tumble over, and throw out words without wiſdome, in a confuſed manner, in a ſlubbering ſort. But as there was half an hours ſilence in heaven when the ſeventh ſeal was opened, Rev. 8.1. and or ever the ſeven Trumpets ſounded: ſo ſhould there bee a ſad and ſerious weighing of our petitions, before wee utter them. Neſcit poenitenda loqui, qui proferenda prius ſuo tradidit examini, Caſſiodor. lib. 10. Ep. 4. Hee repents not of his requeſts, who firſt duly deliberates what to requeſt. Whereas hee that blurts out whatſoever lies uppermoſt, as ſome good men have done in their haſte, and heat of paſſion, (as Job, chap. 6.5. David, Pſal. 116.11. Jeremy, chap. 15.10, 18. Jonah, chap. 4. who brawled with God inſtead of praying to him) diſpleaſeth God no leſs than the Muſcovy-Miniſters do their hearers, if they miſpronounce but any ſyllable in their whole Liturgy.

For God is in heaven, and thou upon earth] Hee is the High and Holy One; that inhabiteth Eternity, Iſa. 57.15. and thou art Epalude ſua procedens & repens vilis ranuncula, (as Bernard hath it) a baſe toad creeping or crawling out of a ditch: there is an infinite diſtance and diſproportion between Him and thee; therefore ſee to it that thou come to him with all poſſible reverence, humility, and ſelf-abaſement. See Job 42.6. 1 King. 18.42. Matth. 26.38. It is obſervable, that when the great Turk comes into his Moſche, or Temple, he lays by all his State, and hath none to attend him all the while.

Therefore let thy words bee few] But full, as the Publicans were, Luk. 18.13. O quam multa quam paucis! Oh how much in a little! ſaid Tully of Brutus his Epiſtle; ſo may wee ſay of that Publicans prayer; how much more of the Lords prayer, ſet in flat oppoſition to the Heatheniſh Battologies and vain repetitions, uſual with Pagans and Papagans, &c. See the Note on Mat. 6.7, 8, 9. It is reported of the ancient Chriſtians of Aegypt, Quod breviſſimis & raptim jaculatis orationibus uti voluerint, ne per moras evaneſceret & hebetaretur intentio, Auguſt. that they made very ſhort prayers, that their devotion might not bee dulled by longer doings. Caſſian alſo makes mention of certain religious perſons in his time, Qui utilius cenſebant breves quidem orationes ſed creberrimas fieri, &c. who thought it beſt that our prayers ſhould bee ſhort, but frequent: the one, that there might bee continual intercourſe maintained between God and us: the other, that by ſhortneſs wee might avoid the Devills darts, which hee throws eſpecially at us, while wee are praying. Theſe bee good reaſons; and more may bee added out of Matth. 6. as that our Heavenly Father knows what wee need, &c. That which the Preacher here preſſeth, is, the tranſcendent Excellency and ſurpaſſing Majeſty of Almighty God. I am a great King, ſaith Hee, Mal. 1. And I look to bee ſerved like my ſelf. Hoſ. 14.2. Therefore take unto you words, neither over curious, nor over careleſs, but ſuch as are humble, earneſt, direct to the point, avoiding vain bablings, needleſs and endleſs repetitions, heartleſs digreſſions, tedious prolixities, wilde and idle diſcourſes of ſuch extemporary petitioners, as not diſpoſing their matter in due order by premeditation (and withall being word-bound) are forced to go forward and backward, like Hounds at a loſs; and having haſtily begun, they know not how handſomly to make an end.

Verſ. 3. For a dream commeth through the multitude of buſineſs] When all the reſt of the ſenſes are bound up by ſleep, the ſoul entreth into the ſhop of the fancy, and operates there uſually according to the buſineſſes and imployments of the day paſt;Tertull. de anima, cap. 49. & fierividentur quae fieri tamen non videntur, ſaith Tertullian, thoſe things ſeem to bee done in a dream, which yet are not ſeen to be done at all: theſe are but vanae jactationes negotioſae animae, the idle toffings of a buſy minde. In like ſort, a fool, a heartleſs, ſapleſs fellow, (that being ſenſual and void of the ſpirit of grace and ſupplications, hath neither the affections nor expreſſions of holy prayer) multiplies words without knowledge, thinks to make out in words what hee wants in worth, being [non-Latin text not transcribed], as Plutarch ſaith of Alcibicdes, one that could talk much, but ſpeak little: His voyce is known by multitude of words. It is but a voyce that is heard, it is but a ſound that is made, like the uncertain ſound of a Trumpet, that none can tell what it meaneth, what to make of it. Corniculas citius in Africa, quam res ration[illegible: 1 letter]ſque ſolidas in Turriani ſcriptis reperias, ſaith one:Beringer. Contra Id. Cum. Lauret. Ariſtot. De divinat. per inſom. So here. If there be any worth of matter in the fools words, it is but by chance, as Ariſtotle ſaith, that dreams doe by chance fore-tell thoſe things that come to paſſe. Let it be our care to ſhun as much as may be all laviſh and ſuperfluous talkativeneſſe and tediouſneſſe, but eſpecially in prayer: leſt wee offer the ſacrifice of fools, and God be angry with us. For as it is not the loudneſſe of a Preachers voyce, but the weight and holineſs of his matter, and the ſpirit of the Preacher that moves a wife and intelligent hearer: ſo it is not the labour of the lips, but the travel of the heart that prevails with God. The Baalites Prayer was not more tedious than Elijah's ſhort: yet more pithy than ſhort. And it was Elijah that ſpake loud and ſped in heaven. Let the fool learn therefore to ſhew more wit in his diſcourſe than words, leſt being known by his voyce, hee meet (as the Nightingale did) with ſome Laconian that will not let to tell him, Vox in es, praeterea nihil, Thou art a voyce, and that's all.

Verſ. 4. When thou voweſt a vow unto God, deferre not to pay it] See the Note on Deut. 23.21. It is in thy power to vow or not to vow. Vovere nuſquam eſt praeceptum, ſaith Bellarmine, We have no command to vow. That of David, Lib. 2. de Monac. cap. 15. Vow and perform to the Lord your God, is not purum praeceptum, ſaith Mr. Cartwright, a pure precept, but like that other, Be angry, and ſin not; where anger is not commanded, but limited. So neither are wee ſimply commanded to vow, but having voluntarily vowed, we may not deferre to pay it; delayes are taken for denials, excuſes for refuſals.

For he hath no pleaſure in fools] He needs them as little as King Achiſh did,2 Sam. 22.15 he abhors them, Pſal. 5.5. as deceitful workers, as mockers of God. Jephta in vovendo fuit ſtultus, in praeſtando impius, Jephta was a fool in vowing,Hieron. and wicked in performing. But he that vowes a thing lawful and poſſible, and yet de-deferres to perform it, or ſeeks an evaſion, is two fools for fayling; ſith

Verſ. 5. Better it is that thou ſhouldeſt not vow] q. d. Who bad thee bee ſo forward? Why wouldſt thou become a voluntary Votary,Dicta factis deficientibus erubeſcunt. and ſo raſhly ingage to the loſſe of thy liberty, and the offence of thy God, who expected thou ſhouldſt have kept touch, and not have dealt thus ſlipperily with him? Thou haſt not lyed unto men, but unto God, Acts 5.4. As the truth of Chriſt is in me, ſaith Paul, 2 Cor. 11.10. ſo he bindes himſelf by an oath, as the learned have obſerved. And as God is true, our word toward you was not Yea and Nay:2 Cor. 1.19, 20 for the Son of God who was preached among you by mee was not Yea and Nay: but in him all the promiſes of God are Yea, and Amen. Why? what of that, might ſome ſay? and what's all this to the purpoſe? Very much: for it implieth, that what a Chriſtian doth promiſe to men (how much more to God?) he is bound by the earneſt penny of Gods Spirit to perform. He dares no more alter or falſifie his word, than the Spirit of God can lye. And as he looks that Gods promiſes ſhould bee made good to him, ſo is hee careful to pay that he hath vowed to God; ſith his is a Covenant of Mercy, ours of obedience, and if hee ſhall be All-ſufficient to us, we muſt be Altogether his, Cant. 2.16.

Verſ. 6. Suffer not thy mouth to cauſe thy fleſh to ſin] Heb. Nec des, Give not liberty to thy mouth, which of itſelf is ſo apt to over-flow and run riot in ſinful and ſuperfluous language. Reign it in therefore, and lay Lawes upon it, leſt it cauſe thy fleſh to ſin, thy ſelf to become a ſinner againſt thine own ſoul. Say to it in this caſe, as Chriſt did to thoſe Phariſees in the Goſpel, Why tempteſt thou me thou hypocrite? or as the Witch ſaid to Saul that ſought to her, Wherefore layest thou a ſnare for my life, to cauſe me to dye? 1 Sam. 28.9. Shall my prayer become ſin, and my religious vowes through non-payment, a cauſe of a curſe, Pſal. 109.7? When thou art making ſuch an ill bargain, ſay to thy mouth, as Boaz ſaid to his Kinſman, At what time thou buyeſt it, Ruth 4. Rom. 6. ult. thou muſt have Ruth with it, ſo thou muſt have Gods curſe with it (for that's the juſt hire of the leaſt ſin, how much more of thy crimſon crime?) And let thy mouth anſwer, No: I may not doe it, I ſhall mar and ſpoyl a better inheritance, I ſhall anger the Angel of the Covenant; who if his wrath be kindled, yea but a little, he will not pardon my tranſgreſſion, for Gods an[illegible: 1 letter] is in him, Exod. 23.21. Who as he is Pater miſerationum, the Father of mercies, ſo he is eus ultionum, the God of recompences, Pſal. 94.1. True it is that Anger is not properly in God, Fury is not in me, Iſa. 27.4. but becauſe he chides and ſmites for ſin (as angry men uſe to doe) therefore is Anger here and elſewhere attributed to him, that men may ſtand in awe and not ſin, ſith ſin and puniſhment are linked together with chains of Adamant.

Verſ. 7. For in the multitude of dreams, and in many words] i. e. As in the multitude of dreams, ſo in many words, &c. There may bee ſome matter in ſome of either: but neither of either wants their vanities. Dreams are of divers ſorts. (See the Note on Gen. 20.3.) Epicurus judged them all vain. The Telmiſenſes, Tertul. de anima c. 46. nulla ſomnia evacuabant, ſaith Tertullian, made no dreams to bee vain. But that ſome dreams are Divine, ſome diabolical, and ſome natural, Peculiare ſolatium naturalis oraculi, as one ſpeaketh, good ſymptomes and indications of the natural conſtitution, no wiſe man ever doubted. That of the Philoſopher hath a truth in it,Ariſtot. Ethic. Juſtum ab injuſto non ſomno, ſed ſomnio diſcerni, that a good man may be diſtinguiſhed from a bad, though not by his ſleep, yet by his dreams in his ſleep.

But fear thou God] And ſo eſchew this evil of fond babbling (in Gods ſervice eſpecially) which is no leſſe a vanity than plain doting; and procures Divine diſpleaſure.Fulgent. Deum ſiquis parum metuit, valde contemnit. He that fears not Gods wrath, is ſure to feel it, Pſal. 90.11.

Verſ. 8. If thou ſeeſt the oppreſſion of the poor] And ſo mayſt bee drawn to doubt of Divine providence, and to with-draw thine awful regard to the Divine Majeſty, to forgoe godlineſſe, and to turn flat Atheiſt, as Diagoras and Averroes did.

Horat. Marvel not at the matter] Nil admirari prope res eſt una Numici. A wiſe man wonders at nothing: he knows there is good cauſe why God ſhould ſuffer it ſo to be, and gives him his glory. Opera Dei ſunt in mediis contrariis, ſaith Luther, Luther. in Geneſ. Nazian. Cypr. Gods works are effected uſually by contraries. And this hee doth [non-Latin text not transcribed], that he may be the more marvelled at, ſaith Nazianzen. Hence he commonly goes a way by himſelf, drawing light out of darkneſs, good out of evil,Exod. 15.11 heaven out of hell: that his people may feelingly ſay, Who is like unto thee, O Lord, glorious in holineſſe, fearful in praiſes, doing Wonders? Verily there is a reward for the righteous: verily he is a God that judgeeth in the earth, Pſal. 58.11.

For he that is higher than the higheſt regardeth] And wherein they deal proudly,Pſal. 76.12 he is above them, Exod. 18.11. and over-tops them, Pſal. 2.4. ſets a day for them, and ſees that their day is coming. Pſal. 37.16. The moſt High cuts off the ſpirit of Princes (hee ſlips them off, as one ſhould ſlip off a flower between his fingers, or he cuts them off, as Grape-gatherers doe the cluſters off the Vines, ſuch a Metaphor there is in the Original) He is terrible to all the Kings of the earth, thoſe dread Soveraigns, thoſe Hammers of the earth, and Scourges of the world (as Attilas ſtiled himſelf) ſuch as Sennacherib, Mundi flagellum. whom God ſo ſubdued and maſtered, that the Aegyptians in memory of it, ſet up his ſtatue in the Temple of Vulcan with this inſcription,Heredot. [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Let all that behold me, 2 Chro. 19.6 learn to fear God. It was therefore excellent counſel that Jehoſhaphat gave his Judges: Take heed what you doe, for yee judge not for man, but for the Lord, who is with you in the judgement. Wherefore now let the fear of the Lord our God bee upon you, take heed and doe it. Look upon him that over-looks all your doings, ſaith he; and then learn to ſit upon the Tribunal, in as great, though not in ſo ſlaviſh a fear of doing wrong, as Olanes in the Hiſtory did upon the flayed skin of his Father Siſannus, nayled by Cambyſes on the Judgement-Seat: or as a Ruſſian Judge that fears the boyling Caldron, or open battocking: or the Turkiſh Senate, when they think the great Turk to ſtand behind the Arras at the dangerous door. In fine, let the Grandees and Potentates of the Earth know, and acknowledge with Conſtantine, Valentinian, and Theodoſius, three great Emperours (as Socrates reports it of them) that they are but Chriſti Vaſalli, Chriſts Vaſſals: and that as he is Excelſus ſuper Excelſos, High above all, even the higheſt, ſo hee hath other high ones at hand, viz. the Holy Angels; who can reſiſt the King of Perſia, as Michael the Prince did, Dan. 10.13. Fright the Syrians with a pannick terrour, 2 King. 7.6. ſmite the Aſſyrians with an utter deſtruction, Iſa. 37.36. deliver Peter from the hand of Herod, and from the expectation of the Jewes, Exod. 12. Acts 12.11. make a wonderful difference in the ſlaughter of the firſt-born of Aegypt. Tyrants ſhall be ſure, ſooner, or later, to meet with their match. Look what a hand the Ephori had over the King of Sparta, the Tribunes had over the Roman Conſuls, and the Prince Palſgrave of Rhine ought, by the ancient orders, to have over the Emperour of Germany, (Palatino haec dignitatis praerogativa eſt, ut ipſum Caeſarem judicare & damnare poſſit, Parci Hiſt. proſ. med. 771. quoties ſcilicet lis ei ab aliquo Ordinum imperii movetur, the Palſgrave hath power to judge and paſs ſentence upon the Emperour himſelf, when any of the States of Germany do ſue him at the Law) the ſame and more hath God and his Angels over the mightieſt Magnificoes in the world, Lebanon ſhall fall by a mighty one, i. e. by an Angel, as ſome interpret it, Iſa. 10.34.

Verſ. 9. Moreover the profit of the Earth is for all] viz. For all ſorts of men, and for all kind of uſes. Alma mater, Terra ferax. Then ſhall the Earth yeeld her increaſe: and (therein) God, even our own God ſhall bleſs us, Pſal. 67.6. Can any of the Vanities of the Heathens give rain or grain? no, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. neither, Jer. 14.22. Can the Earth bring forth fruit of her ſelf? So indeed our Saviour ſeems to ſay, firſt the Blade, then the Ear, after that the full Corn in the Ear, Mark 4.28. but then it is after the good husband hath ſowed it, and God by his bleſſing given the increaſe. The drift of the Preacher here, is, to ſet forth the excellency of tillage firſt, and then to ſhew the vanity of it. Tillage is the life and blood of a Common-wealth: it is beyond all pecuniary poſſeſſions. Jacob had mony and other fruits of the Earth: Gen. 43. and yet if Aegypt, (the worlds Granary, as one calls it) had not ſupplyed them with Corn, hee and his might have periſhed.

The King himſelf is ſerved by the field] Not the Lyon, Dragon, Unicorn,Rex agro fit ſervus. Ar. Montan. &c. But the Plough and the Ship are the ſupporters of a Crown. Some read it thus, Rex agro ſervit, The King is a ſervant to the field; It concerns him to have care of tillage, plantation of fruits, breeding of Cattel, &c. or elſe all will ſoon run to wrack and ruine. King Uzziah loved husbandry, and uſed it much, 2 Chron. 26.10. and Amos 7.1. wee read of the Kings mowings. And Pliny hath obſerved, that Corn was never ſo plentifull and good-cheap at Rome, as when the ſame men tilled the Land, that ruled the Commonwealth, Quaſi gauderet terra laureato vomere ſcilicet & aratore triumphali.

Verſ. 10. Hee that loveth ſilver, ſhall not bee ſatisfied with ſilver] As hee cannot fill his belly, nor cloath his back with it, ſo neither can hee ſatisfie his inordinate appetite and deſire after it, though hee had heaped and horded it up, as the great Calyph of Babylon had, that covetous caytiff, ſtarved to death by Haalon brother to Mango, the great Cham of Cataia, in the midſt of his gold, ſilver, and precious ſtones, whereof, till then, hee could never have enough. Auri nempe fames parto fit major ab auro, Turk. hist. Prudentius. A man may as ſoon fill a cheſt with grace, as an heart with wealth. As a circle cannot fill a triangle: ſo neither can the whole world (if it could bee compaſſed) poſſibly fill the heart of man. Animarationalis caeteris omnibus occupari poteſt, impleri non poteſt, Bern. The reaſonable ſoul may bee buſied about other things, but it cannot bee filled with them. Non plus ſatiatur cor auro, quam corpus aura, As ayr fills not the body, ſo neither doth mony the minde. It cannot therefore bee Mans chiefeſt good (as Mammoniſts make it) ſith it doth not terminate his appetite, but that although hee hath never ſo much of it, yet is hee as hungry after more, as if hee were not worth an half-peny. Theocritus brings in the covetous perſon firſt wiſhing, —Mille meis errent in montibus agni.

[non-Latin text not transcribed], ardere. Hinc ardens appetitus.That hee had a thouſand ſheep in his flock. And this when hee hath gotten, then, Pauperis eſt numerare pecus. Hee would have Cattel without number. The Greeks derive their word for Deſire, from a root that ſignifieth to burn. Now if one ſhould heap never ſo much fuel upon a fire, it would not quench it, but kindle it the more. So here. Surely as a Ship may bee overladen with ſilver even unto ſinking, and yet have compaſs and ſides enough to hold ten times more: ſo a covetous wretch, though hee hath enough to ſink him,Saluſt. yet never hath hee enough to ſatisfie him. Cataline was ever alieni appetens, ſui profuſus, not more prodigal of his own, than deſirous after other mens eſtates.

Verſ. 11. When goods increaſe, they are increaſed that eat them] Servants, friends, flatterers, trencher-men, penſioners, and other hang-bies, that will flock to a rich man, as Crows do to a dead carcaſs: not to defend, but to devour it. Caeſar periſhed in the midſt of his friends, whoſe boundleſs hopes and expectations hee was not able to ſatisfie. The King of Spain (were it not for the Weſt-India Fleet) were never able to ſubſiſt: though hee bee by far the greateſt Prince in Chriſtendom, Camden. gives for his Motto, Totus non ſufficit orbis, and hath his Empire ſo far extended, that hee may truly ſay, Sol mihi ſemper lucet, The Sun ever ſhines upon my Dominions; The Duke of Bavaria's houſe is ſo peſtered with Fryers and Jeſuits, that, notwithſtanding the greatneſs of his Revenue,Heylin. hee is very poor: as ſpending all his eſtate on thoſe Popiſh fleſh-flies, thoſe inutiles & ribaldi, (Lyra's words upon this text) uſeleſs, needleſs, ribaldry fellows.

Saving the beholding of them with his eyes] To ſee ſuch a large retinue, ſuch a numerous family, as Job, who had a very great houſhold, chap. 1.3. and Abraham, who had a Trained band in his family, but eſpecially as Solomon, who had thouſands of ſervants and work-folk. Whereunto I may adde Cardinal Wolſey his pompous family; conſiſting of one Earl, nine Barons, Knights and Eſquires very many, Chaplains and other ſervants (beſides retainers) at bed and board,Toto corpore aliquandiu volutatus. Sueton. no fewer than four hundred. Or, to ſee ſo much wealth, and to tumble in it, as Caligula the Emperour was wont to do, contrectandae pecuniae cupidine incenſus, loving to handle his mony, to walk upon it with his bare feet, and to rowl amongſt it with his whole body, as Suetonius relateth. The like is reported of Heliogabalus, who alſo, beſides what hee did eat, is ſaid to have provided himſelf (in caſe hee ſhould bee in danger to bee ſurprized by his enemies) ſilken halters to hang himſelf withall, ponds of ſweet water to drown himſelf, gilded poyſons to poyſon himſelf with, &c.

Verſ. 12. The ſleep of a labouring man is ſweet] Sleep is the nurſe of nature, the wages that ſhee pays the poor man for his unceſſant pains.Somni finis eſt ſalus animantis. Magir. His fare is not ſo high, his care is not ſo great, but that without diſtemper or diſtraction hee can hug his reſt moſt ſweetly, and feel no diſturbance, untill the due time of riſing awakeneth him. Theſe labouring men are as ſound as a Roche, as hungry as Hunters, as weary as ever was dog of day, as they ſay: and therefore no ſooner laid in their beds, but faſt aſleep, their hard labour cauſing eaſie digeſtion, and uninterrupted reſt. Whereas the reſtleſs ſpirit of the rich wretch rideth his body day and night: care of getting, fear of keeping, grief of loſing, theſe three vultures feed upon him continually. Hee rowls a Siſyphus his ſtone; his abundance, like a lump of lead, lies heavy upon his heart, and breaks his ſleep: Much like the diſeaſe called the Mare or Ephialtes; in which men in their ſlumber think they feel a thing as big as a mountain lying upon their breaſts, which they can no way remove. His evill conſcience eftſoons laſheth and launceth him, as it did our Richard 3. after the murther of his two innocent nephews; and Charles 9. of France after the bloody maſſacre. God alſo terrifies him with dreams, throws hand-fulls of hell fire in his face, interpellat cogitantem, excitat dormientem, as Ambroſe hath it, interrupts him while hee is thinking, awakeneth him while hee is ſleeping, rings that doleful peal in his ears, that makes him ſtart and ſtare, Thou fool, this night ſhall thy ſoul bee taken from thee: Veni miſer in judicium, Come, thou wretch, receive thy judgement.

Verſ. 13. There is a ſore evil] Or, an evil diſeaſe, ſuch as breaks the ſleep,Mala infamitas. Pagn. Plin. Hinc pallor & genae pendulae, item furiales ſomni & inquies nocturna, cauſing paleneſs, leanneſs, reſtleſneſs by night. This diſeaſe is the Dropſie or Bulimy of covetouſneſs, as ſeldome cured as Hereſie, Phrenſie, Jealouſie, which three are held incurable maladies.

Riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt] Worldlings ſit abrood upon their wealth, and hatch to their hurt; as the ſilly bird doth the eggs of the Cockatrice. Riches are called goods; but it hath been well obſerved, that hee that firſt called them ſo, was a better Husband than Divine. Such an Husband was hee in the Goſpel, who reckoned upon much goods laid up for many years. But how come theſe goods to prove evil to the owners, but by the evil uſage of them? riches in themſelves are of an indifferent nature; and it is through mens corruption, ut magna ſit cognatio & nominis & rei divitiis & vitiis, that riches are weapons of wickedneſs, Engines of evil.Jer. 17.11. Hee that getteth riches, and not by right, ſhall die a poor fool.

Dum peritura parat, per male parta perit.

Hee that keepeth his riches (having no quick ſilver, no current money) when God calls him to part with them for pious and charitable uſes, keepeth them to his own greateſt hurt. For the ruſt of his canker-eaten gold ſhall riſe up in judgement againſt him at that great day, James 5.3.

Sic plures nimia congeſta pecunia curaJuvenal. Sal. 10 Strangulat—

See the Note on Prov. 1.19.

Verſ. 14. But thoſe riches periſh by evil travel] i. e. By evil trading, trafficking, or other croſs event and accident. They waſte and wither either by vanity or violence; they ſlip out of the hand, as the panting bird, or wrigling Eel; there is no hold to bee taken of them, no truſt to bee put in them, they were never true to thoſe that truſted in them. See the Note on Prov. 23.5.

Verſ. 15. As hee came forth of his Mothers womb] q. d. If riches leave not us while wee live, yet wee are ſure to leave them when wee die.Haud ullas portabis opes Acherontis ad undas: Nudus al[illegible: 1 letter] inferna ſtulte vebere rate. Propert. Look how a falſe harlot leaves her lover, when arreſted for debt, and follows other cuſtomers: ſo is it here. And as Doggs, though they go along with us in company, yet at parting they run every one to his own Maſter; ſo do theſe to the world, when wee come to leave the world. Death as a Porter ſtands at the gate, and ſtrips us of all our thick clay, wherewith wee are laden. See the Note on chap. 2.22.

To go as hee came] Like an unwelcome gueſt, or an unprofitable ſervant, a cipher, and excrement. Oh live, live, live, (ſaith a Reverend man) quickly, much, long; ſo you are welcome to the world. Elſe you are but hiſſed and kickt off this ſtage of the world, as Phocas was by Heraclius. Nay, many (as Job 27.23.) who were buried before half dead, &c.Abn. fun. by Dr. Harris.

And ſhall take nothing of his labour] Ne obolum quo naulum Charonti ſolvant. Some have had great ſtore of gold and ſilver buried with them; and others would needs bee buried in a Monkes cowl, out of a ſuperſtitious conceit of ſpeeding the better in another world; but it hath profited them nothing at all, Eccleſ. 9.10.

Verſ. 16. And this alſo is a ſore evil] Malum dolorificum, ſo it will prove: a ſingular vexation, a ſharp corroſive, when Balaam and his bribes, Laban and his baggs, Nabal and his flocks, Achan and his wedge, Baltaſar and his bouls, Herod and his harlots, Dives and his diſhes, &c. ſhall part aſunder for ever: when they ſhall look from their death-beds, & ſee that terrible ſpectacle, Death, Judgement, Hell, and all to bee paſſed thorow by their poor ſouls: Oh! what a dreadful ſhrick gives the guilty ſoul at death, to ſee it ſelf launching into an ocean of ſcalding lead, and muſt ſwim naked in it for ever! Who therefore (unleſs hee had rather burn with Dives, than reign with Lazarus) will henceforth reach out his hand to bribery, uſury, robbery, deceit, ſacriledge, or any ſuch like wickedneſs or worldlineſs,1 Tim. 6.9 which drown mens ſouls in perdition and deſtruction? If rich men could ſtave off death, or ſtop its mouth with a bagg of gold, it were ſomewhat like. But that cannot bee, as Henry Beauford, that rich and wretched Cardinal found by experience; as the King of Perſia told Conſtantine the Emperour, who had ſhewed him all the glory and bravery of Rome, Fulg. Mira quidem haec, ſaid hee, ſed ut video, ſicut in Perſia, ſic Romae homines moriuntur, i. e. Theſe be brave things, but yet I ſee, that as in Perſia, ſo at Rome alſo, the owners of theſe things muſt needs die. Agreeable whereunto was that ſpeech of Nugas the Scythian Monarch, to whom when Michael Paleologus the Emperour ſent certain rich robes for a preſent,Pachymer. hiſt. lib. 5. hee asked, Nunquid calamitates, morbos, mortem depellere poſſent? whether they could drive away calamities, ſickneſſes, death? for if they could not do ſo, they were not much to bee regarded.

What profit hath hee that hath laboured for the wind?] i. e. For juſt nothing. See Hoſ. 12.1. Jer. 22.22. The Greeks expreſs the ſame by hunting after, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. and husbanding the wind. The Apoſtle ſpeaks of beating the air, 1 Cor. 9. as hee doth, that fights with his own ſhadow, that diſquiets himſelf in vain. The four Monarchies are called the four winds of Heaven, Zech. 6.3, 4. And at the Popes inthronization a wad of ſtraw is ſet on fire before him, and one appointed to ſay, Sic tranſit gloria mundi, The glory of this world is but a blaze or blaſt.

Verſ. 17. All his daies alſo hee eats in darkneſs] i. e. hee lives beſides that hee hath; and cannot ſo much as bee merry at meat. Hence is much ſorrow, wrath and ſickneſs; eſpecially, if ſpoiled of his goods which hee made his god, hee is no leſs troubled than Laban was for his Teraphim, or Micah for his Mawmet, Judg. 18. Hee is mad almoſt, and ready to hang himſelf for woe; having much fretting, foaming, fuming anger, languor, ready to flie at God and men.

Verſ. 18. It is good and comely for one to eat, &c.] Niggardiſe and baſeneſs is an ugly evil, making a man, though never ſo rich, to bee vilipended and deſpiſed of all. Nabal ſhall not bee called Nadib, the vile perſon liberal, the churl bountiful, Iſa. 32.5. See the Notes on chap. 2.24. & 3.12.

Verſ. 19. This is the gift of God] A gift of his right hand, donum throni, non ſcabelli: 1 Tim. 6.6 Godlineſs onely hath contentedneſs. The comfort of wealth comes in by no other door, than by the aſſurance of Gods love in beſtowing it, and of his grace in ſanctifying it. God give thee the dew of Heaven, &c. Gen. 27. 28. Eſau likewiſe had the like, but not with a God give thee. A carnal heart cares not how, ſo hee may have it; hence his ſo little comfort and enjoyment. A godly man will have God with it, or elſe hee is all amort. Moſes would not bee put off with an Angel to go along with them; Luther proteſſed,Valde proteſtatus ſum me nolle fio ſatiari. Luth. when great gifts were offered him, that hee would not bee ſatisfied or quieted with thoſe rattles.

Verſ. 20. For hee ſhall not much remember, &c.] Hee vexeth not at the brevity or miſery of his life: but looketh upon himſelf as a ſtranger here; and therefore if hee can have a better condition, hee uſeth it rather: as if a traveller can get a better room in an Inne,1 Cor. 7. hee will, if not, hee can bee content; for ſaith hee, it is but for a night.