│ SECTION IV.――_Practical
│ aphorisms grounded on the
│ foregoing._
│
KEEP thy foot when thou │ GUARD thou thy steps as one
goest to the house of God, and │ who art walking to the House of
be more ready to hear, than to │ the Divinity, and approach
give the sacrifice of fools: │ rather to hearken than to give,
for they consider not that │ as the fools do, a sacrifice;
they do evil. │ who do not know when evil is
│ being done.
V. (1.) =Keep thy feet= (the Masorets have altered this to the singular,
but without sufficient reason; yet the LXX. support the Kri) =as when=
(occurs chapter v. 3 (4), viii. 7; ‘as though’ is the meaning here)
=thou walkest= (taking up the word from the last clause above) =towards
the house of the Deity= (the LXX. render, of course correctly as to
sense by the double article, τὸν οἶκον τοῦ Θεοῦ――‘Thou art walking to
the temple of a Divine Providence’ is the idea), =and drawing near to
hear= (evidently ‘in order to hear’; hence the LXX. render ἐγγὺς τοῦ
ἀκούειν; some, however, with the Authorized Version, take this as an
imperative, but the sense is better preserved by rendering as the LXX.
do), =more than giving of the befooled ones= (for we must not lose
sight of the hiphil form: they are deceived either by themselves or
others) =a sacrifice.= (The curious rendering of the LXX. by no means
shows that they did not understand the meaning, or even would have
altered the present pointing; ὑπὲρ δόμα τῶν ἀφρόνων θυσία σου fulfils
their conditions of rendering, which is, if possible, to preserve both
the sense and the order, ‘above the gift of fools is thy sacrifice’).
=For= they are =not those instructed to the doing of= (so the LXX.,
τοῦ ποιῆσαι) =evil.= The sentence is purposely ambiguous and equivocal;
it is not clear at first sight whether the fools are those who do evil,
or whether it be the doing of evil generally which is the point, but
the following will seem to give a fair explanation of this ♦difficult
passage. The advice given after the considerations above, is to walk
reverently, and to listen to what God’s oracle will say, rather than do
as fools do,――offer a sacrifice to avert evil, which they do not after
all know to be such, and which, if it implies dissatisfaction with
these divine providential arrangements, is a foolish, if not sinful,
sacrifice. This is further set forth in the following verses.
♦ “difcult” replaced with “difficult”
2 Be not rash with thy │ Do not be hasty with thy lips,
mouth, and let not thine heart │ nor in thought hurry forth a
be hasty to utter _any_ ¹thing │ word against the Almighty, for
before God: for God _is_ in │ that Almighty is in the
heaven, and thou upon earth: │ heavens, and thou art upon the
therefore let thy words be │ earth: on this account let thy
few. │ words be sparing. Because just
│ as there comes dreaming through
3 For a dream cometh through │ a multitude of anxieties, so
the multitude of business; and │ there comes the voice of a
a fool’s voice _is known_ by │ befooled through a multitude of
multitude of words. │ reasonings.
│
¹ _Or_, word. │
(2, 3.) =Do not hasten= (the hastiness of vexation, see Job iv. 5,
xxiii. 15, Psalms vi. 10) =upon thy mouth= (the preposition is by no
means redundant), =and thy heart do not hurry= (the usual word denoting
the hurry of want of time. The meaning then is, do not speak, no, do
not even think, hastily) =to cause to send out a word= (with the usual
meaning of ‘a reason to be acted on’) =before the Deity, because the
Deity= (as this is a repetition, the word becomes emphatic, ‘that
Deity’) =in the heavens and thou= (emphatic) =on the earth, therefore
be thy words a few= (_i.e._ diminished rather than increased, hence
the following). =For comes the dream in the multitude of anxiety, and
a voice= of =a befooled= one (for it is without the article) =in the
multitude of words= (or ‘reasons,’ as above). The argument now passes
over from rash speeches to rash vows. A vow is a favourite resource
with the foolish for obtaining the accomplishment of their wishes: they
think to bribe Providence with gifts and offerings.
4 When thou vowest a vow │ (2.) Shouldst thou have vowed
unto God, defer not to pay it; │ specially to God, do not be
for _he hath_ no pleasure in │ slow to pay it; because there
fools: pay that which thou │ is no providence with the
hast vowed. │ befooled ones: just what thou
│ hast vowed pay.
(4.) =When thou hast vowed a vow= (‘If by any means thou hast done
this,’ for considerable emphasis is given by the repetition of ‘vow,’
according to the well-known Hebrew idiom) =to God, do not defer to pay
it= (the alacrity with which men vow is commonly in strong contrast
with the tardiness with which they pay), =because there is nothing= of
=providence= (חפץ, with its usual technical meaning, and also equivocal,
in the sense of ‘pleasure’) =in befooled= ones: =with respect to what
thou hast vowed, pay= (the LXX. render σὺ οὖν ‘thou then,’ but the
emphasis given by את אשר may easily account for this).
5 Better _is it_ that thou │ For it is better that thou
shouldest not vow, than that │ shouldst not vow, than that
thou shouldest vow and not │ thou shouldst be vowing and not
pay. │ pay.
(5.) =A good is it that thou shouldst not vow= (the sentence is
ambiguous, but the equivoke is ‘thou hadst better _not_ vow’), =than
that thou shouldst vow and not pay.=
6 Suffer not thy mouth │ Do not allow thy mouth to cause
to cause thy flesh to sin; │ thy body to sin; and say not in
neither say thou before the │ the presence of God’s messenger,
angel, that it _was_ an error: │ ‘It was but an inadvertence:’
wherefore should God be angry │ why should the Almighty be
at thy voice, and destroy the │ angry with your prattle, and
work of thine hands? │ put an arrest on the work of
│ your hands?
(6.) =Do not give with respect to thy mouth= (the את is not redundant,
‘do not appoint,’ which is the meaning of תתן), =to cause to make to
sin with respect to thy flesh= (the meaning then must be, ‘do not so
arrange matters as to cause thy mouth to make thy flesh sin,’ by, that
is, preferring the ease, pleasure, of the flesh or the like, to the
sacrifice caused by a redemption of the vow), =and do not say in the
presence of the angel= (with the article; had this been noticed as
it ought, less difficulty would have been felt in the interpretation
of this passage; the angel is the messenger of Providence who comes to
require the vow, and whom, of course, with or without sufficient reason,
the person bound by the vow expects) =that= (כי) =an error it is=: (see
Leviticus iv. 2, 22, 27, and Numbers xv. 24, 25, 29; when too this
passage is compared with Leviticus iv. 2, we can have no doubt that
לפ׳ מא׳ here is the equivalent of לפ׳ יי׳ there) =why= (LXX. ἵνα μὴ, ‘so
that not’), =should be angry= (Genesis xl. 2, Deuteronomy i. 24) =the
Deity over thy voice= (Ginsburg, excellently, ‘with thy prattle’), =and
destroy= (as this word is used to signify the ‘giving a pledge,’ this
peculiar signification conveys the idea, ‘destroy by exacting a pledge,’
‘make thee bankrupt by insisting upon payment’) =with respect to the
work of your hands?=
7 For in the multitude of │ For in the multitude of dreams
dreams and many words _there │ and vanities even so reasons
are_ also _divers_ vanities: │ are multiplied that GOD is to
but fear thou God. │ be feared.
(7.) =For in a multitude of dreams= (‘conjectures’ probably) =and
vanities and reasonings, the much= (_i.e._ these reasonings are
increased); =for= (כי is repeated, and this repetition makes it
emphatic――‘so indeed’) =with respect to the Deity fear.= The probable
meaning is, ‘fear God under all circumstances: vanity and conjectures
only increase the reasons for so doing,’――thus is revealed the real
conclusion of the whole treatise.
Koheleth now takes up a subject ineffectually discussed before, and
solves it with this principle just enunciated: Fear God.
8 ¶ If thou seest the │ (3.) If violent oppression
oppression of the poor, and │ of the poor, and wresting
violent perverting of judgment │ of justice and right, should
and justice in a province, │ be observed by you in a
marvel not ¹at the matter: for │ jurisdiction, do not be
_he that is_ higher than the │ surprised at the providence;
highest regardeth; and _there │ for the lofty are watched by
be_ higher than they. │ one loftier still, and these
│ lofty ones are――subjects.
¹ _Hebrew_ at the will, or │
purpose. │
(8.) =If oppression of the poor= (see chapter iv. 1, 3, etc.), =and
wresting= of =judgment and right, thou seest in a province= (במדינה,
this has been considered a late word, and a sign, moreover, that the
writer lived in the country and not in the city, as he says, chapter
i. 12; but though it occurs in the later Hebrew [1 Kings xx. 14 is the
first instance] it is quite regularly formed, and is clearly in place
here), =do not marvel= (Psalms xlviii. 6, Jeremiah iv. 9, to ‘be
astonished,’ ‘struck with astonishment’) =over the providence= (החפץ
with the article; the LXX. render τῷ πράγματι in this instance, the
word, however, occurs in the technical meaning it has all through the
book, see chapter iii. 1, v. 4 (3)); =for high from above the high=
(which the LXX. render word for word, ὑψηλὸς ἐπάνω ὑψηλοῦ) =keeps and
high ones above them= (the sentence is enigmatic, perhaps proverbial,
though the meaning is clear. Is it possible that a play was intended
between מֵעַל and מַעַל, Leviticus v. 15, a ‘transgression,’ גבה being taken
in the meaning of swelling up, thus――‘Increasing transgression is
increasing regard?’ In the same way the מ at the end of גבהים would
unite with the word following in utterance, and so help the equivoke).
9 ¶ Moreover the profit of │ And besides,
the earth is for all: the king │
_himself_ is served by the │ (i.) The produce of the earth
field. │ is all in all: a king is a
│ subject to the field.
(9.) =And the profit= (as this is joined by a conjunction with the
former, we must look upon it as a further argument in the same chain
of reasoning; the meaning will then be ‘and besides the produce’) =of
earth= (not _the_ earth, the article is wanting) =in all= (the LXX.
render this by ἐπὶ with a dative, hence they understood the preposition
here to mean ‘for all,’ which our version follows) =it is= (feminine,
in close apposition therefore with the noun, but this noun must be יתרון,
which is feminine, and the meaning is that it exists subjectively, or
is always there playing its part) =a king= (again, not _the_ king: any
king, therefore, however great,――Solomon himself, or any other) =to
a field= (again, not _the_ field, equivalent to some field; the LXX.
render by the simple genitive) =is served= (niphal; this occurs only
twice in the past tense, here and at Ezekiel xxxvi. 9, both in the
sense of tilling; and the niphal future twice, at Deuteronomy xxi. 4
and Ezekiel xxxvi. 34, again with the same meaning――no doubt עבד is
used with the signification ‘to serve generally’ in a vast number of
places. It must be observed, however, that a niphal is not exactly the
same as a passive, but has an objective signification, so that it is
often nearer in meaning to the Greek middle voice than our passive.
Bearing this in mind, we can have no further doubt over this passage
as to its principal scope,――‘the king is served of,’ or ‘a subject to
the field.’ The idea is that the very highest are really in a state of
abject dependence――a single day’s starvation would have been sufficient
to have brought to the dust Solomon or Nebuchadnezzar. The other
possible rendering, that ‘_the king is served by the field_,’ is only
the other side of the same truth, and the sentence is equivocal, being
ingeniously constructed so as to read either way).
10 He that loveth silver │ (ii.) A lover of money no
shall not be satisfied with │ money ever satisfied; and
silver; nor he that loveth │ who that loved profusion
abundance with increase: this │ ever had sufficient income?
_is_ also vanity. │ Another instance of the
│ evanescent.
(10.) =Loving silver= (the Masorets point as a participle, but
however correct this may be, the participial notion is in Ecclesiastes
apparently not so prominent, as it is when the poel is used written
full) =not satisfies= (_i.e._ as the nominative follows, ‘shall not
be satisfied with’) =silver= (_silver_ is doubled here, and used of
course in the sense of money――the meaning being that ‘a lover of money
no _money_ ever satisfies’), =and who loving in a multitude= (_i.e._
setting his desires in a multitude of goods, or anything else) =not=
(but the LXX. in place of לא possibly read לוֹ, ‘to him,’ and this makes
far better and more pungent sense――‘_to him_’ emphatic will then be
the meaning) =a revenue= (Numbers xviii. 30, Deuteronomy xxxiii. 14,
Proverbs iii. 14, xviii. 20; or, still better, for the word is derived
from the root בוא, ‘to come,’ ‘an income.’ Thus it is seen that the two
clauses are aimed respectively against niggardliness and extravagance.
The miser and the spendthrift both never have enough); =also this is
vanity= (another instance of the transitory and evanescent, as indeed
it is, because these riches look satisfactory and are not).
11 When goods increase, they │ (iii.) As property increases,
are increased that eat them: │ so increases consumption
and what good _is there_ to │ too; and what success then
the owners thereof, saving the │ has ownership, but just the
beholding _of them_ with their │ right of beholding it?
eyes? │
(11.) =In the multitudes of the good= (an abstract, with the article,
and hence the meaning is ‘In the very increase of the property itself,
and as it increases,’ this being the meaning of the plural, which
is distributive) =multiply the eatings of it= (or, for the ה may be
considered paragogic, and so making, as it were, an abstract of the
poel participle, ‘consumers’), =and what is the success= (כשרון, see
ii. 21, references) =to the owners of it= (_i.e._ to ownership),
=except seeing= (ראית, this the Masorets alter to ראות, but unnecessarily,
for there is a slight difference in the sense here, which will account
for the unusual grammatical form; a causative or hiphil notion is
implied by it; hence the LXX. ἀρχὴ τοῦ ὁρᾶν, ‘the priority to see,’)
=his eyes?= (_i.e._ each one with his eyes, singular following plural).
12 The sleep of a labouring │ (iv.) How sweet is the sleep
man _is_ sweet, whether he │ of the slave, if a little,
eat little or much: but the │ or if much he eats: but a
abundance of the rich will not │ sufficiency to one who is
suffer him to sleep. │ enriched――does not cause
│ rest to him so that he
│ sleeps.
(12.) =Sweet= (but the participial form of the noun must not be
overlooked, nor the feminine termination, equivalent to a ‘sweetness,’)
=is the sleep of the slave= (‘of the toiler,’ with the article),
=if a little, or if the much he eats= (there is a peculiar force in
contrasting ‘_the_ much,’ הרבה, with the article, with מעט without it;
even if he should eat to _the much_ [_i.e._ as large a quantity as
he can] it will do him no harm: no nightmare will trouble him who has
earned his hearty meal by his hard work), =but the satisfaction= (as
contrasted with הרבה) =to the enriched it is not that which is causing
rest= (hiphil participle) =to him= (emphatic) =to sleep= (an equivoke
here is to be found in השבע and לעשיר, remembering that שבע, ‘seven,’
is used so commonly for ‘completeness,’ and עשר, ‘ten,’ as ‘rich’ and
‘overflowing;’ seven with ten has a peculiar meaning in the symbolism
of numbers).
13 There is a sore evil │ (v.) There is this evil
_which_ I have seen under the │ infirmity which I have
sun, _namely_, riches kept for │ observed in this work-day
the owners thereof to their │ world: Riches kept by an
hurt. │ owner to his own injury;
(13.) =There is an evil= (abstract, a particular kind of evil), =a
sickness= (another abstract) =I have seen under the sun――wealth keeping
to= (_i.e._ being kept by) =its possessors to their hurt.=
14 But those riches perish │ for the wealth itself
by evil travail: and he │ perishes in an uncertainty
begetteth a son, and _there │ which is distressing: so
is_ nothing in his hand. │ that when he begets an
│ heir, he has in his hand
│ just nothing at all.
(14.) =And perishes, that riches, that same= (as we should say, ‘those
very same riches’) =in an uncertainty= (בענין, another instance of this
word; we see that in this case also [see chapter i. 13, references],
the meaning ‘anxious uncertainty’ exactly suits the context), which
is =an evil= (this anxious care, instead of doing any good, is but a
simple mischief), =and he is caused to beget a son= (to whom, of course,
he would have wished to bequeath his wealth), and there is =nothing in
his hand at all= (which the LXX. render by a double negative, and hence
we must render ‘and has in his hand even nothing at all’).
15 As he came forth of his │ For naked as when he came
mother’s womb, naked shall he │ forth from the womb of
return to go as he came, and │ his mother does he go out
shall take nothing of his │ of the world again; and
labour, which he may carry │ nothing whatever does he
away in his hand. │ take from his care, which
│ he can hold in his hand.
(15.) =And as he came out from the womb of his mother naked= (which is
reserved to the end of the clause, making it emphatic; it is moreover
written full, so that a slight additional emphasis is given by this to
the ‘_state_ of nakedness’ existing), =he returns to go back= (somewhat
stronger than goes back――he comes to this state through intermediate
stages) just =as he came= (‘as he was at the first, so now is he at
the last’), =and nothing at all does he not lift up= (Genesis vii. 17,
‘bear’ as a burden) =in his toil= (as we say, ‘_have_ for his _pains_,’
observing the meaning of עמל, not the labour but the anxiety which
causes, or results from, the labour) =which he takes in his hand.=
16 And this also _is_ a sore │ Moreover, in this is
evil, _that_ in all points as │ discovered that evil
he came, so shall he go: and │ infirmity, that precisely
what profit hath he that hath │ as he began, so does
laboured for the wind? │ he leave off; and what
│ possible advantage can
│ there be, that he toiled
│ for the wind?
(16.) =And, moreover, this same evil sickness, all over against= (כל עמת
occurs as two words here only; לעמת is the ordinary form, it has the
meaning of ‘against,’ ‘over against,’ see Exodus xxv. 27, 2 Samuel
xvi. 13; it has been proposed to read כלעמת, in which case the meaning
will be as in the above――‘precisely as,’ LXX. ὥσπερ γὰρ, but this is to
a certain extent to cut the knot rather than untie it. Now עמת occurs
separately here only, and if עמת really exists, it is a noun feminine
in regimen; now the meaning of עם, which is presented both in ‘people’
and in the preposition ‘_with_,’ gives evidently something ‘collected’
or ‘gathered,’ hence עמה would mean a ‘collection’ or ‘instance,’
and עמת ‘collection’ or ‘instance of,’ and then the exact meaning
of כל ע״ will be ‘every instance of his going’), =which he comes=
(close relative, the reason of which is now sufficiently evident,
meaning, ‘just as he comes;’ he simply goes round in a circle without
accomplishing anything, or returns back on his own track in every
instance) =so= (emphatic, standing apart from its noun, equal ‘just
so’) =does he go, and what profit to him who has toiled= (close
relative again, ‘in that he has toiled’) =to the wind?= (which,
see chapter i. 6, returns back again as it did before. ‘To’ is here
not exactly the same as ‘like to,’ but very near it; but perhaps
also because his toil or care is to his spirit, as it has no effect
otherwise.)
17 All his days also he │ Moreover, all his days he
eateth in darkness, and _he │ consumes in darkness: his
hath_ much sorrow and wrath │ disappointment is very
with his sickness. │ great indeed: he has
│ sickness and is sorry.
(17.) =Moreover, all his days in darkness= (for, of course, all this
time he has never any idea which way he was really going, or what he is
doing) =he eats= (or consumes), and =disappointment= is =the much= (or
is multiplied), =and his sickness and wrath= (קצף is that kind of wrath
which arises from anger with a person on account of something wrong.
This miserable life is summed up, it appears, in four particulars――(1.)
All his days he eats in darkness; (2.) the vexation of disappointment
consumes him; (3.) he is sick, or rather, in this general sense, he is
afflicted; (4.) he is angry, for those mistakes and disappointments.)
18 ¶ Behold _that_ which I │ Manifest, then, is that real
have seen: ¹_it is_ good and │ good which I have observed,
comely _for one_ to eat and to │ viz., that it is proper to eat,
drink, and to enjoy the good │ and to drink, and so to see
of all his labour that he │ good in all one’s toil which
taketh under the sun ²all the │ one may toil in this hot
days of his life, which God │ work-day world, as the tale of
giveth him: for it _is_ his │ one’s daily life. For this is
portion. │ what God gives, and this is
│ one’s _own_ possession.
¹ _Hebrew_ there is a good │
which is comely, etc. │
│
² _Hebrew_ the number of the │
days. │
(18.) =Behold= (for this introduces the manifest result of his
observation) =that which I have seen=, even =I myself= (the result
therefore of his own personal experience), a real =good; which also=
(the full relative here has this meaning, because it is repeated) is
=suitable to the eating= (_i.e._ active enjoyment), =to the drinking=
(which is passive), =and to the seeing of goodness= (the _lamed_ is
repeated before each full infinitive, and the abstract טובה follows,
which therefore gives the meaning that what he had observed was, ‘that
it was proper that one should eat, or one should drink, or should see
good in,’ etc., _i.e._ any or all of these); =and= (repeated, meaning
‘_and also_’) =in all his toil which= (contracted relative) =he toils=
over (toil is thus made very emphatic, the meaning is, ‘for which one
so earnestly or unceasingly toils,’ for observe also, as no nominative
is expressed, the verb is impersonal) =under the sun the number= (the
root ספר has the meaning to count or enumerate, hence the idea ‘as one
is counting one’s days’) of =the days of his life which gives to him=
(emphatic) =the Deity= (nominative following verb, with the usual shade
of meaning), =because it is his portion= (_i.e._ what belongs to him,
but in the future he has no portion, _that_ no man has any right over).
19 Every man also to whom │ And beside, should the Almighty
God hath given riches and │ appoint to any individuals
wealth, and hath given him │ of the human race, riches,
power to eat thereof, and │ possessions, and the power
to take his portion, and to │ to enjoy them, and so to make
rejoice in his labour; this │ use of their possessions, and
_is_ the gift of God. │ rejoice in their toil――this is
│ simply a Divine appointment.
(19.) =Moreover, all the man= (_i.e._ every one of the human race
considered collectively and in the abstract) =which gives to him=
(equivalent to one to whom) =God= (gives or appoints) =wealth and
riches, and it is caused him to have power in order to eat= (which we
have seen is used as the highest type of enjoyment in the active sense)
=of it, and to take his portion= (for a man may possess without being
able to eat or enjoy at all, hence the necessity for this clause in
the course of the argument; נשא has the meaning to ‘lift up,’ ‘carry,’
or ‘bear’), =and to rejoice in his toil= (which――considering the exact
meaning assigned in this book to עמל, the ‘care’ one takes in one’s
labour――to rejoice in is to see it come to a successful end); =this
same= (the Masorets put here a strong disjunctive accent) =a gift= of
=God it is.=
20 ¹For he shall not much │ For the memory of the days of
remember the days of his life; │ the past life is not of much
because God answereth _him_ in │ importance; but the Almighty
the joy of his heart. │ rather exercises men in their
│ present emotions.
¹ _Or_, though _he give_ not │
much, _yet_ he remembereth,│
etc. │
(20.) =For not the much he remembers= (but as no nominative precedes
or follows, the verb is impersonal) =the days of his life=, and =for=
(the second כי introducing a reason in addition to and confirmatory
of the first) =the Deity answers= (this is the only place in which
the participle hiphil occurs; in one other place the participle
pual――Isaiah liii. 4, which differs only from the hiphil in its
pointing, occurs evidently in the sense of ‘afflicted,’ which the
LXX. render by κακώσει, ‘in affliction.’ The future hiphil is used at
1 Kings viii. 35 and 2 Chronicles vi. 26, parallels, and is translated
‘thou dost afflict them.’ On the whole, however, the meaning, as
pointed out by ♦Zöckler, and which the LXX. confirm, seems to be,
‘hears them by vouchsafing;’ and as this answer is painful or joyful,
as the case may be, and more usually the former, ‘exercises’ would be
a suitable rendering) =in the joy of= (or by means of the joy, בְ־, of
the instrument; it is an abstract in regimen, ‘in the joyousness’ or
‘rejoicings of’) =his heart=. Thus, then, the two reasons given stand
related thus: Present gratification is the lot of humanity, because
the past is not much remembered. The _chief_ remembrance――for this is
the meaning of הרבה――is not in the past. The deepest sorrows fade away
quickly into forgetfulness; and so also the brightest joys. They have,
no doubt, some influence by recollection, but not _much_. And thus the
Deity, or God regarded as the supreme providential ruler, exercises us.
He responds to our anxieties, afflicts us, or chastens us, or causes
us pleasure by means of joys given or taken away, as the case may be.
Again, these are spoken of as joys of our _hearts_, or of our inward
desires and consciousness, which is the meaning of ‘heart’ in this
book; our _emotional nature_, as the idea would stand expressed in the
nomenclature of modern philosophy.
♦ “Zökler” replaced with “Zöckler” for consistency