me as a calamity, for all is vanity and a grasping of wind. III. 1. To
everything there is a season and each thing under heaven hath its
hour.[269] 2. There is a time to be born and a time to die; a time to
plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted; 3. a time to kill and
a time to heal; a time to break down and a time to build up; 4. a time to
weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance; 5. a time
to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together; a time to
embrace and a time to refrain from embracing; 6. a time to seek and a
time to throw away; a time to keep and a time to destroy; 7. a time to
rend and a time to repair; a time to be silent and a time to speak; 8. a
time to love and a time to hate; a time of war and a time of peace. VIII.
6. For every thing hath its season and its destiny,[270] for the bane of
man presses heavily upon him. 7. Because he knoweth not what shall be;
for who can tell him how it will come to pass?
8. No man swayeth the storm-wind,
None controlleth the day of his death;
There is no discharge in war,
Nor can riches rescue their possessor.
_(b) Because the Just are very often Treated worse than the Wicked_
VIII. 9. All this have I seen, and I have applied my heart unto every
event that happens under the sun, at the time when one man ruleth over
another to his undoing. 10. And so I beheld the evil-doer honoured, even
in the holy place, while they who had done uprightly must go away and
were forgotten in the city. This also is vanity.
11. Because sentence against misdeeds is not executed forthwith,
therefore the heart of the sons of man is fully set to work evil. 12. For
I know that many a miscreant hath committed bad deeds for a protracted
time past, and yet lives long, 13. while the God-fearing prolongeth not
his shadow-like days.
14. There is a vanity which is done upon earth: to righteous men that
happeneth which should befall wrong-doers; and that betideth criminals
which should fall to the lot of the upright. I said: This too is vain.
16a. When I applied my heart to know wisdom and to consider the goings on
upon earth, 17a. then I perceived that no man can find out the whole work
of God that is carried on beneath the sun.[271] How much soever he may
labour in seeking, he will not discover it; 16_b_. even though by
day and by night he should keep his eyes from seeing sleep; 17_b_.
yea, though a wise man set himself to fathom it, yet shall he not find it
out.[272]
IX. 1. For all this I laid to heart, and my heart beheld it all; that the
righteous and the wise and their doings are in the hand of God; neither
love nor hatred doth a man know in advance;[273] everything lies before
him.
2. All things come alike to all indiscriminately;[274] the one fate
overtaketh the upright man and the miscreant, the clean and the unclean,
him who sacrifices and him who sacrifices not, the just and the sinner,
him who swears as him who dreads an oath. 3. This is an evil amongst all
things that are done under the sun, that one chance betideth all;
therefore the sons of men pluck up courage for evil, and madness abideth
in their heart.
VIII. 15. Then I commended mirth, because for man there is no good under
the sun save only to eat, drink, and make merry, and that abideth with
him in his toil during the days of his life which God hath given him
under the sun.
PROOFS OF THE VANITY OF WISDOM IN ITS ASPECT AS PRUDENCE AND PRACTICAL
APTITUDE
_(a) Because Success is Contingent upon Circumstances beyond the
Control of Man_
IX. 11. Again I saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, nor
the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to men of
understanding, nor favour to men of skill; but time and chance overtake
them all. 12. For man knoweth not even his own time; like the fishes that
are taken in the evil net, and like the birds that are caught in the
snare, so are the sons of men entrapped in the season of misfortune, when
it breaks in upon them unawares.[275]
_(b) Because of the Difficulty of obtaining recognition for it, and of
the Ease with which it may be Thwarted by Folly_
IX. 13. This also have I seen under the sun, as wisdom, and it appeared
great unto me. 14. There was a little city and few soldiers therein, and
there came a mighty king against it, and besieged it, and built great
bulwarks against it. 15. Now he found in it a poor wise man who, by his
wisdom, delivered the city; but no one remembered this poor man
afterwards. 16. Thereupon I said:
Wisdom is better than strength;
Yet the poor man's wisdom is despised.
17. The words of the wise are gently uttered;
But the clamour of fools is deafening.[276]
18. Wisdom is better than war weapons;
Yet a single oversight bringeth ruin.
X. 1. A dead fly causes balsam to putrefy;
So a little folly destroys much happiness.
VI. 8. For what hath the wise more than the fool? What, the poor who
knoweth how to walk before the living? 10. That which is happening was
long ago named, and it is known beforehand what a man shall be; neither
can he join issue with him who is mightier than he. 11. For there is much
prattle that only augmenteth vanity. Of what avail is it to man? 12. For
who knoweth what is helpful to man in life during the brief vain days of
his existence which he spendeth as a shadow? For who can tell a man what
shall come to pass after him under the sun?
PART II
RECOMMENDATION OF THE RELATIVE GOOD; AND IN THE FIRST PLACE OF WISDOM, AS
RENUNCIATION
_(a) Of Claims to Happiness_
VII.1_a_. Better is a good name than choice unguents,
X.1. But better wisdom than glory;
[Better not being than existence,][277]
VII.1_b_. And the death-day than the birthday.
2. Better to enter the house of mourning
Than to go into the tavern;
Because there is the end of every man,
And he who survives will lay it to heart.
3. Better is sorrow than laughter;
For a cheerless face makes a blithesome heart.
4. The heart of the wise is in the mourning-house;
The heart of fools in the house of mirth.
5. Better to hearken to the rebuke of the wise,
Than to listen to the song of the foolish.
6. As the crackling of thorns under a pot,[278]
Is the inane laughter of the fool.
VI.9. Better look with the eyes than wander with desire;
This too is vanity and a grasping of wind.
VII.7. For extortion maketh the wise man foolish,
And bribery robs understanding.
8. Better the end of a thing than the beginning thereof;
Better is patience than haughtiness.
9. Let not thy spirit be hurried into anger,
For anger lurketh in the bosom of fools.
10. Say not: Why were old times better than these? For it is not from
wisdom that thou askest thus.
13. Contemplate the work of God! Who can straighten what he hath made
crooked? 14. In the day of prosperity be of good cheer, and in the evil
day bethink thee: the latter God hath made even as the former, to the end
that man at his death shall have left nothing unaccomplished.
_(b) As Renunciation of Reputation for Perfect Justice and Wisdom_
VII. 15. All things have I witnessed in my vain days; there are just men
who perish through their righteousness, and there are wicked men who
prolong their lives by means of their iniquity.[279] 16. Be not righteous
overmuch, neither make thyself overwise; why wouldst thou ruin thyself?
17. Do not allow thyself too much liberty, and be not a fool: why wouldst
thou die before thy time? 18. It is well that thou shouldst hold fast to
the one and also not withdraw thy hand from the other, for he who feareth
God compasseth all this.
19. Wisdom is a stronger guard for the wise man than ten mighty men who
are in the city.
11. Wisdom is good with an inheritance,
Yea, better yet, to them that see the sun;[280]
12. For wisdom and wealth afford shade,
And wisdom, besides, keeps its possessors alive.
_(c) As Renunciation of One's Claims to the Respect and Consideration
of Others_
VII. 21. Likewise, take not all the gossip of people to heart, lest thou
hear that thy friend hath reviled thee! 22. For thy heart is conscious
that thou thyself hast often-times made little of others. 20. For:
There is no just man upon the earth
Who worketh good and never faileth.
_(d) Of One's Claims to Act Independently of their Counsel and Aid_
IV. 9. Two are better off than one; 10. for should one of them fall, the
other lifts him up again. Woe to him that is alone, if he fall, and there
be not another to raise him up. 11. Likewise, if two lie down together,
they become warm; but how can one grow warm alone? 12. Moreover, if a man
would overpower the single one, two can keep him at bay, and a threefold
cord will not easily give way.
13. Better is the youth, needy and wise, than the king old and foolish,
who can no longer take a warning to heart. 14. For the former went forth
from prison to govern, though born poor in the realm of the king. 15. I
saw all the living who walk under the sun, in attendance on the youth who
was to take his place. 16. There was no end to the multitude....[281] who
were before them; nor did those who lived afterwards glory in him. For
this likewise is vanity and a grasping of wind.
RECOMMENDATION OF WISDOM AS RATIONAL PIETY[282]
_A Warning: (a) Against Outward and Sacrificial Worship_
V. 1. Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God! And to draw near
him, in order to obey, is better than the offering of sacrifices by
fools: for they know not....[283] to work evil.
_(b) Against Mechanical Prayer_
V. 2. Be not rash with thy mouth, nor let thy heart be hasty to utter
words before God! For God is in heaven, and thou art upon earth;
therefore let thy words be few! 3. For
Dreams proceed from much brooding,
And the prattle of fools from a multitude of words.
_(c) Against Rash Vows_
V. 4. If thou makest a vow unto God, fail not to fulfil it, for fools are
displeasing. Carry out that which thou hast promised. 5. It is better
thou shouldst not vow at all than vow and not perform. 6. Suffer not thy
mouth to render thy body punishable, neither utter thou the plea before
the messenger:[284] "it was rashness." Why cause God to be wroth at thy
voice and destroy the work of thy hands?
_(d) Against Arbitrary Religious Speculations_
V. 7....[285] For in the multitude of fancies and prattle there likewise
lurketh much vanity. Rather fear thou God!
RECOMMENDATION OF WISDOM AS ACTIVITY
_(a) In Public Life_
V. 8. When thou witnessest oppression of the poor and the swerving from
right and equity in the land, marvel not thereat. For a higher one
watcheth over the high, and still higher ones over both.[286] 9. But a
gain to the country is only a king--for tilled land.
X.16. Wo, land, to thee whose king is a child,
And whose princes feast in the early morning!
17. Hail to thee, land, whose king is noble,
And whose princes eat in due season!
18. Through sloth the rafters give way;
Through idleness the roof lets in the rain.
19. They misuse food and drink for feasting:
And gold putteth all things in their grasp.
20. Even in thy privacy curse not the king,
Nor in thy bed-chamber the wealthy;
The birds of heaven might divulge it,
And the feathered ones might report the word.
_(b) In Private Life_
XI. 1. Send forth thy bread over the surface of the waters, for after
many days thou shall find it again. 2. Divide thy possessions into seven,
yea, into eight portions! For thou knowest not what evil may befall the
land. 3. If the clouds fill themselves with rain, they discharge it upon
the earth; and whether the tree falleth towards the south or towards the
north, in the place where it falleth, there shall it abide.
6. In the morning sow thy seed,
And until evening let not thy hand repose.[287]
For thou knowest not which one shall thrive, this or that, or whether
they shall both prosper alike.
4. He that observeth the wind shall not sow;
He that watcheth the clouds shall not reap.
5. As thou knowest not the way of the wind, nor the growth of the bones
in the womb of the mother, even so, thou canst not fathom the work of God
who compasseth everything.
RECOMMENDATION OF WISDOM AS CIRCUMSPECTION
_(a) In our Dealings with Women_
VII. 23. All this have I tried with understanding; I was minded to
acquire wisdom, but it remained far from me. 24. Far off is that which
is,[288] and deep, deep; who can fathom it?
25. I turned away, and my heart was bent upon understanding, sifting, and
seeking the outgrowth of wisdom and knowledge, madness, and folly. 26.
Whereupon I found that more bitter than death is woman--that snare whose
heart is a net, whose arms are fetters: the God-favoured shall escape
her, but the sinner shall be entangled by her.
27. Lo, this have I found, saith the Speaker, piecing one thing with
another in order to discover a result: 28. What my soul hath ever sought
for, yet never fallen upon, is this: I have discovered one man, among
thousands; and of all these there was not one single woman. 29. Behold,
this only have I found: that God made men upright, but they go in search
of many wiles.
_(b) In our Relations to the Monarch_
VIII.1. A man's wisdom brightens up his countenance.
And transforms the coarse rancour of his face.
2. The wise man hearkens to the king's command,
By reason of the oath to God.
3. Steer clear of evil causes![289]
For he[290] doeth even what he listeth.
4. Mighty is the word of the monarch;
Who dares ask him: "What dost thou?"[291]
X.2. The wise man's heart straineth to the right,
The heart of the fool to the left.
3. Even out of doors he lacketh sense,
Saying unto every one: "I am a fool."[292]
4. Though the wrath of the ruler should swell against thee, yet forsake
not thy post. For composure avoids grave mistakes.
5. There is an evil which I beheld under the sun, like unto a blunder,
proceeding from the ruler!
6. Folly is set in high places,
The great ones must sit low down;
7. Slaves have I beheld on horseback,
And princes trudging on foot.
_(c) In the Conditions of Everyday Life_
X. 8. He that diggeth a pit may fall into it; him who breaketh down walls
a serpent may sting. 9. Whoso removeth stones may be hurt therewith; he
who cleaveth wood may be endangered thereby.
10. If the axe be blunt it demands more strength:[293]
Only through intelligence doth exertion avail.
11. If the serpent bites before the spell,
Then bootless is the charmer's art.
12. Speech from the wise man's mouth is grace,
The lips of a fool swallow him up;
13. The first words of his mouth are folly.
And the end of his talk rank madness.
II.15. For in self-conceit babbles the fool,[294]
X.14_a_. The silly man multiplieth his words;
15. The fussiness of the fool jadeth him.
Who knows not yet the way citywards.[295]
_Exhortation to enjoy Life_
X. 14_b_. Man knoweth not what shall come to pass, and who can tell
him IX. 3. during his life, what shall befall after his death? Afterwards
they go down to the[296] [dead, and there none can tell him aught nor can
he apprehend anything. Even could he take it in, it would avail him
nothing, for in _Sheol_ there is no participation in life]. 4. For
whosoever may enrol himself in the company of all the living, can rest
content, seeing that a living dog is better than a dead lion. 5. For the
living know at least that they shall die, whereas the dead know not
anything at all, neither have they any more a reward, for the memory of
them is forgotten. 6. As well their love as their hatred and jealousy has
long since passed away, neither have they any more a portion for ever in
anything that is done under the sun.
7. Go, eat thy bread with joy,
And quaff thy wine with merry heart.
For God hath countenanced beforehand this thy doing. 8. Let thy garments
be always white and let thy head lack not ointment. 9. See life with a
woman whom thou lovest throughout all the days of thy empty existence
which he hath given thee under the sun, during all thy vain days! For
that is thy portion in life[297] and in thy labour which thou takest
under the sun. 10. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do that with thy
might. For there is no work, nor cogitation, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in
the _Sheol_[298] whither thou goest. XI. 7. But sweet is the light
and pleasant it is for the eyes to gaze upon the sun. 8. For how many
years soever a man may live, he should enjoy himself during them all, and
bear in mind the days of darkness that they shall be many. Everything
that is to come, is vain.
9. Rejoice, young man, in thy youth![299]
And let thy heart make thee glad!
And walk in the ways of thine heart,
And according to the seeing of thine eyes!
_10a._ Drive sorrow from thy heart;
And put away care from thy flesh!
XII._1a._ And bethink thee of thy fountain,[300]
In the days of thy youth!
XI. _10b._ For youth and dawn are fleeting.
XII._1b._ Dreary days are drawing near,
And years approach devoid of joy.
2. Then darkened shall be sun and moon,
And clouds come after rain alway.
3. The keepers of the house[301] shall quake,
The sturdy ones[302] shall bend themselves;
Darksome shall the windows[303] be,
4. And closed shall be the portals.[304]
The roar of the mill[305] shall be as the sparrows twitter,
The daughters of song[306] shall bow low;
5. Likewise of heights shall they be afraid,
For dread shall lie in wait.
3. The grinding maids[307] shall leave off work,
5. The almond-tree[308] shall shed its blooms;
The grasshopper[309] shall be burdened,
And the caperberry[310] unavailing.
For man goeth to his everlasting home and the mourners are in readiness
in the street.
6. Asunder snaps the silver chain;
Shivered is the golden lamp;
The pitcher shattered at the brook;
The scoopwheel falls into the well.
8. O Vanity of Vanities, saith the Speaker; all is vanity![311]
Footnotes:
[254] For the convenience of the reader I give the chapters and verses as
they are in the ordinary Hebrew Bible, so that they can be found
at once in the Authorised Version. The letter _a_ after the
verse number indicates the first half of that verse, the letter
_b_ the second half.
[255] The meaning is almost the opposite of that of the Authorised
Version. Eye and ear are wearied and bewildered by the incessant
whirl of the vast machinery of the universe. _Cf._
Schopenhauer, ed. Grisebach, vol. v. p. 295, § 144. The metre of
the strophe is identical with that of the "Poem of Job."
[256] It is interesting and instructive to compare this with the
identical doctrine of Buddha, as set forth in the canonical book,
"Samyuttaka-Nikayo," vol. i. vii., 2 P, 2 Suttam. It is
accessible to most readers in the admirable German translation of
Dr. K. E. Neumann, Leiden, 1892. Pp. 156, 157.
[257] The Authorised Version has "shall not be satisfied with silver."
The meaning is that he who loves silver shall not enjoy the good
things it can purchase.
[258] _I.e_., The care and anxiety which accompany the possession of
wealth. The Authorised Version has: "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." The Hebrew word _saba'_
can signify both wealth and repletion. Here it manifestly means
the former; but some well-intentioned person whose ideas of
physiology were defective, having taken it to mean repletion,
confirmed his view by interpolating the words: "whether he eat
little or much."
[259] Here a portion of the original text has been lost, as is evident
from the passage beginning "What profit," two sentences lower
down, which sums up the troubles of the rich man and makes them
consist not merely in the loss of what he actually possessed, but
likewise in the hardships and privations which he endured in
order to produce his wealth. I give in brackets the words which
Professor Bickell conjecturally supplies in lieu of the lost
passage.
[260] And therefore extremely doubtful. When Koheleth wishes to express
the idea of inexorable law, or Fate, he has recourse to the
notion of God.
[261] It is only on earth that one can hope for some approximation to
happiness. If we fail to obtain it here--and the odds are very
much against us--there is no hereafter to look forward to; for we
_all_--the miserable as well as the fortunate--are drifting
steadily into one place--the dreary _Sheol_, where there is
no pleasure, no striving, no life.
[262] _I.e._, not merely, as commentators generally suppose, that
desire is not satiated; but that the enjoyment for the sake of
which alone we desire life, and toil to sustain it, is never
attained. The aim of labour is enjoyment, without which existence
is a burden; but the real result of it all is the mere support of
life without its redeeming pleasures. _Cf._ Schopenhauer,
vol. v. pp. 300, 301.
[263] That is to say, is a very uncertain outlook.
[264] This is a remarkable sentence, which, if it could be supposed to be
the fruit of the writer's own speculations, would entitle him to
a high place in the Pantheon of speculative philosophers. This
proposition, which underlies all Buddhistic doctrines, would be
formulated by Kant or Schopenhauer somewhat as follows: Time,
space, and causality are given to man as the _a priori_
conditions of all thought; they are the stuff his mind is made
of. As they are likewise the three ingredients of which the
universe is composed, it follows that the world is the web of his
own intellect, and, in so far as it is knowable, exists for the
intellect alone. That which underlies all the shadows of
existence, the one eternal force or will, he never beholds.
[265] Schopenhauer would express it thus: Our sources of knowledge--inner
and outer observation--are identical with those of animals, the
difference consisting in that faculty of imparting to our
intuitions the form of abstract ideas.
[266] That is to say, is highly uncertain; for, as we learn in the
following lines, happiness and misery depend upon chance or luck.
God gives his favourites an agreeable life, leaving the drudgery
to all the rest. And his choice is not determined by any ethical
acts of man.
[267] "Sinner" is not the correct translation of the Hebrew word
_khôte_ here; otherwise the author could not say that this
too (_i.e._, the punishment of the sinner) is vanity.
[268] The Jews frequently give to piety and morality the name of wisdom.
[269] The sense of this passage, which has become proverbial, is
generally misunderstood. What it means is that man's work, be he
never so skilful, be it never so easy, is absolutely dependent
for success upon conditions which are wholly beyond his control,
and that undertaken under any other conditions is inevitably
doomed to failure.
[270] Here Professor Bickell supplies the words: "Against this no man can
strive."
[271] The utmost that physical science can teach us is the where, the
when and the why of the appearance of the forces of nature. The
_what_ remains for ever a mystery.
[272] Wisdom here is taken to mean the one eternal reality which
underlies the shadowy appearances that we see and know. The same
use of the word and exactly the same thesis occur in Job.
(_Cf_. A.V. Job xxviii. 21, 22.)
[273] He cannot answer even for his own sentiments, completely though
they may seem to be under his sway.
[274] _I.e._, without ethical distinctions between the good and the
bad.
[275] It is curious to note that a comparison strikingly similar to this
occurs in the ancient Indian collection of fables entitled
"Pantschatantra." (Ed. Kosegarten, p. 105.)
[276] Literally: tyrannical.
[277] This line is no longer found in the Hebrew or Greek texts. It is
required, however, by the sense and metre, and is inserted by
Professor Bickell.
[278] Here the Hebrew text contains a play of words which cannot be
reproduced in English.
[279] "Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall." ("Measure for
Measure.")
[280] _I.e._, for mankind.
[281] Here a portion of the text is evidently lost. Professor Bickell
suggests that it ran somewhat as follows: "Who received him with
applause and reviled the old king. For inasmuch as he had spurned
the counsel of the wise, in order to misgovern and grind down the
people, therefore they hated him as those had hated him" who were
before them.
[282] As an antidote to the so-called "piety" founded upon the scrupulous
observance of the law, which had become a very Upas tree of
self-complacency. Mankind is already encompassed by so many and
such terrible evils, that it would be sheer madness to turn
religion into a means of multiplying them.
[283] Another passage is wanting here, which most probably was to the
effect that they know not that God asks no sacrifices at their
hands but only works of justice; and that therefore they take
courage "to work evil."