The Preacher shows that all

ECCLESIASTES.

human courses are vain.

CHAPTER I.

The title of this book, 1. The general doctrine, All is vanity, 2, 3. Proved from the shortness of life, and the perpetual changes of all the creatures, 4-7. From the unsatisfying toil of men, and the return of the same things over again, 8-11. The vanity of knowledge, 12–18.

3d What profit hath a man of all his labour || turneth about unto the north it whirleth about which he taketh under the sun?

continually, and the wind returneth again ac

4 ¶ One generation passeth away, and another || cording to his circuits. generation cometh: but the earth a bideth for ever.

a Verse 12; Chap. vii. 27; xii. 8, 9, 10.- b Psa. xxxix. 5, 6; lxii. 9; cxliv. 4; Chap. xii. 8.- c Rom. viii. 20.4 Ch.

NOTES ON CHAPTER I.

7 h All the rivers run into the sea; yet the

der the sun-In all worldly matters, which are usually transacted in the day-time, or by the light of the sun. By this restriction he implies, that the happiness which in vain is sought for in this lower world, is really to be found in heavenly places and things.

Verse 1. The words of the Preacher-Or, discourses. The Hebrew word лp, here used, may either signify the person who assembles the people, or the person that addresses them when assembled. "We must not suppose that Solomon was like the common or ordinary preachers among the Hebrews; yet it is certain he spake much in public for the instruction of the people; for there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon: All the earth || sought to Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put into his heart, 1 Kings iv. 31, 34, and x. 24. From whence it is plain that he made public discourses on several subjects, and that people were, in a manner, called together from all nations round about to hear them."-Dodd. "He was not only a king," says Poole, "but also a teacher of God's people: who, having sinned grievously in the eyes of all the world, thought himself obliged to publish his re-him to be possessed by others. pentance, and to give public warning to all, to avoid those rocks upon which he had split."

Verse 2. Vanity, &c.-Not only vain, but vanity in the abstract, which denotes extreme vanity. Saith the Preacher-Upon deep consideration and long experience, and by divine inspiration. This verse contains the general proposition, which he intends particularly to demonstrate in the following book. All-All worldly things; is vanity-Not in themselves, for they are God's creatures, and therefore good in their kinds, but in reference to that happiness which men seek and expect to find in them. So they are unquestionably vain, because they are not what they seem to be, and perform not what they promise, but, instead of that, are the occasions of innumerable cares, and fears, and sorrows, and mischiefs. Nay, they are not only vanity, but vanity of vanities, the vainest vanity, vanity in the highest degree. And this is redoubled, because the thing is certain, beyond all possibility of dispute.

Verse 3. What profit-What real and abiding benefit? None at all. All is unprofitable as to the attainment of that happiness which all men are inquiring after. Of all his labour-Hebrew, his toilsome labour, both of body and mind, in the pursuit of riches, or pleasures, or other earthly things; un

Verse 4. One generation passeth away, &c.— Men continue but for one, and that a short age, and then they leave all their possessions, and therefore they cannot be happy here, because the source of happiness must needs be unchangeable and eternal; and the certain knowledge of the approaching loss of all these things must rob a man of solid contentment in them. But the earth abideth-Through all successive generations of men; and therefore man is more mutable than the very earth upon which he stands, and which, together with all the comforts which he enjoyed in it, he leaves behind

Verses 5, 6. The sun also riseth-The sun is in perpetual motion, rising, setting, and rising again, and so constantly repeating its course in all succeeding days, and years, and ages; and the like he observes concerning the winds and rivers, verses 6, 7; and the design of these similitudes seems to be, to show the vanity of all worldly things, and that man's mind can never be satisfied with them, because there is nothing in the world but a constant repetition of the same things, which is so irksome, that the consideration thereof hath made some persons weary of their lives; and there is no new thing under the sun, as is added in the foot of the account, (verse 9,) which seems to be given us as a key to understand the meaning of the foregoing passages. And this is certain from experience, that the things of this world are so narrow, and the mind of man so vast, that there must be something new to satisfy the mind; and even delightful things, by too frequent repetition, are so far from yielding satisfaction, that they grow tedious and troublesome. The wind goeth, &c.-The wind also sometimes blows from one quarter of the world, and sometimes from another; successively returning to the same quarters in which it had formerly been.

Verse 7. The sea is not full-So as to overflow

There is nothing new

CHAPTER I.

under the sun.

A. M. 3027. sea is not full: unto the place from || of old time, which was before A. M. 3027. whence the rivers come, thither they us.

B. C. 977.

* return again.

8 All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.

B. C. 977.

11 There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after.

12 I the Preacher was king over Israel in

9 The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that || Jerusalem. which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.

10 Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already

13 And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: "this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith.

3

1 Verse 1. Gen. iii. 19; Chap. iii. 10. Or, to afflict them. we should easily find parallels to all present occurrences. There are many thousands of remarkable

be done in the following ages, which neither are, nor ever will be, put into the public records or histories, and consequently must unavoidably be forgotten in succeeding ages; and therefore it is just and reasonable to believe the same concerning former ages.

* Heb. return to go. Prov. xxvii. 20. Chap. iii.15. the earth, which might be expected from such vast accessions of waters to it. Whereby also he intimates the emptiness of men's minds, notwithstand-speeches and actions done in this, and which will ing the abundance of creature comforts. Unto the place from whence the rivers come-Unto their springs or fountains; thither they return-By secret passages of the earth: or their waters, after flowing into the sea, and being mixed with its waters, are exhaled by the heat of the sun, become vapours and clouds, descend in showers on the hills and mountains, and feed the springs from which they flow again, in streams and rivers, into the lakes, seas, and oceans. He seems to speak of the visible and constant motion of the waters, both to the sea and from it, and then to it again in a perpetual reciprocation.

Verse 12. I the Preacher was king-Having asserted the vanity of all things in the general, he now comes to prove his assertion in those particulars wherein men commonly seek, and with the greatest probability expect to find, true happiness. He begins with secular wisdom. And to show how competent a judge he was of this matter, he lays down this character, that he was the Preacher,

and learned of the priests attending upon it, and the seats of justice, and colleges, or assemblies of the wisest men of their nation. All these concurring in him, which rarely do in any other man, make the argument, drawn from his experience, more convincing.

Verses 8, 9. All things-Not only the sun, and winds, and rivers, but all other creatures; are full || which implies eminent knowledge; and a king, who of labour-They are in continual restlessness and therefore had all imaginable opportunities and adchange, never abiding in the same state. The eye vantages for the attainment of happiness, and paris not satisfied-As there are many things in the ticularly for the getting of wisdom, by consulting all world vexatious to men, so even those things which sorts of books and men, by trying all manner of exare comfortable are not satisfactory, but men are periments; and no ordinary king, but king over Isconstantly desiring some longer continuance or rael-God's own people, a wise and a happy people, fuller enjoyment of them, or variety in them. The whose king he was by God's special appointment, eye and ear are here put for all the senses, because and furnished by God with singular wisdom for these are most spiritual and refined, most curious that great trust; and whose abode was in Jerusalem and inquisitive, most capable of receiving satisfac--Where were the house of God, and the most wise tion, and exercised with more ease and pleasure than the other senses. The thing that hath been, &c. There is nothing in the world but a continued and tiresome repetition of the same things. The nature and course of the beings and affairs of the world, and the tempers of men, are the same that they ever were, and shall ever be; and therefore, because no man ever yet received satisfaction from worldly things, it is vain for any person hereafter to expect it. And there is no new thing-In the nature of things, which might give us hopes of attaining that satisfaction which hitherto things have not afforded. || Verse 11. There is no remembrance, &c.-This seems to be added, to prevent the objection, that there are many inventions and enjoyments unknown to former ages. To this he answers, This objection is grounded only upon our ignorance of ancient times, which, if we exactly knew or remembered, || punishment upon man for his eating of the tree of

Verse 13. I gave my heart-Which phrase denotes his serious and fixed purpose, and his great industry in it. To search out by wisdom-To seek diligently and accurately, by the help of that wisdom wherewith God had endowed me. Concerning all things, &c.-Concerning all the works of God and men in this lower world; the works of nature; the works of divine providence; and the works and depths of human policy. This sore travail-This difficult and toilsome work of searching out these things, God hath inflicted as a just

The vanity of

B. C. 977.

B. C. 977.

A. M. 3027. 14 I have seen all the works that || been before me in Jerusalem: yea, A. M. 3027. are done under the sun; and behold, my heart had great experience of all is vanity and vexation of spirit. wisdom and knowledge.

knowledge. To be exercised therewith-To em- fore me-Whether governors, priests, or private ploy themselves in the painful study of these things. persons. This was no vain boast, but a known and Verses 14, 15. I have seen all the works, &c.- confessed truth, and the profession of it was necesDiligently observed, and, in a great measure, under- sary to demonstrate his assertion; in Jerusalem— stood them; and behold, all is vanity and vexation Which was then the most eminent place in the of spirit-Not only unsatisfying, but also an afflic- || world for wisdom and knowledge. I gave my heart tion or breaking to a man's spirit. That which is to know wisdom, &c.—That I might thoroughly uncrooked, &c.-All our knowledge serves only to dis- derstand the nature and difference of truth and cover our miseries, but is utterly insufficient to re- error, of virtue and vice. I perceived that this move them; it cannot rectify those disorders which is vexation, &c.-Or, feeding upon wind, as the are either in our own hearts and lives, or in the Hebrew, may be properly rendered, and men and things of the world. That which is want- as a similar phrase is rendered by many, both aning-In our knowledge, and in order to man's com- || cient and modern translators, in verse 14, and by plete satisfaction and happiness; cannot be number- || our translators, Hosea xii. 1. ed-Or, counted out to us from the treasures of hu- Verse 18. In much wisdom is much grief-Or man learning, but what is wanting will be so still; || displeasure to a man within himself, and against all our enjoyments here, when we have done our his present condition; and he that increaseth knowutmost to bring them to perfection, are still defect- ||ledge, increaseth sorrow-Which he does many ive: and that which is wanting in our own know-ways, because he gets his knowledge with hard and ledge is so much, that it cannot be numbered. The wearisome labour, both of mind and body, with the more we know, the more we see of our own igno- consumption of his spirits, and shortening of his life; because he is often deceived with knowledge, Verses 16, 17. I communed with mine own heart falsely so called, and often mistakes error for truth, -I considered within myself in what condition I and is perplexed with manifold doubts, from which was, and what degrees of knowledge I had gained; ignorant men are wholly free; because he hath the and whether it was not my ignorance that made me || clearer prospect into, and quicker sense of, his own unable to rectify those errors, and supply those | ignorance, and infirmities, and disorders; and, withwants of which I complain; and whether wiser al, how vain and ineffectual all his knowledge is for men could not do it, though I could not; saying,|| the prevention or removal of them; and because Lo! I am come to great estate-Hebrew, nan, I his knowledge is very imperfect and unsatisfying, am grown great, namely, in wisdom, or, I have yet increasing his thirst after more knowledge; magnified, or greatly enlarged; and have gotten || lastly, because his knowledge quickly fades and -Hebrew, no, have added, more wisdom-As dies with him, and then leaves him in no better, I had a large stock of wisdom infused into me by and possibly in a much worse condition, than that God, so I have greatly improved it by conversation, of the meanest and most unlearned man in the study, and experience; than all they that were be-world.

rance.

||

CHAPTER II.

Solomon shows that there is no true happiness to be found in mirth and the pleasures of sense, 1-11. He considers wisdom again, and owns it to be an excellent thing, and yet insufficient to give happiness, 12-16. He shows that business and wealth are only vanity and vexation of spirit, 17–23. And that if there be any good therein, it is only to those who sit loose to them, 24-26.

6

3

The vanity of means

A. M. 3027.

B. C. 977. I

CHAPTER II..

were SAID in my heart, Go to now, I that I SA will prove thee with mirth; therefore me; enjoy pleasure: and behold, this also is vanity. 2 I said of laughter, It is mad: and of mirth, What doeth it?

3 dI sought in my heart 1 to give myself unto wine, yet acquainting my heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was that good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life.

used to obtain happiness.

in Jerusalem before A. M. 3027. B. C. 977.

8 I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings, and of the provinces: I gat me men-singers and womensingers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that of all sorts.

9 So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me.

10 And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not 4 I made me great works; I builded me from them, I withheld not my heart from any houses; I planted me vineyards: joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour:

5 I made me gardens and orchards, and I and this was my portion of all my labour. planted trees in them of all kind of fruits:

6 I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees:

3

7 I got me servants and maidens, and had 3 servants born in my house; also I had great || possessions of great and small cattle above all

a Luke xii. 19.b Isa. I. 11.- - Prov. xiv. 13; Chap. vii. 6. Chap. i. 17.— Heb. to draw my flesh with wine.' Heb. the number of the days of their life.- Heb. sons of my house.

NOTES ON CHAPTER II. Verses 1, 2. I said in my heart-Being disappointed of my hopes from knowledge, I resolved to try another course. Go to now-O my soul! I will try whether I cannot make thee happy by the enjoyment of sensual delights. This also is vanity- || Is vain, and unable to make men happy. I said of laughter, It is mad-This is an act of madness, more fit for fools who know nothing, than for wise men in this sinful, and dangerous, and deplorable || state of mankind. What doth it-What good doth it? Or how can it make men happy? I challenge || all the epicures in the world to give me a solid an

swer.

h

11 Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.

12 ¶ And I turned myself to behold wisdom,

Verses 9, 10. So I was great-In riches, and power, and glory. My wisdom remained-As yet I was not wholly seduced from God. And whatsoever mine eyes desired-Whatsoever was grateful to my senses, or my heart desired; I kept not from them -I denied myself nothing, at least, of lawful deVerse 3. I sought to give myself unto wine-To|| lights, but went to the very bounds of them; which gratify myself with delicious meats and drinks; yet was the occasion of his falling afterward into sinful acquainting, &c.-Yet resolving to use my wisdom, pleasures. I withheld not my heart, &c.-As my that I might try whether I could not arrive at satis-heart was vehemently set upon pleasure, so I did faction, by mixing wine and wisdom together. To lay hold on folly, &c.—To pursue sensual pleasure, which was my folly; till I might see, &c.-Till I might find out the true way to contentment and satisfaction, during this mortal life.

Verses 4-7. I made me great works-Magnificent || works, for my honour and delight. I builded me houses-Of which see 1 Kings vii. 1, &c. ; ix. 15, &c.; Cant. viii. 11. I made me gardens-Hebrew, paradises, or gardens of pleasure; I planted trees, &c. -Mixing pleasure and profit together. I made me pools of water-Because the rain there fell but seldom; to water therewith the wood-The nurseries of young trees, which, for the multitude of them, were like a wood or forest. I had servants born in my house-of my bond-servants, which therefore were a part of my possessions.

not resist, or curb it therein, but made all possible provision to gratify it. For my heart rejoiced-I had the comfort of all my labours, and was not hindered from the full enjoyment of them by sickness or war, or any other calamity. This was my portion-This present enjoyment of them was all the benefit which I could expect from all my labours. So that I made the best of them.

Verse 11. I looked on all the works, &c.—I made a serious review of my former works and labours, and considered whether I had obtained that satisfaction in them which I had expected to find; and behold, all was vanity—I found myself disappointed, and wholly dissatisfied in this course. And there was no profit, &c.-The pleasure was past, and I was never the better for it, but as empty as before.

Verse 12. And I turned myself, &c.—Being frus

Wisdom excelleth folly, as far

B. C. 977.

B. C. 977.

4. M. 3027. and madness, and folly: for what || that is wrought under the sun is griev- A. M. 3027. can the man do that cometh after the ous unto me: for all is vanity and king? even that which hath been already done. vexation of spirit.

5

7

15 Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also is vanity.

16 For there is no remembrance of the wise || more than of the fool for ever; seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dieth the wise man? as the fool.

17 Therefore I hated life; because the work

iChap. i. 17; vii. 25. Or, in those things which have been already done. Heb. that there is an excellency in wisdom more than in folly, &c.

m

18 Yea, I hated all my labour which I had 8 taken under the sun: because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me.

19 And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? yet shall he have rule over all my labour wherein I have laboured, and wherein I have showed myself wise under the sun. This is also vanity.

20 Therefore I went about to cause my heart to despair of all the labour which I took under the sun.

21 For there is a man whose labour is in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in equity; yet to a man that hath not laboured therein shall he leave it for his portion. This also is vanity, and a great evil.

* Prov. xvii. 24; Chap. viii. 1.- Psa. xlix. 10; Chap. ix. 2, 3, 11.- Heb. happeneth to me, even to me.- 8 Heb. laboured. m Psa. xlix. 10.- — Heb. give.

trated of my hopes in pleasure, I returned to a se- That, notwithstanding this excellence of wisdom cond consideration of my first choice, to see whether above folly, at last they both come to one end. Both there was not more satisfaction to be gotten from are subject to the same calamities, and to death itwisdom, than I discovered at my first view. For self, which takes away all difference between them. what can the man do-To find out the truth in this Verses 15, 16. Then I said-why was I more matter; to discover the utmost satisfaction possible || wise-What benefit have I by my wisdom? or, to to be found in pleasure; that cometh after the king || what purpose did I take so much pains to get wis―That succeeds me in this inquiry. So this is add- || dom. For there is no remembrance of the wise— ed as a reason why he gave over the pursuit of plea- | Their memory, though it may flourish for a season, sures, and directed his thoughts to another object; yet will, in a little time, be worn out; as we see in and why he so confidently asserted the vanity of most of the wise men of former ages, whose very pleasures, from his own particular experience; names, together with all their monuments, are utternamely, because he had made the best of them, and ly lost. As the fool-He must die as certainly as the it was a vain thing for any private man to expect fool. that from them which could not be found by a king, and such a king, who had so much wisdom to invent, and such great riches to pursue and enjoy all imaginable delights; and who had made it his design and business to search this matter to the bottom. Even that which hath been already done- || As by others, so especially by myself. They can make no new discoveries as to this point. They can make no more of the pleasures of sense than I have || done. Let me then try, once more, whether wisdom can give happiness.

||

Verses 13, 14. I saw that wisdom—I allowed thus much. Although wisdom is not sufficient to make men happy, yet it is of far greater use than vain pleasures, or any other follies. The wise man's || eyes are in his head-In their proper place. He hath the use of his eyes and reason, and foresees, and so avoids, many dangers and mischiefs. But the fool walketh in darkness-Manages his affairs ignorantly, rashly, and foolishly, whereby he shows that his eyes are not in his head, or are not used aright. And, or yet, I myself perceived also, &c.—

||

||

Verses 17-19. Therefore I hated life-My life, though accompanied with so much honour, and pleasure, and wisdom, was a burden to me, and I was ready to wish, either that I had never been born, or that I might speedily die; because the work, &c., is grievous-All human designs and works are so far from yielding me satisfaction, that the consideration of them increases my discontent. I hated all my labour-All these riches and buildings, and other fruits of my labour, were aggravations of my misery. Because I should leave it, &c.-Because I must, and that everlastingly, leave them all behind me. And who knoweth whether he shall be wise or a fool? ---Who will undo all that I have done, and turn the effects of my wisdom into instruments of his folly. Some think he had such an opinion of Rehoboam.

Verses 20, 21. I went to cause my heart to despair-I gave myself up to despair of ever reaping that satisfaction which I promised to myself. For there is a man whose labour, &c.—Who uses great industry, and prudence, and justice too, in the management of his affairs; yet to a man that hath not