Chapter 115

7:1. What needeth a man to seek things that are above him, whereas he knoweth not what is profitable for him in his life, in all the days of his pilgrimage, and the time that passeth like a shadow? Or who can tell him what shall be after him under the sun?

7:2. A good name is better than precious ointments: and the day of death than the day of one’s birth.

7:3. It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to the house of feasting: for in that we are put in mind of the end of all, and the living thinketh what is to come.

7:4. Anger is better than laughter: because by the sadness of the countenance the mind of the offender is corrected.

Anger.... That is, correction, or just wrath and zeal against evil.

7:5. The heart of the wise is where there is mourning, and the heart of fools where there is mirth.

7:6. It is better to be rebuked by a wise man, than to be deceived by the flattery of fools.

7:7. For as the crackling of thorns burning under a pot, so is the laughter of a fool: now this also is vanity.

7:8. Oppression troubleth the wise, and shall destroy the strength of his heart.

7:9. Better is the end of a speech than the beginning. Better is the patient man than the presumptuous.

7:10. Be not quickly angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of a fool.

7:11. Say not: What thinkest thou is the cause that former times were better than they are now? for this manner of question is foolish.

7:12. Wisdom with riches is more profitable, and bringeth more advantage to them that see the sun.

7:13. For as wisdom is a defence, so money is a defence: but learning and wisdom excel in this, that they give life to him that possesseth them.

7:14. Consider the works of God, that no man can correct whom he hath despised.

7:15. In the good day enjoy good things, and beware beforehand of the evil day: for God hath made both the one and the other, that man may not find against him any just complaint.

7:16. These things also I saw in the days of my vanity: A just man perisheth in his justice, and a wicked man liveth a long time in his wickedness.

7:17. Be not over just: and be not more wise than is necessary, lest thou become stupid.

Over just.... Viz., By an excessive rigour in censuring the ways of God in bearing with the wicked.

7:18. Be not overmuch wicked: and be not foolish, lest thou die before thy time.

Be not overmuch wicked.... That is, lest by the greatness of your sin you leave no room for mercy.

7:19. It is good that thou shouldst hold up the just, yea and from him withdraw not thy hand: for he that feareth God, neglecteth nothing.

7:20. Wisdom hath strengthened the wise more than ten princes of the city.

7:21. For there is no just man upon earth, that doth good, and sinneth not.

7:22. But do not apply thy heart to all words that are spoken: lest perhaps thou hear thy servant reviling thee.

7:23. For thy conscience knoweth that thou also hast often spoken evil of others.

7:24. I have tried all things in wisdom. I have said: I will be wise: and it departed farther from me,

7:25. Much more than it was: it is a great depth, who shall find it out?

7:26. I have surveyed all things with my mind, to know, and consider, and seek out wisdom and reason: and to know the wickedness of the fool, and the error of the imprudent:

7:27. And I have found a woman more bitter than death, who is the hunter’s snare, and her heart is a net, and her hands are bands. He that pleaseth God shall escape from her: but he that is a sinner, shall be caught by her.

7:28. Lo this have I found, said Ecclesiastes, weighing one thing after another, that I might find out the account,

7:29. Which yet my soul seeketh, and I have not found it. One man among a thousand I have found, a woman among them all I have not found.

7:30. Only this I have found, that God made man right, and he hath entangled himself with an infinity of questions. Who is as the wise man? and who hath known the resolution of the word?

Of the word.... That is, of this obscure and difficult matter.

Ecclesiastes Chapter 8

True wisdom is to observe God’s commandments. The ways of God are unsearchable.

8:1. The wisdom of a man shineth in his countenance, and the most mighty will change his face.

8:2. I observe the mouth of the king, and the commandments of the oath of God.

8:3. Be not hasty to depart from his face, and do not continue in an evil work: for he will do all that pleaseth him:

8:4. And his word is full of power: neither can any man say to him: Why dost thou so?

8:5. He that keepeth the commandment, shall find no evil. The heart of a wise man understandeth time and answer.

8:6. There is a time and opportunity for every business, and great affliction for man:

8:7. Because he is ignorant of things past, and things to come he cannot know by any messenger.

8:8. It is not in man’s power to stop the spirit, neither hath he power in the day of death, neither is he suffered to rest when war is at hand, neither shall wickedness save the wicked.

8:9. All these things I have considered, and applied my heart to all the works that are done under the sun. Sometimes one man ruleth over another to his own hurt.

8:10. I saw the wicked buried: who also when they were yet living were in the holy place, and were praised in the city as men of just works: but this also is vanity.

8:11. For because sentence is not speedily pronounced against the evil, the children of men commit evils without any fear.

8:12. But though a sinner do evil a hundred times, and by patience be borne withal, I know from thence that it shall be well with them that fear God, who dread his face.

8:13. But let it not be well with the wicked, neither let his days be prolonged, but as a shadow let them pass away that fear not the face of the Lord.

8:14. There is also another vanity, which is done upon the earth. There are just men to whom evils happen, as though they had done the works of the wicked: and there are wicked men, who are as secure as though they had the deeds of the just: but this also I judge most vain.

8:15. Therefore I commended mirth, because there was no good for a man under the sun, but to eat, and drink, and be merry, and that he should take nothing else with him of his labour in the days of his life, which God hath given him under the sun.

No good for a man, etc.... Some commentators think the wise man here speaks in the person of the libertine: representing the objections of these men against divine providence, and the inferences they draw from thence, which he takes care afterwards to refute. But it may also be said, that his meaning is to commend the moderate use of the goods of this world, preferably to the cares and solicitudes of worldlings, their attachment to vanity and curiosity, and presumptuously diving into the unsearchable ways of divine providence.

8:16. And I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to understand the distraction that is upon earth: for there are some that day and night take no sleep with their eyes.

8:17. And I understood that man can find no reason of all those works of God that are done under the sun: and the more he shall labour to seek, so much the less shall he find: yea, though the wise man shall say, that he knoweth it, he shall not be able to find it.

Ecclesiastes Chapter 9

Man knows not certainty that he is in God’s grace. After death no more work or merit.

9:1. All these things have I considered in my heart, that I might carefully understand them: there are just men and wise men, and their works are in the hand of God: and yet man knoweth not whether he be worthy of love, or hatred:

9:2. But all things are kept uncertain for the time to come, because all things equally happen to the just and to the wicked, to the good and to the evil, to the clean and to the unclean, to him that offereth victims, and to him that despiseth sacrifices. As the good is, so also is the sinner: as the perjured, so he also that sweareth truth.

9:3. This is a very great evil among all things that are done under the sun, that the same things happen to all men: whereby also the hearts of the children of men are filled with evil, and with contempt while they live, and afterwards they shall be brought down to hell.

9:4. There is no man that liveth always, or that hopeth for this: a living dog is better than a dead lion.

9:5. For the living know that they shall die, but the dead know nothing more, neither have they a reward any more: for the memory of them is forgotten.

Know nothing more.... Viz., as to the transactions of this world, in which they have now no part, unless it be revealed to them; neither have they any knowledge or power now of doing any thing to secure their eternal state, (if they have not taken care of it in their lifetime:) nor can they now procure themselves any good, as the living always may do, by the grace of God.

9:6. Their love also, and their hatred, and their envy are all perished, neither have they any part in this world, and in the work that is done under the sun.

9:7. Go then, and eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with gladness: because thy works please God.

9:8. At all times let thy garments be white, and let not oil depart from thy head.

9:9. Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest, all the days of thy unsteady life, which are given to thee under the sun, all the time of thy vanity: for this is thy portion in life, and in thy labour wherewith thou labourest under the sun.

9:10. Whatsoever thy hand is able to do, do it earnestly: for neither work, nor reason, nor wisdom, nor knowledge shall be in hell, whither thou art hastening.

9:11. I turned me to another thing, and I saw that under the sun, the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the learned, nor favour to the skilful: but time and chance in all.

9:12. Man knoweth not his own end: but as fishes are taken with the hook, and as birds are caught with the snare, so men are taken in the evil time, when it shall suddenly come upon them.

9:13. This wisdom also I have seen under the sun, and it seemed to me to be very great:

9:14. A little city, and few men in it: there came against it a great king, and invested it, and built bulwarks round about it, and the siege was perfect.

9:15. Now there was found in it a man poor and wise, and he delivered the city by his wisdom, and no man afterward remembered that poor man.

9:16. And I said that wisdom is better than strength: how then is the wisdom of the poor man slighted, and his words not heard?

9:17. The words of the wise are heard in silence, more than the cry of a prince among fools.

9:18. Better is wisdom, than weapons of war: and he that shall offend in one, shall lose many good things.

Ecclesiastes Chapter 10

Observations on wisdom and folly, ambition and detraction.

10:1. Dying flies spoil the sweetness of the ointment. Wisdom and glory is more precious than a small and shortlived folly.

10:2. The heart of a wise man is in his right hand, and the heart of a fool is in his left hand.

10:3. Yea, and the fool when he walketh in the way, whereas he himself is a fool, esteemeth all men fools.

10:4. If the spirit of him that hath power, ascend upon thee, leave not thy place: because care will make the greatest sins to cease.

10:5. There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, as it were by an error proceeding from the face of the prince:

10:6. A fool set in high dignity, and the rich sitting beneath.

10:7. I have seen servants upon horses: and princes walking on the ground as servants.

10:8. He that diggeth a pit, shall fall into it: and he that breaketh a hedge, a serpent shall bite him.

10:9. He that removeth stones, shall be hurt by them: and he that cutteth trees, shall be wounded by them.

10:10. If the iron be blunt, and be not as before, but be made blunt, with much labour it shall be sharpened: and after industry shall follow wisdom.

10:11. If a serpent bite in silence, he is nothing better that backbiteth secretly.

10:12. The words of the mouth of a wise man are grace: but the lips of a fool shall throw him down headlong.

10:13. The beginning of his words is folly, and the end of his talk is a mischievous error.

10:14. A fool multiplieth words. A man cannot tell what hath been before him: and what shall be after him, who can tell him?

10:15. The labour of fools shall afflict them that know not how to go to the city.

10:16. Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and when the princes eat in the morning.

10:17. Blessed is the land, whose king is noble, and whose princes eat in due season for refreshment, and not for riotousness.

10:18. By slothfulness a building shall be brought down, and through the weakness of hands, the house shall drop through.

10:19. For laughter they make bread, and wine that the living may feast: and all things obey money.

10:20. Detract not the king, no not in thy thought; and speak not evil of the rich man in thy private chamber: because even the birds of the air will carry thy voice, and he that hath wings will tell what thou hast said.

Ecclesiastes Chapter 11

Exhortation to works of mercy, while we have time, to diligence in good, and to the remembrance of death and judgment.

11:1. Cast thy bread upon the running waters: for after a long time thou shalt find it again.

11:2. Give a portion to seven, and also to eight: for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth.

11:3. If the clouds be full, they will pour out rain upon the earth. If the tree fall to the south, or to the north, in what place soever it shall fall, there shall it be.

If the tree fall, etc.... The state of the soul is unchangeable when once she comes to heaven or hell: and a soul that departs this life in the state of grace, shall never fall from grace: as on the other side, a soul that dies out of the state of grace, shall never come to it. But this does not exclude a place of temporal punishments for such souls as die in the state of grace: yet not so as to be entirely pure: and therefore they shall be saved, indeed, yet so as by fire. 1 Cor. 3.13, 14, 15.

11:4. He that observeth the wind, shall not sow: and he that considereth the clouds, shall never reap.

11:5. As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones are joined together in the womb of her that is with child: so thou knowest not the works of God, who is the maker of all.

11:6. In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening let not thy hand cease: for thou knowest not which may rather spring up, this or that: and if both together, it shall be the better.

11:7. The light is sweet, and it is delightful for the eyes to see the sun.

11:8. If a man live many years, and have rejoiced in them all, he must remember the darksome time, and the many days: which when they shall come, the things past shall be accused of vanity.

11:9. Rejoice therefore, O young man, in thy youth, and let thy heart be in that which is good in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thy heart, and in the sight of thy eyes: and know that for all these God will bring thee into judgment.

11:10. Remove anger from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh. For youth and pleasure are vain.

Ecclesiastes Chapter 12

The Creator is to be remembered in the days of our youth: all worldly things are vain: we should fear God and keep his commandments.

12:1. Remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth, before the time of affliction come, and the years draw nigh of which thou shalt say: They please me not:

12:2. Before the sun, and the light, and the moon, and the stars be darkened, and the clouds return after the rain:

Before the sun, etc.... That is, before old age: the effects of which upon all the senses and faculties are described in the following verses, under a variety of figures.

12:3. When the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall stagger, and the grinders shall be idle in a small number, and they that look through the holes shall be darkened:

12:4. And they shall shut the doors in the street, when the grinder’s voice shall be low, and they shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of music shall grow deaf.

12:5. And they shall fear high things, and they shall be afraid in the way, the almond tree shall flourish, the locust shall be made fat, and the caper tree shall be destroyed: because man shall go into the house of his eternity, and the mourners shall go round about in the street.

12:6. Before the silver cord be broken, and the golden fillet shrink back, and the pitcher be crushed at the fountain, and the wheel be broken upon the cistern,

12:7. And the dust return into its earth, from whence it was, and the spirit return to God, who gave it.

12:8. Vanity of vanities, said Ecclesiastes, and all things are vanity.

12:9. And whereas Ecclesiastes was very wise, he taught the people, and declared the things that he had done: and seeking out, he set forth many parables.

12:10. He sought profitable words, and wrote words most right, and full of truth.

12:11. The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails deeply fastened in, which by the counsel of masters are given from one shepherd.

12:12. More than these, my son, require not. Of making many books there is no end: and much study is an affliction of the flesh.

12:13. Let us all hear together the conclusion of the discourse. Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is all man:

All man.... The whole business and duty of man.

12:14. And all things that are done, God will bring into judgment for every error, whether it be good or evil.

Error.... Or, hidden and secret thing.

SOLOMON’S CANTICLE OF CANTICLES

This Book is called the Canticle of Canticles, that is to say, the most excellent of all canticles: because it is full of high mysteries, relating to the happy union of Christ and his spouse: which is here begun by love; and is to be eternal in heaven. The spouse of Christ is the church: more especially as to the happiest part of it, viz., perfect souls, every one of which is his beloved, but, above all others, the immaculate and ever blessed virgin mother.

Canticle of Canticles Chapter 1

The spouse aspires to an union with Christ, their mutual love for one another.

1:1. Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth: for thy breasts are better than wine,

Let him kiss me.... The church, the spouse of Christ, prays that he may love and have peace with her, which the spouse prefers to every thing delicious: and therefore expresses (ver. 2) that young maidens, that is the souls of the faithful, have loved thee.

1:2. Smelling sweet of the best ointments. Thy name is as oil poured out: therefore young maidens have loved thee.

1:3. Draw me: we will run after thee to the odour of thy ointments. The king hath brought me into his storerooms: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, remembering thy breasts more than wine: the righteous love thee.

Draw me.... That is, with thy grace: otherwise I should not be able to come to thee. This metaphor shews that we cannot of ourselves come to Christ our Lord, unless he draws us by his grace, which is laid up in his storerooms: that is, in the mysteries of Faith, which God in his goodness and love for mankind hath revealed, first by his servant Moses in the Old Law in figure only, and afterwards in reality by his only begotten Son Jesus Christ.

1:4. I am black but beautiful, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Cedar, as the curtains of Solomon.

I am black but beautiful.... That is, the church of Christ founded in humility appearing outwardly afflicted, and as it were black and contemptible; but inwardly, that is, in its doctrine and morality, fair and beautiful.

1:5. Do not consider me that I am brown, because the sun hath altered my colour: the sons of my mother have fought against me, they have made me the keeper in the vineyards: my vineyard I have not kept.

1:6. Shew me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou liest in the midday, lest I begin to wander after the flocks of thy companions.

1:7. If thou know not thyself, O fairest among women, go forth, and follow after the steps of the flocks, and feed thy kids beside the tents of the shepherds.

If thou know not thyself, etc.... Christ encourages his spouse to follow and watch her flock: and though she know not entirely the power at hand to assist her, he tells her, ver. 8, my company of horsemen, that is, his angels, are always watching and protecting her. And in the following verses he reminds her of the virtues and gifts with which he has endowed her.

1:8. To my company of horsemen, in Pharao’s chariots, have I likened thee, O my love.

1:9. Thy cheeks are beautiful as the turtledove’s, thy neck as jewels.

1:10. We will make thee chains of gold, inlaid with silver.

1:11. While the king was at his repose, my spikenard sent forth the odour thereof.

1:12. A bundle of myrrh is my beloved to me, he shall abide between my breasts.

1:13. A cluster of cypress my love is to me, in the vineyards of Engaddi.

1:14. Behold thou art fair, O my love, behold thou art fair, thy eyes are as those of doves.

1:15. Behold thou art fair, my beloved, and comely. Our bed is flourishing.

1:16. The beams of our houses are of cedar, our rafters of cypress trees.

Canticle of Canticles Chapter 2

Christ caresses his spouse: he invites her to him.

2:1. I am the flower of the field, and the lily of the valleys.

I am the flower of the field.... Christ professes himself the flower of mankind, yea, the Lord of all creatures: and, ver. 2, declares the excellence of his spouse, the true church above all other societies, which are to be considered as thorns.

2:2. As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.

2:3. As the apple tree among the trees of the woods, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow, whom I desired: and his fruit was sweet to my palate.

2:4. He brought me into the cellar of wine, he set in order charity in me.

2:5. Stay me up with flowers, compass me about with apples: because I languish with love.

2:6. His left hand is under my head, and his right hand shall embrace me.

2:7. I adjure you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and the harts of the fields, that you stir not up, nor make the beloved to awake, till she please.

2:8. The voice of my beloved, behold he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping over the hills.

The voice of my beloved: that is, the preaching of the gospel surmounting difficulties figuratively here expressed by mountains and little hills.

2:9. My beloved is like a roe, or a young hart. Behold he standeth behind our wall, looking through the windows, looking through the lattices.

2:10. Behold my beloved speaketh to me: Arise, make haste, my love, my dove, my beautiful one, and come.

2:11. For winter is now past, the rain is over and gone.

2:12. The flowers have appeared in our land, the time of pruning is come: the voice of the turtle is heard in our land:

2:13. The fig tree hath put forth her green figs: the vines in flower yield their sweet smell. Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come:

2:14. My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hollow places of the wall, shew me thy face, let thy voice sound in my ears: for thy voice is sweet, and thy face comely.

2:15. Catch us the little foxes that destroy the vines: for our vineyard hath flourished.

Catch us the little foxes.... Christ commands his pastors to catch false teachers, by holding forth their fallacy and erroneous doctrine, which like foxes would bite and destroy the vines.

2:16. My beloved to me, and I to him who feedeth among the lilies,

2:17. Till the day break, and the shadows retire. Return: be like, my beloved, to a roe, or to a young hart upon the mountains of Bether.

Canticle of Canticles Chapter 3

The spouse seeks Christ. The glory of his humanity.