A commentary on Ecclesiastes

X. (1.) Flies of death (זבוב, occurs Isaiah vii. 18 only, as an emblem of the Egyptian plague) cause to stink (singular, i.e. a single blow-fly out of many will do this, see Proverbs xiii. 5 for the only other instance of future hiphil), and cause to belch out (Psalms lix. 7, Proverbs xv. 2, i.e. with putrefaction) the oil (see chapter vii. 1) of the apothecary. Precious more than wisdom more than honour (i.e. and more than honour also), follies (but observe סכלות, elaborate follies or false prudence, chapter ii. 3), a little (distributive singular, one out of many such. The LXX. render τίμιον ὀλίγον σοφίας ὑπὲρ δόξαν ἀφροσύνης μεγάλην, ‘and a little wisdom is more precious than great glory of folly.’ The objection to this rendering of the LXX. is that they displace, quite contrary to their usual custom, ‘a little,’ which comes at the end of the sentence, a difficulty which D. F. X. palliate by reading μεγάλης——‘than the glory of great folly.’ The Syriac reads, ‘so a little folly is more weighty than wisdom and great glory.’ Symmachus reads, κἂν μικρά, ‘even if a little.’ On the whole, however, and remembering the meaning of סכלות, which is a perverse or false wisdom, the text as it stands makes very good sense: ‘A single blow-fly will corrupt and make ferment the [carefully prepared] oil of the apothecary; so more precious than wisdom or honour, even is a little one out of the many perverse follies,’ i.e. this perverse kind of wisdom will destroy a reputation for intellect and probity, and that also even when the gain proposed is but a small matter, and will cause the subject of it to sacrifice prudence and reputation for the sake of some whim which he knows is not worth having).

(2.) The heart of a wise man is at his right, but the heart of a foolish one is at his left (the heart is really at the left side, but this is the natural heart. Heart is however to be understood not as meaning the understanding, but moral sentiments, which is its metaphorical signification in this book).

(3.) And moreover in the way (which word ‘way’ is so constantly used in an ethical sense——Psalms cxix. 1——that we cannot overlook it here) like that which is the wise fool’s (the Masorets notice the article here, and pronounce it superfluous, but it is not so; for the meaning is, that it is like the perversely wise fool’s way generically, in this) that as he walks, his heart (the third time ‘heart’ has occurred in this passage, raising the word into great emphasis and importance), fails (the Authorized Version considers this to mean a failure in wisdom, but it is rather a failure of confidence, which is the ethical meaning of the term ‘heart’) and says (the nearest nominative is לב, heart, and so the LXX. understood, for they render ἃ λογιεῖται, κ.τ.λ. ‘that which he thinks of’ is folly; this makes good sense) to all, perverse folly it is (emphatic, hence the meaning is, ‘he is out of heart altogether,’ or ‘his heart misgives him;’ and it says, ‘what perverse folly it all really is.’ Conscience convicts those clever wicked plans, and they who devise them know that they are only elaborate mistakes).

(4.) If a spirit of the ruling one (not, as usually rendered, the ruler, which does not exactly convey the idea) goes up against thee (the LXX. show that they so understood it by rendering πνεῦμα τοῦ ἐξουσιάζοντος) thy place do not yield (the sense of the passage is, ‘If there be too strong a spirit against you, if you are sailing, as it were, in the teeth of the wind, do not yield when you have good grounds for remaining:’ this makes excellent sense, is cognate to the accompanying passages, and follows the LXX.) for a healing (מרפא, occurs Proverbs xiv. 30 and xv. 4 only, the LXX. read ἴαμα, ‘a remedy’) pacifies mistakes (with the usual idea of culpability attaching to this word) great ones (the idea is ‘do not yield to mere adverse circumstances when even culpable mistakes admit of a remedy.’)

(5.) There exists an evil (notice abstract with its shade of meaning, which) I have seen under the sun, like that which is erroneous (שגגה, see chapter v. 5 (6), ‘an inadvertence’), which goes out (the verb has the contract-relative joined with it; the exact idea is that it is like an inadvertence, such as might go out on the part of the ruler’s command, the great Ruler being in the mind of the writer, but the proposition is general) from the face of the caused to have power (a ‘providential mistake,’ then).

(6.) Set (that is, the ruler does this, but, as usual, this is not expressed when the proposition is intended to have a general bearing) the perverse fool (generic——‘perverse folly’ then will be a good rendering) in high places many a one, and the rich (but the hiphil form is worthy of remark, ‘persons that make rich’) in a low place (שֵפֶל occurs so punctuated at Psalms cxxxvi. 23 only, rendered ‘low estate’) sit.

(7.) I have observed servants (slaves, that is, who ought to serve) upon horseback, and princes walking as servants (‘ought to do’ is no doubt involved in this expression——‘servants’ repeated being emphatic) upon the earth (i.e. afoot).

(8.) Dig (not necessarily either a participle or an imperative) a pitfall (גומץ occurs here only, and is said to be a late word; it occurs in Arabic and Syriac. That a ‘pitfall’ is meant is evident from the context), in it (emphatic) he falls (a sinister intent in digging this pit is not necessarily implied, but the context shows that such is primarily aimed at: this is the more evident when we recollect that חָפַר is to ‘dig,’ and ♦חָפֵר ‘to bring to confusion’); and break a wall (i.e. an enclosure, see Job xix. 8 for the precise meaning of the root, hence also Numbers xxii. 24), bites him a serpent (as we say, ‘gets bitten by a serpent,’ which would naturally lurk in loose stone walls).

(9.) Cause to move (♦hiphil participle of נסע, ‘bring up’——see Exodus xv. 22) stones, be troubled (see Genesis xlv. 5) with them (emphatic); cleaving (poel participle, occurs Psalms cxli. 7; Isaiah lxiii. 12 only) wood (plural ‘logs of wood’) be endangered (this is called a future niphal by the Masorets, who so point, but the real meaning of סכן is evidently to ‘take care,’ so that the reading of the LXX. by ♠κινδυνεύσει, ‘he shall be endangered,’ is ad sensum——it is literally ‘he shall take care,’) with them (emphatic, all these are instances of either unexpected or unintentional results).

(10.) If blunt (קהה——occurs Jeremiah xxxi. 29, 30, and Ezekiel xviii. 2——in the sense of ‘teeth set on edge:’ there the Masorets point as Kal, here as piel) the iron, and he (emphatic, but there is no nominative expressed to which this can refer) not the faces (usually considered to refer to the edges of the axe-head) sharpen (occurs Ezekiel xxi. 21 (26), as pilpel of קלל, which has the meaning of ‘lightness,’ ‘swiftness;’ the word occurs as an adjective, Numbers xxi. 5, in the sense of ‘light,’——our soul loatheth this light food) and strong ones will prevail (singular, If ‘strong ones’ be the nominative, this is an instance of a distributive plural——one or more of these will; the future piel has the meaning ‘strengthen,’ the Kal ‘to prevail,’ but we can only consider this as a Masoretic conjecture) and profit causing success (but the LXX. render by περισσεία, ‘advantage’——see below; but כשר occurs only Esther viii. 5, and chapter xi. 6; see however כשרון, which occurs chapter ii. 21, iv. 4, v. 10 (11), which we have seen occasion to render ‘success;’ hence the meaning, ‘the made successful is’) wisdom (not generic, i.e. a single instance of it). The general scope is quite clear; it is the superiority of wisdom to brute force, and so all commentators and versions understand it; but the exact rendering is very difficult;——all the versions are perplexed and discordant, and the copies of the LXX. have an important textual variation. We will give these at length, beginning with the LXX. as the most ancient. This reads——Ἐὰν ἐκπέσῃ τὸ σιδήριον καὶ αὐτὸς πρόσωπον ἐτάραξεν καὶ δυνάμεις δυναμώσει καὶ περισσεία τοῦ ἀνδρείου (which B. reads τῷ ἀνδρὶ οὐ, and E. X. τοῦ ἀνδρὸς) σοφία——‘If the axe-head should fall off, then the man troubles his countenance, and he must put forth more strength; and wisdom is the advantage of an energetic man.’ The Syriac version, ——‘If the axe be blunt, and it troubles the face and increases the slain; and the advantage of the diligent is wisdom.’ The Vulgate reads——‘Si retusam fuerit ferrum et hoc non ut prius sed hebetatum fuerit, multo labore ♦exacuetur et post industriam ♠sequetur sapientia’——‘If the iron should be blunt, and this not as before, but should have lost its edge, it is sharpened with much labour; and after industry will follow wisdom.’ Jerome renders the former part in conformity with the Vulgate; but after ‘non ut prius,’ which he also has, runs on with——‘sed conturbatum fuerit, virtutibus corroborabitur, et reliquum fortitudinis sapientia est ...’——‘but is troubled; it shall be strengthened by virtues, and the remainder of strength is wisdom.’ It will be seen then that we have reason to suspect a corruption of the text; and we think that the suspicious ‘non ut prius’ of the Vulgate and Jerome shows what this corruption was. We notice also that neither the LXX. nor the Syriac take any notice of the negative. Guided by the clue thus given, we will venture on the following conjectural emendation of the text. We imagine that it was originally written thus, והוא להפנים קלקל, the ה being written full——like ♣שתקיף in chapter vi. 10, compare also chapter viii. 1, Nehemiah ix. 19——and having the meaning, ‘to the faces’ or ‘edges.’ Such an insertion of ה being unusual, would cause suspicion to rest on the passage, and the transition to לא פנים would be easy. This, however, was but one out of many possible conjectures, and the Vulgate has preserved another, namely, that the reading was לפני, ‘as before,’ and, as was common with the ancient versions, inserts both the reading and its variant into the text. This conjectural change in the text will make all quite clear; the passage will then read thus——‘If the iron be blunt, and so it is as to its edges whetted, and so too blows prevail, and so too an advantage is the success [due to an instance] of wisdom,’ i.e. in this case a skilful hit. That is, if the axe be blunt, grinding, force, and skill together, will produce the required result. No doubt this can only be put forth as mere conjecture, but, in the absence of any satisfactory interpretation, may be admitted; for, in fact, arbitrary senses given to words, and the insertions of explanatory glosses not immediately deducible from the original, do amount to alterations of the text. None of the other ancient Greek versions have been preserved in this place, except a reading of Symmachus, which is very curious, showing still more forcibly how early the difficulty must have arisen, since it is at best a reading ad sensum only, προέχει δὲ ὁ γοργευσάμενος εἰς σοφίαν, ‘and the nimble advances into wisdom.’

(11.) If bites the serpent (with the article, and therefore generic——serpents generally) without (בלוא; we may well suppose that the full form is used not without meaning; it occurs Isaiah lv. 1, 2, in the sense of ‘the absence of,’ which well suits the context here,) whispering (occurs Isaiah ii. 3, 20, and xxvi. 6; Jeremiah viii. 17, etc.), and there is nothing of profit to the master of the tongue (with article, hence generic. The rendering of the Authorized Version is derived from the Vulgate. The alliteration shows that the aphorism is equivocal, it is the converse of the former: skill will help force, but after the mischief is done skill is of no use. There is also here an ironical depreciation of serpent-charming).

(12.) The words of (in the usual sense of reasonings) the mouth of a wise man, a favour (i.e. are each one so), but the lips of the foolish swallow him (future piel, occurs 2 Samuel xx. 19, 20; Job viii. 18, in the sense of ‘destroy;’ hence the LXX. render καταποντιοῦσιν; compare Matthew xiv. 30, xviii. 6. Here too we have a singular verb with a plural noun——‘any one of a fool’s words may be his destruction.’ Notice also the implied difference——‘a fool talks with his lips, a wise man reasons’).

(13.) The beginning of words (or reasonings) of his mouth, elaborate follies (סכלות in its usual sense; and the whole being without the article gives the meaning——‘Each beginning of the reasonings of his mouth is one out of a number of elaborate follies; his reasonings are themselves elaborate mistakes’), and an end (אחרית is used to signify the last end, Numbers xxiii. 10; see chapter vii. 8) of his mouth (repeated, ‘that same mouth’) disappointed expectations (הוללות, in its usual sense in this book) mischievous (singular, each one of which is so).

(14.) And the elaborate fool multiplies words, not knowing (i.e. when there is no knowing by) the man (humanity generally) what it is which will be (but the Alexandrine and Vatican read apparently שהיה, γενόμενον, which A². E. X. alter to γενησόμενον, ‘which shall be.’ The Syriac supports the LXX., but Symmachus reads τὰ προγενόμενα ἀλλ’ οὐδὲ τὰ ἐσόμενα——‘the things which were before, but not those which come after’——which the Vulgate follows. Jerome, however, follows the LXX. against the Vulgate; nevertheless we should not be inclined to alter the text, but would rather regard the reading of the LXX. as ad sensum——the object being to give the difference between the contracted and full relative and the subjunctive meaning attaching to this form. Thus שיהיה is that which is or exists, the τὸ ὄν——‘he does not know then the real state of things’——is the meaning; for with this agrees what follows), and which (full relative) is (or will be) from after him (but there is no reason why מאחריו should not be considered as a participial noun, as the LXX. make it, and then we must render the ‘future’ in the sense of what occurs in the future) who tells to him (emphatic). The meaning of the passage is——‘That the elaborate fool multiplies reasonings, which are sure to have an evil tendency, as they are intended to promote his elaborate folly, although man generally neither understands the meaning of the present, nor can divine the future.’ The difficulty of the sentence arises from the play between מה־שיהיה and מאחריו.

(15.) The toil (i.e. ‘anxious care,’ which is the meaning of this word) of the foolish ones wearies him (another distributive plural; the result of these various fools’ labour is weariness to each of them. It is also to be noticed that the verb is feminine, and yet עמל is usually masculine. Several nouns are, Stuart observes, masculine or feminine ad libitum scriptoris. There is however, we suspect, a perceptible difference in the meaning in these cases. The stricter agreement denotes closer union between the verb and its nominative; and if this be so, the idea of the passage may be rendered by ‘the toil of the fools is self-weariness’), which (full relative, equivalent therefore to ‘because’ he does) not know (or is instructed) to (in order to) go towards (אל, LXX. εἰς) a city (not the city, as is usually rendered.) The obvious meaning would surely be, that the fool had lost his way, and hence as he is going wrong he has simply his trouble for his pains.

(16.) Woe to thee, land, whose king is a lad, and thy princes in the morning eat (i.e. ‘feast,’ the morning being the proper time for work, and not for feasting. Compare Isaiah v. 11).

(17.) Blessings on thee, land, whose king is a son of nobles (ἐλευθέρου, LXX.), and thy princes in season eat, and not in drunkenness (but the LXX. render καὶ οὐκ αἰσχυνθήσονται——‘and shall not be ashamed’——reading the בשתי as though the ב were radical, and deriving the word from בוש, ‘to be ashamed.’ Thus is probably preserved an intentional equivoke.)

(18.) By idlenesses (Proverbs xix. 15 only; but עצל, ‘the sluggard,’ occurs continually in Proverbs, and once as a verb, Judges xviii. 9. The word is pointed as a dual, but the meaning ‘idlenesses’ suits the context) decayeth (מכך, occurs Kal, Psalms cvi. 43, niphal here, and hiphil Job xxiv. 24, all) the beam (הַמְּקָרֶה here only, but the word differs only in pointing from הַמִקְרֶה——the hap, and the equivoke could hardly be unintentional), and in lowness of hands drops (occurs Job xvi. 20, Psalms cxix. 28; but notice the readings of the LXX., which are peculiar) the house.

(19.) To laughter are makings (which the LXX. renders by ποιοῦσιν, ‘they make’) bread and wine rejoices (the Masorets consider this a piel and transitive) lives, and the silver (with the article, and therefore generic——money) answereth with respect to all things (both senses of יענה are given in the versions of the LXX. ἐπακούσεται, Alexandrine, ‘humbly obeys,’ and ταπεινώσει, Vatican, ‘will humble.’ The Alexandrine also reads σὺν τὰ πάντα. The Syriac reads also double, as do some copies of the LXX.—— ——‘and money oppresses and leads them astray in all.’ The Alexandrine reading, however, makes quite consistent sense, and squares entirely with the rest of the passage. Bread is prepared for pleasure rather than support, wine rejoices hearts already merry——its real use is to cheer those who are faint with toil or sorrow; and silver, which one can neither eat nor drink, is preferred to bread and wine and everything else).

(20.) Also in thy understanding (occurs Daniel i. 4, 17; 2 Chronicles i. 10, 11, 12 only, and always with this meaning: all the ancient versions follow the idea contained in the LXX.’s συνείδησις, which would seem to give the notion that this curse was a reasonable, not a hasty one) a king (not the king, any king) do not curse; and in the innermost of thy bed-chambers do not either curse the rich person (the idea of cursing or reviling is of course here prominent), for a bird of the heavens shall cause to convey the voice (with את and the article, with ‘respect to that voice’ is the meaning——the rumour will get abroad in a mysterious way) and a lord of the winged ones (the Masorets wish to omit the article in ה֯כנפים) shall tell the matter (the LXX. note the emphasis given by ה and the articles by adding the pronoun σοῦ, which is simply a rendering ad sensum——’Treason, like murder, will out’).