Ecclesiastes 6:10

That which hath been is named already, and it is known that it [is] man,.... Which may be understood of the first man Adam, who has been, has existed, was produced by the immediate power of God,

That which hath been is named already, and it is known that it is man: neither may he contend with him that is mightier than he. Part II. here begins. Since man's toils are vain, what is the chief good?

This verse is added either as a proof of what he last said concerning the vanity and wandering of insatiable desires, or as a timber instance of the vanity of all things in this life. That which hath been (or, is, for the Hebrew verb) may be rendered either way, to wit, man considered with all his endowments and enjoyments, whether he be wise or foolish, rich or poor; man, who is the chief of all visible and sublunary beings, for whom they all were made) is named already, to wit, by God, who, presently after his creation, gave him the following name, to signify what his nature and condition was or would be. Heb. What is that which hath been, or is, it is, or hath been named already. Others understand it thus, All the several conditions which men have had or shall have in the world, riches or poverty, &c., are already named, i.e. appointed or determined by God’ s unchangeable counsel and invincible providence. But though this be true, it seems not to suit so well with the following clause as the other interpretation doth. It is known that it is man; this is certain and manifest, that that being which makes all this noise and stir in the world, howsoever magnified by themselves, and sometimes adored by flatterers, and howsoever differenced from or advanced above others, by wisdom, or riches, or the like, is but a man, i.e. a mean earthly mortal and miserable creature, as his very name signifies, which God gave him for this very end, that he might be always sensible of his vain, and base, and miserable estate in this world, and therefore never expect satisfaction or happiness in it. With him that is mightier than he, i.e. with Almighty God, with whom men are very apt to contend upon every slight occasion, and against whom they are ready to murmur for this vanity, and mortality, and misery of mankind, although they brought it upon themselves by their own sins. So this is seasonably added to prevent the abuse of the foregoing passage.

Ecclesiastes 6:10 That which hath been is named already, and it is known that it [is] man: neither may he contend with him that is mightier than he.Ver. 10. That which hath been is named already.] Or thus, That which is the name of it, hath been named already, and it is known that it is Adam, or earthly man. The very notation of his name argues him mortal and miserable; whether he be wise or foolish, rich or poor, that alters not the case: - Homo sum, said one, humanum nihil a me alienum puto: I am a man, and therefore may not think strange of misery, whereunto I am born, as the sparks fly upward; he that forgets not that he is a man, will not take it ill that evil befalls him, saith another. When Francis, King of France, being held prisoner by Charles V, Emperor of Germany, saw the Emperor’ s motto, Plus ultra, More yet, written on the wall of his chamber, he underwrote these words, Hodie mihi, cras tibi: Today is my turn to suffer, tomorrow thine. The Emperor observed it and wrote underneath that, Fateor me esse hominem: I confess I am a man, and therefore subject to misery. Metellus was by the Romans counted and called Felix, happy; so was Sulla, but he proved true that holy proverb, "Better is the end of a thing than the beginning," for he died miserably of the lousy disease, that dashed all his former happiness. The Delphian oracle pronounced one Aglaus, a poor contented Arcadian, the only happy man alive. Solon preferred Tellus the Athenian, and Cleobis, and Bitus also, before rich Croesus, telling him further that he might be called rich and mighty but not blessed, till he had made a happy end; and so confuting his fond conceit of an imaginary felicity. The Greeks, when they would call a man thrice miserable, they call him thrice a man. The Hebrews, whereas they name a bee from the order of her working, a grasshopper from devouring, an ant from gnawing, an adamant from strokes bearing, a serpent from curious observing, a horse from neighing, &c, they give man his name Adam, from the dust whereof he was made, and Enoch, sorry-man, sick of a deadly disease, and so no way fit to "contend with God, who is much mightier than he," to require a reason of his judgments, which are sometimes secret, always just. God hath shut up all persons and things (as it were close prisoners) under vanity, by an irresistible decree. To strive against this stream, and by heaping riches, honours, pleasures, to seek to break prison and to withstand God’ s will, is lost labour. Misery need not go to find such out, they run to meet their bane; which yet will - as we say of foul weather - come time enough before it is sent for. O μεμνημενοςοτιεστονανθρωπος, &c. - Isoc. Joh. Man., loc. com., p. 175. Dictas potius est quam fuerit felix Sulla. - Solin. c. 7. Valer.

(10) Of this difficult verse I prefer the translation, “What he is his name has been called long ago, and it is known that it is man; neither may he strive,” &c—i.e., the name given long ago to man (Genesis 2:7) indicates his weakness; neither can he contend with the Almighty. There may be a reference to Genesis 6:3, where a kindred word is used. Mightier.—The word here used is found only in the Chaldee books of the Bible and in later Hebrew.

Verse 10. That which hath been is named already] The Hebrew of this verse might be translated, "Who is he who is? His name has been already called. And it is known that he is Adam; and that he cannot contend in judgment with him who is stronger than he." "What is more excellent than man; yet can he not, in the lawe, get the victory of him that is mightier than he." - COVERDALE. ADAM is his name; and it at once points out, 1. His dignity; he was made in the image of God. 2. His fall; he sinned against his Maker and was cast out of Paradise. And 3. His recovery by Christ; the second man (Adam) was the Lord from heaven, and a quickening Spirit.

10. That which hath been is named already] The maxim is enigmatic. As viewed by many commentators, it asserts that man is the creature of a destiny, which he cannot resist. Long ago, in the far eternity, his name has been written, and what he will be. He cannot plead against the Power that is mightier than himself, i.e. against God. There is nothing left but submission. So taken, the words have a parallel in all utterances in the Bible, or out of it, that assert, or seem to assert, an absolutely predestinating fatalism (Isaiah 45:9; Acts 15:18; Romans 9:20). In such a fatalism, reconciled in some way or other with man’s freedom and responsibility, both the Stoics and Pharisees believed, and so far there would be nothing strange in finding a like maxim in a book which contains so many mingled and heterogeneous elements, both Greek and Jewish, of oscillating thought. There are, however, what seem sufficient reasons for rejecting this interpretation. The word for “already,” which occurs only in this book (chs. Ecclesiastes 1:10, Ecclesiastes 2:12, Ecclesiastes 3:15), is never used of the eternity of the Divine decrees, but, as the passages referred to shew, of that which belongs essentially to human history; that for “mightier,” found in the O. T. only here and in Ezra 4:20; Daniel 2:40; Daniel 2:42; Daniel 4:3; Daniel 7:7, is not used, in any of these passages, of God. The sequence of thought leads the writer to dwell on the shortness of man’s life, rather than on its subjection to a destiny. The following explanation gives that sequence more clearly, What he is, long ago his name was called. In the last words we find a reference to Genesis 2:7, where the name of Adam (= man) is connected with Adamah (= the ground), as homo was, by older philologists, derived ex humo. The very name of man bore witness to his frailty. This being so, he cannot take his stand in the cause, which one “mightier” than himself pleads against him. Death is that mightier one, and will assert his power. So taken, the thought is continuous and harmonious throughout.

Or, “That which has been named - i. e., events past or current, either Ecclesiastes 1:9 as they present themselves to man, or Ecclesiastes 3:15 as they are ordered by God - was long ago (i.

10. Koheleth reverts to the matter of wealth, as if asking why it affords no satisfaction. Because of the fixed order which the Almighty has established, and against which it is useless for man to struggle.