Ecclesiastes 1

and full good which here he recommends to us. Who may be the better trusted in what he saith; because he had tried what satisfaction could be found in all manner of enjoyments here: and it could not be objected to him that lie disparaged the world, merely because he could not get any share in it, or had not the liberty which was necessary to enjoy it. For no man ever had greater plenty, or gave a greater loose to his desires; but, after all the experiments he could make, came to this resolution, which he had better have taken at first; that religion and virtue are the only things that can make a man happy. J And, perhaps, as God suffered St. Thomas to doubt of our Saviour’s resurrection, for the greater confirmation of our faith, by the satisfaction he at last received; so he let this great man go astray, that by his dear-bought experience he might teach us this wisdom, to keep tho closer to God in faithful obedience. •Which it will be a very great shame, if we do not learn, who live tinder the instruction of a greater master than Sblbmon, the Son of God himself. By whom’we are taught these things in a more effectual manner; not only by his doctrine, but by his whole life and by his death: in which he declared the greatest neglect and contempt of this world; and that his mind was wholly set upon the other. * And what a blessed sort of resurrection would it bo; if (as Erasmus somewhere admirably speaks) we would all lay aside our dissensions, strifes, and quarrels, and study the lessons our Lord hath taught us. • Whose business it was in this world, to form unto himself " a people that should wholly depend on heaven, and, placing no confidence in any earthly support or comfort, should be after another manner rich, after another manner wise, after another manner noble, after another manner potent, in one’ word, after another manner happy: designing to attain felicity by the contempt of those things which are vulgarly •admired. A people that should be strangers to filthy lusts, fc by studying in this flesh the life of angels; that should have no need of divorce, by being able to mend or to bear all manner of evils; that should be wholly ignorant of baths, as those who neither distrust, nor will deceive any body; that make not the getting of money their business, having laid up their treasures in heaven; that should not be tickled with vain glory, because they refer all to the glory of Christ alone; be void of ambition, as disposed, the greater they are, to submit themselves, so much the more unto all men, for Christ’s sake; that should be unacquainted with wrath, much more with revenge, as studying to deserve well of those who deserve ill of them; that should be so innocent in their behaviour, as to force com-.’ mpndations even from heathens; that should be born again to the purity and simplicity of infants; that should live like the birds of the air, without care and solicitude; among’ whom there should be the greatest concord, nothing different from’ that which is between the members of the same ■ body; in which mutual charity should make all things common; that whether there were any good thing it should * help to supply him that wanted, or any evil thing, it should either be removed or mitigated by the good offices of othdrs; who should be sowisb by the teaching of the Holy Ghost, to live according to the example of Christ, as to be the salt of the earth, the light of the world, like a city on a hill, conspicuous. to all the conn ry round about; whose abilities, whatsoever they are, should make them forward to help others; to whom this life should seem vile, death desirable, out of a longing for immortality; who should neither fear tyranny, nor death, nor the devil himself, relying upon the invincible power of Christ alone, who should act in all things so, as to be ever prepared and ready for that last, and raost-to-be-wished-for, day, when they shall take possession of true and of eternal felicity." In tho eleven first verses he lays the foundation of his following discourses, and makes his way to the proof of what he intends (viz. that nothing here can make us solidly happy), by shewing how empty all things are, and how short a time a man hath to’ possess them; and that while it lasts he can only enjoy the same empty things over and over again, till he be cloyed with them. And then (ver. 12.) he enters into a particular consideration of the insufficiency of human wisdom and knowledge alone, to give us full satisfaction: though this be one of the very best things wherein men place their felicity. Which discourse continues to the end of the chapter. •Ver. 1. JL HE words of the Preacher, the son of David, king of Jerusalem.) These are the words of him, who thought the name of a Preacher, or public instructor of God’s people (to whom he calls aloud in this book, to mind what he saith concerning the supreme good of man), no less honourable, than that of the son of king David: whom he succeeded in his throne; and reigned after him in the holy city Jerusalem. See Annot. [a] 35Q the earth; and therefore, how firm and solid soever it now seems, must be crumbled into earth again. Which continues for ever, to receive back those bodies which come out of it: for no generation can abide as the earth doth; but follows the foregoing, as the next that comes after shall follow it, unto the grave. See Annot. [c] of all that falls within thfe compass of human knowledge, I cannot say that they havo given me any solid contentment: for wc can know but little, and what we do know of natural things doth us small service: it puffs us up, indeed, liko wind, but gives lio nourishment; it fills us with notions, but of little or no use; and therefore vexes us at last, and breaks our heart to consider that wc have spent so much time, and so many thoughts, which hav6 even eaten up our spirits, to so little purpose. See Annot. [i]’ Having passed his censure upon the first way men take to find satisfaction (mentioned in the notes upon ver. 12. of the first chapter), which without all contradiction is the chief, and the best of the four; he proceeds here to consider the, second, which is the more common: most men immersing themselves in pleasure, as their highest good. Of which he was more capable to judge than any other man; because he denied himself no delights that he desired, and yet did not plunge himself wholly into them, but with a mixture of wisdom, as he tells us,

Ecclesiastes 1:1

JL SAID in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity. Being thus disappointed, therefore, in the expectations I had of happiness from much wsdom and knowledge, and beholding many men look jollily who had none at all, I resolved to leave off those troublesome cares and labours, and to follow my pleasures: saying to myself, Why dost thou vex and torment" thy mind to no purpose? let alone these crabbed studies which hasten old age, and indulge thyself in all those sweet delights which youth" desires: try what satisfaction mirth and joy can give thee; and for that end take no thought for tho future, but enjoy to the height the present goods of this life: which accord- Digitized by Micros yjil V-V CHAP. II.] ECCLESIASTES. ingly I did; but believe me, though this promised much at first, it performed little, but left me more void of contentment than it found me. Sec Annot. [a]

Ecclesiastes 1:2

Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity, all is vanity. That good of which you aTe all desirous, is not there to be found where you seek it; for all things here below are so frail, so subject to change, and to vanish, that I have not words to express how vain they are. This is the thing which the Preacher first undertakes to prove, that they are mere emptiness, more vain than vanity itself; so full of trouble and care, as well as extremely unstable, that to no purpose are all men’s endeavours, who seek for satisfaction from them; especially if they place their highest good in them. Sec Annot. [6] This is the subject of this book, to shew how senseless it is to place our happiness in these frail and inconstant things, that we enjoy upon this earth: which he not only pronounces, but proves to be mere emptiness. So vanity signifies; and what is consequent upon that, dissatisfaction, trouble, and affliction. (See Psal. lxxviii. 33.) And this, beyond what can be expressed; for our translators take it to be a word of the same import with tohu*; which is used in the Hebrew language, when they would signify that of which they speak to be so trivial, that it is below less than nothing, (Isa. xl. 17.) And yet Solomon-is not content with this single word, but doubles it, to denote the extreme dissatisfaction he found in all things, which made a show of affording him contentment; hut performed nothing of that which they seemed to promise. So the word vanity is also used for that which is also false, lying, and deceitful, Psal. lxxii. 9. and other places, where idols are called vanities. [c] I said of laughter, It is mad: and of mirth, What doeth it?] For the noise, the tumult, the indecent motions, and scurrilous jestings, of men that let themselves loose to excessive laughter, and extravagant merriment, appeared to me like distraction of mind; and considering how unprofitable it is, I could not but with a passionate disdain put it from me; saying of it, and of mirth and dancing, and all the frolicness of mankind, What is there in it that thus bewitcheth them? where lies the pleasure that thus enchants them, arid puts them so beside themselves; that they think neither of God, nor of anything else that is worthy of them, but of this alone? See Annot. [6]

Ecclesiastes 1:3

WJiat profit hatha man of all his’ labour which he takes under the sua?. For proof of this, let every man survey himself; who consists of body and of mind. And let him ask his mind, what great matter there remains, after all its cares for the things of this life? what contentment he or any man else in all this world hath reaped by his toilsome labours, and anxious thoughts, wherewith he hath racked himself both day and night? which have often ended in disappointment; and when he hath enjoyed his desires, this very thing hath spoiled his pleasures, that he could not long enjoy them. See Annot. [c] Here begins the proof of his assertion; by considering first the mind of man: which runs from one thing to another without any end; but finds no satisfaction remaining from all its restless thoughts. And then the body of man, (ver. 4.) which, as proud and lofty as it now looks, must moulder into dust; and the poorest person, perhaps, shall tread upon its grave. For it cannot last like the earth from whence it comes; which stands for ever, as a public theatre, whereon men enter and act their part, and then go off, and never appear again: and when they go (as some prettily, rather than solidly, gloss upon the words, the earth abideth for ever) they can carry none of it along with them, but leave it all behind them, unto those that come after; who pass away also, leaving the earth where they found it. [d] Vcr. 5. The sun also, in a settled course, observes its times of rising and setting: whereas man, when he goes down to the earth, cannot, likd the sun, come up again. So the fifth verse seems to be most naturally connected with Uho foregoing; and, in like manner, the sixth and seventh verses are to be expounded. There arc many interpreters, indeed, who look upon the things mentioned in these three verses only as cmblems: of the instability of all human affairs, and of the constant revolutions of the same miseries: which cannot’bc hindered by any human counsels, but will uigmzeu uy ivncrosoTi vcy CHAP. I.] ECCLESIASTES. return after all the changes, whereby we think to mend ourselves. Upon which sense I have just touched in my Paraphrase, but not followed it; because it doth notscem to me to be the scope of these verses. In which man is represented by four comparisons, with the earth; the sun, the wind, and the sea, to be more subject to vanity than other things. [c] Whereby he soon perceived, that they who leave the pursuit of knowledge for the sake of bodily ple&sure change for the worse: for, after he had tried all sorts of things that could give him any pleasure, he went back *’ to wisdom and knowledge, as the better of the two, (ver. 12.) And yet, after:he had considered that again the second time, he could not but confess, that there were such gVeat imperfections in it; that it could not make a man happy, as he discourses in the following verses. Of which I shall give a more particular account in the Annotations. I sought in mine heart to give myself unto, wine (yet acquainting mine heart with wisdom), and to lay hold qii folly, till I might see what was that good for the sons of men which they should do tinder the heaven all the days of their life.] I deliberated, therefore, with myself about a middle course of life; which should neither be altogether studious, nor altogether voluptuous, but a mixture of both; and in pursuance of this counsel entertained myself freely, jvith all the delights of feasting and banqueting; yet so, as not to losemy acquaintance with wisdom, but to keep my mind so intent upon it, that folly might not have its full swing; but find a check upon it, till I might make a sufficient trial, whether herein lay that so-much-desired good which men should propose to themselves, and prosecute all the time of their stay in this world. See Annot. [c]

Ecclesiastes 1:4

One generation passeth away, and another gene ration cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.* For if they do not presently leave him, he in a short time must leave them: his body (the other part of him) being made out of I made me great works; Ibuildedme houses; I planted me vineyards.] For which end I raised, with exquisite art, the most stately and magnificent works that’could be contrived, for the pleasure of all the senses; as, first of all, I built myself a most magnificent palace, and other goodly houses; which when I had elegantly adorned and sumptuously furnished, I proceeded to plant about them, in a beautiful order, the choicest vines; (Cant. viii. 11.) which, besides the fragrant smell (ii. 13.) and the lovely sight, wherewith they entertained mc abroad, afforded the most generous wines for my table at home. See ^.nnot. [rf].

Ecclesiastes 1:5

The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose. Out of which they cannot return and stand up in their former places, as the sun, that quickens all things, doth: which in a constant and regular cours*^ ariseth, and makes no more speed to go down, than it doth to appear the next morning, in the same glory again. No; man dies, and appears here no more: though if he should, it would be to die again. See Annot. [d] I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kindof fruits.] To which I added delicious gardens, full of various flowers, herbs, and plants, for all the seasons of the year; and then spacious forests and parks, or rather paradises of pleasure, wherein, besides other delights, were lovely shades and coverts for all sorts of beasts: nor were orchards wanting, stored with all kinds of fruit-trees, which cither this or other countries could afford. See Annot. [e] Ver. G. I made me pools of water, to water therewith fhe wood that bringeth forth trees.] And that nothing might be wanting to the perfection or preservation of these places, I made with great charge, and no less art, either fountains, or cisterns, or pools of water; not only for delight and for fish, but to serve instead of rain, to water the flowers and Jierbs, especially the young nurseries of trees, that they might not die with drought. See Annot. [/]

Ecclesiastes 1:6

The ivind goeth towards the south, and turneth about unto the north: it whirleth about continually; and the wind returneth again according to its circuits. Nor is the annual course of the sun less certain than its diurnal; but it comes back the next year at a fixed time, to the very same point from whence it moved this. Nay, the winds, as fickle and inconstant as they are,.whirling with e a marvellous swiftness round the earth, return at last to.thc same quarter from whence they shifted (and some of them the very same months of the year), to fetch the same compass, and run the. same round they did before.:

Ecclesiastes 1:7

All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full: unto the pierce from ivhence the rivers come, thither they return again. The like circle there is in watery bodies; for the torrents and brooks, that the rain makes, run into the rivers, and so into the sea, which nevertheless doth not swell beyond its bounds, because it restores all back again to their former places, by the vapours whichthe sun exr hales, or by the secret passages through the earth: whilst poor man alone (who is compounded of all these, of the earth, the air, the water, and such heat as the sun administers) passcth away. and cometh to his place no more; but must be content to imitate theso things, only in their restless agitations. I got me servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that tvere in Jerusalem before me.] All which requiring the care of a great many persons, I purchased servants, both men and women, in great abundance; of whom I had a multitude of children born in my house, whom I employed in looking after my other possessions, which I had in herds and flocks of greater and lesser cattle; which were so numerous, that I killed every day for my family ten oxen crammed in the stalls, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, with a hundred sheep; (besides harts, and roebucks, and fallow-deer, and fatted fowl, to say nothing of other provision, 1 Kings iv. 22, 23.) and yet such was the plenty, my stock did not decrease, because a new brood grew up continually in such abundance as the like had never been seen in our country before my days. See Annot. [g]

Ecclesiastes 1:8

All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. Which is another thing that increaseth his trouble; that in this short life, which he cannot live over again when it is done, he can neither be quiet, nor move with ease (as the. things forcnamed do), nor yet acquire satisfaction with his perpetual motion; but tries himself even in his pleasures; and finds all sort of business so laborious, that he himself is not able to tell how tedious it is; and after all is done, he is no better pleased than when he first began. For the eye (for instance) and the ear, which aTe the noblest and most capacious senses, having seen and heard all manncr.of things, are as desirous of some new entertainment, as if they had. enjoyed none at all. Sec Annot. [e] Which having thus illustrated, he proceeds Jiere more particularly to consider what he has said in general words, (ver. 3.) of man’s vain endeavour to satisfy himself in worldly designs and contrivances; in which he is tired, but comes to no end of his desires. How should he? when his whole business here is only to enjoy the.very same things. over and over again: as all men have done before us, and shall do after us, (ver. 9 — 11.) [/] V er * 9. We may fancy, indeed, that we have found some new thing; but this conceit proceeds merely from our ignorance; as the Lord Bacon excellently discourses in his first book of the Advancement of Learning, chap. 8. " Learning and knowledge (saith he) take away vain and excessive admiration; which is the very root of all weak counsels. For we admire things, either because they are new, or because they are great* As for novelty, there is no man that considers things thoroughly, but hath this printed in his heart, There is nothing new under the sun. Nor can any man much admire a puppet-play who doth but thrust his head behind’ the curtain, and seeth the instruments and wires whereby they are moved. As for greatness, we may say as Alexander, who, after his great.conquest in Asia, receiving letters of some small fights or skirmishes in Greece, at the taking some bridge or fort, was wont to tell his friends, that it seemed to him, that they had sent him news of the battles of Homers frogs and mice: so, certainly, if a man consider the universe and the fabric of it, to him this globe of earth, with the men upon it, and their busy motions (excepting always the divineness of souls), will not seem much more considerable than a hillock of ants, whereon some creep up and down with their corn, others tcith their eggs, others empty; all about a very little heap of dust" And, as Melancthonwell observes, the same desires, the same counsels, the same ends, the same causes, of war, and calamitous events, return again: according to Thucydides, While human nature continues what it is, the like mischiefs will happen; sometimes less, sometimes more direfully. [g] I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I gat memensingers and women-singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that of all sorts.] By which, and divers other means, (1 Kings iv. 21. x. 21 — 23; &c. 2 Chron. ix. 24.) I laid up vast treasures of silver, arid gold, and jewels, and all that was choice and precious in other kingdoms; especially in those provinces which were subject unto me, which w r ere great and many; (1 Kings iv. 24.) out of whom I picked out also the sweetest voices that could be found, both of men and women; together with the rarest songs and hymns, composed by the best masters in the world; and all sorts of instruments of music; than which nothing is more charming among the children of men, either to lay them asleep when they would go to rest, or to recreate their spirits when they are tired with business; to banish melancholy wlicn’they are oppressed with sorrow, and to augment their pleasure when they would be inerry: being no less fit to wait upon feasts, than they that • attend at the table. See Annot. [A]

Ecclesiastes 1:9

The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that ivhich is done, is that which shall be done: and tliere: is no new thing under the sun. But, alas 1 the very same things (like the sun, the wind, and the rivers) come abopt again; and we are cloyed with seeing and hearing what hath often presented itself unto us already, or, at least,. hath been in times before us, and will bo again in those that succeed us. There is nothing done now, but (the persons being changed) will be acted over again in fu-. ture ages; to whom the. sun can shew nothing but what we have seen in these days, and others have seen in the foregoing. And therefore it is vain for any man to expert that satisfaction now or in future times, which none have found since the world began: men will always loath things present, as they have ever done; and long for those which are coming, which will ever give them the same satiety. See Annot. [/] t, So I was -great, and increased more than all that wire before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom re* mained with me.’] Thus I was not only great in place, and power, and riches, but, by such means as these, added splendour also to my greatness, and made it more “conspicuous and illustrious: and (which is Still more glorious) I was not greater in any thing than in wisdom; which was not undermined by all these pleasures; but, when they were in danger to dethrone my reason, this settled it again in its former state and authority. See Annot. [i]

Ecclesiastes 1:10

Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which ivas be fore us.* Is any man able to contradict this and point us to ^ the thing which is altogether new, and hath never been seen or heard of before? It may appear, perhaps, so to him; m but that is to be imputed merely to the shortness of human life: which makes us ignorant of what hath passed in for7, mer ages (save only in a few things transmitted down to us by observing men). For had we continued many generations, that which now seems new, and unusual to us, would have appeared familiar, and of great antiquity, as really it is. i v,, And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them; I withheld not my heart from any joy: for my heart rejoiced in all my labour; and this was my portion of all my labour.] And, on the other side, my wisdom did not lay such restraints upon rao, but that I took the liberty’ to please my eyes, and all my senses, with every thing that fell within the wide compass of their desires: it did hot deny me any joy to which I had a mind; but taught mo rather to reap this as the sweet fruit of all my labours: thero being nothing (it sheweth me) that came to my share of all that I had gotten with so much care and diligence, but only the free enjoyment of it; without which I had as good have been without it. See Annot. [k]

Ecclesiastes 1:11

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. They that went before us, indeed, might have registered such things; but as they observed little, so they have left the memory of less: nor will this age, or those that follow, be more careful; or if they should, posterity will be as negligent as former age^ have been, in preserving those records: for we differ nothing from our forefathers, nor will the ages to come excel this in which we live; but still the vanity of man, and of all his projects and contrivances, will continue to the world’s end. Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that Iliad laboured to do; and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.] But then, after I had consi- 3A2

Ecclesiastes 1:12

7 the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem. And let none imagine that I speak this only as a preacher, in a zealous passion, much less in a melancholy mood; but remember that I have long sat upon a throne, ruling over God’s own peculiar people, in that cit; which t is the very school of wisdom; where I Avanted nothing either for the body or the mind; and had both opportunity and ability to make trial of all things wherein men placp their happiness, and therefore may be* believed, when. I declare nothing but from my “own experience. See Annot. [g],, ^ Thus having confirmed his main propositions, by such general arguments as reach to all things in this world; he proceeds here to a more particular proof of it, from his own proper experience. And designing (before he declared his own opinion of the chief good, and by what means it may be attained) to confute the vain fancies of men about it; he reduces them, as I have shewn in the Preface, to four heads. And observing that some place it in knowledge, and curious inquiries into all manner of things; others in pleasure, or in both these together; others in honour and power; others in riches and heaps of wealth; Jie begins with that which is the most plausible. And demonstrates, from the thirteenth verse to the end of this chapter, how little satisfaction is to be found in the mere speculation of tilings, though a man arrive at the highest degree of human knowledge. [/i]

Ecclesiastes 1:13

And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things ihat are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of men, to be exercised therewith.] And being thus instructed with all the helps and assistances that the, power of such a king could afford, I applied my mind, in the first place; and set my wits to work with all imaginable care and diligence, to. search into the nature of all creatures here below; thinking I should be happy if I could but find out the causes, beginnings, and progress of things; especially the counsel^ contrivances, and endeavours of mankind, with the event of all their actions. But, alas! I soon found that this was a tedious business, in which, when I had travelled a great way, I met with small satisfaction; nay, found it to be the torture of the mind, unto which God hath condemned mankind, as a punishment for their vain curiosity, and gro§s. negligence of heavenly wisdom. See Annot. [A] Melancthon restrains these two verses to political wisdom, in the government of kingdoms, vou m. which gives men a double affliction: first, in that the wisest men often err in their counsels; and, secondly, that events sometimes do not answer to the best counsels that men can follow. Examples of the first are innumerable: sometimes they err through ambition, as Perdiccas, after Alexander; sometimes through a false opinion of right, as Brutus; sometimes through over-doing, busy-headedness, and inquietude of mind, as Pericles; sometimes through anger, as Marius. And how many ways good counsels have miscarried, it is too long here to remember; because it is here farther observable, that sometimes mere doubtfulness and uncertainty of mind what course to take, is as great a torment to the mind as any other. Thus Pompey was first perplexed in his counsels, before he saw the disastrous event of his error. To conclude this; all government is full of cares, perplexities, and impediments, that it made Demosthenes say, If he were to begin the world again, he would rather die than be promoted to it. And iEschines], That he was as glad when he was rid of his office, as he would have been to be delivered from a mad dog. But this I take to be too strait a sense; though it be agreeable enough to what he saith, ver. 12. of his kingly office; and therefore I have enlarged it farther in ray Paraphrase; though Gregory Nazianzcn also seems to have a respect to it, when he thus interprets this place, (Orat. lib. iii. p. 750.) That all things here below are possessed with an uncouth and execrable spirit (aXXok-orov koI avaapov nvivuaTos), so that a man cannot comprehend how absurdly all human affairs are managed. [i]

Ecclesiastes 1:14

7 have seen all the ivorks that are (lojie under the sun / ftnd, behold,all is vanity and vexation of spirit. And having now finished these studies, and taken a serious view The word we translate vexation is found only in this book, and is capable of many senses, all pertinent to the scope of this place. For, according to the several fountains from whence it may be derived, this phrase may be interpreted, either anguish of spirit, or breaking of spirit, or preying upon the spirits, or (in another sense of the word spirit) feeding on the wind or air: none 1 of which I have neglected in the Paraphrase. [k]

Ecclesiastes 1:15

That which is crooked cannot be made straight; and that which is wanting cannot be numbered. For as there arc inextricable difficulties in all sorts of knowledge, of which ho man can give an account; so, with all our study, we cannot have skill enough either to prevent misfortunes, or to remove out of the way that which crosscth’our designs, much less to alter the nature of things (no, not so much as in our own constitutions), nor to redress the disorders in government: the defects in which, and in all other things and conditions, we are so far from beingable to Supply, that we cannot number them; and yet tbe folly X)f mankind represents every thing to their desires, as’if it were completely good, and wanted nothing to make one happy.- See Annot. [k] Vcr. 1G. I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, lam come to great estate, and have gotten more wisdom than r all they that have been before me in Jerusalem; yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.]! myself still persisted in my reach after knowledge, though I found it so painful, and so unsatisfactory: thinking within myself, that there was this good at least in it, that it had gotten me a very great name, and raised me so high in all men’s opinion, that I was hottd for the wisest person that had ever been in these parts of the world, there being no sort of knowledge wherewith my mind was not stored in abundance. Sec Annot. [/] Vcr. 17. And I gave my heart to know wisdom^ and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit.] And, as the nature of all knowledge is to ■excite -a thirst after more, this made me apply my mind more earnestly to comprehend, not onlythe greatest, but! thc meanest matter; to mark, for instance, the actions and occupations of madmen and fools, as well as the motions’of wiser persons: but I perceived, that to be pleased iherely with fame, wasto live upon air; and it was an afflictive thought to observe, how little the most of the world f (though they thought themselves very wise) differed from lunatics and distracted folk. Sec Arg. [m]. Ver. 18/ For i?i much wisdom is’much grief; and he that ( increa$eth knowledge increaseih sorrow.] So that though •knowledge be the most excellent of all other earthly goods, •being the ornament of the mind, which is the best part of •its, yet this also is insufficient for our happiness: because, after it hath cost a man infinite pains (and sometimes exhausted his spirits, and made him melancholy and morose, * nay, thrown him into many diseases) to acquire that little’wisdom he can attain; which raises also more doubts than •it can resolve, and meets with troublesome opposition from Warious opinions that clash against it; it cannotbutfill him with indignation to find folly generally applauded more than his wisdom, and grieve his very soul to see -that it is dangerous for a man to know more than his neighbours; and’■that he-is so far from being -able to remedy what is amiss, that he is hated if he endeavour it; and rewarded with re proaches for his care of the public good. Sec Annot. [»] ANNOTATIONS. [a] Vcr. 1. The wisdom, virtue, and dignity of an author making his woik more valuable and regarded; Solomon (or he who composed this book from what he heard him deliver, or found in his writings) begins with his quality; not merely as a king, and as the son of a great king, and of a great people, in a famous city; but, which was most considerable, as a public instructor, having ability and -authority to inform all men where they should find that happiness, which they ignorantly sought, but could not meet withal. This he proclaims with aloud voice; desiringserious attention to such a weighty discourse, and that they would often recollect, as he had done, (all which may be the import of the word Coheleth; see Preface, Numb. IV.) how frivolous and trivial all those things are which most men pursue with the greatest earnestness. [b] The shortness of human wit, though never so much improved, is here represented by two things: first, that it cannot remove what is inconvenient: secondly, that it cannot supply what is deficient in any condition of life. Or, as others will have it, the first part of the verse refers to the inability of man to rectify that perverseness (as the Hebrew word we translate crooked signifies) which ho finds in himself or others; and the latter part, to the small reach of human understanding, which can attain but a very imperfect knowledge, either of ivords, things, times, persons, or actions; as some branch out the innumerable particulars of which we must be content to be ignorant. x [f] Ver. 1G. I have not curiously distinguished between wisdom and knowledge,- either \n t this verse, or in tho eighteenth. But there may be this difference pertinently made, that wisdom directs a man, in the practical affairs of ■life, unto that which is most fit for his purpose, according to the various circumstances wherein he may be. It consists chiefly in a clear judgment to discern our true interest, and the proper means to compass it; together with a prcscntness of mind, to obviate sudden accidents. And then knowledge relates to the speculation of natural things, in their causes and effects, their properties and differences, and such-like things. [m] Ver, 17 Madness and/o% may refer also to all the 3A Microsoft ® 3C2 [chap. II. idle speculations, wherein men of parts and wit sometimes not only employ, but applaud themselves, as the first of thoso words seems to import in the Hebrew. This trifling sort of knowledge is notably described by Erasmus, in his Praise of Folly. [n] Ver* 18. If there be any difference to be made between wisdom and knowledge, I have noted it above upon yer. 10. As for grief and sorrow, they may be thus distinguished, that the former, in the original word, includes in it indignation, which is a sharp anger mingled with scorn; to find either our persons and counsels contemned, or our jprpjects and well-laid designs defeated..Such as was in Ahithophel; whose penetrating wit made his rage the greater, to see his judicious advice rejected, and the whole •conspiracy utterly disappointed. The other word (sorrow) ^properly denotes an extreme great trouble and sickness of mind; and is sometimes applied to pains in the body; which is the effect too frequently of oveT-hard study. Me- Jancthon understands the whole verse (as he did ver. 13, 14.) of the trouble that wise men have when they are entrusted with government, to seethe confusions, errors, vices, and calamities of mankind. And their afflictions are the.greater, because they are not only more sensible than other men of present evils, but foresee by the present those that are future; and therefore are tormented with a sore pain and grief, both for what they feel and for what they fear.;For they know, that from the first disorders there comononly follow greater confusions: as.when Pericles had once stirred up a war, there followed the destruction” of •almost all the great cities of Greece. And it is too truly.said by Pindar, that it is easy for any body to disturb a city; but God alone can restore peace unto it. This I take to bo too limited a sense; but it is no small.trouble to a wise and prudent person, as Corranus excel- 4ently expresses it, to behold the miserable disorders and confusion of human affairs. For how is it possible to avoid it, nay, how can a man choose but be filled with indigna-.tion to see justice, equity, probity, fidelity,.integrity, and.constancy, and all other such-like virtues, slighted and disregarded by mankind; and, on the contrary, injustice, baseness, perfidiousness, flattery, and such-like vices, possess the world, and carry all before them? Or what man. ( can, without vexation, observe the preposterous judgment of mankind, which magnifies those things that are not only;vain but hurtful and pernicious; and not only contemn, but hate, those things which are truly good for them; nay, alone desirable? no man can either be wise alone to himself, in.such a multitude of fools and madmen, without the greatest grief and indignation: nor can he accommodate himself, ♦with an equal mind, to the dotages, of the common people, when he sees that which is better. I shall conclude this chapter with the Lord Bacon’s observation, concerning this anxiety of spirit which arises out of knowledge, in the beginning of his book of the Advancement of Learning: — t " Solomon (saith he) doth not pass this censure absolutely upon wisdom and knowledge, but only sets forth the true bounds, wherein human knowledge. is to bo circumscribed: which if we do not observe, it will prove very troublesome to us and others. And those limitations are three. First, that we do not so placo.our felicity in knowledge, as to forget our mortality. Secondly, that wc use not Our knbwledgo to beget anxiety, but repose and contentment of mind. And, thirdly, that we do not presume by the contemplation of nature, to think ourselves able to comprehend the mysteries of God.” The first and (he last of these are plain enough; and therefore I shall only note what he saith of the second: that " it is certain, no anxiety or perturbation of mind ariscth from knowledge, but by mere accident. For all knowledge and admiration (which is the seed of knowledge) is pleasant in itself; but when we fall to frame conclusions from thence, which, obliquely applied to our own affairs, beget cither weak fears or immoderate desires, then ariscth that torment and trouble of mind, whereof Solomon here spcaketh. For then knowledge is no longer dry light (which Heraclitus was wont to say was the best), but moist light, steeped and infused in the humours of the affections." As for that exposition which some have given of those words, that he increaseth the number of his stripes (or wounds) who increaseth knowledge; and makcth no use of it, nor takes care that his obedience rises in some good proportion with it; it is not the proper sense of the place, but rather an accommodation of the words to another profitable purpose. CHAP. If.