translated either 1. Breasts But that seems very improper here because mens Breasts do not use to be filled with Milk Or 2. Milk-Pails But their fulness is common and no sign of eminent plenty which is here designed Besides the following Branch which in Iob and elsewhere frequently explains the former implies that it signifies some part of mans Body as all the ancient Interpreters render it either the sides as some of them have it or the bowels as others But for the following Milk they read Fat the Hebrew Letters being exactly the same in both words and the Hebrews by the name of Milk do oft understand Fat are full of Milk and his Bones are moistened with Marrow t Which is opposed to the dryness of the bones Job 30. 30. Psal. 102. 3. which is caused by Old-age or grievous Distempers or Calamities 25. And another u Either 1. Another wicked man Or 2. Any other man promiscuously considered either good or bad So hereby he shews how indifferently and alike God deals the concerns of this Life to one and another to good and bad So he shews that there is a great variety in Gods Dispensations that he distributes great Prosperity to one and great afflictions to another no worse than he according to his wise but secret Counsel dieth in the bitterness of his Soul x i. e. With Heart-breaking Pains and Sorrows and never eateth with Pleasure y i. e. Hath no pleasure in his Life no not so much as at Meal-time when Men usually are most free and pleasant 26. They shall lie down alike in the dust z All these worldly differences are ended by Death and they lie in the Grave without any distinction till the time of General Resurrection and Judgment comes So that no man can tell who is good and who is bad by any Events which befall them in this Life and the Worms shall cover them 27. Behold I know your thoughts a I perceive what you think and will object and say for your own defence and the Devices b Or evil Thoughts for so this word is oft used as Prov. 12. 2. 14. 17. 24. 8. Isa. 32. 7. which ye wrongfully imagine c Or wrest or violently force For they strained both Iobs words and their own thoughts which were byassed by their prejudice and Passion against Iob. against me d For I know very well that your discourses though they be of wicked men in the general yet are particularly levelled at me 28. For ye say e To wit in your minds where is the House of the Prince f i. e. It is no where it is lost and gone This is spoken either 1. Of Iob or his eldest Son whose house God had lately overthrown Or rather 2. In general of wicked Princes or Potentates as the following answer sheweth So the meaning of the question is That it was apparent from common observation that eminent Judgments even in this Life were sooner or later the portion of all ungodly Men. and where are †Heb. 〈◊〉 of the Tabernacles of the wicked the Dwelling-places of the wicked g which is added to limit the former Expression and to shew that he spake only of wicked Princes 29. Have ye not asked them that go by the way h These are the words either 1. Of Iob's Friends who thus continue their former Discourse by a second Enquiry Or rather 2. Of Iob himself who answers one question with another You may learn this which is the matter of our debate to wit that good men are oft afflicted and that wicked men do commonly live and die in great prosperity and are not punished in this World even from them that go by the way i. e. either from Travellers who having seen and observed many Persons and places and events are more capable Judges of this matter or from any person that passeth along the high-way from every one that you meet with It is so vulgar and trivial a thing that no man of common sense is ignorant of it and do ye not know their Tokens i i. e. The Examples or Evidences or Signs of this truth which they that go by the way can produce They will shew here and there in divers places the goodly Houses and Castles and other Monuments of Power and dignity which wicked Potentates have erected and to this day do possess and in which divers of them live and die He alludes here to those Tokens which are set up in high ways for the direction of those who travel in them 30. * Prov. 16. 4. That the wicked k This is the thing which they might learn of Passengers is reserved l Or with-held or kept back to wit from falling into common Calamities though in truth he be not so much kept from Evil as kept for evil he is reserved from a less that he may be swallowed up in a greater misery as Pharaoh was kept from the other Plagues that he might be drowned in the Sea to the day of Destruction they m He speaketh of the same person only the singular number is changed into the plural possibly to intimate that although for the present only some wicked men were punished yet then all of them should suffer shall be brought forth n To wit by the conduct of Gods Providence and Justice as malefactors are brought forth from Prison to Judgment and Execution though they be brought to it slowly and by degrees and with some kind of Pomp and State as this word signifies to †Heb. the day of Wrath. the day of Wrath o Heb. To the day of Wrath i. e. of special and extraordinary Wrath either to some terrible and desolating Judgments which God sometimes sends upon wicked Princes or People Or to the day of the last and general Judgment which is called in Scripture the day of Wrath For the day of the general Resurrection and Judgment was not unknown to Iob and his Friends as appears from Ch. 19. 25 c. and other passages of this Book 31. Who shall declare his way to his face q i. e. Plainly and whilest he lives as the same Phrase is used Deut. 7. 10. and who shall repay him what he hath done r No man can bring him to an account or punishment p i. e. His wicked course and actions and whither they lead him His power and splendour is so great that scarce any man dare reprove him for his sin or shew him his danger 32. Yet s Heb. And. The pomp of his death shall be suitable to the glory of his Life shall he be brought t With Pomp and State as the word signifies to the †Heb. Graves Grave u Heb. to the Graves i. e. to an honourable and eminent Grave The plural number being oft used Emphatically to note Eminency as Iob 40. 10. Prov. 1. 20. Lam. 3.
a speculative as of a practical knowledge as such words are most commonly used Who considers or regards this or layeth it to Heart True it is there is such a difference which also is known and believed by wise and good men but the generality of Mankind never mind it their Hearts are wholly set upon this life and upon present and sensible things and they place all their hopes and happiness in them and take no thought nor care for the things of the future and invisible World And as to them with whom Solomon hath to do in this matter the argument is strong and good being as Logicians call it an Argument to the Man and there is no considerable difference between sensual men and beasts because their affections are set upon the same Objects and both of them are partakers of the same sensual satisfactions and subject to the same sensual pains and miseries and their hopes and felicity perish together to wit at death and therefore such men are no more happy than the beasts that perish Others understand it thus Who knoweth this to wit by sense or experience or meerly by his own reason or without the help of Divine revelation But with the leave of so many worthy Interpreters and with submission to better Judgments the former seems to be the truer sense the spirit †Heb. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 that †Heb. 〈◊〉 aâ—…cending 〈◊〉 upward and the spirit of the 〈◊〉 that goeth downward to the earth 22 * 〈◊〉 12. Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better m To wit for a Man 's present satisfaction and the happiness of this life than that a man should rejoyce in his own works n That he comfortably enjoy what God hath given him and not disquiet himself with cares about future events He seems to speak this not in the Person of an Epicure but as his own judgment which also he declareth Ch. 2. 24. 5. 18 19. 8. 15. for that is his portion o This is the benefit of his labours he hath no more than he useth for what he leaveth behind him is not his but another Man's for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him p When once he is dead he shall never return into this life to see into whose hands his Estate falls and how it is either used or abused nor is he at all concerned in those matters CHAP. IV. 1 SO I returned and considered a I considered again more seriously all the * Ch. 5. 8 c. oppressions that are done under the sun b Whether by Supreme Magistrates or Judges of which he spake Ch. 3. 16. or by any other potent Persons and behold the tears of such as were oppressed and they had no comforter c None afforded them either pity or succour either out of a selfish and barbarous disposition or for fear of exposing themselves thereby to the same injuries and on the †Heb. band 〈◊〉 140. 4. side of their oppressors there was power d Both in themselves and because most men were ready to joyn with the strongest and safest fide So they were utterly unable to deliver themselves and as it follows none else could or would do it but they had no comforter e Which is repeated as an argument both of the great inhumanity of men towards others in calamity and of the extream misery of oppressed Persons 2 * Job 3. â—…7 c. Ch. 6. 3. Wherefore I praised f I judged them more happy or less miserable Which he seems to deliver not onely as the judgment of the flesh or of the sense or of men in misery as this is commonly understood but as his own Judgment For this is most true and certain that setting aside the advantage which this life gives him for the concerns of the future life which Solomon doth not meddle with in the present debate and considering the uncertainty and vanity and manifold vexations of mind and outward calamities of the present life a wise Man would not account it worth his while to live and would choose death rather than life the dead which are already dead g Those which are quite dead who possibly are here opposed to them that in respect of their deplorable and desperate condition are even whilst they live called dead men Isa. 26. 19. and said to die daily 1 Cor. 15. 31. more than the living which are yet alive h Which languish under their pressures of whom we can onely say as we use to speak of dying men They are alive and that is all 3 * 〈◊〉 3. 11 〈◊〉 21. Yea better is he than both they which hath not yet been i Who was never Born How this is true see on the foregoing Verse who hath not seen k i. e. Not felt for as seeing good is put for enjoying it Ch. 2. 24. so seeing evil is put for suffering it as hath been more than once observed the evil work that is done under the sun 4 Again I considered all travel and †Heb. all the rightness of work every right work l All the worthy designs and compleat works of wise and vertuous men that †Heb. this is the 〈◊〉 of a Man from his Neighbour for this a man is envied of his neighbour m Instead of that honour and recompence which he deserves he meets with nothing but envy and obloquy and many evil fruits thereof This is also vanity and vexation of spirit 5 * Pro. 6. 10. 24. 33. The fool foldeth his hands together n Is careless and idle which is the signification of this gesture Prov. 6. 10. 19. 24. 26. 13. Perceiving that diligence is attended with envy v. 4. he like a fool runs into the other extream and eateth his own flesh o Wasteth his substance and bringeth himself to poverty whereby his very flesh pineth away for want of Bread and he is reduced to Skin and Bone and if he have any Flesh left he is ready to eat it through extremity of hunger 6 * Prov. 15. 16 17. 16. 8. Better is an handful with quietness than both the hands full with travel and vexation of spirit p These are the words either 1. of the Sluggard making this Apology for his idleness That his little with ease is better than great Riches got with much trouble Or 2. of Solomon who elsewhere speaks to the same purpose as Prov. 15. 16 17. 17 1. and here proposeth it as a good Antidote against the vanity of immoderate cares and labours for worldly goods against which he industriously directs his speeches in divers places of this Book and particularly as a seasonable precaution against the sin of covetousness of which he speaks in the following passage 7 Then I returned and I saw †vanity under the sun 8 There is one alone
that the avenger of Blood should not implacably persist in seeking revenge and that the manslayer should be spared Or rather thus but thinketh thoughts or but hath designed or therefore he intendeth that he who is banished to wit Absalom be not always expelled or banished from him i. e. from God and from his People and from the place of his Worship but that he should return home to him So the sense is That God by sparing Absaloms life in the midst of dangers did sufficiently intimate that he would in due time bring him back to his Land and People Even as in our Days and Land Gods miraculous preservation of the Life of our present Sovereign in so many and great dangers was a pledge and presage that God intended sooner or later to restore him to his Kingdoms 15 Now therefore that I am come to speak of this thing unto my lord the king it is because the people have made me afraid d The truth is I was even forced to this bold Address to thee by the disposition and condition of thy people who are discontented at Absalom's perpetual banishment and full of fears either lest upon thy death which none knoweth how soon it may happen they should be involved in a Civil War about thy Successor or lest in the mean time if Absalom by his Father-in-laws assistance invade the Land and indeavour by force to regain and secure his right to the Succession the people who have a great opinion of him and kindness for him and think he is very hardly used should take up Arms for him or lest he who is thy Heir and Successor should by continual and familiar conversation with Heathens be insnared in their Errors or alienated from the true Religion and from Gods Worship from which he is now utterly excluded and thy handmaid said e Or therefore thy handmaid said either within my self i. e. I intended or to the people to quiet them I will now speak unto the king it may be that the king will perform the request of his handmaid 16 For the king will hear f For I know the King is so wise and just that I assure my self of Audience and Acceptation Which expectation of hers is cunningly insinuated here that the King might conceive himself obliged to answer it and not to disappoint her hope nor to forfeit that good opinion which his Subjects now had of him to deliver his handmaid out of the hand of the man g To grant my request concerning my Son and consequently the peoples Petition concerning Absalom that would destroy me and my son h Implying that her life was bound up in the life of her Son and that she could not out-live his death and supposing it is like that it might be David's case also and would therefore touch him in a tender part though it were not proper to say it expresly and thereby suggesting that the tranquillity safety and comfort of the people of Israel depended upon Absalom's Restitution and the settlement of the Succession in him together out of the inheritance of God i i. e. Out of that Inheritance which God hath given to me and mine or out of that Land which God gave to his people to be their Inheritance and Possession and in which alone God hath settled the place of his Presence and Worship Whereby she intimates the danger of Absalom's living in a state of separation from God and his House and amongst Idolaters 17 Then thine handmaid said The word of my lord the king shall now be ‡ Heb. for rest comfortable k I doubt not the King will give a gracious and satisfactory Answer to my Peâ—…tion for as an angel of God l To wit 〈◊〉 Wisdom and Justice and Goodness so is my lord the king ‡ Heb. to hear to discern good and bad m To hear and judge of Causes and Requests whether they be just and good and fit to be granted as mine is or unrighteous and unreasonable 〈◊〉 fit to be rejected 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 confidence in the Justice of her Cause and thereby confirms the King in his purpose and promise to grant her Request and withal arms the King against the suggestions of them who should advise him to a rigorous execution of Gods Law against Absalom and be ready to censure him for restoring Absalom and this for want of that Angelical Wisdom which the King had who wisely considered many things far above their reach therefore n Because thou art so wise and just and pitiful and gracious to those who in strict Justice deserve punishment the LORD thy God will be with thee o God will own and stand by thee in this thy act of Grace or God will prosper thee in thy enterprizes or at least not be offended with thee 18 Then the king answered and said unto the woman Hide not from me I pray thee the thing that I shall ask thee And the woman said Let my lord the king now speak 19 And the king said Is not the hand of Joab with thee in all this p Hast thou not said and done this by Ioab's direction and contrivance And the woman answered and said As thy soul liveth my lord the king none can turn to the right hand or to the left from ought that my lord the king hath spoken q As the King is so wise that no man can deceive him by any turnings or windings to the right or left hand but he quickly searcheth out the truth in every thing so it is a folly to dissemble or go about to conceal it it is even so thou hast now discovered the truth of this business for thy servant Joab he bade me and he put all these words in the mouth of thine handmaid r To wit for the scope and substance of them but not as to all the expressions which she used for these were to be varied as the Kings answer gave occasion which also she did with singular prudence 20 To fetch about this form of speech s i. e. To propose mine and his and the peoples desire of Absalom's restitution in this parabolical manner in mine and my Sons person hath thy servant Joab done this thing and my lord is wise according to the wisdom of an angel of God to know all things that are in the earth t Or in this Land in all thy Kingdom all the counsels and devices of thy Subjects which have any relation to thee or thy affairs 21 ¶ And the king said unto Joab Behold now I have done this thing u In compliance with thy desire although in truth it was according to his own desire He overlooks the Woman in this grant because she was but Ioab's Instrument in it go therefore bring the young man x By which expression he mitigates his Crime as being an act of youthful heat and folly and rashness Absalom again 22 And
so the Words may be â—…endred The Lord did sit upon Or at the Flood in Noah's time When it is probable those Vehement Rains were accompanied with terrible Thunders And so having spoken of the Manifestation of God's power in Storms and Tempests in general he takes an occasion to run back to that Ancient and most dreadful Example of that kind in which the Divine power was most Eminently seen And having mentioned that instance he Adds that as God shewed himself to be the King and the Judge of the World at that time so he doth still sit and will sit as King for ever sending such Tempests when it pleaseth him And therefore his people have great Reason to Worship and serve him yea * Psal 10 16 the LORD sitteth King for ever 11. The LORD will give strength y To support and preserve them in the most dreadful Tempests and Consequently in all other Dangers and against all their Enemies unto his people the LORD will bless his people with peace z Though now he sees fit to exercise them with some Troubles PSAL. XXX A Psalm and song a Or a Psalm of Song i. e. Either 1. A Psalm to be sung with the Voyce to an Instrument Or 2. A Psalm of joy and praise for so this is And this Hebrew word Schir may be here taken not simply for a Song but for a joyful Song as it is Gen. 31. 27. Exod. 15. 1. Psal. 33 3. and 42. 8. Prov. 25. 20. Isa. 30. 29. Amos. 8. 3. 10. at the dedication of the house of David b Either 1. At the Dedication of the Temple called the House Or that House Eminently and Emphatically So the Chaldee Paraphrast and the Hebrew Doctors understand it And then the last Words of David are to be joyned with the first a Psalm and Song But this seems not probable because the Temple was not built by David nor in his days Although he might prescribe a Psalm to be used afterwards upon that occasion Or 2. At the Dedication of David's House which was built 2 Sam. 5. 11. and doubtless was Dedicated as God had commanded See Deut. 20. 5. Nehem. 12. 27. Or 3. At the second Dedication of David's House after it had been polluted by Absolom and his Concubines But there is no Law of God for any Re-Dedication of Houses in such Cases nor any Evidence that David did so And indeed it seems strange if this Psalm was made upon this occasion Or upon any of these Dedications here mentioned that there should not be one Line in it suitable to that occasion Others therefore make these Words the Dedication of the House not to note the Matter of this Psalm or Song but Either 1. The name of the Tune to which this Song was sung which was the same that David used at the Dedication of his House and so this gives us a Reason why the word Song is added to that of Psalm and why this Psalm was called the Song of the Dedication Or 2. The time when it was sung which was at the Dedication of David's House For such Dedications were performed in a very Solemn manner with divers Rites and Prayers and Praises to God as the Nature of that Business required And it seems probable from the Matter of this Psalm Compared with the Title that David had about this time been delivered from some Eminent distresses and particularly from some dangerous sickness For which he here gives thanks to God taking Advantage of this publick and Solemn occasion 1. I Will extol thee O LORD for thou hast lifted me up c Or drawn up to wit out of the deep Pit or Waters to which great Dangers and Afflictions are frequently Compared and hast not made my foes to rejoyce over me d Which they both desired and Confidently expected an occasion to do 2. O LORD my God I cryed unto thee and thou hast healed me e i. e. Delivered me from the Fears and Troubles of my Mind which are oft compared to Diseases and from very dangerous Distempers of my Body 3. O LORD * Psal. 71. 20. 86. 13. thou hast brought up my soul from †Heb. Hâ—…ll so Gr. the grave f My deliverance is a kind of Resurrection from the Grave upon the very brink whereof I was thou hast kept me alive g This he adds to explain the former Phrase which was Ambiguous that I should not go down to the pit h i. e. into the Grave which is oft called the Pit as Psal. 28. 1. and 69. 15. and 88. 4. Isa. 38. 17. 4. Sing unto the LORD O ye saints of his and * Psal. 97. 12. give thanks ‖ Or to the Memorial at the remembrance of his holiness i Or at the mention c. When you call to mind or when others Celebrate as I do this day the Holiness of God's Nature which he Demonstrates by his Works by his Faithfulness Care and Kindness towards his holy Ones 5. For †Heb. there is but a moment in his Anger * Isa. 26. 20. 54. 7 8. 2 Cor. 4. 17. his anger endureth but a moment k Commonly the Afflictions which he sends upon his People are short and last but for a few moments of their Lives in his favour is life l Or Life i. e. Our whole Life is in his Favour i. e. He heapeth his Favours upon them for the greatest part of their present Lives and in the next Life which endures for ever of which the Chaldeâ—… Paraphrast expounds this place And indeed without the Consideration of eternal Life the difference between the duration of the Afflictions and of the Happiness of God's people were neither so Evident nor Considerable as David here makes it Life is oft put for along and Happy time as Psal. 34. 12. and 133. 3. Prov. 3. 2. and for an Eternal and immortal Duration 2 Tim. 1. 10. Iam. 1. 12. And in Civil Affairs Estates for Life are opposed to those that are but for a short time weeping may endure †Heb. in the Evening for a night but †Heb. singing joy cometh in the morning m i. e. It comes speedily and in due season 6. And * Job 29 18. in my prosperity I said I shall never be moved n I thought my self past all Danger of further Changes forgetting my own Frailty and the uncertainty of all Worldly things 7. LORD by thy favour thou hast †Heb. settled strength for my Mountain made my * Psal. 46. 4 5. 48. 1 2 3. 87 5. mountain to stand strong o Thou hast so firmly settled me in my Kingdom which he calls his Mountain Partly because Kingdoms are usually called Mountains in Prophetical writings as Psal. 46. 3 4. Isa 2. 2. Ier. 51. 25. Dan. 2. 34 35. 44 45 and Partly with respect to Mount Sion where he built his Royal
an occasion of despair or idleness or dissoluteness as some abuse this Doctrine but that by the consideration of his Soveraign and irresistible power in the disposal of all Persons and things as pleaseth him men should learn to trust in him to submit to him to fear to offend or rebel against him and more carefully and industriously to study to please him 15 That which hath been is now and that which is to be hath already been l Things past present and to come are all of the same nature and all ordered in the same manner by one constant counsel and settled course in all Parts and Ages of the World There is a continual return of the same mâ—…tions and influences oâ—… the Heavenly Bodies of the same seasons of the Year and a constant succession of â—…ew Generations of Men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all of the same quality The same thing in substance was said before Ch. 1. 9. and God requireth m i. e. Reneweth as this word is used Iob 3. 4. †Heb. that which is drivers away that which is past n Thâ—…t time and those things which are irrecoverably gone in themselves but are as it were recalled because others of the same kind arise and come in their stead Heb. that which is driven away with a mighty force as time present is violently thrust away by that which comes after it 16 And moreover o This is mentioned either 1. as another vanity to wit the vanity of Honour and Power which is so ofâ—… an instrument of injustice and oppression Or rather 2. as another argument of the vanity of worldly things or an hindrance of that comfort which men expect in this life because they are oppressed by their Rulers I saw p I perceive it by information from others and by my own observation under the sun the place of judgment q In the Thrones of Princes and Tribunals of Magistrates where Judgment should be duely executed that wickedness was there r Judgment was perverted the guilty acquitted and the innocent condemned and the place of righteousness s In which Righteousness should be found and should dwell if it were banished from all other places that iniquity was there 17 I said in mine heart t Mine Heart was sorely grieved at this disorder but I quieted it with this consideration God shall judg the righteous and the wicked u Absolving and saving the just and condemning the wicked for there is * Ver. 1. a time x Fixed by God's unalterable Decree He implies that as this life is the Sinners time in which he doth whatsoever seemeth good in his own Eyes so God will have his time to reckon with them and rectifie all these disorders there y In the presence or at the Judgment Seat of God which is easily understood out of the foregoing words the relative being put for the antecedent as it is Numb 7. 89. Esth. 9. 25. Iob 1. 21. Psal. 14. 5. 114. 2. Or it may be rendred then as this Particle is used Psal. 14. 5. Hos. 2. 15. and as it is usual in other Authors for Adverbs of place to be put for Adverbs of time for every purpose and for every work z For the examining and judging not onely all mens practices or open actions but also all their secret Thoughts and Purposes all the evil which they either did or designed or desired or endeavoured to do The design of this Verse is partly to strike a terrour into oppressing Potentates and partly to satisfy the doubts and support the Spirits of good men who are oppressed in this life 18 I said in my heart a And further I considered with my self concerning the estate of the sons of men b Concerning their condition and deportment in this present World ‖ Or that 〈◊〉 might 〈◊〉 God and see c. that God might manifest them c God suffers these horrible disorders among men expressed v. 16. that he might discover men to themselves and by permitting these actions shew what strange Creatures they are and what vile Hearts they have which men would not otherwise understand or believe See 2. Kings 8. 13 14. and that they might see that they themselves are beasts d Heb. that they are Beasts to themselves either 1. one to another devouring and destroying one another Or 2. in their own judgment or themselves being Judges that although God made them Men or reasonable Creatures yet they have made themselves Beasts by their brutish practices and that men considered onely with respect unto the present life which is the onely thing valued and regarded by most men and the vanity whereof is the Principal subject of this Book are as vain and miserable Creatures as the Beasts themselves the great differences between Men and Beasts being such as respect the other life For men seem here to be called Beasts in both these respects and the latter he prosecutes more largely in the following Verses 19 * Ps. 49. 12. 20. Ch. 2. 16. For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts e They are subject to the same Diseases pains and casualties even one thing befalleth them as the one dieth so dieth the other f As certainly and no less painfully yea they have all one †Heb. Spirit breath g One breath of life which is in their Nostrils one and the same living Soul by which the Beasts perform the same vital and animal Operations For he speaks not here of Man's rational and immortal Spirit nor of the future Life so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast h In respect of the present life and sensible things Nay the Beasts have quicker senses than men and therefore enjoy more pleasure in those things and that with less dangers and mischief than men do for all is vanity 20 All go unto one place i To the Earth as it is expressed v. 21. out of which they were both taken * Gen. 3. 19. all are of the dust and all turn to dust again k Which is meant onely of their Bodies as it is explained Eccles. 12. 7. 21 Who knoweth l It might be objected that the condition of men and beasts are vastly differing because Man's Spirit goeth upward to God Ch. 12. 7. but the spirit of a beast goeth downward together with its Body and perisheth with it To this he answers Who knoweth this Which is not to be understood as if no Man did know it or as if the thing were utterly uncertain and unknown for he knew it and positively affirms it Ch. 12. 7. but that few know it as the same manner of expression is understood Prov. 31. 10. Who can find Isa. 53. 1. Who hath believed c Which note the scarcity or difficulty but not the nullity or impossibility of the thing Besides he seems here to speak not so much of
a Or Therefore as the Seventy Interpreters render it all this b All that I have said concerning the Methods of Divine Providence towards good and bad men †Heb. I gaâ—… or set to my Heart I considered in my heart even to declare all this e that the righteous and the wiâ—…e d Whom he mentions not exclusively as if wicked men were not in God's hand for the next clause relates both to good and bad men but eminently because by the course of God's Providence towards them they might seem to be quite neglected and forsaken by God and their works e Either efficiently all their actions and employments or objectively all things done to them all events which befal them are in the hand of God f Are subject to his power and governed by his Providence as this Phrase is used Prov. 21. 1. Ioâ—… 3. 35. compared with Mat. 28. 18. And therefore although we cannot fully understand the reasons of all God's works as he now said Ch. 8. 17. yet because they are done by his unerring hand we may be assured that they are done both righteously and justly and that no Man hath cause to murmur at the Prosperity of the wicked or at the calamities of good men no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them g No Man can judge by their present and outward conditions or dispensations of God's Providence whether God loves or hates them for whom he loves he chastens and permitteth those whom he hates to prosper in the World And this Translation and Interpretation agreeth well with the following Verse But I must confess it differs from almost all other both ancient and modern Translations And these words with the foregoing clause are translated otherwise and that word for word according to the Hebrew The righteous and the wise and their works are in the hand of God also love and hatred understand out of the foregoing clause are in God's hand And this may be meant either 1. of God's love and hatred which he disposeth when and to whom and in what manner he pleaseth Or 2. of mens love and hatred also their love and their hatred the Pronoun their being repeated out of the former clause as is frequent in Scripture And so the sense is That not onely mens works as he now said but even their inward passions or affections which seem to be most in their own power are as much in God's disposal as their outward actions Then follows the last clause in the same order in which the words lie in the Hebrew Text. No Man knoweth all or any thing which is before him Which I thus understand Whereas all men and all their affections and actions and the events of them are perfectly known to God and disposed by him men know nothing no not such things as are most plain and easie and familiar to them and can neither foresee the plainest things nor dispose of the smallest things as they please but all things are wholly order ed and over-ruled by God's Providence not as men imagine or desire but as he sees fit c To make this evident first to my self and then others as occasion required 2 * Ps. 73. 3 12 13. Mal. 3. 15. All things come alike to all h The good and evil things of this World do equally happen to good and bad men there is one eveâ—…t to the righteous and the wicked to the good and 〈◊〉 the clean i Either 1. morally clean or holy men Or 2. legally who made Conscience of keeping himself pure from all legal defilements according to the Law then in force and consequently from all other sins upon the same ground and to the unclean to him that sacrificeth k That worshippeth God sincerely though it be to his cost and to him that sacrificeth not as is the good so is the sinner l As to all outward things to wit customarily and unnecessarily rashly without due consideration and reverence or falsly and wickedly For otherwise that some swearing was then allowed and in some cases required none do or can deny and he that sweareth m as he that feareth an oath n Who is afraid of offending God or abusing his Name by vain or rash or false Oaths 3 This is an evil o A great trouble and temptation to a considerate and good Man among all things that are done under the sun that there is * Ch. 2. 14 15 16. one event unto all yea also the heart of the sons of men p Of wicked men such as the generality of Mankind are is full of evil q Either 1. of grief upon this occasion Or rather 2. of wickedness as appears from the next clause and by comparing this place with Eccles. 8. 11. and madness is in their heart r Upon this account they go on madly and desperately in evil courses without any fear of an after-reckoning while they live and after that they go to the dead s After all their mad and wicked pranks in the whole course of their life they die in the same manner as the best men do So hitherto there is no difference For Solomon here forbears the consideration of the future life Onely he seems to intimate that as the madness so the happiness of the wicked is ended by Death which is more fully expressed in the following words 4 For to him that is joyned to all the living t That continueth in the Land and Society of Living men Or according to the reading of the Hebrew Text That is chosen or allotted to Life whom God hath appointed yet to live in the World when he hath appointed that many others shall die or who are written among the Living as the Phrase is Isa. 4. 3. which is borrowed from the custom of Cities where men are first chosen and then inrolled Citizens there is hope u He hath not onely some comfort for the present but also hopes of further and greater happiness in this World which men are very prone to entertain and cherish in themselves Yea they may have the hopes of a better life if they improve their opportunities But he seems to confine himself here to the present life for a living dog is better x i. e. Much happier as to the comforts and priviledges of this World though in other respects Death be better than Life as was said Eccles. 7. 1. than a dead lion 5 For the living know that they shall die y Whereby they are taught to improve Life whilest they have it to their greatest comfort and advantage but the dead know not any thing z To wit of the actions and events in this World as this is limited in the end of the next Verse Compare Ioâ—… 14. 21. Isa. 63. 16. neither have they any more a reward a The reward or fruit of their labours in this World which is