least are never likely to make thee any return no more than if thou didst sow thy Seed on the Sand or in the Sea let not that discourage thee for when thou thinkest not of it God will requite thee either in this World or in the next nay there may come a time when some of those who have been relieved by thee may do thee service See Annot. a 2. Give a portion to seven and also to eight for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth 2. Give therefore unto others some part of the good things which God hath given thee and give very liberally and be not weary neither of well-doing but though there be a great many Suitors that solicite thy Charity extend thy bounty to them rather above than beneath thy ability for thou knowest not how calamitous the times may shortly be and then the good thou hast done will stand thee in greater stead than all the Goods thou enjoyest which perhaps may be taken from thee and leave thee nothing to do good withal but make thee an Object of other mens Charity which no person hath greater reason to expect than he who when he had wherewithal hath been kind to others in that condition See Annot. b 3. If the clouds be full of rain they empty themselves upon the earth and if the tree fall toward the south or toward the north in the place where the tree falleth there it shall be 3. Look up to the Heavens and imitate the Clouds which are not filled with moisture for themselves but pour it down freely and plentifully upon the thirsty Earth even upon the barren as well as upon the fertile Soil without any difference and look upon the Earth and learn from the Trees to be fruitful in good Works while thou art alive for then thou art dead none can raise thee up again to exercise that Charity which now thou neglectest no more than a Tree can be made to bear when it is cut down but which way soever it falls whether to a cold or to a warmer Quarter there it remains for ever without so much as Leaves See Annot. c 4. He that observeth the wind shall not sow and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap 4. And do not put off thy Charity till another time under a pretence that now the times are hard or thou shalt be better able hereafter or mayst find fitter Objects for it and do more good with it For as he that will not sow till the Wind blow from a favourable Quarter may let the Seeds time pass over and he that will not reap because he is afraid of every Cloud that threatens Rain may lose his Harvest so they that will do no good till the times be just as they would have them or till they find objects against whom there lies no exception will never want reasons to excuse their Duty and defer it till they have no opportunity for it See Annot. d 5. As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all 5. Trust God for all such things as those and do not rely upon thy own understanding which comprehends very little of what is before thee for instance whence the Wind comes what makes it blow and cease how the Soul comes into the Body and departs out of it how the Body it self is formed in the Womb by what power and how it goes to work hardning some part of the Matter into Bones and softning others into Flesh c. And therefore much less art thou able to comprehend the Providence of God who disposeth all things and know for instance whether it will be a dear Year or a cheap whether thou and thy Heirs shall live or die lose or keep an Estate particularly what strange ways God hath to blast or to bless all thy Designs making thy Estate dwindle by saving and grow wonderfully by giving away bountifully Which seems to diminish but by means as secret as the growth of a Child in the Womb encrease and enlarge it See Annot. e 6. In the morning sow thy seed and in the evening withhold not thine hand for thou knowest not whether shall prosper either this or that or whether they both shall be alike good 6. Let nothing therefore discourage thee from taking all opportunities to give thy Alms incessantly early and late when thou art young and when thou art old when things smile upon thee and thou art in a declining condition for thou knowest not which will hit to do the most good unto others and to bring the greatest Blessing back upon thy self or whether all may prove alike beneficial unto both See Annot. f 7. ¶ Truly the light is sweet and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun 7. Let no live of thy own pleasure make thee regardless what becomes of other men for though it is true life is full of delight when we are in a prosperous estate and we are entertained with great variety of pleasure when we look about us and behold all the good things the Sun shows the bounty of Heaven hath provided for us yet believe it there is no satisfaction comparable to that of having done abundance of good with that which he bestows upon us See Annot. g 8. But if a man live many years and rejoyce in them all yet let him remember the days of darkness for they shall be many All that cometh is vanity 8. If God therefore should bless a man with an healthful Body and a very long life I do not forbid him to take the comfort of it but advise him rather as I have done often with a mind free from solicitude and carefulness to enjoy all the innocent pleasures it can afford him only let them be tempered with these two reflections First that as the fairest Sun that ever shone will set and the Night follow it so the most merry life will have an end and then we must lie down in our Graves longer than we have lived without the least glimpse of these joys and secondly that while we live nothing which we expect hereafter can give us more contentment than what we enjoy at present and will slide away also as fast and leave us altogether unsatisfied unless we have done some good with it See Annot. h 9. ¶ Rejoyce O young man in thy youth and let thy heart chear thee in the days of thy youth and walk in the ways of thy heart and in the sight of thine eyes but know thou that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment 9. And there is one thing above all other which if the most Childish Youth would consider and alway carry in mind I might give him full liberty to be as jocund and merry as his frolick Age enclines him to banish melancholy thoughts and
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 City which is the very School of Wisdom where I wanted nothing either for the body or the mind and had both opportunity and ability to make tryal of all things wherein men place their happiness and therefore may be believed when I declare nothing but from my own experience See Annot. g 13. And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven this sore travel hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith 13. 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 progresses of things especially the counsels contrivances and endeavours of Mankind with the events 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 gross negligence of heavenly Wisdom See Annot. h 14. I have seen all the works that are done under the sun and behold all is vanity and vexation of spirit 14. And having now finished these Studies and taken a serious view of all that falls within the compass of humane knowledge I cannot say that they have given me any solid contentment for we can know but little and what we do know of natural things doth us small service it puffs us up indeed like Wind but gives no 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 we have spent so much time and so many thoughts which have even eaten up our Spirits to so little purpose See Annot. i 15. That which is crooked cannot be made straight and that which is wanting cannot be numbred 15. For as there are inexplicable difficulties in all sorts of knowledge of which no man can give an account so with all our study we cannot get skill enough either to prevent misfortunes or to remove out of the way that which crosseth 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 being able to supply that we cannot number them and yet the folly of Mankind represents every thing to their desires as if it were completely good and wanted nothing to make one happy See Annot. k 16. I communed with mine own heart Saying Lo I am come to great estate and have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem yea my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge 16. I my self still persisted in my reach after knowledge though I found it so painful and so unsatisfactory thinking within my self 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 mens opinion that I was noted 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 great abundance See Annot. l 17. And I gave my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit 17. 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 only the greatest but the meanest matters to mark for instance the actions and occupations of mad men and Fools as well as the motions of wiser persons but I perceived that to be pleased merely with fame was to live upon Air and it was an afflicting thought to observe how little the most of the World tho' they thought themselves very wise differed from Lunaticks and distracted Folk See Annot. m 18. For in much wisdom is much grief and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow 18. 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 us 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 various Opinions that clash against it it cannot but fill 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 reproaches for his care of the publick good See Annot. n ANNOTATIONS a V. 1. The Wisdom Vertue and Dignity of an Author making his Work more valuable and regarded Solomon or he who composed this Book from what he had 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 of all considerable as a publick 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 a loud voice desiring serious 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 Koheleth * See Preface num IV. how frivolous and trivial all those things are which most men pursue with the greatest earnestness b V. 2. This is the Subject of this Book to show how sensless 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 signifie that of which they speak to be so trivial that it is below less than nothing XL. Isai 17. And yet Solomon is not content with this single word but doubles it to
with this Meditation which some call sententia intercalaris that the greatest Blessing a man can enjoy in this life is to have an heart to use what God hath given him for his own honest pleasure with due acknowledgments to God and charity to others v. 18 19.20 Where v. 19. there are two words to express abundance of worldly goods as I have paraphrased them The last of them nekasim is larger than the former comprehending all manner of Goods Cattel and all which a man gathers together For it seems by a transposition of Letters to be derived from kanas to collect or gather Chap. II. 8. from which comes the Latin word census the revenues which a man is esteemed to have and accordingly is rated and pays Subsidies CHAP. VI. ARGUMENT The first ten Verses at least of this Chapter are a continuation of the same Argument he handled in the latter part of the foregoing And therefore ought to be connected with it For they set forth the vanity of Riches in the possession of a covetous Wretch who only increases the number of unhappy men in this World being never the better for any thing he enjoys as he shows in the Conclusion of the Chapter 1 THere is an evil which I I have seen under the sun and it is common among men 1. BUT alas this Divine benefit tho' above all others is coveted by very few for I have observed this most wretched miserable humour reigning among Mankind which though it be the greatest mischief is grown so common that it hath overspread the face of the whole Earth See Annot. a 2. A man to whom God hath given riches wealth and honour so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof but a stranger eateth it this is vanity and it is an evil disease 2. When a man is blessed by God with such abundance of Money and Goods and heighth of Honour that he need not unless he will want any thing which his largest desires can wish should administer to his pleasure yet so great is his ingratitude to God and his uncharitableness to men that for these and other sins God denies him the power to enjoy these Gifts of his Bounty to which he is a Slave rather than their Master for he possesses them as if they were not his own but kept by him for some body else and those not his Children nor his Kindred but a mere Stranger perhaps who either in his life-time or after he is dead devours all that he hath saved What can be more senseless than this Nay what sorer Plague can infest Mankind See Annot. b 3. ¶ If a man beget an hundred children and live many years so that the days of his years be many and his soul be not filled with good and also that he have no burial I say that an untimely birth is better than he 3. Unless it be this that one of this sort of men being blessed also with abundance of Children and with an exceeding long life yet thereby is made only so much the more and so much the longer miserable being so solicitous for Posterity that he hath no heart to take the comfort of any thing he possesses at present no nor so much as to take order for his decent Funeral when he is dead but he goes out of the World without any notice that he hath lived in it Of such an one I pronounce That an Abortive which came into the World before its time is not so despicable as he See Annot. c 4. For he cometh in with vanity and departeth in darkness and his name shall be covered with darkness 4. For though in this they are both alike that they come into the World to no purpose and go our of it so obscurely that no body minds their departure and leave no memory behind them that they have been in it See Annot d 5. Moreover he hath not seen the sun nor known any thing this hath more rest than the other 5. Yet in this they differ that an Abortive having never seen the light of the Sun much less been acquainted with any thing in this World had no desire to enjoy that of which it was perfectly ignorant and was as utterly insensible of grief and pain as it was of joy and pleasure Whereas this mans unsatiable desires carrying him after every thing he sees torment his Soul with anxious thoughts care and labour which not only make him pine away with grief for what he cannot get but deprive him of the comfort of what he hath And how much better is it never to live at all than to live only to disquiet a mans self with restless solicitude of mind and toilsome pains of body for that which he can neither keep nor part withal with any contentment 6. ¶ Yea though he live a thousand years twice told yet hath he seen no good do not all go to one place 6. Men are so fond of life indeed that because the one lives long and the other not at all they imagine the former to be incomparably more happy but let us suppose this covetous Wretch to live more than as long again as the oldest man that ever was what is he the better for it when his greedy desires not suffering him to enjoy his Goods multiply his miseries equally to his years Which will expire also at last and then what are his Riches able to do for him can they privilege him from going down into the Grave and rotting there like the Abortive See Annot. e 7. All the labour of man is for his mouth and yet the appetite is not filled 7. And while he lives to what purpose is his restless labour Seeing if he desire only what is necessary it is easily provided and having Food and Rayment a man may be contented and if he extend his desires further they are infinite and therefore can never meet with any satisfaction 8. For what hath the wise more than the fool what hath the poor that knoweth to walk before the living 8. For let a man be otherways never so wise as well as rich yet if he bridle not his desires he is little better than a Fool and he that is poor but hath so much understanding as to know how to behave himself among men suitably to his condition and to be contented therewith is incomparably the wiser and the happier man See Annot. f 9. ¶ Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandring of the desire this is also vanity and vexation of spirit 9. It being much better to enjoy what a man hath at present than to live upon the hopes of that which his ravenous desires continually pursue which sure is a very foolish thing and another great part of the miseries of humane life that men are still craving more when they know not how to use what they have already and neglecting what they possess wish for
was love 4. Which administers the highest joys to those who taste of them and hath entertained or rather feasted me with such delicious hopes that I cannot but glory in this that I am listed under his Banner whose Motto is Love whereby He hath overcome shall I say or over-powered my heart to submit my self wholly unto his wonderful love See Annot. d 5. Stay me with flagons comfort me with apples for I am sick of love 5. Under the weight of which who can support himself when it sensibly touches his heart I faint I languish I die when I am deeply affected with that love which overwhelms my spirit and makes me call for a greater Power than my own to enable me to bear the thoughts of his mighty love See Annot. e 6. His left hand is under my head and his right hand doth embrace me 6. And whence should I have that power but from Himself who then communicates most of the Grace of his Holy Spirit to us which is the greatest token of his love when he sees our hearts fullest of love to Him See Annot. f Bridegroom 7. I charge you O ye daughters of Jerusalem by the roes and by the hinds of the field that ye stir not up nor awake my love till he please 7. In which He would have us take an uninterrupted pleasure saying I beseech I charge you all you that are her Companions I conjure you by all that is dear to you not to discompose or give the least disturbance to that love but let it enjoy its satisfaction to the height of its desires See Annot. g Spouse 8. ¶ The voice of my beloved behold he cometh leaping upon the mountains skipping upon the hills 8. Which Words of Grace can come from none but Him who is worthy of all our love whom behold I see though He be afar off I see with what delight He comes surmounting all difficulties and discouragements to do the Will of God XL. Psa 7 8. See Annot h 9. My beloved is like a roe or a young hart behold he standeth behind our wall he tooketh forth at the windows shewing himself through the lattise 9. The swift motion of the Roes and wild Goats is but a weak Emblem of his readiness to come down to us And though He do not yet actually show Himself among us I see notwithstanding something of Him and behold Him approaching nearer and nearer to us like one that resolving to be our Guest doth not presently enter but first stands behind the Wall of our House then looks in at the Window and through the Lattises or Grates whereby He is still more fully discovered See Annot. i 10. My beloved spake and said unto me Rise up my love my fair one and come away 10. And I hear his voice who is worthy of all our love calling unto us to meet Him with our most forward desires saying Awake thou who art most dear unto me thou who art most beautiful in my eyes arise and stay no longer but come away from these dark representations of me 11. For lo the winter is past the rain is over and gone 11. For now that dismal time is past wherein ignorance errour and wickedness overflowed the World as Floods do the Earth in the Winter-Season those cloudy and uncomfortable days are over wherein you couldst see and enjoy but little of me See Annot. k 12. The flowers appear on the earth the time of the singing of birds is come and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land 12. All the tokens of a new World appear and invite thee to come and partake of those joys and pleasures which the nearer approaches of the Sun of righteousness produces Who makes all manner of Blessings spring up in such abundance that it causes the heavenly Host to sing for joy and therefore cannot but fill all Mankind with joyful Hymns unto Him See Annot. l 13. The fig-tree putteth forth her green figs and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell Arise my love my fair one and come away 13. And for this especially that their dead hopes are revived and they receive the earnest and beginnings of that future bliss the expectation of which is our greatest comfort in this life and the consummation of it our highest happiness in the next And therefore I say again Awake and stir up thy desires thou who art most dear unto me thou who art most lovely in my eyes arise and go and take possession of those inestimable benefits See Annot. m Bridegroom 14. ¶ O my dove that art in the clefts of the rock in the secret places of the stairs let me see thy countenance let me hear thy voice for sweet is thy voice and thy countenance is comely 14. And be not afraid of those who seeking to destroy thee force thee to flee like an innocent Dove to hide thy self and seek for safety in Holes of the Earth in Caves and Dens and secret places but from thence look up unto me and call upon me with praises and thanksgivings and I will save and deliver thee for I love thee inseparably who art most amiable in my eyes whose prayers and praises I delight to hear and to behold my own Image that is formed in thee See Annot. n 15. Take us the foxes the little foxes that spoil the vines for our vines have tender grapes 15. And therefore I require all those that act by authority from me and to whom I have committed the care of my Church to use their early diligence also to discover and confute the sophistry of Deceivers who craftily insinuate their false Doctrines into weak and incautious Souls and thereby seduce those who are newly converted or but infirm in the Faith See Annot. o Spouse 16. ¶ My beloved is mine and I am his he feedeth among the lilies 16. Unto which I hear the Church reply I will preserve my fidelity to Him who is my only Beloved as I am his I will have nothing to do with those seducing Spirits but adhere to Him alone whose Dwelling is not among subtile and crafty but with simple and candid Souls See Annot. p 17. Until the day break and the shadows flee away turn my beloved and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether 17. Only let Him be pleased to vouchsafe his gracious presence with me and to enlighten me more and more till we have a full knowledge of Him and of his Will XIII Rom. 11 12. and the light of it scatter all the shadows of the law Let my Beloved also make haste to succour and relieve me in all difficulties and distresses and show the same readiness for my preservation that he did v. 9. for my first salvation See Annot. q ANNOTATIONS a Verse 1. There is so little ground to apply the several Parts of this Song to the several Ages of the Church till the end of all things that I cannot think fit
XLV Psal 13. who can chuse but admire the beauty of the meanest thing belonging to her The very shooes of thy feet are most lovely and so are all the Ornaments of thy Thighs which were made by no common or careless Artist but by one that hath herein shown the best of his skill See Annot. a 2. Thy navel is like a round goblet which wanteth not liquor thy belly is like an heap of wheat set about with lilies 2. Which other excellent Artists have equalled in that part of thy Vesture which covers the middle of thy Body in the very Centre of which is a Fountain within a curious Work rising up like a Heap of Wheat encompassed round about with Lilies See Annot. b 3. Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins 3. Above which thy two Breasts rise up so purely white and exactly round and every way of such just proportions that two young Kids which were formed together and brought forth at the same time are not more like one another or more lovely than they See Annot. c 4. Thy neck is as a tower of ivory thine eyes like the fish-pools in Heshbon by the gate of Bath-rabbim thy nose is as the tower of Lebanon which looketh toward Damascus 4. Thy Neck also lifts up it self with the same or greater Beauty wherein we before beheld it IV. 4. being no less smooth and purely white than it is straight and well-shap'd And the famous Pools at the great Gate of Heshbon also are not more quiet and clear than thy eyes which are as pure and free from all perturbation as they are fair and large between which thy well-proportion'd Nose rising up adds as much Beauty and Majesty to thy Face as the Tower of Lebanon whose top shows it self above the Trees doth to that noble Forest See Annot. d 5. Thine head upon thee is like Carmel and the hair of thine head like purple the king is held in the galleries 5. And now that we take a view of thy head we seem to be come to the top of Mount Carmel which is not more richly adorned by Nature than its excellent form is by Art which hath contrived the most Royal Ornaments for it and made thee an object fit for the King's affection who beholding thee from his Palace is fixed in contemplation of thy Beauty See Annot. e 6. How fair and how pleasant art thou O love for delights 6. Which cannot be described but only admired and constrains all to say O how happy art thou and how happy are they who are acquainted with thee For what Beauty is like to that or what pleasures comparable to those which thou impartest to them that are in love with thy delights See Annot. f 7. This thy stature is like to a palm-tree and thy breasts to clusters of grapes 7. Whose tall and upright Stature adds much to all this Beauty and makes thee resemble the goodly Palm-Tree within whose Boughs those Clusters hang to which we may compare thy Breasts between thy Arms. See Annot. g 8. I said I will go up to the palm-tree I will take hold of the boughs thereof now also thy breast shall be as clusters of the vine and the smell of thy nose like apples 8. Which seem to be stretched out to receive us into thy embraces and invite me and all my Company with a joint resolution to say We will take hold of the Boughs of this Tree we will get up into it and taste of its Fruit And now shall be happy indeed and enjoy those sweet delights which flow from thy Breasts and from the Breath of thy Mouth far more refreshing and comfortable than the choicest Fruit that this good Land affords See Annot. h 9. And the roof of thy mouth like the best wine for my beloved that goeth down sweetly causing the lips of those that are asleep to speak 9. For the richest and most generous Wine which when we have tasted we say Let it be sent to the best of Friends is not more comfortable to the bodily Spirits though it be so powerful as to make Old men brisk nay to enliven those that are at the point of Death than thy words are to raise and restore the Souls of those who imbibe the sense of them into their minds See Annot. i Spouse 10. ¶ I am my beloveds and his desire is towards me 10. If there be any thing in me that is pleasing to you and deserves such praises ascribe it all to Him from whom I received it for as I have often said I am his intirely and He is pleased to be entirely mine having espoused Himself unto me with great desire XLV Psal 11. See Annot. k 11. Come my beloved let us go forth into the field let us lodge in the villages 11. And O that He without whom I can do nothing would accompany me in the charitable design I have to go and visit other people besides you O ye Daughters of Jerusalem Let us go my Beloved unto those poor despised people that live in the Fields and Country-Villages let us not only go to them but dwell among them See Annot l 12. Let us get up early to the vineyards let us see if the vine flourish whether the tender grape appear and the pomegranates bud forth there will I give thee my loves 12. Let us diligently visit the Vineyards that have been newly planted there and bestow our utmost care upon them let us see if they give any hope of good Fruit in promoting which I will give Thee a proof of my extraordinary love See Annot. m 13. The mandrakes give a smell and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits new and old which I have laid up for thee O my beloved 13. And Behold the happy success of such care and diligence the most excellent Fruit is already ripe and meets us with its refreshing smell there is nothing so choice and so pleasant but it grows every where and is at the very Gates and that in great plenty and variety both of this Years Fruit and of the last which shall all be reserved for thy uses and employed for thy honour O my Beloved from whom it all comes and for the good and profit of those that belong to Thee See Annot. n ANNOTATIONS a Verse 1. They who earnestly solicited the return of the Spouse in the conclusion of the former Chapter seem now to have a view of her again and praise her perfections in a new method beginning at the feet and so upward whereas before Chap. IV. her description was from the head and so downward because they saw her in motion when she went away and now at her return to them Whom they call the Princes Daughter alluding I take it to XLV Psal 13 14. and conceiving her as that Royal Bride whose clothing is there represented as very glorious And accordingly they admire her very Shooes or Sandals by whose shape the beauty of the
of God 13. And if a man have arrived at so much happiness as not to deny himself the use of what he hath at present out of a vain fear of wanting in time to come but can so freely and cheerfully enjoy the fruit of his honest labours as to be well satisfied in the midst of all the inconveniences of this life let him not ascribe it unto his own Wisdom but thankfully acknowledge the great Goodness of God herein For it is a singular gift of his to be able with a quiet and contented mind to take the comfort of those Blessings which God's Bounty hath bestowed on us Chap. II. 24. 14. I know that whatsover God doeth it shall be for ever nothing can be put to it nor any thing taken from it and God doth it that men should fear before him 14. And on the other side it is not only very foolish and vain but a great Plague to be discontented that things go otherways than we desire for certain it is God hath settled them by such an eternal and immutable Law in that course and order before described v. 1 2 3 c. in which nothing is superfluous nothing wanting that it is not in the power of man to make the least alteration one way or other therefore we must alter our selves and not murmur that we cannot change the course of things which God hath thus immoveably fixed not to make us miserable by fretting at it but happy by reverent submission to the Divine Government and humble patience under those troubles which we cannot honestly avoid and a due care not to offend the Divine Majesty whose Will shall be done one way or other if not by us yet upon us See Annot. f 15. That which hath been is now and that which is to be hath already been and God requireth that which is past 15. This alone is sufficient to silence all our unprofitable as well as undutiful complaints about that which hath always been and ever will be For we in this present Age are subject to no other Laws than those by which God hath governed the World from the beginning nor will the next produce any other method than that wherein He hath already proceeded but though that which succeeds thrust out what went before it brings the very same things about again as constantly as Spring and Fall Summer and Winter return in their Seasons 16. ¶ And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment that wickedness was there and the place of righteousness that iniquity was there 16. But beyond all this it is lamentable to consider how that which God hath provided as a remedy for a great many evils which we bring one upon another in this World is quite perverted and turned to be it self the greatest evil of all other The Power and Authority I mean which is committed unto men of great Place Wisdom and Dignity who lean so much to their own affections that I my self have observed nothing but corruption in the highest as well as lowest Courts of Judicature for whether mens lives or their estates were concerned such unjust Sentences were pronounced to the condemning the innocent and acquitting the guilty c. that I could not but conclude There is nothing more dangerous than for a man who hath not that fear of God before his eyes which I now mentioned v. 14. to be advanced unto honour and intrusted with power So vain are they that place their felicity in these See Annot. g 17. I said in mine heart God shall judge the righteous and the wicked for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work 17. For so rooted is this impiety in the hearts of men and such Arts there are to defeat the best endeavours to redress it I could bring my thoughts about this matter to no other issue but this in which we must all be satisfied that there is a supreme Judge of all who will in due time make that difference between men and things which we cannot do now absolving and rewarding the righteous and condemning and punishing the wicked for as there is a time I observed before for all other things so there is for this they that govern the World have their time now for contriving and acting what mischief they please but He will take a time hereafter of calling them to an account for the injustice they designed as well as did in the Courts of Judgment See Annot. h 18. I said in my heart concerning the estate of the sons of men that God might manifest them and that they might see that they themselves are beasts 18. But in the mean time I could not but think the condition of Mankind especially of the poorer sort of them to be very deplorable which made me fetch a deep sigh and wish to God that He would be pleased to lay these Great men open and manifest to themselves and make them sensible that they have no reason to look down with so much contempt upon others much less treat them like Beasts destined to the slaughter for were they stript of their external Pomp and Power they are so far from excelling other men that in many regards they do not excel the very Beasts See Annot. i 19. For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts even one thing befalleth them as the one dieth so dieth the other yea they have all one breath so that a man hath no pre-eminence above a beast for all is vanity 19. For as the Beasts are subject to many accidents which they think not of so are all Mankind who can no more foresee several things that happen to them than the Beasts themselves or if they herein differ from them that they can better defend themselves from some things that befal them yet there is one thing which makes them all equal and that is Death For both Men and Beasts not only grow old but die alike and while they live one sucks in no other Air than the other doth which when they can no longer breathe a man remains as much an unprofitable lump and putrid Carkase as a Beast and therefore herein can pretend to no preheminence above other inferiour Creatures but they are both equally vain and perishing 20. All go unto one place all are of the dust and all turn to dust again 20. And being dead their Bodies are resolved into the same Principles out of which they sprang so that herein they are both alike again for Man as proud as he is derives his Body from no higher Original than the Dust the very same Dust of which the Beasts are made into which they both Men and Beast must return again at the last 21. Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth 21. As for the Spirit which makes all the difference between the Beasts and us that is invisible and where shall we find a man
present possession be not much moved with this fond humour nor make any great matter of it as neither Scylla nor Tiberius did nay they smile it is possible at the levity of men and do not stand to fight with Dreams for Hope is but the Dream of a man awake yet it cannot but inwardly vex them to see themselves slighted even by those on whom they have bestowed many benefits merely in hope of receiving more from their next supposed Successor For they cannot reasonably expect more perhaps from him that now reigns and therefore they make timely applications to the next Heir He hath done enough for them and therefore they betake themselves to him who hath yet done nothing And besides old men grow tenacious morose and sowre whereas Youth is commonly liberal jocound without care and ambitious to do great things especially at his entrance upon the Kingdom This saith another learned Writer makes the long life of Princes and their power troublesome and grievous both to Courtiers and people of which they that live at Rome do not want ocular demonstration There is nothing more needful for the explication of this Verse but only to observe that the Child or Youth who is here called the second doth not suppose another Child or Youth that is first but only signifie that this Youth is second in the Kingdom Not second in respect to another Son but second in respect to his Father who reigns before him and when he dies this Son succeeds him i V. 16. The first words of this last Verse L. de Dieu seems to me to have expressed better than any other Interpreter they running thus word for word in the Hebrew There is no end to any people That is no end of their fickleness no bounds to their inconstancy but one Nation is as subject to it as another And as this Age follows the former so the next will follow this in its levity and mutability And therefore those young Princes who are transported with the acclamations of the people do but feed upon Wind as some I observed upon the first Chapter translate those words which we render vexation of Spirit For their applauses are like to their affections as changeable as the Wind which will turn another way to some other person when this present Prince grows old or he rules ill or the peoples fancy and humour alters And then it will indeed be a sore affliction to him to see himself despised by those who formerly cried him up as if he had been their Darling It may be referred also to the very Government it self with which the Israelites were not pleased For when they were under Judges they desired a King and then they were not pleased with the Monarchy but wished for the old Aristocracy again Though that in truth was the most exeellent Monarchy which they would not understand under the immediate Government of God Himself CHAP. V. ARGUMENT Under an ill Government in the State Religion it self is commonly corrupted in the Church And therefore having set forth the miseries people endure under the oppressions of an abused Power and the extreams of folly into which it drives them he begins this Chapter with a Correction of those errours that are in Religion Which is the only remedy indeed the only comfort we have against all the troubles to which we are subject in this World but such is the Vanity of Mankind they spoil their very remedy and take away all the Vertue of that which should be their support turning it into mere Ceremony whilst their minds remain impure and without any true sense of God For they do not consider that He who is a pure mind Himself must be better pleased with pure thoughts and affections composed to the observance of his Will and acquiescence in his pleasure than with all the Sacrifices and Offerings in the World which the wicked may bring Him as well as the good To prevent therefore this new folly into which men are apt to run when they intend to cure all the rest Solomon shows all those who would attain true tranquillity of mind what they must do and what they must avoid in the Worship of God And about the middle of the Chapter as I shall observe in the Annotations proceeds to consider the last of those four things wherein men place their happiness 1. KEep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God and be more ready to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools for they consider not that they do evil 1. AND now lest any man add to the affliction and torment of his Spirit even by that which is the only cure for it let every one who would be a true Worshipper of God in whom alone lies the happiness we seek take care to avoid that negligence which is observable in many people and to opproach with all reverence both of Body and Soul into his Blessed Presence but do not think to please Him with mere postures of Devotion no nor with Sacrifices and Incense without the Oblation of an obedient heart disposed to do what He would have thee For the worst men in the World may be able to offer Him the richest Sacrifices but are very impious as well as foolish if they think He delights in the fat and the Blood of Beasts save only as testimonies of love to Him and acts of obedience unto his Will for in that very thought they offend Him and make no conscience what evil they do while they believe their Sacrifices atone for all See Annot. a 2. Be not rash with thy mouth and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God for God is in heaven and thou upon earth therefore let thy words be few 2. And next to this when thou makest thy Prayers to God or givest Him thanks for his benefits deliberate with thy self beforehand what it is fit for thee to ask of Him or to vow unto him and let not any sudden passion make thee inconsiderately either with thy mouth or in thy mind desire what is nor fit for thee to have or promise what is not fit for Him to receive or thou art not able or willing to give But remember first how infinitely great the Lord and Governour of the World is who comprehends all things and then how little and vile thou art who prostratest thy self before Him and therefore do not dare to speak to Him as an Equal whatsoever comes into thy mind much less to make Him large promises which thou canst not perform but let a sense of his Majesty and of thy meanness overcome thee into a profound Reverence of Him expressing it self rather in ardent sighs and groans than in abundance of words which signifie nothing but want of a serious apprehension of Him See Annot. b 3. For a dream cometh through the multitude of business and a fools voice is known by multitude of words 3. It is so difficult at the same time
appear with a quite different face from what they have and when they are gone and shall be no more In the latter part of the Verse patient in Spirit is properly one that is long before he grow angry or fall into any passion who is opposed to proud in spirit because it is high-mindedness as the word signifies which makes mens passion rise and swell hastily It may have relation to the former part and be expounded in this manner A patient man and slow to anger dispatches business better than a proud huffing and blustering Spirit whose passion so disorders his mind and indisposes it for the management of Affairs that he seldom brings them to a good issue Or thus A proud man is a Boutefeau who begins the fray but the patient in spirit is the man that must end it if ever it be well ended and that is much the better work and the greater honour to him who is employed in it and effects it Or which is still clearer we ought to attend to the end of a thing with patience because it cannot be known what it will prove nor whither it tends in the beginning and we should be the more prone to be patient in spirit if we would expect the issue of every thing Thus Corranus paraphrases upon the words most excellently but a little too long It is no small part of Wisdom to judge of things and of business proposed to us slowly and maturely c. for we see frequently that inconsiderate men finding a thing very hard and difficult in the beginning and never thinking how profitable and pleasant the issue may prove immediately despond and out of an impatience shall I say or rashness of mind desist from the most excellent Enterprizes and many times betake themselves to worse From which rashness and inconstancy he will be very far removed who indued with Divine Wisdom waits for the desired and happy Conclusion of his Affairs And unto this nothing contributes more than a slow constant and patient mind that can endure labour and pains which stedfastly and quietly considering how fruitful the end may be which he affects will not suffer himself by any difficulty trouble or weariness which he meets withal in the beginning to be drawn from his purpose Far different from those who out of a proud arrogant humour think it is baseness and unbecoming a gallant man to attend upon the flow and leisurely progresses of things and to expect their events Thus he which sense I have not neglected in my Paraphrase but comprized it among the rest and it is thus in part expressed more briefly by a wise and good man in that Age when he told his Friend who was undone because he would not mind it that he was like an unskilful Player at Tennis ever running after the Ball whereas an expert Player will stand still to observe and discern where the Ball will light or where it will rebound and there with small travel will let it fall on his Racket or on his hand i V. 9 10. These two Verses depend on the foregoing showing that anger is inconsistent with Wisdom and so is murmuring and repining at the hardship we meet withal in evil times And therefore as the same Corranus well glosses let us not throw the causes of our anger upon the times but blame our selves who at all times if we want meekness of Wisdom shall grow angry upon the most frivolous occasions and not only let loose the Reins of our anger but of all other Vices But I think this advice v. 10. is not merely to be restrained to this but extended unto all sorts of discontent which are apt to make us complain of our present condition and so to admire what is past as not to mind what is present as if they had nothing but what was good who lived before us and we nothing but what is naught in these days Whereas they complained just as we do now and that of Thucidydes was true then as it ever will be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the present is always burthensome Because as Melancthon observes we have a feeling sense of present incommodities but know what was heretofore only by report and so we praise those ancient times but do not like our own which may be as good This we are sure of that all times have their troubles and it is the part of a wise and good man to bear them and not to increase them by a foolish Cure According to that Saying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 let not one evil be remedied by another And that of Pythagoras 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 What portion of things fall to thy share take it and do not grumble nor be vexed at it And remember as Corranus glosses again that a truly wise man is never so transported with admiration of ancient times as to despise the present crying out those were the Golden these the Iron Ages nor will he solicitously enquire into the causes of what was then and what is now when this is certain that Vertue is the only cause of happiness and Vice of infelicity which in what time soever we fall always produce the same effect And to imagine that the ancient times had no evil in them and ours no good is the conceit of man that judges inconsiderately For our eyes ought not to be so fixed upon the present calamities of our days as blindly to overlook all the good nor is the ancient felicity to be so admired as not to remember that they also conflicted with many Tempests and perhaps greater than we as their frequent complaints of their times do abundantly testifie He therefore that is wise and fears God will make account as the truth is that it is in our own choice by his Grace whether the times shall be good or bad for if he live well they cannot be bad to him as on the contrary they cannot be good if he live wickedly I am the longer in these Observations because they are things of mighty moment but most of the rest I shall contract as much as is possible k V. 11. Most take this Verse as denoting their happiness who have Riches as well as Wisdom which commonly is despised without Wealth But the words may bear another construction which I have not neglected because it agrees well with what follows that Wisdom is equal to an Inheritance nay much to be preferred before it For they may be thus translated Both Wisdom and an Inheritance are profitable for men in this world but especially Wisdom Or as Maldonate renders the last Clause Et Residuum est videntibus Solem and there is a remainder to those that see the Sun That is when all things in this World fail us the fruits of Wisdom only remain with us l V. 12. This is further explained in this Verse Where it will be needless to do more than barely observe that the word we render defence is shadow in the Hebrew which in
taken away from thee which now thou wilt not bestow upon needy people c. c V. 3. In this Verse he illustrates both the Duty and the reason of it The former by the Clouds which are a fit Emblem of Charity the second by the Trees which can bring forth Fruit no longer than they continue joined to their Root from which being separated they bear no more nor can be fixed to their Root as the Clouds may be filled with Water again So I have interpreted the latter part of this Verse which Grotius understands as if it meant no more than the foregoing Do good to men without distinction like him who when he cuts down a Tree regards not which way it falls I omit other Interpretations and shall only mention Maldonate's Gloss upon this Verse which is ingenious enough He urges us saith he to do good while we live by two Reasons First From the profit of it because we shall receive more than we give like the Clouds which receive from the Earth but a thin Vapour which they return to it in most copious Showres The second From the impossibility of being in a capacity to do good when we are dead for then like a Tree we must continue as we are when Death seizes us and never be restored to our former condition again Corranus alone as far as I can find expounds the latter part thus in his Annotations A Tree in what place soever it is planted there abides and brings forth Fruit and so ought we to help others by all manner of means in whatsoever place or time we live And he takes North and South for all Parts of the World If any think fit to apply this unto the unalterable condition wherein we must remain in the other World like a Tree cut down which if it fall toward the North cannot change its positure and turn to the South they cannot follow a fitter Gloss upon the Words than this of Luther's If the Lord find thee in the South that is fruitful and rich in good works it will be well but if in the North that is barren of good works it will be ill with thee Howsoever thou art found so thou shalt be judged and so thou shalt likewise receive d V. 4. And then follows here an Admonition to take the first opportunity of doing good and not to deferr it because now it may seem unseasonable and we fansie it may do better another time Which the Lord Bacon extends unto all other things as well as Alms. There is no greater or more frequent impediment of action saith be in the Conclusion of the First Chapter of the VIIIth Book of Advancement of Learning than an over-curious observation of decency and of that other Ceremony attending on it which is too scrupulous election of time and opportunity For Solomon saith excellently He that observeth the Wind c. We must make opportunity oftner than find it And thus that great Prince Xerxes otherwise not very prudent speaks very discreetly in Herodotus L.VII. Be not fearful of all things nor consider every thing minutely for if in the considertion of business thou wilt weigh every thing alike thou shalt never be able to do any thing And thus Melancthon understands this place As events are not in our power which he takes to be the meaning of v. 3. so he that will have certain and circumscribed events that is such and such things come to pass before he act will never attempt any thing And so a great Divine of our own expounds it If we will suspend our resolution till we can bethink our selves of something free from all inconveniencies in most of our deliberations we shall never resolve upon any thing at all God having so tempered things that every commodity hath its incommodiousness every conveniency some inconvenience attending it which many times all the wit and industry of man is not able to sever Bishop Sanderson's Sermon upon 1 Corinth X. 23. p. 245. Saint Hierom also elegantly accommodates these Words to negligent Pastors who will not preach but when the people are very desirous to hear and there is a fair Gale breathing to favour their design And gives this Advice to us Do not say this is a fit time that is unprofitable for we are ignorant what is the way and what is the will of the Spirit which dispenseth all things e V. 5. In this Verse he seems to pursue the same Metaphor of the Wind which blows uncertainly and no body knows whence nor from what causes And therefore from our ignorance of that and indeed of all other things which we are here conversant withal of our own Soul for instance which our Translators understand by the Word Ruach Spirit and of our own Body or of that vis formatrix how it goes about its Work to make this Body of ours in the Womb which may possibly be meant by Spirit XXXIII Job 4. CIV Psal 30. Solomon perswades us not to presume to know how God intends to order the course of this World in his over-ruling Providence and therefore to do our Duty and leave events to Him f V. 6. Imitating the Husbandman with which Metaphor he began this Discourse and now concludes it who not knowing which will prosper sows both early Corn and late So Symmachus understands this Verse to be an allusion to those that sow some very forward Seed which perhaps may hit when that which is sown at the ordinary time doth not Or perhaps both may succeed and bring forth Fruit to their great enriching Others take morning and evening only to signifie all times g V. 7. I have continued this Verse with the foregoing and supposed what all Interpreters do in the third and fourth Verses that the comparison is imperfect there being only the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Hermogenes speaks the Proposition of the Sentence and the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that which answers unto it left to be made by the Reader Which I have supplied from the sense of the whole foregoing Discourse in this Chapter Others think a new Discourse here begins for the Conclusion of the whole Book and that after all he had said of happiness he advises every one to think of another life and not expect to find it in this Or as some understand him his meaning is Now you have seen wherein happiness doth not and wherein it doth consist therefore do not either imagine there is none at all here in this World or that it is greater than really it is But take a middle course which I have shown you and look upon this life as having pleasure in it but not absolutely perfect yet such as our condition will permit begun here and to be completed in another World h V. 8. The beginning of this Verse I have expounded according to the Hebrew where the Words run thus as St. Hierom himself translates them If a man live many years let him rejoyce in all these things
weight of it having lost their power to support him his teeth likewise so rotten or worn away or fallen out that they cannot thew his Meat and the sight of his eyes which were wont to show him things at a great distance now so failing him that he cannot know one man from another though they stand hard by him See Annot. c. 4. And the doors shall be shut in the streets when the sound of the grinding is low and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird and all the daughters of musick shall be brought low 4. Is this the time to gain acceptance with God when he is despised by men and excluded the publick Assemblies because his voice is so low that no Body can hear him Nay his Lips look as if they were closed and fall so inward that he can but mumble by reason of the loss of his Teeth the weakness of his Lungs and the defect of other Instruments of Speech Nor can he recruit himself as he was wont by rest for sound sleep departs from his eyes and he wakes as early as the Birds but is not pleased at all with their Songs his hearing being so dull and flat that he is not moved by the best Musick in the World though he listen and incline his ears unto it with never so much diligence See Annot. d 5. Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high and fears shall be in the way and the almond-tree shall flourish and the grashopper shall be a burden and desire shall fail because man goeth to his long home and the mourners go about the streets 5. For joy and all such pleasant passions being fled away melancholy fear alone remains which makes him scarce dare to tread in the High-way much less his head is so giddy to go up a Pair of Stairs nay he thinks himself unsafe in the strongest Fortress Such is the feebleness of Old Age which looks venerably by its Grey Hairs but they are an early sign of approaching death and are made contemptible by his crumpled Shoulders Hips and Back which as they are of themselves a sufficient Load so are relieved and supported by no bodily pleasures the very desires of which now fail him for there is but a very short step between him and his Grave unto which if he be carried with the usual Solemnities it is all his Friends can do for him See Annot. e 6. Or ever the silver cord be loosed or the golden bowl be broken or the pitcher be broken at the fountain or the wheel broken at the cistern 6. Remember therefore thy Creator while the noble Faculties of sense and motion remain intire and are strong and lively for the time will come and that will be very unfit for this or indeed any other business when they will be totally disabled the Nerves for instance will shrink up and be dispirited the Brain it self and all those precious Vessels wherein it is contained be of no use at all unto thee For the very Fountain of Life the Heart will fail and the Veins and Arteries no longer carry the Blood round the Body but the motion will cease by the decay of that power which now thrusts it forward in a contitinual Circulation See Annot. f 7. Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it 7. And then what remains but that the Soul and Body being parted they go to their several Originals The Body tho' now so fair a Fabrick to the Earth out of which it was taken according to that ancient Doom passed upon it Dust thou art and unto dust thou shalt return but the Soul unto God to be judged by him according to what it hath done in the Body since He sent it thither See Annot. g 8. ¶ Vanity of vanities saith the preacher all is vanity 8. And if this be the Conclusion of all our labours I have reason to conclude this Book as I began it and listen I beseech you again to him who proclaims nothing to you but what he hath proved in this Discourse that there is no solid satisfaction to be found in any thing here below where all things are both full of care and trouble as well as uncertain and perishing and therefore it is the height of folly to take great thought for this present life and to lay up nothing for the life to come See Annot. h 9. And moreover because the preacher was wise he still taught the people knowledge yea he gave good heed and sought out and set in order many proverbs 9. Perhaps you may still think otherwise and therefore I have this now to add and so shall summ up all I have said that I am as likely to judge aright as another man being indued with Wisdom from above by an extraordinary gift of God 1 Kings III. 12. IV. 30 c. whose Goodness also I have imitated in communicating my knowledge freely unto others Nay knowing that by sloth or envy the greatest Wisdom may be lost the more I understood the more diligent I was in informing others Nor did Divine illuminations make me either neglect my own Studies or other mens inventions but I listned unto all from whom I might hope to learn any thing and both weighed what they said and also made an exact search into things my self of which that not only the present Age but Posterity also might reap the benefit I have gathered together and aptly disposed and fitted to all capacities abundance of excellent pithy Sentences for instruction in Wisdom and Vertue 1 Kings IV. 32. See Annot. i 10. The preacher sought to find out acceptable words and that which was written was upright even words of truth 10. Thus I that preach these things have employed my pains in seeking with no less diligence than covetous men do for money both the most pleasant and the most useful and most certain Knowledge and having found what I sought I may safely affirm that Nothing is said by me but what ought to be most acceptable being apt to give the greatest contentment and delight Nothing written by me but what I found in the Divine Writings or is so exactly agreeable thereunto that it is a straight and faithful Rule of life there is nothing frivolous or doubtful in them but they contain the most solid Wisdom as sure and true as truth it self See Annot. k 11. The words of the wise are as goads and as nails fastned by the masters of assemblies which are given from one shepherd 11. And there is the same power in them as there is wont to be in all the acute Sayings of those that are wise and good to excite and stir up the minds of slothful men to the practice of Vertue that there is in a Goad to prick the dull Oxe forward to draw the Plow Nor do they only sting and move the mind for the present but are apt to stick as
Casement through which all things are transmitted to the inward sense of Seeing Until the Skins and the humours also grow too thick and the very Figure of the Eye as some have observed be changed by the dryness of the Chrystalline humour and then the house is darkned Aristotle in his Problems Sect. 31. Quaest 14. expresses it thus in short 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. when men grow into years their sight grows dull because in the eyes of Old men the Skin is both hard and also rugged so that their sight is obscured d V. 4. this Verse hath greater difficulty in it especially in the beginning and the doors shall be shut in the streets when the sound of the grinding is low But the LXX suggest an unexceptionable sense of this Passage in my Opinion which is that they are shut out of all publick meetings because of the lowness of their voice which formerly was as loud as a Mill. And there is little reason to doubt but by doors are meant the lips it being a frequent expression in Scripture and by the lowness of the sound of grinding the lowness of the voice from the loss of teeth or the weakness of respiration in short from the defect there is in the Organs of Speech Nor do I see why Maldonate's Translation may not be allowed which is still more simple and therefore I have taken notice of it in my Paraphrase the lips are shut without so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may be translated foris extrinsecus that is they sink and are compressed when the voice grows weak and tremulous because of those that grind that is by the falling of the teeth Thus he But it may more exactly be translated thus by the falling low of the voice of which the teeth are the principal instruments And the whole I have sometimes thought may not incongruously be translated in this manner His lips are shut in his mouth for the mouth is the street or high-way into this house of which Solomon is speaking by the falling down of the voice of grinding i. e. the voice that is made by grinding the Air as it were between the teeth and the roof of the mouth c. It might be referred to the eating meat seldom because of his bad digestion the Meat being ground in the Stomach as in a Mill if the word voice or sound would agree to this Which renders Dr. Smith's Interpretation very difficult in my judgment Who by doors understands all the inlets and outlets of the Body and by streets the open ways and Passages in the Body in which the matter of nourishment is conveyed and passeth without lett or molestation and by shutting these doors the ceasing from their use and by grinding the digestions and concoctions in the Stomach Bowels Mesentery Glandules c. all which is well enough though perhaps too Philosophical and by the voice of these concoctions the natural symptoms significative of digestions all those indications which demonstrate the work of Nature to proceed aright Which seems to me very far fetcht and too great a straining of the Word voice or sound however I have here mentioned it that they who are pleased with it may follow that Interpretation which is very ingenious The next Passage in this Verse is easier though it is uncertain whether he mean that the chirping of the least Bird wakes him or that he wakes early when the Birds do For tzippor signifies all kind of Birds great and small and may be interpreted of the Cock as well as any other and the meaning be He gets up at the Cock-crowing This last seems most probable because being thick of hearing as the next Passage signifies it cannot be supposed that the least noise disturbs him Though I confess the meaning may be that a small noise wakes him sooner than Thunder would have done in his young days The daughters of Musick if it refer to the Parts of the Body I take not to be those Organs of it which make Musick but which receive it being made For the Hebrews call that the Son of a thing which is fitted or designed for that of which it is said to be the Son Thus an Arrow is called the Son of the Bow or Quiver XLI Isai 19. III. Lament 13. and Wheat called the Son of the Threshing floor XXI Isai 18. and so the Daughters of Musick may be those parts where Musick is entertained Yet there is one Objection against this which lies in the Word all which cannot properly be applied to the ears because there are but two of them and we never say all the ears but both the ears Which makes some think that hereby we are rather to understand all sorts of Musick which are made either by instruments or voice But to this it may be answered that the Word all refers to the several parts of the ear in which the sound is formed both the winding chanels in the outward part and the Tympanum and the three cavities and as many little bones in the inward part together with the auditory nerve it self All which are manifestly contrived on purpose to receive sounds which are born here and so may be called their Daughters which in Youth are brisk and spritely but are humbled as the LXX translates it and flat in Old Age. There is no necessity I acknowledge of interpreting this Passage thus though it seem most agreeable to the rest of the description because it may be translated the daughters of a song that is singing women are not valued at all by old men They account them nothing worth and would not give as we say a Farthing for them Old Barzillai confesses this imperfection 2 Sam. XIX 35. Which place Saint Hierom thinks may very well explain this e V. 5. And it is attended with a greater which is the passion of fear unto which Old Age is very subject from defect of Spirits weakness of imagination as well as of Bodily Organs which are unable to resist any dangers which Old men also are apt to apprehend greater than they really are For as their heads turn giddy if they ascend to any high place so they tremble in the plain way for fear of a Stone a Clod an Hole any unevenness by the rising or depression of the Earth for so Grotius thinks the Words may be expounded though the antient Interpreters do not favour it He is afraid to stumble at the rising or falling of the Earth or he fears he may be pusht down by others if he do not fall of himself in a word he knows not what he may meet withal and therefore fears Or it may be expounded as Maldonate takes it He never thinks himself safe though he be in an high Fortress Or dreads an high Wall though never so firm lest it should fall upon him There are some that expound the first Words of this Verse thus He is afraid of Spirits and separate Souls of those excellent Beings which dwell
especially among those Great Persons spoken of before who seriously considers it and believes that the souls of all mankind go to God that gave them XII 7. to be judged by Him v. 17. of this Chapter whereas the Souls of Beasts perish with them No herein they differ not at all from Beasts that having buried their minds in brutish pleasures they have no more sense of a future life than they but imagine that their souls die together with their bodies So senselesly stupied are they that trample upon the rest of Mankind and yet have such ignoble thoughts of themselves that they imagine their very souls are no longer-liv'd than a Beast See Annot. k 22. Wherefore I percieve that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoyce in his own works for that is his portion for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him 22. And therefore considering that our Bodies have no privilege above the Beasts and that Mankind are so liable to be abused by those who should protect them v. 16 19 20. I was confirmed in my former Opinion II. 24. that it is best for a man herein also to imitate the Beasts by enjoying freely the good things God hath blessed him withal and taking all the comfort he can find in them at present without solicitous care about the future For this is all he can be sure of it being in no mans power to secure him he shall enjoy that hereafter which he makes no use of now much less when he is dead can he be brought back again to take any pleasure in the fruit of all his labours or see what becomes of them ANNOTATIONS a V. 1. season The Hebrew words Zeman and Gneth signifie either that point of time when things being ripe come forth of themselves by the constitution of their several Beings as all natural things do or that occasion which serves our voluntary actions and is fit for effecting what we design The Hebrews observe that Solomon here reckons seven opposite Seasons of each sort as a complete demonstration by induction of the truth of this General Proposition in the first Verse Which bolds good even in Vertue it self which is not proper but in its place For Fortitude hath not always been successful as the Lord Herbert observes nor Temperance safe nor Justice opportune the fury and insolence of the outragious people having in some insurrections grown to that excess that is hath been greater Wisdom to pass by a while than to punish them And it is very apparent also in our Councels when they are conducted merely by humane Wisdom which is not able without a Divine direction to chuse the most fortunate as we call them and happy Seasons for undertakings Brutus Cicero Hertius Pansa all thought to restore the ancient estate of the Roman Commonwealth as Melancthon notes but were deceived and after the same manner many are still and will always be deceived Then businesses proceed when we obey his Divine directions and He assists and yet then sometimes more and sometimes less difficultly b V. 3. kill In the third Verse I have taken the liberty of following my own Judgment in expounding the first part of it which I have not referred to punishing and sparing Offenders as Interpreters do but to the condition of Diseases that are in our own Bodies For though the other be an excellent sense yet this seems to be more agreeable to the Wise mans meaning Because he is hitherto speaking of things Natural and the word heal also directs rather to that sense which I have given of killing than the common one The same may be said of the next part of the Verse there being a craziness in Buildings as well as in the Body of man and some Weather so improper to raise a Fabrick that the parts will not hang together but that which cements them moulders so fast away that that time were better spent in pulling down an house than in building it up As for the rest of the Calender or Ephemeris as the Lord Bacon calls it which the Wise man hath made of the diversities of times and occasions for all actions I need give no further account of it here than I have done in the Paraphrase c V. 9. What profit Nor is it hard to expound the inference he makes in this Verse from the foregoing induction which I have expressed as fully as I could in the Paraphrase and more largely in the Argument of this Chapter Gregory Nazianzen thinks he only intends to reflect upon the great inconstancy as of all earthly things so of humane actions sometimes for instance men are madly in love with a Woman and in time they as much hate her now they are eager to get and at another time they profusely spend sometimes they kill and sometimes are killed sometimes do nothing but talk and at another time have not a word to say c. and therefore all his labours are vain But I have extended it further with a respect to other things which the forenamed induction suggests to us d V. 11. world in their heart There is greater difficulty in this Verse if we connect it with the rest of the Discourse as we ought to do Which I have endeavoured to explain by taking the word Haolam the World for the present state of things in this Age wherein we live which is a genuine sense of it whereof God hath given us some understanding but not so perfect as to be able to give an account of the reason and scope of every thing that we see happen in this World because we are ignorant of what went before and of what will follow after when we had or shall have no Being here It is commonly understood of the works of Nature And in this sense the Lord Bacon in the beginning of his Book of the Advancement of Learning hath admirably expounded it in this manner In these words He hath placed the world in mans heart c. Solomon declares not obscurely that God hath framed the mind of man as a Mirrour or Looking-glass capable of the Image of the whole World and as desirous to receive it as the eye is to entertain the light and not only delighted in beholding the variety of things and the vicissitude of times but ambitious to find out and discover the immoveable and inviolable Laws and Decrees of Nature And though he intimate that this whole Oeconomy of Nature which he calls The work that God hath wrought from the beginning to the end cannot be found out by man it doth not derogate from the capacity of his mind but is to be imputed to the impediments of Learning c. There is one Interpreter Corranus who by Olam World understands the Circular motion of things for the service of man But I can find no such use of the word any where else the sense would be elegant enough which arises from thence viz. that this revolution being remote