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Section 5. Koheleth proceeds to give further illustrations of man's inability to be the architect of his own happiness. There are many things which interrupt or destroy it.
Ecc_4:1-3
First of all, he adduces the oppression of man by his fellow-man.
Ecc_4:1
So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun. This is equivalent to, "again I saw," as Ecc_4:7, with a reference to the wickedness in the place of judgment which he had noticed in Ecc_3:16. Ashukim, "oppressions," is found in Job_35:9 and Amo_3:9, and, being properly a participle passive, denotes oppressed persons or things, and so abstractedly "oppressions." Τὰς συκοφαντίας ; calumnias (Vulgate). The verb is used of high-handed injustice, of offensive selfishness, of the hindrances to his neighbor's well-being caused by a man's careless disregard of aught but his own interests. Beheld the tears of such as were oppressed; τῶν συκοφαντουμένων ; innocentium (Vulgate). He notes now not merely the fact of wrong being done, but its effect on the victim, and intimates his own pity for the sorrow. And they had no comforter. A sad refrain, echoed again at the end of the verse with touching pathos. Οὐκ ἔστιν αὐτοῖς παρακαλῶν ; they had no earthly friends to visit them in their affliction, and they as yet knew not the soothing of the Holy Ghost, the Comforter ( Παράκλητος ). There was no one to wipe away their tears (Isa_25:8) or to redress their wrongs. The point is the powerlessness of man in the face of these disorders, his inability to right himself, the incompetence of others to aid him. On the side of their oppressors there was power (koach), in a bad sense, like the Greek βία equivalent to "violence." Thus the ungodly say, in the Book of Wisdom Amo_2:11, "Let our strength be the law of justice." Vulgate, Nec posse resistere eorun violentiae, cunctorum auxilio destitutes. It is difficult to suppose that the state of things revealed by this verse existed in the days of King Solomon, or that so powerful a monarch, and one admired for "judgment and justice" (1Ki_10:9), would be content with complaining of such disorders instead of checking them. There is no token of remorse for past unprofitableness or anguish of heart at the thought of failure in duty. If we take the words as the utterance of the real Solomon, we do violence to history, and must correct the existing chronicles of his reign. The picture here presented is one of later times, and it may be of other countries. Persian rule, or the tyranny of the Ptolemies, might afford an original from which it might be taken.
Ecc_4:2
In view of these patent wrongs Koheleth loses all enjoyment of life. Wherefore (and) I praised the dead which are already dead; or, who died long ago, and thus have escaped the miseries which they would have had to endure. It must, indeed, have been a bitter experience which elicited such an avowal. To die and be forgotten an Oriental would look upon as the most calamitous of destinies. More than the living which are yet alive. For these have before them the prospect of a long endurance of oppression and suffering (comp. Ecc_7:1; Job_3:13, etc.). The Greek gnome says—
Κρεῖσσον τὸ μὴ ζῇν ἐστὶν ἢ ζῇν ἀθλίως
"Better to die than lead a wretched life."
The Septuagint version is scarcely a rendering of our present text: "Above the living, as many as are living until now."
Ecc_4:3
Yea, better is he than both they, which hath not yet been. Thus we have Job's passionate appeal (Job_3:11), "Why died I not from the womb? why did I not give up the ghost when I came forth," etc.? And in the Greek poets the sentiment of the text is re-echoed. Thus Theognis, 'Paroen.,' 425—
Πάντων μὲν μὴ φῦναι ἐπιχθονίοισιν ἄριστον
Μηδ ἐσιδεῖν αὐγὰς ὀξέος ἠελίου
Φύντα δ ὅπως ὤκιστα πύλας Ἀΐ́δαο περῆσαι
Καὶ κεῖσθαι πολλὴν γῆν ἐπαμησάμενον
"'Tis best for mortals never to be born,
Nor ever see the swift sun's burning rays;
Next best, when born, to pass the gates of death
Right speedily, and rest beneath the earth."
Cicero, 'Tusc. Disp.,' 1.48, renders some lines from a lost play of Euripides to the same effect—
"Nam nos decebat, caetus celebrantes, domum
Lugere, ubi esset aliquis in lucern editus,
Humanae vitae varia reputantes mala;
At qui labores metre finisset graves,
Hunc omni amicos lauds et laetitia exsequi."
Herodotus (5. 4) relates how some of the Thracians had a custom of bemoaning a birth and rejoicing at a death. In our own Burial Service we thank God for delivering the departed "out of the miseries of this sinful world." Keble alludes to this barbarian custom in his poem on' The Third Sunday after Easter.' Speaking of a Christian mother's joy at a child's birth, he says—
"No need for her to weep
Like Thracian wives of yore,
Save when in rapture still and deep
Her thankful heart runs o'er.
They mourned to trust their treasure on the main,
Sure of the storm, unknowing of their guide:
Welcome to her the peril and the pain,
For well she knows the home where they may safely hide."
, sqq.; 'Gorgias,' p. 512, A.) The Buddhist religion does not recommend suicide as an escape from the evils of life. It indeed regards man as master of his own life; but it considers suicide foolish, as it merely transfers a man's position, the thread of life having to be taken up again under less favorable circumstances. See 'A Buddhist Catechism,' by Subhadra Bhikshu. Who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun. He repeats the words, "under the sun," from verse 1, in order to show that he is speaking of facts that came under his own regard—outward phenomena which any thoughtful observer might notice (so again verse 7).
Ecc_4:4-6
Secondly, success meets with envy, and produces no lasting good to the worker; yet, however unsatisfactory the result, man must continue to labor, as idleness is ruin.
Ecc_4:4
Again, I considered all travail, and every right work. The word rendered "right" is kishron (see on Ecc_2:21), and means rather "dexterity," "success." Kohe-leth says that he reflected upon the industry that men exhibit, and the skill and dexterity with which they ply their incessant toil. There is no reference to moral rectitude in the reflection, and the allusion to the ostracism of Aristides for being called "Just" overshoots the mark (see Wordsworth, in loc.). Septuagint, σύμπασαν ἀνρίαν τοῦ ποιήματος , "all manliness of his work." That for this a man is envied of his neighbor. Kinah may mean either "object of envy" or "envious rivalry;" i.e. the clause may be translated as above, or, as in the Revised Version margin, "it cometh of a man's rivalry with his neighbor." The Septuagint is ambiguous, Ὅτι αὐτὸ ζῆλος ἀνδρὸς ἀπὸ τοῦ ἑταίρου αὐτοῦ , "That this is a man's envy from his comrade;" Vulgate, Industrias animadverti patere invidiae proximi, "Lay open to a neighbor's envy." In the first case the thought is that unusual skill and success expose a man to envy and ill will, which rob labor of all enjoyment. In the second case the writer says that this superiority and dexterity arise from a mean motive, an envious desire to outstrip a neighbor, and, based on such low ground, can lead to nothing but vanity and vexation of spirit, a striving after wind. The former explanation seems more in accordance with Koheleth's gloomy view. Success itself is no guarantee of happiness; the malice and ill feeling which it invariably occasions are necessarily a source of pain and distress.
Ecc_4:5
The connection of this verse with the preceding is this: activity, diligence, and skill indeed bring success, but success is accompanied by sad results. Should we, then, sink into apathy, relinquish work, let things slide? Nay, none but the fool (kesil), the insensate, half-brutish man, doth this. The fool foldeth his hands together. The attitude expresses laziness and disinclination for active labor, like that of the sluggard in Pro_6:10. And eateth his own flesh. Ginsburg, Plumptre, and others take these words to mean "and yet eats his meat," i.e. gets that enjoyment from his sluggishness which is denied to active diligence. They refer, in proof of this interpretation, to Exo_16:8; Exo_21:28; Isa_22:13; Eze_39:17, in which passages, however, the phrase is never equivalent to "eating his food." The expression is really equivalent to "destroys himself," "brings ruin upon himself." Thus we have in Psa_27:2, "Evildoers came upon me to eat up my flesh;" and in Mic_3:3, "Who eat the flesh of my people" (comp. Isa_49:26). The sluggard is guilty of moral suicide; he takes no trouble to provide for his necessities, and suffers extremities in consequence. Some see in this verse and the following an objection and its answer. There is no occasion for this view, and it is not in keeping with the context; but it contains an intimation of the true exposition, which makes Mic_3:6 a proverbial statement of the sluggard's position. The verbs in the text are participial in form, so that the Vulgate rendering, which supplies a verb, is quite admissible: Stultus complicat manna suas, et comedit carnes suas, dicens: Melior est, etc.
Ecc_4:6
Better is a handful with quietness; literally, better a hand full of rest. Than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit; literally, than two hands full of travail, etc. This verse, which has been variously interpreted, is most simply regarded as the fool's defense of his indolence, either expressed in his own words or fortified by a proverbial saying. One open hand full of quietness and rest is preferable to two closed hands full of toil and vain effort. The verse must not be taken as the writer's warning against sloth, which would be out of place here, but as enunciating a maxim against discontent and that restless activity which is never satisfied with moderate returns.
Ecc_4:7-12
Thirdly, avarice causes isolation and a sense of insecurity, and brings no satisfaction.
Ecc_4:7
Then I returned. Another reflection serves to confirm the uselessness of human efforts. The vanity under the sun is now avarice, with the evils that accompany it.
Ecc_4:8
There is one alone, and there is not a second; or, without a second—a solitary being, without partner, relation, or friend. Here, he says, is another instance of man's inability to secure his own happiness. Wealth indeed, is supposed to make friends, such as they are; but miserliness and greed separate a man from his fellows, make him suspicious of every one, and drive him to live alone, churlish and unhappy. Yea, he hath neither child nor brother; no one to share his wealth, or for whom to save and amass riches. To apply these words to Solomon himself, who had brothers, and one son, if not more, is manifestly inappropriate. They may possibly refer to some circumstance in the writer's own life; but of that we know nothing. Yet is there no sad of all his labor. In spite of this isolation he plies his weary task, and ceases not to hoard. Neither is his eye satisfied with riches; so that he is content with what he has (comp. Ecc_2:10; Pro_27:20). The insatiable thirst for gold, the dropsy of the mind, is a commonplace theme in classical writers. Thus Horace, 'Caxm.,' 3.16. 17—
"Crescentem sequitur cura pecuniam, Majorumque fames."
And Juvenal, 'Sat.,' 14.138—
"Interea pleno quum turget sacculus ore,
Crescit amor nummi, quantum ipsa pecunia crevit."
Neither, saith he, For whom do I labor, and bereave my soul of good? The original is more dramatic than the Authorized Version or the Vulgate, Nec recogitat, dicens, Cui laboro, etc.? The writer suddenly puts himself in the place of the friendless miser, and exclaims, "And for whom do I labor," etc.? We see something similar in Ecc_4:15 and Ecc_2:15. Here we cannot find any definite allusion to the writer's own circumstances. The clause is merely a lively personification expressive of strong sympathy with the situation described (comp. Ecc_2:18). Good may mean either riches, in which case the denial to the soul refers to the enjoyment which wealth might afford, or happiness and comfort. The Septuagint has ἀγαθωσύνης , "goodness," "kindness "—which gives quite a different and not so suitable an idea. Sore travail; a sad business, a woeful employment.
Ecc_4:9
Koheleth dwells upon the evils of isolation, and contrasts with them the comfort of companionship. Two are better than one. Literally, the clause refers to the two and the one mentioned in the preceding verse; but the gnome is true in general. "Two heads are better than one," says our proverb. Because (asher here conjunctive, not relative) they have a good reward for their labor. The joint labors of two produce much more effect than the efforts of a solitary worker. Companionship is helpful and profitable. Ginsburg quotes the rabbinical sayings,, Either friendship or death;" and "A man without friends is like a left hand without the right." Thus the Greek gnome—
"Man helps his fellow, city saves."
Χεὶρ χεῖρα νίπτει δάκτυλός τε δάκτυλον .
"Hand cleanseth hand, and finger cleanseth finger."
(Comp. Pro_17:17; Pro_27:17; Ecclesiasticus 6:14.) So Christ sent out his apostles two and two (Mar_6:7).
Ecc_4:10
Koheleth illustrates the benefit of association by certain familiar examples. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow. If one or the other fall, the companion will aid him. The idea is that two travelers are making their way over a rough road—an experience that every one must have had in Palestine. Vulgate, Si unus ceciderit. Of course, if both fell at the same time, one could not help the other. Commentators quote Homer, 'Iliad,' 10.220-226, thus rendered by Lord Derby—
"Nestor, that heart is mine;
I dare alone Enter the hostile camp, so close at hand;
Yet were one comrade giv'n me, I should go
With more of comfort, more of confidence.
Where two combine, one before other sees
The better course; and ev'n though one alone
The readiest way discover, yet would be
His judgment slower, his decision less."
Woe to him that is alone. The same interjection of sorrow, àÄé , occurs in Ecc_10:16, but elsewhere only in late Hebrew. The verse may be applied to moral falls as well as to stumbling at natural obstacles. Brother helps brother to resist temptation, while many have failed when tried by isolation who would have manfully withstood if they had had the countenance and support of others.
"Clear before us through the darkness
Gleams and burns the guiding light;
Brother clasps the hand of brother,
Stepping fearless through the night."
Ecc_4:11
The first example of the advantage of companionship spoke of the aid and support that are thus given; the present verse tells of the comfort thus brought. If two lie together, then they have heat. The winter nights in Palestine are comparatively cold, and when, as in the case of the poorer inhabitants, the outer garment worn by day was used as the only blanket during sleep (Exo_22:26, Exo_22:27), it was a comfort to have the additional warmth of a friend lying under the same coverlet. Solomon could have had no such experience.
Ecc_4:12
The third instance shows the value of the protection afforded by a companion's presence when danger threatens. If one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; better, if a man overpower the solitary one, the two (Ecc_4:9) will withstand him. The idea of the traveler is continued. If he were attacked by robbers, he would be easily overpowered when alone; but two comrades might successfully resist the assault. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken. This is probably a proverbial saying, like our "Union is strength." Hereby the advantage of association is more strongly enforced. If the companionship of two is profitable, much more is this the case when more combine. The cord of three strands was the strongest made. The number three is used as the symbol of completeness and perfection. Funiculus triplex diffcile rumpitur, the Vulgate rendering, has become a trite saying; and the gnome has been constantly applied in a mystical or spiritual sense, with which, originally and humanly speaking, it has no concern. Herein is seen an adumbration of the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, the Eternal Three in One; of the three Christian virtues, faith, hope, and charity, which go to make the Christian life; of the Christian's body, soul, and spirit, which are consecrated as a temple of the Most High.
Ecc_4:13-16
High place offers no assurance of security. A king's popularity is never permanent; he is supplanted by some clever young aspirant for a time, whose influence in turn soon evaporates, and the subject-people reap no benefit from the change.
Ecc_4:13
Better is a poor and wise child than an old and foolish king. The word translated "child" (yeled), is used sometimes of one beyond childhood (see Gen_30:26; Gen_37:30; 1Ki_12:8), so here it may be rendered "youth." Misken, πενὴς , pauper (Vulgate), "poor," is found also at Ecc_9:15, Ecc_9:16, and nowhere else; but the root, with an analogous signification, occurs at Deu_8:9 and Isa_40:20. The clause says that a youth who is clever and adroit, though sprung from a sordid origin, is better off than a king who has not learned wisdom with his years, and who, it is afterwards implied, is dethroned by this young man. Who will no more be admonished; better, as in the Revised Version, who knoweth not how to receive admonition any more. Age has only fossilized his self-will and obstinacy; and though he was once open to advice and hearkened to reproof, he now bears no contradiction and takes no counsel. Septuagint, Ὅς οὐκ ἔγνω τοῦ προέχειν ἔτι , "Who knows not how to take heed any longer;" which is perhaps similar to the Vulgate, Qui nescit praevidere in posterum, "Who knows not how to look forward to the future." The words will bear this translation, and it accords with one view of the author's meaning (see below); but that given above is more suitable to the interpretation of the paragraph which approves itself to us. The sentence is of general import, and may be illustrated by a passage from the Book of Wisdom (Wis. 4:8, 9), "Honorable age is not that which standeth in length of time, nor that is measured by length of years. But wisdom is the grey hair unto men, and an unspotted life is old age." So Cicero, 'De Senect.,' 18.62, "Non cant nee rugae repente auctoritatem arripere possunt, sod honeste acta superior aetas fructus capit aactoritatis extremes." Some have thought that Solomon is here speaking of himself, avowing his folly and expressing his contrition, in view of his knowledge of Jeroboam's delegation to the kingdom—the crafty youth of poor estate (1Ki_11:26, etc.), whom the Prophet Ahijah had warned of approaching greatness. But there is nothing in the recorded history of Solomon to make probable such expression of self-abasement, and our author could never have so completely misrepresented him. Here, too, is another proof that Ecclesiastes is not written by Solomon himself.
Ecc_4:14
For out of prison he cometh to reign; whereas also he that is born in his kingdom becometh poor. The ambiguity of the pronouns has induced different interpretations of this verse. It is plain that the paragraph is intended to corroborate the statement of the previous verse, contrasting the fate of the poor, clever youth with that of the old, foolish king. The Authorized Version makes the pronoun in the first clause refer to the youth, and those in the second to the king, with the signification that rich and poor change places—one is abased as the other is exalted. Vulgate, Quod de carcere catenisque interdum quis egrediatnr ad regnum; et alius natus in regno inopia consummatur. The Septuagint is somewhat ambiguous, Ὅτι ἐξ οἴκου τῶν δεσμίων ελξελεύσεται τοῦ βασιλεῦσαι ὅτι καί γε ἐν βασιλείᾳ αὐτοῦ ἐγενήθη πένης , "For from the house of prisoners he shall come forth to reign, because in his kingdom he [who?] was born [or, 'became'] poor." It seems, however, most natural to make the leading pronouns in both clauses refer to the youth, and thus to render: "For out of the house of prisoners goeth he forth to reign, though even in his kingdom he was born poor." Beth hasurim is also rendered "house of fugitives," and Hitzig takes the expression as a description of Egypt, whither Jeroboam fled to escape the vengeance of Solomon. Others see here an allusion to Joseph, who was raised from prison, if not to be king, at least to an exalted position which might thus be designated. In this case the old and foolish king who could not look to the future is Pharaoh, who could not understand the dream which was sent for his admonition. Commentators have wearied themselves with endeavoring to find some other historical basis for the supposed allusion in the passage. But although many of these suggestions (e.g. Saul and David, Joash and Amaziah, Cyrus and Astyages, Herod and Alexander) meet a part of the case, none suit the whole passage (Ecc_4:13-16). It is possible, indeed, that some particular allusion is intended to some circumstance or event with which we are not acquainted. At the same time, it seems to us that, without much straining of language, the reference to Joseph can be made good. If it is objected that it cannot be said that Joseph was born in the kingdom of Egypt, we may reply that the words may be taken to refer to his cruel position in his own country, when he was despoiled and sold, and may be said metaphorically to have "become poor;" or the word nolad may be considered as equivalent to "came," "appeared," and need not be restricted to the sense of "born."
Ecc_4:15
I considered all the living which walk under the sun; or, I have seen all the population. The expression is hyperbolical, as Eastern monarchs speak of their dominions as if they comprised the whole world (see Dan_4:1; Dan_6:25). With the second child that shall stand up in his stead. "With" ( òÄí ) means "in company with," "on the side of;" and the clause should be rendered, as in the Revised Version, That they were with the youth, the second, that stood up in his stead. The youth who is called the second is the one spoken of in the previous verses, who by general acclamation is raised to the highest place in the realm, while the old monarch is dethroned or depreciated. He is named second, as being the successor of the other, either in popular favor or on the throne. It is the old story of worshipping the rising sun. The verse may still be applied to Joseph, who was made second to Pharaoh, and was virtually supreme in Egypt, standing in the king's place (Gen_41:40-44).
Ecc_4:16
There is no end of all the people, even of all that have been before them. The paragraph plainly is carrying on the description of the popular enthusiasm for the new favorite. The Authorized Version completely obscures this meaning. It is better to translate, Numberless were the people, all, at whose head he stood. Koheleth places himself in the position of a spectator, and marks how numerous are the adherents who flock around the youthful aspirant. "Nullus finis omni populo, omnibus, quibus praefuit" (Gesenius, Rosenmüller, Volck). Yet his popularity was not lasting and his influence was not permanent. They also that come after shall not rejoice in him. In spite of his cleverness, and notwithstanding the favor with which he is now regarded, those of a later generation shall flout his pretensions and forget his benefits. If we still continue the allusion to Joseph, we may see here in this last clause a reference to the change that supervened when another king arose who knew him not (Exo_1:8), and who, oblivious of the services of this great benefactor, heavily oppressed the Israelites. This experience leads to the same result; it is all vanity and vexation of spirit.
1. Even on the assumption of no hereafter, this is not evident. The already dead are not praised because they enjoyed better times on earth than the now living have. But
(1) if they had better times when living, they have these no more, having ceased to be; while
(2) if their times on earth were not superior to those of their successors, they have still only escaped these by subsiding into cold annihilation, and it has yet to be proved that "a living dog" is not "better than a dead lion" (Ecc_9:4). Besides,
(3) it is not certain there is no hereafter, which makes them pause and hesitate to jump the life to come. When they discuss with themselves the question—
"Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them?"
they generally come to Hamlet's conclusion, that it is better to
"Bear the ills we have,
Than fly to others that we know not of."
2. On the assumption that there is a hereafter, it is less certain that the dead are more to be praised than the living. It depends on who the dead are, and what the kind of existence is into which they have departed.
(1) If they have lived unrighteously on earth, it will not be safe, even on grounds of natural reason, to conclude that their condition in the unseen land into which they have vanished is better than that of the living who are yet alive, even should these also be wicked; since for these there are still time and place for repentance, which cannot be affirmed of the ungodly dead.
(2) If their lives on earth have been pious—e.g; if as Christians they have fallen asleep in Jesus—it need hardly be doubted that their condition is better even than that of the godly living, who are still dwellers in this vale of tears, subject to imperfections, exposed to temptations, and liable to sin.
II. THE SECOND FALLACY. That better than both the living and the dead are the not yet born.
1. On the assumption that this life is all, it is not universally true that not to have been born would have been a preferable lot to having been born and being dead. No doubt it is sad that one born into this world is sure, while on his pilgrimage to the tomb, to witness spectacles of oppression such as the Preacher describes; and sadder that many before they die will be the victims of such oppressions; while of all things, perhaps the saddest is that a man may even live to become the perpetrator of such cruelties; yet no one can truly affirm that human life generally contains nothing but oppression on the one side and tears upon the other, or that in any individual's life naught exists but wretchedness and woe, or that in the experiences of most the joys do not nearly counterbalance, if not actually outweigh, the griefs, while in that of not a few the pleasures far exceed the pains.
2. On the assumption of a hereafter, only one case or class of cases can be pointed to in which it would have been decidedly better not to have been born, viz. that in which one who has been born, on departing from this world, passes into an undone eternity. Christ instanced one such case (Mat_26:24); and if there be truth in the representations given by Christ and his apostles of the ultimate doom of those who die in unbelief and sin (Mat_11:22; Mat_13:41, Mat_13:42; Mat_22:13; Mat_24:51; Joh_5:29; 2Th_1:9; Rev_21:8), it will not be difficult to see that in their case also the words of the Preacher will be true.
3. In every other instance, but chiefly in that of the good, who does not see how immeasurably more blessed it is to have been born? For consider what this means. It means to have been made in the Divine image, endowed with an intellect and a heart capable of holding fellowship with and serving God. And if it also signifies to have been born into a state of sin and misery in consequence of our first parents' fall, it should not be forgotten that it signifies, in addition, to have been born into a sphere and condition of existence in which God's grace has been before one, and is waiting to lift one up, completely and for ever, out of that sin and misery if one will. No one accepting that grace will ever afterwards deem it a misfortune that he was born. Thomas Halyburton, the Scottish theologian, did not so regard his introduction to this lower world, with all its vicissitudes and woes. "Oh, blessed be God that I was born!" were his dying words. "I have a father and a mother, and ten brothers and sisters, in heaven, and I shall be the eleventh. Oh, blessed be the day that ever I was born!"
Learn:
1. The existence of sin and suffering no proof that life is an evil thing.
2. The wickedness of undervaluing existence under the sun.
3. The folly of over-praising the dead and underrating the living.
4. A worse thing than seeing "evil work" beneath the sun is doing it.
Est_4:4-8
1. The success that attends his toil. Every enterprise to which he puts his hand prospers, and in this sense is a "right" work. Never an undertaking started by him fails. Whatever he touches turns into gold. He is one of those children of fortune upon whom the sun always shines—a man of large capacity and untiring energy, who keeps plodding on, doing the right thing to pay, and doing it at the right time, and so building up for himself a vast store of wealth.
2. The drawbacks that wait on his success. The Preacher does not hint that his work has been wrong; only that success such as his has its drawbacks.
(1) It can only be attained by hard work. By Heaven's decree it is the fruit of toil; and sometimes he who finds it must sweat and labor for it, tugging away at the oar of industry like a very galley-slave, depriving his soul of good, and condemning his body to the meanest drudgery.
(2) It often springs from unworthy motives in the worker, as e.g. from ambition, or a desire to outstrip his competitors in the race for wealth; from covetousness, or a hungry longing for other people's gold; or from avarice, which means a sordid thirst for possession.
(3) It commonly leads to envy in beholders, especially in those to whom success has been denied. That it ought not to do so may be conceded; that it will not do so in those who consider that success, like every other thing, comes from God (Psa_75:6, Psa_75:7), and that a man can receive nothing except it be given him from above (Joh_3:27) is certain; that it does so, nevertheless, is apparent. In every department of life success incites some who witness it to depreciation, censoriousness, and even to backbiting and slander. "Envy spies out blemishes, that she may lower another by defeat," and when she cannot find, seldom wants the wit to invent them. Detraction is the shadow that waits upon the sun of prosperity.
(4) It is usually attended by anxiety. The man to whom success is given is often one to whom success can be of small account, being "one that is alone and hath not a second," without wife or child, brother or friend, to whom to leave his wealth, so that as this increases his perplexity augments as to what he shall do with it.
II. THE HABITUAL IDLER.
1. The folly he exhibits. Not indisposed to partake of the successful man's wealth, he is yet disinclined to the labor by which alone wealth can be secured, lie is one on whom the spirit of indolence has seized. Averse to exertion, like the sluggard, he is slumberous and slothful (Pro_6:10; Pro_24:33); and when he does awake, finds that other men's day is half through. If one must not depreciate the value of sleep, which God gives to his beloved (Psa_127:2), or pronounce all fools who have evinced a capacity for the same, since according to Thomson ('Castle of Indolence')—
"Great men have ever loved repose,"
one may recognize the folly of expecting to succeed in life while devoting one's day to indolence or slumber.
2. The wretchedness that springs from his folly. That the habitual idler should "eat his own flesh"—not have a pleasant time of it, in spite of his indolence, attain to the fruition of his desires without work (Ginsburg, Plumptre), but reduce himself to poverty and starvation, and consume himself with envy and vexation (Delitzsch, Hengstenberg, Wright)—is according to the fitness of things, as well as the teachings of Scripture (Pro_13:4; Pro_23:21; Ecc_10:18; 2Th_3:10). "Idleness is the bane of body and mind, the nurse of naughtiness, the chief author of all misery, one of the seven deadly sins, the cushion upon which the devil chiefly reposes, and a great cause not only of melancholy, but of many other diseases" (Burton).
III. THE SAGACIOUS MORALIZER.
1. His character defined. Neither of the two former, he is a happy mean between both. If he toils not like him who always succeeds, he loafs not about like the fool who never works. If he amasses not wealth, he equally escapes poverty. He works in moderation, and is contented with a competence.
2. His wisdom extolled. If he attains not to riches, he avoids the sore travail requisite to procure riches, and the vexation of spirit, or "feeding upon wind," which riches bring. If he succeeds in gathering only one fistful of the goods of earth, he has at least the priceless pearl of quietness, including ease of mind as well as comfort of body.
LESSONS.
1. Industry and contentment two Christian virtues (Rom_12:11; Eph_4:28; 1Ti_6:8; Heb_13:5).
2. Idleness and sloth two destructive sins (Pro_12:24; Ecc_10:8).
Est_4:9-12
1. Its causes. Either natural or moral, providentially imposed or deliberately chosen.
(1) Examples of the former: the individual who has no wife or friend, son or brother, because these have been removed by death (Psa_88:18); the traveler who journeys alone through some uninhabited waste (Job_38:26; Jer_2:6) or voiceless solitude; a stranger who lands on a foreign shore, with whose inhabitants he can hold no converse, because of not understanding their speech, and who lacks the assistance of a friendly interpreter.
(2) Instances of the latter: the younger son, who forsakes the parental roof, leaving behind him parents, brothers, and sisters, as well as friends and companions, acquaintances and neighbors, and departs into a far country alone to see life and make a fortune; the elder brother, who, when the old people have died, and the younger branches of the family have removed, remains unmarried, because he chooses to live entirely for himself; the busy merchant, self-contained and prosperous, who stands apart from his employees, and, without either colleague or counselor, partner or assistant, takes upon his own broad shoulders the whole weight and responsibility of a large "concern;" the student, who loves his books better than his fellows, and, eschewing intercourse with these, broods in solitude over problems too deep for his unaided intellect, that might be solved in a few hours' talk with a friend; the selfish soul, who has heart to give to no thing or person outside of self, and who fears lest his own stock of happiness should be diminished were he in an inadvertent moment to augment that of others.
2. Its miseries. Manifold and richly deserved—at least where the isolation springs from causes moral and self-chosen. Amongst the lonely man's woes may be enumerated these:
(1) the absence of those advantages and felicities that arise from companionship—a theme treated of in the next main division of this homily;
(2) the intellectual and moral deterioration that inevitably ensues on the suppression of the soul's social instincts, and the attempt to educate one's manhood apart from the family, the community, the race, of which it forms a part;
(3) the inward wretchedness that by the just decree of Heaven attends the crime (where the isolation spoken of assumes this form) of living entirely for self; and,
(4) aside from ideas of crime and guilt, the insatiable greed of self, which makes even larger demands upon one's labor, and deeper inroads upon one's peace, than all the claims of ethers would were the soul to honor these, and which, like an unpitying taskmaster, impels the soul to unceasing toil, and fills it with unending care (Est_4:8; cf. Ecc_2:23).
II. THE BENEFITS OF COMPANIONSHIP. The "good reward" for their labor which two receive in preference to one points to the advantages that flow from union. These are four.
1. Reciprocal assistance. The picture sketched by "the great orator" is that of two wayfaring men upon a dark and dangerous road, who are helpful to each other in turn as each stumbles in the path, rendered difficult to tread by gloom overhead or uneven places underfoot. Whereas each one by himself might deem it hazardous to pursue his journey, knowing that if he fell when alone he might be quite unable to rise, and might even lose his life through exposure to the inclemencies of the night or the perils of the place, each accompanied by the other pushes on with quiet confidence, realizing that, should a moment come when he has need of a second to help him up, that second will be beside him in the person of his friend.
"When two together go, each for the other
Is first to think what best will help his brother;
But one who walks alone, the' wise in mind,
Of purpose slow and counsel weak we find."
(Homer, 'Iliad,' 10.224-226.)
The application of this principle of mutual helpfulness to almost every department of life, to the home and to the city, to the state and to the Church, to the workshop and to the playground, to the school and to the university, is obvious.
2. Mutual stimulus. Illustrated from the case of two travelers, who on a cold night lie under one blanket (Exo_23:6), and keep each other warm; whereas, should they sleep apart, they would each shiver the whole night through in miserable discomfort. The counterpart of this, again, may be found in every circle of life, but more especially in the home and the Church, in both of which the inmates are enjoined and expected to be helpers and comforters of each other, considering one another to provoke unto love and good works (Heb_10:24).
3. Efficient protection. The writer notes the peril of the pilgrim whom, if alone, a robber may overpower, but whom, if accompanied by a comrade, the highwayman would not venture to attack. So multitudes of dangers assail the individual, against which he cannot protect himself by his own unaided strength, but which the friendly assistance of another may aid him to repel. As illustrations will at once present themselves, cases of sickness, temptations to sin, assaults upon the youthful believer's faith. In ordinary life men know the value of co-operation as a means of defense against invasions of what are deemed their natural rights; might the Christian Church not derive from this a lesson as to how she can best meet and cope with the assaults to which she is subjected by infidelity on the one hand, and immorality on the other?
4. Increased strength. As surely as division and isolation mean loss of power, with consequent weakness, so surely do union and co-operation signify augmented might and multiplied efficiency. The Preacher expresses this by saying, "The threefold cord will not quickly be broken." As the thickest rope may be snapped if first untwisted and taken strand by strand, so may the most formidable army be defeated, if only it can be dealt with in detached battalions, and the strongest Church may be laid in ruins if its members can be overthrown one by one. But then the converse of this is likewise true. As every strand twisted into a cable imparts to it additional strength, so every grace added to the Christian character makes it stronger to repel evil, and gives it larger ability for Christian service; while every additional believer incorporated into the body of Christ renders it the more impregnable by sin, and the more capable of furthering the progress ()f the truth.
LESSONS.
1. The sinfulness of isolation.
2. The duty of union.
3. The value of a good companion.
Est_4:13-16
1. Climbing the ladder. Originally a poor man's son, he had raised himself to be a leader of his countrymen, perhaps as Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, did in the days of Rehoboam (1Ki_11:26-28), interesting himself in the social and political condition of his fellow-subjects, sympathizing with their grievances, probably acting as their spokesman in laying these before the aged sovereign; and, when their demands were unheeded, possibly fanning their discontent, and even helping them to plot insurrection—for which, having been detected, he was cast into prison. Nevertheless, neither his humble birth nor his forcible incarceration had been sufficient to degrade him in the people's eyes.
2. Standing on the summit. Accordingly, when the tide of discontent had risen so high that they could no longer tolerate their senile and imbecile monarch, and their courage had waxed so valiant as to enable them successfully to carry through his deposition, they bethought themselves of the imprisoned hero who had espoused and was then suffering for their cause, and having fetched him forth from confinement, proceeded with him to the then deserted palace, where they placed upon his head the crown, amid shouts of jubilant enthusiasm, crying, "God save the king!" It is doubtless an ideal picture, which in its several details has often been realized; as, e.g; when Joseph was fetched from the round house of Heliopolis, and seated on the second throne of Egypt (Gen_41:14, Gen_41:40); as when David was crowned at Hebron on Saul's death by the men of Judah (2Sa_2:4), and Jeroboam at Shechem by the tribes of Israel (1Ki_12:20); as when Athaliah was deposed, and the boy Joash made king in her stead (2Ki_11:12).
3. Surveying his fortune. So far as the new-made king was concerned, the commencement of his reign was auspicious. It doubtless never occurred to him that the sun of his royal person would ever know decline, or that he would ever experience the fate of his predecessor. It was with him the dawn of rosy-fingered morn; how the day would develop was not foreseen, least of all was it discerned how the night should fall!
II. HONORED IN MANHOOD.
1. Extending his renown. Seated on his throne, he wields the scepter of irresponsible authority for a long series of years. As the drama of his life unfolds, he grows in the affections of his people. With every revolution of the sun his popularity increases. The affairs of his kingdom prosper. The extent of his dominions widens. All the kingdoms of the earth come to place themselves beneath his rule. Like another Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, Xerxes, Alexander, Caesar, he is a world-governing autocrat. "All the living who walk under the sun" are on the side of the man who had been born poor, and had once languished in a prison; neither is there any end to all the people at whose head he is.
2. Enjoying his felicity. One would say, as perhaps in the heyday of his prosperity he said to himself, the cup of his soul's happiness was full. He had obtained all the world could bestow of earthly glory, power the most exalted, influence the most extended, riches the most abundant, fame the most renowned, popularity the most secure! What could he wish else? The sun of his royal highness was shining in meridian splendor, and prostrate nations were adoring him as a god. No one surely would venture to suggest that the orb of his majestical divinity might one day suffer an eclipse. We shall see! Strange things have happened on this much-agitated planet.
III. DESPISED IN AGE.
1. The shadows gathering. The brightest earthly glory is liable to fade. One who has reached the topmost pinnacle of tame, and is the object of admiration to millions of his fellows, may yet sink so low that men shall say of him, as Mark Antony said of the fallen Caesar—
"Now lies he there,
And none so poor to do him reverence."
The idol of one age may become an object of execration to the next. As in ancient Egypt another king arose who knew not Joseph, so in the picture of the Preacher grew to manhood another generation which knew not the poor wise youth who had been his country's deliverer. He of whom it had once been said—
"All tongues speak of him, and the bleared sights
Are spectacled to see him … and such a pother [made about him],
As if that whatsoever God who leads him
Were slyly crept into his human powers,
And gave him graceful posture"—
('Coriolanus,' act 2. se. 1.)
lived to be an object of derision to his subjects.
2. The night descending. In the irony of history, the same (or a similar) fate overtook him as had devoured his predecessor. As the men and women of a past age had counted his predecessor an imbecile and a fool, so were the men and women of the present age disposed to look on him. If they did not depose him, they did not "rejoice in him," as their fathers had done when they hailed him as their country's savior; they simply suffered him to drop into ignominious contempt, and perhaps well-merited oblivion. Such spectacles of the vanity of kingly state had been witnessed before the Preacher's day, and have been not unknown since. So fared it with the boy-prince Joash (2Ki_11:12; 2Ch_24:25), and with Richard II; whose subjects cried "All hail!" to him in the day of his popularity, but to whom, when he put off his regal dignity,
"No man cried, 'God save him!'
No joyful tongue gave him his welcome home,
But dust was thrown upon his sacred head."
('King Richard II.,' act 5. sc. 2.)
Learn:
1. The vanity of earthly glory.
2. The fickleness of popular renown.
3. The ingratitude of men.
I. THE TYRANNY OF THE OPPRESSOR.
1. This implies power, which may arise from physical strength, from hereditary authority, from rank and wealth, or from civil and political position and dignity. Power will always exist in human society; drive it out at one door, and it will re-enter by another. It may be checked and restrained; but it is inseparable from our nature and state.
2. It implies the misuse of power. It may be good to have a giant's strength, but "tyrannous to use it like a giant." The great and powerful use their strength and influence aright when they protect and care for those who are beneath them. But our experience of human nature leads us to believe that where there is power there is likely to be abuse. Delight in the exercise of power is too generally found to lead to the contempt of the rights of others; hence the prevalence of oppression.
II. THE SORROWFUL LOT OF THE OPPRESSED.
1. The sense of oppression creates grief and distress, depicted in the tears of those suffering from wrong. Pain is one thing; wrong is another and a bitterer thing. A man will endure patiently the ills which nature or his own conduct brings upon him, whilst he frets or even rages under the evil wrought by his neighbor's injustice.
2. The absence of consolation adds to the trouble. Twice it is said of the oppressed, "They had no comforter." The oppressors are indisposed, and fellow-sufferers are unable, to succor and relieve them.
3. The consequence is the slow formation of the habit of dejection, which may deepen into despondency.
III. THE REFLECTIONS SUGGESTED BY SUCH SPECTACLES.
1. No right-minded person can look upon instances of oppression without discerning the prevalence and lamenting the pernicious effects of sin. 'To oppress a fellow-man is to do despite to the image of God himself.
2. The mind is often perplexed when it looks, and looks in vain, for the interposition of the just Governor of all, who defers to intervene for the rectification of human wrongs. "How long, O Lord!" is the exclamation of many a pious believer in Divine providence, who looks upon the injustice of the haughty and contemptuous, and upon the woes of the helpless who are smitten and afflicted.
3. Yet there is reason patiently to wait for the great deliverance. He who has effected a glorious salvation on man's behalf, who has "visited and redeemed his people," will in due time humble the selfish tyrant, break the bonds of the captive, and let the oppressed go free.—T.
Est_4:2, Est_4:3
I. THE UNQUESTIONABLE FACTS UPON WHICH PESSIMISM IS BASED.
1. The unsatisfying nature of the pleasures of life. Men set their hearts upon the attainment of enjoyments, wealth, greatness, etc. When they gain what they seek, the satisfaction expected does not follow. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear with hearing. Disappointed and unhappy, the votary of pleasure is "soured" with life itself, and asks, "Who will show us any good?"
2. The brevity, uncertainty, and transitoriness of life. Men find that there is no time for the acquirements, the pursuits, the aims, which seem to them essential to their earthly well-being. In many cases life is cut short; but even when it is prolonged, it passes like the swift ships. It excites visions and hopes which in the nature of things cannot be realized.
3. The actual disappointment of plans and the failure of efforts. Men learn the limitations of their powers; they find circumstances too strong for them; all that seemed desirable proves to be beyond their reach.
II. THE HABIT OF MIND IN WHICH PESSIMIST CONSISTS.
1. It comes to be a steady conviction that life is not worth living. Is life a boon at ally why should it be prolonged, when it is ever proving itself insufficient for human wants, unsatisfying to human aspirations? The young and hopeful may take a different view, but their illusions will speedily be dispelled. There is nothing so unworthy of appreciation and desire as life.
2. The dead are regarded as more fortunate than the living; and, indeed, it is a misfortune to be born, to come into this earthly life at all. "The sooner it's over, the sooner asleep." Consciousness is grief and misery; they only are blest who are at rest in the painless Nirvana of eternity.
III. THE ERRORS INVOLVED IN THE PESSIMISTIC INFERENCE AND CONCLUSION.
1. It is assumed that pleasure is the chief good. A great living philosopher deliberately takes it for granted that the question—Is life worth living? is to be decided by the question—Does life yield a surplus of agreeable feeling? This being so, it is natural that the disappointed and unhappy should drift into pessimism. But, as a matter of fact, the test is one altogether unjust, and can only be justified, upon the supposition that man is merely a creature that feels. It is the hedonist who is disappointed that becomes the pessimist.
2. There is a higher end for man than pleasure, viz. spiritual cultivation and progress. It is better to grow in the elements of a noble character than to be filled with all manner of delights. Man was made in the likeness of God, and his discipline on earth is to recover and to perfect that likeness. 3. This higher end may in some cases be attained by the hard process of distress and disappointment. This seems to have been lost sight of in the mood which found expression in the language of these verses. Yet experience and reflection alike concur to assure us that it may be good for us to be afflicted. It not infrequently happens that
"The soul
Gives up a part to take to it the whole."
APPLICATION. As there are times and circumstances in all persons lives which are naturally conducive to pessimistic habits, it behooves us to be, at such times and in such circumstances, especially upon our guard lest we half consciously fall into habits so destructive of real spiritual well-being and usefulness. The conviction that Infinite Wisdom and Righteousness are at the heart of the universe, and not blind unconscious fate and force, is the one preservative; and to this it is the Christian's privilege to add an affectionate faith in God as the Father of the spirits of all flesh, and the benevolent Author of life and immortal salvation to all who receive his gospel and confide in the mediation of his blessed Son.—T.
Est_4:4
I. THE FACTS FROM WHICH ENVY STRINGS.
1. Generally, the inequality of the human lot is the occasion of envious feelings, which would not arise were all men possessed of an equal and a satisfying portion of earthly good.
2. Particularly, the disposition, o